So close, we can smell mortgage freedom!

greenbee

Another garden suggestion for a Norfolk visit - East Ruston Old Vicarage Gardens if you haven't been there before. I took my mum last week (she last went 15 years ago!), and it was fabulous. It closes at the end of October, but they do things like snowdrop days in the winter before they open properly in the spring. It's only £13 each, free parking, and a nice tea room. 

Keep persevering with the scarpaccia (and farinata!). They need plenty of seasoning, but are a very useful thing to be able to put together quickly. If you have any ideas for buckwheat or rice flour, I've just found lots of that... 

themadvix

Thanks Greenbee, will bear the garden in mind, although there's definitely only so many I can drag Mr MV round! I will definitely try again with the scarpaccia - I can see that it should have been delicious - mainly my fault for forgetting the olive oil - by the time I remember, it was beginning to firm up in the oven. Buckwheat is all about galettes, surely? Mmm... if only I didn't have lots of bread to eat, I'd have a galette for lunch!

themadvix

Morning all,
Alarm went off at 5.30 this morning so I could take Mr MV to the station for a 6.30 train. Is it lunchtime yet? (Nearly!). Despite a stupid error that set me back 40mins with work, it's been a good day so far. Went for a walk around the block when I got back from the station (if the cats thought I was feeding them before seven, they had to think again) - the sunrise was gorgeous. Since the setback work has gone well and I've made really good progress. Am very glad I asked main client to send me more last night (as he's still in Canada, so time difference means I won't hear from him again until pretty much the end of the working day here).
Amusingly, I've had a text from both Mr MV and Cambridge boss/friend - they'd bumped into each other at the airport! I should have realised this was a possibility, knowing both their schedules!
Dinner tonight will be sweetcorn dhansak (no black rice for me today though). My plan is to get a couple more walks round the block in as I'm on a 5 day streak for steps and want to keep it up, but otherwise to really focus on work. There's plenty to be had at the moment and the more I can get done, the better, both financially and in terms of not feeling guiilty about leaving main client in the lurch while we're away.

MS things:
* Lots of work
* Have won a pair of (new, no box) trainers on Ebay for a third of what I normally pay for them (my current ones are definitely getting towards the end of their life and they are expensive new).
* Leftovers for dinner - and looking forward to them
* TV survey done

Movement:
* Walk 1 done; 2 more and yoga to go

Gratitudes:
* Mr MV bumping into friend will have made him smile, which he really needed - he doesn't travel well (as regular readers may know) and wasn't at all looking forward to this trip, which involves a ridiculous amount of travel (because the supplier who has organised it couldn't organise a booze up in a brewery - flying to Hamburg, staying in Bremen and exhibition they're attending in Hannover... I mean, really? And three days for what could be done with just one night's stay)
* Sunshine - the sun rise really was lovely!
* Focus - I slept well last night and this has really helped my brain

Have a good day all!

EssexHebridean

That does sound like a faffy lot of travel for MrMV, and all the worse as he doesn't enjoy that side of things. 

Steps steaks annoy me - I always know they will have to end at some point, but what actually tends to happen is that I realise the day after that I have missed the previous day's tally by something silly like 50 steps! 

themadvix

That will absolutely be me EH with regard to step streaks - I did check last night before bed though and then did some random walking/marching to get the last 100 or so I needed!

Mr MV has arrived and gone out for a lengthy run, so hopefully he's feeling OK. I'm just about to go for walk no. 3 and do yoga and evening class homework. Think it'll be dinner time then and then a bit more work before evening class. Have just booked the activity for Mr MV's birthday (I don't think he ever reads this anymore, but will never say never, so won't mention what it is for now!).

redofromstart

Greenbee and I used to have F1tbit competitions and I think we both regularly paced the carpet to be in the lead at the end of each day. Used to use the mini stepper while the bath was running too.

greenbee

redofromstart said:

Greenberg and I used to have F1tbit competitions and I think we both regularly paced the carpet to be in the lead at the end of each day. Used to use the mini stepper while the bath was running too.

Usually the winner was whoever went to bed latest!

themadvix

Afternoon all,

Lol @greenbee and @redofromstart - I can't say I've ever got that competitive with my FB friends, but I think now Mr MV and I both have Garmins there's the potential. I am definitely glad to be back to having challenges to do (a factor in leaving FB, although definitely not the most important).

Had a lovely lunch with Sis in town, which cost me £13.20 for both of us. I also popped to the supermarket and the library while I was there and was out and back in two hours between my meetings. 

Needed to go to the supermarket because I have decreed that tomorrow shall be 'spend the whole day at the allotment' day (on my 40 before 40 list) and I needed some pasta, sauce, soup (although I'm thinking that might be overly warm, given the forecast!) and snacks. Normally I wouldn't buy any of these bits, but I am trying to minimise the obstacles to success here - I've already got to cart a whole lot of stuff down there (camping equipment etc) and my enthusiasm for the allotment has waned considerably with its trials this year since I put it on the list as an activity to do. Mum has said she'll come and visit, and hopefully cat/allotment friend will pop over too. But I'm taking my laptop and will have quite a bit of work to do too - laptop battery should last 5 hours and there won't be any Internet, so focus should be possible. I'm hoping the allotment will look a lot tidier by the end of the day too! Work takes priority, so I may have to come back later on, but if I don't give it a go now, it won't happen this year and I really want to tick it off my list. Mr MV is thrilled that he doesn't have to come and be weird eating dinner with me there!

Aside from 'packing' for tomorrow this evening, I intend to keep working, although I want to fit a yoga session and another walk in too. I'd like to get the piece of work I'm doing for main client finished this evening (not least because I have questions and he'll answer them this evening - if I leave it until tomorrow he'll be asleep).

MS things:
* Work
* Clicks and HW
* Not going out for the day tomorrow (which I had considered, as I have the car)

Movement:
* Cycled to town and back
* Short walk over to shops (and around town)
* Yoga this morning (and more to add later - am aiming for my Warrior challenge badge for September - record 4 hrs of yoga.... over halfway there

Gratitudes:
* Lovely quality time with Sis
* Yummy gyros!
* Gorgeous cat company while I type

Have a good evening all!

Cheery_Daff

Ooh, spending the whole day on the allotment is a lovely thing to do! 🤩 I might try to spend the whole day in the garden one day - maybe I'll even lock myself out of the house to prevent temptation 😂

Baileys_Babe

Cheery_Daff said:

Ooh, spending the whole day on the allotment is a lovely thing to do! 🤩 I might try to spend the whole day in the garden one day - maybe I'll even lock myself out of the house to prevent temptation 😂

But if you did that how would you have a cup of tea 🤔