My MF Challenge

MallyGirl

oh I never round

Today's update:
DVD still glaring at me from the mantelpiece - I think OH is doing it on purpose now.
Just back from a fab camping weekend - 4 families whose eldest DD are in the same class. The weather was scorching but we had splashed out on private hire of the pool for 1.5 hours each day to save us from some of the sun - we thought of it as a rainy day activity when we booked! We lived off BBQ food we had bought between us at one of those bulk membership places.
The bay place has generated £814, mostly cash on collection which is great news - all old cameras/lenses that OH doesn't use any more, plus a couple of Boden bits.
Still scorching here and I have a very unhappy sled dog - she is hiding from the sun on the cool hall tiles by the front door.

MallyGirl

DVD still there - we will take it on holiday next week and if we don't watch it by the end of the week it is going back.
A flippant comment to one of the bay camera auction collectors this week along the lines of 'you don't want an enlarger too?' got a 'yes please' so DH has braved the heat to go in the loft. He has found about £200 worth of darkroom gear so that will get sold/listed in a couple of weeks time as he is never going to use it again. DD has outgrown more Boden summer stuff so that will get listed too while the sun is out.
Building regs application for the extension seems to be going slowly so that puts off paying the next staged payment until next month. Plus CC people were a bit overzealous refunding the fraudulent payments leaving my account several thousand in credit so I don't need to pay anything off this month. It will all come out in the wash next month so I look at it as a 0% loan for a month - a good thing with an offset mortgage.
It is hot, hot, hot here - the blackcurrants should be ready to eat/freeze when we get back from hols.
Next job is to look at when DD's fixed bond is up and find somewhere new to put her secret college fund - not much interest to be had anywhere at the moment so I might look at a junior ISA for her.
MOT and car tax :eek: next month - that will teach me for liking fast cars!

MallyGirl

:j We are getting a puppy :j
We have been on a waiting list for a very long time with a particular breeder and when the litter finally came it was a singleton so she kept it but now another breeder we know has a puppy for us and both parents were bred by the first breeder so it will be a lovely boy.

It does mean we are going to need a bigger car so that is going to set us back a bit. We are not exactly agreed on what the next car will be - DH keeps focussing on cars that are not enough of a size improvement and since that is the whole point of the change I keep saying no. My first choice at the moment is a Discovery but DH doesn't like the handling. Time for some test drives while DD is staying with grandparents next week.

FloppyDisk

Oh lucky you Mally! A puppy and a Land Rover, I am very jealous! What breed are you going for? x

megela

Hope you enjoyed the Lake District

MallyGirl

He will be an Alaskan Malamute - a black and white one. We already have a grey and white girl of the same breed.
So far we are enjoying the lakes - it has been scorching but the weather looks to be breaking tomorrow. Off to the Keswick pencil museum I think - it has an irresistible shop at the end (if you like arty materials)

MallyGirl

back from a fab week in the Lakes - I have never needed sun cream there before It was actually a bit too hot so we had to change our plans a bit - we did the walk across Morecombe Bay and a morning of gorge scrambling instead of a couple of longer and higher walks.
We finally got around to watching the Lovefilm DVD - it turned out to be a very good mini series. It has been sent back now and the subscription cancelled.
I got back to a tax rebate - never had one of those before. Not much but better than nothing. Plus there was notice of £100 compensation relating to a tiny pension I have from my first ever job - they wanted to clarify some policy wording and have paid everyone compensation, proportional to the pension amount, for the inconvenience with a min payout of £100. A good deal for me as the pension itself only gives me £200 per annum when I reach 65!
I have worn DH down and it looks like we are getting a Disco - maybe in the next couple of weeks as the car we will trade in needs tax and MOT on 1st Sept so I would rather avoid those. Time to get the car valeted to remove all the dog hair before they give us a quote on trade-in. If you ever fancy a laugh put your car into 'we buy any ...' A dealer in the Lakes offered £19k, we could probably get £21k privately - they offered £13k:eek:
The start of the extension seems to have slipped by 2 weeks due to complicated energy assessment stuff but is now set for 19th Aug. Introducing a puppy in the middle of all this is going to be fun. Easy lives are boring

MallyGirl

We are off to test drive a Disco on Saturday that will probably be our new car so I put the trade-in one into the car valet at the bottom of the road today - not very MSE to not do it myself but I have neither the time nor all the products to make it look it's best. Speculate to accumulate
I have started doing monthly meter readings to try and keep the gas & elec under control - currently paying £355 pcm! I expect we might live in the new extension with its under floor heating and just not bother heating the rest of the house. We are getting a new condensing boiler as part of this work so that should help with the gas bill at least. I take a look at the elec usage meter every time I go in the kitchen - it is rarely that high but I think it might not be picking up the supply that goes to my office at the bottom of the garden where I have elec heating, 3 pcs, printer, lights etc going all day for work. Ho hum.
I have reactivated my sourdough starter and have bread proving now. We are not big bread eaters but if there is none in DH will go and spend a fortune on something fancy in Waitrose if he needs to WFH and he does tomorrow.
I have been trying to get my head around the current value of our endowments this week - not fun reading. At least we long ago stopped relying on them to pay off the mortgage. 2 mature in '16 and one in early '17 so after that we will know where we are and what we have left to pay off.

Beckyy

I saw a Disco yesterday and though it would be a great size for dogs, did you go for it in the end?

MallyGirl

yes - picking it up tomorrow