Mrs. P's Savings, Paying Off CC, being more organised diary

MrsPorridge

Another nice day weather wise, a bit of sun, but definitely colder.  A load of washing done and is line drying.

I also made 2 batches of veggie soup.

More work done on the dolls house - DH has completed the electrics now and I painted two of the doors.  Second coat shortly!

I've also packed ready to go away on Tuesday - we are away for two nights going towards the midlands, firstly we will visit a couple of NT properties then overnight at a pub which sounds lovely and was £65 for B&B for the two of us so not bad.  The following morning another NT property and then we meet up with a friend and go and see a play at the theatre (reason for going).  Following day we leave for home when we will meet up with my brother and SIL.

I am taking some of the John West tuna light meals and they are low calorie and also don't require fridging so are really good for travelling - they will be our lunches each day.  That gives a bit more money to spend on the evening meals.  I'm also taking some biscuit type snacks and on the first day will take breakfast as we will our usual and start off early, stopping about an hour in for breakfast.  I think that will be overnight oats and I;ll take a flask of coffee as well.  Am going to try my best to stick to the SW diet - its having a knock on effect on the MSE as well!  I now mainly just buy drinks and not cakes any more

MrsPorridge

A morning of studying with the OU.  I'm really getting into the swing of it now and enjoying it.  I'm a little ahead of where I should be which is deliberate and something I hope I can keep on doing - as we are away tomorrow till Thursday and in November I have a friend coming to stay for 5 days.  My biggest fear is falling behind as I think the content and difficulty may start to ramp up when I do the next "block".

Food prep done for tonight's tea and overnight oats made for breakfast during the journey tomorrow.  All packing is now done and I have the postcodes, print outs, tickets etc so all paperwork in my handbag ready.

Didn't sleep too well as felt really cold, the temp has dropped outside but so far we haven't switched the heating on yet as we can manage with jumpers.  I put an extra quilt on the bed and made a hot water bottle which made a big difference.

Breakfast was muffin with scrambled eggs, lunch veggie soup and crispbreads and tonight we are having home made chicken nuggets done the SW way - so I blitzed half a muffin in the food processor and have added some jerk seasoning.  Dip the chicken in some egg then the coating and then bake in the oven.  We will have that with some home made potato wedges (again done in the oven) and some baked beans.

MrsPorridge

Over the weekend I did more OU studying - am really getting into it now.

Washing done and line dried as the weather was fantastic yesterday.

Today after a morning of study I did some batch cooking, sausage pasta and chicken curry.  We will have the chicken curry tomorrow night.  I've found it is much tastier to cook curry the day before and reheat it.

Bathroom also cleaned.

Its very dreary today, but will go out for a walk around the village shortly.

Breakfast was porridge with stewed apple, lunch home made soup and tonight its butternut squash pasta with cheese (a recipe from SW).

MrsPorridge

Another morning of OU study.  Am really enjoying doing this and so glad that I signed up.

This afternoon I visited my friend for our sewing session.

Breakfast was scrambled egg with spinach, lunch melba toast, cheese and salad.  Dinner home made chicken curry with rice.  I had a fondant fancy at my friends and have counted that into my SW diet.  For supper I'll have a wholemeal muffin toasted with some jam.

MrsPorridge

Another morning of OU study.
This afternoon I'm going to the local chapel to help with a poppy display.  Last year someone saw a display of poppies and wondered if we might do one in our village this year - well it happened.  The call went out to crochet and knit poppies.  I knitted several.  They have all been gathered together and now need to be tied onto a display.

The sun has come out so I think I'll have a walk after I've done that.

Breakfast was toasted muffin with sausage - I made a sandwich of it.  was a late breakfast so it will do as lunch as well
Dinner will be pasta ragu made with the leftover pork from Saturday.

MrsPorridge

The poppy display

joedenise

That looks brilliant.

MrsPorridge

We haven't really been affected by the storm thank goodness.  Very windy last night and almost non-stop rain. DH checked the roof this morning and no slates loose so that is a relief.  A couple of trees down in the village and some debris scattered around.

Today we booked a couple of holidays, a few days in Norfolk for June and a few days in April in the New Forest.

Breakfast was muffin with mashed banana on top, lunch was spaghetti carbonara and tonight we have a crustless veggie quiche with salad.

MrsPorridge

A busy few days as DS is with us - although goes back tomorrow.  Its a rail replacement service for quite a part of the journey in Cornwall, so we have decided to go to the big city - Plymouth and drop him at the station there.  It will be a good chance to do a bit of shopping and have a look around.  We will have breakfast before we go and I've prepared packed lunches to take with us, so it will be a very MSE day food wise and also means I can stick to my SW diet!  So far I have lost 8.5 lbs and I am really hoping to have lost a stone by Christmas.

A friend I've not seen for 21 years is coming to visit in a couple of weeks, so once DS has gone then we are going to do a major deep clean (winter clean) of the house - it does need it really!

Still doing my OU study, so its going to be a busy couple of weeks.  I am almost 2 weeks ahead with the study which is great as it means I can spend time with my friend and not feel guilty.

MrsPorridge

Got some good bargains for my dolls house in Plymouth.  There is a stall on the market, but the lady is retiring on Saturday and everything was half price.  The exterior of the house almost done.  Then it will be the interior.  I still estimate there is another year or even more till its finished, but that is the joy of doing it.  

Some washing done, but dried on horses inside as the weather was a bit hit and miss today.

Did some OU study.

Breakfast was overnight oats, lunch sardines and salad and tonight we had cottage pie topped with swede and carrot mash and some mashed potato - so I guess I could all it a deconstructed cottage pie!