Tales from The Shire

Fortune_Smiles

I found some money this morning :T Some unexpected items in Mr F's latest expense claim. I must have lost track of them when my laptop died and I lost my data. Anyhoo they were a very nice surpise. Also picked up a booking for the Annex for the first weekend in February :T So I've restored the fun money for February and put aside a little for the next two months to cover any miscellaneous costs. The rest has gone to savings. So I'm better off than I thought Yay!

This afternoon was warm and dry enough to get out into the garden. I managed to weed half the raspberry bed (it's a very big bed) and do some general tidying.

Lunch today was Roasted Cauliflower & Coconut Soup and supper was a brussels sprout and mushroom spaghetti. It was supposed to be a brussels sprout and mushroom carbonara but I realised we were out of eggs half way through the cooking :rotfl: Fortunately I had some mascarpone and parmesan so rustled up a cheesey sauce instead.

Spends today have been on dog food and an MOT for Mr F's truck. It passed thankfully

Mr F may cancel some of his travel plans for February. He's not due to go to China but was expected elsewhere in South East Asia. His company has said not to travel if he feels uncomfortable about it. With the World Health Organisation declaring a global emergency we'd both be happier if he didn't have to get on a plane anytime soon. Feels strange to be going about the day to day when such a situation is unfolding. My thoughts go out to all who are affected.

Fortune x

Fortune_Smiles

It's been a noisy morning :shhh:

Boiler guy arrived as planned. He couldn't find anything particular wrong and was flummoxed that there was no sign of a leak anywhere. He bled the upstairs radiators and found a little air in the one in the bathroom. Also re-pressurised the expansion tank which he said was a little low. I can't see that either could be responsible for the significant loss of boiler pressure we're experiencing but he said to see how things go over the next few days :think:

Then builder guy arrived to fix the roof leak. He agreed that water seems to be getting in around a vent. The vent doesn't seem to be serving any purpose so he suggested taking it out and tiling over. So there's been a lot of hammering.

I received a notification that the interest rate on our savings account was dropping... again. I didn't think it could go down any further. So, I bit the bullet and opened a new one plus a regular saver account to take advantage of the highest interests rates I could - not that any are very high at the moment. Once the account details come through I'll start shuffling money around.

I've been getting out in the garden as often as the weather allows and making a little progress. Lots still to be done though. Mr F should be home to help now though. He is overseas at the moment but just in Europe and only for a couple of days. His big trip to South East Asia has been cancelled due to the coronavirus risks.

I've also managed to do some writing :j So I've something to take with me to writing group this evening.

My grocery bill for this week is higher than budgeted but it does include the ingredients for the rum I'm making for the country show. I'll make a start on that this weekend.

Builder man's assistant has just interrupted this post to say that the roof is repaired :T Although I still don't know how much today's maintenance is going to cost me. Let's hope it's not much.

Happy Tuesday all

Fortune x

beanielou

My pressure is doing exactly the same & they have no idea why.
So stressful

Fortune_Smiles

beanielou wrote: »

My pressure is doing exactly the same & they have no idea why.
So stressful

I know Beanie - I'm losing sleep worrying where all the water is going Hope your boiler woes are resolved soon.

Fortune x

beanielou

Fortune_Smiles wrote: »

I know Beanie - I'm losing sleep worrying where all the water is going Hope your boiler woes are resolved soon.

Fortune x

I am so worried about it.
It is totally not the boiler but must be in the pipework somewhere.
The plumber was here 3 1/2 hours the other day & no further forward:(:(:(
Hope you get it sorted out soon:)

Fortune_Smiles

The roof is fixed :j So at least we are weatherproof again. £120 met from the emergency savings.

The extractor fan in the Annex has been replaced :j My lovely neighbour electrician said he was only going to charge me for the part which was £43 but I gave him £50, a bottle of prosecco and a small bottle of home-made raspberry gin (I remember that he and his partner really enjoyed the Raspberry Gin Fizz I made for our Christmas party). The job only took him 15 minutes but I wanted to give him something for his time and show my appreciation. Cost to be met from the emergency savings. The new fan is really powerful and really quiet so I think we'll replace the fans in the house too when funds allow.

The boiler is still losing pressure But there is still no sign of a leak so I've no idea what to do next. I haven't had an invoice yet for the call out but those costs will be met from the emergency savings too.

So the emergency savings have been depleted but thank goodness we have them.

Onwards and upwards

Fortune x

beanielou

Good news on the roof & the extracter.

badmemory

It may not actually be leaking at all. Mine seems to suddenly decide that the pressure in the boiler is too high & blows out the extra, I then have to top it up & it is ok for a while. Never buy a boiler from a friend, it never saves you money!

Jessy103

Good news on the roof and extractor. I hope the boiler pressure mystery is resolved soon so you're not worrying anymore

Fortune_Smiles

badmemory said:

It may not actually be leaking at all. Mine seems to suddenly decide that the pressure in the boiler is too high & blows out the extra, I then have to top it up & it is ok for a while. Never buy a boiler from a friend, it never saves you money!

There's no sign of a leak yet BM but apparently a very tiny leak can equate to a relatively large loss of pressure.  I will do more investigating over the weekend... and will not be tempted to buy a boiler from a friend 

Fortune x