So close, we can smell mortgage freedom!

themadvix

Morning all,

A productive one so far. Large of piece of work from main client is going quicker than he or I expected - I intend to capitalise on this by getting the garlic in the ground at the allotment before he's expecting the file back! Plenty more where it came from too (and there's Cambridge on top of that). Have also done a small file for a US client.

Dinner last night was masala carrots, which used the last of the carrots up and a chilli too. The fridge is now very bare, ahead of supermarket delivery tomorrow and R'ford on Thursday. Also, no onions left! So tonight's dinner will be rajma, which is a kidney bean dish, from the Dishoom recipe book. It uses the onion-tomato masala sauce which I have several batches of in the freezer, negating the need for a fresh onion. We're out tomorrow night though, so I think we'll be OK. This morning I stewed up a couple of soft apples from the fruit bowl with some pink currants and blackberries from the freezer, which will top my breakfast for the next few days.

MS things:
* Clicks and HW done
* YLive surveys done (back to £15 earned there, which is good)
* RM survey item posted (have nearly reached my first £25 voucher)
* 1P surveys (£18.** there)

Movement:
*Yoga this morning (arms still need doing)
* Walk with Mr MV last night

Gratitudes:
* After some appalling news for one of Mr MV's work colleagues this weekend, we are both feeling very grateful for our health, our lives and our family.
* Gorgeous autumn colours and an amazing sunset on our walk last night
* A good giggle last night about a silly mispronunciation!

Have a lovely day all!

LadyWithAPlan

Baileys_Babe said:

LadyWithAPlan said:

Lovely to get positive feedback on work done well.

I am loving your list of to do's especially choux pastry.... I cant sadly eat it (GF) but I will always remember its deliciousness in eclairs

We make and enjoy GF choux pastry for making the occasional treat 😋

This is the recipe we use and like many of Becky's recipes, it has information on how to make it dairy free, which would be perfect for you @LadyWithAPlan

NOW we are talking!!!

rtandon27

Oooo Vix - how is the Dishoom cookbook overall? - I saw it at the bookstore last week and was just so tempted. - As OH does the cooking I thought it best not to splurge!

themadvix

Morning all,

RT, the cookbook has some excellent recipes in it, but they are *not* quick. A lot of the recipes call for specialist ingredients and quite a few have 'you need a quantity of XX, see page XX for the recipe'. If you want to go all out (or do a big batch cook) then it is an excellent book (and it also has wonderful digressions, colour and information about India in it), but don't expect to be cooking restaurant quality dishes in anything less than half a day! We've made various bits from it for when we've had friends round and once a batch of onion-tomato masala sauce has been made, it freezes well and can be used in a few dishes, but it's just not a quick undertaking. If you have a pressure cooker though, their signature daal can be cooked quicker than in the book - here's the adaptation I used (makes a batch-cooked quantity - think 6 good sized portions).

LaPlan, enjoy your GF/DF choux!

Yesterday didn't go quite to plan as I was unwell in the afternoon, and really didn't fancy a bean curry for dinner. So we had the last of the (hg) potatoes and some hm veggie sausages. The kidney beans will keep for Thursday. Have been up and working from early today as we're escaping about 3pm to London.

Supermarket delivery this morning and we are now much more stocked up - although very little of exciting note in the £80 worth of shopping (apart from for the cats, who are thrilled that fishy treats are now back in stock  - and this was a large chunk of the bill!). We still have random stuff in the cupboards though, so I am going to try to continue using stuff up. (Jar of zatar I've never opened, I'm looking at you).

MS things:
* Clicks and HW done
* Dinner change didn't require any spending, continued to use things up

Movement:
* Arms done this morning

Gratitudes:
* One Cambridge meeting moved to Friday - gave me more time this morning for other work
* Sunshine
* A jay on the roof opposite - I can't see much nature from my window, so this was exciting!

Have a lovely day all!

themadvix

Afternoon all,

The gig on Wednesday night was good, but my goodness, either I am turning into a grumpy old woman or Gen Z are absolutely hopeless.... Let's just say that some of our fellow audience members have absolutely no consideration for others (or the law - vaping inside) or ability to live in the moment. Hotel (Travelodge) was well located and Mr MV paid about £60 for it, which was a bargain in Central London. Would do again at that price as it made the whole process a lot less tiring (one stop on the Tube in the opposite direction to the majority of people, versus nearly 2hrs to get across London and home; also meant we got the bus back from the station yesterday instead of an expensive cab). Not that the O2 is somewhere I particularly wish to go to see artists anyway - I hate the heavily sloped seating (and the ticket prices). Breakfast was not good value though and I will be minded to remember this in future - £11.25 for a buffet at the TL, but various bits almost (or entirely) inedible. Will look elsewhere - we'd have been better with a pastry from the little supermarket nearby tbh.

Work continues as manic as ever. There is currently a lull in the expected work from main client, so he's found another project to keep me busy in the breaks.... I daren't mention that I have plenty of other things to keep me busy!

There was no bread for lunch when we got in yesterday and Mr MV headed straight out to work, so I had porridge for lunch. Dinner last night was the rajma from Dishoom - lovely and very quick to put together once the sauce has been made. I didn't have fresh ginger (just used powder) and didn't make the pastes (just chopped the garlic) and it still tasted lovely. This morning I baked two loaves, granola and half a BNS ready to make a quick IP risotto when we get in from the pub. R'ford delivery came yesterday and we have loads of lovely veg to eat this week (I realised it has been a loooong time since we've had a full pre-selected box due to allotment stuff). This is planned for dinner tomorrow night. Lunch today involved opening the mussels pate we bought in France in April - it is surprisingly nice and there'll be enough for tomorrow's lunch but no more, which is just right given I wouldn't want to keep it any longer once open.

As it stands, we have absolutely no plans for the weekend, which is wonderful. Some housework, some gardening some DIY, some planning (Christmas) and a lot of chilling are intended. And maybe a walk too, if the weather is nice.

MS things:
* Using cupboard contents still (granola finished the last dregs of a honey jar and a maple syrup bottle)
* Feeling inspired by all the lovely veg
* 1P getting towards payout
* Clicks and HW done

Movement:
* Yoga this morning and 100 squats
* Steps done yesterday (and hopefully today - it's dry, if grey, so planning on walking to the pub)

Gratitudes:
* Exploring a new to me part of London (and found a lovely taproom for dinner)
* Mr MV got to see one of his favourite country artists
* All the work

Have a lovely evening all!

rtandon27

mmmm - that dinner recipe looks goo Vix - I may steal your idea for next week's meal plan, as OH loves sausages & I love squash, so it may be a nice compromise meal as neither of us is fond of the other's ingredient!

On a separate note, can I just say - 100 squats!? - 😨

themadvix

The dinner definitely looks good - and I'm eyeing this up for another time too (and annoyingly I've seen another kale recipe on R'ford's Instagram feed, but can I find it now?!)

100 squats - there's a video on Fiton (Apple TV fitness app) that has a 100 squat challenge. I could barely walk the first week, but it's getting better each week! And one of my tasks for 40 before 40 was to 'get strong' (you'll note that this is in no way a SMART goal) - and there's not long left now! I did the squats without the video (or the pacing or breaks) this week, so I must be getting better!

themadvix

Afternoon all,

We had a lovely, quiet weekend. Pub on Friday night, then a gentle day on Saturday, finished the Riverford-tray-bake dinner around a fire in the garden - it was so warm we barely needed the fire (and the dinner was delicious). Yesterday we cracked on with putting the garden to bed - beds tidied, pots emptied (and put away from where they'd blown around the garden), a surprise courgette picked (the plant was meant to be a cucumber when I bought it - it shouldn't even be planted in the garden, but I'll take surprise courgettes at this time of the year!), chilli plants brought inside to finish ripening the fruit, broad beans sown, patio weeded, some potting on done. Took some bits to the allotment, including garlic bulbs, but had run out of steam to plant them by then.

Spent some time selling some specialist items for my friend on a FB group on Saturday. I'll benefit from the postage (using my earned stamps), and she gets the profits. Neither will be huge amounts, but better than nothing. Popped them in the post this morning (the main benefit of this is they are out of my house and I can tick it off my mental to-do list!).

MS things:
* Resisted temptation of takeaway yesterday (because I 'wasn't feeling like' the planned dinner). Turns out planned dinner was lovely 🙄 Tbh, there wasn't a lot of temptation - not when you realise it's going to be £30! We have a lot happening in November (including Mr MV's birthday) and some of it will cost a lot, so unplanned takeaways (especially when there's lots of lovely food in the house) are not an option.
* YG survey
* YLive survey
* NV survey
* Clicks and HW

Movement:
* Cycled to town to collected something for my sister on Saturday - first time I've been on my bike in weeks and I was nearly out of battery - it was a good workout!
* Yoga
* Gardening yesterday
* Walk this morning

Gratitudes:
* Lovely quality time with Mr MV round the fire and playing a game last night
* B&W kitty seems to be on board with the clocks changing in the morning (not so much at night) - so we weren't wakened earlier than necessary!
* Gorgeous weather yesterday!

Have a lovely afternoon all!

themadvix

Had totally forgotten that I'm going out for dinner this evening with ex-Brownie friends. Plans made last minute to accommodate one of the group's needs, but we're off to a Turkish restaurant which does an excellent lunch deal, but I've never had dinner there, so I am looking forward to that. Shouldn't be an expensive night as we'll probably just have a main (and I'm hopeful that, as at lunchtimes, bread and hummus is served as a freebie) and no alcoholic drinks.

Have struggled with work focus this afternoon - I think mainly because I'm finding what I'm working on immensely boring! Just trying to get through the last of it before I go out so I don't have to face it again tomorrow!

themadvix

Evening all (it may only be half five, but now it's dark, it definitely counts as evening),

Dinner last night was lovely and £23 including tip. So much food I couldn't quite finish it (and it was just a main and the hoped-for bread). Mr MV had pasta and sauce and batch cooked the sauce, which I need to freeze.

Today has been rather hectic and stressful. Lots of work arrived from main client, but I've had five Cambridge meetings today (a couple only 15 mins or so), which has disrupted my focus a lot and while they've been useful (met the new departmental director), I don't feel I've achieved huge amount of 'my' work. I have managed to send one thing back to main client and dealt with some queries from UK-based client though. In good news, my meetings with Cambridge bosses tomorrow have both been cancelled, so I should make good progress then.

Did some washing earlier, as the forecast was dry, but there were huge, very black clouds by the time it was ready, so it's still in the machine. Forecast is OK for tomorrow, so I might just leave it in the machine and try tomorrow, otherwise it'll have to go on the heated airer.

Dinner tonight will be soupy leeky rice... and probably soon - like the cats, my body is not happy that dinner has moved an hour later! 😂

MS things:
* Posted some more of my friend's bits, so need to sort out the postage/profit and send to savings/her.
* 1P survey (just the one I think)
* Clicks and HW and a couple of comps
* Mr MV has downloaded, mastered (it's geeky and complicated) and installed Home Assistant to manage our charging/battery/solar - we realised that if Intelligent Octo decided that we should be charging outwith the set cheap electricity period (but at the same cost), it was discharging our house battery into the car first, before using grid power. As it works out when is best to charge the car based on excess electricity this can be at anytime when the car is plugged in, potentially leaving us without battery for the rest of the day/peak cooking time. So now we have it set up not to discharge the battery if the car starts charging between 5.30am and 11.30pm. Mr MV now trying to work out what else we can control through Home Assistant!
* Not so MSE - our water bill arrived and is going up by £1 month, despite usage being the same. To be expected given the appalling state of the water/sewage system in this country. Who on earth thought privatising water was a good idea (rhetorical question, I know the answer!)?!

Movement:
* Core workout
* Yoga
* A decent walk - for various reasons, I don't think my Garmin will give me full credit, but I guess that's only half the point... but it's the final push for the monthly badges!

Gratitudes:
* New director seems absolutely lovely
* It wasn't raining for my walk
* Trees are looking stunning at the moment

Have a good evening all!