So close, we can smell mortgage freedom!

greenbee

Suffolk_lass said:

@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

TBH it's not where it goes that bothers me, it's the smell. The dog poo bin is 100 yards up the road so dropping the cat poo off in that daily (except on bin collection day) isn't an effort. I think it's a pity the woodchip can't go into the garden waste, but I produce very little general waste (apart from what the DIY/trades create) so i'm not feeling guilty. Certainly not guilty enough to set up a separate composting system for non-food production use! (And no, I can't find anything useful on the Breckland website about what they do with the household waste). 

themadvix

Morning all,

I hope everyone had a lovely Easter weekend. We were lucky to have lovely weather on Saturday and it was mostly dry on Sunday and Monday, so plenty of stuff got done in the garden. Baby basils and lettuces were transplanted; celery, parsley, cabbage, radish and calabrese sown; broad beanlets went in at the allotment (must get down there and protect them from slugs today as totally forgot yesterday), the rest of my tatties went in and I planted a thornless blackberry cane picked up at BnQ (20% off). Also bought 6 Elsanta strawbs as I only have later fruiting ones at the allotment, which is nice, but it's also nice to have some for Wimbledon!

Mr MV used a couple of sleepers that we had hanging around to build a second part to our raised bed in the garden, which will increase usable planting space. The strawbs are destined for here, I think, along with something to climb up the trellis that's behind it. We also sanded the patio (i.e. put sand in the cracks, *not* getting out the sandpaper), so it's properly finished. He did some jetwashing too and has made a start on the decking. He cleaned the car inside and out and has taken interior photos (the outside needs a bit more work) ready for listing it for sale - we are about there with savings for EV, give or take depending on what we sell car for and/or what we we can get.

We also had some down-time - saw Mr MV's family on Sunday for an enormous lunch and my family yesterday for birthday cake for my Uncle who was 70.

Payday today, so I've done my money shuffles. An excellent twice as much as normal transferred to savings! Worryingly, only two invoices to issue this month - absolutely no work at all for Americans. I hope this isn't a sign of things to come. I've not done invoice for main client (mostly because I need some info from him and I'm also in the middle of something for him), but am expecting it to be a big one again, so at least it's not a shortage of work. And of course Cambridge pay is offset to the middle of the month and there continues to be plenty of work for me there.

MS things:
* Took advantage of 30% off Faith in Nature to buy 5l of bodywash, saving a decent chunk and TCB tracked too
* Lots of allotment/veg growing prep which will hopefully save us lots of money later in the year
* Rhubarb harvested - enough to stew some for breakfast topping and my first batch of rhubarb and ginger vodka is underway
* Swapped a bottle (my last!) of the above for some cherry gin with allotment friend (assuming it's still there when I go to collect!)
* Two lots of cat sitting over the weekend
* Didn't buy Niece an Easter egg until after the event (mainly due to disorganisation!) - it was reduced

Gratitudes:
* Lovely to see extended family yesterday
* Delicious lunch on Sunday and good company
* Sunshine - Saturday was so warm!
* The cats discovered the tub of catnip I planted last year - they weren't interested then, but spent a good 15 mins getting high with it yesterday!

Have a good day all!

themadvix

Popped down to the allotment at lunch time (work is glacial today - all my fault, but I'm not going to stress about it - tomorrow will be better). Covered (hermetically sealed?!) my leeks, onions and some of my garlic, to hopefully protect them from the dreaded ALM. Am relying on March having been so wet and cold that the pesky things haven't emerged yet - in any case, no signs of them feeding on my alliums as yet, so fingers crossed. The final batch of garlic have been left to fend for themselves due to a lack of insect mesh - I might remedy this at some point as I feel that the insect issues are only going to get worse. However, from what I've read, garlic has a reasonable chance of surviving and the plants are nice and strong currently. Popped some wool pellets round my broad beans to keep the slugs off them too (they had survived the night, fortunately). Am hoping that the removal of the wood from round my bed edges will help with reducing the slugs and snails - they don't have anywhere near as many places to hide. And there's a good resident 🐸 population to munch on them too.

Suffolk_lass

So far, no ALM here. Surprising really. I thought I had a complete set of pests and weeds 

themadvix

Morning all,

Fingers crossed for you SL! I know it's there at the allotment. So far, I think I've got away with it, but allotment friend lost all his garlic last year. And I've got quite a bit of garlic, a few onions and some leeks in, so I'd like not to be troubled by them. None is planted on soil that has had alliums in previously (in the last couple of years anyway), so hopefully they're not lurking in the soil. Allotment is a pretty sight now though as I only had two bits of mesh, so one tunnel is stradding a path (and my water pipe tunnels are not as even/picturesque as some - but I hardly think that's the point). I didn't want to bury the mesh, so I've held it down taut with a range of broken paving slabs, bricks and several bits of angle iron - which are brilliant for this and I'd quite like some more!

Mr MV and I had a productive evening yesterday - tip run, BnQ, Wickes and Halfords for various bits (his knows how to treat me - all my favourite places!). Bought another bag of compost for the new raised bed, so might try to get the strawbs in there tonight. 

Sun is out here but have had polite enquiry from main client about progress on the piece of work I'm doing for him, so I'd better get my finger out! Cambridge meetings today, although I've managed to cancel one of them. I have two bits of work I must do before the meetings, neither of which is big - and in fairness there's only been two working days between today and my last meetings - but I must just get them done.

If time permits later, I'll get out on my bike and return a cat sitting key. I'd like to get the bird box (sparrow terrace) up this evening if possible - otherwise it'll definitely be too late for this year. The delay was caused by needing to catch the neighbours to ask if it was OK as it will go on their wall (our houses are offset) - we saw them and asked at the weekend, so all good now.

Dinner tonight will be aubergine parmigiana. Mr MV doesn't like aubergines, but I'm hoping the excessive amounts of cheese in this will offset his dislike. I'm not a huge fan either, but it was in the veg box that didn't include a) other things we won't eat or b) spinach, which we've got coming out of our ears. Last night was cauliflower laksa with a healthy dose of spinach as the greens. 

MS things:
* Employee discount scheme used for Wickes purchases
* Halfords trade card used for Halfords bits
* Sunshine = free power (and income)

Gratitudes:
* The lighter evening meant we felt productive, even at the end of the day
* Lunchtime allotment visit - I'm always there longer than expected!
* Tip trip - always so nice to remove the clutter (and there's a lot because if it can be recycled at the tip (and not at home), no matter how small, it hangs around until we can go - I had two boxes of random bits to distribute between scrap metal, WEEE and hardcore (broken china)). Just need to do the allotment tip run now with the rotting wood.

Have a good day all - I hope you have sunshine too!

LadyWithAPlan

All sounds like a  fun and a happy Easter 🐣 

11% Payrise is great - hopefully you will get some bigger jobs thru soon 

I will start posting when I see london exhibitions that are worth the money - I often go to the free ones tbh
my fav london exhibitions over the last few years was the Alice in Wonderland at the V & A and the Frida Kaho/Diego Riviera (also in a giant warehouse ) but brilliantly done far more than the Da Vinci or Van Gogh ones 
Diva at the V&A was most interesting for me on the bottom floor - the old skool divas - including Edith Piafs and Josephine Baker outfits  and the history behind the women in earlier centuries who used their fame  to advocate for others - the flashy outfits above were fun but less interesting for me 

I always love the Royal Academy of Art Summer exhibition - definitely worth a visit - I have bought art from there in the past 

themadvix

Thanks LaPlan. We very rarely do anything like that that we pay for - and definitely won't be rushing to any more we see advertised on social media. I enjoyed the Beatrix Potter exhibition at the V&A which I went to with Mum (but wasn't entirely impressed that I had to pay full price given the stuff was loaned by the NT).

Right, both the other meetings (i.e. not the one I cancelled) were very short, so I've made excellent progress today with work for main client. Not quite finished, but much closer than expected. It has now clouded over, of course, just as I'm about to get out on my bike. It's quite windy too. I want to go now though as there's a bit of road cycling involved and if I go now I'll miss most of the traffic. (Had completely forgotten it's half term of course, so no school traffic on the cycle paths!)

Forgot to mention earlier than after EH's comment that her Travelodge booking had reduced in price, I thought to have another look at Manchester prices for a weekend in May (to tick off RHS Bridgewater, see friends and go to football) - price now £74 (instead of £100+?), so room booked at the Trafford Centre for the night. Also, we're off to France for a cheap day trip with Sis and Niece in a couple of weeks as Sis hasn't driven on the right and would like to try - £44 for the car and the four of us, so very good VFM (don't get me started about the ethics of the company, but I do have to consider Sis's budget). Wish me luck though - two drivers both liable to get car/sea sick and a seven year old... I hope it doesn't all go Pete Tong...

Right, better get out now before I abandon the plan!

themadvix

Just heard that Mr MV has had an 8.5% payrise! Whoop! Better than the standard for the company (and last year's was below inflation 🙄), and his boss still intends to change his job title in the near future to increase that again. Given he's massively underpaid for his responsibility levels now, this is hopeful, at least. It's better than he'd dared hope too, so it's a nice bonus.

Baileys_Babe

That is very good news for MrTMV.

themadvix

Thanks BB, it will make a difference. Hopefully to how he feels about work too (although once his new recruits are recruited and settled in, that will help too, I think).

I have finished the work for main client - I just felt like cracking on with it when I got back and am pleased I have. Expect there'll be plenty more arriving, but I will have to prioritise a couple of bits for UK client first.