Won't Somebody Think of the Bees?! | How Much Did I Spend Last Week? May 22-28, 2023
Well, my fine readers, I may have finally lost my mind. This week, I truly entered my birdwatching era, and have now somehow been forced into a life where I must refill the bird seed every single day – and when I say “refill”, I mean pour two pint glasses’ worth of seed into this enormous feeder, otherwise the birds take on a distinctly Hitchcockian menace and begin gathering, en masse, to peck in my flower bed.
Last week, I threw one of those suet cake things (vom) into the mix. It’s a square “cake” made of suet and seeds and nuts which you then place inside a little cage, and hang from your bird feeder so that they may gorge themselves at their leisure.
Do you remember the scene in Jurassic Park where they lower the cow into the raptor pen inside a large cage, only to remove the cage, a few moments later, in absolute ribbons? Well, the following morning I walked into the kitchen to check on my beloved birds, only to find that the cage had been violently toppled from its hook on the bird feeder and was being aggressively fought over on the ground by a dozen large birds.
Still, I’m not put off. If anything, I’m more committed than ever to my quest of feeding the birds. They must have been starving before I came along.
Monday
Atlas is at the childminder today – Monday and Wednesday are our regular days, although his childminder is really accommodating and agrees to switch days no problem. This week, she has a doctor’s appointment on Wednesday so we’re going to do Monday and Thursday instead.
Anyway, I get up and try to get a semi-decent breakfast into him – he has some toast, strawberries and a handful of fruit puffs – before we head off.
Today, for the first time, he actually starts running into her sitting room himself, where around seven other children are already in situ, but halfway he realises I’m not coming and bursts out crying, so I say goodbye, assure him I’ll be back later and leave. It’s never not awful.
When I get home I take some coffee and a bottle of iced water (I never used to like ice-cold water, but while I was pregnant I would only drink it with a tonne of ice in it and now I can’t seem to go back) up to my office and sit down to get some work done (while also worrying that I should probably have watered my plants).
I have a freelance piece and my money diary to finish, plus responding to some emails about publicity for the book. I also – of course – get sidetracked by Instagram and end up buying some “bee cups”, tiny little ceramic cups that you put in your garden so that when you water it, they fill up and provide water for the bees! I told you, I’ve lost it. ($37)
I pick Atlas up a little before 12.30pm and he’s delighted to see me, which is always gorgeous, but seems exhausted, so as soon as we get in I take him up to his room, change and nurse him and put him down.
Then I get to doing some of my more “chore” tasks: I put up some washing and water the plants and tidy the kitchen.
When he wakes up, he has a snack of goldfish, cheese and some apple slices before we head to pick the boys up from their mum’s.
I have to return my Dr Martens to Dick’s, and return a dress to Target, so we all head there after pickup. I realised recently that we tend to do these kinds of tasks when the boys are with their mum, meaning they never really have to tag along and do things they don’t want to do. And, as someone who was dragged to the supermarket with her Mum far too often, I think it’s character-building and have decided to bring them more often.
It turns out, though it might be character-building for them, it seems to be character-destroying for me and I quickly run out of patience, especially as the quick trip to Target to return a dress ends up costing me over $100. (I take the opportunity to get some groceries that we need and of course the boys ask for a variety of crisps, so we end up with, I think, four different types in the trolley. A mistake I will not be repeating!) ($112.65)
Crumbl Cookies is right next to Target so I decide to get a box of six ($24.21) – and yes, they are extortionately priced. But, I will say, these are not the cookies we’re used to in Ireland. They’re more like mini cakes, with thick icing and various fancy flavours like banana cream pie (I do not choose this, disgusting) and Mississippi mud pie (I do get one of these, and the boys pronounce it delicious).
I would 100% eat a Crumbl Cookie in any circumstance and at any time of day, but they are so pricey and do not hold a candle to Marks & Spencer’s chocolate chip cookies, so I don’t think I’ll buy them again.
When we get home we make pizzas for dinner, after which I go back to the office to do a bit more work before bed.
Daily total: $173.86
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