Light the fire...

woodfired

Happy Friday MSEers. Lots to be thankful for over here. Flapjacks are yummy, small squares aren't helping though, I find its an excuse to have several instead of just one!

Finally got round to sorting the plums this morning. They were really ripe, some too ripe so I left them. A rough count of the stones (I decided to stone them after all) suggests I have stoned and chopped almost 200 plums!:eek:
Not may favourite job, but its done now. I have frozen about a third on a tray, to be bagged later and the remaining are in a big saucepan on the Esse, stewing to make into crumbles. The plums were free and the Esse runs on free wood so they have cost me nothing so far (although I haven't added any sugar, flour or butter yet!).

Its a sunny but cool day here today, Autumn is definitely in the air! The stove is keeping downstairs comfortably warm and on the way up the garden to collect the logs i noticed that my apples are ripening nicely on the tree (only a few as it's still a baby) and I really must pick the damsons before they go over. They will be made into my favourite drink ever, damson brandy. I don't follow a recipe, I chuck in a load of (pricked) damsons, tons of white sugar and a few bottles of brandy then shake every week for about 3 months. I like it really sweet and syrupy so I add more sugar as required then bottle in December. It is so warming and you only need to sip a tiny bit, it clings to the side of the glass as it is so thick and I love it! :beer:

In MSE news, I have had a £75 refund from T*B for the !!!!-up with the online banking. I had read on here they were offering compensation so sent a complaint via email. TBH i wasn't affected greatly, our mortgage is with them and I use the plus account as a savings account. I was unable to see my mortgage for a few months which was annoying, but not too disruptive. I still cant see any detail such as amount of interest applied, only an overall balance but others have been affected much more by it. £75 into the pot is better than nothing!

Boiler has now been switched off for 10 days straight. Cool enough to light the Esse for cooking and hot water yet not cold enough to need to boiler to help run the heating. I love spring and autumn for this!

Ok, off to make the topping for my crumbles. Have a lovely day.x

woodfired

Morning All.

Miserable morning this morning, perhaps we won't bother with the local agricultural show we were planning to attend, it's no fun in the rain. Will still hopefully meet the family for dinner tonight though, tradition after attending (or not!) a show.

I sorted out my freezer yesterday, got everything out, re-ordered it and made an inventory. It is amazing how much stuff fits in such at tiny space (its an upright fridge-freezer) we have so much food and loads more meat than I thought, which is good news. Last night I liberated 3 burgers for dinner. Not much else to come out this weekend though as we are out tonight and at a christening tomorrow afternoon so will not want much in the way of dinner I imagine.
At least I can plan my shopping around my inventory.

Finished my crumbles yesterday and my sis who provided the plums conveniently turned up just as I topped them so obviously I had to give her one!! Now down to 5 but will have to use the freezer in the shed (switched on yesterday) as no room in the one in here. I also picked my damsons, well most of them, yesterday. They were so ripe you could eat them like plums and were gorgeous. I'm not sure what this will mean for the brandy though as they are usually under ripe and really sour when I use them. I have washed and put in outside freezer whilst I await the brandy.

I am doing lots of research currently on pensions, having left teaching and the pension that comes with it. I've set up a SIPP with HL and a DD for £80 (which will be topped up to £100 with tax relief). I have also opened a S&S ISA with them as we may (highly likely) want to access cash before I reach pension age as DH is a bit older and doesn't have a pension (just a S&S ISA).
The loose plan is that we will semi-retire and work a few hours together in the shop each day, the loan will be paid off in 10 years so we will have a healthy income (hopefully) from that. When we want to give up completely we can sell the whole thing or just the business and let the premises and flat for a decent sum each month. If it works out like that it will be great but I still want the security of other assets than property which is why I feel the need to have a small private pension fund and some funds in a S&S ISA. An additional argument is that these can be liquidated more easily if something like a serious illness occurs and we can't work (though we would still have some - fairly- passive income from shop/rent of flat).

I often wish we were in our forever home as I would love to leave the mortgage to run and divert more cash into the stock market (in the spirit of FIRE), however, knowing that we will look to move again one last time I need to focus on reducing these mortgages, especially as we will both be self employed and, therefore, less attractive to the mortgage companies. This is magnified by the fact that we would love to self build (and have our eye on a potential plot -very rare in these parts) I imagine self-build mortgages are EVEN harder to come by ( especially when self employed!). So on with the current plan of reduce reduce reduce.

Have a lovely Saturday and sorry for the ramble! x

woodfired

Just been playing with the overpayment calculator and, out of interest, put in our original mortgage figures and time frame (I usually work off our current balance and time remaining), it showed that we are almost £13 000 ahead of where we should be at this point (5 years in)!!!!

I am so pleased with this. Our OPs haven't been consistent as we had other debts to pay as we finished the house so were probably 18 months in before we started to OP. Amazing! Just shows what a few pounds here and there can add up to. Very happy with that little boost.x

woodfired

We had a lovely day out at a christening yesterday and a late lunch whilst there.
Dinner last night was toast/sandwiches as not really hungry. I used up some veg in the fridge and freezer to make some minestrone soup and a tortilla/fritata (used some LO slimming world chips in this which turned out really nicely), DH and I have both taken this to work for breakfast and lunch with loads left for the next couple of days. Hopefully it might stop me snacking on rubbish whilst at the shop as that is really bad for the waistline.

In other news my phone crashed on Saturday night and, after spending several hours on Sunday trying to repair/reboot, I ordered a new one. Last night about 10pm DH waved it in front of me, now working perfectly! Typical.
DH said I should keep the new one and give this to Mum as it cost very little years ago and is on it's last legs really, however, in the spirit of MSE I have cancelled the order and saved myself £200 plus the monthly cost of a contract. Go me. I will keep this one until it dies (for real) and save that extra cash. :money:

Lots of jobs done tonight after work, tidied and hoovered all downstairs, stripped and washed our bedding and fresh sheets on. Tidied our room and little ones, got all uniform and bags ready for tomorrow. Wiped down both bathrooms and prepped dinner for when DH got home .

Dinner has been a healthy jacket spud with salad and prawns for me (freezer stock) and beans/cheese for DH. Kids had fish fingers on brioche buns (balanced diet ) as both needed eating up. Followed by crumble as custard (not so healthy!)

A nice, relaxed Monday (for a change!). Night all, off to catch up on The Bodyguard!x

woodfired

Afternoon all.
Half day Thursday so I have finally tackled the jungle, sorry garden.

I have chopped down, pulled out, hacked and raked several tonnes of overgrown/gone over/out of control plants and weeds (felt like tonnes, probably a slight exaggeration )
It does look much better though. I've also swept and cleared the rear patio of any pots and junk etc which is much tidier now and looks ready for winter. :cool: The veg garden is still out of control but I didn't have time to do it all. I did pull up my cucumber plants, a missed potato plant and several miles of strawberry runners so I can at least get through the gate now, though I still have plenty to clear. I daren't even look under the leaves of the courgettes, I bet there are several the size of family hatchbacks under there . Finally, the lawn needs a really good cut (DHs job on the ride-on mower) and the edges will need tidying but we have made some progress.
It will hopefully look much more presentable for youngest's birthday party next weekend which will involve a bouncy castle in the garden for his friends.

I have also cleaned the kitchen and now must dust and hoover the lounge. Tea is going to be HM burgers from the freezer with salad. And a glass of wine I think (probably not for the kids).

Jobs for tomorrow include cleaning out the tip of a car, sorting some (really) old paperwork so we can move the dresser that it lives in, swapping the dresser with one in DS's room (smaller but old rustic pine which will be nicer downstairs than current one and DS could use the extra storage space) and then finally a nice date night for the two of us. Nephew is babysitting for £20 and we are looking forward to some time on our own.

Right, the lounge won't hoover itself (if only....) Adios.x

woodfired

Wow, Sunday already!

I have been a busy bee today. My sis dropped round a box of apples during the week so I have attempted sweet shortcrust fruit pies for the first time. I bought a few packs of disposable (I will wash and use again) deep fill pie dishes (2 very generous portions per pie I expect) and stewed down the apples this morning with some sugar and lemon juice for a bit of sharpness as they were eating apples so quite sweet. I had no idea how much pastry I would need so made two batches, each containing 500g flour :rotfl: I had quite a lot of pastry.....

So I managed to make 9 pies, I filled 5 then realised I was running out of filling so chucked in a few handfuls of homegrown blackcurrants from the freezer with some extra sugar to stretch it out to fill another 2 pies. I then had to resort to cooking down the frozen plums from a couple of weeks ago. I cooked them with a splash of water (as they were frozen) and some sugar but it was a watery mix so I used a slotted spoon to lift out the flesh and left loads of juice behind. Once the pies were topped I had loads of pastry left (would you believe?!) and then a brainwave happened I threw some more sugar into my plum juice in the pan and boiled it hard for 5 minutes to make some jam .... jam tarts to use us the extra pastry and juice!! :money:

So, this mornings efforts yeilded 9 fruit pies, 22 (yes, really!) jam tarts and 12 honey and sunflower seed bread rolls. I am very pleased with myself. The pies don't look too bad for a first attempt and the rest look (and taste) fab, if I do say so myself.

I have to say, I was very glad of all the fruit I have stashed in the freezer, I would have been very cross to have made the pastry and lined nine dishes to only be able to fill 5 or 6. It is worth the effort to clean/top and tail/de-stone etc the fruit for the freezer, I must remember that next time i'm moaning.
Now I have mastered pie making, I may have a go at some savoury ones next week.

Not much else happening around here, currently working my way through the washing mountain and planning 2 parties for DS next weekend. One for his little school friends in the morning and then another the same afternoon for family and friends. We have booked a bouncy castle which will occupy the children but it is a lot of work in terms of cooking, cleaning and sorting the garden out in preparation (i'm quite house proud and like it to be looking good when we have visitors). I'm thinking a typical party buffet for the morning but then perhaps cooked food like potato pie in the afternoon? There is probably 30 people in the afternoon to feed so it needs to be easy to scale up. Hmmm, still thinking about it.

Enjoy the rest of Sunday everyone.x

woodfired

Wow, what a weekend.

Work: I implemented a new system using our new fancy till that enabled me to catch our longest serving member of staff stealing a considerable amount of stock and cash via scratchcards.
I had had my suspicions for a while but couldn't prove anything. Anyway, day one of the new system I had her. I let her work one more shift to be sure and she took items and cash to the value of approx £65!!! In one shift. I was gutted as I had trusted her and the conversation on Friday was really difficult. At least I caught her and the shop should do so much better without that financial drain on it. It may well amount to thousands over the years.

Home: DS's birthday over the weekend. Party at home for 18 x 4 year olds :eek:
Hired a bouncy castle for £100, which the kids loved, and made our own buffet and party bags etc. The little ones left at 1pm and 35 family and friends arrived at 3pm, again to enjoy the bouncy castle and a home made buffet. I spent £150 in T*sco and got the bread and meat for sandwiches from our wholesalers, along with some wine, lager and cider and party bag bits. Total spend approx £190 but I fed over 65 people when I include the parents of the kids at the party who all tucked in! Had loads of leftovers too which I dispatched with people for packed lunches next day.

Money: Looking ok, shop not great but there's no wonder really! Should see an improvement from now on.
Morgage goes out this week with reg overpayment of £300.
I'm due a refund from energy company of approx £100.
DH's new business is picking up nicely and I'm invoicing quite a bit for Sept.
I'm keeping spends down but eating down freezer stocks and making use of damaged/OOD date bits from the shop. Last night's (and tonight's!) dinner was potato pie (:p) made with a bashed in tin of corned beef (from shop) and OOD shortcrust pastry mix (again from shop) so the only cost was the potatoes/veg and peas/gravy to serve. I made one large pie and two smaller ones for the freezer so very economical .
I've started picking up bits for xmas along with regular shops to avoid a huge expense in dec. This week a box each of roses/quality street for £7. Sadly only one has made it to the end of the week......:D:o Must try harder (and find a better hiding place).

It's turned much colder here the last few days. We have been lighting the stove and the esse and using the heating running off that but have avoided switching the boiler on. Hopefully we can keep this up for a few more weeks yet.

Phew, sorry for the long post, i'll leave you in peace!!x

woodfired

Morning All.

What a beautiful morning. Cool and clear with a touch of mist rising from the brook and the golden glow of an autumn sun filtering through the trees. Wonderful.

We had a lovely day yesterday, I worked 'til lunch due to staffing issues but then went for a walk in the sunshine around the valley that we live in. It is beautiful in the autumn and we had such a lovely walk. It was very good for the renewed weight-loss mission too. Being in the shop has played havoc with my diet!!

Today we are planning a shorter walk with the children this morning near my parents farm, then a quick trip to the wholesalers, lunch (healthy) then looking after my nephew whilst DH and brother-in-law go for a walk before meeting up in the local pub for an early tea (probably not so healthy!).

The esse is lit this morning to keep the chill off as its a cool morning and will heat the water for baths and showers. We avoided putting the heating on last night by going to bed early and adding blankets to each bed as the temperature had really dropped (we saw the gritter go past for the first time last night). I slept really well all snuggly in bed in a cool room (hate hot bedrooms). It does make it harder to get up in the morning though!

The mortgage went out yesterday and i'm looking forward to seeing the new balance after interest on Monday (how sad am I?!). The savings are being depleted by DH not being able to take much from his new business but I'm tracking what it owes us so it can be paid back at some point in the future. At least we had plenty in savings to allow us to strike out on our own (again) and keep paying the bills whilst doing so.

Right, a cup of tea calls, have a lovely day everyone.x

woodfired

Evening all.
Had a productive weekend, all washing up to date, ironed and put away. On top of housework.
Ive lit the esse and the stove tonight as it is quite cold, we had a decent frost last night but not turned the heating on yet, just used occasionally and running off the esse so costing nothing. It won't support it for long though, just a 10/15 min blast to take the chill off before the tank empties and the water starts to cool so we do need the boiler plenty through winter. The esse has got the tank really hot for showers and baths tonight though and I will run the underfloor heating in the kitchen diner afterwards as the thick flags mean it stays warm for 2 days so very efficient!

Tea has been leftovers, I roasted chicken legs for dinner last night instead of a whole chicken. It was much cheaper but a false economy as the big-looking legs barely had any meat on them. DH had the remaining 2 for tea tonight (I had something else so he could have both) and still moaned about the lack of meat! Still, the cat was happy to lick the bones clean.

I have found 2 replacement members of staff which i'm really pleased about, really nice ladies who I think will be great. Had a big clear out at work of loads of inherited junk today too, cleared several shelves and a cupboard. There's more to do but it feels good to be going through everything and get it all clean, tidy and organised. How people can work in such chaos is beyond me. I need everything grouped together and visible. Drives me mad!:rotfl:

DH had some good news re. orders for his new business today, a new customer (but well-known to us) who pays on 7 day terms (YAY!) and who will give us as much work as we can handle. Decent profit too if we can get the configuration right. Good news at last on this front, it has been a bit of a worry and I've had a few sleepless nights. Hopefully now I can start to pay DH a salary and repay our savings that have been shoring-up the whole concern :rotfl:. This should hopefully mean I can resume the OPing and saving in earnest.:T Happy Days.x

woodfired

Hello there fellow MFWs :j

A grey day here in Lancs but i'm in a good mood.

It's Saturday and I have a lot to be thankful for. Business is going well, I've employed new people who are really nice. DHs business has picked up so much he is currently at work :rotfl:
Sis called round last night to ask me and DD (who's 9) to be godmothers to my nephew. First time I've heard of a child being a godparent but apparently there are no rules against it? They chose her because she absolutely dotes on her little cousin and he loves her. Sis sometimes asks for DD to go round as she gets lots done whilst DD entertains baby!

I've also lost 4.5 pounds this week and I am aiming to have half a stone gone by this weeks weigh-in. Had a healthy brekkie of HM hash browns containing potatoes, limp carrots and browning spring onion with boiled eggs, roasted (manky) mushrooms and some LO baked beans. MSE and healthy.
In a similar vein, we walked 7 miles yesterday, up-hill and down-dale as the saying goes. We then had a lovely lunch at our local pub across the park, fab food and really reasonable in price.

This morning I have tidied and cleaned the house, done some washing and I will brave the food shop later. Shouldn't need too much as the freezer has plenty of meat etc, just needing fresh fruit and veg really.

Lunch will be a jacket potato with low fat tuna mayo and sweetcorn.

Better get on! x