Monday 18 March 2024

Do you have an Easter Tree?

Are Easter trees a thing?

I've seen lots of sticks and twigs decorated with Easter eggs.

But I decided to bring down the small Christmas tree out of the attic and hang the Easter decorations on it instead of buying something new or spray painting branches and making something myself.

My husband thinks I'm mad. I probably am.

We'll be spending Easter in Northern Ireland. There are eggs for the adults and our grandson as well as some Easter activity crafts and the same for our other grandchild who we'll see before we go. There's an egg for the house sitter and one for her to share with the cat and the dog egg is coming with us to Northern Ireland for child 4's dogs.

There will be a trail for the neighbours kids when they come to visit to collect their eggs and I delivered eggs to my friend's kids over the weekend.

It's not just Christmas and Easter time that I decorate, I did Valentines last month and I love Halloween also. 

I took some decorations and cakes into school for my students for Valentines.

I did the same for Easter.

Do you decorate for Easter and other occasions? 

2024 Week 11 One Daily Positive, Project 365 and A Selfie a Day

March

71  Monday I'm so tired all the time, hopefully B12 jab will take effect quickly on Wednesday. Left work mid morning with a migraine that just isn't shifting. Spent the rest of the day until 6pm in bed, mostly asleep.


72  Tuesday Off work. Most of the day spent in bed sleeping, I couldn't focus on reading. I cooked myself some lunch and struggled to eat it as I was so tired. Max meds taken by 4pm. Sat outside in the sun late afternoon, then bath, fresh pjs and bed by 8pm.


73  Wednesday Back into work via the GP for my B12 jab, wrong day, it's tomorrow. Peter collected me and we went for a coffee. Home absolutley exhausted, evening spent in front of TV, blogging and reading.


74  Thursday Into work via B12 jab, mentioned to nurse that the cream for the Bowens Disease (skin cancer) on leg doesn't appear to be working, need to contact the skin clinic as the treatment isn't working. The nurse has also suggested I have the B12 jabs every 8 weeks. Went for a coffee with a couple of colleagues after work and posted Easter parcel to Great Niece. Home for dinner, TV, bath and bed.


75  Friday Wear something red to work for Comic Relief. Home at 3.30pm with the most horrendous migraine, took maximum pills and bed for 2 hours. Work colleague popped by whilst dog walking, Peter just let her in having never met her before and she flew through the door with the dog dragging her in. Peter was expecting my friend who arrived 20 mins later. It took a while for us to register what was going on. 


76  Saturday Nail bar mid morning, then train into Worcester for St Patricks Day bottomless brunch with work colleagues, home at 9pm and straight to bed. Had a fab evening, they told everyone it was my birthday and I had to do different challenges to earn us all free shots. I planked and did an Irish jig. It's not my birthday.


77  Sunday Up early and off on an Easter Egg run. Called in at child 1, mums, grandchild then various friends in Monmouth and the Forest of Dean. Home at 8pm. Lovely to have caught up with so many people, even though each visit was short.


Books read this week: A Death in the Parish - The Reverend Richard Coles.

Words written towards book: 1266

Clothes bought: Red tights £8 M&S Children's section aged 13-14 (perfect fit)

On the blog this week: Does owning things make you happy?

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Friday 15 March 2024

15th - 17th March 2024 Post Comment Love

Welcome back to #PoCoLo with Stephanie from Bosworth.Life and I.

Post Comment Love #PoCoLo is a friendly weekly linky where you can link up any blog post you've written this week. If you're new or a regular visitor we're sure you'll find something of interest.

I've not been very well this week. Had my B12 injection on Wednesday so should start perking up soon. I've been watching far too much TV in the afternoons, it's too easy to get home from work, make a cup of tea and all of a sudden discover it's 7pm and nothing has been done. 

I've set myself 5 x 1 hour challenges next week to sort though stuff in the attic room and either use, donate or sell. Most of it belongs to my late father and I've ended up hoarding it, just like he did. I don't want to cause my family the stress he caused me having to sort it all out after I die so I'm getting it done now. I've had it packed in these boxes for 6 years.


We'd also appreciate your help spreading the #PoCoLo word on Twitter, tag us and we'll RT. You can find us on twitter here: Stephanie - @BosworthLife and Suzanne - @ChickenRuby 

I'll be catching up with reading your posts, sharing and commenting over the next few days. 




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Monday 11 March 2024

Does owning things make you happy?

I've been making a conscious effort over the past couple of years to not buy things unless they're absolutely necessary. I've made a concentrated effort with clothes and during 2023 I only bought clothes that were necessary and have continued this in 2024. Before I buy from the shops I scour the charity shops first and I take my time to buy exactly what I want. I used to donate clothes to the charity shop when I bought something new, but now I find that regularly rotating my wardrobe and storing my winter and summer clothes alternatively, that I'm getting much more wear out of them.

I do the same with things for the home. I plan what I need and I shop around until I find the exact thing that I want/need rather than buying something with a 'that'll do for now' knowing that I'll end up spending more money over time replacing something I'm not totally happy with.

I read a lot but I don't use the library as often as I should. I swop books with my mum, aunt and a friend and when I do buy books I get them from charity shops. I've just donated a pile of books to a book swop scheme at work so I'll have some fresh ones coming in soon to start swopping back round within the family.

In the garden I've been collecting pallets, old pots, canes, bricks left over from building work, tiles left over from the kitchen. I've got boxes in the attic full of old pub and road signs and car badges that I saved after my father died, an iron wagon wheel and some old tools that I've plans for to use in the garden when we start working on it over the spring. 

For 4 years we had 2 homes, 1 in the UK and 1 in Dubai. On moving back to the UK and selling the flat in South Wales and merging everything together we spent 18 months hoarding a lot of things we had no need or use for. Fridge/freezer, oven, furniture, bedding and kitchen equipment. Trying to sell things in Dubai and in the UK is more hassle than it is worth. It never ceases to amaze me just how many people will take things off your hands for free, but won't pay you for them and there seems to be quite a few expectations that if you have something spare, you should just donate it. A lot of things we kept in case we had to replace such as kettles, toasters, hairdryers, bedding and towels and as items have broken or worn away, it's just been a case of locating them in the attic, which saved purchasing new.

The attic rooms getting any emptier though. It's full of things we've accumulated over the years, that we don't actually need or half the time even know we've got up there. There's a 8 man tent plus all the camping gear, we've not used since 2014, it's all in excellent condition, but we've bought a camper van now. The other room is full of my crafting stuff that I'm slowly getting round to using up.

I am also getting rid of stuff. I've given the boys their keep sake boxes that we've lugged around the world, full of sport trophies, school reports, bits of uniforms, first pictures, old school books, old toys etc. It's now theirs to do with what they wish. Their old toys are in the spare room for the grandchildren to play with and as they outgrow them they're being donated to local charity shops. Peter and I each have a large cardboard box with things from our childhood, similar to the contents of the children's boxes, they remain sealed since we moved abroad with them in 2011.

There's a floor to ceiling book shelf full of photo albums that don't get looked at. 2 display cabinets full of ornaments that don't get used apart from a shelf of drinking glasses and some vases. Drawers full of board games and jigsaw puzzles that haven't been opened since covid and 4 drawers of old family movies on video tape and discs that haven't been viewed since the day they were recorded.



There are boxes of items belonging to my late father that I still haven't sorted though, I've a rough idea what's in them, stamps and post cards, posters, papers, cards and photos. Nothing of commercial value, but of great personal value to him. My father collected anything and everything and his home, garage, shed and attic was packed to the rafters with things he owned. Mum and I spent months, selling it all and we ended up sending most of it to a general auction as we ran out of time. There were 30+ fishing rods, train sets, golf clubs, 100's of vinyl records, a drum kit, a snooker table, memorabilia from sporting events and anything and everything pub related including around 500 ashtrays. He collected al this stuff, he knew exactly what he had and where it was, but it never really made him happy and now I've inherited a lot of it and I've no idea what most of it is, where it is, or what to do with it, so it just sits there in the attic in boxes gathering dust.

There's no reason to keep hold onto any of this stuff, but there's no need to just get rid of any of it either unless I'm going to sell it. However, it was a very stressful time clearing out my late fathers things in a short space of time, but then I was living abroad and my mother needed to move house so there was a short window in which to do it all. My father had also placed so many covenants on his belongings that mum and I felt we needed to honour, but over time we realised that, that didn't matter and we should have let a lot more stuff go with a lot more ease than we did.

I'd like to think that owning the things I do, makes me happy, but I don't need to buy things to make me happier. 

I've currently got 6 spare dining room chairs waiting to find a new home. The charity shops won't take them, I've tried selling them and offering them for free, offered for up cycling, but no takers, any ideas?


Sunday 10 March 2024

2024 Week 10 One Daily Positive, Project 365 and A Selfie a Day

March

64  Monday A good day in work. I met Peter down the retail park for a coffee, dropped him home then went to the local community centre where I'm going to be volunteering with a youth group. Home to blog and watch Big Brother.


65  Tuesday Really tired this week, had dinner, watched TV, bath and early night.


66  Wednesday Spent the evening with work colleagues at a pottery painting place, with a few drinks.


67  Thursday World Book Day and I went to school dressed as The Queen of Hearts. Home from work and absolutely exhausted, so tired, it was hurting, went to bed after a bath, woke at 10pm, came down stairs for an hour, then back to bed.


68  Friday So tired and feeling very sad, then we realised I'm due a B12 jab next week, probably explains why. Peter walked to the coffee shop after work to meet me for coffee, then home. My friend came round with chips and I bought the wine, it's been 3 weeks since we've had a catch up.


69  Saturday Awake at 7am so after a lie in we visited Peter's Mother taking her into Bath for the day for lunch and some shopping. Home by 5pm. Peter watched the rugby and I watched TV in bed. I had really bad stomach ache and felt incredibly sick.


70  Sunday Didn't sleep at all well. Peter went off to do a food shop and I spent the day in my pjs reading the Sunday papers and finishing a book, after dinner I did some blogging, watched TV and had an early night.


Books read this week: One Day - David Nicholls. I also watched in on Netflix as I was reading it. My favourite version was the movie from 2011 with Anne Hathaway and the book read in a totally different way, but the story line was the same for all 3.

Words written towards book: 1381

Clothes bought: Red Nose Day t-shirt £12.99 T K Maxx

On the blog this week: What we got up to in February 

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