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

Jessy103

I blame NG too 😂

The afternoon tea box looks lovely! 😀

themadvix

Morning all,

Thanks Jessy! It was and very filling.

I think (and don't shout about it, because it might get scared and run away again) that my motivation is slowly returning! (That's motivation for life, not just money saving!) I'm sure having some substantial work has helped hugely with this and although my focus is terrible, it's nice to have something to keep me occupied. Despite not sleeping at all well recently, I have been getting up and getting on with stuff. It's a nice feeling (and there ends the mental health diary).

Getting on well with the Instant Pot, and in the long term it'll definitely be money saving. Cooked chickpeas from dry in 45 mins yesterday and made yoghurt overnight - both came out and well and were the main reasons I wanted it - both are money saving (as well as plastic-eliminating). I baked bread yesterday too, as we'd temporarily run of out free stuff. Unfortunately we're having oven problems again - the fan makes an *awful* rattling and screeching noise - so have booked the engineer to come and look at it on Tuesday (soonest they could do). Fortunately it's still under warranty (IKEA's cheapest, so you get what you pay for I guess, but a) we didn't think we'd be here past the warranty period, and still might not be, and b) it's a 5-year warranty so not too bad). In the meantime the conventional oven works, it's just much slower.

MS things:
* Made marmalade at the weekend using the R'ford kit - 6 jars (2 of which were big Bonne Maman ones), was great fun and tastes lovely (giving some away as DH doesn't like it)
* Have arranged collection of some free bread later (depending on weather I'll walk or take the electric car). Sadly the doughnuts had already been offered to someone else, but I'm sure my waistline will thank me!
* Clicks done
* Work!
* Yoghurt and chickpeas in IP
* Oven will be fixed under warranty
* RM CD survey (post is being erratic again - had 8 survey items to record yesterday!)
* Thinking that we may not need a veg box this week/supermarket delivery next week - tbd
* Ends of loaf chopped and frozen for croutons
* PA surveys

Gratitudes:
* Friendly Olioers
* Loving my Instant Pot investment
* Helpful people at the service call centre when ringing about oven - it's never an issue, fortunately!

Have a good day all!

Karmacat

I won't scare the motivation but glad to hear the Instant Pot has already proved it's worth - excellent not to have a separate Thing to make yogurt.

Hope your day goes well  

themadvix

Not having to have a separate thing, but still not having to faff on the stove was one of the motivations behind buying it. A yoghurt maker would have been cheaper, but wouldn't do all the other stuff and would be another gadget (which I'm really careful about because the kitchen is so small, as well as for environmental reasons).

themadvix

Morning all,

The storm has blown itself out here and we've got blue sky and sunshine (also had a rainbow earlier as it was still raining). I'm all caught up on my work - it was nice while it lasted. Had a productive day yesterday with work and some niggly household jobs done.

DH has gone into work today (better for his back and there are some jobs he has to do there). My plans involve housework, a walk (hopefully to collect some free food) and baking some scones to use up the clotted cream from my afternoon tea. Have just received a message to say I won £10 in the RM survey draw So far this morning I've been updating my carbon footprint at Giki Zero and committing to cutting a tonne of carbon in 2021. It's a really good calculator and has loads of ideas for ways to improve your carbon score (so many overlap with money saving too).

Have just claimed a small job on the work platform, so will get on with that (after I've made a cuppa).  

MS things:
* Small win
* Clicks done
* Comps entered
* Shakshuka for dinner tonight to use up some peppers and kale from last week's box
* Hopes of free OOD food today!
* PA surveys

Gratitudes
* Blue sky - really lifts the spirits!
* Preparation - managed to get out of bed at a decent time this morning because I'd put my clothes on the radiator by the bed last night - has made me feel much more positive and proactive!
* Spare clotted cream

Have a good day all!

Karmacat

Rainbows, yay!  Always good.  Sorry the work stopped though

Giki looks interesting - they have an address in London, but I can't work out who they are, how they make money - I suppose by charging the firms that join, as opposed to the individuals?  They do sound like they name a lot of actions you can take for yourself, which is great.

Anyway, enjoy the walk, and the clotted cream, wonderful stuff  

themadvix

Not sure how they make money Karma, but I think they're probably a charity. They came recommended by a couple of people - a 'sustainable person' I follow on Instagram (who I think gave them names - as in she knew them) and Riverford have mentioned them too. I suspect they're legit. Good point about the firms - sustainability assessment is very popular in the corporate world at the moment.

Karmacat

Oh!  Thats very good news then, a personalised rec and also one from Riverford is good enough.  I doubt they're a charity, to be honest, they call themselves a social enterprise in their terms of use, but that's fine.  Found a lot more about them when I peeped at their privacy policy Giki team  pretty high -powered, actually, they're obviously in it for the long haul.  Detailed things we can do are a godsend.

the_cross_rabbit

Happy belated 2nd birthday
CRx

Cheery_Daff

Ooh, interesting about your footprint Vix - what are you going to get started with first? You've reminded me I wrote down the 52 climate actions list to tackle in 2021 (well, maybe not  all of them..), must go back to it.