April Clothing Purchases

I had a spendy month again this month, with regard to buying clothing, despite being on a tight budget.

The first item I bought was a shirt to wear for work. It cost £2 from the charity shop. I will probably need to wear a vest underneath, as it is quite sheer, but it will be okay to wear in the summer as it is nice and light.

I also dug a couple of work tops out of the donation bag and decided to keep them and continue to wear them over the summer, as I'd struggled to find any suitable work tops at the beginning of the month.

The second item I bought this month was also a charity shop buy. It was this denim dungaree dress, which cost £10.50. Despite being labelled XL, when it came to trying it on, it was more like a 10/12 and was tight. Nevertheless, I'm hanging onto it, as I really like the design and the length and I'm going to try to make a larger dress from it by creating my own pattern, as the construction looks very simple. There is, of course, always the chance that I might lose some weight this summer and get into it more comfortably, but then pigs might fly too.

I was a bit indulgent and succumbed to a new purchase, namely this denim jacket. I like the light coloured denim, the pockets and the Nehru collar and it should be a great lighter jacket for wearing this spring/summer. I paid £22.49 for it. This is a lot for me to spend on one item of clothing, but I do like it and I know it will be my go to jacket when I need one this summer, so I'm not going to beat myself up over it.

A visit to the Car Boot sale over the Easter weekend resulted in my buying 3 tops for work in the summer. The first was this lace sleeved t-shirt from ASOS for £2. I think it was new.

I then bought this black lace top for £1. This is another top that I'll need to wear a vest under, but I quite liked it and for £1 it was worth a try.

Finally, I bought this top for £2 which will be a good option for work in the summer months, as it's qutie loose and cool.

I also bought this black canvas jacket by ASOS for £4 at the Car Boot sale. This was probably not a good purchase as it is quite large, but it might be good for throwing on in some circumstances. If I'd bought it from a charity shop, I would probably take it back, but as it was a car boot buy, I can't. I may just donate it at some point, but I'll give it a chance first.

I then made one last visit to the charity shop before the month ended and spent £11 on three items including this animal print top from Mint Velvet for £3

another black top for work for £3

and finally I bought this floral dress for £5, which may be a good option for a family wedding next year. It looks red in this photo but is actually orange, which is not something I would normally go for, but I liked it.

That concluded all of my clothing buys. There were quite a few, I have to admit. In total, I spent £55 on clothing, which was quite a lot, especially considering I was on a tight budget, but I did get quite a few nice pieces and some essentials for work, so I don't regret it.

In addition, I also bought some fabric to make a dress, so I will include this here, as I technically did spend it to create an item of clothing. I bought 4 metres of this pretty floral fabric, which cost £12 and was given an extra metre which had already been cut for free. I hope to show you the results of my efforts, once I've made the dress with the help of my tutor at weekly sewing classes that I started last week

I definitely hit my remit of finding some tops for work this month. I don't think I need anymore for the foreseeable, but it is good to have a few that I like to choose from. I don't really need any clothes going forward, but that won't preclude me from buying something I like if I see it in the charity shop, but I'm hoping to spend less on clothing next month as I really just don't have the wardrobe space.

A Much Better and Busier Week

This week started with a shift at work on Sunday. OH went off cycling and I wasn't due to work until 2pm, so I was able to get up at my leisure, do some jobs around the house and have an early lunch before getting ready for work.

Work was good. I worked on two different jobs, both of which were very busy, so the shift passed quickly. I dosed myself up before going to work which helped. I finally felt like I'd turned a corner with this virus and was now feeling a lot better, which was just as well, as I had a busy week ahead.

Monday, was the usual weekly shop day. I had all day to do the shop, no work to get back for, so I could take my time. To be honest though, I did have a very fixed budget to spend, it being the end of the month and had to make sure I didn't overspend. It was necessary food and household items only on the shopping list. Strictly no extras. 

I did manage to keep within my spending limits by a few pounds, despite adding in some bird seed/nuts and a hosta plant I saw in Tesco for £1. Worth having to put in the new garden border.

The weather was beautiful on Monday, but unfortunately building work had resumed next door, so it wasn't exactly relaxing to sit out in the garden. Instead, I decided to do some financial stuff, as it was virtually month end and I knew I'd be busy later in the week.

Later, after supper we watched the final episode of Season 2 of The Capture, which was okay.

On Tuesday, it was back to my class at the gym. It felt good to finally do some exercise again after almost  two weeks. Later, I got ready and went out to the first of the nine sewing classes I'd enrolled in. The class runs from 4pm till 6pm, which is quite an unusual time and means I've had to let work know that I'm not available to work on Tuesday evenings for the foreseeable.  Luckily, they were okay about it.

I got a bus to my sewing class. It is in a different part of East London. I hadn't been there in ages. The teacher seemed very nice and very knowledgable. A few people didn't turn up due to ill health, but the students who were there seemed very nice. The class went by very quickly. I didn't get started on my dress yet in the class as we were given another task to do. When I got home, I cut the pieces I need, from the paper pattern, ready to pin them to the fabric I bought and cut out, when I get the chance.

I had an early night, as I'd been rudely awoken by OH's alarm clock at 6am, as he got up to go out cycling. As a consequence, I headed to bed at 9.30pm

On Wednesday, I woke early at 7 am ish, as I had to be up and out and on my way to another college, where I was starting another course. This course is one that I applied for over a year ago, but which didn't run for a year as they couldn't get the numbers to make it worthwhile. They now have enough people to run it, so I didn't want to miss the opportunity, despite being enrolled on another course at the same time.

This course is to train for a vocational qualification. It's a short course, lasting 8 weeks or so, but does have exams/assessments and quite a lot of study and practical work involved during that time, so it is quite a committment. I don't want to divulge what it is just yet. I'll let you know if I manage to successfully complete it. 

The college seems like a nice place to study and the facilities are good, which should help to motivate me. The other students and the tutor also seem very nice. There is a mixed age range. I think I was probably the oldest student, but there was another lady who was in a similar age bracket. I just hope I can successfully complete it. Today's session was really just an introduction to the course, getting set up to work online at home, as much of the study is done remotely and getting a tour of the facilities.  We were finished by 12.30pm and then I dropped into a local Home Bargains for a few toiletry products that I needed on the way home.

When I got home, I took some time to double check that I could get into the college website and do my study. I spent an hour or so just reading about the assessments and then watching a couple of videos related to the theory involved. In doing so, I was also able to complete a bit of homework we were given for next week.  Next week will be a more practical session, which I'm really looking forward to.

As a consequence of my activities this week, life has suddenly got quite busy and although I'm not complaining at all, I just hope I haven't taken on too much at once. I ended up going to bed for a nap mid afternoon, to catch up on some sleep.

Later, I did a bit more study of some study materials sent to me by my tutor, so I've made a decent start at least today, before watching this week's episode of Race Across The World.

On Thursday, after not sleeping well, I got up and decided to finally make a dress I bought from a car boot sale a few weeks ago into a skirt. It was due to be the hottest day yet this year, reaching temperatures of nearly 30 degrees centigrade and I figured I needed some floaty cool clothing to wear if we're going to get this kind of hot weather this summer.

First, I created a waistband using the sleeves of the dress (I'd already cut the top part of the dress off). I stitched this to the top of the skirt to make casing for some elastic. Unfortunately, I didn't have any wide elastic, so I dropped into a local hardware store to see if they sold it. I got some, but it wasn't as wide as I wanted, so I might try to get some more elsewhere before I finish it.

I also did a whole bunch of shredding of paperwork today. I'd had a bag full kicking around under the kitchen table for 6 months and was sick of the sight of it, so I just got on and did it. It's not my favourite job, but it felt good to get it done and it felt like I'd made progress. The only problem was that I exhausted the shredder and it finally went kaput. I may have to buy another one as I have a whole lot more shredding to do on account of sorting out lots of old paperwork a few months ago.

Later, after lunch, I was due at a dental check up at 2.20pm, so I headed off there. I need to have a filling and a clean, so I've booked an appointment next month for that. I had to pay a £75 deposit for the treatment though.

Some good news today, was that the bricks and sand were delivered today, to build a patio in the garden and also to lay some paving down the side return. We are repurposing some lovely pavers that our neighbours were throwing out, as they are building into their side return where these were laid. It's very exciting. I love it when we can progress to another job and get closer to getting the garden how we'd like it to be. I'll do another garden post once work begins.

The bricks and sand arrived just as I returned home from the dentist, so I rolled up my sleeves and got stuck in carrying them into the garden. It took OH and I a couple of hours to carry all 600 bricks and 30 bags of sand through the house to the garden. It was quite hard work, but counted as my daily exercise.

A few days ago, I ordered a new nose for my childhood teddy bear (Panda). He's not had a nose for a good few years, I can't remember how many. The nose also came today, so I glued it into place. Here's a before:

and after:

I think he looks cute with his new nose.  I now just need to sew a nose onto Little Ted here:

He used to have a small rubber nose, but I couldn't find one like it and I guess it would be considered a choking hazard these days, so I'll have to stitch him a nose.

(I did this in a spare 10 minutes I had before I went to work on Friday night. It's not perfect, but I think it suits him. I knew that the big reel of thread that I bought from the charity shop would come in useful for something.)

I had a lie in for an hour on Friday after waking early due to OH going out cycling again and then I decided to just get up and go down for breakfast. A bit later I got ready and went out for my first run in 2 weeks. I wasn't really feeling it, as it was another hot day, but it appealed more than going to the gym, so I just headed out. I managed a 3.5km run and tried to keep in the shade as much as possible. It was nice to get out into nature and breathe in fresh air. Our local 5km run is in two weeks time and I'm currently in two minds as to whether to enter. I need to focus on my running if I do.

I was back to work at 4.30pm on Friday evening, so after lunch and a bit of a chill I got ready for work. Work was a bit of a baptism of fire, as I was asked to work on a department I haven't worked for a long time. In addition, I was asked to work in two other areas for part of the shift, so I got a bit overwhelmed and behind on my department. It was a bit of a disaster shift really. I'm not sure they'll give me that job again. My feet were so sore by the time I left. I was so glad to get home and decompress.

Saturday was a chill day. I wasn't working and didn't need to go anywhere. In fact, I needed to stay home, as LB was expecting the delivery of her new passport. She'd accidently put her old one through the washing machine. An expensive mistake. I had a bit of a lie in and then went down for breakfast. OH was intending to start work on the garden patio, which was exciting.

I did some laundry, then I had the idea to try to use the elastic I'd bought the other day, by stitching two widths together to make a wider width. I then threaded it through the casing and stitched it in place. I'm hoping it will work okay and it will save me buying some more. Here's a picture of the finished skirt:

Not perfect, which is what I always say about anything I make, but it is much more wearable as a skirt than as a dress.  I also created a pattern for a dungaree dress, from something that I bought from the charity shop this month, but that was a little tight. I then cut it out of some fabric I had ready to be sewn together when I get the chance.

I didn't do a lot for the rest of the day, but I did pack away some of my heavier winter clothing and get some of my summer clothing out of storage. We are, however, due some cooler weather from this weekend, so I kept some sweaters out just in case.

It's been a very busy week this week, but I feel like progress has been made here and there and I'm just happy to feel much healthier and able to get on with things. I hope you've had a good week.

A Bit of a Garden Update

As Spring has now finally sprung in all it's glory, I decided to take a few photos of our garden as it currently stands at present:

It feels like it has been a long winter, but the garden has really come back to life in recent weeks, with lots of greenery everywhere and a few flowers here and there too.

At the moment, it's a bit of a building site, on account of the materials having been delivered to do some hard landscaping, which is the last major job we need to do to get it how we want it. In addition, there is lots of leftover wood from when we renewed the decking, which OH was going to use to deck the side return, but we are no longer doing this. Instead, we have acquired some lovely flagstones from our neighbours, as they are building into their side return where these were laid and they no longer need them. We are now going to pave our side return using these, once the builders have finally built next door's side return wall.

With both the side return area and the main part of the garden both being a bit out of bounds, most of the plant action is centred around the decking. It is filled to the brim with waterbutts, plants in pots and seedlings being grown for the allotment. Much of this is only temporary, as the plants we are growing for the allotment and which currently have taken over the bench and tables, will eventually get planted out and some of the pots I'm intending to transfer into the beds or the allotment too, allowing us to use this space more for relaxation, but this will be a few weeks away yet. In the meantime, it remains a nice little green haven outside the back door.

This weekend, OH decided to sort and clear up the unwanted wood pile and to start laying the new patio, so by the end of Saturday the main part of the garden looked like this:

He took the black plastic off, levelled everything out a bit and then laid a few brick patterns, so we could decide which one we wanted to proceed with. We haven't got quite enough bricks, so we're hoping we'll be able to order 100 or so more to be able to complete the project. It was very exciting to see progress being made though. I can't wait until it is finished and we can properly enjoy the space. I'll keep you posted.

Surviving a Low Spend April 2025

This month, I had no choice but to take part in a lower spend month, on account of being paid quite a bit less this month than I normally receive. My hours had been pretty basic, with few extra shifts in March, so I ended up with less money as a consequence.

Regardless, I determined to make the best of it and just had to be very mindful of my spending.  The main thing that I needed to spend money on, were haircuts for myself and LB whilst she was home for a week.

I did also buy a few items of clothing, that I have mentioned in another post, plus other bits and pieces here and there throughout the month, including some plants for the garden and allotment.

I did try to stick to the food budget of £400, but as there were 5 food shopping weeks in April, I did go over budget and spent £518. A couple of areas did come in under budget though, namely household and home/garden, which was good.

I managed to put £110 into the car fund this month, despite it being tight. It ended up coming from some interest I gained on a savings account, which I redirected to this fund, and although it wasn't as much as I'd have liked, it was something. I also won another £150 on the Premium Bonds, which was a great blessing and this got reinvested as usual. In addition, I got a free £50 payment into my Nationwide savings account which was not to be sniffed at. You don't get free money very often from anywhere.

I put just £50 instead of the usual £100, towards birthday/Xmas gifts this month, but my savings are still on track here, as a little carried over from last year. I also put £50 aside for LB's bills if she needs it, when she moves out of her flat later this year. 

Although it was a tight month financially, it didn't feel too restrictive, as I didn't really need anything much and I managed to curb my visits to charity shops, as I knew I had little spare cash to spend. I did spend the thrifting budget I set myself of £25, but didn't go over this month. As a consequence, I got to build my financial discipline muscles a little, which is always good and I spent my time doing lots of sewing to help keep me out of the shops.

Next month may be a little trickier, as I've got a dental appointment, which I kind of expect to lead to some treatment, as it usually does. May is also the month of OH's birthday, so I will need to spend some money on his present, which may or may not come from the money I've put aside, depending on whether I have enough income to cover it. 

I would also like to put at least £200 in the car fund in May, the usual amounts in my other regular savings pots, and I would also like to put something, (even if very little just to round up a balance) into one or more of my other savings accounts, just to keep working on them, but we'll just have to see how the month pans out.

It hasn't been a bad month though and I survived, so it could have been worse.

A Bit of a Lost Week - W/E 26th April 2025

This week got off to an enjoyable start as OH and I headed out to a local Car Boot Sale on Sunday morning, as mentioned in a previous post. We had a nice morning out and a lovely roast dinner at the pub, which I didn't need to cook, which is fine by me.

Later, when we got home, I decided to melt all my odd bits of candle wax, left over from burning various candles and make a new candle. There wasn't quite enough to fill the jar, but it gave me a candle to burn over the next few weeks at least and it smelt very nice.

On Sunday afternoon, I decided to do some tassle making. I'd found a great Pinterest post on it, sorted some scraps to use and then followed the instructions. They turned out ok, but not quite as I'd hoped. I made one for each of my upcycled totes, that I've worked on over the last couple of weeks. It just uses up more scraps and looks decorative. They'll probably fall off at some point, but look pretty enough. They would work very well to decorate gifts too and are a great way to use up scrappy strips of fabric that you might not be able to use any other way.

OH has caught also now caught the same cold, so we've all had it in the last couple of weeks. My cold felt a lot better until Sunday night, when I came over with all achey and flu like symptoms, but the cough was looser and the nose had stopped streaming. We both ended up going to bed early on Sunday, feeling rough.

When I woke on Monday morning I decided to use the last of our covid test kits to make sure I didn't have the virus. I didn't. I was working on Monday afternoon and it was a real effort to drag myself out of bed, get showered and head into work. I was asked twice on my shift if I could stay an extra 2 hours, but I declined. I didn't have it in me. I feel like I've aged 10 years in the last 10 days, it's been a real stinker.

On Tuesday morning, I decided to give my usual class at the gym a miss, due to my chest still not being great. I needed a break anyway. I got up late, feeling a bit better, did a few jobs around the house and then went out to do the weekly shop, which I hadn't been well enough to do the day before.

The weekly shop went okay. I managed to pick up some yellow stickered meat products, i.e. a chicken for OH, some organic beef burgers, some mince (which I rarely buy) and a couple of chicken and mushroom pies.  They were really insane prices, so there was no way I was going to walk away from them and they should keep us in meat options for a while, as we don't eat meat based meals more than two or three times per week.

I did venture into the charity shop this trip and found another top for work, (I've got plenty now) a top to wear in the summer months and a dress, which might be an option for a family wedding next year. I spent £12, so am still within my monthly £25 charity shop budget. (Just!) It will be my last visit to a charity shop this month though.

I felt quite tired when I eventually got home and didn't do much. I made some supper and then we settled down to watch the second series of The Capture on Netflix.

After not sleeping well on Tuesday night, due to my chest being congested, I woke up feeling really tired on Wednesday.  Luckily, I didn't need to be anywhere or do anything, and it was just as well, as it was raining all morning. As a consequence, I had a much needed lie in and finished reading my current book, no. 3 read this year. It was another book about sustainability and was good. Very easy to pick up and put down.

I had a late breakfast and then went back to bed. I still wasn't feeling well enough for a run or even a walk. It was a bit of a lost day if I'm honest. In between catching up on the sleep I lost in the night, I read a couple of chapters of a new book and then got up again around 4pm and had a late lunch.

Some good news, was that OH ordered the bricks to pave our back garden today, which is exciting. It will make such a difference when it is finally done. The lettuce seedlings that I transplanted the other week are doing well and seem to be thriving in their new seed trays. I'm just glad they survived the transition, but they're a long way off being big enough to plant out.

OH made a curry for supper later and we continued watching the series we'd started the night before. I really can't wait to shake off this cold virus.

On Thursday, I didn't need to be anywhere again, so I had a quiet day at home. I did manage to get up, showered, dressed and do some jobs around the house before heading back to bed for a couple of hours in the afternoon.

Another lost kind of day, but better than the day before.

I was due at work on Friday night, so I had a short lie in on Friday morning and then got up and ready. I decided to try to do something productive today and walked into our local town centre to the building society, as I needed to hand in a form they'd sent me and also sort out some changes to one of my accounts. This had been on my to do list for a couple of months. I managed to get everything I needed to done and found out I'd been given the free £50 thank you to customers that had been promised, which I was very grateful for.  Free money is always welcome. 

I then hopped on a bus to a local fabric warehouse to try to look for some fabric for the dress I want to make at my sewing classes, which start next week. I found a very pretty green ditsy floral print, which may do the job. I'll see what my tutor says about it. I think it might be polyester, which isn't ideal, but it may be viscose. The fabric warehouse were vague about it, but it did only cost £3 per metre and I ended up with 5 metres for the price of 4. Here's a picture:

If I don't decide to use it on the course, I may try to use it to make the same dress at home. 

By the time I got home it was lunchtime, so I made some lunch and then went back to bed for a couple of hours before getting ready for work. I dosed myself up with whatever I could before work and luckily it was very busy, so the shift passed very quickly. 

At the moment, my modus operandi at work is to just get through every shift as best I can and come home. This virus is nothing like I've ever experienced before. It wouldn't surprise me if it's some new strain of the dreaded C virus, that doesn't show up on the old tests. I don't think I've passed it on to anyone at work though, as far as I can tell, so maybe it's not as infectious and OH didn't suffer as badly, so maybe it affects people differently. I wouldn't wish it on anyone though.

On Saturday, I had a lie in as I was gripped by a strange vivid dream. When I woke up it was 9.30am. I eventually went down for breakfast and hung out downstairs for a while before getting ready. Once ready, OH and I headed to the allotment for an hour or so, he to mound up the potatoes and me to do more weeding and tidying up in corners I'd not got to on my previous visit. I did take a photo this visit:

It's all pretty tidy and growing reasonably well. What may look like weeds on parts of the plot, are actually poppies that have self seeded that I have left to see what they are like. If we need to use the space before they have flowered, I will pull them out.

When we got home, I decided that today was the day that I was finally going to make my Easter crispy buns. I'd forgotten to make them when LB was home, then was ill over Easter and this was the first time that I felt I wanted to make them. I love eating these buns, even though they are very simple and child like. They do hit the spot. Here's a picture:

I've got plenty of cornflakes and mini eggs to make more, I just need more chocolate to melt. It was probably a positive sign at the end of a bit of a lost week that I felt motivated to make them. Let's hope so.

The other positive at the end of this lost week, was that I got OH to print off more templates for my patchwork projects. Cutting them out was about as much as I could manage over the last couple of days, but at least now I can continue with these projects, both of which had ground to a halt. I spent the remainder of Saturday afternoon making new hexies, which is always a happy pasttime.

We ended the week watching a new movie out on Netflix called Emily, about Emily Bronte and her nove Wuthering Heights. It was really good.

I hope you haven't had a lost week like me this week.

Easter Sunday at the Car Boot Sale

On Easter Sunday, OH and I ventured out to a Car Boot Sale. It wasn't our usual one, was a little smaller and cost £2 to get in rather than £1, but it wasn't as far away and it made for a nice morning out.

I got a bit luckier with regard to finding black tops for work at this Car Boot. I found three, two of them cost £2 each, but were both new and one cost £1. I also bought a new black canvas ASOS jacket for £4. I will photograph these and put them in my Monthly Clothing Purchases post at the end of the month.

Other purchases included the following items:

I got some cute bark battery powered lights for the shed for £1. They didn't come with batteries. I put them in when I got home to test them and they work really well. Very pleased with these.

I bought some Hello Kitty stickers for LB, as she loves Hello Kitty. These were 3 for £1.

I bought 5 shadow boxes, each of which cost 50p and all were brand new (I took the packaging off them when I got home). Most are from Hobbycraft and would have cost significantly more than this. These are for a project I want to do that I set up a new Pinterest board for the other week.

I bought these hemp cords for £1 for the lot, which I thought was a steal. These will be great for gift wrapping, tassle making, jewellery making and other craft projects. So many pretty colours.

These three stationery items were also £1 for the three, which was really good value and they are handbag sized which is great.

And finally I got nearly 30 of these small cardboard gift boxes for £1 too, which will also be great for gift wrapping.

There were a few other small bits I bought from another seller that were mainly 10p each, just small practical and useful things. I haven't photographed them, but I liked this lady's stall, as everything was clearly priced and labelled and she was obviously trying to recycle things at a very low cost. I appreciated her initiative.

I think I did okay. I spent my usual £20, but came home with a bagful of useful stuff, so I was pretty happy.

OH and I then went on to a local pub and had a roast dinner before heading home, which made it a nice day out over the Easter Weekend.

Getting Back into a Routine - W/E 19th April 2025

After a week of having LB home and enjoying spending time together as a family, her departure heralded a week of getting back into our normal routine. On Sunday, OH decided not to go cycling as he'd planned and spent the day at home instead.

We both headed up to the local market to buy a few bits we needed. I used my Co-op app to get some money off a small shop there, we bought some more tomato and cucumber plants from a shop on the high street, I bought some unpackaged fruit and veg from the local green grocer and OH bought a print from a local artist we know. We also stopped off for him have a coffee in a cafe and had a nice stroll up and down on Market Day.

When we got back, I decided to prick out and pot on some of the lettuce seedlings that I'd sown a few weeks ago into recycled egg boxes, as they were a bit too congested to plant out as they were. I'm hoping they survive the transition.

We then headed down to the allotment to sow some beetroot seeds and do a bit of tidying up. I did mostly weeding, getting rid of any big weeds coming through. OH did some soil prep and sowed the beetroot seeds, then I sowed a row of hollyhocks.  One side of the plot is now fully cultivated. The plot looked a lot tidier once we were done and it was nice to spend a couple of hours outside. Unfortunately, I forgot to take my phone, so I didn't take a photo.

There is a family of foxes (mother and cubs) living under our allotment shed at the moment. Another plot holder saw one of the cubs creep past us as we were working, but we were so focused on what we were doing we missed him.

Anyway, here's a photo  someone posted on the allotment chat the other day, of the mother fox peeping out from under the shed. So cute.

On Sunday afternoon, OH decided to dismantle the decking from the side return. It is particularly rotten and needs to come up, as next door are having a side return extension built soon. Here's a before picture:

And an after one:

It always feels good when any progress is made around the house and garden. This was a smallish job, but took a lot of effort and will lead to something better eventually. It did mean we had to do another tip run to get rid of all the waste wood.

We've got some exciting (to us) plans for our side return once the building work is completed next door. It's currently been delayed, so it's going to be a few more months yet.  Our plans may not come to fruition this year, depending on how busy OH is, as there is other stuff that needs doing in the garden as a priority, but it is something we'll enjoy when it's done. I'll keep you posted when anything happens on this front.

On Monday, I went out of town to do the weekly shop as usual. I stuck to exactly what was on my list. No deviation into any charity shops or shopping other than for food, which made it a bit less expensive. I also got £5 off my shop at Lidl using an extra voucher and I got a couple of free items too. If I stick to this for the rest of the month, I should get through a tight month okay, so long as nothing unexpected crops up. I won't be putting as much in the car fund this month, but I have managed to squirrel some money away already.

I was tired on Monday afternoon, as I didn't sleep well on Sunday night, so I went back to bed for an hour, before getting up and getting ready for work in the evening. It was my first shift back after 9 days off, which felt strange. Work was okay. I was on my favourite job, so it passed quickly and I was kept very busy.

LB booked us tickets to her graduation ceremony today, which is taking place in July. It seems like yesterday that she started her studies. The time has gone by so quickly.

On Tuesday, I woke up to rain outside. It was the first decent amount of rain for a couple of weeks and OH was happy as it had re-filled the water butt.  The garden looked happy too, nice and green. I love it now that it is coming back to life. I was booked into my class at the gym as usual and headed off there. It continued to rain for most of the day, so I spent the rest of the day inside at home.

In the afternoon, I started to cover another shopping tote.  This one was a Waitrose tote and was quite stained inside due to a leak or breakage. I pieced up fabric to cover it and started to stitch it to the bag. I will be lining this bag, due to it's stained interior. I'll post a picture/video when it's finished. I have just one more bag to upcylcle, which is another Waitrose bag, but it is a large cotton bag rather than a tote. I use this for all of my vegetables and salad items as it holds quite a lot. The remainder of my shopping bags are in OK condition to continue using as they are, so this will be the last one I'll upcycle.

In the evening, we watched the last episode of The Day of the Jackal, which was really good. Hopefully, there will be another series at some point in the future. We also watched a movie starring Saoirse Ronan on Netflix. It was set on the Orkney Isles and was called The Outrun. It was good.

I wasn't working again on Wednesday, so late morning, we decided it was a good day to go to the tip with all the garden waste and waste wood, from ripping up the decking down the side return. I'd also re-sorted all the donations I'd set aside and some of it needed to go to the tip, as there don't appear to be anymore Zero Waste events in our borough to take some of the items to, which is a pity, and they weren't quite good enough to donate elsewhere.

It felt good to get the tip run done and free some space in the garden. OH dropped me off on the way back and I ran the 3km home to get my daily exercise. In the afternoon, I had a nap for an hour. I've come down with a cold and was feeling very tired. I then read for an hour and spent some time working on the shopping tote upcycle in the evening.

I was working on Thursday afternoon, and as my cold had worsened, I decided not to go to the gym in the morning. Instead, I had a chilled morning getting ready for work, dosed myself up with paracetamol and then set off early and walked the two miles to work, to get some steps in. I was a bit hot and bothered by the time I got there, as the weather was quite warm, but I soon settled into my shift, which passed quickly due to it being very busy. 

I left work at 6pm and caught the bus home. I got a call from my manager on the way home, asking if I'd go in for an extra shift the following day. I agreed to go in for a few hours, but not the long shift suggested, as this cold is really unpleasant. OH was cycling all day on Good Friday, so I'd be home alone if I hadn't agreed to go in. I figured that I may as well earn a bit more money if I can.

On Friday, I was feeling pretty awful, but as I'd promised to go into work, I got myself ready and walked in again as OH was using the car. I really wasn't feeling it. My nose was streaming, I had a cough and just felt rough. I dosed myself up with cough linctus and paracetamol before I started, bought some cough sweets and just got on with it. Luckily, it was really busy again and the 4 hour shift passed by super quickly. OH then came to pick me up in the car and we went straight home. It felt so good to get home and relax, knowing I wasn't due to work again for two days and could try to shake the cold off. I was in bed by 8.30pm and got a really good night's sleep for the first time in a few days.

Saturday, I woke up feeling a little better. I had a lie in and then got up and got ready. I didn't have any plans for the day and OH was out cycling again, so I decided to do a bit of sewing. I made the lining for the shopping tote and then hand stitched it in place and completed the second cloth shopping bag upcycle. It made for a lovely relaxing afternoon and the last two upcycles are now completed. Here are a couple of videos of the results:

In the evening, we found another great TV series to watch on Netflix. This one is called The Capture and stars the woman from Strike who partners Strike in his detective agency. She is good in this too.  We binge watched 4 episodes before heading to bed.

Inspite of being ill this week, it does feel like it's been a semi-productive week and progress has been made, which is good enough for me.