So close, we can smell mortgage freedom!

themadvix

Ginger cat is now home and my credit card bill £900 heavier. And I've literally just realised that it's about to be statemented in two days time.... 🙄 The vet will process the claim, so I don't have to do any admin and we just have to keep our fingers crossed that they accept it - given the policy wording, they should, but let's face it, this is an insurance co, so I won't hold my breath.

Puss is still recovering from the GA and quite wobbly, sorry looking, but he's improving all the time, has wolfed down his food (apparently he refused it at the vets, which is a lifetime first!) and had plenty to drink. There was a blockage, so the procedure was necessary and hopefully clearing it has solved the problem. The vet has sent the urine off for analysis so we'll see what comes back from that. Regardless, the most important thing is that he's home and much happier for it.

Olio was a large collection (tbh the last thing I needed), but had a few very nice bits - some pork kebabs, Covent Garden soup and cod and parsley fishcakes have made it into the freezer and we have very un-Med-diet pastries for the morning. I also kept a Victoria sponge, but having had a bit, really regret this decision. I think the healthy eating has improved my taste buds and it tastes pretty minging... not sure what I'm going to do with it.

Cambridge work has been busy today, but I've not got as far as I should have with main client's work. I'll have to get up and crack on in the morning as my ex-Brownies friends are coming for a walk and cuppa tomorrow afternoon. I never did make the allotment either. At least I did manage to water everything in the garden.

rtandon27

Glad to hear Puss is home and recovering! xxx

Suffolk_lass

We bought a front mounted basket for our bikes that our miniature Dachshund fits in - it was this one by Trixie (we wanted a centre mount, rather than a handlebar mount, so it doesn't interfere with the controls) - I did not pay this as we got one that had been returned, that was a bit cheaper  - I hope he's OK

newgirly

Poor cat I hope he is doing ok now, fingers crossed the insurance company will pay up Vix, how annoying. 

themadvix

Morning all,

Can't quite believe it's been a week since I last updated! Ginger cat is now much better - last day of meds today and he's been a star about taking them. No word yet from insurance company.

Things have been ticking over here. We got some garden stuff done at the weekend and I planted some more bits at the allotment. Hayfever was tricky though and I have a cold too, which arrived on Monday and was horrible yesterday. Fortunately over the worst now. Saturday morning Mum and I went to cheer on Niece at a Pretty Muddy Kids thing for Cancer Research  -so £20 sponsorship money given there. Had a BBQ on Sunday evening with BIL and SIL after we went to the beer festival in town for a bit - that was nice and they brought leftovers from their BBQ the day before. 

Have been busy with cat sitting too - two clients last weekend, one continuing all this week and then I'm picking up another one tomorrow for the weekend. Then a quiet week next week before another week for another of my regulars. Busy with my main work too and there's Cambridge as well (Weds is a busy day for Cambridge as I have meetings in the afternoons).

I did spend some money on food at the weekend - for a couple of recipes, on fruit and for some sausages for the BBQ. We've had some good meals this week: potato and gochujang braised eggs (using up veg box kohlrabi), spiced halloumi bake and omelette noodles with charred red pepper   - would cook all of them again.

Have got another veg box coming this week though - we are getting through it at the moment, but in a good way. Being under the weather, last night Mr MV cooked and we had the Olio fishcakes (Tesco Finest) with spinach, cauli and mash - very nice too. Dinner tonight will be squash and broad bean top risotto as I've got most of a squash in the fridge (hg, leftover from the halloumi bake) and pinched the tops of my broad beans out at the weekend.

MS things:
* Clicks, comps and HW done
* Olio - just collected 4 punnets of strawbs this morning (she'd got 100!)
* 45p of Coop savings on eggs and pepper
* Ebay sales - one of my items and another from the in-laws, so postage profit.
* Received stamps from RM survey. This new company are absolutely horrendous (and I'm not even live on the panel), but I'll take the stamps if they're sending them to me (even though I'm not live on the panel currently!)

Gratitudes:
* Extra box of strawbs with my three requested ones
* Goldfinch and red kite spotted while cycling to collect
* Progress with cat-sitting cat - she actually greeted me this morning and ate treats from my hand - she's been sulking for the last few days!

Have a good day all! 

QueenJess

Ooh what nice recipes... I'll be saving those to make in the week for lunches!

EssexHebridean

That halloumi dish looks lovely - I generally end up just frying halloumi and having it as a topping for couscous with roast veggies, lots of herbs etc, so this is a new idea for me. Guessing the butternut squash & beans mean it's substantial enough to make the lack of traditional carbs less noticeable a well. 

Loving that you're starting to win cat sitting puss round a little - I can only begin to imagine what HRH's reaction might have been to a cat-sitter, although in fairness she was always as good as gold with Mum when she used to feed her while we were away. It was us she then threw a strop with once we were back!   

rtandon27

So sorry to hear you've been under the weather Vix - hayfever and a cold is a terrible combination!

That egg recipe just looks devine - wonder if my OH would be agreeable to kolhrabi cooked that way? - Reminds me of another Ottolenghi recipe - sweet potato shakshuka which is just sooooo tasty!

themadvix

Hey EH, yes, the recipe was quite filling, but we did eat all of it (recipe is for 4 people supposedly)! I think if you had a side salad with it it would go further though and we are quite greedy (I blame Riverford - their portion sizes are generous!).

@RT I didn't even realise it was a cold on Monday, just thought the antihistamines that the doc's gave me the other week for the rash had stopped doing as well as they had been (I'd been raving about how good they were on the previous few days!). The kohlrabi just gave the rosti base a nice crunch - the potato went softer but the kohlrabi stayed a bit firm - there wasn't much in the way of flavour from it that I could tell - and the gochujang adds plenty of stronger flavours! Love the look of the sweet potato shakshuka - it sounds like a winner too! (I do love an Ottolenghi recipe though )

themadvix

Morning all,

Feeling much better today, although would like to have slept a bit longer (cat alarm went off at 6). Have cycled down to visit feisty ginger girl cat, who I'm looking after for a few days, popped into allotment to check all was well with my new plantings (it was), have visited nearer cat client (who was super friendly yesterday but back to being standoffish today) and made a good start on the latest piece of work from my main client (it's an absolute pig of a bit of work - not my client's fault). I'm going to have a break from the work shortly and do my invoicing and pay myself. I have Cambridge meetings this afternoon (one postponed from yesterday) and my Sis and Niece will be popping it at some point late afternoon/early evening for her Olio bits (they're off to the zoo today and I'm very jealous!).

We didn't have risotto last night as I started to make it and discovered that we didn't have enough rice. So a butternut pasta recipe was found and made instead. Not one to repeat, but it used up the squash and was relatively tasty. Olio was relatively small last night (a good thing!) but we kept a pastry each (I felt I'd earned mine after completing an hour of exercise by 9.30am!), lunch for Mr MV and an avocado and some corn on the cob. I have a R'ford delivery coming at some point today too. I have no idea about dinner, but I am going to have a tuna pasta salad with pineapple for lunch - a meal I created when I was at school and I love, but haven't had in ages as Mr MV doesn't like tuna or pineapple and I rarely have both available at the same time. It may be a stir fry for dinner actually as we have half a jar of hoisin sauce to use in the fridge and it would use up some odds and ends from the veg drawer too.

MS things:
* Clicks, HW done, comps to follow
* Couple of small PA surveys - £37 to cash out shortly and £4 pending
* Another Ebay sale - I should get the postage money, but will have to check as it's a heavy item, so I may use a courier instead of RM
* Olio bits
* 2 lots of cat sitting
* Good use of bike (300 miles done now)

Gratitudes:
* Love a cycle to wake me up properly - and the wildlife you see that you miss in a car
* Plenty of work, even if it's painful today!
* Get to see Niece and Sis later!

Have a good day all!