Taking back power

This week is still very much about just trying to adjust to the girls being out all day and finding a new routine. I had all these hopes that I would hit the ground running and find some incredible inner energy that I could harness to get my life straight in 3 days, but it hasn't quite happened like that. I am in a bit of a slump. I am picking away at jobs that never seem to be finished. I need to write some lists that I can tick off. And I need to keep the faith that if you keep working hard, eventually you see results. 

Today the job I have made for myself is to completely empty and sort through the four built in cupboards in my studio, which holds most of the house's chaos. There are a few areas like that which never really got sorted after the moved, just unpacked and hidden away. There could be anything in there. This is a large house with lots of storage, there is no reason that everything should have a home, and that I should be able to lay my hands on things at a moment's notice. 

Money is also the subject of the moment, as I'm sure it is for many people. Our boat storage arrangement from last winter is no longer an option, which means that we now have no choice but to put it in a marina. Marinas are expensive, and honestly this is something I could do without. But it is important to work with the situation in front of you, which is what I am going to do. I have cancelled the girls swimming lessons. They can pretty much swim now and just need practice. The money would be better saved instead for us to go swimming as a family sometimes at the local pool. I used to take Hazel swimming while ivy was in her lesson, or else take them both to soft play. The cost of swimming has now nearly doubled since before the holidays, so that is another expense I can do without. I have cancelled the girls yoga session also, which if I'm honest Hazel was really too young for and was often more pain than pleasure, and will has also stopped going to his yoga session as he doesn't feel he needs it any more. He has also stopped going to his drumming circle as he has found a group he likes to play music with, for free, on a Saturday instead. Between all of these things we worked out we are now saving about £170 a month, a enormous sum. The girls are still taking their ballet class once a week as they get a lot from that, although it is expensive. 

I am changing the way I do my food shopping. I have more time to think about it and plan ahead, and now will be doing a monthly pantry shop, and then plan to just top up on veg once a week when we need it. Will and I are going to just have one cup of tea a day and have said to Hazel to stop drinking milk as buying so much oat milk is one of our biggest grocery expenses. 

I am doing more batch cooking and making good use of our slow cooker. I am baking snacks for the girls lunchboxes. We are making our own wine, and I have made 20 odd jars of jam, and will be making more from apples we got for free. We are making the most of foraging where we can. We have been bringing home the odd bit of wood to dry for the stove. I have a couple of things I can sell and hopefully put a little bit of money by, just in case. 

I have been pouring through old recipe and housekeeping books, and studying wartime leaflets and books on thrifty living. This is not the most hard up the nation has ever been, just the most spoilt. In short, we will not be dragged down. 

 

Now it is a beautiful sunny morning, I am sat  in our little garden. I can hear the children playing at the school someone hammering, and if I stay really still I think I can hear the sea. I am not hungry or thirsty, and I am grateful.