So close, we can smell mortgage freedom!

Cheery_Daff

We've been wondering if the cold we had was something more too - Mr Cheery in particular has been suffering from a general malaise and achiness since the cold itself passed. I've not been too lively, but not ill enough to be off work, although I'm sure if I'd been able to lie around moaning about my maladies I would have done so! Hope you're feeling better soon. 

themadvix

There is a lot of it around at the moment Cheery. The weird thing is I’ve not had any cold-y symptoms. Just two nights which were already hot where I felt I might have had a temperature (a bit shivery as well as hot) and then some fatigue bouts - but feeling fine in between. Most odd.

On another note, Mr MV is looking into buying holiday next year (leave year starts 1st September) - he reckons they’re allowed up to 5 days extra. He is keen to do it and I think it’s an excellent idea - he definitely needs to spend less time working. He’ll look at the ins and outs of it tomorrow I think.

LadyWithAPlan

Yeah to finding a courgette  
sorry re the car bump - appalling truck driver did not  stop - I hadn’t realised about the video so that’s a huge help 

My parents both just had a weird tiredness no appetite thing and fever /chills - they fine after 3 days so 

newgirly

Hi vix, such a shame that someone has hit the new car already 😒 it’s a good job it’s filmed though, hopefully it will be fixed without too much stress, very frustrating when you have just got it! 

themadvix

Afternoon all,

Not much to report here MSE-wise. Haven't heard any more about the insurance claim. Still only had the one courgette from the allotment, but did pick a lovely handful of blueberries yesterday. 

Work has been quiet this week, although I am now working on a small piece for main client. This has allowed me to flop about in the heat and watch the Olympics. Back was really bad Monday and yesterday morning - I booked a physio appointment, but then it massively improved in the afternoon, so I've cancelled that for now - £55 saved!

Have just fixed our gas for 12 months as recommended by Martin. It will save us a bit on what we're paying at the moment, and likely more from October on. So easy to do with 🦑. , even though I had to email as they'd have moved us off Go if I'd done it online. All sorted in 5 minutes.

We have been looking further at broadband options and because the suppliers are all switching to full fibre, unless we negotiate and stick with Now (we're not sticking with them at the price they've quoted), we may end up without Internet for three weeks while they install it (no option not to install it apparently) 😬  Very much not ideal going into the busy period for me. Mr MV would have to work at the office mostly and I think we'd get a SIM with lots of data for the month... (and I'd have to tart around cafes possibly - there might be upsides!).

Otherwise, spending has been fairly low the last few days - a couple of food top-up shops, but no R'ford this week. We've got people coming for some food on Friday but I'm going to make pizza (for Italians! 😬) so low spends required then. Monday is Niece Day, and Mum is going to come with us to the seaside. We'll probably take a packed lunch/snacks (Niece requires snacks) and buy an ice cream somewhere (Sandringham? They have a nice children's play area). Yes, this will be my third trip to Norfolk in 4 weeks - making up for the last two years though!

Have been cat sitting this week, but finished now. Also popped to allotment this morning and did some weeding and watering. I'm still very much not in love with it this year, but some things are growing now at least and not just weeds. Plums are nearly ready too, which is always good Have sown more beans (in a last ditch attempt), lettuce, spring onions and cress (all currently in garden where I have better sight of slugs).

MS things:
* Clicks and HW done
* Surveys - PA, YL, YG
* Solar study ongoing - penultimate day in fact
* No R'ford
* Cat sitting (and possible Maine Coon booking for end of month too)

Gratitudes:
* Back improved of its own accord
* Olympics
* Expecting a visit from Niece and Sis this afternoon - off to make some biscuits now

Have a good afternoon all!

themadvix

Afternoon all,

Have paid myself and done the money shuffles today. More shuffling than I wanted as lack of Cambridge pay means I've borrowed a bit from the EF to cover everything. Large Amex bill was actually very much mostly covered by the savings pots - which I partly knew as it included the deposit for our party. Invoicing done too and next month's pay should be good, so hoping to repay EF, fill a few of the new/one-off savings pots too (Mr MV's big birthday celebration fund, extras for holiday etc.).

Have also had a Cambridge meeting and done some work for main client. Have another meeting tomorrow and various bits to do for Cambridge tomorrow but it may be very quiet from main client from now as his client shuts down for August (Europeans!) - however, not sure if they've shut from today or will shut on Friday, so there may yet be loads of work to keep me busy through the month.

Dinner tonight will be something and chips as some room in the freezer would be helpful. Have a cat key to return and a card to post short - just watching the men's K1 slalom first. Will then pop to the allotment briefly - am trying to get there every day, even if only for 10 mins. Have spotted the first cucumber on the plant in the garden - not quite ready yet, but getting there.

MS things:
* Clicks and HW
* Harvested herbs and dried them
* Bunches of sweet peas every day - so gorgeous and so simple to grow!

Gratitudes:
* Sweet peas!
* Sunshine
* All the lovely variety of Olympic sports

Have a good evening all!

EssexHebridean

It hadn't occurred to me that we could still have sown more beans - although our runners and the bush beans are doing OK I'm not sure we ended up with any borlottis at all - annoying after the amount of time I faffed about looking for seeds to buy! I definitely want to put in some more user-friendly trellis sections ahead of next year for sweet peas - we have just a few this year but they don't really have anything effective for them to climb, so they're not doing as well as they should.

I feel your frustration with the state of growing things generally this year though - it does seem to have been a shocker for slugs/snails - although I think with us an awful lot of the problem is to do with the wood surrounds on the raised bed sections - so those are going to be dropped in level during the winter for sure. Less timber can only improve the situation, surely! 

I too am loving the Olympics! I'm not a big sport watcher usually - but at Olympic time I just enjoy the variation and the range, and seeing all those sports which usually would get NO TV coverage getting their moment in the sun - sport climbing, anyone?! (or in fact bouldering, which I've just realised is on right now!) 

themadvix

Afternoon all,

Had a relatively quiet weekend. Had our Italian friends and BIL and SIL over on Friday night to enjoy the cava we won a couple of months ago at a quiz. The Italians brought homemade empanadas, aubergine parmigiana and baba ghanoush, so with that and the pizzas and garlic bread, we were so stuffed that it wasn't until 10pm that we realised we'd forgotten the cheesecake (courtesy of BIL and SIL) defrosting in the kitchen! Had a great time, playing games, and both couples are good company and get on with others well, which is lovely.

Saturday we did very, very little... Mr MV went for a run (and on Sunday too), while I read and popped out to collect a couple of bits on Freegle - a small wooden shoe rack that will be perfect for drying alliums on in the allotment shed and some pretty jars. Otherwise, I read my book and watched the Olympics. We did play a game we've had in the cupboard for a couple of years that we'd never tried before - it was actually quite good, so that was fun. Sunday I went to the allotment for a couple of hours - planted some replacement borlottis (I'm sure they've been eaten by now) and did quite a bit of weeding and grass cutting. Baked a banana loaf to use up the brown bananas. It was pub quiz in the evening, so we had homemade mattar paneer for lunch (we made a batch of onion-tomato masala sauce last weekend), with the intention of getting a snack at the pub. Turned out landlady was on holiday, so no snacks! In the end we came back and had a slice of toast before bed instead!

Yesterday I took Niece and Mum to Norfolk for the day - spent a lovely 3 hours on Brancaster beach, which despite being heaving was pleasant as the sea was so far out there was tons of space to play etc. Popped to Sandringham afterwards for an ice cream and chance for Niece to enjoy the play area there which has always looked amazing (and was pretty fun, by all accounts!). Stopped at a Brewers Fayre for dinner, which was definitely a mistake. No garlic bread, no corn on the cob (neither of which were communicated on ordering) and overcharged me for Niece's meal. Complained, but despite this all they gave me was the £1.49 back for Niece's dessert (which I didn't want in the first pplace - but she was also given). 🙄 I would complain to head office, but any voucher we might get would go to waste as they've closed the only remaining one near us. Oh well, apart from that it was a lovely day

Work continues to arrive in manageable chunks, which is lovely as I'm doing it while watching the Olympics!

MS things:
* Mr MV rang up Now to try to negotiate our broadband contract - no neogtiation necessary, Mr MV said 'I need to renew' and the man literally said 'I can put you on this deal' and it was cheaper than we're currently paying!
* Clicks and HW done
* Picked our first cucumber! It's a lemon-shaped variety, so a bit weird looking but hopefully tasty.
* YG surveys
* No spend on Friday at pub, and no food Sunday at pub!

Gratitudes:
* Lovely day with Mum and Niece yesterday
* Great fun on Friday with friends and family
* Fun at quiz on Sunday
* While my edibles have not really been successful as yet, the garden is looking good - and largely due to home sown flowers - sweet peas are stunning (and providing daily vases of cut flowers); California poppies, cosmos, borage (for the bees) and marigolds also adding colour.

Have a good afternoon all!

themadvix

Morning all,

Picked a courgette and four raspberries from the allotment yesterday - and was so virtuous that two of the raspberries even ended up in the bag in the freezer! These are autumn-fruiting golden ones and I've not been impressed in previous years - the berries seemed so loose that they kind of disintegrated as you picked them and were no good for keeping. This year, so far, they seem to be holding their shape better, so I'm hopeful that the plant has now settled and I'll get better produce from it. Picked a few tiny cherry tomatoes from the garden too - they are Tumbling Toms and have really not thrived with the weather, so Mr MV is not going to get many tomatoes this year. My plum toms are doing well now though, with quite a few growing, so hoping I'll get to try bottling them.

Baked two loaves last night, which I'm also feeling virtuous about - I usually bake in the morning, but Mr MV wouldn't have had anything to take for lunch today, so I'm glad I got it done. Combined the loaves being in the oven with our dinner too (toad in the hole, very seasonal!).

Have opened the 10.38% Virgin money RS mentioned in the newsletter - I had the requisite current account sitting empty, and I'm so glad I hadn't closed it. £250 transferred in already. I have a NS&I bond ending soon, so this will take over from that as a place to pop some of the buffer fund for better rates.

MS things:
* 10% RS opened
* Small harvests from the allotment (have still done a R'ford order though). 
* Some surveys last night
* Will be paid for solar diary on 5th September and should be invited back for a second interview (which is another £100 I think)
* Am back at my desk today - too much work to watch the Olympics all day! 
* Two more cat sitting bookings for the end of the month - it's going to be busy

Gratitudes:
* The regular September project from main client is well underway - in fact we've nearly got the worst of it done (it relies on other people, so there are no guarantees of when the work is going to arrive and its usually later than this). Given the absolutely crazy amount of work arriving in September, both for main client and others, I am very glad of this (even if it is interrupting my Olympics viewing!)
* Raspberries again
* Some responses from people I'd emailed about Cambridge reports - I'll be able to take another step forward with these and that should also keep me ahead of the September curve.

Have a good day all!

EssexHebridean

All sounding like good progress there - especially the raspberries - they are something I would LOVE to grow, but we've just got got the space sadly.