The Friendly Frugaleers, halfway through June!

[Cagliostro]

All welcome!

I definitely have a lack lunch today - a cheese sandwich and a banana. Boring!

Exciting day today Cag!

Leftover Salmon with wierd grains and stirfry for lunch .😇
There is a thread running about whether is a packed or pack twitches lunch or even worse pack up
I also love the threads about what a bread roll is called pages of cobs ,bread buns ,baps etc

Gosh Sunny that was quick. I thought you were expecting to have to wait a couple of years? And how would you feel if you did get a diagnosis?

Cag I’d get beds, and probably Ikea kallax for downstairs, and then sort the rest as soon as I was able.

Need to sort my Ocado order for DD's birthday party today, and ideally make some daisies for her cake so they have time to dry a bit. And put some plants in if I can bear the hot garden! And go over the paperwork for DS’s review meeting on Friday. Aiming for an NSD.

Pack lunch?

Christmas Has your Dh ever had an Ocado account? I’ve got a 30% off code with a years free delivery for new customers.

Morning all.

Off to dr in a bit.

Wfh today. Dd is off school but still need to take DS. Ballet exam later then town for DS school shoes, footy bits and a school disco outfit each. Not a cheap day and I'm not pleased at buying school shoes with 4 weeks left.

Unescorted it’s good to see you.

Sunny I hate to think what some of the people I went to school with would write.

Concert was good. I got unexpectedly emotional in places hearing things in songs that perhaps had connected with me in a different way previously. £15 parking, £8 hot dog and chips £2 water. Trip home horrendous who plans a motorway closure and significant night works on all surrounding roads when they know 80000 people are going to be trying to use them at midnight.

Cag I’d start ringing a couple of cleaning companies. I hate doing this personally phones are my nemesis but I think it’s the only way to make headway

Morning! Hope all is well with you meadow

Dd2's birthday went well (better than last year when she cried a lot), she loved all the little bits she got. She is definitely a person who values fewer, carefully chosen bits, rather than masses of stuff. I think she overwhelmes easily. Cake was a success, pics below. Even though the insides blebbed out, we all got an identifiable slice.

seacow my new job is in the village the dc are in school at. Jobs in this village are like hens teeth. It is basically no commute for me, as I have to be in the village to drop the dc at school. And it's the crafty arty stuff that I can actually do, and a bit of paperwork when the office lady is on holiday (week after next, hence the urgency!). I am rather excited about it.

But today I have to have my poor old tooth out. It's a molar, so won't notice, poor thing has been filled, root filled (twice), crowned, and now feels wobbly and tastes nasty. Time to go. I have a huge list of jobs to get done today, as tomorrow I enter the world of work

Yes I think you’re right. I’ve sent another message just now to someone else but will phone round later if nothing happens. It’s odd as when you get recommendations they are all over you normally and most business seems to take place over FB these days!

Eeeek can’t believe miniseacow is a year old! Is it her actual birthday soon? I wonder if she would end up sharing a birthday with minimeadow :) my niece’s baby girl is due on Cagletini’s first birthday :o

Sunny I will try and think of some useful advice but while I remember, I would strongly advise making sure the rest of the day is completely free if possible. After my assessment I was utterly wiped out, I slept for hours on the sofa. It was really mentally exhausting - the relief, the fact I’d been talking about my childhood (difficult for many reasons), and the complete OMFG of it all. 💐

Definitely going for Kallax 😍 just trying to work out sizes. Thankfully affording lots of stuff in one go isn’t an issue especially as we don’t have to worry about carpets for the moment, I have plenty saved and some coming from my mum and grandma 💖 in a way it’d be good to get it all done, especially as not having a car means huge delivery fees since we are so far from Ikea 🤦‍♀️😂 but we shall see.

In any case we need to buy a tape measure today as ours just snapped 😤

That’s such a lovely cake!

Ugh I’m so nervous today. I feel like me being a stressy stresshead is ruining all this. It should be exciting but I’m just a wreck (not to be confused with THE wreck :o 💐)

I am particularly worrying about having to talk about the whole running a business tenancy agreement thing. I know it will likely be fine especially as I have “exceptional circumstances” coming out my ears so really they should accept that. 🙄 but I’m also totally thinking the worst and I really hate anything even vaguely confrontational and even the thought of bringing up the subject at all is reducing me to a wibbling mess!

Cag, moving is stressful you are definitely not ruining it. On the conversation about working at home and wet room adaptations etc I would just make a list of a few key points you want to say. If you get in a knot and can’t say them pass them the list or get dh to say them for you. When I’m stressed things I want to say go out of my head. I find a list helps even if I then don’t use it, it’s a comfort blanket.
Can I (unfrugally) suggest you get something nice for tea and a bottle of wine to celebrate getting the keys

Thank you 💐
I know I should be kinder to myself really as moving is stressful for everyone!
Speaking of wetroom I do need to contact an occupational therapist for that (I don’t think the people in the office would be able to tell me anything)
We have all the info and paperwork, off to get the train shortly. It’s frigging miles away, the office! Getting something to eat first and then hopefully straight after getting the keys we will get the train back to town and walk up to the house to show the Caglets if we have time!

No charge at dr today. Which is nice. So frugal win there.

She’s given me another prescription for a month and I’m to check back in in a months time with a view to being given a longer prescription. Six months or so and being taken off in March ish.

I spoke to her about how I’m doing more exercise etc and drinking more water. She told me the appetite and insomnia stuff will be the last to come together. So I’ll get there.

Feeling better today. Yay!

I also mentioned to gp re my sinuses. She pointed out that if Ds is teething he will be snotty. So why would I expect my sinuses not to be affected by my teeth moving?! Duh. Obvious really

We have keys! Everything signed. Our tenancy officer was lovely and was quite confused about what I'd been told about the not running a business thing - he said it's not prohibited it's just that you inform them and they will say whether it's reasonable or not. So all good, he just agreed its best to chat with neighbours to avoid noise problems etc.

Only issue is adaptations. He said the HA don't do much and was surprised we had been told they would. Thing is we were told we could either move into an adapted property (hens teeth anyone?) or move into a 3 bed and they'll put in the adaptations I need. It sounded so easy. Maybe we should have only applied for actual council places not HA but nobody said anything like that to us :( I dunno. It's possible to apply for grants etc. I'll just get an OT visit arranged and see what they say. A normal shower would be fine even, a wet room isn't necessarily the only way forward.

But anyway. WE HAVE KEYS!!!

Eeeeeeeeeeek!!! cag so happy for you!!!! 🍾🍾🍹🍹🍸🦖🦖🦕🦕

Fab Cag, though it sounds a bit strange about the the adaptations. Since people will all need different things how can anyone wait for the ‘right’ house to come up?! You may find that there are grants /charities for that sort of thing if the HA isn’t proactive. You’d probably need their permission but that might be easier to get than then actually doing it! Anyway, you’re better off there than your current place so you can enjoy the improvements in the meantime while you figure out your options for the adaptations.

Now you’ve got the keys how does it feel? Are you feeling better about it all?

Btw, DD is a year old on Friday! We’ve got DS’s annual review with school all morning, then DH has to work but my sister has taken the day off so we can hang out with DD in the afternoon she’ll probably sleep . We might take DS out for a treat after school too so he understands about celebrating his sister’s birthday.

Lonely that cake is fab! How on earth did you do that through the middle? Love the marbled mirror glaze too. And so brilliant about the convenience of the job... you’ll be great. I bet they were delighted when you applied.

Audit it’s a big step going it alone, although I know lots of people who have and have never looked back.

It’s not been an NSD . My Mothercare click and collect order was in (car seat and Happyland on behalf of MIL) so I went to get it and they had a massive sale on. Most summer stock half price. I quite like their cheap leggings /tshirts multi-buy sets so I filled a basket with stuff for future summers for DD. Spent £75 but have absolutely masses of stuff (leggings /tshirts /shorts, very practical and I avoided dresses). So I am really chuffed with that. Ours is a flagship store so better stocked than most.

I’ve been so productive today. DD napped this morning for 90 mins (v rare) so I watered the hanging basket and pots out the front, planted 7 shrubs out back, dug over a flower bed, dug some weeds out of the lawn... and then went to Mothercare. Am knackered now though but it’s almost time for the school run and feeding kids (again). Ug.

sea how is dd almost 1...?! That’s mad. (Although ds will be 9 months on Sunday....!)

I. Have. Sold. The. Boat. Finally. Hoorah. All it took was some arguing and throwing my weight around and threatening to stop the sale for my client and funnily enough the sale went through. Haha!

So. €7m is winging its way into clients account. Woop.

is better get some champagne for this

Yeah cag, do pleased you have the keys.
Glad the Dr went well em. And the boat sale.
Fab cake lonely, you are so craftily clever.

Hi everyone else I have forgotten.
£1 on sweetie at dance dd managed it although she still isn't well.

Mammy working from home = shit steps. I know I should do a gym class to make up for it. Will see if I'm back from shopping

sea sounds busy! The cake I piped stripes of mix in to a loaf pan, building up the panda in layers. It's a dense lemon sponge and I put some ground almonds in too to help weigh it down...but it still tried to rise (I put a baking sheet on top) and erupted out the side. It worked enough to please dd2 though.

Dentist done. Poor tooth gone. Plus my shiny silver nhs crown. The dentist pointed out we'd got 8.5yrs out of it since it was first root filled. This is good apparently. Just getting the feeling back so trying to eat toast, as you do.

£38 in tescos, I bought myself a little a6 notebook to write instructions for my job in, and a sparkly pencil case for my tiny knitting, may as well start as I mean to go on. Also planning a denim apron. They will think I'm terribly weird (or wildly creative ), but I think the quantity of screen printing ink and paint I'm likely to spill necessitates it.

£8 aldi, a few bits but forgot peppers.

And £30 diesel, that's 1/3 of a tank. Had to take the big car as dp has gone to get work in my little one. Time trial tonight so had better make some flapjack.

Oh, and it is a packed lunch. How can there be a thread about it? Surley there is no debate? Although round here they call it "bait".

Well done "em" just a cool 7mil eh? I'm guessing these aren't people as I would recognise them!

cag so exciting! At least you can start to get the beds and stuff ordered now.

lonely the owner (or ex owner Now I suppose!) is one of the most down to earth “normal” guys I’ve met. He is an absolute pleasure to work for/with. (He doesn’t pay my salary but you know what I mean).

You wouldn’t know he’s a gazillionaire to look at him. Haha!

He is my fave to work with though as he knows what it’s like not to have money. He grew up super poor (the story goes) in The 50’s and worker hard and sole his business at the right time to the right people for a ridiculous amount. And now spends his time skiing/sailing/golfing and we look after his money.

He said a bottle of something is on the way to me. Yippee. He has great taste in wine and has never bought me a bottle I haven’t liked! Haha!

He met my dad a while back at the rugby, I went with ddad and saw him there, introduced them and they nattered away. Dad made a new friend. Then was astounded to find out how I knew him. Haha

I ended up coming home from work today due to how awful I feel with the hay fever/cold. DD1 is suffering too so we are a very sad pair.

I have a little notebook where I write all my training notes in too lonely. I get a lot of "here comes love with her notebook" from people but then when we all get stuck on something, I pull out my trusty notebook where I have written down the obscure useful stuff. The notebook also goes to meetings for taking notes doodling as a diligent employee.

After getting a £2m sale through, I think you deserve the rest of the week off em

Yay to getting the keys cag 🥂🏡

lonely I have a notebook system for work. I have a “to do” book, a “meeting notes” book and a “how to” book. And a general day to day scribble book. The meeting notes book(s) are for client meetings and are naice moleskine books as is the how to book. I’d be bloody lost without them.

I appear to be cooking three different dinners for four people Two of the meals need eating up though, and a random piece of chicken from the freezer.

My pet hate love! I did that the other night and was most cross. Ds only has the same as us (or rather we have the same as him) about twice a week though.