Cate's Diary

I thought I had posted this before we left home this morning!
Thanks, Em, Skurgeon, Marsia & Llama. When I let my diary slip for a day I sometimes struggle to keep on top of the comments. I have felt a little stressed with a bit too much going on at once in my life. I guess it's a mixture of finding out about my friends, what's happening in our son's lives, deciding whether or not to go to Queensland (I booked yesterday), transferring money backwards & forwards as one son pays us back & then we send it off to the other......then I got a call from my SIL asking if we want to buy her car as she's getting a new one....I think the answer will be yes as it's much more suitable for us & has a big boot. Then we'll offer my little car to R at a very cheap(1/2 what we would get as a trade-in) price as his first car. I feel like I'm juggling lots of balls.
G has been making calls & receiving calls all morning & it's almost impossible to concentrate. I think he's done for now.

I'll continue on.....
alligatorob said:
Hey Cate, I am just catching up with people, and with you that seems impossible.
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I can't keep up with myself, Rob! I was contemplating moving, but I really just don't want to & instead we're fixing our place up so that it's less cluttered & things that need fixing get fixed. I don't think I could be as happy anywhere else. If things change & have we have to move then our house will be more ready & less cluttered.
You're right. I don't think the golf club has ever been a good fit for me. I'm not a big joiner, especially with groups of women. I have been a bit too much of a hermit the last couple of years & have let the fear of catching the virus make me that way. It's definitely time to get out there & live my life. I don't think I will bother with travel insurance for this trip. It's important when you leave the country, but not so much locally.
We just got home from visiting my friend, V. It was a lovely visit. She now has liver cancer, but has some hope I think. She is taking chemo by tablet & they'll see how that goes & then maybe have keyhole surgery. She hasn't recovered from her bowel surgery yet. She has lost so much weight. She has no appetite & eats like a bird. G cooked fritters to take to pool yesterday, not realising it wasn't on, so I suggested we take them today. She ate 2 & we left the rest with her. She also ate some salad we took & I left a lemon slice, cut up into small pieces. I'm so glad we visited. One of her sons visits her every day & takes her to appointments & does her shopping etc.
 
You really are juggling a lot of balls. The care arrangement sounds sensible though! Somehow there's always so much to do...
 
I feel tired tonight I must admit, LaMa. I won’t be about in the morning as we going to check out the car first thing.
 
So sorry about your friend. And, wow, your whole family has sprung into action all going off in different directions selling things and moving and trading cars, ... I hope it works out with your sister's car. That sounds ideal. Hope you got a good night's rest and can catch your breath!
 
Thanks, M. I thought I had better do my diary sooner rather than later so I don't forget again. The car belongs to G's sister. I didn't ask her what she was buying! I really hope it's comfortable for me to drive. R is actually excited about getting my little car, which is kind of sweet. I got a great night's sleep & feel good this morning. If this car is suitable then it will be such a neat exchange all 'round, with minimal money changing hands. Fingers crossed!
 
Yep. I'm definitely buying her car. I went for a drive on my own & found it really comfortable. She is buying a new car now rather than a second-hand one, but it won't be ready until next Wednesday so we will go in & pick hers up early & then we'll drive both cars down to R's & deliver his for him, stay one night & then head back home. This is a very good arrangement & is virtually stress-free. Neither of our sons owes us anything at all anymore, which feels really good. It's all square.
 
So happy you'll have a lovely comfortable car now, and you know it's reliable, too. Nice your old car will be well loved, too. It's wonderful your sons are in good stead with you now, too. You have such a supportive family. It's lovely to read about!
 
Llama said:
Sounds like a great stress reduction both for the car situation and the money!
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It really is, LaMa. It seems sweet that R is quite excited about getting my little car. It saves him stressing about buying one from a stranger & leaves him with enough money to do some work around his house.
Marsia said:
So happy you'll have a lovely comfortable car now, and you know it's reliable, too. Nice your old car will be well loved, too. It's wonderful your sons are in good stead with you now, too. You have such a supportive family. It's lovely to read about!
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Thanks, M. I have dreaded outlying money on a new car, but this is a great solution, with very little money changing hands after the car exchange. I hadn't realised quite how much it bothered us both that the finances were so unequal. They are sending one another text exchanges like they are teens again apparently. They had quite a few years where I think they grew apart a lot & they have been growing closer again in the last year or so. It makes me feel so much better. Family means so much to me.

We have a nephew & his wife & their 2 kids coming for lunch today. They moved back to Tassie last year & have bought a house & wanted to visit. G insisted they come for lunch. It's lovely that they want to visit us. They want to catch up with all of the extended family. I think the pandemic has made a lot of people reassess what's important to them.
 
How lovely that your sons are getting closer again! And your nephew wanting to reconnect sounds nice as well. Chosen family can be just as close as physical family but having people you share those old memories with is wonderful.
 
Wow, it is wonderful that D and R are closer now, and also that they are respecting your help and paying you back. I hope you have a great lunch and catching up with your nephew and his family. Where we are moving, people have golf carts and go to the store with those. I always have wished there were a safe form of transportation where you could have something affordable and little like a golf cart and it could run on tracks like electric busses or something to go longer distances. It's just crazy how much even a certified used car costs. I'm so glad you solved your car dilemma and R's at the same time! Great timing!!
 
Thanks, LaMa & M. We had a really delightful time with A, D & their 2 little livewire girls. Sitting around the dining table with them really gave us a chance to reconnect. D hadn't been to our house before so it was great to show her around. Our house is fairly child friendly as I don't have glass-topped coffee tables or knick-knacks around. I also have quite a few good toys that I will pull out early next time. I have a big tub of small lego that I didn't bring out until lateish. I think there will be a next time.
I got the chance to give them a few things that I was so happy to rehome & they were really quite excited about them, which was great. If our sons want something they had better let me know because I am in serious decluttering mode.
M- getting around in a golf cart would be wonderful. They are great fun. I am so glad that we are getting this car. I am hoping our next car will be electric. This should get us through the next 5 years or so.
I am going to give March some serious thought. I like having a plan & it's time to concentrate on getting down a few more kilos.
 
Best of luck with the March plan and congrats on the new car! My mum gave me my first car as well. I don't know when I would have started driving if she hadn't done that. I'm on car no. 3 now, but no. 3 is on its last legs I think.

Lovely that you had a great evening with the extended family and you decluttered some more, lol!
 
I haven't worked out my March plan yet, but will in the next day. I'm not giving R my car. He sold us one he had bought but then didn't get his licence & it wasn't that cheap, so I'm selling this to him for about half what we were told we would get for it. It's a good deal. The catch up with the nephew was good because it was lunchtime & then we had plenty of time to relax afterwards. I am really doing well with decluttering but I may not mention what I give away to the boys.
I'm having a lovely, relaxing day with Arch as G is at golf. I have done some housework, talked to R, taken Arch for a walk, talked to a neighbour, had a very low-cal simple lunch of Ryvita biscuits with cheese & green tomato pickles, some celery, snow peas & an orange. I wasn't really hungry but thought I should eat before any cravings got a chance to start.
 
Cate said:
I wasn't really hungry but thought I should eat before any cravings got a chance to start.
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For me that's definitely the way to go.
I've never had tomato pickles and can't imagine what they taste like so I'm now curious and have something new to look out for.
I love to hear about your decluttering: it's giving me motivation to get on with mine.
 
The visit with A and D sounds lovely, and I'm glad they loved your repurposed gifts to them. Your relaxing day sounds perfect. I haven't heard of pickled green tomatoes either. Do you pickle things yourselves? I'd love to learn to do that, and am even moving a set of old crocks and pickle/jam jars with us so I can try. We're thinking of saving up for an electric car eventually. There is a new one coming out that goes 500 miles on a charge, but it may be one of the very expensive ones. Give Archie a little hug for me!
 
Hi, LaMa, Em & M.
I grew up in a family that pickled & preserved everything possible. In winter there was always lots of stewed fruit. Mum had a brilliant pantry full of preserves. Green tomato pickles have always been one of my favourites. Some people would call it a chutney.
Cate's Mum's green tomato pickles(chutney)
Cut up 2kg green tomatoes, 1kg onions, add 1 cup water & a 'handful' of salt. Bring to the boil. Stand overnight & then strain.
Add 1kg sugar, 550ml white vinegar, 2 tablespoons curry powder, 1 tablespoon turmeric & (1 tablespoon whole cloves & 1 tablespoon whole pimento in a bag.)
Simmer 1/2 to 3/4 hr, thicken with half cup plain flour mixed with vinegar & water, cook for a further 15 mins.
Pour into sterilised jars & seal.

I had a really relaxing & enjoyable weekend actually & enjoyed my day at home yesterday with G playing golf. It actually felt like a weekend. I really have got used to not drinking now. I had one small glass on Saturday with lunch as A brought a really nice looking Tasmanian Pinot Noir. It was very nice. I am going to keep doing what I am doing with wine. If I like the look of something I'll have some, but I am actually quite happy not drinking. There is no fuss involved anymore with me not drinking now that G is used to it. By saying to myself that I can have a glass if I want to then mostly I decide not to. It's not forbidden fruit, but I have broken the habit, which is great. It has only taken me a lifetime :)
 
Thanks for the recipe! I must save it to try with tomatoes from my parents' garden. Great to hear that the wine reduction has become easier for you: that must make a difference in sticking to your calorie goal!
 
You're welcome, Llama. The wine reduction does make it much easier to stick to my calorie goal, but my weight has stalled again. I need to move more.
 
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