Points Card

Here in the UK we have two particular stores that I use regularly, the  Co-Op is a local grocery store just down the road from me, it is close to Becontree Train Station and several bus stops so it does get busy at certain times of the day.  My local Boots is also a pharmacy and if you google it, it will give you a long history of the company.  The one I go to is at Heathway and it sells toiletries, baby products, make-up and some diabetic foods.

The reason I am speaking about these stores is because I have a Points Card for each of them, have done for a long time, and when I spend you hand over your points card and you get points on the card for every purchase.  Sometimes its 1p per £1 spent and other times you get points deals which, when money gets tight or you want to buy a special treat you can use your points to purchase and it does not cost you anything.  I was wondering if other people use something similiar in other countries, I know my cousin in USA uses coupons cut from newspapers or given at the time of purchasing products but is there a points system too.

The store that I go to sometimes called Roomes of Upminster has a Habadashery Section where I have purchased yarn and when you spend money you get a paper card with squares on and they stamp a square when you spend.  When it is full (8 stamps) you get £5 off your purchase.

Can you imagine the amount of plastic cards in your purse if you had one for all the stores you use on a regular basis, that would drive me nuts.  I have saved a fair bit for Co-Op and when I have had £10 worth of points I have bought tins of baby milk, box of chocolates for a gift or just had it taken off a shopping bill.  I think it is a brilliant idea and will continue to use my Points Cards but what I would like is a points saving system for an online yarn store.  I would use it regular, especially now that I want to stop using acrylic yarn and will start purchasing a more natural fibre like wool.

Today is Saturday and both myself and Frank have not been feeling our best so we only popped to Heathway to the Library and took a few things to our local charity shop.  I purchased some bedding for a single bed.  Then I got the bed all made up to look cosy and comfy for when my Grand Daughter stays over.  The bed was given to use by one of Franks work friends, its made of iron and the mattress was in really good condition so I bought a waterproof mattress protector from a store called Wilkinsons and then put some blankets on it, especially Myas new blanket I made called Magics Summer and threw a lot of cushions on there too.

I was planning on painting 3 of the walls in the bedroom, just white to spruce it up a bit, but I have to be in the mood to decorate so it can wait a bit longer.

Tomorrow is going to be a lazy day, I want to do a bit more designing and then in the afternoon my Grandson will be visiting with my brother and sister in law.  We have not had great weather this week and the forecast is not looking good for the next few days.  I cannot believe that last weekend it was very warm and sunny and was going out without any coats on.  Crazy British weather.

Oh well, I am off to do some crafts and maybe watch a few podcasts.  Hope everyone has a good week and if you do have any thoughts about Points Cards, please comment below.

Since February

Since February I kind of lost my interest in my crafts and was just picking it up for the sake of it, I got fed up with sock knitting and once I completed the last pair I had decided to not do anymore for a while.  I also felt quite tired most days, I still do, and cannot work out why.  I then got a part-time job working as a Receptionist in a Medical Centre which I started mid March and is absolutely exhausting, especially after a 10 hr day.

It is also a sedentary job so sitting down is a big part of the day which is not doing my knees any good, my feet and weight control.  I use to walk at least 10,000 steps a day making an effort to walk the 2 miles to work and 2 miles back but this job is too far away for that so I have decided to actually re-do the Couch to 5K exercise but more in line with walking distances rather than much jogging.  I do not want to aggravate my Plantar Fasciitis and go through that pain again.  I am also trying to control my eating again because I am comfort eating and also when I finish work late, I am eating dinner late which to be honest I do not really want so I need to look at my diet.  I am not eating enough fruit again and also found out that eating a portion of nuts is suppose to be good for you.  I do have a Doctors appointment on Monday to request a full blood test.

So what have I been up to, well as you can see in the photo below, I turned 50 the other day and I got such a lot of Birthday Cards which compared to few last year, was good going and much appreciated.

I got lots of lovely gifts and a surprise dinner part at a Harvester Restaurant in Gidea Park which Frank had organised with my Sister-in-Law and Brother.  My two Grand children were there too and my neice Adele.  We had my Grand Daughter over the weekend and on the Saturday we took her to Southend for a few hours where we both got spoiled again with clothes, shoes and jewellery which was not expected.  I knew we were going to buy Mya some new clothes because we bought her brother Martyn some the weekend before.

Since my last blogpost I had been crocheting on and off a design of my own so that Mya had a Summer blanket for the bed that we are setting up for when she stays and below is a photo of the design.  It is using Paintbox Simply DK and I call it Summer Magic.  I have not written up a pattern for it yet, I just need to bring myself to get round to doing it.

I have also been listening a lot to documentaries and articles on the news about how much plastic we use and what effect it is having on our planet.  The damage to our sea life is just so upsetting to see and realising that Acrylic yarn is not very friendly to our environment, I have decided to give up using Acrylic yarn. I am using up everything I have of Acrylic and then will look at using a more natural fibre.  That being said it has to be budget friendly too and am looking at the Shetland Spindrift Yarn which is a natural wool blend by Jameson & Smith in the UK.  

So I have been working on another scrap project using my last Acrylic and below is a photo of it for you to see.  On the negative side I am finding I can only crochet for a few hours at a time because it effects the base of my thumb quite badly.  It becomes painful to grip anything and is sore which is concerning me.  However, a little bit at a time I will get the project done.

Finally, I got a bargain at Hobbycraft about a month ago and it is a wool blend aran by Patons.  I think it is a discontinued yarn and the blue tweed effect caught my eye.  I am hoping to make another nice blanket but for Martyn and I have an idea for a design but just got to get it right in my head.  I will do a swatch sample of the pattern to see if it will work.  It was £2 a ball for 100g so could not miss out on that bargain.

Today is Wednesday morning and I have to be in work a little later. I have done housework and now going to watch a podcast called Fruity Knitting (an Australian couple who live in Germany) which is on Youtube and also one called Brooklyn Knitfolk (a lady living in New York) which is also on Youtube.  

Hope you all have a good sunny day and be back soon.