Anger

I woke up angry and am still angry now!!

My role at work has been added too.
I was more or less told yesterday that my work isn’t as important as colleagues, I can put mine aside to answer calls but they can’t, they are far too busy. We are all busy and should work together as a team. That is fine but part of my responsibility is ensuring a legal requirement with deadlines is met. And we have been meeting them as the figures show but, no this new phone structure is more important. So guess what happened this morning when the report I have to do wasn’t done, “RC can you drop everything and do the report by 11am”. It just bugs me so much that when we expressed our concerns before they introduced the new system and they were just completely ignored.

The other thing I am absolutely fuming about is mum. Since being diagnosed she has been on medication for her dementia which has to be kept up. This was expressed by her mental health nurse and I checked while she was in the main hospital and they agreed. Today she had moved into a care home and I was discussing her meds with a member of staff and they said that this hasn’t been prescribed. I rang the hospital she was discharged from only to find out that a junior doctor had taken her off these tablets on the 4th November but they don’t know why. There is no note in the file. I am so bloody angry because she shouldn’t have been taken off the tablets and also if there is a physical, medical reason that should be recorded. They have said they will ensure she is put back on them, which to me says there was no reason for her to be taken off them. A manager is going to ring me tomorrow.

Sorry for the rant, I’m going to have a cup of tea and relax – deep breaths now :)

STF – I will start again with a new list, just got to keep battling on

Dannie – Thank you for your support, it is emotional but in a good way if that makes sense as I have so many happy memories.

Thanks for the video to dvd info, I will look into it.

Did I get it all done?

Short answer is no. Thank you for all your encouraging comments. I have completely underestimated and forgotten how much work goes into packing up and moving.

Thank you for the prioritising idea. I did it, with the cheque’s being first off the list.

I managed to pack up all of the things from mum’s kitchen and defrost the freezer. I didn’t empty the cupboards under the sink out as I will need to use the cleaning things.

I emptied the book shelf into boxes. I found a video that had the name of the farm on it. I can’t remember what is on it or if I’ve seen it. I have a feeling it might be a bit emotional as I think my dad could be on it. Can you transfer videos onto dvd’s?

I cleared out the chest of drawers in the lounge that housed things like light bulbs.

I started to bag up clothes for the charity shop. I didn’t drop them off as there was a Christmas market and parking was difficult.

It was a trip down memory lane, more of which I will post another time.

All the Christmas cards are written, stamped and ready to post. I have written mums too, working from a list that she had in the Christmas card box. Once I see who sends cards this year I will write a little note explaining that mum has been ill, and also of her new address.

Secret Santa’s for mine and OH brought and wrapped, with a couple of other pressies.

I had planned to do more yesterday but had a migraine so struggled a bit.

I visited mum on Saturday to be told by a nurse she was moving into a home today. It was all very sudden. However I got a call this morning to say she had a bit of an upset tummy over the weekend and they couldn’t risk moving her in case it was an infection. They hope to that she will move this week. We haven’t visited the home yet so I hope its ok. We have to wait 4 weeks for the financial assessment as they have a backlog. I will be glad when that is sorted as I’m worrying that it.

I picked up the fire guard from a Freecycler for my friend. It was a surprise for her as she mentioned last week that her new kitten – who is sooo cute – keeps trying to hurl herself onto the fire! She has been away this weekend so I left it outside her home, with a little note. She rang last night to say it fits perfect and to hear the joy and surprise in her voice was lovely.

OH has managed to pick up another shift tonight so that is some more money for the holiday fund, every little bit counts.

A List as Long as My Arm

Things to do this weekend.

• Send thank you card & cheque to mums carers
• Send note & cheque to mums window cleaners
• Start writing Christmas cards
• Buy works Secret Santa’s
• Wrap Christmas presents
• Sort out box of kitchen stuff from mums
• Tidy kitchen
• Washing
• Ironing
• Pack up rest of kitchen things at mums
• Defrost mums fridge & freezer
• Clean mums kitchen
• Sort out stuff under mums sinks
• Bring sewing & knitting things back from mums
• Empty desk at mums
• Empty drawers in lounge at mums
• Empty & pack up mums books shelf
• Pack up mums clothes that are too big for her & take to charity shop
• Pick up fire guard for friend from Freecycle

but first I'll just have a cup of tea...

A Good Day...

..you know the kind of day when everything just is right.

It was an early start as I picked OH up from work before going to mine. It was so windy last night it would have taken him forever to cycle the 6 miles to work so I gave him a lift. Just seeing the smile on his face when I picked him up made getting up a bit earlier alright and I got to read a bit of my book before going to work.

My colleague who gives me a lift had made me a coffee to drink on the way in, which warmed me up and was a nice surprise.

When I got to work another colleague showed me pictures of his gorgeous little girl, born on Wednesday. Any baby is a blessing but this family have been through a lot over the last few years. No one knew his wife was expecting as they didn’t want to tempt fate, I’m so pleased for them. And to celebrate he brought mince pies and biscuits in.

My section were set a target of 99.5% at work which was deemed unattainable but this week we beat it. Our new manager actually acknowledged this (something the old one’s didn’t) and gave me and my two colleagues some chocolates. It was nice that our hard work has been recognised.

Friday is Buttie Day and I was treated to one which came with a runny egg, yummm.

Although we were short staffed and were busy we managed to chat and laugh while working. I am lucky to work with a good bunch of people(most of the time!), including one of my best friends.

We had a cheap tea of bubble and squeak (left over mash and veg), sausages with onion gravy that were reduced to 50p. We then looked at old holiday photos and laughed at a video of my OH doing some sort of dance!

All in all a good day. Hope you’ve all had one too.

Liebster Award

Thank you so much to Mum for my award.

A lot of blogs I follow have already received this award and I feel we are a great little band of bloggers.

I will have a think about who to give it to who hasn't all ready got it.

I tried a new recipe tonight. It was very simple, very tasty and also used some of the bargain 9p fresh coriander I got. The recipe didn’t have chilli in it but I added some for a bit of a kick. It made loads so I’m taking some to work tomorrow for lunch.

FRAGRANT PORK AND RICE ONE POT (serves four)

• 4-6 good-quality sausages
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• ½ onion , finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves , crushed
• 2 tsp each ground cumin and coriander
• 140g long grain rice
• 850ml vegetable stock
• 400g can chopped tomatoes
• ½ small bunch coriander , leaves picked

• Split the sausage skins, squeeze out the meat, then roll it into small meatballs about the size of a large olive. Heat the oil in a large non-stick saucepan, then brown the meatballs well on all sides until cooked - you might need to do this in batches. Set the meatballs aside.
• Add the onion and garlic to the pan. Soften for 5 mins, stir in the spices and rice, then cook for another min. Pour in the stock and tomatoes. Bring to a simmer, scraping up any sausagey bits from the bottom of the pan. Simmer for 10 mins until the rice is just cooked, then stir in the meatballs with some seasoning. Ladle into bowls, scatter with coriander and serve with crusty bread.


SFT – I never thought of making a pudding. I still have pennies from primary school that we use to be given at Christmas.

Anne – I hope it will be lucky :)

NSD – OH is ok now, thank you. They have changed some of the security as the man has threaten the hotel, its terrible really. Still looking for a home, we are waiting to hear back from the financial assessment which is happening tomorrow. I hope she move to a home like the one you work in xx

Money Round Up

As mentioned briefly in yesterday’s post I had a meeting with the bank. It was one of those where they call you in and try and sell you some sort of insurance/new bank account etc. I do find these things useful though, as they often ask questions that I can’t answer which sometimes makes me worry as I like to think I am fairly on the ball where money is concerned.

We looked at my accounts and she question why one was at zero balance. I explained that once I get paid into that account the money gets moved around for bills and savings. I also like to see that the accounts where “rounded up”. I have moved some money around to make use of this years ISA allowance. The bank suggests that you have 3 months or £3k as an emergency fund and we are a long way from having that. Still it gives us something to aim for next year.

This week will be a fairly low spend week. Food wise all we need is mushy peas, baked beans and butter, along with cat food and washing powder. I tried Aldi’s own brand powder last month and it does the job. The only other spend will be to fill up with petrol.

And to finish I found 10p while tidying the bedroom which went straight into the sealed pot to start the challenge.

SFT - I have no idea where the sixpence came from, I must have got it in change from somewhere. It's sat on the side in the kitchen as I don't know what to do with it!

15p, 90 cents and a sixpence

On the way to pay in the contents of my sealed pot I found 15p on the pavement, so the pot got a last minute top up. I was very pleased with the £46.23 total, plus 1 sixpence and 90 cents! I have another pot that I put £2 coins in and have £52 in there, so just short of £100. I think I am going to use the money for a new car stereo as the one in my car doesn’t work.

I cleared mums cupboards of her food and emptied her freezer. It was a good job we had nearly emptied ours as it is full again. The plates I am going to try and sell on ebay as they are Hornsea pottery and someone said they sell quite well. The other plates and pots and pans I don’t want I am giving to a charity that helps people moving into their first home, usually from being homeless. They also take furniture but until mum is settled somewhere I don’t know what she can take with her.

I have a note pad that I carry round with me and each time I think of something else to do I jot it down. A friend came up with a good idea to put a card in the local shops where mum lives to sell some of the furniture that we don’t need.

There are 3 main bits of furniture I would like to keep, a blanket box, a revolving book case and my dads desk.

When I visited mum today one of the nurses had cut and styled her hair, she looked great. I kept asking mum if I could cut it but she wouldn't let me. It was so nice of the nurse just to do it and I'm sure it made mum feel better.

I had a meeting with a lady at the bank, just running through things. She asked what we spend on groceries etc and I said around £150 at the most and I'd like to reduce it but that includes the cat/takeaways/eating out. She said "oh right so that’s a week"!! When I say a month she couldn’t believe it. I didn’t dare mention some of my blogging friends budgets!

The day leader where I volunteer is leaving at the end of the year. She is still going to be looking after all the food stores but unfortunately feels that she can no longer deal with some of our clients. She was explaining what she does as part of being in charge and asked if any of us wanted to take over her role. W said she would nominate me and B then seconded it. I didn’t say anything. I am very flattered that they think I could do the job but I’m not sure. I will think about it.


Thank you all for your kind words and support and for listening to my ramblings. xx