Hello and welcome to my day!
Wednesday is meter reading day and all is as it should be. We had our water bill earlier in the week and that was a couple of pounds more than budget, but there has been a price increase on standing charges, plus this bill was for 100 days rather than the usual 90 which accounts for it. I’ve revised next year’s budget to cover an increase of £10 a quarter anyway as well as an extra fiver a month on our phone bill and we are still looking good for 2021. It always does on paper, but the proof is in the pudding so to speak. We’ll be OK.
The day started off bright and sunny, so guess what? Yep, we did more washing, this time stripping the beds earlier in the week than usual. The sun has now gone on its holidays but there is a breeze and it is still warm, so fingers crossed it should all dry.
Lunch today was ginger and pineapple pork. I added peppers and a thinly sliced carrot to give the mix some colour and it was one of my best.
Photo from August 2020 (minus peppers).
Maggie had some boiled chicken and rice as she has an upset tummy and got us up in the night. Her nose is cold but she’s a little subdued obviously. No accidents indoors which is a good thing, bless her. She was happy to go for her walk this morning though, so she will have a quiet day.
Covid is making school attendance a nightmare. So far, 18 schools in the county have had confirmed cases, and they’ve been back less than a week. We are both anxious as one is less than 10 miles away and there are teenagers that attend it here in our road. Apparently all year 7 and year 10 pupils, plus anyone travelling on the private school buses have been asked to self isolate pending the results of tests.
In contrast, a pensioner’s brother came to visit from Australia in January and has been unable to go back because of lockdowns. There are now money issues as Australia have stopped his pension because he’s been out of the country for 6 months, so he is trying to get something sorted here as he has dual nationality.
I’m hoping to get stuck in and make some Hello cards as mentioned the other day. That should keep me quiet for a few hours haha!
Keep safe everyone.
pensitivity101 
What a busy bee you have been . I am pleased that all your pennies are adding up right. I also hope Maggie is okay. 💜🙋
She seems OK in herself and sleeping a lot, which we would expect.
Especially in this weather as well 💜
What an interesting position for Australia to take. Surely he either qualifies for a pension, or he does not. It shouldn’t make any difference where he chooses to live. There are people living all round the world collecting UK pensions (as long as they paid into it in the first place!).
England does take an interesting position though in that pensions to citizens in Canada are fixed at time of payment start i.e. there is no cost of living increases). UK Pensions in other countries are subject to cost of living increases! Go figure!
We don’t know any details and it could be that his pension is generated by the Australian government as he’s been living there for years. I’m not sure if my brother is claiming a UK pension or the equivalent in NZ. He emigrated in 1996 and gained citizenship 4 or 5 years ago.
There are a growing numbers in schools here. Especially the ones in seaside towns which get tourists when it’s hot. Problem is that many can’t gets tests do they are not telling the other kids to isolate yet. Complete mess.
You’re right there Gary. I’m glad Hawklad isn’t going back to school for at least the rest of the year. Keep safe.
Income vs expenses – always a balancing act. Budgets help so long as nothing unexpected comes up. As I’m dropping down to a 3-day work week, with an accompanying loss of income, I can only hope my newly prepared budget is true. It’s going to be really tight, but worth it.
We managed to cope when the government reduced Hubby’s disability by £2000 a year last year, and have had quite a bit of extra expense with Maggie, but we’ve covered it. Things are always tight, but we do OK in the short term. Hopefully nothing too expensive will crop up between now and the end of the year. Good luck and take care.
I feel for the guy from Australia! It isn’t his fault that he can’t get home – I would think the government would make allowances!!
You’d think so too. I haven’t had a chance to chat to them and see if they’ve managed to sort something out. It doesn’t seem right though.
I hope you enjoyed making the cards Di! How did they turn out? ❤
I’ve made 12 today and a post will follow.