So close, we can smell mortgage freedom!

themadvix

Morning all,

BBQ was lovely - hadn’t seen half our guests since BIL’s wedding, so it was great to see them (the other half was the in-laws, so we’ve seen them more recently!). Our guests were very complimentary about the food - I won a copy of The Green Barbecue by Rukmini Iyer last year and made several dishes from that alongside burgers and sausages. And because the veggie dishes were so good, we only used half the meat I had bought! I’m really pleased with this on the environmental front, as I find it difficult to get the meat quantity right as a vegetarian, but apparently if you do enough veg dishes (I don’t want to call them sides/salads as several involved cooking bits on the BBQ), it doesn’t matter!

Yesterday we had leftovers for lunch and dinner (dinner was burger and chips with corn on the cob, lunch was pre-cooked stuff and salad), which was nice and easy. Neither of us had any energy though! We did empty the loft, in preparation for roof work starting 5th September, which included getting rid of several empty boxes and freegling some bits. Listed a couple of bits on FB too, but suspect they won’t go - they were wedding presents though (kitchen ones which we have used in about 8 years), so Mr MV doesn’t want to let them go for pennies, which is fair enough, although I don’t ever plan to use them (and one is poorly designed), so would rather they went!

Also moved stuff around in our utility room (which only contains a freezer in terms of utilities, it’s mainly a shed-type place), in preparation for installation of battery/inverter. Identified several items that can go when a tiny bit more has been used (I.e. tiny bit of finishing of grout before we get rid of it). So we need a jobs list (utility room is in permanent state of too-fullness and it drives us up the wall!). First on the list is painting some sealant on a repair to the porch we had done two years ago… then a 5l tin can be sold!

Also booked a (fully refundable) hotel for our Manchester trip - cheaper than the Travelodge, but nicer too, with a pool. If the Travelodge comes up with a good deal, we could still switch as it’s better located for Old Trafford. Have also decided to use Christmas gift from Dad and fiancée to book a second night at another nice hotel up there and make a bit of a mini break of it.

MS things
 * leftovers for meals
 * guests refused to take their leftover drinks with them, so we’re well stocked up now (and we didn’t use much of what we had supplied- just Pimms (bought on offer at Sains, where 1l was £4 cheaper than 70cl!)
* Clicks and HW done (must check if I won yesterday’s free bet)
* Did make jam buns, but what a disaster! Will eat, but won’t repeat!

Gratitudes
* lovely time with old friends
* sunshine has returned
* another day off today, but also work - you can tell it’s the end of August! 

Enjoy the bank holiday all!

themadvix

I did win yesterday's free bet - it was almost a sure thing though, so only 44p up! Also did some more HW bits and made another £1.40ish - from a game I've won very little from previously, so this was good progress.

Cheery_Daff

Excellent work, and sounds like your bbq was a roaring success!

themadvix

Thanks Cheery, yes, it seems that way

Another busy day (was it a holiday?!). Did some work this morning (Americans don't know it's a holiday and it's only little bits so it's easier just to do them), made a couple of birthday cards. Painted that sealant stuff on - needs another coat, but have kept it in an old spread pot and listed the container on FB and Ebay. Did some other listings on both, both our stuff and in-laws. Mr MV finished a couple of bits on my car, which is great (did I say I'd taken it out on Saturday morning and it drives like a different car now - so pleased!).

Then we met Mum, Sis and Niece for a walk and a picnic sandwich - Mum kindly supplied the sandwiches, I provided some mini eggs. When we got back I 'popped' to the allotment.... returned with the last of the potatoes (3 kg? I haven't weighed them), a handful of baby corn, a corn on the cob and a sunflower from my allotment, plus some chard, two lemon cucumbers and a handful of carrots (with tops) from allotment friend's patch (in exchange for potatoes, of course). Have just finished making carrot top pesto and stewing some apples (Olio) and blackberries (nature) as compote for my porridge - have been having just blackberries, but fancied a change. Dinner is freezer curry and rice - good job too as I'm knackered now! Brioche bread and butter pud (also with blackberries) for dessert - used up the stale hot dog rolls from BBQ. Probably with extra custard, because, custard.

And now I need to get back to listing stuff on Ebay from the in-laws loft - I won't get it shifted from our house unless I list it! Hoping things start to move a bit more as it's no longer August (to all intents and purposes).

Oh, and I also have written a complaint email to computer company and to mattress manufacturer - so will look forward to hearing from them both in due course. (Have actually heard back from computer co already, but they are mainly addressing a support question rather than the complaint bit - need to double check that they are taking note of that!) These two things feel like a bit of a weight off of my mind - I've at least started the process with both of them, IYSWIM.

themadvix

Morning all,

Up and at it this morning - while my clothing says it's still August, my mind (and my inbox) say it's the start of September and there's work to be done. Have done the second coat of sealant needed and briskly walked to the post box with great aunt's birthday card. I need to return to fitness now as Covid is behind me and this was a start.

I have two ebay items to post today, which is good. I also have two pieces of work for my main client and have done some bits for Americans. This is the first proper test of my laptop, and I'm slowly getting used to the keyboard. I may still buy a USB one for working at my desk, but I'm cursing less than I was when the keys are not where I expect them. 

Roofer is coming to show us where scaffolding will go (aka tell us we need to clear both sides of the house!) this evening. MIL brought a cheque for the loan and some cash for the mini fund, so one or other of us needs to get into town to pay those in.

MS things:
* YG 300 point survey - at £37 there now
* Clicks and HW done, but no wins today
* Dinner last night from the freezer - but good job we had pudding as I can confirm that turnip and carrot curry does not freeze well
* Panini out of freezer for lunch today
* Dinner will be some sort of 'roast' - with potatoes, carrots and babycorn from the allotment. I'll have veggie sausages; I've asked Mr MV if he'd like some actual meat (rather than just meat sausages), but am still waiting for a decision!
* Veg box for this week cancelled... no need for that!

Gratitudes:
* Allotment bounty (even if some of it isn't mine!)
* Lovely low-key time with Mum, Sis, Niece and Mr MV yesterday - we were only out a couple of hours, so it didn't feel like a huge time commitment, but it was nice to see them and get some exercise
* Some progress on niggly jobs/ones that get put off!

Have a good day all, time for another cuppa and to crack on with this work.

themadvix

So, spurred on by Cheery's post about Frugal September, I've been thinking about this too.

We've got the work happening on the roof from next week (roofer says only 7 days, but not sure whether scaffolding will be down within that period too) and I know September is likely to be really busy for me workwise (as it always is), so I don't want to overcommit myself (and may need to escape to a cafe from scaffolded house), but it would be good to feel everything is nailed down financially.

With that in mind aims for September:
* Ensure all produce is harvested, used or preserved
* No takeaways at home (this said no takeaways originally, but not sure if grabbing food while at the football might count - we're going twice this month, once with Niece and Sis and once just the two of us, so might be nice to get snacks)
* Make sure Mr MV has something to take for lunch on Wednesdays and Thursdays. However, he did remind me (when I asked if pesto pasta salad would be good for tomorrow's lunch) that he has a large number of loyalty points with the canteen scheme at work and they might be changing the system, so he needs to use them up too
* Prepare for winter - make sure we have matches and candles in, get blankets out, work out how to insulate our hall windows without ruining the view/light and line the curtains in Mr MV's office (easy) and dining room (harder, as nicer curtains!)
* Book in our outstanding experience vouchers for the rest of the year - we've decided on (not yet booked) one night away, but we have a £100 VED voucher to use, plus an afternoon tea in London and a Go Ape (but we'll probably switch this for something else).

Will investigate vouchers for cafes and the football food to help with costs.

I think that'll do. Generally spending will be focused and considered - but that's also usually the case anyway! We will have social events - have said we'll meet friend to finally meet her mystery man (who she's moving in with), think there'll be a funeral at the end of the month (date not confirmed yet, I'm not sending someone to their end prematurely!), and I should have my usual meet up with ex-Brownie friends, but that's usually not expensive. Meetings with evening class friends will be curtailed as we're back at evening class soon and will see each other there.

PS Prolific now standing at £71 for the month, with ~£5 to clear. Very happy with that!

savingholmes

Sounds like you've been ultra busy personally and that work is picking up. Pleased for you.

themadvix

Morning all,

Thanks SH, yes, just that 'back to school' feeling prompting me to get things done, I think. And harvest time, so squirrelling everything away. 

I've snipped my list above for September and popped it on my desktop as a reminder - I'm hopeless at referring back to stuff on here as I can never remember where I've put it. Hopefully it'll help me stay focused. List for today includes booking that hotel in Manchester with a voucher, so that's a start.

Mr Roofer popped round last night and has told us what we'll need to move for scaffolding to go up. He's ordering a skip apparently too (these things don't occur to me!). It'll save me lugging a large lump of concrete that's adorning the garden to the dump, but I still need to go as we have lots of oil to get rid of from gearbox change. Joy!

Popped to allotment last night and harvested two of my three (😂) romanesco cauliflowers - sooo pretty and definitely in the small but perfectly formed category!



I left the third in as the flowers (?) weren't beginning to separate quite yet, so it may get a little bit bigger. Lesson learnt for next year though to allow them more room (and it'll likely be wetter too, which will help).

Dinner was 'roast' with very low food miles - just the sausages and gravy! Carrots were bartered with allotment friend and the corn and potatoes are my own. Note to self, bigger is not better with baby corn - it starts to get tough!


Sent Mr MV off to work with  pesto pasta salad for lunch (pesto made from carrot tops and HG tomatoes). Dinner will be stir fry as there's a sulky bit of courgette and pepper in the bottom of the fridge, some sulky non-allotment carrots, half an onion and maybe I'll pop in the littlest romanesco for some colour and crunch! Here ends the excessive detail over food...

Finishing off some work for main client this morning, invoicing to do then and then a selection of other random jobs from my list. May pop to a nursery for some pansies for the garden later - we completely missed bedding plant season being in America and it would be nice to get some colour in for the autumn. Olio collection tonight, so likely to acquire stuff for tomorrow's lunch then.

MS things:
* Allotment produce
* Clicks and HW done
* YG survey - they're asking some very odd questions lately (would you rather live in Britain as it is today or in an autocratic Britain in the future??)
* Heard back from mattress manufacturer and I had to email retailer, so that's done - the manufacturer wants to send a technician out!
* Olio strawberries for dessert last night (and snacks have been Olio apples)

Gratitudes:
* Nature, for doing its thing and growing food for me - the satisfaction of growing brassicas from seeds to edible food is amazing, and truly understanding the effort that goes in means not one bit of it will be wasted!
* Continued sunshine
* Strawberries for dessert (I am trying to cut out the endless snacking on unhealthy stuff as the weight is creeping on, so nice meals are important)

Have a good day all!

the_cross_rabbit

Love romanesco, but it can be temperamental. It’s a great feeling when you look at your plate and realise how much you’ve grown yourself and the effort it’s taken for you to get it there.
CRx

Cheery_Daff

Very impressed with your growing! 😊😊