Wednesday
The storm has blown itself out and it's all calm again. There's a bit of sunshine and surprisingly it was warm enough to sit out on the patio this morning with a mug of hot coffee ... wrapped up warm in a coat, the air was completely still with no sign of a breeze and it was a pleasant ten or so minutes.
I had quite a good night's sleep and woke just after 10:30 feeling more refreshed than I have done recently. I had a soak in the bath, then dressed and had breakfast followed by coffee (on the patio). Since then I've been alternating between reading and updating my diary. I'm half way through Let Me Lie by Clare Mackintosh, a thriller which I am enjoying but the tiredness makes me forget what I've read so I have to keep going back over bits!
Julie gave me a month at a view planner for Christmas so I'm using it to track the balance between planned and unplanned days. So far I have looked at January, February and March and am pleased with how it is looking. Each month the split is currently about 50/50 which means that for half the days in each month I have plans in place to spend an amount of time with others and the remaining days will be spent quite happily on my own. If I look back at the months I'm sure the split will change to show more social activities as there will undoubtedly be invites to meet for coffee, lunch, cinema, etc. Looking at this overview on the planner, I think I'd like to find one more regular event in addition to the choir and maybe a couple of additional pupils, but on the whole I think it's a good balance.
I'm at home all day today. S is poorly so he cancelled our regular coffee date; I was planning to go shopping when I was out but now can't be bothered, so that'll happen either tomorrow or Friday. On the way home from choir on Monday I bought a gammon ham on yellow sticker, reduced from £5.75 to £1.44, so I cooked that this morning and had a simple meal of ham, mashed potatoes and peas with piccalilli for lunch. There's enough left for about five more meals, so it was a bargain buy. I'll keep one portion out for tomorrow and will freeze the rest.
I've done my meal plan for the next month so will have to get organised and restock the cupboards and freezer over the next couple of days. If the forecast is correct we are due some bad weather with the possibility of snow, so I want to make sure I have plenty in. I don't mind venturing out in snow to take photos but I don't like driving in it so, although I am hoping and praying that the forecast is wrong, I want to be prepared.
It was mild this morning, then out came the sun over lunch time, but this afternoon we had a real downpour and it's now turned quite chilly. Brrrr.
ReplyDeleteI hope S feels better soon and well done with the meal planning. I don't think we have any predictions of snow here but then we hardly ever get snow so that's not surprising really.
Have a lovely rest of day.
xx
I doubt we'll actually get any snow even if the rest of the country does. It's a rare occurrence in this area. We have the rain now and the temperature has dropped, so I will do the shopping tomorrow - I will feel more relaxed if I know I don't 'have' to venture out if the bad weather does decide to pay a visit!
DeleteIt's warmer than usual here. And wetter. You are much more well-organized than I am! I tend to keep basic food around but not prepared meals. And I never plan meals that far in advance. My hat's off to you :)
ReplyDeleteI live alone and find it cheaper and easier to bulk cook and freeze the extra portions. I resort to too many takeaway meals rather than cook a meal for one, so staying organised and preparating is key to remaining on a healthy homecooked diet.
DeleteI'm glad to read that you are feeling better, today, and the weather allowed you to enjoy your morning coffee out in the patio (even if it rained later in the day). You did very well with that reduced price ham! It sounds like you've a good balance between planned and unplanned days; as long as you are happy with it, that's what is important, isn't it? I seem to have fewer planned days than you, but, that is a good balance for me! LOL. Hope the rest of the day goes well. :)
ReplyDeleteYesterday turned out to be a good day. I think I may have turned the corner health-wise and I feel like I am back on the road to recovery.
DeleteI always tend to feel I'm not doing enough so it was a worthwhile exercise to lay the entire months out to view as a whole and to prove myself wrong! As you say, it's whatever works for you - no two people are the same, that's one of the things that makes life interesting.
I struck lucky with some more bargain buys today (I am writing this on Thursday) so I have definitely reduced my food bill this month.
I'm a new kind of green with envy ... lots of sleep, rested & warm enough to be on the patio.
ReplyDeleteIf it's any consolation, the patio episode was a one-off and we are now back to proper winter weather.
Delete