Tales from The Shire

Fortune_Smiles

We've had a good day today - a very productive one.

I reconciled the bank and credit card accounts and found £500 :eek: It looks like I recorded a bill twice by mistake. I wondered why funds were looking so tight for January and February. Very happy the error is in our favour, just imagine if it was the other way round Note to self - do the number crunching before the Mince Pie liqueur :rotfl:

I also chased up the plumber on the final invoice for the work we had done on the heating. I have an outstanding query on it and have 'phoned them several times to try to get it sorted. Today I put things in writing.

The only spending today was on a new brand of food for FDawg. Although the food he has currently is very high quality, he just cannot keep weight on with it. A browse of the internet revealed that this is a common problem with this brand of food. So I did some research and have gone with something with a little more carbohydrate - apparently some dogs need this to help the weight 'stick to their ribs'. Wish I had that problem :rotfl:

Mr F spent the day fencing again. He has put in some extra fencing and a gate so that our lawn area is bigger. This also means that we can move the sheep to the bottom field when we need to and keep them away from the barn.

Inspired by Cheery Daff's work on the Cheery homestead, I ventured into the garden myself today. We have a courtyard garden at the back of the house, the wall forming a boundary with our neighbour's front garden. There is a six foot wide strip along the perimeter that the previous owner planted with small trees. There are two parallel rows of trees so it's very crowded and overgrown and far too much for such a small space. Some of the trees are unusual and very pretty eg we have a Pineapple Broom. However, there are far too many laurels and conifers. With Mr F's help with the chainsaw, I have taken out most of these. The courtyard looks much larger now and tidier. Although we have lost a little privacy screening. Because the trees were planted so closely together, they did not grow evenly and, on some, one side is a bit bare. This should improve when they start growing in the Spring though. There's enough light reaching the ground now to plant some woodland flowers under them : We have two huge piles of garden waste now so will have to think about what to do with it. I also discovered we have a Himalayan Honeysuckle

Lunch was the Italian Sausage Casserole with mash from yesterday and supper was pizza topped with the remaining cured meats from Christmas. I was too tired from our outdoor exertions to rustle up anything more time consuming

An early night is planned as Mr F has a very early start tomorrow. I certainly need it and I'm sure I'll sleep very well tonight.

Hope everyone's had a great weekend.

Fortune x

rtandon27

Lovely progress on the garden Fortune! Sleep well:)

Fortune_Smiles

Monday was a wash out. For all sorts of mundane reasons we only got a couple of hours sleep on Sunday night so I spent most of Monday asleep or worrying about Mr F having to travel to London for work at 4.00 am :eek: Thankfully, he survived

Yesterday was a mixed bag. I did the meal planning and grocery shop and came in under budget despite ordering a few items to bolster the store cupboard

Lunch was Cheeseboard & Onion Tart with lots of delicious salad from my veg box. Supper was Winter Root Vegetable Tagine with couscous. There's enough left over for a meal today and a portion for the freezer

The loan agreement arrived in the post but it was for the wrong amount :eek: Somehow, during the on-line application, the figure had reverted to the default amount on their system :eek: So we have been offered some money but not enough :mad: To get the right amount we would have to cancel the existing agreement and go through the whole process again for the larger amount. Mr F and I agreed that we don't have the time or the energy to reapply so we'll stick with the lesser amount and meet the difference from our emergency fund. Savings will be depleted for a while but, hopefully, we'll be able to bolster it back up when we sell my car. On the upside, by borrowing a smaller amount we get a better interest rate (marginally).

With every available penny now being diverted to the car fund, I need to make a few pounds so Baying will recommence. We want to make better use of the veg garden and plant up the courtyard so anything I make will go towards that. We will probably use some of our personal spends on this too.

To end on a brighter note, I've booked the first of the girls' nights out. Everyone seems very enthusiastic about meeting up and one friend has already suggested a second outing. I've booked my ticket - £7.50 to be met from personal spends. Really looking forward to a good laugh

Happy Hump Day!

Fortune x

beanielou

What a plaver about the loan.

rtandon27

Fortune_Smiles wrote: »

...I've booked the first of the girls' nights out. Everyone seems very enthusiastic about meeting up and one friend has already suggested a second outing. I've booked my ticket - £7.50 to be met from personal spends...

oooooo - Fortune sounds like it will be so much fun! Wish your 'shire' was closer to mine! (presuming I could gate crash:D;))

Fortune_Smiles

beanielou wrote: »

What a plaver about the loan.

I know Beanie. I am kicking myself for not paying enough attention. Although it must be quite easy to make this sort of mistake if I didn't pick up the reduced amount before pressing 'Apply'.

rtandon27 wrote: »

oooooo - Fortune sounds like it will be so much fun! Wish your 'shire' was closer to mine! (presuming I could gate crash:D;))

No need to gate crash RT - you are invited if you are ever in my Shire

Fortune x

Fortune_Smiles

We seem to be leaking money now :eek: I've just completed Mr F's tax self assessment for 17/18 and we owe HMRC over £700 :eek: And, because we only found out a self assessment was needed in December we have to pay it all by end January :eek: This bill has come about because Mr F's company mucked up his tax code a few times when he changed role. It's a bit of a surprise as, according to my own calculations, we were due a refund However, I don't think the raw data I was working on from the company was correct. I'm not feeling optimistic about this tax year either because we have around 18 different tax code notifications in the file - most correcting errors made by the tax office. I fear another bill is looming

So I spent the day stressing about the reduction in our savings until I got over myself. No one is likely to starve or lose the roof over their heads. A little perspective is required.

Lunch was the tart from yesterday with some salad and supper will be the Winter Root Vegetable Tagine with baked potatoes and yoghurt.

Two mugs arrived in the post today. They are from a competition I entered months ago. I've put them in the magic cupboard for use as presents should the need arise. They are keeping company with a few unwanted Christmas gifts

Lodger friend and I had a catch up on her plans. She should have a completion date soon. If this is after the next month's rent is due I've said we can calculate things on a daily basis. I'd like to say don't worry about any extra time but our electricity bill was much higher than we expected and I haven't asked for a contribution towards that. I also didn't charge for the first four days she was here as it was my suggestion she come earlier to avoid having to move when she was on night shifts. I hope I'm being fair. It is difficult trying to balance business with being a good friend. I will miss her when she goes but it will mean we can just be friends and not have anything else in the mix.

Tonight I will be mainly researching Air8n8 :rotfl:

Fortune x

beanielou

Boo to the tax bill.
Importantly no need to starve or to go without

Fortune_Smiles

beanielou wrote: »

Boo to the tax bill.
Importantly no need to starve or to go without

Absolutely Beanie - I have to remind myself sometimes.

Fortune x

Fortune_Smiles

I feel as though we're back to business as usual at last. Not that business as usual is at all glamorous (I've spent the day cleaning) but it's just nice to be in a routine and eating healthily.

Lunch was a Yorkshire Wensleydale Salad and supper will be Lentil & Cauliflower Curry - just waiting for it to finish cooking I used a can of coconut milk rather than coconut yoghurt. Mr F is away so I'll hold back a portion for my lunch tomorrow and freeze the remainder. That will be four meals I have in the freezer already

I've started to research planting for the veg garden. So far I'm planning broad beans :rotfl:

There's no news on the loan yet. I don't know if we'll get any notification or whether the money will just turn up in the bank account. I'll check again tomorrow.

The weekend starts tomorrow! Hope you have a good one.

Fortune x