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

themadvix

Morning all,

Thanks Jessy and Cheery! Cheery - starter is going to be some pate we bought in France and toast. I'll make a lentil pate for me which should be nice and easy. If they don't like it, they can have toast! Followed by 'chicken and twigs' (and old Alison Steadman recipe from a magazine of my mum's), and some Gu salted caramel cheesecakes, which will go down well (and were on offer in Morries yesterday). So just need to buy some chicken, potatoes and bread tomorrow now.

Have already finished the tiny amounts of work received today... but have plenty of housework/getting house back together/we-have-people-coming-round jobs to do. Washing is on ready to go on the line (gorgeous sunshine here today). Cat chicken is just about ready to come out of the oven... now done and the remainder in there (sorry Cheery, lots of chicken mentions today and not as nice as yours )

Had very unsatisfactory response from Pizza Hut. While they apologised, they said that they were sure it would be better next time, despite me specifically saying that I'd be unlikely to return after our experience. Not happy. Have written back!

MS things:
* Negotiated the current car insurance policy down a bit, but it's still £2 more than the alternative. Undecided what to do here as alternative is Direct Line, so you know you're getting a good policy (not that ours currently is a nobody (Admiral)). Jury's out on this one
* No interest in the car though
* DH is away tonight with work. Forgot to book a hire car though, so will get a nice boost in mileage claim (he'll have to actually put petrol in the car - hasn't done that since the day we bought it!)
* Mum's coming for tea and we're having salmon and prawn risotto from stores
* Topped up all our staples at zero-waste shop yesterday - £37 If you'd seen the list, you'd consider that very good value. And £4.95 for 33 dishwasher tabs (which I cut in half as we have a small dishwasher and I'm a MFW) seems pretty good to me. At the moment we're now fine for food, but there may come a point this month that a supermarket delivery is required - I'm going to keep going with what I've got for now though.

Gratitudes:
* Gorgeous sunshine - must get out for a walk
* Super affectionate cats - all cupboard love though as they know there's chicken being cooked in the kitchen!
* Another promising new recipe - quorn and BNS tart. Have the leftovers for my lunch.

Have a good day all (in the real world as there's no MSE this evening! :eek: :rotfl: )

Karmacat

Sounding so good especially lentil pate, apart from Pizza Hut - they sound so used to complaints, they don't care

themadvix

Afternoon all,
Somewhat discombobulated by this new forum... I'm sure we'll get used to it?? Where are all the smileys  I need :rotfl: and :eek: back!

Karma, you are right - it was very much a canned response. We'll see what they say this time.

Work is still quiet, but have done some admin for it this morning. Have mainly been cleaning the house though and it's beginning to look better for it. Even did a bit of gardening this morning.   

MS things:
* Home insurance renewal came through - it's £1 less than last year so going to stick with them :T (ooh, found more smileys, but not the right ones....you just have to imagine the cheering smiley)
* On that note, I think we'll probably stick with current car insurer (turns out DH had actually got a price from DL that was exactly the same as we'd got Admiral down to. So it's less hassle to stick with them.
* Haven't had heating on since first thing as despite it being really rather parky, I've been busy doing stuff and haven't noticed. Am just getting a bit chilly sitting here, but now I have a B&W purry lap warmer It'll have to go on soon though.
* Our switch to Octopus is complete. I've been very impressed with them so far. If anyone would like a referral to get £50 off their bill (I get the same), the link is: https://share.octopus.energy/kind-snail-52 (I even quite like their funky referral links )
* Clicks done (I'm much better with these when I'm meant to be working!) 

Gratitudes:
* Lovely evening with mum last night - we went for a walk, had yummy dinner and watched Best Home Cook and Death in Paradise
* A good night's sleep
* Sunshine here again today

Have a good afternoon all!

Karmacat

I'll bump my utilities changeover up the list, see if I can help us both with that referral.

The forum's very odd, isn't it ... I *need* the "recent posts" thingy.

newgirly

I’m not enjoying the new look either Vix 

Suffolk_lass

I just googled eek emoji and got this 

themadvix

Afternoon all,

SL - neither that link nor the one you posted on Karma's thread works for me... not sure why? Karma - like you said on your thread, it's like someone has given us the wrong key to home - we can get in but nothing is quite right. I don't want to moan, because I do understand that technology moves on and security needs enhancing etc. but this new forum just doesn't seem like home anymore. I hope the snagging sorts a lot of the problems out - it's all well and good people saying 'oh, well they'll see site traffic fall' - but I have friends here that I enjoy talking to - it shouldn't be this difficult! I've requested that we get the option of daily digests back - I used to enjoy reading them first thing in the morning!

Had a lovely weekend - the murder mystery went well on Saturday and we had a good laugh. Everyone liked the lentil pate.... less so the meat ones, so DH is using them up today and tomorrow. We were gifted a panettone and some avocados, so will enjoy both of those - egg and avo on toast for tea tonight possibly followed by panettone and custard? Or maybe just banana custard (egg on toast definitely qualifies as a 'needs a dessert' type dinner!). Yesterday we really didn't do much - stayed indoors and relaxed (having finished getting the living room back together in time for our guests). I listed a bunch of items of ebay, have a couple of bids now and have already sold a couple of BIN items   Even got my evening class homework done in advance!

Healthwise, I'm still not right, so will be going back to the drs tomorrow. Hope they can get me fixed. 

Work is still quiet at the moment, so went for a walk and lunch with Mum and Niece this morning. 

MS things:
* Ebaying in full swing
* NV survey
* PA survey
* Clicks etc.
* Had the quote back for our charging point - £600! It'll go on the 0% card with the balance of the car and DH will pay it off. 
* Also had notification that our switch to a smart meter will be happening soon (within 6 weeks) - which is the trigger for switching to the cheap tariff for overnight charging - bring it on!

Gratitudes:
* Great evening on Saturday - it was fun!
* So lovely to relax properly yesterday - it seems like a long time since it's been possible to do that (decorating kind of gets in the way!)
* Panettone - might go and have a slice now

Enjoy the rest of the afternoon!

Karmacat

Now that greenbee (I think?) pointed out I have to click on a thread and only afterwards will it go to my most recently read post, it's starting to feel a bit more home-like.  But its actually very basic compared to what we previously had at our fingertips.  And yes, leaving would cut me off from a lot of friends!

Your last few days sound good - with some relaxation at the end, especially!  But still not feeling right is awful, and the finances of the charging point aren't great either - I hope that works out well.  And here's to panettone

Suffolk_lass

It is a bit weird and I am still finding my way around. I have fallen into listing all bookmarks and it lists all my subscribed threads with a handy purple marker saying how many new posts since I last read - the first time it took me to page 1 but now it has got the hang and opens at the first post I have not read. I did not have a daily digest set up and always went to user CP to see what was new in my regular threads with my friends and challenges. Notifications remains a bit hopeless for me, based on individuals and does not paginate when I click on all, I just see a load of badges in a fixed header that cuts off the page before any notifications actually show, and repeats. Most frustrating!  

themadvix

What? What was the new p 103 is now p 195?? 
SL - agree, the bookmarks are getting there, but I can't really access them from my phone. It doesn't display properly (which they are working on), so can't really read in bed (oh, first world problems there!! :rotfl: ). Haven't worked out what the notifications page is about yet, tbh. Didn't really use my account pages previously, except to manage subscriptions.

Karma - extra charging point cost is to be expected really - it's clear what it's for, just annoying. Not the end of the world.

Stupidly, still not feeling right, but didn't ring drs early enough for an appointment today. Receptionist is going to ask nurse about me and I have to call back later. 

MS things:
* YG survey
* 2 x PA surveys (tiny ones)
* Charge point installation booked in 
* Freeglers arranged to collect two items (including a book case that no one wanted to buy on FB)
* £5 credit for RM survey added to my account - can't decide what to get with it though!
* Cancelled veg box - the options all included potatoes, onions and carrots, which we have plenty of. Will try to make do and supplement with the odd thing from the supermarket if necessary.

Gratitudes:
* Our doctors surgery - while the situation isn't ideal, as you have to make up your mind first thing in the morning (8am) if you need to see a doctor that day), at least we can get same-day appointments and the staff are really good (inc receptionists, who from previous experience can be power-mad, obstructive women!).
* Looking forward to a walk with Brownie friends this afternoon, followed by a cuppa in a little cafe.
* A bit more work today
* Panettone

Now to ring home insurer to see what it'll cost to add on the bike cover. Have a good afternoon all!