This week, began in a much more relaxing fashion. It was lovely to get up and know that I no longer needed to go to work. My time is my own again. Don't get me wrong, I'll miss the income and I will have to be very careful what I spend money on from now on, but I'm happy to face this challenge, if it means that I can do more of the things that I really enjoy doing. Life is short and I don't want to spend more time than necessary doing things I no longer want to do. I'm lucky that my partner is supportive of me in this and that I can do it, and I realise not everyone can. It is a priviledge that I appreciate and don't take for granted and it is not without its sacrifices, which are my personal choice.
Anyway, OH wasn't cycling today, so we both headed out for the morning to a Car Boot Sale. I love a walk around the Car Boot. It was a lovely hot day, the car boot was busy with families enjoying a day out and it was lovely to just walk around in the fresh air. Whilst I wandered around, OH went for a run, as it's not really his bag, which is fine. In the end, I didn't spend a lot of money. About £12, including the entrance fee of £1. I didn't get all the way round all the stalls either. It got a bit too hot and a bit too overwhelming and there wasn't really much I needed. I just wanted to get out of London and do something different. I did buy a lovely Zara blouse for £1, I got some fruit from the fruit and veg stall and then a few other very small, but useful bits and pieces including some giant rick rack for slow stitching, which cost just 50p. I look forward to using that.
We then drove over to Sawbridgeworth in Hertfordshire and stopped off at a cafe for lunch, which was a nice treat. The food was lovely and very reasonably priced. It was a good choice. We got home by about 1.30pm and I felt so tired, as I'd not slept brilliantly the night before and had then got up and gone out early. As a consequence, I went to bed for a couple of hours, which felt super indulgent, but I felt so much better for it. I can't wait to get some energy back, it seems to all have been sucked out of me lately.
In the evening, OH and I started watching the new Keeley Hawes series The Assassin. It was a little farcical, but watchable.
After sleeping well for once, I woke up on Bank Holiday Monday feeling a bit more refreshed. I laid in for a while before getting up for breakfast, after which I decided to go for a walk for an hour or so. It was a good way to blow away the cobwebs. I took my skipping rope with and did some skips at different points of the walk.
I also dropped into a gym, that I'm thinking of joining, when my current gym closes down for refurbishment later this year. I was kindly shown around the gym, which is very new and state of the art. It will cost me more, as I'll have to pay for a monthly membership and I won't get the subsidised classes for over 50's, but I need to keep going to the gym and all classes will be included in the price, if I want to attend any. It also has a cafe and is in a brand new purpose built building whose main purpose is housing the local ice rink. It's definitely an option, as it's only a 15 minute walk through the park, so it's food for thought.
When I got back, I made some lunch, boiled up the rest of the beetroot from the allotment and then went out to do the weekly shop locally, as we hardly had any food left in the house. When I got to Lidl, I realised that I'd forgotten my phone with my Lidl app on it and I'd had a 10% off voucher to use, which was really annoying. Anyway, I wasn't going to go back home for it, so I carried on with the shop. When I got to the till, to my delight, the member of staff serving was able to input my phone number, so that I could still use the voucher, which was brilliant. She saved me nearly £10, as the voucher was running out that day. I was suitably grateful and made sure to thank her. The rest of the day I just chilled at home.
On Tuesday morning, I woke up and got ready to go to the gym. LB wasn't feeling well, but had to go into work, bless her. My gym session was good. I tried a few new things today, mainly because if I change gyms, the new gym won't have a certain machine that I like to use, so I need to practice new ways of doing the same exercises. When I left the gym, I went down to Boots on the high street, to buy a couple of over the counter medicines for LB for when she gets home. I hope they'll help her. We had a bit of rain whilst I was in the gym, which I was grateful for.
Later in the afternoon, I had another nap. I'm hoping that as I recover from the busyness of the last few months, that I won't need to take these anymore, but while I still do, I will. My body must need them.
Wednesday was another quiet day at home, doing laundry and tidying up a bit. I did go out for a walk for 30-40 minutes, which was refreshing, as there was a nice cool breeze. It's good to get some steps in too. I didn't sleep well on Wednesday night. One of those nights where lots of things were churning over in my mind and I couldn't quiet it down. It happens sometimes. I think it's all just part of processing the last few months. We had rain on and off on both Wednesday and Thursday, which I was good for the garden and allotment.
On Thursday, I decided to finally get around to doing some sewing. I'd cut out another cross body bag like this one that I made back in March of this year, but in a different fabric.
This leopard print one is still going strong despite being used daily since then, but the fabric is wearing a little on the back side of the bag where it rubs up against my clothing with use. It's still fine to use, but I wanted to make a couple more, so that I can switch them out from time to time.
The one I worked on today is being made of a dark grey velvet with a mustard lining. I put it together in a slightly different way to the last one, inspired by a video I'd seen on YouTube. I just need to add the webbing strap, but I had to order more webbing on eBay, as the webbing I have is not wide enough for the fixings I've got. I'm happy enough with progress so far, so much so, that I cut another out from some scrap fabric I got from the fabric warehouse last week. This one will be a blue camo print, which I really like. I'll post pictures when both are finished. The size of this bag is perfect for me for everyday use. I don't like to carry too much, just my phone, keys, purse and a few other bits. I also worked on another small sewing project today, but didn't complete it. I'll post when I do.
Later, I needed to post off an order I'd received on Etsy. Only a small one, but every few pounds are welcome at the moment. I then caught up on this week's episode of the Sewing Bee and watched another episode of Annika.
I got notification of my final wage tonight, whilst I was doing some financial stuff. If I'm careful, I can stretch it out to last me until after Xmas, as I've already got money put aside to buy presents. This takes the pressure off having to find a job at least, so I can relish being at home enjoying family time.
I woke up to the sound of rain on Friday morning, which was very welcome. It was quite substantial too, not just a sprinkle. I stayed in bed and finished reading this book, which I started in January when we were in Tenerife:
I really enjoyed it. It was still as relevant today, as it probably was 35 years ago when it was first published. It got me back into a reading mood. I picked out another book from my bulging bookshelf to read and made a start on that today too. I'm enjoying it so far. I've read Amy Tan books before and she's a great story teller.
I headed out to the gym late morning and had a good workout, picked up a couple of bits from the Co-op on the way home and then made some lunch when I got in. I'm slowly getting used to not working. I don't miss it, but it does feel a little strange not having a routine or weekly structure to my life. I'll just have to create a new one of my own. I always intended to do very little the first week after leaving work to give myself time to rest and recover from the busyness and I've stuck to the plan. I'm hoping to get a bit busier next week and make a start on a few jobs around the house.
On Saturday, I stayed close to home most of the day, as OH and I had plans in the evening. OH had booked us tickets to go to the Oval and watch the Eliminator of The Hundred, which is a one day cricket tournament, where each team gets to bat 100 balls only. We were going to cheer on the Northern Superchargers, who were playing against the Trent Rockets. We got there around 4-4.30pm and caught the end of the women's tournament, in which the Northern Superchargers women's team won against the London Spirits team. It was a great event, with lots of families there, enjoying a day of sport. Very different to previous cricket test matches I'd attended many years ago with OH.
Unfortunately, there was intermittent rain after the women's match, so the men's start was delayed and then there were further delays in play because of the rain. What we did see was good, but we decided to call it a day early due to all the stoppages and head home. By the time we got home, rain had stopped play again and eventually the match was abandoned, which was a great pity. As a consequence, Trent Rockets went through to the final at Lords on Sunday. I would definitely go again, if the weather forecast was better, as it is a good day out, so we may go again next year. It was a nice end to my first week of no longer being at work and it was good to be able to go out and do something with OH on the weekend, instead of working every weekend. Hopefully, it will be the first chance of many going forward.
Hope you had a good week.
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