Building The Burrow!

in_need_of_direction

Ideally I'd like to retire where there's a beach.

Pearla*Merle

I can't imagine not spending the majority of my life by the beach. I grew up right next to one, I still don't feel normal not living near one Beaches are the best

Apple, I saw an episode of Great Interior Design Challenge where they'd decorated a load of beach huts - oh dear me, it certainly set the cogs whirring :rotfl:

Pearla*Merle

Oh my gosh - we're definitely living in the future then... https://www.amazon.co.uk/b/ref=gw_dash_launch_2?node=10833773031&pf_rd_r=3E9R486N3RJN7Q9FCNTV&pf_rd_p=81c9d997-838e-406e-a2de-0845b7164377 :eek:

How many people are going to overpay with those things, I wonder?

Pearla*Merle

Whoops, might have walked into another bookshop the other day. Not too much damage was done, but definitely no more bookshops for me for a goodly while.

Have been eating quite well this week - am being strong and opting for veggie/healthiest looking options while out and about and it makes such a difference to my energy levels. Shall try and make this a habit.

:www: MFW Wonderment: payday and £600 put into savings (a chunk of this - circa £100 - is stoozed money, but majority is savings :T Chuffed).

Have been doing well using up my little perfume samples. Replenished our collection of tea & coffee packets (& sewing kits - I have at least 7 now Though seriously, they do come in extremely handy) from the hotel. :rotfl:

Slightly behind with updating my spending diary spreadsheet, but have got all my receipts so will sort that next week. I used to always sort my spreadsheets on Fridays but that's a workday now, so I'll shift this to Mondays and try and get into a routine (& also get into the habit of putting all receipts in one place again!).

:coffee: Simple Pleasures: nice chats with friends, relaxing in quiet tearooms, pondering life and plans in general (have been writing up lists of Places To Visit/Things To Do/What To Focus On etc - my favourite types of lists)

Off to a cathedral town for my birthday tomorrow, can't wait for a new adventure

:heartsmil :heartsmil :heartsmil

apple_muncher

Oooh, Happy Birthday Pearla!

Have some healthy cake : :bdaycake:

Wish8ng you a joyous day.

Apple x

in_need_of_direction

And from me. So much for you to celebrate.

greent

Belated birthday wishes, P*M xxx

XSpender

Hope you had a lovely birthday x

Pearla*Merle

Ooh, thank you for the birthday wishes Had a jolly weekend in the end, despite grey & rainy weather (and hideous humidity, and ensuing migraine :eek:). We ended up crashing at about 5pm on the first day, went back to the hotel via the (fortunately positioned) neighbouring Waitflower and picked up yummy things for a picnic tea (olives, crackers, cheese and so on, plus bargain chocolate YS birthday cake for £2.25 :T).

Gave up on doing anything the next day as the migraine wouldn't shift, plus train tickets we bought were very confusingly termed re: routes allowed so we missed the train we were going to take out to the coast. Ended up heading straight home and alternated watching films and reading books for the rest of the weekend.

Finally feeling more normal this afternoon/evening. Have got absolutely loads done (might have had something to do with drinking three cups of coffee this morn!)

:www:MFW Wonderment: spending diary updated; checked in on some accounts to make sure things were ticking over ok; did meter readings (electricity seemed a little high - must investigate); scanned a box of DVD's/CD's for ziffit and packaged up ready to send (should get over £7, better than nowt).

Have written up notes on all my financial happenings in a place I'll easily find them again and made sure all CC end dates etc are in my diary - was good to refresh my memory on all of this so I can make sure savings etc are working as hard as possible.

Signed up for Westfield Health - have worked out that I should more than make my money back over the year (I need to do quite a bit of health sorting out - glasses/dentist & so on). Will keep an eye on how it goes and see if it's worth it over the long run.

Referred a friend for Amex gold card (I get 9k points for referral, they get 22k points - brilliant stuff. It's all going towards my airmiles )

Not so money-saving, but have bought some underwear & work clothes in the sales (also with cashback :money:). Also organised appointments for eye test and dentist. Scheduled in for a haircut as well. Was trying to last out until holiday in October but the mane has gone too wild, and to be fair I've not had it cut since January so I suppose I can let myself off :rotfl:

Tidied away some pretty wrapping paper/gift bags that I'll reuse :A

Using up shampoo/conditioner samples... scarily the latest hotel-procured one seems to be better than my usual toiletries. :eek: Dread to think what this will do to my future expectations

Had a homemade slow-cooker soup from the freezer for tea. Hate to say it but it tasted truly awful. Have chucked the other four cartons away. You live, you learn.

Found about 40p while tidying up :T

:coffee: Simple Pleasures: a busy day getting loads done - makes quite a change from days gone by! Also: reading poetry at bedtime PS. if you've not watched Young Hyacinth on iPlayer yet then you should - so lovely & brilliant.


:heartsmil Burrow Building: we now have eight or nine bags for life waiting to go to the charity shop :eek: Mr M had a mammoth sort out of stuff on Sunday - freed up a shelf and threw away/shredded two bags of rubbish :T

Now just need to sort out a few more teetering piles of random papers et bits and the house will look vaguely welcoming for family visiting this weekend :T

Almost forgot - invested in a couple of storage containers for the kitchen (a little shelf plus three storage buckets with handles for herbs & spices) - oh my gosh, what a difference they've made. The key to small space living is definitely clever storage solutions (and lots of hooks everywhere )

Pearla*Merle

Worked... all going well... just keeping on keeping on

Tormenting myself with watching this mad Murray match now :doh:

:www: MFW Wonderment: £5 amazon voucher acquired :T

Packed lunch to work & have discovered that there's a post office near the office so that'll make eBaying much easier in future :T

Resisted the lure of dinner out while nipping into town to pick up a parcel - we came home and used up a katsu curry sauce we had in the fridge. :A

:coffee: Simple Pleasures: remembered I had some grapes in lurking in the fridge - perfectly hit the spot for dessert :A

:heartsmil Burrow Building: have caught the hyggue bug And have been looking at cosy home inspiration/ideas on pinterest... warm drinks, books & blankets - bring it on


Had another chat regarding What On Earth To Do About Wedding but really can't decide... I want to be healthier (read: back to my slim self & a lot more bright-eyed and bushy-tailed) first... then do we have a party or just go abroad? :think: I'd love a small party but I'm not sure how many people would be able to come (family and friends scattered all over). A bit of a conundrum But if we go abroad - where on earth would we go?! Would love to go somewhere nice in Britain (i.e. Cornwall) to be honest - but why is it so madly expensive to travel about our own country?

Rightio, best head bedwards..!