There's Good News & Bad News....

 Yesterday, I was diagnosed with skin cancer.  That's the bad news.  The good news is that it's the 'best' kind to get, if you see what I mean, because the tiny patch of skin on my temple which has been refusing to heal ever since February this year is a Rodent Ulcer.  I initially phoned the practice nurse at the GP's surgery to ask what I could put on it to heal it.  She requested a photograph then called me in to take a look at it.  I was quite shocked when she referred me to the hospital and even more shocked to be put on a 2 week rapid assessment. Yesterday, the Consultant took one look at the suspect patch of skin and confirmed that it is, indeed, skin cancer.  I'm now on the waiting list to have it removed under local anaesthetic.  It's not urgent because it will grow very slowly and I'm assured it will not spread anywhere else.  I'm thanking my lucky stars at the moment for being seen quickly and hoping that there won't be another lockdown which halts treatment.

Once again I have to thank the absolute angels working in the NHS who are carrying on regardless.  I saw for myself yesterday the difficult conditions under which they work every single day. Despite all wearing masks, I could see their smiling eyes when I spoke to them.

God Bless them all.

Stay safe everyone wherever in the world you happen to be x

Autumnal Signals

 It's been decidedly Autumnal here over the last few days; cold nights and mornings and lashings of rain too.  This morning the heating came on for the first time and, boy, was it welcome!  I had an appointment for a flu jab at 11.20am today.  It's the first one I have ever bothered with but I feel it's my duty to take whatever is on offer at the moment.  Anything which has the potential to take the winter strain off the NHS can only be a good thing surely.  What I didn't realise was that I had ben earmarked for THREE jabs!  Flu, shingles and also pneumonia.  To be honest, I didn't fancy having all 3 together as I'd never had any before and at the age of 70 have no idea if I will succumb to side effects.  In the end, I plumped for flu in one arm and shingles in the other.  I can go back in a week or two for the pneumonia one. Fine by me...

As I was driving home the sun came out and it's warmed up a fair bit.  The living room is South facing so is lovely and sunny at the moment.  G is at work, I've eaten poached egg on toast for lunch and have decided on a little crafting while it's quiet.  I have Elaine Paige on the radio with songs from the musicals (which I love) and all is well.  The world has been temporarily forgotten :)

My crafting thoughts have turned to Christmas and I have made 7 cards already.  I usually go Christmas shopping with DD to the out of town shopping centre, taking a whole day to shop, chat, and eat, but that won't be happening this time.  I have spoken to my brother & his wife and they are happy not exchanging birthday and Christmas gifts with us until this thing is over.  Ditto with friends for whom we usually buy token gifts.  Things will definitely be different this year.

Anyway, back to Elaine Paige and my papercraft!

Stay safe everyone wherever in the world you happen to be x

Mojo Comes Home & Rude Veg!

 Thank you so much for your encouraging and kind comments on my last post.  I think lots of mojos have gone on strike over the last few months! Mine returned this morning, I'm happy to say 😊 and all due to my food box....

 I decided to order a Morrisons Vegetarian Essentials box to keep the cost of shopping down this week.  'Simon'  (all drivers seem to be called Simon 🤔) kindly popped it inside the hall for me to save me lifting it over the step (without being asked, and also keeping distanced) At £35 it contains enough items for several meals as well as bread, butter and Cravendale milk which lasts for ages without going off.  There is also tinned soup, lots of veg; baby potatoes, sweet baby peppers, spinach, a bag of onions, a bag of wonky carrots.....

Ooh what do I spy in the carrot bag .... OMG 😲 🤣

Now THAT cheered me up! Nature at the rescue again.  It shows that even commercial producers don't always grow perfect veg 😉

The one disappointment is the dented tin of beans. 

Mind you, they are pretty awful beans. They are in pale sauce and break up on reheating so are not much of a loss.

From the allotment we are still eating:

Runner beans

Spring onions

Chard

Leeks

Gardeners Delight tomatoes which are ripening at last.

There's not much else ready though....

Cauliflower and Calabrese are developing nicely.  Green manure has been grown and dug into a previously unused bed for next year's potatoes and more green manure seed scattered on the failed potato bed of this year.  This will be dug in later on.

Have a lovely mojo filled day yourself and stay safe wherever in the world you happen to be x

I've Lost My Mojo!

 G tootled off to work just after 6am this morning and won't be home until 4.30pm.  I got up to wave him off then went back to bed until 8am, the day looming empty and un-inspirational.  I have completely lost my mojo.  Before lockdown (BL) I used to relish the weekend to myself to shop, potter, craft and have the family to visit.  Now....what?...   I'm completely fed up of cooking, washing up, washing clothes, ironing, cleaning, bleaching, sanitizing.  I have absolutely NO inclination to wander around shops and supermarkets like I did BL, and of course we are again restricted from entering someone else's home or garden by local lockdowns and the Rule of 6.

I can't escape to the allotment because we only have one gate key and one shed key and G has taken them to work :(

I feel like a limp rag this morning.  WHERE ARE YOU MOJO!!

Is anyone else feeling like this?  How do you motivate yourself?

I'm following Sue Hall's Ration Challenge and she is such an inspirational woman that I feel ashamed to be so wet.  Anyway, the sun is beginning to peep out ( has the sun lost it's mojo too?) so I must make an effort to DO something.  A cup of tea first though......(Angie slinks shamefacedly away to the kitchen)

Stay safe everyone wherever in the world you happen to be x

Another Blow....

 After feeling more upbeat about our lives recently, we have hit a bump.  Although our Daughter lives a short drive away (about 15 minutes) she lives in a different local authority area which will be coming under local lockdown from Tuesday due to a spike in virus cases.  The GC have only just gone back to school this week and will be facing more mask wearing already.  GS is asthmatic but will be wearing his mask too.  To say we are devastated at once more being denied seeing and being close to them is an understatement.  The government rules are confusing to say the least.  People can still visit pubs, clubs, restaurants, hairdressers, gyms etc but we won't even be able to visit them in their garden?

Once more we will be totally isolated from our family.  Sad times.....

Stay safe everyone, wherever in the world you happen to be x

Our Free Shed And Other News

Thank you to everyone who left comments on my last post.  I haven't got around to responding individually but I appreciate each and every one.  

We have been busy catching up with tasks, doing bits to the garden and tidying up bits of the allotment too.  We were quite disappointed with the crop of potatoes, the peas didn't produce very well, the lettuce was mainly wolfed down by slugs, the onions failed and our apple crops were spoilt, in the main, by earwigs and a few codling months.  Today we grease banded the apple trees and did a bit of pruning to let in some air and improve the shape of them for next year.

We are still picking chard, runner beans and a few tomatoes.

Our daughter and SiL were replacing their shed so we were given the old one for the allotment.   As you can see, it suits me well for when I need a break and a flask of coffee 🙂

Parts of it have seen better days and light is visible in places, but it can be repaired and last a little longer. Waste not want not......

My Boots parcel arrived on Tuesday containing my free goodies (thanks to my loyalty points) so I will not be needing to buy toiletries for a while...

  

I haven't managed to review the household budget yet so that will be my next task ; to check if  income is covering outgoings.  I'm sure it is but I need to check the actual figures, especially as food spending has rocketed. 

Thanks for popping in and stay safe, wherever in the world you happen to be x

Getting Into The ' New Normal '

I am trying to get into the mindset of the 'new normal', a different way of doing things and getting a bit of my confidence back. Earlier in the week I went to get a second haircut, 6 weeks after the first one.  The salon was still clean, chairs well spaced and only 2 customers at a time.  I wore my mask again but it's really tricky getting the sides of my hair cut whilst wearing it especially the bit around my ears.  I was asked if I was comfortable with releasing the ear elastic one side at a time so that the hairdresser could cut the sides evenly! I held the mask over my face instead so that she could complete the job.  She was wearing a visor and standing behind me so I felt safe doing that. This is the result.......

Today we paid a visit to Ashwood Nurseries to get some compost and some more plants.  It wasn't too busy so we bought jacket potatoes for lunch and ate them in the coffee shop as there was a clean table right by the open doorway and a lady was right on the ball with sanitizer and a cloth doing the tables as soon as they were vacated.  It was lovely eating something I hadn't had to prepare myself at last!  We really enjoyed it.

I spotted the little fella above sitting displayed on a wall outside.  Although we've downsized bigtime I simply had to have him at £10.50  He is sitting in guard of some of my few precious remaining books on the shelf in my bedroom!  Touch them at your peril...lol...!!

I explained in a previous post how the food bill has been running away with me.  When I popped into the supermarket for a TV guide I passed the reduced section and saw this bread reduced from 85p to 26p.  I've popped it into the freezer and will take out a couple of slices as I need them.  G will only eat white bread so this will last me a while.  The first proper saving for months....

I simply must get back into the frugal habit I had before.   With this in mind, we did a manual shop at Sainsburys last week.  I used their scan and bag system, the first time I've ever used it for a big shop.  An assistant sanitized a scanner and handed it to me and I cleaned the handle of the trolley well myself.  The store was busy but very organized.  At the Smart Checkout it was amazingly quick and simple to do (no queueing) and I used £40 of Nectar points in part payment.  A £64 shop therefore cost me just £24 and I could even use contactless to pay.  I'll certainly do it again at some point, although I'm reluctant to give up home deliveries completely, but I am getting pretty fed up with substitutions and battered shopping being delivered!

I realised today that I have accrued quite a number of Boots Loyalty points too, so I have just placed an order online for over £30 worth of shampoo, deodorant, hand wash, hand gel, antibac wipes, talc etc which has cost me nothing in the way of cash, just points AND it's free delivery too.

Phew...I'm getting back on track at last, I think. 

Next I need to review the household bills.  It's been almost 9 months since we moved so I should be able to get a better idea of whether my original budget was on track or not.  Watch this space....

How are you all getting on with your spending? Is it more up or down?

Stay safe everyone wherever in the world you happen to be x

My One True North

During lockdown I have done more reading than ever before and I have 3 favourite British authors whose books I lap up as soon as they are released.  One of these is Milly Johnson.  Her style of writing is absorbing, with down to earth language and with plot lines which draw me in every time.  Her characters are believable and I always end up rooting for the good people and scorning the nasty ones (as you should!)  I had an email from her this morning.  Her last book My One True North is on offer in the US at $1.99 via kindle on Amazon.com.  Go grab a copy! It's a beautiful book :)

I bought my UK version a few weeks back and I couldn't put it down.....

Is anyone else a Milly Fan?

A warm welcome to Jeangenie, thank you for following :)

Stay safe, wherever in the world you happen to be x