Further financial faux pas and even more disasterous decisions

moo2moo

Decided upon a return visit to the Post Office in the end on account of it not involving a 10 mile plus round trip in the car. Really shouldn't have bothered. Waited in the queue for 10 minutes only to reach the counter and discover that HSBC transactions cannot be carried out over the counter at all and as I still hadn't managed to get my sweaty little paws on the sacred Halifax paying in envelope I couldn't pay into that account either. Have shuffled enough electronic cash from obscure on-line savings accounts to cover the absolute esentials and cheques. Still need to get to a branch to pay in the cash I withdrew but have also opted to electronically transfer cash at snails pace to other accounts. Have yet to get round to requesting a cheque book. Thats most definately on my to do list for today.

Also need to get flea-bay listing. It appears the lovely people at the Post Office are slapping up the cost of stamps by a rather over inflated 12% which means the profit to be made on low cost goods will be even smaller than it is at the mo. This is a fiar old incentive to shift everything that needs shifting sooner rather than later, even if it does annoy the heck out of OH that I'm staring at the PC pointlessly for hours on end getting more and more frustrated. Will need to remeber to state that all late payments will be subjected to a surcharge should I have to post at the higher rate due to late payment. Ugh.

In slightly more exciting news it appears payroll have screwed up again and the surprise that the boss anticipated being in this months pay packet has not materialised. Apparently as a thankyou for running round like a headless chicken whilst we were a cleaner down hes v.v. generously shared her wage between myself and the other cleaner which means 15 hours unexpected overtime..... in April or perhaps May because payroll aren't exactly the speediest peoople on the planet. Am rather gobsmacked at this! Of course in the same conversation I did discover that we're having the toilets revamped in a fortnights time whilst the little darlings are in school which means the entire school will be operating on 50% of its current toilets for what sounds rather too much like two or possibly even three weeks whilst the builders would like to work weekends. Oh joy!

Have also booked holiday childcare to co-incide with OHs days at work which will allow me to get in the hours I need whilst spending time with OH and the DDs on OHs days off. Hopefully its the sort of compromise that will appease his lordship. In reality it means the DDs are going to two pony fun days which they would want to go to anyway and I'm paying for two half days childcare. Its not going to break the bank but it does amount to £144 for 17 hours. If I had to cover my entire working week I'd be seriously out of pocket.

OH arrived home with a reciprocating saw yesterday. Spent the afternoon up the elm tree v. lazily removing small limbs. Now have a huge pile of branches to shrink into wheelie bin sized pieces. Planning to spend the morning outside doing that so we can get a bit higher this afternoon when OH returns home. Have reached the stage where we have to rope limbs to stop them smashing things on their way down. Hopefully it'll be a former tree by the weekend which will allow me to remove the surface roots and start planting. This in turn should clear up the kitchen which is home to rather a lot of seed potatoes.

Further plans for the day involve the usual mundane day to day activities that appear to be essential to get through the week to the weekend. Debating a sneaky trip to Waterstones to see if I can persuade them to exchange the books I was given for Christmas but will never ever read on account of them being truly bizarre and rather too biblical for my liking.... not entirely sure when I'll fit this in though.

moo2moo

I've been very very naughty and have just blown £17 on a preserving pan which is in considerably better nick than an awful lot of the ones I've considered yesterday, ok its a little more than I wanted to pay originally but what the heck, a gals got to be a little reckless once in a while.

Rather amazingly the DDs were ready five minutes early so I washed up before leaving for work. Makes a v. nice change to come home to a vaguely tidy kitchen. Need to do a spot of decluttering and transform the sad looking fruit in the fruit bowl into something edible before it develops a furry green jacket.

Off to have a quick nosy at a few other diaries before hanging out the laundry and donning my gardening gloves to make the most of the sunshine. Feeling v. up beat and super bouncy about things today which usually indicates a rather productive day and a very early night as I'll be kettled by 8pm.

makeup

Thanks for the spice tip, looks like a good site.

My mum has a proper old fashioned preserving pan which was her grandma's. It must have come from the 1940s or 50s at least, if not earlier and agree with you about the sturdier nature of these old things.

moo2moo

Am a v. proud mummy. Both DDs passed their martial arts gradings and were awarded certificates and stripey belts. DD1 is still in a state of shock as she'd convinced herself she'd failed. DD2 was so excited that she hugged her instructor and then hopped around the room trying to take her old belt off and put her new belt on whilst holding her certificate and applauding the other new belt holders.

It all went a bit pete tong after that when they commenced learning the next batch of moves which included a hand hold taught in Aikido. DD2s partner ended up laid in a heap on the floor, as expected in Aikido, which is not the desired outcome in Tae Kwon-Do due to the lack of padding on the floor. The loud oops-a-daisy which accompanied this plus the fits of giggles from DD2s partner and the instructors Karate Kid quote makes this rather unlikely to happen again.

In other rather unexpected news my preserving pan is being hand delivered to tonights martial arts class. Decided against picking it up myself as the cost of fuel and the time involved meant the seller was just that bit too far to be an option but hes over this way anyway and happy to drop it off. I forsee a weekend filled with jams and other interesting things. Although not as many interesting things as I would like since the combination of increased postage and this weekends free listing days means I will be E-baying everything E-bayable... I will be glad of the cash... I will be glad of the cash... I will be so very bored though!

Managed to strip all the branches removed from the tree on Tuesday and have crammed them into the wheelie bins by chopping them into teeny tiny pieces. Now need to start shrinking the limbs into log sized pieces ready for next winter. Hoping to get a few more limbs removed today if the wind dies down a little, it was too windy to attempt to get up the tree with the chainsaw yesterday.

Further plans for today involve wrapping a present from the rapidly depleting stash for DD1 to take to tonights party and then writing a shopping list in the hopes of doing a mad dash round Mr Ts in the 2 hour window between dropping her off and picking her up again.

Am mid way through having a willow fence planted in school, the chap doing it is most informative and has been teaching me all sorts of things. Have managed to weave a section of angled fence complete with curvey tops and angled patterns, it looks most impressive and is much prettier to look at than normal fencing. Hoping to plant a small area out of sight of the boss so I can crop willow in the future. May well get a crash course in basket weaving if he gets finished early.... am really looking forward to that especially since I can bring the left over willow canes home to have a go. I suspect it will be considerably harder than it looks.

Today is Comic Relief non-uniform day so I need to dig out something red to wear. Also need to persuade the DDs that pink trousers with red t-shirts is not a good look, especially since DD2s trousers are splattered with creosote.

moo2moo

In much better news it appears Santanders money transfer system goes a bit faster than they claim and I now have cash in my current account again. Am v. relieved at this.

beanielou

Good news on the dosh
Big well done to your DD's :j

moo2moo

Spent far too much at Mr Ts. Ended up with more whoopsies that I could wedge in the freezer and the dreaded mobile phone. Also managed to obtain 2kg of cherry tomatoes for 60p.... unfortunately I made the mistake of transforming them into sweet n spicy jam which makes vindaloo seem tame. Hoping I can dilute it by using teeny weeny amounts in sauces as its inedible on its own.

Spent the day in the sun decimating the elm tree. Think its going to take another couple of days to get it to a point we can dro the main trunk.

OH went to bed an hour ago. Am enjoying the peace although I'm knackered too.

moo2moo

Have abandoned trying to sleep. Its rather gusty here and the hound from hell is reacting to every strange noise like the house is being invaded by a batallion of heavily armed soldiers by roaring at each window in turn and taking the shortest route across the house to do this. Sleeping through it is not an option and the usual calming words and screamed threats have no effec at all. Shes a bit too over excited to take any notice.

No chance of tree felling today, its far too windy to risk being up in a tree, let alone up in a tree with a chainsaw. This will at least give me chance to clear up after ysterday which will be greatly helped by comandeering various unused garden waste bins from the neighbouring farms. The DDs have had a great time rounding them all up and visiting the various farmers in the process.

Have yet to list anything on E-bay. Am lacking in enthusiasm but really do need to do it today.

DD1 should be going shooting but is suffering with a visit from the snot monster, hoping she'll decide that she doesn't feel up to it, especially as I know she'll try for monday off school.

Preserving pan is fabulous, even better than I'd hoped although 2kg of fruit looks rather lost in the bottom of the gaping abyss. Must not get too carried away as this could easily result in far too many jars of something horrific like yesterdays disasterous tomatoe based toxic waste. I like spicy things, heck I even like hot things but this is off the scale, it makes Holy Cow! look mild.

DD2 is awake and full of beans although the rest of the household is still asleep despite the hound from hells best efforts. May well sneak out to a car boot sale or go for a quick stomp around the park before they move. Will consume more coffee and see if I can find my enthusiasm.

moo2moo

Opened the curtains at 6:30 to find two sheep in the front garden. Spent a happy half hour in my PJs with a neighbouring farmer on a quad bike attempting to coax them back into their field. Finally made it to the farmers market but really wish I hadn't bothered. 90% of the stalls were seriously overpriced cupcakes. Departed with some bacon having placed an order for half a pig which I need to rember to collect in early April.

Have yet to e-bay anything or achieve anything productive. Its a flat sort of day. Too wet to do anything outdoors and being indoors seems to involve a lot of nagging the DDs about homework with very little result.

Braved tomato jam with cheese for lunch. Even used very sparingly its overpowering. Won't be making that mistake again. At least I can donate it to the next school fundraiser.

MrsMoo2U

Glad you got your preserving pan in the end. The tomatoe stuff sounds like it could be nice. What if you mix it with some yoghurt when you want to eat it, would that take the zing out a little? You could add it to stuff as the base for a curry too, by the time you add all the other ingredients and the rice it might cool it down too.

Sheep can be really good fun when they escape. I spent an hour last year helping a sheep out of the stream at the forest and have had a couple of occasions where I have followed a sheep and her lambs up the main road to the village with my hazards on! Still that is far preferable to following a grandad who slows down for every bend.

Poor you with the hound from hell barking at all the noises but you described it in such a way that I couldnt help but giggle.

Somebody whispered that its free ebaying this weekend, will that give you an incentive?