Happy Monday!

Last week was a pretty standard week, I worked from home Monday-Wednesday and at the office Thursday-Friday. I quite like going into the office on a Friday, and I’m not the only one, this week we had six of us in and it’s quite nice. I got to spend a part of my lunch hour helping a colleague choose new glasses (we narrowed it down to two and he ended up buying both pairs!).

Right on schedule, for summer, I got my first set of nasty bites. I’m pretty sure that it was the raspberry picking on Thursday night. It’s actually a little later than usual, June rather than May, and although they did swell, it didn’t require shots this time (which is a mercy given the state the NHS is in!) just more anti histamines. To add insult to injury, on Saturday at the plot, I got bitten by ants, while picking blackcurrants! It really wasn’t my week on the allotment, but there were strawberries so I guess it all balances out.

The unsurprising disappointment of the week was that my new kitchen is being delayed, this is mostly because they can’t find the staff. Bobby who is a neighbour as well as a builder, just can’t get the crew, so it’ll probably be October, which sucks, but I am aware it’s a first world problem. Although I’m not sure if my sink will stay in the counter that long! What it does do, is give me some time to have a proper clear out of the kitchen and cupboard of doom, which should help packing it up easier when it comes time to do the work.

Which is why on Saturday night I consoled myself with a martini! It was World Gin Day so totally appropriate!

In other news, last week’s budget moment continued and I fixed my energy tariff. Before the price rise in April, I was paying about £60 a month, I adjusted my direct debits to £120 a month and was thankful that I could do so but there will be another price rise in October (and possibly January as the cap setting goes to every three months). It’s all a bit of a gamble but the fix based on my yearly usage estimates a cost of Just under £100 per month, so cheaper than I estimated for right now. It’s also a ‘carbon-neutral’ tariff, using renewable energy for all the electricity and offsetting my gas use, so it seemed like a no-brainer.

Least anyone thinks, I’m getting really sensible, I did buy a lime tree, a baby lemon tree and a cherry bush (look, I like cherries and it would be really amazing to be able to grow lime for a G&T, I’ve been hankering after all of them for at least three years!)

Plans for this week are much the same as last week, there are no plans. I do have to deliver a training/presentation to the team as part of my objectives and I need to write up a couple of processes which I put on my objectives in order to make me do them. My method is always to get as many of my objectives complete or almost done in the summer, I find it harder to focus in the autumn/winter!

Ma is away during the week and I think Sue is back so I may get a walk in with her this week but if not then next week.

Finally, I wanted to leave you with this picture. My neighbours are growing tomato plants in front of the house (the front has better light than their tiny decked area at the back of the house). I’m honesty delighted and have offered to water them when they are away next month!

Have a good week!