So close, we can smell mortgage freedom!

themadvix

Afternoon all,

I am going to have to focus very hard on the historical aspects of the building (which from the blurb on the website already look fascinating) and not on the current or recent occupants and their unutterably useless/dangerous ideas.

Today has been rather trying. Cat sitting cats had left a poo on the floor. I then threw their dish containing leftovers at one of the cats (not intentionally!), so had to clear up bits of dried wet cat food as well as the poo. I ended up having to redo some work because I'd forgotten to set something up before starting and the piece de resistance was cycling nearly all the way to Halfords (some 2.5 miles, all downhill) to realise that I hadn't got my bike keys to lock my bike up. Then, when Mr MV got in not long after me, I showed him the brake pads I'd been to collect there and he pointed out that one pack was opened and a pad missing.... I took the car on my third journey there (refund got and I'll order from somewhere else - I'd had to wait a week for them to come in at Halfords anyway!)! Small things in the grand scheme of things, but irritating nonetheless. I did manage to get some porridge oats in M&S and my library reservation (Doughnut Economics by Kate Raworth) while I was in town.

My work has also been trying (aside from the mistake I made0. Have heard that it's not just me though and I can leave the bit I'm having an issue with for my client's client to sort out, so that's a relief. Had Cambridge meeting and have submitted timesheet for the week. 

Solar update: Mr MV has received notice that he'll be getting a cheque for £180 for SEG. This was considerably more than we expected because Eon have put the price per kWh up from 5p to 15p and backdated it! Very pleased about this - basically two months' G&E cost

Worm update: no more escapes and they seem to be eating well

Bike update: will hit 600 miles either tonight or tomorrow morning. At 44p/mile (I know it's 45p really, but this is stuck in my head) I've saved £264 so far.

Pub soon! Need to visit cats before, so I'll head over there shortly. I'm not sure my legs are feeling any more energetic than my brain currently, but I put the bike onto charge when I got home, so it can do the heavy lifting.

MS things:
* Am signed up to a 2-week PA study that should pay nearly £30
* Other PA surveys
* Mostly used my bike for journeys, so saved fuel (I was liberal with electric assist though - both for time/effort and because of the heat).
* Paid library reservation fee rather than buying book/travelling to a distant library for it. At 80p it's very reasonably really.

Gratitudes:
* The person who served me when I took my brake pads back was helpful and apologetic and didn't try to blame me
* Support from main client (and his client too) over awkward bit of work
* I have oats for porridge - not had porridge for breakfast the last two days and it's been horrible!

Have a good evening all!

themadvix

I forgot to mention that I went to the cupboard where I keep my bottled fruit and one of the plum jars had exploded (fortunately the top had unsealed rather than glass everywhere. It had obviously fermented…. Not sure what I did wrong here. @Suffolk_lass any suggestions? Or was it just bad luck? Worried about the others now…. 

Karmacat

Sometimes I like to exaggerate, eg about you being a mini-Riverford   but yes, its true 🤣  Sympathies on the Halfords shenanigans, that's very unpleasant.

But Downing Street!  What a coup!  I wouldn't worry about the present blasted occupants - I go round churches all the time, solely for their historical input to the life of the area, and I'm no christian, I can guarantee you that 😁  You made me check the history - even that building goes back to 1735, that's quite impressive.  If you can't stop thinking about the present day, try and find the window where the pix of the lockdown parties were taken 🙄

rtandon27

Also see if you can spot Mr. Mouser, I think he's know as Larry the Cat - I've see him a couple of times over the years in my infrequent wanderings past No. 10 (near my office)

Cheery_Daff

Gosh, lots of good stuff going on there, but what a palaver of a day for you!! Hope tomorrow is much calmer 😊

Suffolk_lass

Ooh, Downing Street! I've been in the FO that backs on to 10DS and it was from there or an extension at the back of No11 is my bet for the chief sneak pictures!

Re bottling mishap, several questions, and a bit more on what I do:
What sort of screw top jar did you use? If a jam jar, was the silicon band intact? I use screw top kilner/mason jars; the new wide mouth jars are perfect for us.
Did you halve the plums first and remove the stones and any trace of bruising or gribbly infiltration?
Did you sterilise the jars before you filled them with fruit? I heat mine to 140c and then leave them at that temp for 10 minutes before turning off the oven for 10 minutes before removing them and putting the fruit in, tightly packed and then covering the fruit with hot syrup before the lid. Then on a tray in the oven, it won't take long to get back to 140. Usually 20 minutes until the syrup is at boiling and just escaping the lid. I get them out, remove the lid, wipe it all. This is the best time to insert the sterilised weight and replace the lid, turn it upside down and wrap a towel round so they don't crack. A wooden bread board is what I stand them on. Then after maybe 30 minutes you can wipe any stickiness , tighten the lid again and stand upright. You probably saw from my pantry pic, I store mine on cardboard trays so and leakage is contained. 
I prefer the screw top jars with a disc and band, as I can remove the band to check it has sealed properly and wipe any seepage. Also I tried using my pressure cooker to try a less sticky way, recommended by a friend. 3 jars at a time, on a trivet, up to pressure then wiped and upside down as above. Took longer, but less sticky.
Sorry, mammoth post. Hope it helps!

themadvix

Suffolk_lass said:

Re bottling mishap, several questions, and a bit more on what I do:
What sort of screw top jar did you use? If a jam jar, was the silicon band intact? I use screw top kilner/mason jars; the new wide mouth jars are perfect for us. 
It was a screw top, kilner.
Did you halve the plums first and remove the stones and any trace of bruising or gribbly infiltration?  Yes
Did you sterilise the jars before you filled them with fruit? Yes - I use a milton tablet, mainly because I'm trying to use up - but also because I'm clumsy and not that keen on handling hot glass jars!

I heat mine to 140c and then leave them at that temp for 10 minutes before turning off the oven for 10 minutes before removing them and putting the fruit in, tightly packed and then covering the fruit with hot syrup before the lid. Then on a tray in the oven, it won't take long to get back to 140. Usually 20 minutes until the syrup is at boiling and just escaping the lid. I get them out, remove the lid, wipe it all. This is the best time to insert the sterilised weight and replace the lid, turn it upside down and wrap a towel round so they don't crack. A wooden bread board is what I stand them on. Then after maybe 30 minutes you can wipe any stickiness , tighten the lid again and stand upright. You probably saw from my pantry pic, I store mine on cardboard trays so and leakage is contained. 

Yes, I did all the above apart from the sterilised weight - just minimal air in the top.

I prefer the screw top jars with a disc and band, as I can remove the band to check it has sealed properly and wipe any seepage. Also I tried using my pressure cooker to try a less sticky way, recommended by a friend. 3 jars at a time, on a trivet, up to pressure then wiped and upside down as above. Took longer, but less sticky.
Sorry, mammoth post. Hope it helps!

I'd love to use my pressure cooker but as it's small I'd be doing one jar at a time! There was an incident a couple of weeks ago where a jar fell off the shelf (I was trying to put too much on it and everything escaped my hands 🙄). It seems unlikely, given where this jar was (right at the back), but it's possible it might have been the one that fell and maybe that caused the problem... I hope the others are ok though - I guess they'll go sooner rather than later if they do!

No need to apologise for the long post - I am so grateful for your help!

themadvix

Afternoon all...

We're not doing much here today - it's too hot and we're both shattered and it feels like we're due a 'day off'! I have, of course, been to feed the cats this morning, and I'll go again in a bit when it's maybe a little bit cooler?

I've also cut some of the cardboard I collected last week into 'moisture mats' for the worms and harvested the seeds from a sunflower. I've yet to try crushing and winnowing to extract the edible seeds. I've also made some frozen yoghurt in my ice cream maker - it seems to taste like fro-yo from the tiny tastes I've had as I put it in the container for the freezer. And I've just made a headache balm as Mr MV has a persistent stress headache - the recipe was in my much-neglected Make It book, which I've resurrected recently and we happened to have all but one essential oil in terms of ingredients, so I thought I'd give it a go. Otherwise we've been reading, snoozing or watching the odd Youtube video. Dinner tonight will be butternut squash risotto - already roasted the squash the other day, so it'll be a quick IP job and very little heat produced. I think I might wander down to the allotment shortly as it might want some water (no-dig requires much less, but in this heat it might help) and we're getting low on veg (and, more importantly fruit to go with our fro-yo!).

Given the weather, I suspect tomorrow may be more of the same, maybe with a bit more enthusiasm for projects, but we'll see.

newgirly

Wow you are so organised with your food Vix, do you still track your food costs? 

themadvix

Morning all,

Haha NG, I don't think so - I rarely have a plan in mind! Did I ever track my food costs? I may have attempted it once, but anything like that quickly falls by the wayside. I doubt they are particularly exceptional as what I do buy is organic, which puts the cost up. But growing definitely helps, as does making my own bread - much cheaper than buying organic bread. Community and sharing definitely helps too - I've swapped quite a few bits with my allotment friend (although I've not seen him in a while) and my Olio friends have had courgettes and I've had pickles in exchange.

Popped to the allotment yesterday evening and picked some more French beans, loads of borlotti, another pan full of spinach and strawbs and rasps for dessert. Spinach is all washed and ready for wilting/freezing when I'm not using the oven; borlottis all podded and drying.

So, after another terrible night's sleep - temperature, noise of fan, noise externally when fan went off, neighbour's smoke coming through the window at 5.30am etc., etc. - I was out in the garden at 7.30 to enjoy the cool. Potted up a  supermarket (Olio) basil, which was desperately in need of some tlc, visited the cats, and have just got two loaves and some rosemary crackers (thanks Jess!) out of the oven. Have also cleaned several kitchen drawers out - they look much better now. Mr MV has finished fitting an extractor fan in the bathroom, which is great as it's a job that's been on the to-do list for ages. 

MS things:
* Hg rosemary in the crackers
* Minimal grid electricity for oven use (although some as it's cloudy today!)
* Clicks and HW done

Gratitudes:
* No plans for the rest of the day!
* Discovered that hm blackberry vinegar watered down with sparkling water makes a lovely drink (thanks @Foxgloves for putting me onto that)

Have a good day all!