Tales from The Shire

themadvix

Hope you get the boiler sorted Fortune - that's not something you need at the moment!

Love your 'pasta moments'!

Fortune_Smiles

Cheery_Daff said:

Happy birthday to Mr F! Glad you managed to do some things to make it special. 

Sorry to hear about the boiler though - again!! What a nonsense! Hope they can sort you out soon. Our minor boiler issue never got fixed but I'm not remotely complaining as in our case the heating just doesn't go off with the thermostat - you just have to turn it off at the wall when it gets too hot (which is what happened in our old house anyway so we're quite used to it). There are far worse problems to have than ours! I'd be proper moaning if I had no heating or hot water though! 

It wasn't for long Cheery.  Boiler man turned up as promised and hot water and heating has been restored.  A minor inconvenience this time.  Our portable room thermostat has been a best buy for us.  Like you, we were turning the heating off and on as needed which was a faff but, also, not particularly economical.  Now the termperature is controlled automatically and the boiler only comes on when needed.  I'd highly recommend one - it works on wifi so no wiring required.

Fortune x

Fortune_Smiles

themadvix said:

Hope you get the boiler sorted Fortune - that's not something you need at the moment!

Love your 'pasta moments'!

It's all sorted now thankyou MV.  Who'd have thought I'd be getting so excited about pasta!

Hope you're feeling better

Fortune x

Fortune_Smiles

Reset

Boiler man came early this morning and was in and out in half an hour 😁  I kept well out of the way and occupied my time by eating my easter egg 🙄... all of it 🙄  I also read my previous diary which covers our move from Kent to The Shire.  It reminded me how excited we were to find this house, how much we've achieved since we moved here and how lucky we are to have our home at this difficult time.  It made me think about the goals that we set for the year and how these might not be as relevant in the changing circumstances.  So I'm going to give them a review.  Watch this space.

Fortune x

themadvix

Thanks Fortune - better than I was. Glad the boiler is sorted now. Now... did Pyxis save any of those chocolate scoffing emojis?! 

Fortune_Smiles

Revised 2020 Goals

My goals for this year were built around Wellness in all its forms and I think they are still relevant but need tweaking to reflect the changing circumstances:

Financial 💰

• continue to overpay a regular amount to the mortgage.  I still intend to put aside a regular amount but will ring-fence this in the savings account to OP at a future date.  I'd just like to have access to the money in the short to medium term should it be needed for any reason
• get to 100% of target for our emergency savings.  This goal will remain as is but I will split the savings between three savings accounts so as not to put all my eggs in one basket.  The interest on my new Po$t Offic£ savings account has been slashed to nothing so it doesn't really matter where the money sits any more but I think the interest on my regular saver is still safe so I'll pay the maximum into that each month. 
• improve our income from the Annex by 25%.  This may not be possible now as we are closed for the foreseeable future.  In fact, we may be down over £2k by the end of the year.  Any income was ear-marked for house maintenance and improvement so those projects will need to be re-prioritised.

Emotional 🥰

This was originally more important for Mr F as his work had becoming increasingly stressful.  He is now more relaxed having no travel to worry about and more time at home.  I'm likely to struggle at the moment without any external interaction.  So:

• spend the weekends working on joint projects around the home and garden
• get outside at least once a day
• find a way to connect to friends and family.

Intellectual 🎨

When I look back on this period of isolation I want to be able to say I made good use of the time.  That I wrote, painted, baked, created, did more of the things I love and tried out new things:

• work my way through the projects I've had in my mind for some time
• continue to complete the stories I've started and to begin new ones
• start preserving in place of baking (see below).

Physical 🏃‍♀️

• continue with yoga.  I can do this from home and have already made a start
• attempt Couch to 5k again.  The weather is improving and I can make a start running around the top field.
• reach target weight and review.  I had half a stone left to lose before the virus took hold.  I think I've probably put a few pounds back on now as we've been eating cake, having a glass of something with supper and generally indulging more as a way of keeping our spirits up.  It won't keep us healthy though so a serious review is needed.  Particularly after the easter egg incident earlier 🙄

Environmental 🌳

• we have made good progress in the vegetable garden.  There's still a lot to do but we have a plan and the weather is on our side now
• decorate at least two rooms.  The paint has been chosen and bought and Mr F has holiday to book so I think we'll be on target for this one.
• identify and prioritise home improvements.  Priorities have changed so it's a matter of reviewing things as we tick items off the list.

Social 👭👩🏻‍🤝‍🧑🏼👩🏻‍🤝‍🧑🏼👭

Socialising will have to look very different under lock down so I'll give some thought as to how to keep connected with individuals and groups.

Fortune x

Jessy103

Plans sound good fortune and I wish you the best of luck with them! What's the point of life, if you can't have a few Easter Egg moments

Bargainhunter30

Lovely goals Fortune. I started the C25K last summer and it's been amazing, I can now eat cake and still feel like I'm getting fitter and losing weight. Plus I can actually run. Just hoping I don't lose the ability now I cant go out with the club, I seriously lack motivation!

Fortune_Smiles

Jessy103 said:

Plans sound good fortune and I wish you the best of luck with them! What's the point of life, if you can't have a few Easter Egg moments

I think the operative word there Jessy is 'few' 😂  My Easter Egg moments are not just moments - they are a way of life 😂😂😂

Fortune x

Bargainhunter30 said:

Lovely goals Fortune. I started the C25K last summer and it's been amazing, I can now eat cake and still feel like I'm getting fitter and losing weight. Plus I can actually run. Just hoping I don't lose the ability now I cant go out with the club, I seriously lack motivation!

I completed C25K last year BH - bar the last two runs.  But I injured my hip and haven't been able to run since.  I'm hoping I might be able to give it another go now and, if I run on softer ground, avoid further injury.  You're absolutely right.  I did lose weight whilst completing the programme, despite eating cake, so I'm going to give it another go.

Fortune x

Fortune_Smiles

Get me!

Am secret technical wiz.  I made two video calls yesterday.  Which doesn't really require any technical expertise but I'd not made one before.  It was fabulous to 'see' people.  Both calls were to friends who'd moved recently and invited us to stay in their new homes.  Covid put paid to those plans, however, I was able to have a guided tour of both houses over the call.  So I do feel as though I have made some social 'calls'.  It's certainly a good way for me to stay connected whilst in lockdown.

The veg box arrived yesterday.  Two substitutions.  A pointed cabbage became spinach which I was quite pleased about as I already have some spring greens leftover from last week.  And pears became bananas which wasn't as welcome as we now have quite a lot of bananas.  I think I may end of freezing some.  I remain, though, very, very grateful for the food that's arriving.  I know some have very little right now.

Lunch was Feta, Sweetcorn & Chard Tacos which were very delicious.  I used chilli flakes as I couldn't get any fresh red chillies.  Supper was Cod & Spinach Yellow Curry  Light and fragrant but I may add some chilli flakes to the leftovers to add a little heat.  Both recipes were to make the best of the veg box contents.

I'm thinking about filling up the oil tank as prices are about half what they were pre-virus.

Our plan this weekend is to do more in the vegetable garden.  It sounds as though we'll have the weather for it.  I do hope it doesn't tempt people to go out and about.  We are so fortunate here having some outside space and it must be very hard if you don't have that.  Going out will put so many lives at risk though so I hope people are sensible and stay home.

Stay safe everyone.

Fortune x