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

Fortune_Smiles

You'll have to let me know how the recipe turns out Madvix - it's on my list to try too 😋

Fortune x

Karmacat

There really is a bit of deja vu on the lockdown, isn't there madvix.  It will be different because we're heading into winter, though, so yes, as you say, get as many good experiences as you can, safely.  Including wine

Suffolk_lass

South_coast said:

themadvix said:

I need to sort out the wine, which I think has finished fermenting (need to test it).

Ah yes, the old "quality control" 🤪!

Thanks for the recipe, might give that a go 😋

Haha, that's what I was thinking. I like the look of that recipe. I don't have ricotta but I have everything else. I might make it with a regular cheese sauce with an egg added, to give it that raised bit

themadvix

South_coast said:

themadvix said:

I need to sort out the wine, which I think has finished fermenting (need to test it).

Ah yes, the old "quality control" 🤪!

Thanks for the recipe, might give that a go 😋

You lot! I meant with a hydrometer! And I still haven't done it yet.... I did test a bottle of red last night - it was necessary for the recipe!

themadvix

Afternoon all,

The courgette and lentil bake was very nice, I'd recommend it. DH doesn't like cinnamon, so I avoided the moussaka-like flavouring (no cinnamon or mint) and we didn't have oregano, so mixed herbs it was. It came out well and because I buy lentils dry and so cooked more than a tin's worth, there's enough left for dinner tonight (I did use two eggs and whole 250g of ricotta) with some salad and pudding.

Had a message left at 5.57pm last night from agents (they close at 6) requesting a viewing at 10 this morning. Fine... then the viewee got caught in traffic and we had to do the viewing and they didn't arrive until 11. Fortunately it was all fine and they seemed very nice (and the house seemed to tick a lot of their boxes). Another one this evening, again, us doing it. If we sell our house, I do wonder what I'll have been paying the agents for!

I'm working again today, but DH has the day off. He's going to cook us a potato salad shortly for lunch, using up some spring onions and peppers from the garden and the last of the salad potatoes from Riverford (it will be good to get that space back in the fridge!). He's already been to the post box with my RM survey item for me

MS things:
* last day of ongoing PA survey - just the final survey (tomorrow) to do and then I should be able to cash out over £40
* NV survey
* Clicks
* Work

Gratitudes:
* Nice couple to view this morning (appreciation of Mini always helps )
* DH is cooking lunch
* Yummy dinner last night

Have a good day all!

themadvix

Morning all,

More 'no, thanks' from yesterday's viewers. Oh well. Worryingly though, the agent is saying the market is a lot quieter now for our sort of property as the banks have withdrawn all the offers for FTB/have increased the deposit required to 20%. Between this and the fact that I think we're now getting priced out of the market as fewer properties of interest to us are coming on the market, we may yet end up staying put. On the one hand, this doesn't bother me hugely, as we've got the house just right; but on the other, the perennial parking issues and lack of garden space (among others) will continue to grate. (And we'll have to keep saving for the Tesla if we don't buy during the stamp duty exemption!) Anyway, for now we continue. Another viewing booked for tomorrow morning. (We did look at calculations for remortgaging and paying off our current house the other day - if we stay put, the mortgage won't be around for that much longer. And then... do we save, buy some land and self-build (see opening post)? Sadly land round here is almost as expensive as a property, but in a few years, who knows, we could move away... oh I'm back in the realm of *all* the possibilities now... and waffling.)

I'm doing some work this morning and then we're heading to the in-laws. We might go for a walk in the woods there, we've got a TGTG bakery bag to collect late afternoon and our friend who lives nearby might pop round for a chat in the road (oh how our socialising is so glamorous these days!). DH has ordered a few bits for some DIY this weekend - a fence panel in the front garden needs replacing and the fence painting. We'd been avoiding doing it as it's a fairly massive task, but the neighbour has replaced his fence, which a) now needs painting on our side and b) is showing up our fence! Also a bit of render needs primering (our friend-plasterer came and did a quick repair last weekend (for free ) and he wants to put some more boards in the loft (and check out an iffy tile). So the house being 'finished' didn't last very long!  

MS things:
* Ongoing PA survey has now finished, so just waiting for the £36.50 to clear
* Clicks done
* TGTG bag to collect Will do plenty of feeding of us over weekend

Gratitudes:
* Fun quiz time with family last night
* A better night's sleep last night
* Managed to nab a TGTG bag - more options in the in-laws town, so higher chances!

Have a good day all!

the_cross_rabbit

Lack of garden space is an issue we have hence the allotments. Have you thought about an allotment as an interim measure? Obviously only if your staying put.
CRx 

themadvix

The problem is I think an allotment would be too much for us - both in terms of production and work (DH is not really interested in too much gardening). And I’m inherently lazy - I love it when I get out there, but getting out is the problem, and I think an allotment would be too much of a barrier... Imagine that they all now have huge waiting lists too.

 If we stay put, I will stop caring about saleability quite so much and do something with the front garden - raised bed (I will plant my asparagus!), miniature fruit trees etc. 

the_cross_rabbit

asparagus is so worthwhile, its something we've grown at each allotment we've had. We've just extended our bed to accommadate extra. The season is so short and we never have enough to freeze as it always gets eaten pretty quickly.
CRx

Suffolk_lass

Re allotment - you could explore what the lists are like locally and ask about a half-plot. Quite a few people use the no-dig method (weed suppress with newspapers and cardboard then tittle the surface and plant. Potatoes are a great way of achieving a fine tilth in the soil and "cleaning" it. A few trees and things like gooseberries and raspberries are great to just cut down and then pick, minimising the need to do too much

We've just crammed another 10 crowns of asparagus in this (4th) year and it is the first time we have had meals from the first ten (only 7 survived DS digging them all out at the end of Y1) over the whole season. We also discovered that when you stop picking and let the shoots go to seed, the little shoots are delicious before flowering, during and then the berries before cutting them down.

Re possible house sale, I would still draw up a possible plan for permitted development extension to your (I think) small kitchen, and leave it on the kitchen side with instructions to the agent to show prospective buyers with no vision what a kitchen diner could be, exactly to their liking. Doesn't need to be more than an isometric sketch to show how it might look