EH - Essex > Hebrides...the next step of the adventure?

foxgloves

I believe that technique of division is called 'layering', @milann. I've used it with penstemons in the past, pegging a juicy looking stem down horizontally with a hairpin. Got to love a free plant!
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milann

That’s the word I was looking for😁thanks Foxgloves….twas on the tip of my tongue 👍
im about half way through your diary…..loving it 😁

foxgloves

You're welcome. Thank-you for your nice comment about my diary. I just wanted to show that even long-term financial idiots can change their ways.
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savingholmes

Love winter jasmine too.

EssexHebridean

Hello all - hope your respective Mondays are all going well. I may also appropriate "triffiding" for future use - it definitely describes several plants we have rather well! 

I'm in the office today - trying to catch up on a few oddments before being off again tomorrow and Wednesday. MrEH is also in London so as I don't have my trusty foldy bike with me today I'll use the time in between me leaving the office at 5 and him getting back to the car an hour or so later to have a walk I think - probably encompassing the two lakes not so far away. Just need to rain that keeps threatening to hold off, now...

I've managed to get my Dad's old iPod up and running - it's a old-style "classic", which means it's been far simpler than any more recent tech to simply take over using, but it's engraved with his name on the rear so I was hoping to be able to actually make use of it. He and I had fairly similar taste in music too (apart from him being partial to a bit of coutry - bleurgh!) so I'm rather enjoying exploring what is on it - the walk to the office this morning was to a Soundtrack of "Queen - Live at the Bowl" from Milton Keynes in 1982 - so that was a good start! (And something I'm not sure I have so goodness knows where he got it from - I'll be scouring his CD collection in due course though!). I've got an old iPhone that I've previously used as an iPod but this will hold a lot more I think.  

Food will take a little while to heat through when we get in - it's the pasta bake I made yesterday so I'll heat it in the microwave then shove it in the oven for 15 minutes to crisp the top up I think. I probably won't bother to do much extra veg with it - it's packed full of cauliflower and I put a couple of good handfuls of peas in there too - plus we've both had several portions of fruit for breakfast/with lunch, so  that will do nicely I reckon. 

Banks checked this morning - MrEH should get paid tomorrow, and by some miracle there is still a bit of surplus in the joint account - I'll need to work out where to put that. I did a quick money shuffle to clear some oddments from the credit card this morning - Dad's death certificates are on there at the moment so the surplus might be best used to clear those down, now I come to think of it. That should then just leave grocery spends on it, I think...as usual I will clear those when the statement lands. 

I'll need to take a bit of time on Wednesday to manage my own start of month financial stuff before helping Mum with more odds and ends I think - otherwise realistically by the time I've had a chance to look at anything it will be the other side of the long weekend. Somewhere along the line I also need to throw stuff in a bag for heading down to Devon on Wednesday night - and find time to sort my camera kit out, too. 

A bit more progress on surveys - Prolific is now around £8.37 I think but with sufficient pending that I'll cash out once that clears. OnePoll is at 2177 points, and Ipsos on 584 - so headway being made on all three. I reckon once I get to the next payouts on Prolific and OnePoll my next Prolific cashout after that will take me to around a third of my goal amount for the "Gym Neutral fund" so I'm pretty pleased with that. I'll be aiming to focus a bit more on OnePoll after that because it is noticeable that this cashout has taken me longer than the previous one. 

I had a very quick try-on session of my shorts and cropped trousers last night with a view to summer (hopefully!) heading our way - all good, I just wanted to check that things did still fit, but hurrah, they do. I've got one further pair of cropped trousers that I would like to be able to get to fit but they were bought on the basis of being the same size as another pair of the same make (and I thought an identical cut) that I already had and which fit nicely - of course s0ds law says they are a very slightly different cut on the waistband and so are uncomfortably tight at the moment. If my shape fluctuates so I can wear them at some stage this summer they will get to stay in the wardrobe - if not they will head off to the charity shop in the autumn. I will still need some further short sleeved tops before it gets properly warmer - I bought a couple in Sainsbugs the other week one of which I like but the other is only "OK" - as it was only £5 it gets to stay, if it had been any more I would have returned it. Ideally I'd swing by Primarni at some stage to see what they have - I like their basic summer t-shirts and get sufficient wear out of them that they are certainly not fast fashion any more! 

Right, must crack on.

milann

Enjoy your dads music 👍

amber03

I heard on the radio the other day that they aren’t making I pods anymore. Keep hold of it, it might become a family heirloom one day. I have mine still and since I don’t have any other heirlooms I will treasure this one “just in case”.xx

beanielou

How awesome to listen to your dads music 

savingholmes

Lovely to have his iPod and like the music

EssexHebridean

Morning all - not quite sure what we’re going to get weather-wise today - we’re currently seeing right sunshine but also big black clouds…hmm! Better than yesterday afternoon though when we had a torrential downpour - just as the celebrant at Dad’s funeral was doing her lovely final address including how Dad would always be there in everything…the sun in the sky, and the rain that falls…as I said afterwards as we sheltered outside waiting for it to ease at least a fraction, I did tell everyone what a mischievous sense of humour he had! It all went so smoothly - the funeral directors had everything arranged perfectly, Louise the celebrant was quite simply amazing - there were a lot of tears but also a LOT of laughter and memories, and plenty of foot-tapping to Status Quo’s “Rocking all over the world” which was played in the middle… 

it was the right decision me to not go into work today - I’m still feeling very teary and emotional, and very much as though I need a slightly more gentle day mentally. Although yesterday went beautifully, it was without question one of the most difficult days of my life, and I’m going to try not to underestimate the impact. We’ve been for a walk this morning, and I’m going to go for a bike ride in a bit, then would like to do some yoga when I get back, and I’ll pop to Mum’s this afternoon albeit probably not for very long. We’re driving down to Devon tonight to stay with MrEH’s folks for a few days, so I also need to get stuff sorted ahead of that. 

One thing to report on the spendy-front, I finally managed to track down a CD I’ve been wanting for years at a sensible price on eBay - it’s an album I have a (copied from a friend’s CD) cassette recording of, and the vinyl, but I didn’t buy the CD at the time and have regretted it since, it’s usually silly money so nabbing it for under £14 posted was a triumph. Money well spent and I look forward to it arriving. 

Other than that, MrEH has been paid - I hopefully will be today - and the 1st of the month payments have all gone out. I’ve just done the money shuffle to the electricity buffer fund and my Nationwide regular saver, and reminded MrEH to do his as well. I’ve also shuffled the oddments across to the VSP accounts, and checked that I have enough surplus in my spends accounts to deal with anything I spend over the weekend, too. All under control.