Building The Burrow!

Pearla*Merle

Hello Jodles! :wave: Am amazed you lived to tell the tale! :rotfl:

Lol, I'm not sure I've lived in lovely places, I think it's more 'trying to look on the bright side', but to be fair, the current flat is rather special and definitely feels like a reward after the last few horrors.

I've been lurking on your diary and have been enjoying watching your progress! I really must get back into the habit of popping my head up more often

Pearla*Merle

Huge project at work deflated down considerably today - thank heavens! Feeling calmer now, had got a bit worked up about it.

Happily, boss said he was very impressed with my work thus far (always a relief to hear, I always worry I'm not doing enough #perfectionist ).

:www: MFW Wonderment: remembered to use new CC for reward points; as ever, took lunch to work and walked all the way there. Found out that work have a little scheme I might be able to make some money from, will get my thinking cap on re: that!

Erm, what did I say about being sorted for work clothes? Found a Coast dress for £29 (down from £89). :shhh:

Have got £400-worth of dresses for about £100ish recently. :dance: Apparently the universe wants me to have nice things. :rotfl:

But must try and avert my eyes henceforth. Though these spring sales have thrown up so many jaw-dropping bargains! Make the most of it? Tough call. :think:

Mr M has just got himself another pair of his fancy shoes for 70% off. Maybe I should just be done with it and start Christmas shopping? :rotfl:

:coffee: Simple Pleasures: watching the garden birds dance about the balcony - and goldfinches have arrived! I've seen them on other balconies. How can I entice them in? Nyjer seeds? - oh, the internet tells me sunflower hearts, handily I already have one up! Must keep a closer eye out then.

brizzledfw

Just popping by - your diary is so upbeat. It's lovely

Yes goldfinches love Niger seeds, (that's the thing they are most famous for eating I am reliably informed) but once they find you tho keep stocks up, we let ours diminish last summer and they haven't quite found us again. But they will, we hear them around most days now and we're in a city

Brizzle x

apple_muncher

How are things going in pearlaworld? xx

Pearla*Merle

Hello Brizzle :wave: Oh, that's great to hear you've had luck with the finches. I've not seen them back on here yet but I've got something of everything out there to tempt them so surely it's only a matter of time.

Apple - all well, thank you! Just returned from holibobs, full(ish - if I can remember everything) update to follow....! x

Pearla*Merle

Good afternoon, lovely people of the MFW world :wave:

Am in the midst of trying to get over the loss of a holiday cottage by the sea. Why must such good things come to an end?! Had a super lovely time wandering about coastal Cornish towns, in and out of art galleries and along seaside paths. No phone signal and the wifi was there for show only - hence the rather belated catchup!

Life was a tad mad in the run up to going away - another flat inspection meant sorting out the whole place along and work was quite full on. A couple of days off now, to sort out everything again and then back into the fray at work! I'm still waiting to get into some sort of routine but it looks like it's not going to happen til mid-May at this rate...

:www: MFW Wonderment: found 1p then another 1p. :T Mr M donated some bits of shrapnel throughout the holiday and £1.24 has ended up going into the Kitty Bank.

Mr M discovered that there was a sale shop of a maker-of-rainjackets-extraordinaire near one of the places we visited and I managed to find one for £36 (usually around £100!). Only reason it was reduced was because of a hole in the pocket lining! Mad. But hurrah for me. That now sorts me out for spring/autumn jacket and rain jacket to boot.

We had three months notice for a wedding - they've managed to organise it on the one weekend there's already a big event on so hotels are :eek: however, Mr M has managed to find a deal where instead of paying X we're paying X + a little bit more, BUT we get enough cashback plus a £50 voucher plus breakfast & cream tea for what ultimately ends up costing us X with the freebie munchies attached. :T

There has been loads more but I forget. I need to update my spending diary and my accounts in general. We've used my card for most of our spending (to get bonus points in first few months), so I need to work out what Mr M owes me

Hoping to be back on track properly with the saving by the end of May. Have had a do a lot of catching up with random things that were put on hold during the No Money months, but things should start ticking over again soon. Can't wait, tbh!

Lovely lunch today - snipped up two leftover tortilla wraps from last night and toasted them in a pan, popped them in a bowl and covered with mixed baked beans, a sprinkle of grated cheese from the freezer and torn up spinach. Rather delicious.

:coffee: Simple Pleasures: have seen so many creatures of late! Deer, lots of ringed plovers, buzzards, a barn owl in full flight(!), the first goslings of the season and a swan nesting right on the riverbank.

Walking by the sea, sunsets by the sea, cream teas, reading and more reading and coming back to a tidy house!

My spring flowers are truly popping up now. :T

:heartsmil Burrow Building: was fun to live in a minimalist environment/tiny house for a while. Think it's opened up both our eyes to What Could Be. We've scheduled in some Sorting Out The Flat time for next weekend. :rotfl:

apple_muncher

Welcome back! Your holiday sounds truly wonderful. Looking forward to more updates.

Pearla*Merle

Am going to try oh-so-hard to nip on for quick updates in future.

Freezer tea of chicken & chips (and peas!). Freezer wintry crumble for pudding. Rearranged freezer drawers a little as I've found a few more buried items that I'll use up soon.

40 minutes aerobic exercise clocked up this evening! :j Must, must, must get back into the habit. Am determined to regain my trim and healthy self.

There's been mention of ditching the cable TV and going now tv/netflix only. Needs investigation... not sure what decent internet we can get here, and would there be much of a cost difference? (TV - with internet - was on low friend & family rate but prices keep getting hiked. I'd like to trial it as we only seem to watch things that are recorded anyway...).

Pearla*Merle

Weird old day. Woke up at the crack of sparrows thanks to a nightmare (was screaming the house down apparently! All I remember was Mr Merle had turned into a weird robot, lol) and I've felt a bit grim and headachey all day. Though that might be thanks to the weather.... snow and warm sunshine?!

Found more shrapnel in bag, haven't excavated it yet, most of the afternoon has been spent on the sofa.

Nipped out before the snow started to pick up a parcel and also some veg from Aldee (£2.65 - should last all week :T)

Started to get accounts in order... brain given up for now though.

Probably another freezer tea tonight - fish and steamed veg.

Pearla*Merle

Have been awake since 5.30am (why, God, why?!). Did not feel my usual self at work, which was not fun. Plodded through and hoping for a more fun day tomorrow.

Did some budgeting/plotting re: monies this evening. It's a blinking nuisance knowing that my next pay packet is already spoken for and I can't save as much as I want. Might have to distract myself with some serious eBaying to get things moving in the right direction...

In happy news - made myself a really nice salad (with leftover pasta) for my packed lunch. Fish never happened last night due to malaise.

Bed calls!