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dear diary ~ Monday, Monday…

Monday is always a busy day when I stick to the routine. Sometimes routine goes out the window for many reasons chez nous, but currently, as I continue on my mission to restore and reset, I am trying to get myself into routine mode, albeit a new routine.

I usually strip and wash the bed on a Monday, it seems a good start to the week and means I should be able to get the bedding washed and dried, ironed, aired and put away by the following weekend even if we are subjected to the worst of weather.

I also put the duvet out on the line for a good blow in the fresh air. It was much colder outside to day though with the overcast sky.

Talking of duvets, I had a bad restless night last night after a few frantic calls from my mother during the evening, so I was not up early or feeling my best. She has another paranoia issue again. You may remember the saga of the ‘dead persons duvet’ that began when the carer changed mum’s duvet cover and that night mum got it into her head that the carer had switched her snuggly 180 tog duvet for a thinner one because she felt cold and the top of the duvet had lost its feathers. Of course we all know they don’t make 180tog duvets but mum was adamant hers was. From memory I think hers is a seven or eight tog. And it got worse because then she convinced herself that the carer had switched the duvet for one taken from an empty apartment down her corridor of someone that had died!

You couldn’t make it up could you?

This issue rumbled on for weeks and nothing I said would convince her that the duvet on her bed was still hers. I had to ask the carer to give the duvet a good hard shake from the bottom every day to make sure the feathers hadn’t gone thin at the top and eventually this did the trick and mum accepted the duvet (but was still reluctant to believe it was hers).

Now the latest issue is that the carers are trying to give her some green tablets and one night she felt very sick with them. Firstly, she told me they are the codeine tablets the doctor prescribed recently and then she changes her story and tells me they are paracetamol. Again, like me, you have probably never seen a green paracetamol or codeine tablet – they are usually white. I had to speak to the carer on the phone last night as she was refusing to take anything. I asked him what tablets he had there. ‘I have some codeine tablets which she is refusing, and some paracetamol…both of them are white’ He showed mum the tablets whilst I was on the phone. I told him she always refused the codeine as she says they make her feel sick but she likes to take the paracetamol before bed.

Once he had shown her the tablets as proof they were not green I asked him to put mum back on the phone.

‘ Mum the carer has just shown you the paracetamol and they are white not green’

‘I know,’ she said

Breakthrough…so I thought.

Not quite…. mum then said ‘ I am not taking these paracetamol they want to give me they are the green ones that make me ill’.

And then she added ‘I am not colour blind’

No answer is there!!

After looking through all her case notes on my app, I can only presume that the green tablets are the Doxycycline antibiotic capsules for her rodent ulcer that she has been taking in a morning and only for the previous 5 days. My mum’s head now is such a muddle, but this problem of the green tablets will no doubt continue for a few weeks.

It wears me out and hence the sleepless nights.

I spent the morning after breakfast refreshing the vases of flowers. The lovely bouquet my daughter had given me on Mothering Sunday had not lasted as long as I would have liked, I think perhaps the quality wasn’t there to start with (not her fault though – I expect a lot of these bouquets of flowers they sell for Mothering Sunday are not the best quality).

I saved as many blooms as I could and rehomed them in smaller vases. The pink tinged fluted Art Deco vase in the picture below is one of a pair that belonged to my mum and I think my grandma before her. I don’t use them often but they set off the pink alstromeria and peachy carnations perfectly.

After watering the plants (also a Monday job), I set about tidying the kitchen and wiping out both fridges – we have an undercounter intergrated one in the kitchen mainly for milk and dairy and anything we need to have handy, the other is in the utility room, a free standing taller larder fridge where we store all our vegetables. This means we only need to go to the supermarket once a week and save on petrol costs.

I thought it might be interesting to show you the remnants of the fruit and veg I found when clearing out the fridges and, with two days to go until our next shopping day, the meals I made from them. But that will be another post…hopefully I can write it tomorrow.

We are having a trip to Stalybridge today to see an old neighbour and good friend for a catch up. It will be a pleasant change to have a chat and do some socialising with someone other than my mum over the phone – only 8 calls yesterday, so a quiet day. I am hoping she doesn’t make up for it today and bombard me with calls and issues while we are trying to spend some time with my friends.

Have a good day, thank you for reading and your lovely comments.

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dear diary ~ down in the garden

There was a tug of war going on in my mind yesterday, trying to decide what would be the better task to start on.

I had washed all the cleaning cloths overnight and hung them on the line yesterday morning – nothing feels better than having a line of washed cloths after a good fettle in the house and I did wonder if I should continue with the spring cleaning.

But the garden won, the cleaning will wait.

I intended to set some outdoor seeds under cloches, but dithered as I couldn’t work out a good rotation of the 4 beds where I usually grow the vegetables and salad crops. They are all different sizes, not very big and are a problem if I grow potatoes or two courgette plants, usually one in each of the square tubs.

I dithered too much and then found myself doing something completely different and abandoned the seeds for another day. One of the beds had aquired a self-seeded valerian plant at either end. I removed one of them along with an ancient fennel and marjoram and loosened the soil, removing and transplanting the many self-seeded forget-me-nots, so the bed will eventually accomodate more vegetables along its length.

On Friday when we picked up the car we called at the garden centre and bought 3 bags of compost on the 3 for £15 deal and also a reduced pot of daffodils from £12.99 to £6 and another 3 small narcissi for £4.

I thought I had done well until I came home and at 5.30pm I received an email from the garden centre with their spring offer of 10% off everything from 21st March- I would have saved £2.50 if I had gone the next day. Oh well, you win some, you lose some.

It is set to be another glorious day today, warm and still…but doesn’t everything shoot up a few inches when the better weather suddenly appears.

Let me introduce you to our beautiful spring rhododendron named RW Rye after DH’s grandfather who was head gardener at Castle Kennedy garden for a long time and he created this himself along with many other varieties for Lord Stair.

We have the horticultural medal he was awarded. One of the plants he propogated many people will have in their gardens – a buddleia called Lochinch. It has grey-green leaves and lighter mauve or violet blue panicles with an orange eye. Ours must be over 35 years old now and still going strong.

Our rhododendron had become quite leggy and we are tentatively pruning it back each year bit by bit as we do not want to lose it. In the past few years we have had a dose of snow or frost just as the flowers are about to open and they all dropped off unopened. We have been so lucky this year and it has escaped the bad weather hitting at the wrong time and is now in full bloom and being photographed constantly like a top model.

Well, must get on I have a few plants to tend and weeds to remove.

Have a good day and thank you for reading, back soon. x

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dear diary ~ just witterings and a ScrapHappy contribution

As usual we have had a full on week at our house and despite sitting down a few times to write this post – it hasn’t happened until today, and then with a few interuptions.

Last week I had a dental appointment where two of my molar teeth that were problematic needed attention – upper left and lower right molars.  The right hand one had almost lost all the surrounding tooth of a large amalgam filling I had when I was 12 years old – so the filling has lasted well, but not the tooth!  I opted for a repair and it was easy done not requiring any anaesthetic.  I always opt for no anaesthetic unless the dentist knows he might hit a nerve.

The other was a tooth that had become sensitive at some point last year and the previous work done had not cured the problem.  My new dentist at the practice took a different approach to his predecessor and drilled out the original filling and refilled – sadly this has still not cured the problem and eating has been difficult.  I went back on Wednesday and he has now coated the tooth with a liquid resin of some kind, but I am not sure this has even done anything.  I will see what happens tomorrow.

Last Saturday we had a trip up to see my mum.  Working out the best time to visit is proving a bit hard because my sister has just been away for 10 days and next Monday she is going away for 20 days.  Living so far away means I have to spread out our visits evenly to cover the time and I know she will want me to go on Easter Sunday.

It was a lovely day and we pushed her down to the park, she had her toasted teacake and a coffee, then a quick skirt around the perimeter of the park and back to her apartment just in time for the next carer’s visit. We said our goodbyes and then went down the road to Northallerton to have a bite to eat and then see my sister and her husband in their yearly village pantomime – ‘Ali Baba and the 40 thieves’. 

My sister was Ali and her husband a dame – they had borrowed a camel from a local theatre group, which was a hit with the children.  All our grandchildren went, Sweetie just couldn’t stop laughing- she loved it and would like to be part of it next year.  Like all good amateur village pantos, lines are forgotten, props fall apart and the actors can’t help laughing as things go unexpectedly wrong!  It was a good night but we didn’t get home until 1o’clock in the morning and I rarely go to bed so late these days.

So it was no surprise that it took me all day to recover – what a good job it was Mothering Sunday and I could take it easy.  I had some lovely cards and flowers and a visit from one daughter with Master Freddie and Baby Chocolate (who carried the large bouquet and ran with it to grandad); we had to persuade him it was intended for me.

I had a nice quiet day and got out my sewing machine to do some mending.  I felt very pleased with myself after I had mended a tiny hole in some underpants for DH, which although were not new, were not that old either.  I also had the hem to resew on a pair of pyjama shorts for him – annoyingly, the overlocking had started to unravel.

Whilst I had my machine out I decided to make the cushion that has been waiting since last year.  I had some leftover blue checked fabric (from making a long seat pad for the outdoor seat) and a cot pillow pad from a duvet set my daughter no longer needs.  I hate wasting things and it has made a very nice cushion. As it is all washable there was no need to make the cushion cover removable so after placing the pad inside and hand stitching the opening I ran a row of stitching all around the edge.   

My next project on the list is to cover the three round cushion pads from Ikea that fit the 3 of the round wooden Ikea stools. I bought 3 reduced soft grey cord square cushion covers in Sainsbury’s (which was cheaper than buying the fabric I needed from off the roll in the local fabric shop). The covers have zips on too so I will be able to reuse these on my altered version. We use the stools a lot when we have visitors, they are stackable but a bit hard to sit on for long periods without a cushion pad.

I am still on with the finances, whizzing through a load of shredding as I clear out old papers and scan the important items onto the computer. It is a long and boring job but will ultimately be worthwhile. On Tuesday we had a trip over the hill to Uppermill to the solicitors to have our wills updated. Another of those financial jobs that has been on the list for a while. It is amazing how so many things have changed since we made ours over 10 years ago and some of it is not relevant now. Once the draft arrives in my inbox it will be another task to check over.

The next financial job on the list is again with the solicitor to make an LPA for each of us for both finances and health and welfare. We know how important these documents are having dealt with both DH’s elderly mum and now mine. Unfortunately, mum doesn’t have a helath and welfare LPA so any decisions about her future care can be made for her by the council or the courts (and if the courts have to get involved it is at great expense – I know this as I dealt with the court bills at work for these type of clients). Mum’s future has still not been decided, the social worker did the assessment and has not got back to us yet.

We need to fit in our passport applications too as they are going up in price I believe in April, DH has just received the driving licence renewal form to complete and return and we are expecting our car back today and then it will need to go for a service and MOT. It was booked in for that last Monday but of course the garage couldn’t do it because it was having the clutch replaced.

DH actually wants to get the car back to check the tyres, lights and windscreen wipers before booking another MOT and sevicing slot at the garage. He can easily change the lights and windscreen wipers himself – we always keep spares – the tyres are cheaper to buy from ATS and are guaranteed.

So the bills are mounting up and we will have to be very careful with our spending for a few weeks and limit any unecessary purchases in other places.

After carefully saving all year to be able to use my pension contribution allowance that attracts tax relief until I am 75 I found out yesterday that my application form posted at the end of February, to make another contribution into my People’s Pension, has not been received by them. That in itself is worrying as the form I sent has my personal details, signature and bank details on it. I got in touch with them this morning and it turns out the information I was given a few times in earlier years that I had to submit this application form each time I make a contribution is incorrect. Someone gave me misinformation – even after I queried it in 2023 because I thought it was odd. I made the transfer of money straight away yesterday morning but I am told the deadline is today (earlier than previous years because of Easter) and it might not be allocated in time to be included in this tax year so I would lose £420 in the government’s tax relief contribution and in effect free money because of their incompetence. I have complained of course.

Once all these items have been dealt with I will give a huge sigh of relief.

Well I have bored everyone enough now and it is lunchtime. It has taken me all week to get this post done – I hope to be quicker next time.

Thank you for reading and I will be back soon. x

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seasons ~ hibernation over…

The end of another month that has gone like lightening for me. I feel like I went to sleep at the end of January and have woken up in March.

There is a definite feeling now when I go outdoors that everything is slowly waking up. We are much slower to rouse here than in most of the country at an elevated 700′ (the Pennine moors above us are around 1480′). Amidst this continuous rain and drizzle we have had a few dry days – not enough to go out into the garden for any length of time, but here and there I spy signs of emerging shoots and the little buds on the trees are starting to grow and unfurl. The nights are drawing out and the mornings are becoming lighter so much earlier.

And occasionally we have sunshine streaming through the sides of our blinds.

My hibernation period is definitely over, spring is here and I am raring to go.

Let the spring cleaning and clearing out begin.

Yesterday I had to wait in for a parcel so I thought it was a good idea to clean the kitchen / dining room and sweep away the cobwebs (literally!).

I used the long handled duster to reach around the the top of the walls and wiped down all the tops and fronts of the cupboards. The china cupboard gleams again after thoroughly cleaning the glass with white vinegar, the worksurfaces are clear of those bits and bobs that accumulate and even the chair legs, the lampshade and the radiator have had a wipe over.

After cleaning the floor – I am still an old fashioned down on my knees girl to wash the floor – I decided not to make a start on the insides of the cupboards as these may need a declutter and I was all out of decision making by lunchtime, but the kitchen and dining room felt fresh and clean.

I have been trying to keep my ‘3 item’ task list going and it is helping me to get some of those small, stubborn jobs completed. Often they are just little jobs that hardly take any time at all and when they are done I wonder why it has taken me so long to do them. This week I had an old clip frame to drop off at the village charity shop, two pictures to put back on the dining room wall and my pension contribution request form to complete and post to the People’s Pension. I did all three in one day.

Now all three have been given a generous tick in my planner I can choose my next three. I am not always able to set and complete them daily or even weekly as it very much depends on what the task is, but so far I have managed to keep them rolling along.

My next 3 items are:-

  • List my old pattern grading books for sale on Ebay
  • Shred the remaining old receipts
  • Finish labelling the photo box tab dividers

Originally, last month was going to be about improving our diet and fitness levels, but I decided I really needed to continue with the paperwork and budget.

February was a short month and was interupted with our holiday and then the week we were back at home was exceptionally busy. I had to travel up to mum’s for her social services assessment, have my MRI scan in Leeds, visit our new dentist to discuss the dental treatment I require and then our car broke down big time only 3 miles from home when we had two of the grandchildren in the back for a day out (the day out became a disappointing wait for the recovery vehicle to take us back home).

So not a lot of the financial overhaul got done and I find myself at the beginning of another month and there are still a number of financial things I need to address –

  • a new passport each
  • updating our wills
  • making an LPA each
  • using any remaining ISA allowance before the end of this tax year
  • making another pension contribution
  • setting the spending budget

Quite a list.

I have made a start on the pension contribution.

You might be wondering why I am making pension contributions when I am retired….I will explain. (For those of you reading from across the pond and in far away countries this will perhaps not mean very much to you).

When I retired from my job in 2018 the workplace pension scheme had only just been implemented at the company I worked for. The workplace pension is like a private pension where the employee and employer both pay a percentage of your monthly earnings into the scheme. As it had only been running for just over a year it had only accumulated the grand total of £390 on leaving work! So small I almost forgot about it. It would never have given me a pension and being such a small amount I decided to just leave it in the fund as I was able to manage adequately on the state pension.

After a year I noticed it had grown to £490 and then I found out that you are able to continue paying a maximum of £2880 a year into these funds until age 75. Of course, my employer had ceased to pay into it when I left, however, the money I have contributed myself since then is growing steadily and has become quite a nice little nest egg which I could draw on should I need it in future.

The advantage of making these contributions is that the government also contribute. If you pay in £2880, they give you £720, which makes it up to £3,600. Where else these days could you get £720 interest on £2880 worth of savings. It is one of the best decisions I have ever made and I always make sure we save as much as we can to do this each year. Knowing how much my mum’s care costs are it seems prudent to try and save towards our own future care costs, should we need them.

The down side is that you cannot just deposit this money into the fund without completing the form on the People’s Pension website and waiting for them to give the go ahead. Still for a free £720 a year it is well worth the hassle and a better return than the present interest on an ISA savings account.

Isn’t the first rule of budgeting to put money aside for savings first, then spend the rest?

Once the savings have been siphoned off, planning how to spend the monthly income wisely needs a lot of consideration. Some of the household bills we pay now are increasing year on year such as council tax, water charges, utilities, broadband and insurances – all things we need to pay and have little control over. You cannot shop around for the best council tax or water deal!

Reducing the bills can be a bit of a full time occupation these days and DH is in charge of researching the best insurance, utilities and broadband.

He does a great job. We don’t necessarily always go with the cheapest, often it is the best value and he always looks at their customer service record for problem sorting. He will ring up and haggle too if need be. Sometimes it works and we don’t have to keep swapping and changing companies just in order to pay less.

Where we can we aim to cut down on water use and heating, though this long cold winter, and the very dry summer last year has already made that difficult. We placed metallic sheets behind the radiators, used draught stoppers on the doors and have 2 water butts in the garden (but they soon ran out before we had any serious rain). Still there is always room for improvement.

After we have put some money into savings and paid the bills the residual income has to stretch to cover our food, clothes, gifts, medical and health, hobbies, leisure, travel, xmas and holidays.

Often it is a stretch, but cutting back on waste, overspending and impulse buying can save more money than just taking advantage of offers or coupons, especially if those offers are for something you hadn’t thought of buying in the first place! The internet is a very tempting place full of sales and discounts that land in your inbox and it is so easy to add on a few extra items to get free postage.

As my word for the year is restore and reset I am taking the time to overhaul our spending habits, identifying the waste and overspending and looking at what works well for us.

I have a pantry full of food, a craft room full of craft supplies, a greenhouse full of empty pots and packets of seeds and a wardrobe full of clothes all waiting to be used. I do need to take stock, reduce the waste and make better use of what we already have – so using up and turning what I already have into something usable is high on the list. Selling some unwanted items might be on the cards too.

I will no doubt be sharing more on my progress in future posts.

Thank you for reading, back soon x