Lots going on

With little time to come up for air in between.  I was saying to another friend today that since I stopped working I have had more of a social life than I did when I was.  However I am enjoying this and the upside is that I can be there at long last for my friends when they need me.  That part is very satisfying from my perspective.  Whereas when I was working, I had enough on my plate with work and with OH and very little time inbetween. I also met by chance an old friend who I had lost contact with during the week which really cheered me up.  She was a Trainee Solicitor of my boss when she joined the company and I worked for her and saw her all the way through qualifying as a solicitor, getting married, having children and then we lost touch.  We are going to meet up for a coffee soon. 

All sorts of things have cropped up since I anticipated doing this and that and it will be tomorrow evening before I will be able to do anything at all.  I am on a course tomorrow to do with my mediumship which I am very much looking forward to.  I hope that I am not disappointed.  I am also hoping at some point to do a course on spiritual healing as well.  One of my colleagues is a Teacher for this, she is old school, dots the "I's" and crosses the "T's" but at least you know where you stand with her and she is a good teacher.

It has gradually been getting colder at night during the week. More autumn in feeling before it was officially autumn a tad chillier. For the past few weeks or so I have been topping up the Gas with a few pounds here and there even though we are hardly using it.  I have been doing a bit at a time to try and bring the total on the meter up to £100 before we actually start using the heating again.  Even though I am chillier tonight I have a jumper on and will not put the heating on.  I have a quilt and blankets to snuggle under which should keep me warm. The reason I have been doing this is so that a huge chunk of money does not go out of the bank account in one fair swoop but a tenner here and there soon adds up.  I want to make sure that the heat is going to be there when we really need it especially with my medical conditions which have decided to play up a bit since the weather started getting chillier.  I want the house as snug as I can get it.

We seem to have been using more electricity recently but that will settle down once I have got to grips with everything I need to get sorted out. Even though I have some social engagements next week for the best part I am hoping to get stuck in a bit more with the work I have to do and hope to see some results next week in one area at least.

I have some plums and shallots ordered from a friend and a marrow to do more preserving with next week.  I will see what else he has and may order stuff in for the freezer as well as it is all home grown.  They should arrive on Monday hopefully.

I had planned on going foraging this week but have not got round to it and so I am hoping to get next week before the weather gets any colder as I want to get a few more things on the pantry shelf if I can.  I am thinking sloes and crab apples and rowan berries and rose hips here.

I have also started the Christmas food stash for this Christmas. I have bought the dried fruit, and will shortly make the Christmas cakes and the Christmas puddings. I like the tradition of stir up Sunday but on a practical basis I need these done and dusted and in the pantry so that they are out of the way and off the check list and that the cakes can be fed. I am hoping to use the dried fruit left over from last year in mincemeat which I hope to start off this week and also in dried fruit chutneys and the like. 

I have also bought some biscuits which stop by date is April 2019 and am going to get as much into the pantry, the freezers and the other stores as I can.   There will be a concerted effort on meat soon.

However I need to sort the shed and the freezers out first.

I have bought some paint for the bathroom.  Just plain white at the moment and this is the job I hope to get done this week if at all possible inbetween everything else. I have some preparation work to do before then, repairing some plasterwork and also filling some holes I may then be able to get OH on board with sorting out the sink and the flooring and also putting a couple of fans in both the toilet and the bathroom itself to try and ease the condensation.  I need for it to be nice and clean and sorted so that I can close the door on it.  My bathroom is off the end of the kitchen which is not the best placement but you have to work with what you have. I have added some more towels to the stash, a shower/bath mat.

Then it will be the turn of the kitchen.  Flooring will need to be replaced there and the kitchen sink unit then the windowsill needs retiling and round the sink/back of the washer area.  So there is a lot of work to do.

The dining room will be next as this is the room that I want to work out of for the readings - not for the healing.  The flooring definitely needs replacing and the pine furniture needs to be stripped back, sanded, re-oiled and brought back to its former glory. It bears the paw prints of family and animal life so to protect the pine it needs doing.

Then under the stairs and the fireplace cupboard can be tarted up and sorted out.

Then the hallway and the lounge.

That is downstairs and I still have upstairs to sort out.  So I have more than enough on my plate.

I have also been stocking up with DVDs and books to read and watch through the winter months so that I have something to do (not that I never have).  Apologies for the long post just rambling thoughts coming to the surface spilling forth as it were whilst I am trying to chill!  Not a good sign.  Fortunately I do have a lot of bits and bobs already in hand for doing up the various rooms and getting them nice, clean cosy and warm so it will be a case of do a bit at a time.  Right had better get on.  

Catch you all soon.  

Pattypan xx