A few days ago I had a good natter with my lovely pal from The Wind & The Wellies about struggling to find ones voice when it comes to writing stuff online, and the reasons for that. In fact she's very sensibly written a whole blog post on the subject already. She talks much sense. Go. Read.
Done? Good - I'll carry on then! Well, I say I'll carry on, but that's not entirely straightforward it is it - because as I said to her earlier, I'm just not sure what to write about...and that makes it just a little bit tricky. It's been a funny sort of year - the summer was once again massively busy and full of all sorts of fun, but in the background there was been some stresses (which I mentioned here previously) which have only finally sorted themselves out quite recently. In the process of it I thought I was going to end up losing contact with a very dear friend - not through either of our fault, or even really choice, but simply because that was going to be the best thing for both of us. In the end - thank goodness - we found a way through, and in fact have probably emerged with a stronger friendship because of it. It's made me realise quite how much I valued the whole relationship though, and maybe that's no bad thing, to have that sort of reminder from time to time? All in all though the process of dealing with the situation has taken up a hell of a lot of my headspace over the last little while, and not left that much time for writing stuff on here.
There is the added issue of, since the airshow season finished, I've not really done a huge amount to talk about. There have been odds and ends - a couple of beer festivals, a trip to Birmingham for the Good Food show (think lots of cheese, and nearly as much smoked fish...) and a couple of trips up to Scampton to see the Reds winter training. All good fun, but not really anything that's made me think "I must tell the Blog about that". Thankfully though there is plenty of plans for the New Year - a trip to Manchester, a weekend in Norfolk, some more Island adventuring, and indeed some Ireland adventuring too, more pointing the camera at Little Red Jets (as I do) and a few other odds and ends to be crammed in there too. Then before I know it the airshows will be starting again - we're already starting to plan where we're heading next year although for me nothing will be set in stone until we see the Reds display calendar for the year - I will then plan my summer around that.
Other than that - life continues much as normal. Whilst living less frugally than we were this time a year ago - that is as the result of a conscious choice, that sometimes there are things that are worth spending money on as they save us valuable time, or give us enough enjoyment that they are worth it. The renting of the garage for example, gives us back space at home, and will help my car to stay in good condition for longer. MrEH is looking at a shirt laundering & pressing service as a possibility at the moment too - ironing is nobody's favourite pastime is it, and over time it's impossible to keep white shirts looking as crisp and fresh as they ought to with home laundering, so while he probably wouldn't use that sort of service on a weekly basis, he may do occasionally just to give his work wear a freshen up. Other stuff doesn't change at all - I still pretty much entirely cook from scratch as that's the food we prefer - ready meals (unless they're home cooked and frozen ones!) don't suit us. We shop around for the best deals on things, buy train tickets for planned adventures when they are first released for the best prices, meal plan and budget for stuff. All good, all ticking along. We're still not sure exactly what and when our final target is, but at the moment, as things stand, that is also just fine. I'm tentatively planning a "use it up" month for January - aiming to tackle to store cupboard, larder, freezer and fridge - so some inventive meals may be beckoning! Whether that becomes a Frugal Friday theme I've not decided yet, but you never know.
Life is good - and you can't ask for much more than that, can you!
Robyn
