"Isn't it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it."

greenbee

I have no curtains in the sitting room for the same reason @Watty1 but I did get thermal blinds last winter so it’s not too bad. Other rooms have curtains or blinds that moved with me, supplemented by a few additional thermal/light filtering blinds underneath. In fact I’m about to order some more thermal blinds to swap out for light filtering ones in some other rooms for the winter.

I have lots of spare blinds and curtains that my vendors left if you need some. I need to redo all my FB marketplace listings at some point so I can just shift them all. 

It’s good to hear that it doesn’t always help to have someone else who should be involved in decisions!

Loft insulation in the garage is being topped up today (it’s raining, gardener is doing inside stuff). I need to update the list of indoor jobs to make sure I can keep my gardener busy over winter when the weather is too bad for outside work. 

Best get up properly - the cats and I came back upstairs to hibernate as outside is horrid. But I need to get login details for a couple of pensions as well as doing some work. 

And I really must make some mortgage decisions this weekend so I can move on to pension/investment sorting and also plan the rest of the renovations. 

Cheery_Daff

We've gone 5 year again. Obviously no help to you as a different situation - Mr Cheery will hit state pension age just as we come to the end of it, so we'll hopefully be in a much better position to overpay or whatever at that point. 

My mum brought me and my sister up on her own (divorced with 2 kids by age 24) and I always thought the decision making must have been rotten 😕 But I suppose there was at least no other parent to undermine her when she said no to something 😂

greenbee

I think 5 years is probably right. All the forecasts I'm reading for work suggest interest rates won't move significantly over the next couple of years, although if the ME kicks off they who knows. I just need to check the OP rules for the 5-year deal (although a discussion with my brother suggested that maybe more solar panels would be a better ROI!). 

greenbee

Went online to switch mortgage and couldn't make the payment process work. So have an appointment for 1pm to secure the new deal starting 1st Nov. OP rules are fine (must have been confused when I was reading the other day.

Work payslip is apparently available. Not sure whether it'll be on the old or new tax code, but if the latter I think I'll get less this month despite the fact that the interest I declared on savings this year won't be repeated as it was my house capital between sale and purchase!

Once I've got over the mortgage annoyance I'll make a start on rationalising pensions. 

greenbee

Mortgage now booked. And my procrastination has paid off as the rate on the deal I was looking at was dropped on Tuesday. Having to have a conversation has also paid off, because if rates drop again between now and October 20th I can cancel this deal and reapply for a new one. So I'll be adding a note to my diary.

I've also got into my work pension, inspected it, and got my boss to read his info correctly - it's only really this month where it has performed badly, so I guess we'll see the same everywhere. But it has made me realise my pensions need some focus. 

greenbee

Handyman got lots done today. Garage attic is beautifully insulated (main roof needs doing, but there is more work to do up there first, which I need to get an electrician in to do). Gutter that was overflowing last night is clear, french drain round patio is clear, shed has been cleaned and tidied and bug bombs set off in it ready for the garden furniture to be stored in there when it is dry (which may need to be done in the car port). And the end that had fallen off a different gutter has been put back on. Oh, and some asters planted.

I've filled the big log basket in the hall, got my spare dressings in from the car, and remembered to padlock the main garden gate. 

greenbee

Not much done over the weekend - chicken wings slow-cooked for ungrateful cats, a bit of laundry done, my mum visited and some lemon verbena branches collected from her. Those have been cut up and are now drying in the bottom of the airing cupboard. I'm hoping that we can cut some more before they are over as the smell is fabulous.

Sunday I was out, but managed to make apple turnovers with left over pastry that needed using up before I went (and it was a good move to take them, as I didn't get home until 4pm and there was no other food on offer!). I'd also put a vat of soup in the SC with fridge-bottom veg, pulses and grains to use up one of the two lots of chicken stock lurking in the fridge. That was also very welcome when I got in cold and wet - and is now in the freezer. I plan to do another lot today at some point to use up the other batch of chicken stock. In fact, I should get on and do it before I need to leave for the surgery (via the petrol station... actually maybe I should do it when I get back as they sometimes have good reductions on veg).

Today has been lazy as the cats didn't want me to get up. They're cross about the rain and busy playing noisily inside now (there is a huge pile of amazon packing paper in the middle of the floor which they are jumping/sliding on and hunting in). I've emptied the stuff I left in the car yesterday, bunged the soup and stewed apple in the freezer, emptied a cat loo and refilled with fresh litter, and brought in more kindling and logs.

Not really feeling in work mode today - hopefully that will change when I'm back from the surgery and have eaten. 

Before that I need to finish emptying the DW and as I've been paid, move some money around. 

rtandon27

It was definitely a soup kind of weekend Greenbee!  I made a vat of roasted vegetable - once whizzed and cooled it made the equivalent of 5 large cans! 4 lots in the freezer and one in the fridge. I've also got one lot of chicken stock left which we are keeping for mushroom and blue cheese risotto.

I absolutely love that the cats get the blame for you lazy day!

greenbee

Soup has been useful. Some frozen, some eaten.

Another frustrating week not being able to do much due to injured finger, but it is now out of it's dressing (and very sensitive, so still limiting what I can do). My mum is also not well, so I need to go over and visit her and deliver food. I went to the supermarket yesterday after I saw the nurse, but none of the ready meals (which is what she asked for) are suitable for low fodmap/IBS/ulcerative colitis. So I have beef mince in the SC with lots of veg for cottage pie and beef short ribs in the baby SC. I've also made cat food which is now in the thermal bag. I need to make shepherd's pie mix, cauli cheese, mash for pies, and possibly macaroni cheese before I go over tomorrow.

I also have billions of beans to prep and freeze as they grew during the rain. I'm hoping today's sun and the warmth in the greenhouse will help more tomatoes ripen.

I've been successfully using the baby SC for stewing fruit on cheap rate, and setting the DW and WM (sometimes more successfully than others as it has delayed finish rather than start) to run then too. Hopefully it will help keep my electricity bill down a bit.

One load of towels (done last night ) is drying on the line, and I've chucked last weekend's garden clearance into the garden waste bins (which go out on Monday). There is still some space in them if I have time to do stuff tomorrow. 

I'm not sure the grass will dry enough to mow, but I'll see how it goes. For now I'm going to put some gloves on and go and slap some more paint on the shed. The bit I have done properly is looking so much better than the bit I haven't, so well worth the effort.

Most of my colleagues are in the US next week, so I'm hoping I can get an hour or so of gardening and/or pilates in every morning in an attempt to catch up with myself. Mind you, I need to catch up on work, but it's a bit difficult while I still can't type very well. 

greenbee

I've done some shed painting - finished the front (hopefully!) and done a section of the side. I need to cut down the perennial peas and remove the netting before I can do anymore. So once I've finished my coffee I'll go back out and either do that or some mowing. In fact, I think I'll start with the mowing as if it's dry enough it'll be good to get that done. 

It's going to be dry tomorrow and Monday, so I'm hoping that I'll have the energy to make some progress in the garden and feel a little bit more in control. I was doing well until the finger-chopping incident!

Washing is dry (but cold!) and in. So once the sun goes and it starts to cool down I'll come in and clear up after all the cooking, and prep the next lot. I may even do some ironing if I'm feeling energetic as it would be nice to get it out of the way.

Tomorrow morning I plan to do a few more bits of cooking (possibly the potatoes for the shepherds/cottage pies, although thinking about it I may take the bases and the potatoes to my mum's and do them there so I can portion them up and freeze them at hers) including some apple turnovers with the leftover pastry from last weekend before I head off to my mum's. There's quite a bit to do there, but I want to get back in time to do some more in the garden and get myself organised for the week. 

Weekends seem to be far too short.