Resourcefulness: The budgeter's friend

foxgloves

Afternoon Sunbeams,
A few MSE-related happenings from the weekend.....
*Car Saga Part 397 (or at least that's what it feels like!) Remember that rear windscreen which got damaged while our car was in for its recent post-accident repairs? Company arranged to collect it on Fri, confirmed the day before that this would defo be happening & arranged a time. Mr F arranged to wfh as he can't get to work on public transport. We were pleased the company suggested they both collected & returned it as it saves us the hassle & petrol of driving to the other side of the nearest city centre in rush hour when we were not responsible for the damage. Chap arrived, car loaded onto transporter & set off. Half an hour later, garage phoned to say they couldn't fit the new glass after all as the specialist windscreen fitter only works a half day!!! Driver had to turn round & come back to us to drop car off. Re-arranged for next week. V annoying & completely avoidable on their part. They were v apologetic but we weren't happy.
*Car Saga Part 398. Remember the local garage did manage to re-set our locked infotainment screen without having to remove it, send it to Milton Keynes (which would have cost us £120)? Well, Mr F discovered it worked fine for radio but not for sat nav or anything requiring connectivity with his phone. Was about to return to garage when he remembered he had, had a new phone since last being able to use it (his phone managed a death slide off the top of the freezer the same weekend as the car accident & smashed). He borrowed my phone (same model as his old one) & connected that & it worked perfectly. So it looks as though the infotainment system must be an older version (car less than 3 years old!!) which is no longer fully compatible with his new phone. How to get round this teeth-gnashing annoyance without spending any more money? We have swapped phones. I have his new one (rarely if ever use sat-nav) & he has my old one which will connect with the car dashboard gubbins. We both had a moan about the sheer level of knock-on hassle we have had from that bloody car going into the back of us, & none of it our fault. Infuriating, but looks as though buying another new phone isn't necessary for now. Shopped from home, I guess.
*Conservatory deep-clean. Did on Saturday afternoon & it looks fab, so bright & clean. We emptied everything outside onto the courtyard & Mr F cleaned & scrubbed the room itself & re-adjusted a roof panel which had slipped (leak waiting to happen!) while I sorted & cleaned all the contents. Managed a bit of a fresh look just by using stuff we had - putting the fairy lights up differently, a bright summer tablecloth, just a few tropical plants as all the geraniums now outside waiting to go in their summer tubs/baskets, a few decorative  bits & pieces swapped with other stuff (more shopping from home). Moved a windchime outside so that it can actually jangle, which it couldn't while it was hanging on an inside wall. Sometimes a damn good clean, a change-around & a few swapsies can really give the impression of money having been spent when it definitely hasn't, can't it?
*Saturday morning charity shop find - a hardback copy of Allegra McCrevedy & Paul Doo-dah's "Economy Gastronomy" book for £1.99....& in very good condition.
A much more leisurely day today after all yesterday's cleaning. Have cut the rest of the rocket before it bolted & pulled a few plump radishes. Sowed more rocket. The squashes & courgettes I sowed have been coming up well with help from the heated propagator & I'm moving them down to the greenhouse as soon as they have germinated. A tromboncino & 2 more pumpkins have gone down there today & 2 more squashes have come up since then. Have done some surveys. Am on over £39 for May when I have been paid for everything, so will keep up with those this month. Intend to finish knitting new phone sock today  - naturally my 'new' phone didn't fit my case, so not wanting to shell out another £15, I decided I'd go old-style with shopped from home yarn.
Dinner is cooking itself in the slow cooker - Pulled BBQ brisket, which will be served in wraps with a mixed salad & l/o coleslaw. Apart from washing my hair, which will soon be going for the witchy string look again, I don't intend to do anything else. Mr F has volunteered for veg watering duties tonight.
Hope everyone has had a decent weekend,
F x

ladyholly

Well done on the phone swap. Excelleent mse. I am waiting to give our conservatory a spring clean when mr LH is away at the end of the month. Why am I waiting? Well the kitchen from the van, the electric cool box, the water container, old camping cooker and numerous tools are in there. Most of these will be going with him so clening in tere will be much easier. I just hope the weather is wet or too hot.

Blackcats

What annoying ongoing car sagas you are enduring.
@ladyholly - you made me smile with the contents of the conservatory.  It will definitely be easier to clean without those items in there. 

foxgloves

@Blackcats - Yes, it is unfortunately a saga which didn't end once the main repairs were completed. Hopefully the new glass will be fitted on Friday this time around.

@ladyholly - When all that stuff has been moved out of your conservatory, it will be much easier to clean & you can just take your time with it. A nice cooler day & you'll be on it.
F

Sun_Addict

The car saga is never ending, what a blooming faff. All because of someone else's carelessness! Fingers crossed you're on the home stretch now. 

Cheery_Daff

Gosh, what an avoidable nuisance you are having with the car!! 🙄 I do hope you see the back of it soon. Glad you had a clear out in the conservatory 😊 We almost never change things around, just often keep adding and adding 🙄😂 I can feel a spring clean coming on!

foxgloves

Thanks for your comments. Yes, it does feel never-ending & I still find myself wondering if that other driver was looking at his phone.
Busy start to the week. Have made use of free line drying for a big laundry load, baked bread, pruned an unruly cornus 'Midwinter fire' & cleared 3 areas of garden border. 4 more trays of summer bedding planted out. Veggie plot & greenhouse watered. Expecting wet weather tomorrow so will be tackling indoor tasks, but have set up another planting job not far from the back door, so that if we get a dry half an hour or so, I can pop out & do it.
Very little effort required for tonight's nosebag as will be serving leftover slow cooked bbq beef with rice & salad. 
Right, time to get my feet up for a few minutes.
F x

Less_Talk_and_More_Action

Hi Foxgloves. 
I wouldn't be surprised about the other driver using his phone.  I drive about 25,000 miles a year - and I constantly see people on their phones (holding them in their hands).  I find this incredible when some of them are driving very expensive cars and it wouldn't take them 5 mins to pair them to the car and be hands free (not that anyone is excused). I am hands free in the car but generally don't answer calls as I find it distracting even if hands free.  I hope it all concludes satisfactorily (although that doesn't make up for the time, frustration and general stress/annoyance at having to sort it all out in the first place when Mr F is blameless).

L x 

milann

So pleased you had a lovely birthday holiday. I looked at the new decade as a new start and can’t believe I’m already half way through it 😵‍💫
Is don’t think you go out to eat often but another perk f being 60 is many pubs have a lunchtime offer for us 😁

Devasha

Looking for advice please.I caught the rear end of a neighbours car with my tow bar which left the tiniest of marks on the plastic bumper. The rest of the back of the car is covered in paint chips and scratches.Even tho this is a barely visible dent which has not broken the paint workI have been told it would be necessary to respray the whole bumper.Am I obliged to put my neighbours car in a better position than it was as the respray will fix all their existing damage or should I just pay an amount towards the fix but not the whole cost. We’re it my car I would have said to forget it given the state of the car but she is talking about getting it fixed properly .