Pay off mortgage and start having even more fun 😁

newgirly

South Coast, I appreciate the positive thinking but I can’t take anything for granted 😆

Vix, good advice 😂 

Skint spice, I think the thought of moving is quite overwhelming sometimes too it’s such a lot of work! 

I’m being taken out by best friend again today (as I was yesterday 😆) she’s keeping me busy I think , with ds2 and wife on our cruise and everyone else at work it’s nice to not be stuck home alone all day, some time alone is great but not lots of it at the moment. I bought her some lovely flowers yesterday to say thank you.
 I do need to check the finances today and work out how short we are on the payments needed for the cruise this October and also the one in March for my 50th 😱 It is time to cut down the spending now including on food a bit maybe, last week I did a big shop form Ocado and bought some organic fruit and veg, trying to eat as well as possible, but I think I’ve realised this is not sustainable really as it’s so expensive, so I might just pick and choose certain things. For the first time ever though I’ve just done an ald@ click and collect for dh to get tomorrow, £4.99 charge and a twenty minute drive but I think the savings will be worth it while I can’t do a big in person shop myself.

themadvix

With organic, if you have to pick and choose check out the dirty dozen - these are the worst fruit and veg to eat non-organic because they get sprayed the most/by a combination of chemicals (top tip, get the gardener DIL to grow strawberries- they are right up there). And always buy organic oats and wheat if you can - non-organic use glyphosate (aka round up, widely known to cause cancer) to dry the grain before harvesting (it acts as a desiccant). Given that oats grow best in a wet climate, you can imagine how much of this is flung around to dry the crop.

Glad friend is keeping you occupied - best for mind, but good to have someone with you too.

newgirly

Wow that’s an eye opener 😱 I’ve been looking for organic strawberries the last week or so and they seem hard to get, I thought M&S would do them, perhaps it’s too early? I shall defiantly try and grow them now I know they are the worst! Oats too, I did not know about that. 

Not much planned for today, dh is getting the click and collect I’m going to slowly potter around cleaning, felt a bit iffy yesterday with palpitations so didn’t do much. Ds2 and wife have been very entertaining posting many photos of their holiday, yesterday they found a hand knitted duck hidden on the ship, I’d heard of this in the past, some guests hide ducks around the ship for others to find and either re hide or keep ❤️ they ended up finding four, they kept the knitted one and took it onshore for the day, you then take photos and post them on a Facebook group for ducks that’s on the label! I now need to start hiding ducks on cruises 😆

Dd has had an offer accepted on a house, it’s a 20 min drive away not round the corner sadly 🥲 it has some non building regulation work done though so they need a good survey, it wouldn’t be my first choice and I’ve tried to tactfully point out potential pitfalls, but they are keen and happy and that’s what matters. Son in law said we should move near them now 😆 it’s not for me though! 

themadvix

The oats thing was an eye opener for me too. Think it probably is a bit early for much in the way of strawberry options - eating organic does tend to make you eat more seasonally!

I live 20 mins from both my parents - it’s close enough to pop round easily but far enough away that we have our own lives. You’ll still see plenty of her I’m sure! 

Watty1

@themadvix you have got me re-considering putting in a strawberry patch later this year. They are so easy to grow.  I did have one in the past but it eventually got over run with weeds and so on and became unproductive. The patch is still there doing nothing now  other than being shaded by the horsebox.  (Thinking)

themadvix

Go for it Watty - there’s nothing like home grown fruit in my opinion - so fresh it rarely makes it into the house! 

LadyWithAPlan

I love home grown fruit and veg - my DS has a house where the previous owner was a champion gardener and has wonderful fruit trees including a quince tree and has a late flowering raspberry bush - often you get raspberries off it in November ! 

I also am a yes to cruises, no to more PJs  

newgirly

Fruit trees in your garden, what a dream 😊 we used to have a Victoria plum tree in our first house that had a huge garden, couldn’t give enough of them away! It sounds like you need to plant up that patch again Watty, I’m going to have to have pots of them as we are paved over ☹️

I’ve grown courgettes and tomatoes years ago, would like to grow cucumbers too maybe this year, but we do have limited space if we actually want to sit out there as well as have plants 😆

Ds1 is off to the first big bootsale of the year, very unlike him but they are going with friends, hopefully looking for bits for their flat, I’m very jealous, I want to go but dh says too much walking, my old work best friend usually goes though so I’m really keen to drive over and have a wander and a catch up with him, or maybe a sit down and a cup to tea. Popping round my brothers for a quick visit later today too probably, I’m busy than ever now I’m supposed to be taking it easier 😆 pretty much all involving seeing people and sitting drinking tea though! 

themadvix

Strawberries do really well in pots NG - definitely not a problem. You could grow cucumbers up a trellis or tripod (which is definitely not the right word, but it’s one I have a mental block about!) in a pot - takes up a lot less space that way. You can get raspberries that do well in a pot too, and I have a lovely little self-pollinating blueberry in a pot (needs ericaceous compost though) - the variety is sunshine blue I think. There’s lots of options for your green fingered DIL, under your direction of course! Think vertically! She could grow lettuces in a pallet leant against a wall - that always looks cheerful I think. Hanging baskets are good for tumbling Tom tomatoes too.

I have a Victoria plum on my allotment - it is wonderful 😊 

newgirly

Thanks Vix, some great ideas there, I shall see if I can rope her in when she’s back from holiday 😊 Cucumbers and strawberries are top of the list! 

Taking mum out to shops today as per usual, will get some washing done and dry outside while it’s sunny today. It’s been a while since I checked the accounts too so I need to catch up on that and to work out how to find the difference we need to pay for the cruise. I went to bed early with my iPad to do this last night but can’t stay awake at the moment, it’s one extreme or the other both with food and sleep 😆 

Getting close to another month knocked off the mortgage soon as well, it will be month 19 out of 33 completed and on track 😬 due to dh paying a lump sum in we have knocked another whole month off and part of a second month too, I shall go though it all later and make a solid plan for the rest of the term with the changes that have come along recently, like the health tests, extra money for dh, and the cruise booked in October.