Moving Forward - W/E 7th September 2025

This week has been about moving forward with my life. As I get more and more used to not going to work anymore, I'm starting to think more about the future and how I want it to look. I'm now starting to settle into a new routine of not working. It still feels strange some days, but my body seems to have relaxed a whole lot and I'm feeling a lot more rested and ready for new experiences and challenges.

On Sunday afternoon, we had a family cycle ride over to the Olympic Park, mainly to go and see the new Sadler's Wells Theatre that has been built there.  We stopped in to have a drink and check out what's on in the coming months. There is the odd show that we'd quite like to see.

Monday, was weekly shop day, as usual. LB came with me out of town and helped me do the shopping. I had to buy quite a lot of things this week that we were running out of. I kind of frontloaded the food/household shopping for the month, as I had a £4 off a £40 spend voucher at Tesco to use. I didn't buy anything that we don't use or eat, but maybe bought a couple of things before we actually needed them, in anticipation, lets call it. This means that weekly shops from hereon in should be less expensive and just a matter of buying the essential food items we use every week.

I also paid a visit to Home Bargains, as there were a few things that I needed to buy from there. This always ends up being a £30 spend and it was no different on this occasion. I didn't buy anything that wasn't needed though, save for one food item for Xmas. I may buy one Xmas item, be it a gift or a food item, each week to spread the cost over the coming weeks. This week it was brandy sauce, which is a non-negotiable with our Xmas pudding. It really depends on the availablility of things in the shops and the best before dates. A lot of Xmas food isn't on the shelves yet.

We did visit my favourite charity shop and I did spend £8 on two items, one being a cotton dress for £5 that I'm going to make into a skirt and the other a cotton shirt for £3. Old habits die hard, but I'm not really planning on going thrifting much more this month. I did get a £20 gift voucher when I left work, which I turned into a Charity Shop Gift Voucher that I can spend at TRAID, Crisis or Sense.  I may go thrifting with LB to a high street where all these shops are located and spend it at some point this month.

On Tuesday, LB wanted to pay a visit to a Hobbycraft store out of town, so I agreed to take her. Whilst she was looking in Hobbycraft, I paid a visit to a couple of nearby charity shops and spent £4.50 at a Hospice shop on a very cool uncut vintage sewing pattern (£1), some webbing for bag straps (£1.50), that I intended to use to make a cross body bag, some pattern making paper (£1), which will be useful for making another dungaree dress pattern. (I leant my original self-made pattern to someone on the sewing course and didn't get it back, so I need to make another one). The last item I spent £1 on was a small cotton handbag that I upcycled into an oversized bag charm this week.

In the evening, OH and I finished watching the second series of 1923 on Paramount+. It was good, but quite dramatic. We now need to start watching the 5th series of Yellowstone, which is also on Paramount+. OH currently has a week's free subscription and then he will subscribe for a month to enable us to do this. It costs about the same as a cup of coffee, which is very affordable for hours of entertainment. I may also use it to re-watch all four Hunger Games movies, which I love.

Wednesday, it was raining for most of the day. I went to the gym late morning, which was much needed. After lunch, I retired to the sewing room and started work on a new small project and an alteration to a top that I bought but never wear.  I'm a lot happier with it and I will be much more likely to wear it in it's new form.

In the evening, OH went out cycling, so I caught up with the Sewing Bee and watched the last episode in series 1 of Annika on iPlayer, which I'm quite enjoying. Luckily, there is another season to watch, after this one.

I had a lovely day on Thursday. I woke up late (as I didn't get to sleep until the early hours), read some of my book in bed, got up and ready and went down for a late breakfast, before spending most of the day in the sewing room working on projects that I've been meaning to do for a while. It felt great to properly get back into sewing again. I think I'm finally getting used to finding ways to fill my time more productively and do the things I enjoy doing again. There's still more I want to do, but I'm just taking it one day at a time and one step at a time and enjoying the journey for now.

Friday, I was back at the gym in the morning, which I enjoyed. When I got back, I had lunch, read for a while, photographed a couple of things for blog posts and had a nap. LB was going out in the evening and staying at a friend's house, so it was just me and OH at home for the evening.

After this weekly post, I think I'm going to change my post schedule and just post as and when I've got something I want to post about. Although I like the weekly format, it's probably a little boring and repetitive for the reader. Now I've got more time to do different things, I should be able to do more varied posts on a weekly basis, when I eventually get out and about more.

On Saturday, I decided to go for a walk in the morning. I just wanted to get my body moving and get some fresh air. I did almost 7,000 steps which wasn't too shabby. When I got back, I had a bit of a potter in the garden as it was a lovely day. I cut back a couple of bushes in the area outside the back door, which made the garden look a bit tidier.

Later, OH started on the paving down the side return. He's only laid a few slabs, but they look good so far. It's quite exciting to see it coming along. The pavers were given to us by our neighbours, who have just had a side return built, so no longer need them. As as consequence, it's costing us nothing but OH's time and the cost of the sand to set them in. Frugal DIY is the best kind. Luckily, OH is very handy at doing practical jobs about the house and garden.

The week ended on Sunday with a trip out. OH was cycling in an event in Chelmsford, so LB and I went along, dropped him off and then went to a local car boot sale for a mooch. We had a wander around until such time a he'd finished his event. I spent about £10 and got a few nice things for my money, one of which will be in my monthly clothing purchase post.

The only negative, was getting very viciously verbally abused by some angry van man on my way to the car boot sale. Some people really shouldn't be allowed out on the roads with the rage inside them.  That's all I've got to say about this particular person, they seriously need to chill.

When we got home, OH did a bit more work on the paving down the side return. It's coming along beautifully. I'll take some pictures and do a post once it's finished.

I hope you've had a good week this week. Mine has been a lot better. I'm feeling much more in back tune with myself and am gradually getting on and doing things and being more productive as each week passes. I'm still procrastinating with regard to some things, but hoping to get past myself and just get on with them at some point. Baby steps.