So close, we can smell mortgage freedom!

themadvix

Mickyh-s said:

Courgette flowers dipped in flour and egg and shallow fried make a  nice veggie side dish and also, the courgette leaves are edible - use like spinach in cooking!

I know about the flowers, but didn't know that about the leaves - good to know, thanks!

Also added to list:
* Find a rag bin to drop stuff off into
* Likewise charity shop

In good news, work is now complete (until friend gets back to me, but that doesn't need to be dealt with today (I hope). It's hedge trimming time! (At least the sun hasn't got round to that side of the house and it should only take five minutes - the setting it up will be the faffy bit!

themadvix

Quick update as I cool off in front of the fan...

* Send Ebay item (half done - packed and label printed, just need to drop off
* Sign and send back work agreement  - done already
* Freezer inventory
* Mum - return item and take potatoes
* Sis - drop off present, item for niece and satsumas (from Olio)
* Dad - potatoes and a couple of bits we've borrowed
* Argoose - replacement gas for soda stream
* List bits on Freegle (from cupboard clear out yesterday)
* Water allotment
* Tax paperwork out of loft (need assistance from Mr MV for this)
* Strip, wash and freeze pink currants and blackcurrants
* Dump run
* Bunting

* Trim front hedge - the hedge trimmer is the item to return to Mum - need to use it first!
* Find rag bin
* Charity shop

Pink currants next and then load the car for all my 'out' jobs. Lunch first or between them though (depending on Mr MV's lunch availability!).

savingholmes

Glad your mum is feeling better. 

Allotment sounds good. You've reminded me I need to go and pick some more redcurrants - I have them - and the odd raspberry. My plums and apples are still ripening.

themadvix

Morning all,

Thanks SH. She's still tired, but that's all now and her sense of smell is returning too. My plums are still ripening too (and no apples here since we rehomed our (sad) apple tree to the in-laws last year 😕).

Did fairly well with the list yesterday:
* Send Ebay item (half done - packed and label printed, just need to drop off
* Sign and send back work agreement  - done already
* Freezer inventory - loads in there that can be used up to make space!
* Mum - return item and take potatoes
* Sis - drop off present, item for niece and satsumas (from Olio)
* Dad - potatoes and a couple of bits we've borrowed
* Argoose - replacement gas for soda stream - Nectar points earned 😊 (auto-convert to Avios 😉)
* List bits on Freegle (from cupboard clear out yesterday)
* Water allotment
* Tax paperwork out of loft (need assistance from Mr MV for this)
* Strip, wash and freeze pink currants and blackcurrants - just a few more pink currants to freeze
* Dump run
* Bunting

* Trim front hedge - the hedge trimmer is the item to return to Mum - need to use it first!
* Find rag bin
* Charity shop

The challenge of beating Cheery definitely helped me on! (Good job I didn't see she'd been totally distracted before I'd stopped for the evening! 🤣)

Today I might get to the charity shop and finish the pink currants, but I doubt I'll get onto the bunting or get Mr MV up in the loft - I have several work projects to get done and am covering Olio for my friend (small collection though, so that's good - we were meant to be switching to evening collections this week, but who knows what's going on, we certainly don't and nor does the store manager.... the Olio system is still sending us in the mornings too!). Am meeting my evening class pals for dinner which will be lovely - first time I've seen one of them in person since the pandemic.

I also need to order the laptop. Annoyingly the cheaper one isn't compatible with a docking station, which is something I think would be very useful, so I'm going to have to spend the higher amount (£681!). I have £650 set aside for it though and the extra is actually the dock itself, so it was pretty much bang on target (unfortunately I hadn't incrementally saved this amount as my clumsiness led to an early end for current lappy, but I have at least allocated it from work money). No cashback as it's from a small company, but I will use my Avios card for it, so it'll go towards the £3k spend (one of the factors that made me get the card) and presumably as well as hitting the bonus I'll get 1.5 Avios/pound for the purchase too (need to check that the bonus doesn't negate that). Mr MV had the ingenious suggestion that we use the Avios for flights to Nashville 🤠 - I think that's brilliant idea. It also means it won't be quite as long till our next trip to the US compared to if we had to save Virgin points from scratch again (50k Avios, which is the bonus, is enough for a business class flight with BA to Chicago - haven't looked into what's needed for Nashville, but it's a great start!).

MS things:
* Clicks done - VB have just paid out £13.47; 45p on HW
* NV survey done (long way to go here though)
* Dinner was slow cooked courgette pasta which is yummy and used courgettes from the allotment. Very low cost meal! I foresee many more instances of this being cooked this summer! 
* Breakfast (as there's no milk) was a free pastry
* Lunch will use up some leftovers - potato salad, a cooked veggie sausage and the last wrap from the pack.... an interesting meal!

Gratitudes:
* Saw Dad and fiancee yesterday - both looking really well. Dad has lost so much weight since his diabetes diagnosis (and to a lesser extent his fiancee has too).
* Hug with mum (she tested negative yesterday morning)
* Homegrown food - so satisfying and tasty!

Have a good day all!

themadvix

Back to say that I'd put a load of plastic plant pots out by my Olio box with a sign saying help yourself and magically they have all disappeared! They'd been listed on Olio and Freegle already, but I wondered if people might just want a few - thrilled that they have all gone though. In less good news, a Freegler came for something and (unless she's not realised it was within something else - message sent to enquire), that had been taken too by someone.... suspicious of that really as it wasn't on display and was separate to the Olio stuff.

Am cracking on with work as Cambridge have a new project for me which has a much earlier deadline than I'd been led to believe (and they also now want my help with another bit of - same deadline). At the moment I'm doing work for my main client though - but of course it's a bit bigger and more complex than the usual stuff of a similar ilk. Never rains but pours (and I'm not complaining!).

* 2 PA surveys done

savingholmes

Avios points sound good.

Glad you have plenty of work.

themadvix

Morning all,

Thanks SH. Like all these things, the Av1os points are about making the system work for you - and while we knew it was a great offer, we hadn't worked out what we'd use them for - having a goal in mind is great!

In good news, no one had pinched the Freegle item yesterday - the lady who had collected hadn't realised it was hidden in another item she'd picked up 🙄 All my other collectors turned up as planned, so it felt like a productive day for shifting stuff from the house. Just need the bits on Ebay to sell now!

Watered the allotment yesterday evening and took some potatoes for my evening class friends - we had a lovely meal out (at a pub I'd recommended but not eaten at before). One of the friends (the recently bereaved one) paid for all of us, blithely saying we could take it in turns. The other friend and I are not comfortable about this, not least because I'm not necessarily able to pay a £70 bill in one go - would rather just pay for my own. Not sure how we're going to sort that though.

Had another terrible night's sleep last night (third in a row, combination of heat and thoughts) so feeling very sleepy today. At least it's a bit cooler today (it rained here briefly yesterday evening, after I'd watered of course). I've got to finish the first item for my main client, do another he's sent through and then hopefully get a couple of hours of Cambridge work in, so I can put in a timesheet for this week/make a start on that project. All I really want to do though is have a nap!

MS things:
* Clicks done
* £1.16 TCB claimed
* Mr MV ate free broccoli with some pasta for dinner
* We missed out on the auction to upgrade our train tickets to 1st class for tomorrow, so £30 saved there. But I will need to buy some food to take with us on the train - it's a 6 hour journey, so anything I can get to offset the costs of train food/snacks will help. Tea will still need to be bought (I'm not lugging the accoutrements needed to make a Thermos of tea around Glasgow).
* New hoodie arrived from Ebay - BNWT Fat Face hoodie for £13 posted - very happy with that
* Solar panel is plugged back in - Mr MV unwired it while the isolator switch was installed and we had the technical survey - we didn't want them asking awkward questions.

Gratitudes:
* Lovely evening last night - good company and delicious food 
* Brief chat with Sis who is thrilled with her birthday present
* It's our 'Friday' - never has a short week seemed so long!

Have a good day all!

themadvix

Just popping in to say I've completed the bits for my main client (the second bit was easier than the first). Also done a PA survey, 1P surveys and a very small platform job (not done one of those in a while - would be good to hit payout next month - 50 euros needed, at 10 so far).

Onto the Cambridge work now.

Oh, and decided that we'll have quorn bolognese for dinner, to use up tomatoes and a third of a bag of quorn mince from freezer. Am going to attempt to do the whole thing in the IP (maybe!). Salad from the garden to accompany it. And watermelon (from R'ford) to finish as it needs using up!

Anyone know what happens if PC say they want to send you a sample of something? Do you get a follow-up email about it? I was asked in a survey about this the other day, but the item in question has to be kept in the freezer, so I assume they'd check you were in before arranging delivery? Or is there no guarantee that you'll be selected for a trial even if they've said so in the survey? I have done one product test for them in the past but it was aaaaaages ago and I can't remember.

savingholmes

Sounds like you've been really productive despite the heat

newgirly

Hi Vix, I’ve finally caught up with your diary, it had been too long! So sorry to hear about your friends dh , that’s no age at all. 

Interesting to read you are thinking of getting an ebike, getting rid of the extra car sounds wise if you can manage with a bike instead, I’m about to sell the beetle which will be sad but probably sensible 🙄 
Juts clicked the link above to the courgette receipt and I think I shall give that a go 😬