Getting to the bottom of it...

So, for the last three weeks Mr A and I have been trying to work out why our energy bills are so high, especially the electricity!
So, we went all mental on turning stuff off and making sure nothing was left on. Meter readings still high, bills still high :/
So after many helpful phone calls to british gas we decided the best thing to do was to take matters into our own hands. As a result we are having two prepayment meters fitted so that we can top it up ourselves and hopefully manage our energy much better as a result.
Mr A has also bought an energy monitor. I'm in two minds about it. One, it helps us track exactly what we are using and where, on the other hand, we're now obsessed!!

So, we ran it last night and we discovered that somehow overnight with everything turned off we've managed to use ten pence an hour. The mind boggles.
So I've spent most of this morning messing about turning things on and off and reading the monitor. We did get a little surprise though. We've discovered the television downstairs in the pub is wired into our supply!! >.< Have spoken to my landlord about it, he said that when the electrics were done for that he expressly said that it shouldn't go into the supply for the flat above. He's going to get someone out to re route it for us. That's not quite all of it though, something somewhere is still using money over night so Mr A is going to do some more tests tonight while I'm at work. Currently trying to get on top of the washing and battling indigestion at the same time. It's weird, I never get indigestion, I had it for most of yesterday, had breakfast this morning and now I've got it again!

On friday night I actually managed to go out!! *go me, go me*. This might sound surprising, but most friday nights I get stuck on a sleep in shift, but last friday I managed to finish at 9pm!! Destination pub it was, had a lovely couple of hours with Mr A and his dad, made me realise I must make more time for the people I care about, I don't see much of him anymore, mostly because I'm working and before Mr A moved in I was a regular at his house anyhow.

I'm a little annoyed this morning, because I have somehow managed to lose a packet of sewing needles for my cross stitch. I've looked all round my stitchy corner and they can't be found anywhere. They have just disappeared on me. I still maintain that this house has a poltergeist. An Avenged sevenfold/cross stitch loving poltergeist. He/she or it is probably moshing away whilst stitching a HAED!

right, thats all for now, time to go get indigestion remedy!!

WIP update 20/7011

Hi again, another week has gone by without me posting!! I'm finally making headway on my hedgehog. I'm sorely tempted to go and buy my variations thread that I need for another part of the design, but I've told myself I can't have them until I've finished the hedgehog!

This has been a learning curve for me, and I have to pick my stitchy time, usually I can stitch anywhere in any kind of light, but with two different colours in the needle I find it easier to do in daylight.

I've been quite busy this week working, and also trying to sort out my bills with british gas, because they are silly high. I've found out we have to buy a new microwave this weekend.

anyway, here's an updated pic!!

thanks for looking, see you soon!!

good morning!!

Well, it's been a week since I updated on here. Unfortunately, I don't have much news on the cross stitch front, I'm lucky if I'm managing ten stitches at a time at the moment with this tweeding. I am determined to finish that section though because I just know that if I go onto a different bit I'm going to forget where I was on that bit and it will all go wrong. The episode with the well is a case in point, I've learned my lesson!

All in all, I'm doing pretty good, I've slowed right down at work thanks to having a good chat with my boss. I've picked up six hours extra on top of what I've already got and that's all fine with me, I'm being very mindful of what hours I take on, finally after nine years in this game I've learned my limits, just a shame I had to get into such a tizz to realise it!!
I had a text yesterday asking if I could cover a late shift tomorrow, I politely declined due to the fact that I'm doing an afternoon and a sleep today and it would mean coming back in later on tomorrow, which for my body clock is a no no!!
They were fine with it, how can they not be? I'm finally asserting my right to say no and not feel guilty about it.

So I'm working today and then I have tomorrow and friday off, I think tomorrow I'm going to go out and get the threads missing for my project and treat myself to some proper embroidery scissors, might also have a look round the shops.

I had some good news yesterday. Ages ago I had an account with sky when I lived in my other house. Long story short, I moved house and they couldn't fit sky, so I cancelled telephone and sky TV and kept the broadband and paid it off til the end of the contract. When I'd finished paying at the beginning of this year I duly cancelled it and then thought nothing of it.
I got home yesterday morning to find a letter from them saying that due to a systems error I was due a refund and I had to ring them to arrange it. So I rang them to find out what was going on and realised it was my old account!! Which should have been closed six months ago 0-o. So, I'm due a refund of £153.33 which should arrive in my bank next week!! Just as well really, because after this month my wages are going to dip cos I'm not pulling in as many hours!!

At some point on my days off I want to go and see a friend and also do some more on my NVQ, I'm getting lazy!!

quick update on my cross stitch....

Well, at the moment, my cross stitch is slower than a snail drinking red bull... :/

Even so, here's a pic of what I've done so far. Ed hedgehog is starting to come to life slowly, the only problem is, that tweeding is a bit of a pain because it's little tiny blocks of colour, and rather than change my thread all the time and get in a muddle, I've started with darks. I find I can't do a lot of it, two threads in the needle of a similar colour makes my eyes go funny.

I have to go back into work in a bit, which is slightly annoying!!
Then I won't have any time to stitch tomorrow because I have a training course and then work again, still it should be fairly peaceful, just the regulars in!!

Anyhow, here's my pic, and thanks for looking.