misscousinitt's MF Diary

misscousinitt

Been really busy.


Been up the allotment and have planted broad beans and broccoli plants. Bed is prepared for the carrot seeds. More courgettes potted up to sell and tomatoes should be ready for selling next week.


As we speak I am cooking our first loaf in the free breadmaker...just to see if its any good.


Have sorted out one of my raised beds in the garden and it is now planted up with salad stuff - I have made a netting cage to go over the top using canes, netting, cable ties and U shaped staples I nicked out of DHs tool box! Quite proud of it if I do say so myself.


Took a trough with some mini daffs in up to our family friend's grave yesterday, was glad to see that the red daisy I put up there in the winter is still perched there. Need another plant for the other side now. He loved his garden and growing things, so I feel it is fitting to put living plants up there with some longevity rather than cut flowers that die in a week.


Had a lovely lunch with my friend yesterday - we went to a tapas place about 12 miles from me and 19 miles from him (near enough in the middle!) It was great to chat and catch up - really enjoyed it. Baked him a Victoria sponge for his birthday - he was really happy with that.


We have been really good on the food front this weekend so far. Friday was paella, Saturday DH had flavoured chicken (I didn't have anything as I was still stuffed from lunch); we have tea planned for tomorrow - Pork Chops with fennel seeds, garlic, lemon and honey and its off down MILs for tea tonight.


50ps have been counted and I will be making a deposit of £20 next week.


Hope everyone is having a lovely BHW. Take care all.


MCI xxx


PS Happy Star Wars Day. May the 4th be with you. Always.

misscousinitt

Making my own bread is not going to save us a fortune as we only normally eat 2 loaves a week. But it sure is tasty! DH wants me to make another loaf tonight and I am going to experiment with slicing and freezing some.

Not much more done up the allotment - more courgette seedlings potted and 3 gherkin seedlings so far. Did the watering and plan to get up there tonight to dig and plant some more.

Need to pop to the supermarket on the way home to get cat milk for stray cat (which I am going to call cat No2 from now on). She's not really drinking any water and she needs the milk to build herself up. She is slowly putting on weight - she will be normal cat sized soon. I just had a thought, might nip to the budget pet food place (which is right next to the supermarket) - this will stop me buying food items that I don't need and hopefully cat milk will be cheaper.

Tasks for this week include getting extra set of keys cut for the allotment (so 1 set can stay with the charity and my friend can have hers back); getting 2/3 pairs of boots heeled - 1 pair stays out during the summer just in case and the others will not be put away until Autumn; Charity Plant Stall posters and leaflets; continue writing my proposal to be used in charity funding bids we are putting in.

Have been feeling a bit sluggish and really need to drink more water. Healthy food on the menu this week; and although I haven't finished my meal plan - this week is sorted.

Tonight's tea is lemon pepper tuna steaks with jacket potato and salad.

£50 added to the house fund as DH's money has now gone in.

MCI

edinburgher

All your cooking is sounding wonderful MCI, I've never heard of pork cooked with fennel seeds before, although they are a wonderful addition to any fish dish

In my experience, cats do drink water, you just don't see them doing it. You will give them bowls of fresh water that they will studiously ignore, lapping at leisure from filthy puddles etc.!

misscousinitt

edinburgher wrote: »

All your cooking is sounding wonderful MCI, I've never heard of pork cooked with fennel seeds before, although they are a wonderful addition to any fish dish

In my experience, cats do drink water, you just don't see them doing it. You will give them bowls of fresh water that they will studiously ignore, lapping at leisure from filthy puddles etc.!

Thanks Ed - will have to try the fennel seeds with fish!

Unfortunately, this cat is currently shut in as she is in a strange place (MILs) and just having the kittens, so I know she's not getting the water from elsewhere! However, I know exactly what you mean about these puss-cats drinking out of dirty puddles - my cat keeps drinking out of buckets of stagnant water in the garden - yuk - disgusting! :rotfl: must be ok for them though as no ill effects.

MCI

misscousinitt

Can't seem to get that cat milk any cheaper than the supermarket - looked in the big pet store (same price); looked online - same price or more expensive! Oh well, picked up 3 bottles for her.

The tuna was lovely last night - DH said he really enjoyed it. We put guacamole on the jacket potatoes to keep the dairy down (although there is a bit in shop bought guac) and it was really nice.

Been a bit spendy this week so far: boots in for heeling (£7), keys cut for the allotment (£6); cat milk (£2.39! so far). I know this doesn't seem like alot, but everywhere I turn there seems to be something to pay out.

Transferred money from out joint account for our trip to the lakes - paid DH back what he spent on the deposit and given him some fuel money. I will keep hold of the rest to pay for the B&B and we also have a bit of spending money too.

Nothing really to report on the MSE side.

Posh sausage and mash for tea tonight - quick and easy after trip up the allotment and trip to see the kittys (apparently their eyes are opening now). Note to self: need to find out how to put pictures on here!

Happy hump day everyone.

MCI

misscousinitt

Got the kale planted up the allotment last night and potted a few more tomatoes up to sell for the charity. Not much digging done as got into a conversation before going up there about van stuff - so wasn't up there long enough to do stuff.

Hoping that the weather will dry up this afternoon so can get up there tonight.

Kittys mostly have their eyes open now...awwwww. And their little claws are extremely sharp! Ouch.

Had a conversation with our pension adviser yesterday and I am upping my contribution so that 12% of my salary will now be going in (including the 1% increase off my employer!!!) As my salary hasn't changed since 2006, it will be up to me to keep increasing my contributions as my employers' contribution will not be going up again!

At least I am in a situation whereby I am mortgage free and the house we live in is cheap to live in. I need to make provision for retirement, but also don't want to impact on my life now. So at least now, I am at the level I should be - anything else now will be a bonus.

We had a discussion about SIPPs and to be fair, along with what I have read, I must say that the risk and management involved is not for me at the moment (will have to see in the future). I have enough going on in my life without having to make investment decisions. The other factor is that I have a relatively small amount of money to play with on a monthly basis in the grand scheme of SIPPs, so at this point I am putting this on the back burner as a retirement option.

Tonight's tea is fridgeraiders rissotto - using all the bits up then I can clean the fridge at the weekend.

Need to complete my mealplan for next week and make my shopping list. Herr A tonight.

Hope everyone is well.

MCI

edinburgher

MCI, pictures! Photobucket is free if you have any way of getting a picture from camera/phone to your computer.

I love kale, it is such a nutritious vegetable and has a great texture. We had a white bean stew with it last week and an Italian bread soup with it this week.

Your increased pension contributions sound like a great idea. 15% is often bandied about as an appropriate amount for a decent degree of comfort, but I doubt they consider paid off house as a variable in these equations.

misscousinitt

http://s777.photobucket.com/user/cousinitt/library/Kittens%202014

Have I done this right? If so, here are a selection of kitten pics 1-13 days old.

MCI

edinburgher

Eeeeeee!

Now I want kittens, possibly a basket of kittens.

The only thing that I can see wrong is that your real name is showing (if that's a problem fro you?) There's probably some way to hide it, G0ogle can doubtless help.

misscousinitt

edinburgher wrote: »

Eeeeeee!

Now I want kittens, possibly a basket of kittens.

The only thing that I can see wrong is that your real name is showing (if that's a problem fro you?) There's probably some way to hide it, G0ogle can doubtless help.

They are lovely arn't they.

Sorted the privacy issue (I think).

MCI