Thinking positively

I'm feeling in a much more positive frame of mind today.  I've done a lot of unpicking and cutting up of old clothes; had a brain-wave (in the middle of the night, no less!) about recycling a couple of N's old polo shirts; altered a pair of trousers for myself (the days of flared trousers are long-since gone), and we managed to get into the garden today to cut down the remains of a very old, gnarled clematis that had got way out of hand and was looking a mess.

This morning we had a really honest and useful talk about financing the house move, and finances in general, and I finally moved some money around that I needed to do but had been putting off.  Of course, now it's done, I don't know why I shied away from getting it sorted - I hadn't realised how much it was weighing on my mind.  I guess that's like so many problems, we spend so much time worrying about them instead of just dealing with them.  I am a fine one to talk (LOL) - I am a worrier!  And talking of problems, I have made progress with the very thorny problem that has been getting me down recently.  Having had several (more) sleepless nights over this, in the early hours of this morning a couple of things fell into place, and whilst the problem is not solved, I am able to look at it in a different way.  It will at least allow me to move forward with it a little, rather than allowing it to take over.  Small steps, I think.  But progress.

Lat night's meal deserved a picture, it was so delicious!  Salmon in hollandaise sauce, a selection of vegetables, and potato, leek and onion cakes with a little square of brie cheese hiding in the middle.  So tasty, and a fraction of what it would cost at a restaurant.  This, as I told N, is why we don't go out - we don't need to.  I am thankful every day for his way with food and the lovely meals he is able to produce for us.

We're doing really well with this month's budget for food.  We had a quick check this afternoon, and we have come in well under the figure we had allowed.  We've both bought into the idea of writing down what we spend, and we have been surprised that there is still money left over.  We certainly haven't gone without, or had to scrimp.  It's very encouraging. 

Finally, we were watching the magpies building their nest this morning.  We were amazed at the size of twigs they were flying around with - 2 or 3 times their body length at least.  At one point, this bird dropped his twig so had to fly down to the ground to retrieve it.  I managed to get a quick photo before he flew off again.  (I've enlarged the photo because I couldn't zoom in from such a distance.)