A blissful home - mortgage_girl's MF diary

BookWorm

Hello MG

Sorry to hear you were poorly but glad you are better now. It sucks getting sick on your holidays..often seems to happen unfortunately. I think this was the first year in a long time that I didn't come down with a lurgy during my time off

Woohooo for the new bed. Sounds fab :T

mortgage_girl wrote: »

Are there any cucumber experts out there

:rotfl:I know it's juvenile but this made me laugh out loud

Being serious, I have no idea and can't offer you any helpful advice..as you know I'm not much of a gardener!

mortgage_girl

mortgage_girl wrote: »

Are there any cucumber experts out there

BookWorm wrote: »

:rotfl:I know it's juvenile but this made me laugh out loud

OMG!!! (Can I say that?) :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl: I didn't even realise when I typed that and usually I'm the first to start sniggering when anyone says something slightly rude! Maybe now isn't a good time to tell you that despite the problems with the foliage, it is sprouting a 2 inch long cucumber! Oh dear, I'll shut up now.

MGx

BookWorm

:rotfl: love it MG

CathT

Being poorly during the holidays is rotten. I think your body just keeps going and going and can't quite cope with the shock of actually having time off. Sounds like you have a productive few weeks ahead too.

mortgage_girl

CathT wrote: »

Being poorly during the holidays is rotten. I think your body just keeps going and going and can't quite cope with the shock of actually having time off. Sounds like you have a productive few weeks ahead too.

I agree Cath, I think as soon as the routine changes illness creeps in. Yes, I like being productive in the holidays, it's a different kind of 'work' and it feels good just to get things done. I feel like I'm starting to see results with my decluttering endeavors and managing to make a few extra pounds too so I'm going to carry on 'creating space' in my home (it means there's less to tidy up too - bonus! ). There's always plenty to do in the garden at this time of year too and it's nice to spend time in the garden, gathering yummy food along the way. I made beetroot and chocolate brownies yesterday which were delicious and revived some dead salad tubs with fresh seeds so hopefully they'll be ready to eat in a months time. The dwarf courgette plants are massive, in fact I think they're much bigger than the non-dwarf ones I've had in the past, so I've no idea what's going on there. If they produce plenty of courgettes then I don't mind - I do love carrot and courgette cake (it's one of my 5 a day so that's fine ).

In moneysaving news, I took advantage of Am@zon's £10 off a £50 order (using vouchers of course) and stocked up on some xmas (am I allowed to say that?:eek:) presents. I've also sold a few decluttered items and made £11.50 and was gifted some money for painting a relative's fence, which they insisted I took so I'm going to put half of it into the op pot and half towards my bed payments (interest free over 10 months which saves me from dipping into my savings). I also received a petrol rebate in my wages this month which will hopefully cover the cost of my fast approaching MOT, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it doesn't need anything else doing. Oh and I've 'upgraded' my phone package onto a cheaper tarriff which should save me about £4 a month. I'm actually getting more than what I was on a more expensive package too which is bizarre.

So today is going to be a pottering day, there's a few garden and housey bits I want to do but that's it. Hopefully the sun will come out soon too.

Enjoy your Sunday.

MGx

BookWorm

Evening MG

Hope you have been enjoying some sunshine and pottering.

Well done on the Am@zon bargains...very prepared of you for the festivities that shall not be named until at least September :rotfl:

Your cake recipes sound very interesting - beetroot & chocolate brownies and carrot & courgette cake. I can't say I've had either before!

BW x

sarahevie1

Evening MG dropping by to say hello.

Lots of diarists (teachers) on here have successfully added tutoring as a sideline, given up teaching permanently to tutor. I'm thinking of courgette, earthgirl but I'm sure there are others. Is that an option?

mortgage_girl

Hi BW and Sarahevie - thanks for stopping by. :wave:

BW - Carrot and courgette cake is delicious. The recipe is here if you wanted to give it a try, I think it's the most delicious cake I've ever tried - I do have to give it an extra 5 mins in the oven though to firm up it's soggy bottom! :rotfl: The beetroot and chocolate brownie one is here, again delicious, but a bit more of an acquired taste. Still, they're both good ways of eating your cake and feeling virtuous!

Sarahevie - I used to do some extra tutoring through work. It paid well and was quite easy to slot in at the end of the day but it dried up. I know there's definitely a market for personal tutors out there but I'm doing an extra teaching qualification next year though so I won't have the time to commit to it.

Things are still steadily selling on fb so my decluttering is steadily moving forward. I've also redeemed for a £15 voucher on sw@gbucks and am almost ready to claim another one. I was supposed to be going for a day out with my partner today but an overnight sickness bug put an end to that plan. I'm always so healthy when I'm at work! :mad::mad::mad::mad: On the brightside, I'm feeling much better now so we can still stick to our plans for going out tomorrow. Bloomin' bugs!

Hope everyone else has managed to make the most of the sunshine today.

MGx

sarahevie1

Extra teaching qualification sounds like another good string to the bow. Well done:T

I don't think I could be bothered on top of teaching, although cpd takes up so much time, so perhaps if you combine it wouldn't be so bad. I may reconsider in a few years when I'm feeling less lazy. :rotfl:

Sorry to hear you are feeling ill, hope there'll be other opportunities to see your partner soon

mortgage_girl

Thanks sarahevie, I'm much better now. I can't believe almost a week has passed since I last posted. Time certainly does fly. It's been a fairly busy week, in a nice way though. I had a lovely day out with my partner (who I will refer to gf from now on for ease of typing) on Thursday, we went to a hall that is actually a Buddhist monastery, it's a huge building with stunning grounds. We made the most of the weather and took a picnic and spent most of the day wandering around and taking in the sights. It was a really lovely, relaxing day.

Friday was spent chilling, eating lush food and looking at houses online - which is never a good idea as it always makes me want to move, despite being perfectly happy where I am. Anyway, I've got over that little 'blip' and I'm back to focusing on paying my mortgage off. The forever home needs to wait until I have a bit more financial security (and more money in the bank! ).

The weekend was a mixture of gardening, baking and visiting family. I picked the gooseberries without causing myself too much damage and managed to make 4 crumbles from my pickings. My wonderful gf power-washed and painted the decking, so it's now looking fabulous! And today was spent trying to dig up the wild rose, which, although pretty, has become somewhat of a nemesis when I hang my washing out - it constantly snags my clothes, so it has to go. After virtually digging to Australia, I still couldn't pull up the root so I'm thinking about giving it a dose of r0und-up and see if that helps. Round 2 tomorrow!

In money making news, I've sold a few more 'treasures' this week and have redeemed another £15 voucher from sw@gbucks. I've also received a voucher from c0nsumer pulse and cashed out a small amount of cashback, all of which which have gone into the op account. There are a few items awaiting collection so hopefully I'll be able to add a bit more to it soon. I'm very close to reducing my mortgage by another £1k which is motivating me to bring in as many extra pennies as possible.

Well the cat has just wormed his way onto my lap so I think it's time for snuggles.

Have a good evening.

MGx