Sepa seeks freedom

mortgage_girl

Sepa74 wrote: »

I've been doing a fair bit of gardening, and am eagerly watching all my seedlings poke their heads up above the soil :j

Me too - it's exciting isn't it :j
Keep up the good work, you're doing fab! :T

pavlovs_dog

just read your diary from start to finish. Had to LOL at the sausage/cauliflower incident

Sepa74

It feels like ages since I last posted, but I went away over the Easter and Royal Wedding bank holidays, so that is why.

I had a lovely time away, visiting my brother and his wife and 'the bump' (my sister in law is 8 months pregnant). It was very relaxing and I hardly spent anything because my brother and I had a deal that he would pay for everything because I paid for my airfare at Christmas... it's one of those complicated family arrangements that make sense when you're involved but not to anyone else). AND my brother gave me £60 in cash he had lying around because he doesn't know when he'll next be back to the UK.

It's NOT been a money saving month, but that's because my travel card ran out and I've been paying for travel on my oyster card rather than get a new travel card. I have some compensation tickets from First Capital Connect for the delays last year, but if I want to use the tube then I need to use my Oyster. It's a real eye opener how expensive commuting in London really is - in the past I've purchased annual tickets and experienced the pain all in one big hit and then forgotten about it for a year.

Not sure whether I'll buy another one, as at the moment I'm WfH an average of twice a week. I might just keep topping up the oyster.

My garden is looking FAB!! I've got some strawbs growing, and the wild ones are just ripening. Lots of raspberry flowers this year... now that I've realised I shouldn'y prune the new growth in autumn!!

My courgettes sprouted perfectly - I didn't think they needed 25c to sprout! and everything stayed alive even though it was so dry while I was away.

NEWS FLASH .... my kitchen is being renovated on the 23rd. Eeek! I'm terrified. What if I hate it?! This weekend and next weekend I need to clear everything out and then figure out how I am going to survive with a Microwave, a kettle, a toaster and an electric steamer for two weeks. Lovely.

Sepa74

Another non-MS week, unfortunately, as the moggies had to go to the vet. My black puss got some grass stuck in the throat. It could have been worse - the vet estimated £200 to sort it, but in the end it only cost £135. But when she went for her check-up I took the tortie in too so they could both have their vaccinations. It was a cost effective way of doing it as I skipped the check-up fees, but that was another £73 for the two of them plus the cab fares each way (~ a fiver).

I also purchased lunch at work on Wed for the first time since February! I should feel bad about it, but I'm just so impressed with myself for managing it that I can't be! I'm now figuring out how to make sure I can take lunch in while my kitchen is being renovated.... bought lots of eggs today to hard boil, and I'll get some cous cous which doesn't need boiling, and I'll pre-cook some barley for salads. I should think it will freeze OK.

On the MS side of the ledger I got LOTS of free pots from the small garden centre down the end of my road. They are a good size for the gazillions of tomato plants I have waiting to be potted out. The will sit against my west facing wall and hopefully produce lots of tomatoes.

It was the farmers market today. As usual, I wasted lots of money buying things I don't really need, like 3 punnets of jam strawberries. AND that means I have to make jam now!!! It would be even worse if I let them go to waste.

Aaargh!, I've just realised I've packed the sugar. I'll have to find it again now. What a pain!!

My extravagant purchase today is some hand made willow towers that I will grow my beans over. They are lovely to look at and should last several years if I look after them. I arranged for them to be made at the last farmers market and picked them up today. I just hadn't bet on this being a month for vet fees as well!!

Sepa74

April Mortgage statement arrived this week. As you can see from my sig, I'm just over the £135K mark after 5 years. Bit depressing, really! However I have to remind myself about renewing the lease and the garage, which cost nearly 10K between them. If I had left the lease until now it would have been down to 79 years, making it much harder to sell the flat, AND it would have cost a lot more to renew.

One thing I AM pleased about is that in the last 3 months the term has been reduced by 3 months. If I keep going at that rate I'll pay it off sometime around 2022!

Kitchen is being sorted next week, then the bathroom sometime after that, and then I can start repaying in earnest!

Radish72

Don't beat yourself up about little payments whilst you are improving you home. I'm able to make biggish chunks as I have finished with the DIY (apart from a new window required in the outhouse as it has rotted over winter)

Sepa74

Don't worry Radish, I only beat myself up about things on here! My biggest concern is that I'm overcapitalising on the flat. I have spent far more money on it than I will ever get back - not a problem if I live here for 10 years or so and get to enjoy all the improvements, but I would love to move in with my boyfriend in a couple of years.

Have managed to get three loads of washing dry today, although now that it is all off the line, I really wish it would rain! It's been threatening all day, and my poor garden really needs it.

I have finished off one article and written another this weekend, which feels like a major achievement as the first article was painful and I've been working on it for weeks!

Sepa74

Well, bit of a dramatic week... split up with the boyfriend

However, as part of me is a bit relieved I guess I'll get over it, lol.

Kitchen is being renovated tomorrow! :eek: Have spend most of the weekend sorting out a little kitchenette in the living room and clearing everything out of the kitchen. Will have to have the cats' litter trays in the bedroom. Yuk!

Not a hugely MSE week, but all things considered it wasn't too bad either! However I am exhausted!

Managed to get lots of tomatoes planted out yesterday, as well as peas and beans. It's been a really busy weekend, no wonder I've had it!

I hope everyone else has had a good MSE week.

mummyofonechild

Sorry to hear your news.

You have probably had an emotional weekend.

Will you be OK mortgage wise?

Best of luck for the future.

MOOC xx

Sepa74

Hi MOOC, We didn't live together so mortgage isn't a problem. We'd only been going out for 9 months or so. But as you say, it has been an emotional weekend! Thanks for your kind thoughts.