Tales from The Shire

Fortune_Smiles

Tomato Horror 😨

Discovered last night that our heavily laden cherry tomato plants have got blight 😱  We've only been able to pick 9 so far.  We salvaged as much of the fruit as we could and destroyed the plants 😢  So my first job this morning was to make green tomato chutney.  It's bubbling on the stove as I type.  At least they've not gone completely to waste.  We never have much success with tomatoes as we don't have a greenhouse.  It's on the wish list but not very high on the list at the moment.

Another challenge for today is they are cutting our water off between 10am and 2pm whilst they connect us up to the new pipe.  When we saw the workers on our dog walk this morning they said they thought it would only take an hour but 'what ever can go wrong, will go wrong' so we've filled up a few bottles and prepped for lunch just in case.  Once we are connected they will be able to restore our junction and clean up the lane so we can say goodbye to all the barriers and diggers.

My main goal today was to clean up the guest room but, as that involves wiping down skirting and mopping floors I may get some ironing done instead.

Supper last night was Broad Bean & Goat's Cheese Bruschetta.  Lunch today will be tuna salad pittas as the salad is ready and I can put those together without water.

Remembered to fill up the kettle too so I think it's time for a cuppa.

Fortune x

Cheery_Daff

Urgh to blight 🙄 Ours are fine so far (although neglected and shrivelled up because of lack of water - my fault). Sadly the potatoes look like they've got blight outside, most vexing.

Fortune_Smiles

Cheery_Daff said:

Urgh to blight 🙄 Ours are fine so far (although neglected and shrivelled up because of lack of water - my fault). Sadly the potatoes look like they've got blight outside, most vexing.

I've got my fingers crossed it doesn't spread to our potatoes Cheery.  If you have got blight, cutting the stems off at ground level may save the tubers.

Fortune x

savingholmes

I had blight last year too. Very sad. 

Fortune_Smiles

Review Time 😁

It's been a while since I reviewed our progress against the goals we set at the start of the year so...

Wealth

• draw my Defined Benefit pensions.  I started receiving payments in April
• continue to overpay the mortgage by our usual regular amount and my pension amount.  All regular and pension amounts have either been paid off the mortgage already or are ring-fenced in the savings account for future payments
• agree a financial contribution with Uncle F.  We don't want to make money out of him of course but can't afford to be out of pocket either.  Agreed and contributions made
• increase our emergency fund target by 25%.  Increased by 2.5% but unlikely to increase further as we decided to prioritise home improvements this year
• replace at least 3 of our old windows.  We've paid the deposit for 7 windows to be replaced and ring-fenced the remaining cost in savings.  Young decorator is in the middle of sanding and oiling the remaining old windows of the house.  He's also quoted for restoring the annex windows which we'll plan for next year and that will mean all our windows are sound and we'll just need to keep up the maintenance
• replace 3 field gates.  Mr F has replaced two gates and has two further gates and posts ready to instal.  He is off work this week so in hoping to finish the job
• identify and prioritise other home improvements as budget allows or need arises.  We've decorated two rooms and have another four scheduled for decoration before the end of the year.  Lots of other, smaller home improvements have have been made.

Health

• continue to practice yoga 3 times a week.  Yoga was replaced by a Pilates class, however, it's an early evening class and I'm really struggling to get there on time so I'll probably go back to yoga at home.  Most of my exercise comes from gardening and housework at the moment
• walk FDawg daily.  I'm walking FDawg most days
• reach target weight.  Still a work in progress
• make sure I get some time to myself.  Uncle F is going to need a lot of support and, with two Fortunate blokes in the house, I want to make sure I get some down time.  Some of my social meetings have re-started and Uncle F has been staying in his home county more often as his house sale and purchase progresses.

Happiness

• stay connected with friends and family virtually/physically.  I've had some meet ups and other social events and we've had a few visitors too
• mark weekends and special occasions as different from the other days of the week.  We're getting quite good at having a day out at the weekend
• include some time for creativity in my schedule.  I've mainly been writing but have done a little upcycling too.

I'm very happy with progress and feel we've got a lot more done than expected.  Mainly because we re-balanced the budgets to allow more work to be done on the house.

I'm most grateful that we've survived the pandemic relatively unscathed so far.  To come through with our mental and physical health in tact was all I really wanted to achieve this year.

It will be time for an end of year review soon 😲 and then goals for 2022 😲

Fortune x

Cheery_Daff

Ooh, a lovely review Fortune! 😊 Lots going on there, and such great progress on the decorating and house maintenance. Well done! 

I've started making a list of things I want to add to next year's goals already 😮

Fortune_Smiles

Cheery_Daff said:

Ooh, a lovely review Fortune! 😊 Lots going on there, and such great progress on the decorating and house maintenance. Well done! 

I've started making a list of things I want to add to next year's goals already 😮

Glad I'm not the only one 😆

Fortune x

Fortune_Smiles

Calm

Mr F is away for a reunion thingie so it's very calm in the Fortunate household.  I've taken the opportunity to have a relaxing weekend.

Wealth

• The monthly money shuffle has been done and we have gained 1% on both our mortgage paid and mortgage neutral totals
• also 1% on the emergency savings
• Mr F finished putting up another gate before he left so that's 3 down, 1 to go
• I picked more redcurrants and plums plus the last of the blackcurrants.  Also the first of the damsons
• Young Decorator popped in yesterday morning to sand and oil a door frame - £25 from home improvement budget
• ordered a new pedal bin for the bathroom and towels for the cloakroom - £42 from home improvement budget
• we won £25 on the Premium Bonds.

Health

• I've walked FDawg a few times this weekend

Happiness

• We met up on Tuesday for supper with friends who are staying in the area (costs to be met for this month's fun money)
• I also met up with them this morning for brunch (costs to be met from personal spends)
• I gave girlie friend a starter pack of skin care products to try.  Chap friend gave Mr F some beers he picked up whilst visiting our local brewery 😁
• I hosted the first of our WI Book Club meetings which I very much enjoyed, and baked a Lemon Curd & Blackcurrant Cake for the occasion.

Mr F may be back tonight.  If it's late-ish I might suggest we pop into the chippie on the way home 🤭

Hope you're all have a great weekend.

Fortune x

Cheery_Daff

Lovely update Fortune! I do like your wealth, health and happiness updates 😊😊 All is NOT calm in the Cheery household this weekend 🙄 but I do feel more calm after reading your post! 😊

savingholmes

Lovely review. Glad things are going better