Giving every £ a job

lucielle

That was nice of the cafe owner. Well done on the pot sorting. 

L

Alchemilla

Brie, pear and walnut sounds delish

Blackcats

@savingholmes - it was indeed very wet yesterday but today was bright, sunny and not too cold.
@Lucielle - juggling the spending/saving pots is a little thing but immediately feels more logical and useful for me.
@Alchemilla - it was a yummy flatbread and the combination really worked.  I might try to recreate it at home.

Today's post is in danger of sounding like it is a repeat of the rest of the week generated by chat g p t.  We enjoyed the sunshine while walking along the sandy beach.  We stopped to eat, we drank tea and then drank hot chocolate on our return trip along the beach.  

It's clearly given us lots of headspace as we are both coming up with ideas and suggestions for the coming year.  We aren't deliberately running our holiday on a tight budget but our spending is certainly reasonable so far.  Dinner in our cottage tonight so we are now warm and cosy and settled for the evening.

Makingabobor2

Sounds like you are having such a good time. I agree, walking & holidays are great for reconnecting & coming up with plans. 

Blackcats

Thank you @Makingabobor2

so surprise, surprise today involved another walk along the beach and a brunch stop.  Had delicious sourdough toast topped with avocado, griddled asparagus, wilted spinach, pea shoots and poached eggs with a sprinkle of toasted seeds.  It also included some very vibrant, tasty pesto.  Then I had the bright idea of climbing up the cliff path and walking back along the cliff top,  it was a steep climb and undulating path but invigorating with great views, once we'd got our breath back.

MSE effort today was to plan for our return journey tomorrow by getting bits and bobs for a lunch on the ferry bearing in mind it's a massive 20 minute journey 😀.  We have our flasks too which works out well as the queue at the onboard cafe probably takes longer to clear than the journey.

we've had a good few days and are definitely full of enthusiasm for implementing some ideas and plans when we get home.  Looking forward to seeing the cat too.

PennysIntoPounds

I am so hungry reading that!

Travel snacks are an essential, what if you got lost at sea and didn't have a twix or somesuch. Doesn't bear thinking about.

Glad you've had a lovely and mse thinking productive time, safe journey 

lucielle

It sounds like you’ve had a wonderful time and the batteries have been recharged. 

L

RebeccaPAgain

Your holiday sounds perfect Blackcats.  I love the sound of the flatbread and also the sourdough!  I hear you on the lunch/flasks for ferry despite the short journey - I always think that the displays on ferries are so tempting and oftentimes, the food/coffee disappointing so good shout!

When we were in IOW last summer we had a really nice lunch at a farm shop place called Harvey Browns - did you try there perchance?

Also great news on the not spending much despite not really trying to be frugal.  I do feel that recently, a lot of people are really looking at whether something is value for money which means oftentimes they are not eating out because its no better than they could have from supermarket/do at home.

Hope you have a safe trip back.

badmemory

I've certainly reduced how much I am eating out.  Mostly because it seems downright foolish to pay someone for a meal that I can cook better at home.  Do not get me started on carveries, although I did go to one a few weeks ago who's meat was NOT dried out which is always a good start, even their cauliflower cheese wasn't bad.

Blackcats

PIP - thankfully the voyage back was uneventful but no self-respecting emergency plan would be complete without a Twix.
thank you Lucielle.
rebeccaP - we didn't try Harvey Browns but we are back on IoW in the summer so will try it then
badmemory - completely agree about being more discerning with eating out.  Many pub menus are so "samey" and I often think I could make this at home.  Sunday lunch is so expensive and so disappointing.  We have started buying a really nice treat from our local butchers and making a special meal at home.  We splashed out on a filet of beef last month and made all the Sunday lunch trimmings and the meal was delicious.

well we are home safely from our travels and noticing that it's much colder here.  The cat was pleased to see us and is now asleep on my lap which is quite unusual for him as he usually favours MrBC.  I'm not complaining though because it's like having a cat hot water bottle.

🐙 have been in touch to say they are reducing our monthly payment as we are over £400 in credit.  I'm debating whether to go with this or keep the same monthly payment and request a refund of £150.  It's daft but I feel a bit nervous about reducing the monthly payment maybe because it's -5 here today ☃️