So close, we can smell mortgage freedom!

Cheery_Daff

Oh, that's good news for Mr MV!

redofromstart

Ooh brilliant news for Mr MV

Suffolk_lass

And well done for getting back to that piece of work and knocking it out!

themadvix

Morning all,

Thanks for the cheering for Mr MV (and for me SL!)

Up and at it early again today - main client has sent something through but I'm taking advantage of being at my desk early to do a bit of other stuff before I acknowledge receipt of his work.

I enjoyed the aubergine parmigiana last night, but Mr MV said it was only OK. He'd eat it again if he had to. Which is fair. If I have more aubergines in veg boxes in the future, I'd definitely do it again. Not sure about tonight. It's date night and we have promised ourselves either a Korean or paella at the tapas bar, both of which are our favourite local restaurants and neither of which (esp the Korean) have we been to recently. Equally, we could have pizza at home. I'll ask Mr MV a bit later and see what he says.

R'ford delivery coming today but it is mostly (all?) fruit as we're OK for veg still (only just hit minimum order amount, which is good). A 10 day delivery cycle would really work the best for me I think - ordering on the Tuesday for delivery Thursday, with a weekend in between always makes me feel that we've barely touched the veg, but then by the time the delivery comes, actually I'm beginning to see that we'll be out of stuff by next Thursday. (But then, when there's lots of lovely fresh veg in the fridge, I don't ever want to eat out in case it goes off - so we never get the treat of either of the above!).

Weather is horrible at the moment, but should cheer up later. If it does, I'll get the strawberries in the new bed as I didn't do that yesterday. And maybe wander down to the allotment and see if the potatoes need earthing up yet. I've got beans on toast for lunch - to use up some open baked beans (from last Friday - I hope they're ok!).

MS things:
* Clicks and HW - am trying to get back into a routine now work is feeling a bit more manageable.
* Did well on solar generation yesterday, despite wet weather
* Should get invoice submitted to main client today
* 1P survey (although having issues with the app)

Gratitudes:
* A cycle yesterday - fresh air and spring growth everywhere
* Yummy dinner 
* Finishing that work - it felt good to start with an (almost) clean slate this morning

Have a good day all!

themadvix

Making good progress today with work, but I want to be outside in the sunshine! I have taken a couple of bags to the charity shop (they'd been lurking for ages) and popped the strawberries in. I've also moved the worms back into the garden (they'd been overwintering in our utility room).

Forgot to say that I had a mystery £20 deposited into my bank account overnight - turns out it was from Mum who was evening things up with birthday money with my sister (she didn't need to - and I'd never have known either). Have started a new pot with this for garden furniture for when our decking is complete (we have been starting on it).

Also ordered £70 of BnQ vouchers from S&S for decking project - Mr MV has a savings pot for house things, but we're burning through that quickly, so this should help. There's another £110 in there too, should we need it!

We've decided we're going out for dinner this evening, although where is still up for debate. In either case, transport costs will be nil as we'll walk or cycle.

Right, had better get back to this piece of work.... It doesn't help that my back is really bad today - I'm standing at my desk to help alleviate the pain. Haven't been good about exercises for the past week.

Onward!

northwalesd

I hope your back's feeling better soon MV.

Suffolk_lass

My DH is not overly keen on aubergine either - I slice a small potato and layer it in, with most at his end of the dish, to make it more appealing for him. Who doesn't love potato with tomato and cheese sauce!

Also, I know you like trying other recipes - I often make this simple tomato sauce (called Rosanna sauce after the Italian cook who ran the Italian cookery course I took, over 20 years ago!)

Finely chop 2 fat cloves or 3 smaller of garlic, then add it to 2 tablespoons of olive oil and fry gently, making sure it does not start to colour (which makes it bitter), then pour in a tin (jar, packet) of chopped (crushed, pureed) tomatoes and mix well. add a good pinch of salt, half a teaspoon of sugar, and about a pinch each of herbs (oregano, mint, thyme and basil are my choice). Stir well (written as Stairwell on the recipe!) and it needs to simmer for 5-10 minutes. I make it for pasta as well as Melanzane Parmigiana. So simple. So nice!

By the way, we always have a mixture of strong cheddar with parmesan ( I imagine you use pecorino because of the animal rennet in parmesan), the sharp cheddar suits DH better too

themadvix

Morning all,

Thanks @northwalesd - it's a bit better this morning (it always is in the mornings) and I'm being very careful with it (and doing my exercises).

Thanks SL - I'll consider the potato option next time, although I won't be in a rush to make it (or grow aubergines - although without a greenhouse, probably not an option anyway). The tomato sauce is pretty much identical to the one I use for pizza (and only add onion for bolognese), although I confess that a jar of mixed herbs tends to be my go-to (I do have an ambition to make my own mixed herbs this year though). We used one of the balls of mozzarella from the freezer and some pecorino (you're right about the parmesan, although it's the one thing I'm not especially picky about).

Had a lovely evening out last night. Our local Korean restaurant, which had to move out of the town a few years ago due to redevelopment, is in a nearby parade of shops and is slowly becoming more 'restaurant-looking'  -when we first went there it was very much a case of they'd put tables in an empty unit, but it has definitely got more of an atmosphere these days. We had three courses, two beers and a glass of wine and including tip it was £58. Where else can you get a glass of decent white wine for £4 these days?! And it's delicious food too. It has a great reputation locally and rightly so.

Today I had a couple of small bits of work to finish up, which have gone back to clients - exciting, I'll have more invoices to send this month! Am onto the bit of work for UK client now, which is moving along. I'd like to get this finished today (main client sending stuff notwithstanding) and do some chunkier Cambridge work - I've got some data entry I'm behind on and then there's report writing too.

The forecast for the weekend is dry but windy - it's meant to be nice and warm tomorrow too. Hopefully I'll be able to get the grass cut, sow some more seeds - time to start ramping that up I think - and make some progress on the decking (that's Mr MV's job). 

MS things:
* Clicks and HW done - have reached a £5 WR voucher from MS rewards - but will leave it in there for now
* TV survey - checked yesterday and have £8's worth of voucher there whenever I choose to take it
* Dinner tonight will be BNS risotto - hg squash, I need to roast today, so it can be a quick dinner when we get in from the pub (hmm.... I might fry off the onion and leave the risotto on delay start....)

Gratitudes:
* Lovely date night last night
* Back is a bit better this morning
* Weather forecast is looking drier!

newgirly

Wow that’s a good price for all that for dinner! 

Cheery_Daff

Excellent dinner! I've never eaten Korean food, I don't think. Will investigate 😊