So close, we can smell mortgage freedom!

Karmacat

I'm thrilled for you that you had such a great time!  And the cats, ear tipped!  But that's the dickens of a journey through London - night buses can be horrendous.  

Lack of greenery is stark on these islands, isn't it - and about to get worse, methinks.  You didn't see any damage in Rhodes?  I'm glad if you didn't.

Welcome back, basically  

rtandon27

Welcome home Vix - happy to hear it was a decent holiday!

newgirly

Great to hear you enjoyed it Vix 🙂 maybe I’ll give it a go! 

themadvix

Afternoon all,

NG, I should have mentioned that it wouldn't have been cheap (having seen some of the prices you've got for cruises), had we not had the offer - but maybe something to aim for when your mortgage has gone!

Busy morning this morning - supermarket delivery, visited a new cat client, visited long-term cat clients and squeezed in both Cambridge work and my own work too (alongside washing x2, dishwasher and hoovering the fur up that had gone everywhere). Have a meeting with Cambridge boss/friend at 2, but currently back to my work. I've not told main client (or Cambridge) that I'm not here tomorrow as I'm Niece-sitting, so am hoping to have something ready to send today and then something to send tomorrow to keep him happy (I'm sure he'd be fine about it anyway, but I like to manage expectations!).

MS things:
* Clicks and HW done
* Comps done yesterday
* Dinner was almost entirely hg and there's enough for tonight too (and I've rehomed two of my marrows too!)
* Olio tonight (took me a while to realise it was Wednesday though!)

Gratitudes:
* Lovely message from an old school friend - we haven't seen each other in years because she lives on Scilly, and I missed a chance to catch up on Monday when she was up this way, but she messaged me as she went through the town on the train!
* Nice new cat client (and cat)
* Dinner is done for tonight

Have a good day all!

themadvix

Should have added that I've removed all but £100 from my PB account - it's where I stash my money for tax/NI/pension until I do my tax return. I've not won anything in months and I'd really rather have the guaranteed return of interest. It'll go into my Atom account (in fact, this month's has already gone there). Sad not to have that excitement each month, but actual money wins!

EssexHebridean

Actual money definitely wins - that was my verdict when I cleared out the PB account ahead of when I technically needed to - I felt that the extra interest gained in that month was more useful than the possibility of a win. 

themadvix

Evening all,

Had a busy day today - up early to feed long-term cats and do a bit of work before Sis and Niece arrived at 8. Niece and I played 'Payday' - a 90s boardgame that she is currently obsessed with - it's great for maths and making her realise that there are bills to pay! When it was an acceptable hour to go out we made a packed lunch (she made her own - she's very capable in that regard) and went to RSPB's The Lodge in Sandy. Next time I think I'll go on my own - I've been twice now and not got to sit peacefully and watch the birds! We saw lots of dragonflies, a few birds and a couple of squirrels. Despite spending quite a long time in the play area, it was deemed not a 'proper' play area (it being wild and requiring imagination). We had an ice cream and Niece wanted a pin badge, so £5.90 paid. Not too bad - Dad said to me recently something about it being expensive taking Niece out (in the context of trying to think of cheap things I could do with her, not him being tight per se) - my thought was that he must be doing it wrong! We nearly always do free or very cheap things!

KC, meant to respond to your questions about Rhodes. No sign of the wildfires from the town and I think they were out by the time we got there anyway. I think they main thing with Santorini and Mykonos is that they are volcanic islands and too dry - Santorini only gets 11" of rain/year - the agriculture survives entirely on the humidity, which probably isn't sufficient to get trees growing.

EH - glad to have the reassurance that someone else is thinking the same way as me re PBs!

Olio last night was relatively small - and all I kept was a bag of cookies and a couple of rolls for Niece's lunch. We did end up with pastries leftover, so they were breakfast and I've fed the birds a baton.

MS things:
*£5.90 for day out was a win!
* HM hummus to go with crudites - easy, why don't I do this morning often?
* Took another cat sitting booking for the weekend - for my first client.... I'll be looking after 5 cats in three houses on Sunday, excluding my own!

Gratitudes:
* For the most part Niece behaved herself - she can have a bit of an ungrateful attitude at times though (although I took the roof out of my car on the way home and she thought that was great - hands sticking up most of the time!)
* Allotment-grown sunflowers smiling at me
* A quick nap when we got back while she was watching TV 😂

Swayingseaweed

Have you thought about playing bird bingo with her when you visit the reserve, used keep ours entertained for at least an hour or more especially if you add in insects and plants.
Seaweed x 

themadvix

Afternoon all,

Thanks Seaweed - I hadn't considered that, but I will do for next time. I spoke to Dad earlier and I definitely got the better deal - they'd taken her to the zoo (she has a membership, but they would've had to pay) on Weds and she was a proper little madam. She's lovely when she's lovely but has a right attitude when she's not!

Another busy day here. More keys collected for cat sitting from the weekend (in good news though, the cats are now going out and no litter tray to deal with!), cats visited and fed, Cambridge meeting and work done (meeting is usually 20 mins or so, but we had enough to keep us going for nearly an hour!) and even some of my own work done. Also bread baked and washing on the line. At some point this afternoon/evening we've got to go and help Mum with her car battery - it needs reconditiong/replacing. Secretly hoping she may feed us! (Not that that will help with marrow-gate!)

Need to get back to my work now really and try to get this piece back to main client. I've kept up a steady flow (the time difference definitely helps - he's still in Canada for another month), but I think he'd like to see more progress. So would I! Monday will be another disrupted day - nurse appointment, 2 x cats (+ 1 in evening) and meeting with Cambridge boss/friend). I'd like to think I might do some work over the weekend, but the allotment needs serious help and there's a lot to do here too.

MS things:
* Work
* Cats!
* Baked bread

Gratitudes:
* Mr MV is at home today
* The sunshine
* Fewer litter trays than expected in the coming week! 😂

Have a good day all!

themadvix

Afternoon all,

Finally feeling a bit caught up with housework and stuff today. Have strained and bottled the lastest batch of rhubarb and ginger vodka, picked and bunched some herbs for drying, sorted out the kitchen, done some weeding at the allotment, picked sunflowers for gift for friend tomorrow (and they've also agreed to take a marrow and some rhubarb!), fed the allotment and done my tax return. Also visited my long-term cats, and will head over the road shortly to see my other charge.

MS things:
* Free bet from a bookie, but no luck there
* Tax return done
* Garden/allotment produce
* Dinner will be leftover chinese takeaway (Mum did buy us dinner last night )

Gratitudes:
* No car day today - which has been nice
* I didn't get rained on at the allotment, which the forecast said would happen
* Cats waiting outside for me

Have a lovely evening all!