So close, we can smell mortgage freedom!

themadvix

greenbee said:

Woodchip cat litter here sadly goes in the bin as it isn't supposed to go in garden waste (and garden waste is usually full anyway). Having the poo bin down the road reduces the overall stinkiness of the bins. I'm hoping that once I've got the catflap put in, there will be a lot less need for cat litter anyway, although I'm probably going to keep them in at night to minimise the impact on the local wildlife. 

Ours are indoor (and while B&W cat loves an al fresco wee, Ginger will not countenance such feral behaviour - he runs back in to use the litter tray during their garden time), so we’ll always have litter to deal with.

themadvix

Afternoon all,

Have  had a very productive weekend - many of the jobs on my to-do list have been done: batch of Glamorgan sausages made, tomatoes and chillis potted on, visited allotment shop for some radish seeds (£1.23 - for Suffolk herbs organic seeds - can that be beaten?!), prepped shed for paint, painted fence, painted shed, final two sides of allotment beds removed and we’ve made plans and booked a couple of things we needed to organise. I am now sitting and rag rugging (also on list), while Mr MV plays PlayStation. He is still not great but slowly getting there - he did manage to come to allotment and paint one side of the shed for me.

I haven’t made naans orbread, done any washing or been to the dump, but there’s a limit! I don’t plan to do anything but rag rug until it’s time to sort dinner. Currently sitting with the sun beaming in on B&W cat and me (he is helpfully sitting on other end of rug snoozing).

We also popped round to Dad and Stepmum’s to admire their extension (and give them a thank you for cat sitting). It was nice to see them and have a catch up. The extension has given them a lot more room and they seem happy with it (happier when everything is finished, I think!)

Cheery_Daff

Excellent productive day, well done! And what a cheerful colourful shed 😊😊 I so much wish we could have a little MSE garden/allotment tour bus and go round admiring each other's plots 😊😊 (and maybe even giving a hand 😂)

themadvix

Thanks Cheery! The shed is the same colour as the fence (and therefore not the cheapest paint available) - as I had to buy more to sort the fence out. It is an improvement over the battered dark green it was before.

A tour of MSE allotments/gardens sounds like brilliant fun - we should definitely do it!

themadvix

Afternoon all,

A busy day so far today. I am now the official secretary for the allotment society as the previous secretary and I met this morning so she could hand everything over. It looks fairly straightforward and it seems a bonus is that I'll continue to receive the RHS magazine once my membership expires as the society has membership! While I was out I also popped to the library and picked up the rag rugging book by the lady who taught me - rather than buy it - I just want the answers to a few questions that have arisen. Also popped into fishmonger and bought a couple of bits (£13 spent).

Washing is on the line, although it's definitely grey now, so not sure how much more it'll dry. Have also made bread and naans (and got different fish out of freezer for tonight's one-pan fish daal). My homemade yoghurt has come out really well - I struggle with this, but this one is tasty, not grainy and a decent thickness (without straining).

Amongst all of that, I've managed three small pieces of work for main client, a few queries for UK client and a bit of Cambridge stuff. Am hoping I can now settle down and crack on with another piece for an hour. Might do a bit of Cambridge stuff first as it's timesheet deadline day today.

This week is looking busy - two cat-sitting key pickups, evening class in-person tomorrow, various work meetings and only four days to fit it all in!

MS things:
* Clicks and HW done
* Cycled instead of drove (obviously) - so much easier for parking in town too, and free!
* Solar will have supported baking
* Lunch used up the random sourdough I was delivered the other week
* More seeds have arrived I should be able to start some of these off this week.

Gratitudes:
* Lovely chat with allotment secretary
* Seeds!
* A nice cycle - I've only done 100 miles so far this year! One of my 40/40 challenges is to cycle 1000 miles this year, so I need to get cracking! Am hoping cat sitting and the warmer weather will start to increase my mileage.

Have a good day all!

themadvix

Afternoon all,

Another very busy day. Up early to finish some work for main client, allowing me time to 'pop' to the refill shop (a 30 mile round trip). I was getting low on rather a lot of stuff and while I normally combine it with a trip to the in-laws as it's just round the corner from them a) we're next going on Sunday, when it will be closed and b) I wanted mixed peel to make hot x buns with (guess what they didn't have....). In addition, rather than going to the nearer one in nearby market town (where you have to pay for parking and can't park in proximity), MIL had let me know there was 20% off on refill stuff if I used her loyalty card for the wider business... so of course I picked that up on the way past. Also picked up Stepmum as she'd shown an interest in visiting (this added a bit of time to the journey, but also meant we got to go the back way and enjoy the spring sunshine in the lanes).... £47 spent, although at least 3 months of rice bought as I had a bit of an incident and ended up with more rice in my container than the container originally came with 🙄.

Since I got back I've dealt with three more small jobs for main client, had two Cambridge meetings and am now starting on a piece for UK client, while waiting for an(other) unexpected large project from main client - he's just looking at it now. I haven't done any of the actions that have come from my Cambirdge meetings, but I'll do them tomorrow. At least one of the meetings tomorrow was moved to today, so slightly more time then.

This evening I've got to see someone about a cat at 6 and be in nearby market town for 8 for evening class (and hopefully pub, but definitely chocolate brownies as teacher has messaged to say she's made them! 😁), with dinner in between.

The kitchen is a pigsty (although I have got all the shopping away now at least) and I have no idea about dinner, but I'm going to leave both of those issues to Mr MV. Very glad I was such a good girl last Weds morning and did my evening class homework then.

MS things:
* £11 saved in refill shop!
* Charged car when I got back entirely on sunshine and battery
* Lots of work

Gratitudes:
* Lots of work (but please can it slow down enough so I can keep on top of it?)
* Looking forward to evening class 
* A sunny drive on a spring day

Have a good afternoon/evening all!

themadvix

Morning all,

What a difference some sunshine makes! Stressful things going on in the background here, but the sun being out has made me feel so much better this morning. Have popped to the allotment briefly (to check on things after the storm last night) and picked some rhubarb and the supermarket delivery has just arrived.

I have plenty of work to be getting on with, but feeling a bit less work-stressed today as there's fewer other commitments on my time. I will walk over the road at some point and may make some hot x buns (although given the forecast for tomorrow, I might just save that until then). There's an event on in town later we might go to if the weather is dry, but otherwise, it'll be a trip to the pub (to hear about friend's new job). Otherwise, I'll keep on with this piece of work for main client and if I make good progress might switch  to UK client's work for a change. Surveys have not had a look in this month - I think it's the longest I've gone without doing any, probably since 2003/4! 😮

MS things:
* Clicks and HW done
* The allotment is already beginning to produce
* S&S submitted for supermarket shop
* Sowed some more cress seeds as it was nice to have them on our egg sarnies the other day

Gratitudes:
* Sunshine and blue skies, even if it doesn't last much longer!
* A long weekend 
* Blood oranges - it's the last week they'll be delivered with my R'ford order as the season is ending, but I have loved each and every one of them!

Have a good day all!

themadvix

Well I've been out for a rather damp walk - fortunately my coat is excellent and kept me nice and warm/dry. Some cards posted, something bought, but despite visiting four shops (Coop, Morrison's Daily (I had very low expectations, but it's opposite the Coop) and two Budgens), no mixed peel. Apparently though it is necessary for corner shops to stock all manner of packet cake mixes and... wait for it.... pre-made crumble mix. What is the world coming to when you need to buy pre-made crumble mix.... it's not rocket science, is it?! And not only that - at a little local shop - it's not exactly a necessity (bearing in mind that the town has two large Tesco, an Asda, two Sainsbury's and two smaller Tesco, so it's not as if people can't get this stuff, if they actually (?) need it). 🙄 Sorry, rant over.

I will have to get some later in town when we're out. Despite the rain, I quite enjoyed my walk - my back is not behaving today, but moving helps.

Cheery_Daff

Hope your back eases soon. I thought you'd cycled to the refill shop for a second - until you said you'd collected your stepmum on the way 😂 I had a brief vision of her clinging onto the back of your bike, then realised you were probably in the car 😂😂

Hope work eases off soon too. Can't be having all areas of life running at full pelt at the same time 😱

Suffolk_lass

@greenbee you might be able to check with your local council whether your black bin (general refuse) is among the 40% of Norfolk domestic waste that certainly used to come to Suffolk to the Great Blakenham waste incinerator. It might salve your conscience a little re pet waste if it does