So close, we can smell mortgage freedom!

themadvix

badmemory said:

I still miss my mini de luxe last seen 50 years ago.  It had more get up & go than any car I have had since.  Even more than the mini with the same cc bought new in 1991.  It was really posh for those days as it actually had a heater.  Once they lost the window catches you could put your cigarette out of them & lose the ash outside.  I used to beat Jags away at traffic lights.  Really whats not to love?  As for adventures well just to quote one (don't tell DS as I think he may be shocked).  I worked at a uni & parked in their car park.  A lot of the local houses were occupied by ladies who seldom seemed to get fully dressed (enough said?).  Most of who were very nice people, in fact I never met one who wasn't, as in bus stop after overtime before car.  I got to the car one night after working overtime to find a tyre flat.  The last one had been done by a garage, I may have had muscles back then but obviously not enough.  Then a woman came out of one of the local houses & said don't worry love my boyfriend will be here in a few minutes & he'll sort it for you.  He did & without a seconds innuendo.  This is just one of the reasons why I refuse to judge a book by it's cover.

Your Mini sounds lovely badmemory - Mini's are the best And great story about the flat tyre too!

@Cheery_Daff I think it's safe to say that I'm an overly emotional person - Mr MV would say I can cry at the drop of a hat! So the loss of a car would definitely set me off, even if it wouldn't a rational human being!

I've just got back from Sains - managed to fit a 9-pack of loo roll, 2.5 kg of potatoes and 2 pints of milk in my rucksack, with apples, onions and sour cream in the trunk bag.... it was heavy! (But I didn't even have to unpack the loo roll to get it in the bag, so I was pretty pleased about that!). I prefer that Sains to the other one, but for cycling, I think the other one may be slightly closer - and less up and down hill. I'll try it next time. The other issue with the cycling is that I'm having to learn all the routes at the moment - some I know well already from walking (i.e. into town), but others are completely unfamiliar to me and I have to keep checking the map or see where paths lead etc. - it's a good brain workout! I've done 9 miles today (some with quite a load) so I think I may notice that tomorrow! £10.12 spent and apart from the pork joint for Sunday, I don't foresee needing anything until mid next week at the earliest. This should be a very low spend month for food/house stuff.

Cheery_Daff

Ooh, excellent work! I miss cycling for transport. I didn't learn to drive til I was 25 and used to cycle all the time before that, and quite a lot after it too. I'd love to get back to that, but it's very unlikely living here. 

Although having said that, when I was younger and didn't have the choice I did far longer journeys on equally stupid rural roads so maybe I just need to channel my inner 20 year old!

Cheery_Daff

I used to regularly cycle from where I worked in Ironbridge to see my (ex) boyfriend in Stoke for the weekend - just checked and it's 42 miles! I'd set off after work (finished about 3) and it would take me a good 4 hours, if not longer 🙄

I do remember complaining about it 🙄😂 and sometimes I'd get the train part of the way. But I didn't have a car, and barely had any money, so it was tough.

I was a lot fitter back then, unsurprisingly!!

badmemory

I even have another earlier one re the mini (known as Benji).  I was driving home, I was about 20/21 & yet another flat tyre on the main road from Manchester to Bury when the flat tyre hit.  So I turned off the road into a back street to fix it.  I was a bit worried as it was around midnight & no-one was around.  So I get out the jack etc & start fixing it, when from an upstairs window this elderly guy in his PJs asks me if I am OK.  I say yes no problem, so he says I will keep watching until you are done.  A couple of minutes later one of his neighbours a couple of doors away also opens his window to check everything is ok.  So these lovely guys who obviously aren't fit enough to actually physically help keep talking to me whilst I fix it.

It made me realise how nice people can be & how most people actually are very nice & kind & try to help & has coloured my life since even when things have happened that were not that good.  We need to remember these things when all we hear are how awful things/people can be.

themadvix

Wow Cheery, 42 miles each way - it must have been love! I'm definitely not keen on the rural roads round here, or the obvious ones anyway - during the lockdowns we did quite a bit of cycling on lanes and that was OK. We're extremely lucky to live in a town that was built for cycling, but it's such a pity that there's not more people taking advantage of it. I think leisure cycling on lanes, in sunshine and with company is probably a nicer prospect than cycling along them on your own in grey weather to get somewhere though. I'll be able to cycle to my Mum's mostly on cycleways and unsurfaced paths, with only a couple of bits of road cycling (on main streets, but through villages, so slow traffic), which is quite impressive given that she's 18 km away (only 6km of road cycling). Dad's is trickier - I'll be taking a longer route just to avoid a rat-run lane that ironically is labelled as a National Cycle Route.... if you lived locally you'd know it's bad enough driving down it, let alone being on a bike.

themadvix

Badmemory, that's another lovely story! I've changed a wheel a few times and have had a couple of offers of help, but I also definitely remember people walking past that could have helped clearly not intending to. Which is sad - I'm more than capable, but the offer of help is so cheering! And Mr MV and I have helped a damsel in distress before - she was very grateful (gave us some cider she'd just bought, if I recall correctly!).

themadvix

So, morning all!

A proper grey day here this morning, so the house battery is in use - dishwasher on. It's due to brighten up later though. 

I've got more work from my main client, plus a couple of bits from some Americans to do. I had an update the other day from the other American client about one of my long-term projects - I've not had any work from it since the end of 2022. She said that the client was working some bits out before restarting sending stuff, so hopefully they'll get that sorted soon. Currently though, I'm busy enough.

I also need to get to the butchers to buy a joint for Sunday. I've got the car today, so will avoid having to cycle down the narrow lane to get there (and avoid the rain I've just seen is falling). If it brightens up later, I may cycle to the library to return a book.... but it's now chucking it down, so definitely not if that continues!

Mr MV is wfh this morning and I've decided we're going to have brunch - I collected some English muffins yesterday, so we'll have poached eggs on them, possibly with the leftover spicy beans from last night's fajitas. Dinner tonight will be sausage and champ mash (to celebrate St Patrick's Day as Mr MV is *technically* Irish (i.e. he has an Irish passport since Brexit)), with some broccoli or carrots (Olio). Mr MV has some Guinness to enjoy too and I'll have some Baileys (of which we have a seemingly endless supply as people buy it for me even though I only drink it occasionally!). Basically it's an excuse to celebrate something!

MS things:
* Clicks and HW done and pennies won in multiple places, but unfortunately not enough to cash out quite yet. Really enjoying Bettyf@yre as a new addition.
* 1P surveys - up to £17 now... still aiming for cashout at EOM
* PA surveys - will have £17 there when it all clears

Gratitudes:
* All the lovely daffodils, crocuses and even some blossom when I was cycling to the supermarket yesterday
* Fajitas - we rarely have them because they involve a lot of plastic and/or me making tortillas - but they are so yummy
* That Mr MV decided to wfh today - nice to have his company, but also nice to have the car given the weather! (But we do need the rain.... one day I'll get down to the allotment and see how it is!)

Have a good day all!

EssexHebridean

All sounding good with you - especially having the car on days when otherwise you'd get wet cycling - that is a gratitude I can fully identify with! 

I'm in awe of anyone who can cycle the sorts of distances Cheery was talking about! The most I've done so far on the big bike was around 12 miles I think - and somewhere about 10 on the foldy one. I am tempted to suggest to MrEH that we hire e-bikes while we are in the Hebrides this year as it might be nice to explore some of the back roads that way. 

And you've reminded me that I too have a bottle of Baileys lurking in the fridge - might need to do that some damage this weekend! 

rtandon27

A suggestion for the lurking bottle...

A splodge in coffee instead of cream or milk - LOL - decadent & great for weekend brunch

themadvix

Afternoon all,

I'm glad I'm not the only one awed by Cheery's cycling efforts EH! We did a 19 miler once during lockdown (on my non-electric bike, obviously - was hard going) and we also cycled 30 miles round Lake Constance (3 countries in one day - started in Germany, through Austria and then finishing in Switzerland; ferry back across the lake) once when we were on holiday (mostly flat, but hadn't been on a bike in nearly 20 years! I could not walk the next day!), but am much more comfortable with shorter distances! (Although I think with the assist, 20 miles should be easy enough).

Mr MV and I cycled to the nice bit of town on Friday evening - returned some library books and got a couple of new ones, then had a drink in the taproom there, before resisting the enticing aromas of the restaurants and takeaways and heading home for sausage and mash. It was quite fun to do something different and I think we might repeat it (I can't promise we'll always be so virtuous re food though).

Despite the rain on Saturday I did make it to the allotment, just to check everything was still there - and I have purple asparagus shoots showing! Only one plant so far, but fingers crossed there'll be more soon. Also signs of broad bean life and radishes too. Posted a couple of ebay parcels (had another sale on Friday) and bought the joint for yesterday's lunch - £14! (It was from the butcher and higher welfare, but am I glad we don't buy meat normally!).

All our guests enjoyed their visit yesterday and we had a lovely lunch. Mum and MIL both brought me some flowers, which was lovely - combined with the ones from Olio on Wednesday and the daffs I picked up yesterday to decorate the dining room, the house is looking like a florist's at the moment and smells gorgeous too - all seasonal beauties - tulips, daffs and hyacinths 🥰 I spent another £19 in Sains in the morning though - on aforementioned daffs, milk, 2 tubs of B&J ice cream (it was on offer, my sister doesn't like either of the dessert options and I'd been meaning to buy some for us for a while), wine and soft drinks (it's always the drinks that cost so much! We had red and knew in-laws would bring some more, but also knew Mum would probably have white and we should have something soft to offer her too as she was driving - it all adds up).

I've just currently got up to date with my work - although more could arrive at any time. I intend to go and empty/clean the inside of my car shortly (may have some lunch first) while it's dry and I *must* resow my peppers/chillis/toms and cukes. And strain my kefir (grains should be en route today Cheery!). If I have time and the weather holds, I will cycle to Currys to buy an airtag for my bike (further insurance against theft). We investigated Mr MV's discounts/perks from work and managed to get 6% off, and Currys is the cheapest for them anyway, so this seems like a win. Mr MV has leftovers for lunch (in sandwich form), I'll have some toast I think. Dinner tonight will be an Olio veggie burger for Mr MV (I had the other one - it was disgusting, but he's offered to eat it!), v. sausages for me, in buns (Olio) with chips (Olio) and corn on the cob (you got it - Olio!). Our freezer is at last beginning to look slightly less full!

MS things:
* Clicks and HW done  - 40p won today
* PA survey
* YG survey
* 1P surveys

Gratitudes:
* Lovely time with loved ones yesterday
* All the flowers
* A lovely Friday night

Have a good day all!