Tonsillectomy and Distraction....

 I'm just popping in to say that I'm still here.  I just can't summon up enough energy to write a decent post.  Our lovely Granddaughter had a tonsillectomy last Friday afternoon and is in so much pain that I can't think of anything but her at the moment 😢  Everyone warned us that it's harder for an adult to recover from (she's 20) and I certainly don't remember being in the kind of pain she is describing when I had mine removed at the age of 5.  Her throat, neck and jaw are extremely painful and it's preventing her from sleeping soundly.  I expect that the morphine has worn off now and she is paying the price.  I do hope the pain eases soon.....

Meanwhile, stay safe and well wherever you happen to be,  I'll be back in a day or two...

Angie 💗

A Warm Welcome & Speaking of Antiques

 Our local council ( the parish council, I think)  has opened a Warm Welcome space in a room at the Civic Centre.  It's open from Monday to Friday 9am to 1pm and not only is it lovely and warm in temperature, but the volunteers are friendly and offer free tea, coffee, hot chocolate or cup-a-soup to any visitors.  Yesterday, we decided to try it.  The weather was damp and miserable and so dark we needed the lights on.  We both felt sluggish so took a short drive to the venue.  It was amazing and just the place for lonely people to have a bit of human contact.  There were books to read, boxed games, a puzzle board and even a pool table.  As well as beverages they do pot noodles, fish paste sandwiches, toast, and biscuits.  All are FREE.  Graham and I gratefully accepted toast and coffee and had a lovely chat with some of the people there.  Apparently, Sainsbury's donate some of the items like bread and biscuits, they do have a collection box for a kitty for milk but no payment is actually expected from anyone.  We dropped a few coins in, of course, but the 2 lady volunteers were indispensable.  Where would the UK be without volunteers?  The room is open until the end of March so we will definitely go again.

This afternoon we have the Wednesday Club and the speaker will be talking about antiques and collectables.  That will be right up my street.  Tea / coffee and a biscuit will be included  and for just £3 each too 😀 We know how to live it up! 😂

Thanks for popping in.  Stay safe and well wherever you happen to be,

Angie 💗

Confounded by Technology

I have to say that I am becoming exceedingly confounded by technology.  My eBay App stopped working on my smartphone literally overnight. Yes, my phone is 5 years old and...yes...it wasn't the latest technology when I bought it but there was no warning.  It just stopped 'being supported' and there is no updated App to download, at least not one that my phone will accept.  In addition, my android tablet also has issues now.  I feel cheated, frustrated and annoyed.  No more 'ker..ching' sound when I sell an item and also eBay has introduced changes to their selling policies which impact on hobby sellers like me with regards to payments from customers.  Honestly, I could throw all tech out of the window right now.....

 😭  Am I alone in feeling this way? Why are tech companies always after my money?

On the plus side, my British Gas App works well and I can see that I have saved money by taking part in half price Sundays:

It's only pence each time but it does add up......

Regarding my Sell & Save ...... well, I haven't sold a thing in over a week....😔

Thanks for popping in.  Do stay safe and well wherever you happen to be,

Angie💗

Sell and Save for an Expensive Year

 2025 will be an expensive year for us.  We have several BIG birthdays coming up;  DD will be 50 in March, Grandson 18 in July and Granddaughter 21 in September.  Where have all the flippin' years gone?  My lovely little Grandchildren all grown up? 

I now need to knuckle down and raise some cash for decent gifts for them.  We could use some savings but I'd rather not spend our hard earned savings just yet.  To this end I'm going to do a Sell & Save with the aim of raising £150 for 3 gifts. That would top up our gift budget sufficiently, I think.  I know £50 each isn't a lot but they never expect us to spend massively on them anyway.  Our usual birthday budget is £30 each so I'm hoping that a max of £80 each should buy a decent gift........

I've had a good rummage around in boxes and under the bed and I've listed a few things on eBay to begin with.  I might have to take a look in the garage next and wrest  persuade Graham to part with a couple of things 😁

Here goes....

Sell & Save £0.00

I hope you all had a lovely weekend and that you are all safe and well, Take care,

Angie 💗

All the D's....and a Disappointment

 Boy, oh boy am I glad it's 1st February today.  January has felt like such a long month.  All the D's, in fact: Damp, Dreary, Dismal, Dark and Discouraging.  I can't wait for the lighter nights and warmer weather so that I can get into the garden again.  Today, Graham has spent a few hours at the allotment tackling weeding and the preparation of the beds ready for the new planting.  I was happy to stay at home.....

After the necessary chores had been done, I decided on a bit of cardmaking to take advantage of being undisturbed.  A couple of weeks ago I donated 20 of my cards to my favourite Hospice charity shop in the hope that they would raise some money.  A week later I popped in to ask whether or not there was any interest in them and the volunteer lady said they had been snapped up.  She fished the 5 remaining cards out of the bottom of a box on the very bottom shelf and I could see that they were priced at just 50p each.  I know that they would achieve at least £1 each if they were in a visible spot because that's what the other charity shop sold them for.  I was a little disappointed to say the least.  The lady then suggested what type of cards I could supply!  She obviously fancied stocking up herself 👀 I did explain that it wouldn't be worth my while donating the materials if they sold the cards for so little because it's hard enough to make them for 50p each.  She said she understood, so I'll give them one more batch and check (unobtrusively) what they do with them.  If they are not valued then I'll try a different CS.  There are 6 to choose from!

...............

Right...I'm off to watch a bit of TV.  It's the 1% Club tonight and I did rather well last week, although I got the very last question wrong 😟 We play at the same time as our Daughter over WhatsApp and it's good fun. 

 Does anyone else watch it?

Thanks for popping in, and stay safe and well wherever you happen to be,

Angie 💗

Free Food (Almost) and The Bubble Wrap trick

We needed a TV guide for next week, and had run out of potatoes completely, even tinned ones so Graham's last £5 worth of Nectar points were required to top up. This is what we bought.... 

 

And this is what we spent.... 

We parted with just 42p in cash 👍£5 Nectar points

Today is Thursday 30th January and I'm fairly confident that we will not need to buy anything else this month.  The garage freezer is switched off and defrosting ready for cleaning later today. The remaining frozen items have been squeezed into the kitchen freezer and I know what frozen food I have left!

😜😎

I need to start as I mean to go on now and write everything down as it goes back into the clean freezer. I got very lazy and forgot to log things as they were put away which makes life very confusing when it comes to meal planning (or should I be trendy and say Reverse Meal Planning! 🤣)

Nectar points spent:  Graham £20.00     Angie £25.00

Boots points 565

Cash spent:  £93.50

We've eaten well and spent less than the £100 allocated.  In fact, there's £6.50 left so I'm therefore going to call this challenge a success👍

..................

Regarding bubble wrap....Vivi from What Vivi Did Next on u-tube mentioned that someone had said that if you fill any free space within a freezer with bubble wrap it make it work more efficiently, so, whilst I'm slowly re-stocking, I'll try that, I think.

Thank you so much for following me this last month.  Stay safe and well wherever you happen to be,

Angie 💗

Running Low & Eke-ing Out

 It's Sunday 26th January and we have six more days of meals to find before I can break into the February food budget.  Yesterday, Graham fancied steak for his main meal so spent £5.00 worth of his Nectar points on steak and two chicken portions.  I can't find his receipt but it cost:

£3.50 steak (small sirloin, thin cut)

£2.60 2 x chicken breast portions

£6.10 total 

£5 Nectar + £1.10 cash

I cooked the steak and served it with roast potatoes, brocolli, carrots, home grown sprouts, onion rings and yorkshire puddings, and I enjoyed a big plate of veg 👍

The chicken will be used for two more meals (4 portions) ....not sure what yet....fajita wraps maybe? Cooked and sliced with more veg?

For the forthcoming week I also have the makings of:

Cheese pie & baked beans

Quorn chilli and rice

Leftover Quorn curry

Eggs and chips

Pasta bake

The freezers are slowly emptying and by the end of the challenge I hope to defrost the garage freezer ready for re-stocking.  I've used up all the odd bits of leftovers and tiny bits left in their packaging and, in doing so, freed up a lot of storage boxes for future use.  It's been very satisfying 😊

Nectar points spent:  Graham £15.00     Angie £25.00

Boots points 565

Cash spent:  £93.08

Remaining:  £5 Nectar points and £6.92 cash

---------------

I'm also eke-ing out toiletries. I do have spares but want to make everything last as long as possible. We still seem to get through a ton of handwash (thanks to ingrained pandemic habits) and I make sure I use every drop....

My favourite cleanser is so expensive that I scrape every bit out of it by cutting off the top......

To reveal enough cleanser for several more days.....

I can't buy that on a whim now......

Right... I'm off do do some half price washing 👍

Thanks so much for popping in, stay safe wherever you happen to be,

Angie 💗