A Bit of A Week - W/E 16th November 2024

This week started with us continuing our visit to Yorkshire. On Sunday, we had a free day before the funeral on the Monday morning. There was an Xmas Food and Craft Fair at a local farm shop, so we decided to go there and buy a few Xmas gifts. We didn't spend a lot, but made a start on a Food Hamper for OH's mum and I got a couple of very small bits for LB.

We then had a couple of errands to do to buy some flowers for OH's mum and a gift for my sister and her husband, whose 20th Wedding anniversary was a few days away. We'd arranged to meet them at a local pub for something to eat later in the evening.

Once we'd done that we headed to OH's mum's for an hour. We grabbed a sandwich there for lunch before heading to the railway station to pick up LB, who was arriving by train from London. Once we'd picked her up, we went  back to the cottage for an hour or so and then back to her Grandma's until we went out in the evening. 

We spent a lovely couple of hours with my sister and her family later. It was the only night they could get to see LB and they hadn't seen her for a couple of years. It was nice to catch up and it did take our minds off the funeral the following day. 

On Monday, the funeral went very well. It was a beautiful sunny day. OH's mum coped superbly, giving a reading and staying super composed and it was lovely to see so many people from the family, many of whom we'd not seen in years. I think we all had a good day. We did get a bit upset when it came to the Eulogy. I didn't think I would, but I did. I'd probably be more concerned if I didn't.

There was a reception with food after the church and crematorium ceremonies and it was good to get there, have something to eat and drink and be able to relax, knowing that everything had gone well. Later, after everyone had gone, we had to take LB to catch her train back to London, go back to OH's mum's for a while and join a few close family members there, before finally heading back for our last night at the cottage. We had a chill night watching Wolf Hall on TV when we got back, which we have started watching from the first series, as I didn't watch it the first time around. It's very good. I did some work on my hexi quilt too, which was a good way to relax after the events of the day.

On Tuesday morning, we packed up, headed to OH's mum's for a cooked breakfast before setting off back to London. The trip home was a bit longer due to heavy traffic on the M1, but we eventually got home around 5pm and were very pleased to do so. It had been a very busy and eventful few days. We'd felt sad leaving Yorkshire on this occasion. It was a sad feeling knowing that we wouldn't see OH's dad again when we next visited.

When we got home, we unpacked a bit, made something to eat and chilled for the rest of the evening, settling back into our own home. Funerals affect you on so many levels, making you think about so many things; the past, the future, the present. They just really put things into perspective and make you ask yourself questions about your life. It's quite unsettling.

On Wednesday, I needed to be up early, as I had an interview for a job arranged for 10.30 am. Originally, I'd been invited to go for an interview on the day of the funeral, but they had kindly rearranged it for me thankfully. I was a bit nervous getting ready. Although my current job is going okay, this opportunity came up and I found myself applying for it. I was kind of in two minds, but my heart was telling me to go for it and sometimes, you've just got to follow your heart and see where it leads you.

Anyway, I turned up at the interview only to find I was 3 and a half hours early.  The time had been changed, but I'd not been informed. I offered to go off and do my shopping and come back, to give the manager time, as she was busy doing something. I did just that and returned a couple of hours later. 

The interview seemed to go okay, but toward the end, I sensed a change in body language from the Manager. I know there were internal candidates and the job did sound a little intense, so maybe it was for the best.  There are some other jobs coming up there that sound more suitable, but the hours aren't quite as good for me, but I may apply and see what happens. 

I came home and unpacked the shopping. I was a little disappointed, but I think that what's meant for you will come to you and maybe this job just wasn't.

On Thursday, it was nice to finally get a lie in after probably a week of not sleeping too well with everything that was going on. I had a leisurely breakfast and then booked myself into the gym and headed off for a much needed work out, as I'd eaten far too much over the weekend.

I enjoyed my workout and then came home and fully unpacked from the weekend and tidied around upstairs, putting things away that I'd left out when getting ready for the interview the day before. I was due back at work in the evening, so later I got ready and headed off there.

On Friday, I was due at work at 1pm. We'd had a message on Thursday from a relative who was coming to stay on Friday, so the couple of hours I had free in the morning, were spent cleaning the kitchen, whilst OH cleaned the bathroom. I'd prepared a bedroom the day before. I then had to rush off to work, which was a good shift. It passed really quickly and I was back on a job I really enjoy. 

I finished work at 5pm and our young guest had gone off to meet some friends in town, so I decided to have a good look around the store I work in and use my staff discount to buy a few presents. Most of them were for me, although I did get a few for LB. OH tends to buy his own presents for me to give him i.e. cycling gear, so I buy things I want him to give to  me. We both do buy extras ourselves, but the main gifts we choose ourselves.  It just works well this way for us. To be honest though, I don't really want or need much this year. I always struggle to find things to buy for myself. I made a start with a few bits, i.e. a candle, a book, some socks, etc. I didn't spend much though.

We spent the evening watching Wolf Hall and I continued to work on my Hexi quilt, which was relaxing after a very busy day.

On Saturday, my hours were changed to start at 11am, so I wasn't able to go to the free session at the gym, but I did get to finish at 4pm, which was a bonus. Work was okay and passed really quickly. It seemed like Christmas shopping had started proper as it was very busy. It was lovely to get home and just chill for the evening. When I got back, our guest had gone to stay with LB for the night, so OH and I could have a quiet night in watching Wolf Hall as usual. As a consequence, the week ended on  a very chilled note which I was grateful for.

A Chill Week - Week ending 9th November 2024

This week started with a very lazy day at home on Sunday, as I wasn't working. I had a Whats App call with a friend in the morning. She'd moved to Spain 5 years ago and we'd lost touch. It was good to hear her news and I'm happy that she wasn't affected by the tragic recent flooding in parts of the country.

I didn't actually do a lot for the rest of the day. I did do a bit of sewing on both my hexi quilt and the scrappy cushion cover. I didn't complete the latter though. In the evening, OH and I watched the last episode of Jilly Cooper's Rivals on Disney+. It's been quite entertaining. I did love the 80's, despite the politics. We're looking around for something else to watch now.

On Monday, I wasn't working, so I had the whole day to go shopping out of town again and I was out the whole day too. I did some shopping using my staff discount at another store, to buy a few Xmas and birthday presents for LB that I couldn't get in our store. This saved me £11. I did a monthly Home Bargains shop for essentials that we use regularly. Then there was the Lidl and Tesco grocery shopping. I  managed to save £6 at Lidl using a 10% off voucher and then used a couple of Clubcard vouchers I'd been sent at Tesco giving me £8.50 off my shopping there, which all helps at this time of year. 

On Tuesday, I was booked into a class at the gym, so headed there in the morning, which was good. I had another day off on Tuesday and wanted to spend the rest of the day at home. I tried the sofa cover back on the shed sofa to see what it looked like now I've machine stitched it together and made the cushion cover. I was very happy with how it looked.

I continued to work on it, pinning and basteing the hem all around the bottom and doing the same for one of the front pieces. I'm just awaiting delivery of some velcro to securely attach it to the sofa. Then I just need to make the front of the arms which is probably the trickiest bit of the whole thing, as they are an irregular shape. I think I will need to create pattern pieces to do this bit. It has been lovely to have some time to work on this this week and make some progress.

OH, meanwhile, has been working on painting the stairs this week. Here's a picture of how they look for the moment:

We're not sure we're sticking with this colour. It's growing on us, but it was the best of the ones we tried and it does create a lovely matte finish on the stairs, which now feel much more luxurious to tread than bare with bits of nail heads sticking out. While we're waiting for some more paint samples to arrive, he's working on prepping the floor in LB's bedroom, ready to paint that. It's much easier to do that when she's away at uni with most of her stuff.

On Wednesday, I spent the morning doing more sewing. I hemmed the sofa cover on the machine, altered a thrifted skirt and finished my scrappy cushion for the kitchen.  Then it was time to get ready for work.  My velcro arrived today, so when I next have some time I can start to attach it to the hemmed edge of the sofa cover.

Work was okay. I was doing a different job, which was a little slow, so I was glad when the shift finally came to an end.

On Thursday, OH was out all day and I booked myself into the gym and headed off. I had a good gym session and then came home and started to try to make the arm fronts for the sofa cover.  It is a bit tricky, but I'm sure I'll get there eventually. I almost got one pinned in place.

I then had to get ready and go to work for 2pm. I was on a section that I enjoyed today, so the afternoon flew by and before I knew it, it was 6pm and time to go home. It was my last shift for a few days which felt good. It was nice to go home after work and have supper with OH, rather than eating late on my own after a late shift.

I wasn't working on Friday, so I did more work on the sofa cover and got both arms basted to the cover. I now just need to machine sew them into place. I also spent some time packing for our trip to Yorkshire for OH's father's funeral. We were setting off the following day.

On Saturday morning, we decided to go to the gym before setting out on our journey to Yorkshire.  There was a free session at 9.30 am, so we attended that, then went home to get showered, packed up the car and then set off. Our journey there was pretty straightforward with very few hold ups, which was great. We got to OH's mum's house for mid afternoon and stayed for a few hours chatting and catching up on news. She was good and coping very well with everything.

Later, we made our way to the lovely cottage we were staying in, in another village. We were pretty tired by the time we got there and were going to go to the pub for a drink, but decided against it and stayed in instead. Luckily, the owners of the cottage had left us a bottle of Prosecco as a welcome gift, so we made some supper and I had a couple of glasses of that whilst we watched some TV.

It was nice to be back up north, but we were a little apprehensive about the funeral and how everything would be on the day. Only natural I think.

Getting Back My Sewing Mojo

This last month, when I've had a bit of time off work, and now that we're heading into autumn winter and I'm spending more time indoors, I've felt the desire to re-kindle my love of all things sewing, be it hand sewing a patchwork quilt or machine sewing to create a new item of clothing or home furnishing.

It started with doing a bit of work on the sofa cover that I'm making for the sofa we've relocated to our garden shed. I had already pinned and basted part of it, but needed to machine sew it together.

I don't know about anyone else, but when it comes to sewing, I need time. Time to get into a creative mindset, time to do the actual sewing and of course allow time for mistakes and errors which inevitably occur, as they did in this instance. I was happy enough with my progress though, but there's still a lot more to do until it's finished.  Here's a picture of the part of the cover I've done so far, fitted onto the sofa concerned:

I'm pretty happy with progress so far. It's not perfect and the seat cushion needs a bit of an iron, but then it doesn't need to be. If it extends the life of the sofa and makes the shed feel a bit more cosy, than that is good enough for me.

As mentioned in a previous post, I also altered a jacket that I'd thrifted, which was a kind of short, swing mac, which originally had a collar and very large buttons. I decided to unpick and remove the collar to make the jacket collarless, which I much prefer. I didn't take a before picture, but here's a picture of the jacket as it looks now:

It's a couple of sizes too big for me, but I'm happy with how it looks now and I'll probably wear it to work whilst the weather is still mild, as it's easy to throw on.

After watching a few YouTube videos lately, of people altering thrifted clothing and making their own clothing, I'm definitely feeling like I want to get back into sewing my own clothes. There was a time, probably around 10 or so years ago, when I used to make a few items myself and I'd like to get back to it. I had a couple of fabrics and patterns put aside to make and I might start with them when I next get a block of time.

The first is probably going to be this pencil skirt pattern which I'm hoping to make using this lovely plaid fabric that I've had in my stash for a long time. I think it will make a lovely addition to my autumn/winter wardrobe. I used to love wearing skirts, but very rarely reach for them these days, so this might inspire me to wear a skirt a bit more often and they are probably one of the simplest things to make when you are starting out or getting back into sewing.

I've also got a bit of a compulsion to do some more scrappy patchwork projects. I started last week by laying out the pieces for a cushion cover for the kitchen. I've stuck to blues because part of the kitchen is painted blue and we have blue curtains.  

I really enjoy the process of laying out the scraps from my scrap box and using up small bits that are too small to use for much else. What can be more satisfying than making something useful from virtually nothing, that costs nothing but your time and uses what you already have.  My idea of heaven. 

Here's the finished cushion:

I spend a lot of time sat at the kitchen table these days and a cushion on the wooden chair is a necessity. I'm happy with how it turned out. I may now make a Christmas version out of some Xmas scraps.

I'll keep you posted with any sewing progress over the coming weeks.

Not Quite So Low Spend October 2024

Buoyed by my relative success at keeping my spending low in September, I decided to continue in the low spend vein during October.

The start of the month coincided with my recovering from a chesty cold and so a visit to Home Bargains was in order to stock up on medications, i.e. cough linctus, lozenges, paracetamol, vitamins, plus other essentials that I use regularly, such as my favourite mouthwash, dettol, a few snacks and laundry products. I did throw a few extras in, some hair claw clips and some french manicure false nails, but these cost just 99p each. I also bought some chocolates for the Xmas tree and an Xmas gift for OH too. It all added up to a £42 spend. Fortunately, it's usually only a once a month visit.

My Pay As You Go gym membership needed renewing this month too, which cost a one off payment of £44.80, so I took care of that at the beginning of the month.

I got a little extra in my pay packet this month, as I'd worked quite a lot in September. This came in very useful, as we had a trip to Spain/France on the ferry booked and I needed to buy some euros to take on the trip.  I spent around £185 whilst on holiday, mainly on gifts for OH and LB for Xmas/birthday. I bought very little for myself, save for a few bits from Emmaus. I didn't really need or want anything. Besides, it was my birthday whilst we were away, so OH bought me a few bits for that and some new perfume when we got home, as it was cheaper to buy here than in France.

After returning from holiday, my spending did increase. I've been buying small bits and pieces for Xmas all through the month, and placed a £26 Approved Food order, so it definitely wasn't an ultra low spend month. I made a few charity shop visits this month too, buying a few bits for myself, OH and LB and in addition bought myself a sweater from Tesco and some inexpensive boots from Primark (for work) this month. I also treated us to one new set of towels for the bathroom. (A second set I bought at the beginning of November)

LB also furnished me with her Xmas wish list towards the end of the month, so I bought a couple of things from that this month and I gave a birthday gift of £30 this month too.

I was way too optimistic about my spending in October, after doing so well in September. I didn't spend all of the money in my account, I let some carry over into November and then at the end of November I will probably transfer some money to savings, depending on whatever is left. My total spend was, however,  £400 more than the previous month, so a bit of a fail on the low spend front. 

I can't see November being much better, but who knows. I'll keep you posted.

Another Busy Week W/E - 2nd November 2024

This week started with a trip to the Car Boot sale on Sunday morning, as OH wasn't cycling again. It was one of the last boot sales of the year, as they stop in two weeks time, so it was nice to catch a late one. I had a good wander around the stalls. I didn't buy a lot. A couple of vinyl records for LB, some food on the fruit stall including this lovely box of large satsumas for £4. 

I easily spend £2 or £3 per week on satsumas or clementines and this has so far lasted two weeks and will probably stretch to a third. I also bought some other food from a couple of stalls and a couple of other small items. Nothing very exciting, but I always enjoy a trip out and a mooch.

We then stopped off in Hertford on the way home for lunch in a cafe and a walk around the town. I had a lovely brie and cranberry toasty, a favourite combination.

This week wasn't supposed to be that busy, but I was given a couple of extra shifts at the last minute due to some unforeseen situation, so I ended up working more than I thought. Work has been fairly busy. You can tell that we're getting closer to Xmas and that Christmas shopping has started in earnest, which is good for business at least and means that shifts pass quickly.

I had a relatively quick shopping trip on Monday, as I was due at work for 4pm, so I had to get back and get ready. I did pick up a few bits for Xmas whilst out, not many though.

I was then working Monday through Thursday evenings, so I took it easy during the daytimes, just going to the gym a couple of times and then spending the rest of the time at home.

I finally got LB's Xmas list, which was particularly light this year, I think she needs money more than stuff at the moment, which is all good. A bit of this week has been spent ordering some of the things from her list.

I had a day off on Friday which I was ready for. I managed to do a bit more sewing, making the sofa cushion for the shed sofa. It's not perfect, but will look fine when in situ. It was good just to get a bit more of it done.

I then spent the rest of the afternoon watching Netflix and working on my hexi quilt, always a favourite past time when decompressing from work. I watched an interesting documentary about Martha Stewart and then a cheesy film. Got to be done sometimes.

I got some bad news on Friday, namely that I'd been given a fine when driving to work one night last week. I wasn't a happy bunny, but I'd momentarily stopped on a yellow box to let a van cross into a street and got caught on camera doing so. It is becoming more and more difficult to drive in London without getting tickets. It feels like an extra form of taxation.

On Saturday, I was due at work for 3pm, but I went into work a bit early, mainly because I wanted to do a bit of Xmas shopping, on double discount weekend for staff, which I didn't want to miss out on. There were a couple of things that I wanted to buy for LB and a couple of other bits for the house. I didn't find everything I wanted, but I'll try another store on Monday.

I got paid on Thursday this week and received some holiday pay, so I decided to treat us to a couple of sets of new towels, as some of ours are getting past their best. Here's a picture of the sets I bought:

(I love the William Morris design.  One thing I don't mind buying for the house are good quality towels (bathroom or kitchen) and bedding. Well worth the investment)

Work was okay on Saturday night, it passed quite quickly and I got to leave a bit early which was a good end to an unremarkable but busy week.

Approved Food Mini Haul - October 2024

In my weekly blog post last week, I made reference to having placed an Approved Food order for the first time in months. For anyone who doesn't know anything about Approved Food, they are a company who sells mostly out of date products, although by no means everything is out of date. Some items have short dates, some long, some items are long out of date whilst others are only a month or two out of date, but mostly only a best before date as opposed to a use by date, so they can be still safely eaten way past the BBE date.

As I've already stated, I haven't placed an order in months, partly because many of the items they sell are things I don't eat anymore, i.e. crisps, chocolate, sweet treats, etc. so I've deliberately avoided placing orders as it creates temptation to have these kinds of foods in the house, especially whilst I've been trying to lose weight. Now, however, I'm more on maintenance and I do eat the odd treat here and there, but I still try to be careful and not eat really calorie dense foods, so I've tried to be careful what I've chosen to buy in this order to minimise temptations.

The reason I placed the order was that there were a few things that we use regularly or that would allow us to control our consumption more easily which you'll see as I go along on this post. So here's what I ordered with Xmas on the horizon and a very busy time at work expected over the next couple of months. Here goes:

These were the main offers that I was drawn to when I received an email from the company in my inbox. The box of 10 x 2 slice packets of Soreen fruit loaf was on offer at £1 for the box. These are great little items to take to work or travelling. When I'm working long days at work and need to take a packed lunch, they are great to pop into my lunch box as a sweet treat that isn't too calorific, containing only 150 calories per pack.

Similarly, the lotus Biscoff biscuits, which incidentally are packets of single biscuits like you get in a cafe with a coffee, and are another thing that I can take to work or limit my consumption by eating one biscuit at a time or maybe two. The biscuits themselves are 30 calories each, so again, they will be useful for work or just dunking in a cup of tea. I never buy biscuits, mainly because it's too easy to eat one after another until the packet is gone. 

I do admit that the plastic packaging is excessive on these, but surely it's better to use them than for them to be just tossed into landfill. I could even use them crushed as a crumble topping or to crumble into yoghurt or other desserts. This box contains 300 biscuits and also cost £1, which is totally insane, but it has been out of date for a very long time. I did try one as soon as the order came and they are only very slightly soft, but this doesn't bother me at all.

Talking of tea, these PG Tips Decaff teabags were a good deal too at £2.99 for 140 teabags. Branded teabags are so expensive these days, so to get some at a reasonable price really appealed. They are past their best before date, but I like my tea weak anyway, so I doubt that it will affect my enjoyment of a cuppa.

With Xmas on the horizon, I bought this Cadbury Yule Log for £2. It is not yet out of date, but will be by the time Xmas rolls around. It will still get eaten though. It's a bit indulgent, but if I eat thin slices it's not too bad and I do like a Yule Log at Xmas.

I also bought the Schweppes Bitter Lemon tonics for drinking with the odd glass of gin at Xmas. They are slimline and therefore full of sweeteners, but I doubt a couple of bottles will hurt. They cost 50p each. The SanPellegrino are also a purchase for Xmas as a treat. I look forward to drinking these. They are Pomegranite and orange flavoured and are only 68 calories per can. They cost £2 for the six cans.

Also with Xmas in mind, I bought some treat sized bags of Maltesers for £2.99. They tend to be a bit more expensive than this in the shops and I like to eat a small bag sometimes to treat myself. If I open a box or pouch, I'll eat the lot, so this way I can be a little more disciplined at 99 calories per bag. Also, I use them in my hand made advent calendar by putting a few Maltesers in some of the little homemade pouches I use for each day of the calendar. I'm thinking of doing this again this year. Otherwise, they can be taken to work in a packed lunch, or put in Xmas crackers or stockings as an extra treat, although I doubt they'll last that long.

Other food items included a couple of pouches of Tikka sauce at £1 each. We use these regularly and they were in date until sometime next year. The two multipacks of crisps at £1 each were also thrown in, as I buy these weekly for OH to eat. (I only eat lentil or corn snacks these days, so I rarely eat them) The mini apple pies are also mainly for OH, but I may eat the odd one at only 100 calories each pie. These cost £1.49 and were just a day out of date.

The final few items were toiletries, namely a Nivea shower gel for OH which was £1.25 (I use a bar of soap, so never use shower gel, but OH likes to use one) and the refill pouch of Carex hand wash, which I bought to bulk out the order. The handwash costing £2.50 didn't really work out cheaper than buying handwash elsewhere, but I like the idea of the pouch refill rather than buying two bottles and it is almost on a par with buying handwash at Poundland, which I often do.  The two small packs of cleansing wipes were a great handbag size and at only 39p each, I threw a couple into the order as they can be very convenient to have in your bag when you're out and about.

I ended up spending the minimum amount to place an order and with the £3 delivery charge, it came to £26 in total, which didn't break the bank. I'm pretty happy with what I ordered, I think I did okay, so let's just hope I can resist over-eating the biscuits. Wish me luck.

A New Week - W/E 26th October 2024

This week started with a lie in. I wasn't working on Sunday for the first Sunday in a while (save for our holiday). It was a morning of OH speaking to/messaging various members of his family to see how everyone was after the sad news the night before. We didn't head up to Yorkshire, as OH's two sisters were at his mum's. He was planning to travel up later in the week.

We stayed home today. OH wasn't cycling as he's recovering from an injury, so we just chilled at home. I spent the morning changing my wardrobe over to Autumn/Winter, which was overdue. I also went through the drawers where I keep t-shirts/gymwear, etc. and I decided to donate quite a few things that I just don't wear anymore. It felt good to get all the summer clothing packed away until next year.

I chilled for the rest of the day, had another nap in the afternoon, as I felt very tired and then later after supper, we watched TV. We're watching Jilly Cooper's 'Rivals' on Disney at the moment, amongst other things, which is quite entertaining.

On Monday, I got up, ready and headed out shopping as usual. It felt nice not to have to be back for work in the evening. I could take my time and have a good look around, especially with Xmas on the distant horizon. I did buy a couple of small bits for Xmas, but didn't really see much that I wanted to buy at this point in time, as I'm still waiting on LB's Xmas list. I did venture into my favourite charity shop too and despite being on a lower spend month, I did buy a few bits of clothing for my winter wardrobe. I stayed away from anything black for a change, as I need more colours adding to the mix. I had a lovely day, in any case and then headed home.

On Tuesday, I was booked into my usual class at the gym. It didn't get off to a great start, as there was a heated argument between a couple of people attending, which seemed a bit unnecessary. Anyway, things calmed down and the class was okay. 

After class, I came home and had some lunch and then I decided to go up to my sewing room and start work machine sewing the shed sofa cover together, or at least, what I'd done so far of it. It started off okay, but I made a few errors and had to unpick some bits and resew them.  The top corners of the cover where three or four different seams meet was tricky to get right. I did the best I could.  It's not perfect but I'm hoping it will still fit when I try it on the sofa again. It felt good to get this done and very relaxing to have an afternoon sewing.

I also did a slight alteration to a jacket I thrifted the other week. I removed the collar and then stitched across the top, as I much prefer the jacket collarless. I also changed the buttons, which were way too big and looked cheap, replacing them with some nice vintage ones from my stash. I was happy with the result and will be much more likely to wear it now.

OH meanwhile, did some work on sanding and undercoating the upstairs landing. It's made the upstairs a bit messy with dust, but it will look a lot better once finished. We just have to choose a top colour now. We've had bare floorboards up the stairs for years now, since we took up the stair carpet about 3 or 4 years ago, so it feels good to finally start to tackle them and make them look more finished. I'm hoping we'll have it all finished and possibly LB's room too by Xmas, but we'll have to see what happens.

Wednesday, was my last day off before I returned to work on Thursday. As a consequence of not needing to be anywhere, I decided to have a lie in. It's quiet here at the moment, save for building noise from next door, as our neighbours are away. I eventually got up and showered and went down for a late breakfast.

After lunch, I made some small egg muffins for snacking and made another apple crumble, as I needed to use up more of the cooking apples OH's mum had given us. I then picked up my hexi quilt again and did some work on that which I enjoyed. I've really loved having free days to do as I please this last week, it's been so restorative.

On Thursday morning, I woke early as OH was heading off to Yorkshire to visit his mum. I was also booked into the gym first thing, so I headed off there for a workout. When I got back, I got quite a few jobs done. I sorted some laundry and put more on, I also changed some bedding and tidied around upstairs. I placed an order with Approved Food, which I haven't done in an age, but a couple of bargains were hard to ignore. I didn't spend much and stuck to things we will definitely use. I find that they have less food on the site now and more beauty products, which are usually of the expensive kind, so I rarely shop anymore. I may do a little haul when my order arrives. 

A couple of items I'd ordered from eBay came today too, one, a lipstick was okay, but not quite the shade I had hoped, but I'll still wear it. The second was a foundation that I've been wearing for a while.  I think it is discontinued in shops now, but I often find things on eBay that I can no longer find anywhere else, when I want to continue using the same product.

I was due at work for 5pm. It always feels a bit strange going in when I've been off for a stretch. I had plenty of challenges to quickly get me back up to scratch though, lets just put it that way. The night wasn't too busy but passed quickly and before I knew it I was heading back home to an empty house, which also felt a little strange.

On Friday, it was nice waking up and knowing I didn't have to go anywhere until later in the afternoon, so I could have a lie in and a leisurely breakfast. I spent the day at home, planning future sewing projects and doing odd jobs. Work in the evening was okay. It's been a strange week at work, one minute it's much quieter than normal and then there's an influx of people, not the normal steady flow. Probably because it's the end of the month and a lot of people are waiting to get paid.

Saturday was much the same as Friday, but I was working from 2pm. I didn't get to the gym in the morning as I was feeling too tired after not sleeping well. Work passed okay and we got to leave a bit early.  When I got home, OH was back from visiting his mum so we caught up on his news. The funeral has now been arranged and luckily I've got a gap in my shifts around the exact time. I just need to tell my Manager and ask for my rota to remain unchanged for that week and we should be able to go to Yorkshire for a few nights.

Another week that has whizzed past. Less than 60 days to Xmas now (you can tell I work in retail) and I need to start thinking about starting my main gift shopping, as I like to be finished by the end of November and not have to venture to the shops in December.

I hope your week went well.

Home, Back to Work and a Sad End to the Week - W/E 19th October 2024

Apologies for not posting in the past two weeks, but with our holiday and then a busy week at work when I got back, I just didn't find the time to blog. However, I've now got a few days off from work, so I thought I'd catch you up with what I've been up to this week.

We got back to London after our holiday late Saturday night and on Sunday I was back at work for 12 noon. It felt strange going back after being away for a week, but it was busy and the shift passed quickly and I was back home for 6.30pm.

There'd been some drama locally whilst we'd been away, which I had read about on our street Whats App chat. Some ladies had been pushed over in our street and their car stolen in front of them, which was horrible and is not a common occurrence, so was very shocking to hear of.

On Sunday night, OH made us supper and we chilled in front of the TV. We're currently watching a new season of Industry and The Hardakers, a new series on ITV set in Yorkshire.

On Monday, I was up early and off to do our weekly shop out of town as usual. I then came home and got ready and went to work. It wasn't so busy tonight and we got to leave a little earlier. There was more drama in our street whilst I was at work, with police and ambulances attending a property across the road from our house. We don't know what was going on there, but by the time I got home they'd all left.

On Tuesday, I was back at the gym at my usual class. I was keen to get back to exercising, as I'd put on a couple of lbs on holiday, due to eating what I liked and not worrying about it. The class was a bit different from normal but okay. I then had to get ready and go to work later. 

On Wednesday, I was up and at work again for 10 am this time. I very rarely work mornings, so it made a change for me. It was very busy though. I had arranged to meet a couple of friends later in the afternoon, so I came home, got changed and headed out again to our favourite local restaurant. We hadn't met since June, so it was nice to catch up with one another's news and have a nice meal. I was home by 8pm and spent a couple of hours watching TV with OH.

Thursday, I booked into the gym and headed off there in the morning. They had  new Stairmaster machines in the gym, which I tried out. I quite enjoyed using it and you seem to burn calories quickly on it, which is all good, so I'm incorporating it into my usual routine from now on.

Once again, I was at work for 2pm until 10pm, but doing a different job to my usual one. It wasn't the best shift I've worked. Anyway, on Wednesday morning, a little bird had flown into the store, a robin I think, and had been flying around for two days. Managers and pest control had tried to get it out, but it seemed to evade all efforts to free it. We were still trying as I left. I do hope it got out eventually.

I wasn't working for the rest of the week, which felt great. On Friday, we were looking after a neighbour's dog again for the day, so I went out with OH to take him for a walk in the morning. We dropped in at the allotment where my dahlias seem to be still doing well, so I did a bit of dead heading. We had a nice walk and then stopped off at a local cafe for a drink on the way home.  Once home, I didn't want to go anywhere. I was quite happy pottering around, sorting and hanging laundry, having an afternoon nap and then watching Netflix after a busy few days at work.

I got a nice surprise on Saturday when I checked my work schedule. What I thought was a busy week coming up had been halved and I was working just three shifts instead of six. This meant that I now have a good few days before I need to go back in and I am glad of it.  There are lots of things I want to do at home, such as a bit of work in the garden, cleaning, changing over my wardrobe, etc. Lots of new people have started at work in the last couple of weeks, most of them taken on for the busy Xmas period, so thankfully the shifts have been shared out amongst more people, which I'm perfectly happy for.

Anyway, OH and I ventured to the gym on Saturday morning, to the free gym session. I had a good workout and then made my way home. I had a lazy afternoon at home, doing some banking to pay some bills, finally catching up with blogging pals after two weeks of being absent from blogger and just generally taking it easy. It gave me a much needed break from all the recent busyness. 

I decided to remove the sofa cover that I'd started to make from the shed, partly because it needs sewing together by machine and partly that now the weather is getting colder, it's getting a little damp in the shed and I don't want it to go mouldy before I've even finished it. Having it inside the house will hopefully motivate me to do some work on it.

On Saturday night, OH and I sat and watched some television. It was nice not to be at work for a few days. However, late on Saturday, OH got a phone call which wasn't good news and although it wasn't completely unexpected, we weren't really expecting it. OH's father had passed away, peacefully thankfully, after being unwell for a very long time, so it was a sad end to the week.

A Week Away - W/E 12th October 2024

On Sunday this week, it felt so good not to have to go to work. I had booked the week off and we were travelling to Portsmouth to catch a ferry to Bilbao in Northern Spain. The ferry was due to leave at 9.45 pm, so we didn't need to set off until much later in the day. As a consequence, I spent the day packing, pottering and generally getting ready for our holiday. I also had a nice leisurely breakfast and lunch, trying to use up items in our fridge before we left.  It was indicative of how busy the past few weeks have been, that I was actually looking forward to being on the ferry for 36 hours with little to do but relax and chill.

We eventually made it to the ferry with half an hour to spare. It was exciting boarding the ferry, as we hadn't travelled on one for many years. Our cabin was okay. It didn't have a window or tea/coffee making facilities unfortunately, but it was perfectly adequate. I had packed way too much stuff though and not organised it into what I needed on the ferry and then for the rest of the holiday, so we had to take it all upstairs into our cabin.

Once we'd settled in, we headed down to the bar for a drink as the ferry left the harbour. It was super busy in the bar with very few seats or tables left. Obviously, everyone had had the same idea. Luckily, a table became free, just as we got our drinks, so we sat for an hour before heading back to our cabin and beds.

The first night I didn't sleep too well. There was a bit of noise from the bunk beds, but OH got up in the night and tightened something up, which stopped it. When we woke in the morning, it was a bit rough and we felt a little nauseous. We wandered up to the outside deck thinking fresh air would help, but it was very windy up there so we came back in. I joined in with a 'Morning Stretch', which was organised by the entertainment team, but we had to do it sitting down to stop us falling over. 

There were very few people around and out of their cabins because of how rough the crossing had become. We returned to our cabin for most of the rest of the day, as it was the easiest place to be and we didn't feel sick when lying down. We had a TV, so consoled ourselves watching old black and white movies on it and I did some work on my hexi quilt which was a life saver.

Later, we ventured to the cafeteria for supper. I just had a bowl of soup and a yoghurt in case the crossing got even rougher overnight.

On Tuesday morning, we docked in Bilbao for the first proper day of our holiday. We immediately made our way to the city centre where we stopped for breakfast in a small bar. We couldn't believe it when we got 2 hot drinks and two large slices of tortilla for 7 euros. Such a bargain.

We then headed to the Guggenheim  where we spent a lovely few hours looking at all the beautiful artwork. OH had wanted to visit this gallery for a long time, so he was very happy to finally get there. I enjoyed an exhibition by a Japanese artist which was showing. He turned out to be a favourite of LB's. It was a pity she wasn't there with us. We may have bought her something from the gift shop to compensate her.

I also particularly enjoyed the top floor, which had amongst other things an exhibition of pop art including work by Andy Warhol, Roy Lichenstein and Jeff Koons. I particularly liked his 'Tulips' and 'Puppy' which was a large floral covered sculpture of a dog outside of the museum. Unfortunately, it was covered with scaffolding at the time of our visit, but it was still good to see it.

After our visit, we stopped into a cafe for lunch and then drove on out of Bilbao to Saint Sebastian on the northern coast of Spain near to the border with France. We stopped here for a long walk along the beautiful beach and promenade and admired the mandalas carved into the sand.

After an hour or so we headed off to drive over the border into France to stay at our accommodation in Biarritz. We'd never been to Biarritz before, but could remember it always being used in French lessons at school as a place to go on holiday. We booked into our accommodation there which was very nice. It had a lovely pool with water jets, a gym, sauna and boules court. I tried out the pool and sauna which was very relaxing after a busy day travelling and sight seeing.

On Wednesday morning, I woke up and got into the shower. I was all soaped up and with shampoo in my hair when the water stopped. Turns out there was maintenance going on and it was going to be off for an hour or two. I was not impressed that we hadn't been warned. Anyway, luckily, enough water had gathered in the bath for me to rinse all the soap and shampoo off myself with a glass and get on with the rest of my day.

We headed into Biarritz town, which was a 15-20 minute walk from our apartment. It was forecast rain in the afternoon, so we wanted to make the most of it before the rain hit. We had a walk around town and ended up at the beach where there were a couple of dozen surfers out catching waves. We enjoyed just sitting and watching them for an hour and then retired to a very nice restaurant for lunch. Fortunately, this was when the rain hit, so we missed getting wet.

The beach at Biarritz

Later in the afternoon, we decided to drive out to a local Emmaus centre. I'd heard people on YouTube talk of these on their videos, but I'd never visited one when I'd been in France. It was interesting. They had tables and shelves of crockery and glassware, furniture, clothing, crafting supplies, pictures, etc. etc. I bought a few items of clothing and some MacDonald's Coke glasses for LB as she likes them.  They were 50 cents each. It was interesting to thrift in France for the first time and to work out how you paid for your items. It was not quite like going to a regular  charity shop. You had to first get a ticket from each section of the store and then take all of the tickets to the cashier to pay. 

The skies really opened whilst we were there, but luckily I was inside and OH was in the car. We then returned to our apartment and enjoyed the facilities i.e. the swimming pool, gym and sauna before chilling for our last evening there.

Thursday was a big travelling day for us. We needed to drive from Biarritz and get as far north as we could in one day. It was my birthday the following day and we didn't really want to spend it driving on the motorway. The day went okay really and we made quite good progress. We stopped off at a few services along the way and booked some accommodation in Rennes for the night. We reached it by about 6pm. Rennes is a historic city that is the capital of Brittany and has many historic buildings. We stayed on the outskirts in a hotel and didn't venture into the city that night as OH was tired after driving all day. Instead, we went to a lovely nearby restaurant for supper and had very nice burgers. It was very full and obviously a popular place to eat, but they managed to squeeze us in without a reservation which was very kind of them.

The next day, my birthday, we headed into Rennes for a couple of hours. We mostly explored the area around the university which has some very historic buildings. It had a lovely feel to it. I think LB would have liked it there. We sat in a cafe alongside all the students and enjoyed a drink and people watching before carrying on with our journey.  We were heading to Dinan, which is another lovely small historic town in Brittany which is about 30 minutes from Saint Malo, where we were catching the ferry home the following day. We were staying in a hotel alongside the river. It was very picturesque. Here's a few photos:

 

Before heading to the hotel, we stopped off in a small square so OH could grab a bagette for lunch and had a little walk around. We then paid a visit to another Emmaus on the outskirts of town. I didn't buy much here, but there was lots of lovely glassware and crockery. I did buy some french ceramic yoghurt pots which I needed, as I regularly use these to make small jellies and desserts in and I'd been keeping an eye out in the supermarkets for them, but couldn't find any.

Our hotel was lovely and we retired to our room for a couple of hours to rest before heading down to the bar for a drink and then walking into town. Dinan was a beautiful little town with lots of lovely shops. Unfortunately, most were closed by the time we walked into town. We found a little restaurant and had a lovely meal of chicken and potatoes, the chicken we cooked ourselves on a hot stone which was interesting.

We had a lovely evening and then walked back down the famous old street pictured above to get to our hotel. Here's a picture of the nearby viaduct lit up at night, it looked beautiful:

We had another drink in the bar at the hotel and then headed to bed, as we were up early the next day to return to the UK by ferry from Saint Malo.

On Saturday morning, we got up early and went down to breakfast. I cooked my own egg in a little cast iron pan and we had lots of lovely food to choose from. We then packed up the car and headed off. We just had time for one last stop before catching the ferry and that was to visit the seaside resort of Dinard which was very popular in the early part of the 20th century. We didn't stay long, just passed through really on our way to the ferry, but it was interesting to see another seaside resort on our travels.

Saint Malo (taken from the top deck of the ferry as we left the harbour)

We then boarded the ferry at Saint Malo, went up to the top deck and watched as we headed away from Saint Malo and out to sea. We'd had a lovely trip to Spain and France, probably one of the best we've had, but we were ready to go home. The journey was 8 or 9 hours long on the ferry, which was longer than I expected, but this time we at least had a cabin with a window and tea and coffee making facilities and the journey wasn't as rough as our outward voyage.

 

When we got back to the UK, we called in on LB on our way home, as we passed close to where she lives on our drive back to London. It was nice to see her and see how cosy her and her friend have made their flat. It was a nice end to our week's holiday.

A More Balanced Week - W/E 5th October 2024

This week started with a shift at work on Sunday. It was very busy again and I was just glad to get through it and get home at a reasonable time to be able to eat with OH and then chill out watching some TV. 

OH has recently subscribed to Disney+, as they have a crazy low offer on for a few months, so we started to watch Only Murders in the Building, which I've been wanting to watch for a while. It was quite entertaining. We then started to watch the BBC series Nightsleeper.

I've been struggling to sleep lately, as my cold has now progressed to my chest and lying down often causes coughing. I can't wait for it to clear up and to be able to get a good night's sleep again.

On Monday, I had my last consequetive shift at work for a couple of days. As I wasn't working until 5pm, I took myself off to do the weekly shop out of town again. I wanted to get it done so that I could just relax on my two days off on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Part of the reason for heading out of town was that I needed to pay a visit to Home Bargains and buy some things that we use regularly. I ended up spending £42 in there. It always comes to more than I expect. As most things are inexpensive, I always end up throwing a few extras in the basket.  

I then did part of the grocery shop at Tesco where I used another £4 off voucher. They seem to be sending me them quite regularly at the moment. The rest of the shop I did at Lidl where I got a free microwaveable rice sachet and a loaf of sourdough through Lidl plus. Not to be sniffed at.

When I got home, I just had time to get some lunch before getting ready for work. Work was a bit quieter tonight. I started off doing one job, then was changed to doing another. It went okay, but by the end of the night, the tiredness of working six consequetive shifts started to take it's toll and I struggled to get everything I needed to done. I was so grateful to finally leave and go home, knowing I had two days of not working ahead of me and I could try to recover from this cold.

On Tuesday, I was booked into my usual class at the gym. It was a good class this week and I did the best I  could. Whilst there, I renewed my yearly gym membership, which is Pay as You Go and cost £44.80. I then did a couple of errands on the high street before heading home for lunch.

It felt so luxurious to not have to go to work today. I did some laundry and then settled down on the sofa with a cup of tea, to watch Netflix and chill for the rest of the afternoon. I figured that my body deserved a rest with everything it's had to suffer this last week.

I was feeling a bit better by Wednesday. I still had a lie in, just because I could, as I didn't need to go anywhere or do anything in particular. I tidied around a little and then decided to do some work on my hexi quilt. I wanted to cut out the hexies to start a couple of new blocks, as they would be something I could easily take with me when we go to Spain/France. We'll be spending 36 hours on the ferry to Bilbao, so it will be something to entertain me.

I also emptied the ironing basket, so I could put all my clothes away. It's getting to that time of year when I need to do a wardrobe changeover again, to autumn/winter clothes. I'll probably leave it a week or two yet, but it's worth getting prepared for it.

I did receive a call from work asking me to go in, but I declined as I really wanted to recover properly from this cold and I was due back for three nights the following evening. Sometimes, I just have to put my health first.

On Thursday, I decided not to go to the gym, as I intended to go on Saturday morning and I didn't want to overexert myself whilst still recovering. Instead, I stayed home and did more work on prepping some hexies. It was nice to just have a couple of homey days, recuperating and doing just what I wanted to do and not rushing off here or there chasing my tail. Later, I did have to get ready and head to work, but I at least felt relatively rested and ready to go back.

Work wasn't great on Thursday night. Something happened that affected me for the rest of the shift, something I really could have done without. I won't go into details here though.

On Friday, I just took it easy at home again during the day. Work in the evening was okay, better than it had been the day before.

Saturday was a much better day. OH and I both went to the gym in the morning, which felt good and then we walked onto our local high street to do a few errands and decided to stop off and have brunch in a really nice cafe. I had the ubiquitous Poached Eggs on Avo Sourdough, but it was beautifully presented and tasted great. It was a cafe that I've wanted to visit for a while, so it was nice to finally get the chance.

Work on Saturday night was much better than it had been the previous couple of days. It was very busy, so passed very quickly, without too much drama. I was very happy to get to the end of what has been a much more balanced week for me, although it has had it's moments.

I hope you had a good week.

Low Spend September - How did it go?

This month, I decided to try a low spend month. I've had a lot of expenditure in the last few months, what with dental treatment, moving LB into her new flat, etc. I was tired of spending way too much each month.

This month didn't go too badly. I did manage to cut my spending in half this month, spending the least I'd spent in 6 months, so it was fairly successful. It wasn't as low spend as it could have been. I didn't cut out all spending and did buy some new items of clothing from thrift shops, where I spent almost £50 in total.  This sounds a lot, but I did get some big thick winter sweaters and accessories and a couple of shackets which are good transitional items in the autumn when the weather is getting colder. I also bought a couple of new items for work, i.e. a skirt and some socks, which cost £16.

Other items I bought included bulbs for the garden (5 packs) which cost £8.50, a few small home items costing £20 and some small cast iron weights for use with my dumbells and barbell which cost £5.

The above were the main areas of non essential expenditure, but I did also start to buy a few small stocking filler type gifts for Xmas to spread the cost, spending around £20 this month on these.

Right at the end of the month, I spent £24 on three new dollies to stand plants on on the decking. With all this wet weather, it's important to protect it from rotting again. I bought them from work using my staff discount and they are doing their job now that OH has put our plants back on the decking outside the back door. 

The majority of my expenditure this month has been on food, household and other miscellaneous necessary items that we use on a regular basis. This expenditure came to about £540, which is a little over budget, partly because I used a voucher I had and stocked up a bit in advance on some things.

On reflection, I did okay. After paying credit card and other bills, I had £150 left over at the end of the month, which I put into savings, which was a positive outcome as far as I'm concerned.

I could, of course, have done a lot better, such as buying fewer thrifted clothes or spending a bit less on food and household items, but I think by not being too strict, I've enjoyed the month and I don't feel like I've been too deprived. I may even try to do a second consequetive low spend month next month or possibly in November. We are, however, getting closer to Xmas now, so November may be a little difficult if I want to get ahead of the curve on Xmas presents.

My birthday falls in October, so from this point of view this might be the best month to try reducing my spending, as anything I need I can ask for as a gift. We are going on holiday for a week though, so that will involve expenditure. I may still give it a try though.

I'll keep you posted.

Making Plans - W/E 28th September 2024

This week started with a day off on Sunday, which I was very happy for. I had a good long lie in and then got up and made a breakfast wrap as a weekend treat.

OH's shoulder was feeling a little better. We began the day by starting to plan a holiday for a week of leave I'd booked in October.  We had a ferry crossing to use before the end of October, which we booked back in 2022 I think, but never used, so we kept carrying it over. It is now our last chance to use it, so OH started looking at potential ferry crossings to either France or Spain, possibly taking one to Bilbao and then driving back through France and getting one home from St Malo.

Despite hurting his shoulder this weekend, OH managed to finish rebuilding the decking this weekend, so it's now all laid securely and painted so that it virtually matches the part of the decking that was laid a couple of years ago. He's done a great job and here's a picture:

I'm so happy that it's all done and we can move our plants back. I may need to buy a few more roller platforms for some of them though.

On Monday, OH managed to book the ferries mentioned above, which is exciting. I went out in the morning to do the weekly shop out of town. I visited my favourite charity shop whilst there and bought a few things, including a blouse to wear for work, a thick winter sweater, a brand new winter scarf and pair of fingerless gloves, a dress and a PU shacket. I spent £20, but feel like I got very good value for my money and a few nice new pieces for my autumn/winter wardrobe.

I've managed to keep my spending much lower this month. With only a few days left in the month, I'd more than halved my expenditure this month, which I was very pleased about.

On Tuesday, I was booked into a class at the gym. The class was okay, but we didn't do much work with weights which was disappointing though. 

Our neighbour has started building work this week creating an extra floor on top of his house, so there's lots of activity and a bit of noise, which will be ongoing for a good few months. I'm hoping it's not going to be too disruptive.

After lunch on Tuesday, I spent the afternoon binge watching a new series on Netflix called The Perfect Couple, starring Nicole Kidman. It was quite entertaining. I then watched a British romantic comedy film which was quite good too. A very indulgent afternoon and evening, but sometimes you've just got to do it. I'm coming down with a bit of a cold, so I just wanted to put my feet up, before a gruelling 6 night stretch at work.

I have to come home from work a different way at the moment, as the road I usually take is closed due to  roadworks for the next 10 nights.

On Wednesday, I had a really slow start to the day. I pottered around upstairs sorting and putting away laundry, cutting up some old clothes to use the fabric for patchwork and generally tidying around which felt quite satisfying.

I then popped out to our local Tesco. I had a £6 off a £40 spend voucher to use before Sunday and I won't get the chance to use it later in the week due to work shifts, so I went today and stocked up on quite a few things that I would buy at some point anyway, just to use the voucher, rather than let it  expire.

I then came home and had some lunch before getting ready for work in the evening. Work was good, busy, so it passed quickly.

On Thursday, I had a lie in again. I'm trying to pace myself this week, as I've got a mild cold rumbling underneath the surface that I'm trying to stave off. I'm taking paracetamol, vitamins and eating lots of fruit to keep symptoms to a minimum, but I'm also trying not to overdo things and rest properly.  Having said this, I'm not sleeping well and often wake in the early hours feeling rough, hence the lie ins.

I've also been making a deliberate effort to slow life down this week. I've not been rushing around doing things, but taking my time, being self indulgent at times and just enjoying taking things slowly and not actually doing too much. Life seems to have speeded up in recent months, leaving little time to just be and enjoy, so I'm trying to do that now, inspite of work schedules and things that need doing.  I think it helps that it's mostly been raining outside, so I feel no guilt about staying home and amusing myself indoors. I've felt a lot better for it.

In this vein, I didn't go to the gym on Thursday, as I usually would. I just wasn't feeling it. I just stayed home instead. Some days, I just don't want to go anywhere.

I was working on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, which was a struggle as my cold progressed. All I could do was just get my head down and do my best. Saturday was particularly tough, as I did quite a long shift and it was super busy. It felt like Christmas had come early in terms of how busy it was, probably due to it being a pay day weekend.

LB came home on Friday night before her final shift at the local pet shop. She was feeling a lot better after her bout of tonsilitis. She won't get home much now for the rest of the term, as she'll be busy at Uni, but we might try to meet up for a night to celebrate my birthday some time next month.

I didn't go to the gym on Saturday morning, as I was feeling rough. I stayed in bed instead as I had been asked to go into work earlier. I was glad to get to Saturday night, which meant that I was past the half way point in working 6 consequetive nights/days. Just two to go.

I knew it was going to be a tough week this week workwise, which was why I paced myself. What I didn't count on was getting the cold virus. I'm looking forward to shaking it off and getting back to normal life. We seem to have had a run of health issues in the past couple of months. Nothing serious, thankfully, but it has still been a bit disruptive.

I hope you've had a healthy week this week.

A Marginally Calmer Week - W/E 21st September 2024

This week, I was hoping for a calmer week after the busyness of the last few weeks. I started the week with a day off on Sunday, which is always nice. It was a nice sunny day too. It was lovely to get up in a leisurely fashion, make a nice breakfast, catch up with blogging and make a shopping list, as I needed to go out and do the weekly shop locally, using a final £5 off voucher.

It was also the day of the year when our local Jumble Trail happens, so I was tempted to have a walk around our neighbourhood and check out the stalls.  In the end, I decided against it. I really do not need to bring more stuff into the house, and besides, OH was out cycling and I had the house to myself which felt indulgent.  It was nice to just potter and catch up with a few jobs after being away for a few days last week.

OH's mum had sent us home with some cooking apples from her garden, so I ventured to make a crumble for OH. I did cheat and bought the crumble mix from ASDA, but it did make the process very easy. It tasted super nice though. 

I pottered in the garden too, processing some marigold seeds and lavender that I'd harvested and dried in the greenhouse. I already have lots of marigold seeds from past seasons that remain viable, but I can't resist continuing to harvest them each year as it's so easy. I may have enough lavender to make a small bag to put in the wardrobe to deter moths. (I only have one plant) I also stripped some dried rosemary branches from the allotment. I want to make a rosemary salt to season potatoes and wedges with. I just need to find a way to either chop or grind it right down now.

I headed out to do the shopping, but stopped to collect a couple of parcels from a neighbour. I'd not spoken to this neighbour in a while, so it was good to catch up. I eventually went out and got some of the shopping done using a £5 off voucher in the process. When I got back, I was shattered. I think the last couple of weeks is finally catching up with me, so I just chilled for the rest of the evening. OH made us a lovely soup and we caught up on an episode of Celebrity Race Across the World which was good.

On Monday morning, I got up and began my new dental hygiene programme at last. I was waiting for the specific toothpaste to arrive before I could start. I'm hoping that this new programme will help keep my mouth a lot healthier, but only time will tell.

I then headed out of town to finish off our weekly shop in the morning as I needed to return something I'd bought the previous week for LB, that wasn't suitable. I needed to be back early though, as I was due at work at 5pm.

Much later after I'd got home from work, LB came home.  She'd been out with friends locally and she came home to go work at her local job for a couple of days. 

On Tuesday, I woke up to a message from work asking me to work that night, so I agreed to go in. I was booked into a gym class late morning, so I went there and enjoyed the class. After lunch, OH and I ventured to the allotment to do a bit of harvesting and watering. I weeded and dug over some of the plot ready to put it to bed until the spring. There isn't too much work left to do there now, we should be able to wind things down completely by the end of October.

Later, I went to work, which was okay. The shift passed a little slowly tonight though.

On Wednesday, I was looking forward to having a whole day off and not needing to go to work or anywhere else. There were a couple of things that I needed to do at home, one of which was to do some financial stuff,  i.e. paying some bills. The allotment fees were due this month and next month my Pay As You Go gym membership needs renewing.  Luckily, they are relatively small sums.  

Once I'd done that I had the day free to do as I pleased. I sat in the garden with my coffee for a while as it was lovely and sunny and then decided to work on making the cover for the sofa in the shed.

I proceeded to spend the rest of the afternoon basteing various pieces of the cover together. I got a fair bit done to be honest. More than I expected. I now just need to machine sew it together before proceeding any further.  Here's a photo of how far I got:

I'm reasonably pleased with my progress, although the parts I've done are the relatively easy bits.

LB wasn't feeling too good today. She came down with tonsilitis in the morning, but still needed to go to work. She managed to get through the day okay though. I think all the travelling and working in the last few weeks have taken their toll on her and she's got a bit run down. She's only got a few shifts left at the job, as she has decided that the travelling to and fro is too much.  Hopefully, she'll still be able to work for them during holiday periods when she's back at home. I think she's done the right thing, as she is in her final year at Uni and will have a lot of work, including her dissertation to contend with this academic year. It's better that she doesn't try to do too much outside of Uni and put too much pressure on herself.

Later, OH and I watched the final episode of Celebrity Race Across the World. I'll miss this series, it's about the only thing I watch on TV at the moment.

On Thursday, OH headed off early to Wales to compete in a Cycling Track Race at Newport Velodrome. I got up and got ready and headed to the gym late morning for a workout.  LB was still feeling unwell and spent most of the day in bed. I took her up some food and medication. 

By the afternoon, she was still feeling awful, so I encouraged her to contact the GP surgery and see if she could get some antibiotics. She didn't actually get to speak to a doctor and was only offered an appointment next week, which was ridiculous. I couldn't do much as I needed to go to work, but the following morning, I rang the surgery and explained that she needed assessing by a doctor and she was given an appointment that morning. She eventually got some antibiotics and could head home to her flat in the evening.

I was at work again on Friday afternoon and evening, and it was a busy shift. I'm liking the role that I have now. It can be a bit intense and stressful, but it keeps me busy and usually the shifts pass quite quickly.

On Saturday,  I went out to the gym in the morning to the free over 50's session that had restarted. When I got home I just chilled, watered the houseplants, did some laundry, made a pack up for work and then made some lunch before getting ready for work. I was working all afternoon and evening again. I bought a couple of items in store today. One was a set of salt and pepper grinders to make some rosemary salt from the rosemary I harvested from the garden.  They were on clearance, so slightly reduced. The other was skirt to wear for work which was also on clearance. It just gives me an option other than trousers to wear during the winter. I have been pretty good spending wise this week, so despite being on a low spend month, this little splurge wasn't too bad.

Work was good and passed quite quickly. I was kept very busy as my tasks were varied and the store was very busy. When I got home OH informed me that he'd hurt his shoulder falling off his bike that morning. We don't think he's fractured it, but it's very painful and sore. Hoping it heals okay.

It's been another pretty busy week to be honest, not as calm as I'd hoped, with a few unexpected things to negotiate, but it has been a bit calmer. I'm hoping that next week will be a more regular week, but we'll just have to see what happens.

A Busy Work Week and a Visit to Yorkshire - W/E 14th September 2024

This week started with an earlier than usual shift at work on Sunday. I had to take the bus to work, which is rare for me, because OH needed the car to go to a cycle race. I was scheduled to work from 11.30am until 6pm, so I got up early, got ready for work, did a few jobs, made a packed lunch and headed off up the road with LB, who was also heading to work, and caught the bus in.

I was working in a different role to what I thought I would be when I got there, but it was the same role I'd been doing for the whole of the week, so at least it was familiar. It was busy too, with lots of people out shopping. It almost feels like London has filled back up again, with everyone coming back at the end of the summer holidays.

I have to admit, I do like September and October. I used to love going back to school as a child and being born in the autumn, I definitely feel an affinity with the season. I just love it, regardless of what the weather is like. It's my favourite season.

As I left work, there was a heavy rain shower. OH came to pick me up in the car and then brought in a takeaway for supper as a treat. He'd finished laying the decking boards after getting back from his race, so the garden looked a lot better.  The boards still need to be painted with preservative, but it's nice having them back in place again.  It makes going out in the garden a lot easier.

Here's a picture:

As working Sundays go, it was a pretty good one.

On Monday morning, I dropped LB off at the station to go back to her flat. There was a crowd of people outside and it transpired that the trains weren't running due to some sort of incident on the line. Luckily, I'd hung around and waited and was able to run her back home. As a consequence, she decided not to go back to the flat after all, as she was working locally the following day and going out in the evening and would go from home, despite having few clothes left at home to wear.

After dropping LB home, I decided to head out of town for a few hours shopping, to pick up a few things that we needed. I love my Monday's shopping out of town. It's just nice to get out and about sometimes, and preferably on days when it's not very busy.

When I got back, I had time to make some lunch and chill for a couple of hours before getting ready for work.  LB, meanwhile, got ready and headed out to meet some friends for a birthday celebration.

Work tonight, was very different. I was put on a new to me section that is very busy and quite demanding. I'd only worked on there once before, months ago. Anyway, I had to help out elsewhere for an hour or so and got quite behind with my own section, so I was up against it to get finished in time. I did get help from some colleagues thankfully, without which I would have struggled. I was shattered by the time I left to come home.

On Tuesday, I was booked into my usual class the gym again. LB headed into work and I headed to the gym around the same time. LB was going straight back to her flat from work, so we said our goodbyes in the morning. It's been lovely to have here home for a long weekend. She did get some good news before she left in that her reduced student loan had been increased slightly due to an additional application I made. Better than nothing.

My class at the gym was okay. I felt much better this week than I had the week before. When I got home, we needed to book some accommodation in Yorkshire, as we were planning to pay a visit to OH's parents for a couple of nights. We'd not been back to Yorkshire together since the family wedding we attended at the end of May. (OH had gone alone a few weeks ago on his bike) I was looking forward to getting out of London for a few days. A change of scenery can be very therapeutic and after a really busy and eventful summer, especially the last couple of weeks, I felt like I really needed a break. 

I had one more shift to work on Tuesday night, so I just got my head down and worked through it.

On Wednesday, we got packed up and headed up north for a couple of nights. OH had an appointment in the morning, so I managed to squeeze in a quick visit to the allotment to harvest before we set off. It was midday before we were able to get on our way, but we had a good journey up and got there around 3.30pm and spent the rest of the afternoon at OH's parents.

We had booked into a local hotel on this visit. It's not one we've stayed at before as it isn't dog friendly, so it wasn't on our radar, but now it is. It was quite close to where OH's parents live and it also had a gym and swimming pool, so we made sure to pack our gym and swimming gear.

After leaving OH's parents, we headed back there and booked ourselves into a Power Pump class, followed by a short session in the gym, a swim in the pool and a little sit in the sauna. It felt so lovely to be able to do these things where we were staying and was well worth paying a little extra to make our stay a bit more of a relaxing break. We then had supper in the bar, whilst OH watched the cricket. My only complaint was the pillows on the bed. They were way too firm for me and I didn't sleep hardly at all. If we stay here again, I'll definitely bring one from home.

On Thursday, we were up early and headed to a nearby Aldi to get some porridge/granola and fruit for breakfast. We then came back, ate that in our room and I headed to the pool for an aqua aerobic class, whilst OH did a Pilates class.  My class was good. Far more energetic than I expected and I followed up with a swim and a sit in the jacuzzi pool. It felt like we were really enjoying life. Sad I know. We then showered and headed back to OH's parents for the day. 

Whilst OH stayed there to spend time with his dad, I headed out for an hour or so to a few places I like to visit whilst I am in Yorkshire, one of which was the local tip shop, where I managed to bag some more cast iron weights for my barbell, some lighter ones this time, which I don't currently have, so that I can increase the weight more incrementally. These cost just £5 and were a bargain, so I was very happy to find them.

I also like to pay a visit to my parents grave and put some flowers on their grave and clean it up a bit, as it tends to get covered in grass cuttings through the year. I always feel better for doing this. In the evening, I'd arranged to meet my sister and her husband at a local pub for supper and it was lovely to see them and catch up with all their news. The food was good too.

I managed to sleep much better on Thursday night, so felt much more refreshed. We didn't use the gym or facilities on Friday morning, instead we packed up and checked out and headed back to OH's parents, as we had to leave quite early due to the fact I was working in the evening and had to get back to London for 5pm. We spent a couple more hours with them and then set off. Unfortunately the A1, the main route back to London, was completely closed southbound, which entailed a huge cross country detour, but we still got home in good time for me to get to work.

Work was okay, but I was very happy to get to the end of the shift and get home and relax. It had been a long day. LB was home when I got there, as she was working the next day, so it was lovely to see her again too.

On Saturday, I was looking forward to a relaxing day, before working at 5pm, but I got a message from work asking me to go in at 1pm. OH was out most of the day cycling, LB was at work and then going back to her flat, so I agreed to go in early. 

I did need to drop some things off at a local Zero Waste Event though, so I set off to do that. Unfortunately, the venue was virtually unreachable, as they'd made no traffic zones all around it. I couldn't even get close enough and may have even incurred a fine in trying to do so. I was not happy. Why stage an event somewhere it is virtually impossibly to reach? It has really annoyed me. I'll just have to wait and see if I do get a ticket. It will make it a very expensive donation that didn't even happen. I ended up taking the stuff to a charity donation drop off bin around the corner from my house and may make it a habit to do that in the future.

Anyway, I had lunch, got ready and went to work. It was a long day at work, punctuated by a break and working in two different areas, but I was glad to get home, knowing I had the day off the next day.

It's been a very busy week this week, but fitting in a visit to Yorkshire was long overdue, so it has felt like we did achieve something this week.