Finally I have a mortgage I can start to pay off!

themadvix

Morning all,

Wasn't the weather delightful yesterday? (NOT!) It's dry this morning at least, although more rain is forecast for later. At least I don't have to worry about watering the plants/caterpillars eating my cabbages!

Car no. 3 (the main one) failed its MOT yesterday, but only on a couple of small bits which can be fixed at the weekend. Unfortunately it was an expensive trip as the puncture couldn't be fixed, so a new tyre was needed - £129! :eek:

Otherwise it's been a quiet couple of days, eating from the menu plan and generally considering every element of consumption (mainly from an environmental pov, but there's obviously financial aspects to it too). I can't help but feel we're all pretty doomed at the moment - the news is just one climate disaster after another (and I've largely stopped watching/reading/listening to it as it's just too depressing). The problem is, we are very light consumers - everything is considered before it's purchased (to the extent that things take months to purchase), yet I'm aware that our standard of living is still waaaay above what is sustainable for the planet with this many people on it. I know we have 3 cars, but we actually don't use them much - I might do 5000 miles a year and the mini does considerably less than this (and our only real use for pleasure is the L2B). DH's car is used the most as he commutes 18 miles each way every day. As I said on Cheery's thread (think I need to head over there, I clearly need cheering up!), we're hoping to get a second-hand Tesla in a few years - at least that will help with fuel consumption and as we only use renewable energy, it will be zero-emissions (but there's the embodied cost of the vehicle in the first place, although we will keep it for a long time hopefully). Ugh.... it's all so depressing.... onto things I can control....

MS things:
* Clicks done (28 SBs bonus this month KC )
* Comps entered
* Work worked
* Ebay parcel posted
* Food eaten from meal plan - was yummy, didn't waste anything (although I forgot the kale from the garden - will have to have tonight!)
* Meter readings taken

Gratitudes:
* A blanket and wheat bag as we watched TV last night - it was chilly but I refuse to put the heating on in May!
* My (free) slow cooker - makes cooking beans so much easier
* That people are waking up to the environmental problems - a friend was asking me about shampoo bars etc. at the weekend - I'm now a trendsetter, not a weird hippie!

Have a good day everyone, don't let my misery get you down! (I'll try to take some of my own advice too!)

Karmacat

Aww, madvix! I know what you mean about the environmental news, I try not to think about it, to be honest, because it doesn't achieve anything. What I try to do is translate that into actions: thinking about whether something needs buying, trying to recycle what I can (its why I was so pleased yesterday when that woman asked for my old sink out of my skip, so she could make a muddy play area for her grandson).



Ug, just deleted a paragraph - that really wasn't helping! Admire your MS things and gratitudes in the post above, keep saving to get the smallholding of your dreams, and yes, head on over to Cheery's thread

themadvix

Thanks Karma - love that you had to delete a paragraph though! I know, and we do so much, but I get so frustrated that so many others (even if things are slowly changing, although neither fast enough nor enough*) don't care/bother etc. even when they have children and grandchildren who have to live on this planet once they're gone.
* Had started a paragraph, but have deleted - was even more political and I don't want to go down that road....

Will pop on over to your thread now and then Cheery's!

Karmacat

themadvix wrote: »

Thanks Karma - love that you had to delete a paragraph though! I know, and we do so much, but I get so frustrated that so many others (even if things are slowly changing, although neither fast enough nor enough*) don't care/bother etc. even when they have children and grandchildren who have to live on this planet once they're gone.
* Had started a paragraph, but have deleted - was even more political and I don't want to go down that road....

Will pop on over to your thread now and then Cheery's!

Yes to all the above :rotfl: :eek: :rotfl: :eek: :rotfl: :eek:


Except Cheery's had her flight and now her conference while suffering from a cold, and there's no new post, sadly! You know, I haven't really looked at the Green part of the mse forum, do you go there much? I'm wondering about blogging about insectapocalypse, and birds, actually - like, what can we do to help the natural environment around us - not just buying food, but what we grow, what nestboxes, different fencing to help hedgehogs move from garden to garden, things like that?

themadvix

Yes, I saw that Cheery's not been about. I'll just have to think of her chooks instead happily scratching around. Hope she's feeling better!

I've not ventured into the green bit of the forums, I have to say. It's heartening to see that there's a zero-waste thread on OS though. I'm not good at contributing to these things though - I get frustrated too easily! (And usually there are people out there doing better than me anyway - I do feel like the 3 cars things (and desire for more (where's Alex when you need him?!)) makes me sound like a bit of a fraud.)

Blog ideas sound lovely and I would read them!

Karmacat

Yep, I'm sure Mr Cheery is taking good care of the chooks. That's good to hear the blog idea strikes a chord for you - I'll work at it a bit.

As for the cars - you know its the embodied cost, of course, and other than that, you don't use them that much, absolutely. You live in *this* society, not the one we're hoping to build, so you need the tools to *live* in it, as opposed to exist. My business partner of 30 years was in exactly your situation, 3 cars belonging to a couple (one was his wife's runabout, one was an old camper van, and one was a *very* old beemer - which was incredibly comfortable, but had the worst petrol consumption of the lot, but when we stopped using the train to London because of 9/11, thats the one we rode in it was wonderful
Right, I have to stop this and get going though its a rainstorm right now. I'll do my list instead :rotfl:


PS good bonus! Mine was ... no clue now :rotfl: 80? I'll never be rich :rotfl:

themadvix

Thanks Karma, you're right and you've cheered me up no end.

Good luck with your list!

PS I thought after last month I'd better report that it had improved :rotfl:

themadvix

Evening all,

Am feeling more positive this evening (despite just hearing that my ebay parcel was damaged and they'll need a refund ).

Have a 5 pound (where is my pound sign?!!) no minimum spend voucher to use at the garden centre this weekend (same one who gave me a free tomato plant last week!) , Mum is going to swap some mint plant for a cabbage, and I missed the cat that ran under my wheels, scared by a cat on a lead being walked by a crazy cat lady who seemed oblivious! (I can say that about her - I am one too! )

Have a good evening all (we got out for a quick walk, which I'm sure helped my mood).

themadvix

Morning all,

Sun is out here this morning, so I'm feeling much more positive. Also there seems to be news/hope in the news this morning (the climate solutions research centre), so that's good too.

Have sorted the ebay refund and submitted a claim to RM. Fingers crossed I get some of the money back at least.

Fed up with work at the moment - this large project is really getting to me (mainly the disorganisation which results in making it difficult for me to get it right - very frustrating). And the same client has piled a whole load more work on last night too (for a different end client). Much more interesting but still not enough hours in the day. Okay, moan over, it's lots of money too, so I mustn't complain.

Brownies tonight and we're doing yoga Instructor coming in, so no effort required from me (apart from participation ). Will call in at mum's for a cuppa and to deliver her cabbage en route.

MS things:
* Clicks etc. done
* Dinner from stores last night
* Used Sains till spits to save on things I'd buy anyway and found whoopsied milk (and raspberries... can't wait for mine to be ready)

Gratitudes
* Delicious dinner cooked by DH last night
* Fish seem livelier than they have been recently - perhaps they were mourning the loss of one of their number, but we were beginning to worry!
* Rain has made garden look very lush (and front garden very wild!)

Have a good day all

Karmacat

Sorry you've been so down, madvix, but good that you're feeling better today (and ooh to cheap raspberries!) (as well as learning yoga!).