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.

A Thorough Clean, A Move and Getting Back to Normal Life - W/E 7th September 2024

On Sunday morning, I woke early after not sleeping well. I was due at work and had mixed feelings about going back, on account of the virus I'd had that week. In any case, I got up and started to clean the bathroom. LB had her future flatmate coming to stay later in the day, before the big flat move on Monday and I needed to clean the main areas, to banish the bacteria from the virus before he arrived and before I went to work.

I finished cleaning the bathroom and worked my way down the stairs and into the main reception rooms, making sure to clean the most touched areas with a bleach solution. I then decided to call work and speak to them about going in later. My stomach didn't feel 100% and I was concerned that I might still be infectious and didn't want to cause an outbreak in my workplace. Fortunately, my manager was very reasonable about it and allowed me not to go in until later in the week. I was very grateful for this, as I could continue to blitz the house and make it as clean as I could and back to being a healthy environment.

Once this was done, I could finally have some breakfast and then get a shower and get ready for the rest of the day. I just had a bit more cleaning to do, mainly in LB's room and in the car, as OH was picking LB's flatmate up from the airport later in it, whilst LB was at work. It was a relief to finally get everything done. I could then start to look forward from what wasn't a very good week healthwise last week and get prepared for the move the next day.

Monday was the day of the big move. I wasn't actually feeling too well as the nausea had returned, and LB had been unwell overnight, but she managed to pack up the rest of her stuff and OH picked up the van. At the last minute, I decided I probably wouldn't go, as I wasn't feeling great, but OH persuaded me to go so I didn't have any regrets later. He and I took the van and LB and her friend went on public transport. Unfortunately, they had a nightmare on account of trains being cancelled and so we ended up at the flat first.

I was a little disappointed to be honest. The flat wasn't very clean. Don't get me wrong, it had just been re-painted and looked good from that point of view, but there was paint dust everywhere and the fridge wasn't clean. I just went ahead and cleaned the fridge and kitchen worktops, so they'd at least have a reasonably clean kitchen. There was also a bathroom window with no glass in it, which was a security issue, so we had to arrange for someone to come and board it up.

LB and her flatmate eventually arrived and started to unpack things. They, of course, were thrilled with the place, which is the main thing. We were just shocked at the lack of care, once you have handed over the large sums of money involved.  Anyway, the agents arranged for a cleaner to call the next day, sent someone to board up the window and we finally felt we could leave them to it. It was starting to look homely already. It was a long and tiring day though and I was glad to get home and go to bed early.

On Tuesday morning, I woke up after sleeping really well. The house felt quiet without LB in it, but I'm happy she's off being her independent self. She's braver than I was at her age.

I was booked into a class at the gym on Tuesday morning, which I went to, but I wasn't feeling well when I got there, so I struggled through the class. It was just a bit too much too soon. I made sure to thoroughly clean any surfaces of equipment I used whilst there. The rest of the day I spent at home, catching up with a few tasks I'd neglected. By the end of the day, I was starting to feel a lot better and could eat again. I'd just had hardly any appetite for a week.

I spent the evening working on my hexi quilt, whilst watching a couple of movies on Netflix. OH was out at the cycle track. I'm looking forward to life getting back to normal. All this illness has been very disruptive.

On Wednesday, I woke up feeling okay, which was just as well, as I was due back at work in the afternoon. I had a chilled morning at home before getting ready for work. Work was good, save that I was a bit rusty and made a mistake, which was a bit frustrating. I hate making mistakes, it makes me question myself, but it's probably a good thing to question yourself from time to time and not get complacent. I was glad to get home though, as it was quite overwhelming being back after being ill.

I didn't sleep too well, woke at 3 am and didn't get back to sleep for a few hours. My mind was still churning over the shift at work. Eventually, I managed to drop back off to sleep and then had a lie in until quite late.

I was back at work on Thursday night and hoping I'd have a better shift and settle back into working. Work did go a little better, but was very intense on account of it being very busy. I need to get into the habit of pacing myself in this situation. I came home and my brain was completely frazzled. Needless to say it took me a while to get to sleep, but I slept well when I did.

On Friday, I had a day off. I booked myself into the gym and took myself off there for a good workout. It felt good to get back into my normal routine and to feel well again. OH took the day off work and started working on the decking outside the back door. I'm looking forward to when it's finished and will post another picture when it is.

I didn't do a whole lot in the afternoon, save catch up on Blogger and YouTube favourites, put away some laundry and chill. I was due back at work on a four day stretch from Saturday, so I took it easy. LB came home late on Friday night, ready to work on Saturday and Sunday locally. She'd had to come early as the trains where she lives weren't running over the weekend due to maintenance and she'd have struggled to get here otherwise. It was lovely to see her and catch up with her week.

On Saturday morning, I got up and showered and had a leisurely breakfast. OH continued to work on the decking outside. I then went out to do the weekly shop locally and saved £5 off my shop using a voucher. On the way home, I dropped into LB's shop to say hello and I dropped off some treats for her lunch. By the time I got home I just had time to get some lunch myself and I was off to work.

Work was busy again, but not quite as intense as it had been the first couple of nights back. I think I'm getting back into it more and getting more confident and familiar within the particular job I've been doing lately. 

On the whole, this week has been one that I am very glad to see the back of. I don't say that about many weeks, but it's not been a particularly positive start to the month for me. I'm hoping next week will be better.

Low Spend September 2024

Yes, I know I've said this before in other months and then gone on to spend way more than I intended, but this month, it really is my intention to have a low spend month. I won't promise a no spend one, as this is virtually impossible for me, but low spend might be manageable.

With LB moving into her new flat on the 2nd day of the month, the main expenditure in this regard is over and done with. Anything the flat now needs, she and her flatmate will need to buy themselves. I am planning to put some money aside each month to help her with paying utility bills, as it is all new to her and I think she'll need the financial support this year, but hopefully, other than this I won't need to buy anything else for her.

The summer months have been expensive, with a wedding to attend, a holiday, the garden renovation, flat hunting, dental treatment, paying deposits, buying what was needed for the flat, etc., so it's quite a relief to come to a point where I can finally stop spending money, hopefully. I'm all spent out and need to just have a rest from spending and start doing a bit of saving instead.

I'm looking forward to just picking up my patchwork and working on that. It costs me nothing (although I did buy some more pillow cases to use the fabric to finish the quilt top) but these cost just £4, which isn't a big expense. I am happy to sit doing this for hours on end rather than going out and spending money. I'm hoping that I will mostly only need to buy groceries this month and very little else.

I probably will still pay the odd visit to a charity shop during the month, as it is Second Hand September afterall, but I will be very mindful of what I buy, it will have to be something useful and needed. I don't need much at the moment. I have plenty of clothes that I enjoy wearing, for both work and play, I have more houseplants than I have room for, a pile of stuff I need to donate, work to do at the allotment/in the garden and plenty of craft projects to get on with, so I will occupy my time with these things and with going to the gym, exercising and eating well.

We may pay a visit to Yorkshire at some point this month to visit family and we have a ferry crossing to Europe to use, which we may use to go to France, if I can get some time off work. Getting out of London, even just for a couple of nights, would make a very refreshing change at the moment, but we'll just have to see how things pan out.

I'll try to keep you posted with my progress this time around and hopefully I'll have more success than in more recent attempts at low spend months.

A Very Mixed Week W/E 31st August 2024

This week began with a lovely dog walk on Sunday morning with B, our little visitor. He's such a sweet dog. Very easy to walk and have around. I forgot what it was like to go for a dog walk and how relaxing and recuperative it is. We had a long walk, but I forgot to switch my phone on, so I didn't record my steps which was annoying, but never mind.

In the afternoon, I needed to do a food shop, as we had virtually nothing in the fridge to eat. I stayed local to do this. I've been buying extra food items for the past few weeks, to put aside for LB to take to Uni next week. It all helps take the strain out of her student budget and I don't feel it too badly when I spread it over a few weeks. It should help keep her in some things for a while. 

I ended up going to bed for another nap later after lunch, as I was still feeling tired. I really needed these two days off to just restore my equilibrium. Stress just builds up without my realising it and I need time to unwind from it.  When I woke up, I made a chicken casserole for OH and I for supper, with some chicken thighs I'd taken out of the freezer. It made a lovely change.

As a consequence of napping in the afternoon, I wasn't feeling too tired at bedtime, so I had a shower instead. LB was heading out late to a nightclub with her friend, and hadn't even left yet.  OH and I were planning on getting up early on Bank Holiday Monday to go to a car boot sale and then I was due at work for 1pm when we got back, so I needed to make sure that I would be work ready, as I knew it would be a tight turnaround.

On Bank Holiday Monday morning, we went to the car boot sale as planned, taking our visiting canine with us. OH wasn't feeling too well, but managed to go with me, he walked the dog whilst I wandered around the car boot. I didn't take a lot of money with me, just £25, as I didn't want to bring back lots of unnecessary stuff. I only had a couple of hours to look around, and I was uber conscious of needing to get back for work. To aide me, I set a timer on my phone, so I wouldn't go over time and end up being late. The car boot was a 30-40 minute drive outside of London, so we had to allow enough time to get home too.

I spent about £11 and bought a couple of dresses, a couple of pairs of pants, a scarf, some underbed storage, some wrapping paper and a t-shirt. I did okay. Not everything I bought fitted that well, but I guess that's how it goes when you don't try things on. I didn't pay more than a pound for any item of clothing, so it wasn't a big deal. In terms of the clothing, I did like one pair of pants and one of the dresses though, so that was a win.

Work on Bank Holiday Monday afternoon was steady. It started off very busy, as there was quite a bit of stuff to do when I took over my usual role. I was asked to work later until closing, which I agreed to do. It did make it a long shift, but I got an hours break, which broke it up.

On Tuesday morning, I was booked into my usual class at the gym. I'd not been for a couple of weeks, so it was nice to go back. 

In the afternoon, I was due to go to an enrollment day at a college out of town, but it turned out to be a bit of waste of time, as the course I wanted to do wasn't even running this September. I enrolled for next April, but I doubt it will go ahead then unless they get a sudden influx of interested students. I was a bit disappointed, but there wasn't anything I could do about it. Luckily, I decided to drive there at the last minute, instead of going by public transport and I'm glad I did, as I'd have been very annoyed to go all that way on public transport for essentially nothing.

When I got home, I chilled in the shed with LB, who was sorting through her stuff to take back to Uni and re-packing. I'm going to miss her when she goes back. I've so enjoyed having her home this summer, despite the fact that it has passed so quickly. She's always good company.

On Wednesday, LB and I headed out of town for a trip to IKEA, to get a few last minute bits she needed for her new flat. It was the last day we had the chance to do this, as OH was heading to the Scottish Borders at the weekend and taking the car, so we had to do it before he went.

It was a long day shopping, most of which was spent in IKEA. The queues for the restaurant where we had lunch, and the tills were long. LB got everything she needed and was very happy. I spent way more than I intended when I came upon the plant section and bought two new house plants and some pots too, as I'm always needing to pot things on and needing bigger pots. Here's a picture of the very reasonably priced house plants I bought:

This one which is quite large, cost £9 and the one below, which is larger still £12.

Unfortunately, later in the evening I started to feel unwell. I think I must have caught what OH had at the weekend, which I think might be norovirus, as I felt very nauseous and was a little sick. I was due at work the next evening, but called in and said I wouldn't be coming in. I then spent 36 hours in bed sleeping mostly. I could barely get up without feeling dreadful. LB also came down with the same virus and also spent Thursday in bed.

On Friday morning, I woke feeling OK, which was a relief. My manager had wanted to give me a shift at work that day, but I felt that as this virus is very contagious and I didn't want to pass it on to anyone else, this wasn't a good idea. It's ripped through our household in a matter of days, so it could possibly affect numerous people in the workplace and it hasn't been pleasant really. It's wiped us all out.

OH was supposed to head off to Scotland on Friday morning, but he was still not feeling too good, so went back to bed. He was very disappointed, as he'd trained hard for the cycle race he was supposed to be competing in and this virus had come at the worst time for him.

B's owners came back from their holiday on Friday morning and took him home. It was lovely to see how happy he was to see them again. We'll miss him. He's been a little sweetheart.

I spent Friday pottering at home. I potted on some house plants, did some bits of pruning in the garden, sorted through some donations for the Charity shop and the next Zero Waste event, packed up the food items I'd bought for LB to take to Uni and did my month end financial reconciliation (it's been a very spendy month). LB, meanwhile, spent the day packing up a lot of her stuff, as she's working the two days before the move and won't have time on those days. OH has hired a van for us to take her stuff this time, as her flatmate is coming over with their stuff too and it won't all fit in our car.

On Saturday, I was feeling OK again. I had to go out and pick up an item I'd ordered from Argos for LB from our local mall, as it was the last day they were holding it for me, so I ventured out to do this. I decided to cycle there, as I didn't want to get on public transport in case I was still infectious. I made sure to keep my distance in the store and avoided close contact with anyone or unnecessarily touching any surfaces. I picked up the item and came straight home. OH came with me and we cycled to a few different places on the Olympic Park that he was interested in, before heading home via the allotment to harvest some more crops.

It got us out in the fresh air and gave us a bit of exercise. I'd missed a gym session this week because of the virus, so any exercise was better than nothing.

I didn't have anything else planned for the day. I just chilled in the afternoon and then went to bed early.

It's been another busy week with lots going on, not all of it good. I'm hoping that once LB gets moved into her flat, that things will calm down a little, life will be a little less expensive, I can get on top of the house, get back to doing some patchwork and we can get back to working on the garden renovation.  Summer has been a nice distraction, but we need to push on with it while we still have good weather. Even if we only get the decking finished, it will make a big difference and make the garden look so much better.

How's your week been?