It's hard to believe that it's November already. This year is whizzing past in a flash. I woke up early for me on Monday, probably due to having such a restful Sunday. I headed out to do the weekly shop at least an hour earlier than I have been of late.
The shopping went okay. I bought a few things towards Xmas i.e. Advent calendars for all of us and some mint sauce for the lamb we'll be having. I got a bit frustrated, because for the second week running, I wasn't able to buy the Aldi baked beans we use now and there were no large bottles of water to be had in either Lidl or Aldi. I blame the Government for all the stocking up warnings. I'm convinced that they know something that they are not telling us, either that or they are trying to get us to spend more money in the shops. Anyway, lots of people are listening and doing as they suggest, hence the empty shelves for some items. I used a £3 voucher I'd accrued on Lidl Plus, but had no other vouchers. I did, however, buy quite a few yellow stickered items today (that I was buying anyway), which saved me some money.
I did visit the charity shop this week, just for a browse and bought one pair of trousers for £3 and several books at 50p each. I also purchased a new unused sewing pattern for a cocoon dress, which appears to be very simple to make. If I do attempt it, I may make a toile first to make sure it will fit okay.
Tuesday, was pretty uneventful. I went to Zumba in the morning, which was good. I had a pretty quiet afternoon and ended up going to bed for a nap, as I felt really tired due to not having slept well the night before. When I woke up, I took the dog out for a walk and then watched an episode of Traitors, Ireland on Iplayer.
On Wednesday, it was my day to go to the Green Gym. I took two buses and a tube to get there using my free travel card and managed to get there on time, despite some road works. I'll be continuing to do the same from now on. When I got there, they were doing a soap making workshop from 12 noon, so I did some weeding and tidying up of the beds before joining in with the workshop.
To do the workshop, they lit the firepit to melt the soap mixture. While we were waiting for it to melt, we added other ingredients to our silicone molds, i.e. lavender, marigold leaves, orange slices, poppy seeds, etc. along with fragrance and colourings and then later poured the liquid soap into the molds and waited for them to harden, which didn't take long.
It was a really fun session and it made me think about making my own soap going forward, both for myself and maybe as gifts, as it's such a simple process with the melt and pour soap. I think I could make 10 bars for less than £20 (£5 of that cost is postage) making it reasonably good value. I'm still thinking about it though. I may wait and see how I like the soap I made when I use it, before investing in more of the soap base. The one we used was a shea butter mix, but I have seen a more natural one on a website that I might use if I ever do attempt this. Here's a picture of one of the soaps I made:
As well as melting the soap on the firepit, we also made smores using marshmallows and biscuits, so it was a really fun session and I learnt a new skill, which is useful.
When I got home, I needed to take the dog out. He went back to his own home later in the evening, when our neighbours got back from their travels. I watched more of Traitors, Ireland tonight and then OH and I started watching a new series called The Leftovers, which had good reviews. It is a little strange, but does kind of draw you in out of curiosity, so we're going to carry on watching it for the moment.
Thursday, it was back to the gym for Aerobics, which I enjoyed. Once again, I was tired when I got home and ended up napping for a while and finished reading my current book. In the evening, OH and I continued to watch Celebrity Race Across the World and The Leftovers and then once OH had gone to bed, I started watching a series called Youth, which is okay.
It's not been a particularly eventful week this week. I've not been feeling very motivated to do much. Sometimes, it's nice to have a quiet week without too many distractions. OH did order a new washing machine today, as ours seemed to have gone kapput. It's big expense, but we have had our current machine for nearly 15 years, which in these days of built in obselesence, isn't too bad.
Friday, was a much more interesting day, as I took myself out for the day, to visit a National Trust property. It was quite a long (but free) journey on public transport to get there, so I had to set off quite early. I had an interesting and enjoyable day out though, which cost me nothing on account of my new National Trust membership. I've made a separate post about where I went.
On the way back, I stopped off at our local mall to pick up a few bits of food we needed for the weekend and I also bought a few Xmas presents that I knew OH and LB wanted whilst I was there. It was crazy busy there, so I didn't linger any longer than I needed to.
When I got home, I did a bit of online shopping, as LB has now provided me with her Xmas list. It is always a joint Xmas/Birthday list, as her birthday is in January, so there are still a few things from it that I need to get, including some things that will involve a visit to IKEA. At least I've made a start, as I'm hoping to get everything bought by the end of this month.
On Saturday, I was back at the over 50's free gym session. It was a super misty morning when I set off, making it feel very atmospheric. The gym session was good, and I came straight home.
When I got home the new washing machine had arrived and OH had already plumbed it in. He then headed out to a Hyrox event. It's his new favourite sport. Whilst he was out, I decided to go through my pantry and cupboards to re-organise and check all the use by dates. I pulled out quite a few things that were near or over their best before date and now just need eating or using, so hopefully we'll work our way through these in the next week or so. It was a job that needed doing and it was satisfying to know exactly what we have in the cupboard and what I might need to add to it to keep us well stocked up.
In the evening, we watched another episode of The Leftovers and then I finished a series that I'd been watching called Youth, which was good.
It's now officially the lead in to Xmas. I do like this time of year. We've got tickets to a performance of Handel's Messiah booked in December, which is being perfomed in a church in the City of London. I'm excited about this as it's one of my favourite pieces of classical music and it always makes me feel festive. Not a lot else on the calendar as yet, but I'm sure there'll be lots more stuff to add before the year is out.
I hope you've had a good week.
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