Cooking for one (Mark Three)

Wednesday2000

It's frustrating looking for houses. Everything I like is beyond our price range and I don't want to settle on a house I don't like.  The location is important as my husband still needs to commute to London and the houses near the station are at a premium. *Sigh* I've decided not to move next year as everything with Covid is making life feel very uncertain. 

I got some bananas in my Ocado order but they are all bruised so I've asked for a refund. They are usually good quality so I was quite surprised by that.

Farway

PasturesNew said:

Typical of RM... something I didn't want to buy came on at £325k last year, then dropped to £300k, then a 2nd agent was also selling it. Then they both dropped it to £295k. Then one stopped selling it and a week ago the 2nd one stopped selling it.  That's fine, it had absolutely nothing going for it whatsoever..... it was a "NEVER" place.  This morning it's reappeared at £250k with an Open Day and using a London agent whose name looks like a "we'll shift it fast by doing an open day and drumming up somebody, so get the best price" outfit.  It's got nothing going for it ... even at that price. 

Of 30 "new today" listings on RM in my bookmarked criteria, 12 were reductions, 17 were actually new to market (probably) and this one that's on with its 3rd agent.  Don't like/want any of them  

Expect it to appear at auction sometime, always the last option and gets bought buy speculator, potential BTL.

Mind you with Covid the market could be very different going forward

Watered the back garden pots, the sun is scorching hot

Then it was tackle the annual Tax return. All done, including the non taxed joke interest paid

Post it off tomorrow I expect, and see if there is an Iceberg lettuce & bananas in there at same time [Co-op]

Still on course for Pizza + bit of salad for dinner

Wednesday2000 said:

It's frustrating looking for houses. Everything I like is beyond our price range and I don't want to settle on a house I don't like.  The location is important as my husband still needs to commute to London and the houses near the station are at a premium. *Sigh* I've decided not to move next year as everything with Covid is making life feel very uncertain.

Sounds a good idea, sit tight & let events play out.

Even house prices near stations may change if the railways shrink post Covid

Wednesday2000

Farway said:

Sounds a good idea, sit tight & let events play out.

Even house prices near stations may change if the railways shrink post Covid

Yes, it is such a strange time. It feels too up and down to think about moving. I keep thinking what would happen if there was another lockdown. How would we even visit potential homes?

I just had a snack of toast with Flora and Marmite. I am oven baking some tofu for dinner later. I might get around to trying the ready made quinoa I bought a while back. Steamed veggies as well.

PasturesNew

Popped out to Mr T, to at least get a frozen lasagne. Achieved that. 
Didn't need bread as I've still some. Flatbreads were 21st, so I thought I'd leave it another couple of days  until I've run out of bread and then the flatbreads will be dated 23rd hopefully.  Crumpets, they only had one pack left, short-dated. 

In the reduced section though there was a cheapo range bangers/mash, down to 64p so I got that. Nuked that for lunch. Wouldn't rush to get it again, but it's passable at 64p.

I'd looked at the hot food upon entry - empty.... then spotted at the till "the man who'd grabbed the only/final reduced hot pasty" the lucky bugg4h.  Truth be told, I was hoping to find one. Maybe he goes that time every day and grabbing it/being at the right time is something he achieves most days. 

I didn't get a cheesecake as I CBA to get round to eating it, or thinking of eating it... 

Wednesday2000

PasturesNew said:

Wednesday2000 said:

 It feels too up and down to think about moving. I keep thinking what would happen if there was another lockdown. How would we even visit potential homes?

My position is not one of choice, but the reality is that you have to try to get on with your life and if lockdown happens it happens to everybody: agents, sellers, buyers, solicitors, so it's not as if just you are causing a problem....  you might as well go through the motions and see what happens.  

After any second lockdown .... there'd be talk of a third, so that'd then be the 'excuse'.  It exists and the virus will continue to exist for many years.... it'll probably outlive us.  So, we have to just be careful/mindful and wash our hands, not get friendly with people, don't mingle.... and crack on with the other life stuff regardless.  The last lockdown just put chains in suspended animation, they all completed quickly once it was eased.  

The decision should rest on whether you do want to move, or if you want to stay; to make that decision based on the "what if" of a global pandemic would mean you'd not do it, which would be daft under the circumstances if that's the only issue. Just crack on and see what happens.  

Are you living in the area you want to buy in? If it is then it is different for us as we will have to keep travelling from London to the coast to visit houses. It's hard as well as my husband works shifts and we have a dog with diabetes who needs to be injected twice a day and we don't drive so we would have to work around that and then if the sellers can only show at weekends it will end up being a nightmare. Bah. I think we will definitely put it on hold until 2022.

PasturesNew

Wednesday2000 said:

Are you living in the area you want to buy in? If it is then it is different for us as we will have to keep travelling from London to the coast to visit houses. It's hard as well as my husband works shifts and we have a dog with diabetes who needs to be injected twice a day and we don't drive so we would have to work around that and then if the sellers can only show at weekends it will end up being a nightmare. Bah. I think we will definitely put it on hold until 2022.

Yes, it's important to live where you want to buy, so you can nosey about when you feel like it.  I'm not too hot on getting round to that though.... although nothing's piqued my interest enough to take proper stock of what's going on. 

Brambling

All this house talk makes me glad that I intend to stay put for awhile longer  a friend of mine  has her mum temporarily living with her, her mum sold her house just before lockdown to the first person who viewed for above the asking price so she didn't want to lose her buyer.  She's was moving from one end of the county to the other to be closer to my friend so it will make it easier.  My friend has stocked up on the gin (for her not her mum 😁) as her husband is stuck as home unable to travel for work and is getting temperamental about it 🙄 she has gone back to the office 

A fishy day today, lunch was a peri peri smoked mackerel and salad, not sure if I'll buy that mackerel again as I tasted it all afternoon  dinner was sea bass fillets, new potatoes, courgette and sweetcorn.  Chicken stock has been boxed and frozen I just need to remember the ice cream container doesn't contain ice cream 

A friend brought a bag of cooking apples around earlier so I need to think what's best to do with them 

PasturesNew

I've just made a boiled egg & cucumber sandwich. I'd cooked the egg yesterday and popped it in the fridge.  That's the last two slices of bread, just two crusts left now (tomorrow/scrambled eggs no doubt).

I can only cook one egg at a time as I've two egg nukers... the small single egg one, which I've got + an unwieldy large egg-shaped 4-egg nuker, which is a faff to use, so that's still in storage. 

caronc

Good afternoon everyone, 
I use old containers for all sorts of things, the ones with the handles are so handy. I have loads in the garage now filled with DIY bits and bobs so no excuse not find stuff. For a while now I've also been using old jars to store opened things like cream or yoghurt in the fridge. It keeps so much better and is less prone to spills if knocked over.
The broccoli risotto for dinner yesterday was excellent, though we did accidently add too much cheese. We had halved the recipe but managed to add the full amount of gorgonzola - it did it no harm 
We're having a break from JO tonight though another new offering inspired by something a local(ish) butcher has started selling badged as "brunch cups". They are sausage meat shaped into a thick puck with a button of haggis or black pudding popped in the centre. A rasher of streaky bacon is then wrapped round the outside. They are then baked for 20-25 minutes. We are having ours with poached egg, roasted tomatoes, mushrooms and curly fries. 
It's raining here just now but supposed to brighten later, after the recent wild weather my flower baskets are looking decidedly bedraggled so time to start taking them down.  They were glorious while they lasted but it feels as though it has been a short season this year. HM soup and HM rolls again for lunch.

Wednesday2000

It's so hot here. I had to change out of my long skirt and put a shorter dress on instead.

I've had two slices of pizza and two slices of toast. I should have something healthy for dinner, I think!