So close, we can smell mortgage freedom!

themadvix

Morning all,

I finished an absolute pig of a piece of work for my client first thing (entirely not his fault that it was so bad and he was encouraging me to limit my efforts/send it back to him), hoping that the only remaining bit in my inbox might be it for now... Sadly not, as he's sent another 3 through! I'm not complaining, was just hoping to maybe have a quieter Friday afternoon! (Mr MV had also tried to book it off, but has realised he has a meeting that's likely to go on till 2 and is then meant to be meeting with someone about a possible job - for a likely loooong chat... Not sure what he's decided to do about this afternoon in the end.)

Shakshuka for dinner last night to use up some passata and some of the many chopped peppers in the freezer from an Olio collection. Breakfast today will be the uncollected vanilla custard pastries from Wednesday's collection; lunch probably paninis from Olio. Undecided on dinner yet, but we had a veg delivery yesterday, so something to make the most of that - maybe masala carrots?

Nest have finally transferred my pension and told me it's closed.... as yet, it's not appeared in my Vanguard pension.... slightly worrying (as it's been a few days now). I sent VG a message last night to ask when I should start to panic about it... no reply yet.

Weather is looking chilly next weekend in Gdansk - must make sure thermals are ready to pack/wear (that's going to be hot on the flight!). Also need to re-add my MBNA card (for foreign spending - and set it as default). Need to set up B'claycard and MBNA apps on my new phone too - requires digging details out. Also need to set up cat feeder and decide how many visits the cats are getting (depending on how they behave with cat feeder - i.e. if they can be trusted not to knock it over!).

Meant to be seeing friends tomorrow evening, but no response to message sent on Tuesday... have a feeling it'll come to nothing. Otherwise, we'll pick up my bike, maybe go for a cycle on Sunday and generally have a chilled weekend. Wondering if BIL and SIL might fancy a games night tomorrow if we don't see friends.

MS things:
* HW and clicks done - £5 withdrawn from my best bookie
* PA surveys - just a couple yesterday - I've been really bad with these this month, but I've been so busy with work that it has to take priority
* Plan to eat in (unless we see friends) for the next three days - a cheap, nutritious weekend. Too many meals on the go/takeaways lately - bad for health and the purse.

Gratitudes:
* Plenty of work - invoicing will be satisfying! And this will help hugely to the mortgage goal - especially as I'll be able to pay a bigger lump off at the end of the fix.
* Cat ate his tablet with no issues last night (I will be going shortly for this morning's one)
* Weather is improving here today - and I can see a blue tit looking for a nest site as I'm typing (in the solid brick wall of the house opposite - nothing picturesque, but nonetheless )

Happy Friday everyone!

newgirly

Have a great weekend Vix 😊

themadvix

Thanks NG, you too!

earthgirl2

All very positive and I also look forward to those quiet weekends with healthier food!  Have a lovely weekend. 

themadvix

Morning all,

Thanks Earthie! We did have a quieter weekend and we ate entirely at home, which was lovely.

Mum popped round for a cuppa on Friday afternoon and then I went into town - picked up our now framed artwork (very pleased), discovered an ethnic food stall in the marketplace, which will come in very useful (bought some gram flour, curry leaves and kaffir lime leaves) and bought some seeds and a couple of other bits in Wilks (used vouchers so only 58p cash spent).

Picked up my bike on Saturday, which turned into a bit of a pain - got home and discovered that the charger didn't fit the hole in the battery. Cue me (because Mr MV understandably didn't want to do another 2 hour round trip) driving back to the shop - it appears the manufacturers have changed something and not checked as store initially unknowingly tried to give me another charger that didn't fit. When they realised though, they gave me an older charger (from their demo bike, I think!) and that sorted it out. Dinner Saturday was fish curry, bombay potatoes and onion bhajis - all homemade and pretty tasty (all new recipes for us). Also visited the long-term cats for the last time - it felt rather strange!

Yesterday we cycled down to Halfords to test the bike and buy a few bits - a new helmet for me as mine was a) from Freegle a few years ago (unused mind you) and b) had a crack in the outer shell (new, I think - I dropped the helmet a couple of weeks ago); a second lock so we both have one; and  a bag to fit on my rack at the back of the bike. £100 spent (eek!), but £30 of vouchers used, so that helped and I'd spent less on the actual bike, so there was money in the budget. I still need some bungee and hi-vis bits, but feel it's useable now. Bike was excellent, did exactly what I want it to do, and with all the accoutrements, I feel ready to get using it (and am even trying to find excuses to go out on it today, even though I have access to the car(s)!). In the afternoon I popped round (by car!) to see Mum, Sis and Uncle (who was visiting) in the afternoon. Managed to get a few bits on Ebay, including my old phone. Also did several random jobs around the house that we'd been putting off - and set up the automatic cat feeder to work with my phone - a function that wasn't advertised when I bought it on Ebay, so very pleased with that! Tried a quick kickboxing workout on the Apple TV app - quite fun, hard work, but only 10 mins, so I might do that again. Dinner was a roast, with Mr MV enjoying an Olio pork steak and me a Quorn fillet.

Work is going to continue to be busy this week, but hopefully not quite as manic as last week. Also have a list of things I need to do before we go away of course. 

MS things:
* All meals eaten at home, using what we already had in
* Used vouchers for money off in Halfords and Wilko
* Clicks and HW done this morning
* RM survey prep done - I had two weeks' worth and two cubes to prep, so quite a task.

Gratitudes:
* My new bike!
* The medication seems to be helping poorly cat sitting cat, hooray!
* Catch up with Uncle - always good to see him (and a compliment about my marmalade too!)

Have a good day all!

Karmacat

Sounds great!  And ooh, home made marmalade, yum.

themadvix

Thanks Karma

So, don't shout about it, but I'm actually entirely caught up on my work... I doubt it'll last (for more than an hour or so), but it means I can get on with some other jobs!

I have also (inspired by EH), meal planned for the rest of this week and most of next (around our weekend away). It includes most of the veg box contents and otherwise stuff that is in the freezer. Need to look at lunches too, but of course, Olio will help with that a bit.

Currently typing with great difficulty as ginger cat has decided it's time for a fuss and so is walking back and forth across laptop!

In MS news, have unlocked/set up apps on phone for my MBNA card (needed for Polish spending) and paid the small balance off on there (from allotment fund - it was for asparagus and only spent there to use the credit balance on it), and my Barclaycard (mainly just to check it was at zero balance - it was). R'ford and milk cancelled for this week as we're away (somehow I've got to needing my R'ford delivery on the alternative week to when I get the scheduled one... hmm). We're having pancakes for lunch (delayed from last Tuesday!) and then I think I might just go our for a ride - I need to deliver something to someone, so it's handy enough! Oooh, might take the cat sitting key round too (to our cat sitters, i.e. my friend) - will save her a trip.

EssexHebridean

Really pleased you're enjoying the bike - I'm still debating replacing my free one with something that might be a bit more practical - a hybrid type of thing - but I can't quite bring myself to do so, I need to get it along to the shop locally that does servicing etc and get them to take a look at it - I'd rather use the bike shop slightly further away but they are less happy to hang onto them once they've completed the work, and while with the foldy one that's fine because I can just shove it back in the car, I'd sooner not be committed to having to go and collect the big one at a time which might not suit me as a result of traffic/weather etc as I would then have no choice but to ride it back...

Also glad to know I inspired you on the meal planning front - needless to say mine has already encountered a potential tweak because I remembered the veg box radicchio needs factoring in...!  

themadvix

That's a tricky one EH - can see why you don't want to be forced to collect at a time that's inconvenient.

I am thoroughly enjoying my bike - went for a 40 minute cycle earlier and dropped the key and some other bits off and the hill that I bought the bike to mitigate against was climbed without difficulty and at a less wobbly speed! Satisfyingly, it still burns calories, but without the slogging that puts me off.

I had to tweak my meal plan too - I'd forgotten the Swiss chard!

Karmacat

Here's to electric bikes!