Further financial faux pas and even more disasterous decisions

chevalier

wow what a recommendation for the chutney. I too have a space problem. I have done enough jam to last the winter here. And so even though I want to do more, I will rein myself in for now...

DedicatedDFW

Hiya moo and everyone

Just wanted to say about the tomatoes I quite enjoy growing tumbling tomatoes - very tasty - they are a smaller tomato but as they are grown in hanging baskets I find they are quite easy to keep out of the way and easy to tend to. I would say there is a good crop from each plant too Possibly an idea if you are looking for a different range of toms? Also I have grown these from seed and bought little plug plants too - even from an expensive garden centre the plug plants work out at less than 50p each and I would say I got a crop of over 50 tomatoes per plant so well worth the money in my opinion.

May well be asking advice on chutneys and jams in the future - just need to get some pesky work out of the way :rotfl:

moo2moo

Thanks for that DedicatedDFW, I'm pretty sure I've got a part packet of tumbling tomato seeds stashed somewhere. DD2 loves them but we grew them in pots because the wind ripped the baskets off the house leaving some rather large holes in the wall where the bracket mounts had been.

Am collecting jars from a friend this morning, but may well put a wanted notice in the staffroom too. Did vaguely and v. briefly consider buying some then saw the price and decided against it. The recycling centre is a great idea but they use giant anti-vandal bins which smash the jars on reciept to cram more glass in there.

In the brief spell between coffee with the friend and returning to school early to assist with road safety classes I have a small laundry pile to clear and a small spot of tidying to do as well as a bathroom clean or two. Have two more days to get all the housework done before OH finishes his shift. At that point I'll be outside doing woodworky things, just hope it warms up a bit as its minus six out there this morning. OHs log store is now in position, or at least the bits hes made so far are. Hopefully by the end of the weekend it will have sides, a floor and a roof although that would be v. v. optomistic.

Furthers rumours from his employer have emerged. THe boy wonder appears to have accepted the job, management claim he'll be up and running and stand alone by 2014. Thats something to look forward to then, meanwhile OHs incompetant boss has been demoted leaving some obnoxious sleezeball from a distant planet in charge by phone. Any decisions that need making can be made during office hours monday to friday which is fab news when OHs working day is usually over by lunchtime. Better still theres a shift change afoot so OH gets to partner the chap who has booked leave for almost every weekend that hes scheduled to work over the summer meaning OH will be rejected should he apply for holiday over a weekend. Pressure is also being applied requiring OH to work his weekends off to cover staffing shortages caused by having the boy wonder on shift and someone babysitting him. Its going to be a very fun summer!

Got the last of the paperwork through from Santander. Now need to sit and read through it and figure out what happens next so that I have cash where it needs to be when the direct debits start moving around. Also need to start the time consuming process of moving cash through the account to ensure that I've shoved a grand through it by the 26th. This could well be a v. lengthy process as its a week until payday and my account is rather depleted at the mo.

butler_helen

Moo if I remember rightly you can walk into a branch, pay in £1000 and take it straight out - that counts as funding! Check first but I used to do that when we were with alliance an Leicester.

moo2moo

Oh to have a grand to walk in with. My account currently has £200 in it which is ear marked for such things as martial arts gradings, martial arts classes, riding lessons, chicken feed and anything else which crops up between now and pay day as well as the odd direct debit. Was thinking of shuffling a much smaller amount through it several times over to comply.

Had a fab time with my friend and left with four carrier bags of jam jars. Going to clean cement mixer, hang out washing and wash jars ready for use.

moo2moo

Have evicted DD2s farm from the toy cupboard to make space for all the jam jars. Will give it a week and then bung it on E-bay since it hasn't been played with in over 6 months. It takes up far too much space to sit around unused. Have accumulated a few other e-bayables too so should really get round to listing them. Am at the point where the wasted space annoys me more than the potential cash as an incentive. Can only assume that I'm finally getting the whole tidy house obsession thing that comes with old age. But then I only have to look at the huge pile of paperwork awaiting my attention on the desk in front of me to know that this isn't really ture.

Plans for today involve tackling the paperwork. All of it. And sorting out the Santander stuff just in case theres something I need to sign and return.

Am awaiting the arrival of 25 cinammon sticks in the post. Having forked out 83p for 3 in Mr Ts I was most annoyed to find that I can get 25 delivered for £2.22 simply by exercising my clicky finger .... obviously I didn't stop there and so Margarite Pattens Basic Jam making book is also winging its way v. slowly towards me. Sadly it won't be accompanied by a preserving pan as they're simply too expensive. Will continue to borrow one from school in the short term simply because I'm going to run out of storage space v. shortly which will make further adventures in jam making considerably more difficult.

New hens have settled in nicely and are recovering v. quickly. Had a tiny egg yesterday which is natures way of saying they're feeling considerably better. Cockerel is v. protective of the girls but isn't overly aggressive with it, espeially now that hes realised that all interference from me is accompanied by food. Hes quite happy to have his wounds cleaned if theres an apple core involved.

Would like to sweep the floors today but somebody (aka OH) has been using the housebrush to sweep off the bits hes working on outside so all the bristles are covered in dust and blobs of cement. Meh. Will be replacing it next time I shop because the lumps refuse to come off the bristles even though I've had a couple of attempts to clean it.

DD1 has been given a dog show leaflet at school by a friend who is entering her springer spaniel in an under 11s dog handling class. It seems she wants to enter the hound from hell although theres a category for the dog judges would most like to take home there isn't one entitled dog most likely to leap up at the judges or flatten the audience. Have two weeks to make her reconsider or bribe her with an alternative afternoon out thats far too good to pass up on.

moo2moo

Desk is now clear of paperwork. Still covered in junk but its an improvement and I unearthed £6 of vouchers in the process. Sorted out Santander but thanks to a problem with the Halifaxs instant transfer system it'll be 3 days before any cash ends up there. Meh.

Came across another brochure from Thompson and Morgan offering a pack of free seeds plus £10 of free seeds for the cost of postage. Am far more tempted than I should be.....

moo2moo

Went to put something away in a little used cupboard and spotted a tiny bit of mould. Emptied the cupboard and found a whole lot more. Emptied the adjacent cupboards and found the same thing. Meh. Spent the afternoon cleaning out and disinfecting walls and cupboards. Have managed to salvage everything apart fom a jewellery box. I guess thats the price you pay for running the heating less. On the bright side I've found quite a bit more to E-bay. Just need to find the motivation to list it.

With what little time I had left I grated another giant bowl full of carrots which have been marinading over night ready for making another batch of spicy carrot and garlic chutney today.

Remebered writing a cheque a while back which hasn't been presented but does explain why I appear to have so much money left the week before payday. Thought it seemed a bit too good to be true.

Today is buy an overpriced book day at school. DD1 is taking her own moeny. All £2 of it. Bet she throws the mother of all wobblies when she realises that all the books shes interested in are a fiver. Even the colouring in book is £4 despite only having 20 pages. Total and utter rip off. The only person who benefits from this is the person on commission selling the books. Hoping the DDs can be persuaded to use their vouchers for one of the free world book day titles in the supermarket which means taking them to a supermarket unless I can persuade otherwise. Was hoping to go after work tomorrow evening whilst they're all out just to get it over and done with.

chevalier

meh to the mold, but yeah to the ebayables. know what you mean about the books at school thing, they were always mega expensive

good luck with the DDs at the supermarket
chev

moo2moo

Both DDs have decided to do this weekends martial arts grading which meant parting with a further £101 last night. Stuck my head round the door to watch them whilst having a quick cuppa and was surprised just how proficient they looked. Will need to start trawling flea-bay for pre-loved yellow striped belts otherwise I'll be forking out £16 for them next week.

OH finished work super early yesterday and spent the afternoon doing wood worky things in the garden. Theres a chance the log store will be well on its way to completion by the end of today although hes going to run out of wood which means either persuading the local builders merchants to deliver this afternoon or the more likely option of going there to collect it and driving home v. v. carefully with some extremely long lengths of wood attached to the roof which always makes driving down narrow twisty windy lanes extra interesting. That assuming they have it in stock.

Made another batch of carrot chuney but I think I overcooked it despite only giving it an extra 5 minutes from the point I bottled the last lot which is still runnier than it should be. Had it in cheese sandwiches for lunch - lovely! Although OH proclaimed it to be disgusting - far too chewy and spicy for his liking. More for me then!

As predicted DD1 didn't have enough cash to buy a book but decreed them all to be a bit babyish anyway. Have promised to take them to the worlds smallest branch of Waterstones on the way home from riding lessons. Must restrain myself in there as there are usually several dozen titles I could happily take home with me. Am doing rather well at reducing the number of books on the groaning bookshelves, but not well enough. Now if I could only persuade OH to part with his dusty 1990s Landrover magazines, which haven't been read since the month they were published, I'd have tons of space.

Plans for today involve assisting OH with the woodworky stuff, visiting Mr Ts and only purchasing what we actually need whilst managing to rack up a £50 bill to take advantage of a £7 off voucher which expires on Sunday. Also need to do a spot of tidying up as the place is inexplicably messy again and I need to wash, dry and iron the martial arts stuff ready for 8am Sunday which will be a bit interesting as they're wearing it tonight and it has to be air dried which takes an eternity.

Confession of the day inolves a Thompson and Morgan brochure and the small matter of half a dozen packets of seeds. Ordered £14 worth in the end for the bargain price of 9p plus postage so a total spend of £2.31. Now just need the weather to brighten up a bit and I can plant some stuff.

Also need to repair a hole in the fencing now that I know where the hens are escaping from. Hopefully that will stop them terrorising next doors sheep. Am also planning to integrate the rescues in with the main flock since they haven't keeled over and died theres a fair chance they're not carrying anything contagious.