Tuesday 31 January 2017

Bit one of my back left teeth a bit hard

The peppers were stuffed with something crunchy that I bit down a teeny bit hard on and made a pain shoot through the tooth, but other than that they were yummy and made a yummy change from my usual mushrooms... nice and sweet!  Yummy!

Having stuffed peppers for lunch today. Yumsk!

Steve's just gone into the kitchen to get them sorted for me... yummy scrummy in my tummy!

Monday 30 January 2017

Keep going, Steve!

Just ordered 2 t-shirts and a pair of shorts the next size down to try and inspire him to fit into them in time for Summer.

You can do it Steve - you've already dropped one clothes size and I'll keep getting you clothes the next size down until you reach your target clothes size... occasional take-aways really do make the difference as we both already know.

Keep going, you can so do it!  👍

Shopping has just been and gone

I order stuffed peppers and stuffed mushrooms every week.

Most weeks I only get the mushrooms 'cos the peppers are sold out and I get a small packet of mediterranian veg instead that I usually forget about.

I'll definitely have the peppers this week though!  Make the most of them while I can 'cos they'll prolly be out of stock again next week lol

Marie is here this week

I know I'm usually a grumpy bitch on a Monday evening, but Marie came over this evening and she seems to be in a good mood!

Hopefully the shopping will be done and dusted before 7pm then I can take me pills and head to bed to recover from a busy day today.

Gotta remember to put edit 1 of Just Ask up on Wordsprouts on Wednesday... you watch me forget!  👅 lol

Textiles and junk mail go in...

Just put a very holey t-shirt into the blue bag to be recycled but it wasn't picked up so I checked the Council's site and found out that textiles and junk mail goes into the green box and thick card like pizza boxes and stuff goes in the blue bag.

There is so much of our household waste that can be recycled now:  junk mail, textiles, cans, bottles, paper, thin card, batteries, cartons, glass bottles, aerosols, mixed plastic and tins all go in the green boxes.  Food waste into the brown caddy and thick cardboard like pizza boxes into the blue bag.

If we make full use of the recycling available and get into the habit of recycling instead of just binning, pretty much our only wheelie bin waste will be Steve's dressings!

Need to get into the habit of recycling more of our waste though!  It'll take a few weeks but we'll get there eventually like we did when we first got the green and brown boxes and we recycle a lot of stuff now, we can do better though!

76p

What on earth have I spent 76p on??

Today's balance is £*20.24 and my available balance is £*19.75!

Much confusion right about now!  😕

Sunday 29 January 2017

Today's lunch was...

Just finished our lunch and taken the plates out.

Was pasta and meatless meatballs again... yumsk!

Steve's been finding himself burping more as he's eating sitting up almost straight now instead of being hunched over like he used to.

🍴

Just cleared up Mitzi's poo from the back yard

Steve held the bin bag open and I scooped the poo into the pickerupperper and put it in the bag, Steve knotted the bag and I binned it.  💩

We worked together as a team and managed it without having a go at each other, so I've got no reason to think the kitchen will be any different... just gotta find a way to motivate Steve to do it now!  👍

The spaghetti and ravioli cutters have just arrived, so...

The first thing I'm going to make with the food processor, pasta machine and cutters is round ravioli for me and 'im... gotta get the worktops cleared up first though!  😉

Steve's just agreed to...

Just spoken to Steve about clearing all the sides off and he's just agreed to doing the bit behind the rollator and I do the bread machine and bags bits.

He's said he'll do it "soon" so I'll try not to nag him about it and I'll start working on the rest of it as soon as the carer has gone.

I refuse to do the lot on my own when most of it is Steve's stuff!  We both live in the same house so surely the household chores should be split between us too, right?

Saturday 28 January 2017

So, I'm thinking...

Tomorrow I'll do what Steve promised to do and clear off the worktop by the bread machine, then I'll work out a way to put all the equipment on the top, ready to use, then I'll wash up the bowls and utensils and stuff, put them on the drying rack then come in here and read the instructions on how to use it all.

I'm fed up of asking Steve to do something, him promising he will then never doing it.  It was like that with the kitchen bin and it looks like it'll be the same with the worktop too!

Not going to put up with it though.  Starting tomorrow I'll ask for Steve's help once then ask Marie to do it instead, just like I did with the kitchen bin.  If Steve promises to help I'll give him an additional week then do it myself and hope I don't hurt myself in the process.

After I've got the stuff on the side sorted, I'll repeat it with the main surface behind the rollator and lastly work on the side by the freezer 'cos that's mainly carrier bags and stuff.

When the sides are sorted, I'll start preparing food from scratch ready for Steve to bung in the oven for our lunch.

Hopefully we'll lose even more weight that way and be healthier than we already are with our food!

Just bought a spaghetti cutter and 2 ravioli cutters

Just been to look on the Amazon site and found that the second of the two phone cases I sent back to Amazon has been refunded as a gift voucher instead of money.

I've got no problem with that, I bought a spaghetti cutter and 2 ravioli cutters instead and paid a grand total of 48p all together.

Means that I'll be able to make lasagne, spaghetti and ravioli with my pasta machine as soon as Steve clears up the worktop that the bread machine is on.

We'll have fresh bread and fresh pasta whenever we want it as soon as I've worked out the recipe details!

Just gotta clear off the worktop first!  lol

Such a spectacular little girl!

Mitzi's vivabox has just arrived.

It had a flee collar in it.

The pup was such a good girl while Steve worked out how to put it on her and cut off the extra bit... she wanted to sniff it then got worried about putting her head through it but let Steve do it anyway and she'll be flee-free for 3 months now!

Assuming it works and Mitzi doesn't try to pull it off or anything, as long as she's comfortable, I'll try and remember to get it with the shopping instead of the spot-on stuff!  I'm guessing it'll be cheaper and easier and longer lasting to get a new collar every 3 months than getting the spot-on every 6 weeks!

I just want the pup to be comfortable with the extra collar though - assuming it doesn't bother her though, we'll be getting the collar for her again and again!

Just taken me supplements

As always, the multivitamin is kicking in already... I'm more awake and inspired already and I only took them a couple of minutes ago!

Thank you for coming up with such a fast-working multivitamin, Simply Supplements!

The poor pup didn't want to go on her walk this morning!

Just tried to take Mitzi out on her morning walk and there was lots of banging and crashing going on, so she re-opened the front door herself and came back in... I'll take her out when it's a bit quieter out there, like I did yesterday.

Poor pup!  😞

Friday 27 January 2017

Cashback sites are great because...

Steve's got a Surface Pro tablet computer thing.

He got a nail clipping under the up arrow in the keyboard somehow.

He took the key off, took the nail clipping out and can't get the key back on it now!

I've got a Nectar card that I used £15 of to get him a replacement keyboard that I only paid 44p for.

I just hope he's chosen the right one!  lol

It was dispatched in less than an hour by 2nd class Royal Mail, so, in theory, it'll be here on Monday.

If it's the wrong one I'll put it on Freegle instead... waste not want not and all that!

I got him a big pack of batteries a few months back that I only paid pennies for too, so those couple of extra clicks when you do your shopping really does help - getting 2 things from eBay for less than £1 makes all the difference.

Just got back from taking the pup on the rest of her walk

The sand has disappeared now, so I took the pup on the last two thirds of her walk and she's just had a touch more of her breakfast.  She's such a social little girl that she always wants to be around either Steve or me or both of us before she will do anything at all.

She's got her own food and water bowls but seems to refuse to eat or drink unless one of us is in the room with her!

Same with her sleeping... she has to have at least one of us in the same room as her, the whole time she's asleep!

Bless her furry little paws!

Just tried to take the pup for her walk, but...

They are building a block of flats at the bottom of the street, so why not take the sand to the bottom of the street instead of blocking all of one side of the pavement and 90% of the road half way up?

You would struggle to get a moped or motorbike past the sand in the road and you literally have to go to the other pavement to get past it as a pedestrian!

What if there was an accident or fire on the building site?  There is no way an emergency vehicle can get past it if they need to!

Steve's carer won't be able to get past it and our neighbour won't be able to leave their house until all the sand is gone because it's right up against their door!

The least they should have done was let this side of the street know what they were planning!  I just hope our neighbour on the left doesn't need to go to work today!

Thursday 26 January 2017

As of this coming November...

Just had a letter from the benefits bods, telling me that starting in November this year, I'll be getting £500 and some pennies every month which is an extra £40 a month than I'm getting now!  👍

Yay!

That extra will go straight into my secondary account to save up £480 extra a year which is £20 more than I'm currently getting in a month, so I'll be getting 13 months money in 12 months, not bad eh?  👌

The multivitamin really does...

Was totally tired and uncreative until I took my multivitamin... literally a couple of minutes later and I'm wide awake and ready for the afternoon!

Yay!

Wednesday 25 January 2017

Saved about £64 every year

I got a couple of .healthcare domains when they were first available but have never used them and it was £129 a year for those 2 domains and another domain and hosting that I do use, so it'll be about £65 a year now so I've already saved half of what I was paying for, just by getting rid of those domains and someone who will put them to better use will be able to use them instead.

Means it'll still be a couple of tight weeks in April for the groceries but if we can keep it below £75 a week I'll still be able to get the shopping each week, it'll just be from the Basics range is all!

Breakfast today was...

An Eccles cake and 5 chocolate mini rolls!  👍

Gonna have a Belvita soft bake breakfast biscuit too 'cos I'm a pig!  lol

Tuesday 24 January 2017

Lunch today was...

Had a couple of stuffed mushrooms for my lunch today.  Want to try and make my own pasta soon, for the first time in my life, but I can't get to the main counter 'cos Steve's rollator is in the way and it's full of clutter.

I've asked Steve to clear off the other surface by my wheelchair so that I can prepare the food and Steve cooks it... play to both our strengths kinda thing.

Wanna use our bread machine and slow cooker as much as the new stuff, but I can't do that until Steve's cleared off the surfaces!  👎😞

Ooh!  I've just worked out how to put emoji's into my blog posts!  😁

Refunds from Amazon

Just had an email from Amazon about each of the two phone cases I returned.

The refunds will be in my account in 3-5 business days so that's an extra £21 in my account that I'd forgotten about, so I'll just about be in credit and the £70 that's in there will mean I've got £91 in there with the refund which will cover the unexpected bills like Mitzi's grooming and stuff.

I've just got to not spend anything before the middle of February and everything will be fine.

Monday 23 January 2017

Update on the money post

Got £170 in my bank account atm
Take off the shopping that's coming today makes it £69 until next week.
Take off the £10 that goes into my secondary account, that leaves me with £59
Mitzi's grooming is £33 which leaves me with £26

End of January I get paid twice and assuming I haven't used any of the £26 that'll give me £550

Shopping on the Monday leaves me with £450

Namehog stuff on 8th February leaves me with £405

Back to normal again then.  Very tight but as long as I don't spend any money other than the grooming, 2 lots of shopping and the Namehog stuff, I'll still be able to afford to pay for the direct debits on 15th Feb!

Tight, but doable.  Just gotta be very stingy.

Yep, this is me! lol


Gonna be a hard week, moneywise, because...

I've got £170 and some pennies in my bank account.

The grocery shopping is pennies over £100.

That leaves me with pennies over £69 for this week and bills and stuff then I'll be paid again next Monday and Tuesday then the Namehog stuff then the February bills and back to normal.

Basically I'm just hoping I don't go overdrawn again!  lol

Sunday 22 January 2017

Review of the duvet

The duvet was amazing last night and it only cost £9!  Came a week early too! 

Kept me nice and warm without overheating me or making me cold - didn't want to get out of bed this morning!  lol

If you are after a new duvet and don't mind that it's factory seconds then definitely get this duvet... I would buy again and again!

Saturday 21 January 2017

Weekly anti-virus scan

My weekly anti-virus scan has just finished... about 12 hours after setting it going!

Fastest one so far even though I've got more on my laptop than I had last week and I've been using it all day too.

WTG AVG!

Jokes please!

I'm planning on putting up a page of jokes on my site - thing is, I need a sense of humour by-pass.

I know this blog isn't always family friendly 'cos I do swear on here sometimes, but I'm going to put the jokes on my personal site which is as family friendly as possible.

If I get enough family unfriendly then I'll consider putting a password protected page on there for those jokes.

The jokes have to be funny enough for me to keep going back for a laugh, even if I know the joke off by heart... something that'll lift my spirits on a down day, something that will make me smile when that's the last thing I want to do, something different.

I don't like gross or violence, blood and vomit are no-go's, so are politics and obviously jokes I don't understand will not make it either.  Groaners are fine as are picture jokes as long as they don't have even a hint of the things I said about ^^ up there

Leave your joke in the comments bit and let me know who to thank too!

That's the new duvet on the bed then!

It arrived a week early so it's on the bed and the previous duvet is in the kitchen, waiting for someone from Freegle to come and get it.

There is nothing immediately obvious wrong with it so it was £9 well spent I reckon!

Assuming it stays like that, it'll be getting a 5 star review from me tomorrow!

Friday 20 January 2017

My review of Birds Eye beef burgers



My hubby is the only meat-eater in the house and because it's such a big brand name, he had high hopes.

He opened the box and each burger was barely the size of the palm of his hand.

Grilled them and they shrunk even smaller, ever so slightly bigger than a 50p piece!  You would need at least 4 or 5 of them to cover the bottom of a bun and only just barely!  You would only be able to get 2 or 3 small burgers out of the whole box.  The hubby used the whole box for one meal because they were so small!

There are absolutely no positives about this product at all!

Come on, Birds Eye, you can do better than this!

Productive morning so far!

Woke up
Walked the pup
Turned my laptop on
Let Steve's carer in
Took the chocolate out of the cupboard for me an' 'im to share
Searched for boys names online
Decided on James
Set up a Word document for the ECB
Started the grocery shopping
Took me supplements
Wrote this - it's not even lunchtime yet!!

Thursday 19 January 2017

Things to review - ideas please!

I usually only review books on my writing blog and sometimes things I've bought off Amazon on here and the supplements I take from Simply Supplements (using that link means we both get 20% off our next order with them) with occasional food reviews but I want to do more reviews, I just don't know what of or how to go about it is all!

I don't mind paying for things - that's only fair, but what sort of things do you want me to review?

Feedback and idea's please!

Pills and potions

I will run out of my new prescription 4 weeks today 'cos I've just taken the last one of my December/January ones, so tomorrow will see the start of the January/February prescription.

Also, I didn't take my supplements today and I've really noticed the difference!  Tired, achey, low, really uncreative and all that sorta thing.  So, starting from tomorrow I'm going to take my supplements every morning and my prescriptions every evening 'cos I noticed such a huge difference today!

I'm thinking of setting an alarm on my mobile to remind me to take the supplements until it becomes a routine like taking my prescriptions has now!  The supplements aren't that expensive for the amount you get, I just don't like taking pills is all.

Still, I now know that I need to take 5 pills a day to make me feel the best I can and use the B12 spray whenever I need to as well, 'cos that makes a huge difference to my mood and energy levels!

Ordered meself a duvet, so can someone remind me please...

The duvet that is on the bed atm has a huuuuge hole in one side and a biiiig hole in the other side, so I've ordered myself another duvet that'll be here between Tuesday and Saturday next week, so I'm going to put the current duvet on Freegle when I've got the new one on the bed.

It's ideal for pet beds and stuff or if you're good at putting duvet covers on (I'm not!) then it's good to go, but my legs keep getting trapped in the holes, which just makes them bigger, so can someone remind me to put the duvet on Freegle when the new one has turned up please?

Thank you!

Now that I've got all the kitchen machines I've ever wanted...

Now that I've got all the machines I've ever wanted in the kitchen (bread machine, ice cream machine, pasta roller, mixer, food processor and slow cooker), I'm hoping we can start making meals from scratch - me doing the preparation and Steve looking after cooking.

Make meal times more home-made and less reliant on things that are already prepared that you just bung in the oven like we're doing now... do as much as possible from scratch kinda thing?

More freshly home-made stuff and less pre-prepared things.  We both prefer home-cooked stuff and it'll take a while to get into a new routine but we'll be doing everything from scratch by the middle of 2017 hopefully!

Wednesday 18 January 2017

Just finished writing, so...

Just finished writing "Don't bother" so I'm going to take me pills and head to bed then have a long, hot, bubble bath in the morning to celebrate!

I'm meeting up with C for lunch tomorrow so I just hope Steve's carer doesn't come while I'm in the bath!  lol

Nite nite orl!

Took the pup on her walk this morning, and...

The idiot at the end of the street walked past us.

Couldn't even look at me.

Every time he's tried to get us into trouble it hasn't worked and he's all out of ideas now.

If he's got nothing better to do with his time than make up accusations about us then he's not worth the air that he breathes IMNSHO!

Tuesday 17 January 2017

Just finished writing for the day, so...

I'm going to take me pills, read my forums and emails then head to bed for a really early night.

My right knee is killing me for some reason though  :-(

That's the pup walked and me supplements taken

Ready and raring to go now!  The multivitamin really kicks my muse into action every morning I take it!

Monday 16 January 2017

Grocery shopping and writing

The shopping was delivered nice and early today.  I've also written 4 chapters so I can take me pills and head to bed now!

Nite nite orl!

Supplements and shopping

Just taken me supplements and, like usual, the multivitamin is kicking in already.

The grocery shopping is coming tonight so won't be taking my prescriptions until that's been and gone, but I is a 'appy bunny right now!

Sunday 15 January 2017

Just taken me supplements and...

Just taken the supplements and the multivitamin is kicking in already!

Again!

All 3 of them make a huge difference in my creativity whenever I remember to take them... it's just gone 9am and I can already feel my muse waking up, but usually it's asleep until lunchtime!

Toasted bagels for breakfast are...

Just had a toasted bagel for me breakfast and it was so yummy!

Definitely going to have them again!

Got a chocochino waiting for me, but I'm going to take me supplements first then get started on my writing again.

Saturday 14 January 2017

I'm loving AVG even more now!

The last scan I did picked up and secured a virus on my machine.  That was enough to make it worth the money every year.

It's just picked up and secured another one too!

In two weeks it's already earned it's yearly cost!

I've been running it for 32 weeks and I'll keep on running it too.

Thank you AVG - keep up the great work!

115 now!!

What is so interesting about me saying goodnight to you all?

The blog post I made a few days ago has been read 115 times!

Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful for each and every reader but what was so interesting about it?

Friday 13 January 2017

I was wrong

Just taken the pup out and we only did a third of the usual length because it has snowed and the pup didn't like it one little bit, bless her tiny furry paws!

That's me supplements taken and no snow (yet), so...

The multi-vitamin is already kicking in and there isn't any snow settled on the ground, so I'm gonna take Mitzi out for her normal walk before it snows and I can't take her!

Thursday 12 January 2017

What was so interesting yesterday, that meant...

I've had yesterdays good night post that consisted of 3 words has been read almost 50 times in just over 24 hours?

Wednesday 11 January 2017

Going to bed now

Nite nite orl!

Just taken me supplements again

Just taken me supplements and the HD version is already kicking in again!

Definitely worth the money for them to get such quick results!

Tuesday 10 January 2017

Gonna have to be very tight with...

I've got a Namehog thing coming out on the 13th, bills coming out on the 15th and I'm not paid until the 16th so it'll be a very tight couple of weeks with the grocery shopping... 'Basics' instead of 'Taste The Difference' and brand names and stuff, but as long as we don't buy anything else and we use what we've already got in the house instead of stuffing the freezer with new things each week, I'll be able to get it sorted... just gotta cut out cakes and fizzy drinks and things like that.  Things that are nice to have but we can do without just for a couple of weeks then back to our normal shop by the end of January.

I spent £114 extra in December because of Christmas and stuff and bills that come out at the end of the month, so that £114 will cover most of the Namehog bill and I'll be able to put the other spare £20 towards it too which'll give me £134 which is the Namehog bill pretty much covered.

My initial panic was that I'd have to keep the shopping under £50 a week to save the £100 I needed, but as long as I'm tight for the rest of January and we keep it below £75 a week (this week's shop was £86 but there were cakes and fizzy drinks and stuff that we can do without).  Steve has 2 jumbo swiss rolls and other cakes and loads of fizzy drinks as well as sparkling water, so if we can cut most of that out and make our own drinks with squash and tap water or fizzy water for Steve then we can save that extra £11 just with that alone!

I get multi-packs of chocolate every week which I can do without so that'll save another few quid too.

We don't have to miss out on the stuff we usually get, just get own brand Basics stuff instead of brand names.  I can't usually tell the difference with most things, so it's no big deal to me!

January will be hard, but that's it until we have to tighten our belts again in March 'cos that's my Namehog stuff again, but if I don't spend any of the money I'm putting into my secondary bank until then, I'll be able to cover the Namehog stuff with that money etc, etc... it's just that 2017 is the year that my 2 year bill cycles come out together with Namehog stuff is all.  2018 will be a cheaper year 'cos I'll only have the annual bills to come out, then 2019 will be another expensive year etc etc but I'm hoping to have £10 a week going into my secondary account to cover my Namehog stuff each time.

It's just 'cos I've only set up the standing order for £10 a couple of weeks ago, so haven't got much in the account atm, but it's £40 a month that I won't miss starting in February.  It just means that I've got £120 in there every three months which will cover each of the Namehog bills as they come up.

I'll get there in the end!  lol

The time I reckon it takes Iron to get into your system

I yanked a bit of skin off my thumb last night and produced a bit of blood.

Sucked it off and it tasted more metalic than usual.

I didn't take me supplements yesterday so I can only think it came from the Iron I took the day before.

That means it takes about 30 hours for Iron to get into your system, the multivitamin takes a couple of minutes so I still don't know how long it takes the calcium, but, based on the iron I reckon it takes a couple of days to get into your system.

I've just taken me supplements this morning and the multivitamin is kicking in, so I'm hoping to have another write-athon today!

Monday 9 January 2017

Going to jump under the shower now

Finished the day's writing now, walked the pup and fed her, so I'm going to jump under the shower and wash my hair now.  Will feel so good and I can put the washing on then have me lunch and relax for the rest of the day then!

Yay!

Sunday 8 January 2017

Just taken me supplements and...

Just taken me supplements and rearranged the corner of the drawer that they live in and they are already kicking in... the multivitamin is making me see in HD again... the calcium are a longer term thing, so I don't feel them working, I just hope they do!  lol

Saturday 7 January 2017

Good job I do a weekly virus scan!

I run a virus scan every Friday that takes about 30ish hours to run, but it's just picked up and secured a virus on my machine that infected me in the last 7 days.

I've set up my laptop to run AVG and anti-malware as soon as I log in every day for exactly this reason!

The anti-malware has been stopping it from infecting others and AVG has secured the threat now.

So worth the money for both of them!

My O2 phone now works again

Turns out that I just needed to get an O2 Guru to activate my sim card, turn it off for 2 hours then turn it back on et voila!

It's taken a week, but it's all sorted now!  Yay!

I've also had a change in my credit report again...

It's got one point better than last month and it's only another couple of months before my Studio report gets taken off 'cos it's 6 years since I last used it.

I've been paying all the bills by direct debit for the last 14 months and it's been 26 months since my last serious credit mishap.

Basically, as long as I keep £325 in my account every month for the next 5 years, my credit score will keep getting better and better!

Yay!

As of Monday...

Steve's carer has just taken the two phone cases that didn't fit my phone and she's going to post them on Monday because she lives opposite a post office and I don't know if they need to be scanned or if they can just be posted in a box.

Either way, they are out of my hands and on their way now so hopefully I'll get my refunds by the end of next week!

Yay!