Pay off mortgage and start having even more fun 😁

greenbee

I have painted stairs (second house I’ve done it in), I colourwash mine so I can see the wood grain, but importantly I also put floor varnish over the paint (all my bedroom floors are painted too) as it seals the paint and stops it wearing off, plus is less slippery.

newgirly

It won’t be too long until you can leave them greent, you should do it 🙂

Hi greenbee, that’s a good idea to seal it, I don’t think our stairs are pretty enough for colour wash but good to know thanks 😊

Plans for today:

• make dinner in advance, perhaps jacket spuds in slow cooker 
• Make spicy parsnip soup in other sc 
• Paint watered down white paint on hall ceiling (it’s been bare since last year when it was repaired 😱) 
• Clear out under stair cupboard as electrician coming Monday night to investigate problematic garden electrics 
• Thrash best friend at worldle’s daily puzzle again 😆
• Check cinema to see what we can see this weekend with the passes
• Clean  bathrooms 

LadyGnome

The Northern lights cruise sounds great and seeing them is on my bucket list too.  We also have wood stained the stairs rather than have a carpet.  DH and I had quite a debate about this but I much prefer this.  We didn't even sand them much so the have bumps and bashes on them (the house is 1930s) and I think that gives them character (this was also a point of contention as MrG is much tidier minded than me).  I did point out that it would be weird to have carpet on the stairs when we have no carpet anywhere else in the house - all our floors are wood or tile.

Alchemilla

@newgirly please will you tell me how to do baked potatoes in the SC? Are they crunchy? I thought you always needed liquid in there!

newgirly

Hi ladygnome, that’s good to know! I like the idea of just living with the blemishes rather than making everything look new. I’ve been painting the hall this weekend and nothing is perfect, but then it’s a 70 year old house so why would it be I guess 🙂

Hi Al, I just wrap them in foil (not sure if that’s necessary but I do 😆) and whack them on low , no water needed, u can give a quick rub of oil or low cal spray first to give a nice colour. They don’t crisp up so need to be blasted at the end in the oven but tbh I don’t bother sometimes. They have a really yellowy colour inside and an almost nutty flavour when done in the sc. 
Dh has been air frying everything not nailed down since Xmas when I bought him it, and jacket potatoes are apparently amazing cooked that way. 

Alchemilla

newgirly said:

Hi ladygnome, that’s good to know! I like the idea of just living with the blemishes rather than making everything look new. I’ve been painting the hall this weekend and nothing is perfect, but then it’s a 70 year old house so why would it be I guess 🙂

Hi Al, I just wrap them in foil (not sure if that’s necessary but I do 😆) and whack them on low , no water needed, u can give a quick rub of oil or low cal spray first to give a nice colour. They don’t crisp up so need to be blasted at the end in the oven but tbh I don’t bother sometimes. They have a really yellowy colour inside and an almost nutty flavour when done in the sc. 
Dh has been air frying everything not nailed down since Xmas when I bought him it, and jacket potatoes are apparently amazing cooked that way. 

Sounds yummy. How long on low? xxx

newgirly

Er, probably at a guess six hours? That’s really as a guess as it depends how many I’m doing, which size sc I’m using and if I forget to turn it off 😆 I’ve not burnt the house down yet. 

Boring day today, did most of the to do list this weekend, except for cleaning the downstairs bathroom. Yesterday I did the front part of the hall and ceiling, the walls are bad in places so I am just doing many many coats of paint 😆 cooked a normal spag Bol and a turkey one for ds2 and fiancée who don’t eat red meat anymore. Except nobody has eaten it yet, ds2 at work and dh, ds1 in York for the weekend and fiancée not hungry I think, oh well it’s for tomorrow if it’s left. 

Only one more day and then I can crack open the feb grocery and living purse, hooray! I still have about £25 left (cash) and £8.06 in the account which I will op to the energy company. This is better than expected and I also forgot I spent £100 on champagne in Jan 😁 (for the hen dos /getting ready/ wedding related entertaining) so not too bad for a long month.

newgirly

Final non mortgage related round up for the month

•  £4.62 cash left from £550 for grocery/petrol/misc (£100 spent on champagne for weddings though) 
• £605 paid off next holiday balance 
• £195 on 2x holiday deposits 
• £270 approx on cat and cat expenses so far 
• £800 mortgage op
• £8.06 left (online) from monthly budget paid to energy co. as a top up 
• £74.64 on one posh meal out for me, the rest coffee and toast (personal spends) 
• £98 home renovation budget on taps and decorating supplies

killerpeaty

How is the cat doing?

Sounds like you had a really good month honestly

newgirly

The cat should have been called Hannibal 😩 he is insane and likes eating people! I asked the vet on Monday if he’s too lively or I’m just not used to it after having a very gently old lady cat, she said I’m just not used to a kitten. 

He then turned into a Tasmanian devil and had to be held down to be jabbed and she said she couldn’t microchip him , best if he has it done when is is knocked out getting his bits chopped off 😱 she then admitted that yes he is lively 😂 He has his moments and we are trying to train him to not bite so much, it’s flipping hard work though, hopefully he will grown out of his teenage phase!