Mortgage Free now aiming for FIRE

Watty1

Love the star.   Have fun kitchen shopping 

Mrs_Money_Penny

That star is fabulous 

TallGirl

Thank you Watty and Mrs Money Penney. We forgot to turn it on before we left yesterday and the solars had run out by the time be got back so it was a bit sad. 

Kitchen shop was really good they have found a supplier of quarts workstops (very local to here) who can do a plain white one in the right length. We can then have the sage green fronts we wanted but they will be glass selves and white insides. To go wood would be super expensive and I am not even going there. He is coming to show us the samples on Monday so we can see it up with the rest of the kitchen. Only worry is the old white kitchen will look white against the new white stone top. We shall see. The cost is £10K for the peninsular and the coffee station but need to add electrics for the hot tap and also a brickie to do the rest of the end wall so they match. We can colour match the walls in the same sage green which will help tone down the white. Also our next dinning room table will defo not be white but wood instead. 

My sister is popping over on Monday to see the samples so that will be really nice so get her opinion too. We thought we could enter a ginger bread comp to get £3K off the kitchen but that is only if you spend more than we are so that is a shame but the one entry they had already is stunning and mine was just going to be a prebought one from IKEA. 

We then went to the big shop which we should have done a click and collect on but did not so it was a bit crap trying to find everything but we got what we needed at least. Then we have a meal in the shopping centre a place we really like it came to £25 so that was quite good. We did also have a drink in IKEA which we also went to and got the frames for the new posters, some draw dividers for the shed and pool bar plus a blind. That may not fit as DG managed to lose the measurements in the restaurant at IKEA. I am getting so bored with that shop but here there are hardly any people in it so it is really easy to get in and out. 

I have also spoken to the people who do Pergolas and they have a black Friday offer on but I cannot find the headspace to work out what I want right now. It is between £6 or £7K for a pergola so about what I thought. My redundancy which I was not expecting would pretty much pay for the kitchen and the pergola so I think I will go ahead as it will make a big difference to how we live. 

The neighbours cat get in most days and nick their food but today they saw him and there was a bit fight. He is tiny and mine and big and its two against one. Mine hurt his paw but at least the little one was ok. I just wish he would not come in but if I get the chip system going again on the flap then gi9nger cannot get in. I do love my cats but.... One also managed to put muddy paw prints all over the floor yesterday at least I have not cleaned it yet. 

My wheelbarrow arrived and I managed to put it together and do about 1/2 the garden so that is progress. I came in to have some lunch but DG wants me to wait until she is finished with work. I am so hungry but I will wait for her but if its more than 1/2 hour I am not going to wait. 

Finally got around to looking at flights for March for our golf trip to Morocco. Sadly as expected you cannot fly direct from here its either UK or Norway making the flights about 10 or 8 hours instead of 4 hours as you have to wait between flights. The prices are not too bad but when you add luggage and golf clubs its just too much money. I am going to tell them we cannot make it and lose our £100 deposit. Shame but it would just cost too much and hopefully they will let us go next year instead. My niece could not cat sit either so that was annoying anyway. 

I made some caramelised almonds in the air fryer yesterday it was so easy I would defo do it again do not have to stir it all the time like on a pan and so much cheaper than buying them. 200 grams of almonds, 125 grams of sugar and 75 ml of water. I added a bit of cinnamon but otherwise through it all in the air fryer at 180 for 20 min do shake it about and it comes out like at the shops. 

Right off to make lunch now I am so hungry and as predicted DG is still working. 

TallGirl

Quick to do list

This weekend 
Hang up new pictures in lounge and fit old ones plus clocks
Move table into the carport 
Hang 4 pictures in spare room
Start photo wall in pool bar
Local cinema on Saturday
Clean house DONE
Fit cupboard door to freezer 

To do
Hem the lounge curtains 
Find bedspread in the UK and curtains for main bedroom
Make a cushioned seat cover for the toy box 
Book flu jab UK
List my stuff on Vinted. 
Book hotel and flights for Morocco NOT going sadly
Buy goodies for friend I am staying with in the UK. DONE

Garden jobs:
Continue to mulch

Shopping

TallGirl

So that was that weekend they do go so fast even when I have two days off. This week I only have Friday off but we are now in the final full week of being employed. 

Cinema was really cute and very comfy but the film was not great so that was a shame. You could buy beers and wine so that was a bonus. Yes we did have a beer each.  

We did get a lot done on the to do list but there is still plenty to do. We both agreed we need another picture for the lounge so going to see what is needed for the bedroom and go from there so pay less postage. We do have a frame that could work so that is fine. 

We have signed up for a 8 weeks bootcamp outdoors and the instructor is really struggling to get it started. it is meant to be 1 to 4 people so sounded good. He was planning on doing 1 session this week and then the rest when we get back which we thought was silly but ok. He then tried to change the time of the one today so we have now said start after we get back and no thank you to any online sessions as they would be the full price and not worth it. Lets hope he gets more organised after we get back or I will be asking for my money back. 

Got some xmas decs up in the house and it looks really nice but we could actually do with more (we do have a a lot by the way). I am not going to have a real tree this year my sister has a huge one and we go to hers anyway. DG has got hers up and it is quite large so that is all good. We managed a quick trip into town yesterday checking out the golf simulator and the other gym we might join after bootcamp. Look like we can pay monthly as I am not committing to a whole year no way. We are way too flaky. 

Work is really dragging but quite a bit to do. I need to complete this report and then hopefully finish the other work tomorrow afternoon. It is snowing today and snowed overnight so lovely and christmassy when you look out of the window. 

Before we leave:
Pack
Clean house

This weekend 
Hang up new pictures in lounge and fit old ones plus clocks DONE
Move table into the carport 
Hang 4 pictures in spare room did not want to work so given up and will get another type of picture
Start photo wall in pool bar
Local cinema on Saturday DONE
Fit cupboard door to freezer 

To do
Hem the lounge curtains 
Find bedspread in the UK and curtains for main bedroom
Make a cushioned seat cover for the toy box 
Book flu jab UK
List my stuff on Vinted. 

Garden jobs:
Continue to mulch

TallGirl

Morning had a lovely time with my sister and she had loads of good ideas for the kitchen. IT is now slightly more expensive but we are getting a lovely oak worktop which will really warm the room up and look so much nice than the laminate option or the bright white stone that are our only other choice. Cost is £10.5k which is a lot and I feel I have to get another quote as well. They can get is an insert that fits in our main draw under the cooker so that is worth it as it is a special size but £30 is a lot for a plastic one. 

Decorated the pool bar and the house is almost done but now we have no access to the pool bar loft as DG broke the pull down lock on the ladder. So annoying. 

I have also decided to move £60K over as I must pay my mum back. She will get £43K and the rest is for kitchen, pool bar doors etc. MoneyCorp rang me because they recon the £ will take a nose dive with the budget so had to be done now. I forgot to say I got to use them from seeing them via MSE and it got me a cashback. £575 from the money I moved last Spring for the house which is a nice bonus.

It is a bit scary to think i have one wage left but hopefully our self-employed work will take off when DG is ready. Right now she is tackling the big cases that has taken years to progress and our nice pay offs. I did not get any work done yesterday so really must catch up today as I do not want to do much next week as I know the team will book stuff in my diary. I have 3 meetings today so quite a bit anyway. 

The carpenter has come back with confirmation of the door for the pool bar it is about £250 more. I need to reply to him to say go ahead as the current garage door is not the best in terms of insulation and it does make the room colder than it need to be so more expensive to heat. 

We had a load of snow yesterday and it is still here today. About 1/2 foot I would say. Very pretty but I did not leave the house yesterday my sister said it was horrid to drive in so did the kitchen guy who got stuck in traffic. I did reflect had it been the UK everything would have stood still yesterday. Here there was just a lot of traffic jams as people got used to driving in the snow again as it was the first snowfall. 

My sister also fixed some brand new Xmas lights my mum must have given us and they now work so if we get the chance might put them up otherwise we have them for next year. 

DG also sprung on my last night that she does want to go and see her friends this time so we are now fitting in a 2 1/2 hour drive (if traffic is good) up to see them and back before getting the train to Gatwick and staying there overnight. I know it is extra money the hotel at Gatwick but it is just so much more relaxing than going up in the morning. 

Before we leave:
Pack
Clean house
Move table into the carport 
Fit cupboard door to freezer 
Register the cats at the vets 

To do
Hem the lounge curtains 
Find bedspread in the UK and curtains for main bedroom
Make a cushioned seat cover for the toy box 
Book flu jab UK
List my stuff on Vinted. 

Garden jobs:
Continue to mulch

TallGirl

I am really struggling to get work done but the robo vacuum cleaner and mop came back into stock in Denmark so I ordered it. I am sick of the pawprints everywhere and now we do not have a cleaner it is all down to me while DG is working flat out. The same one is £500 in the UK and £606 here but obviously the plug would be wrong and delivery would be £62 so better to get it from here also in case something is wrong with it. It will be delivered tomorrow so hopefully have time to set it up. I have never had one but it is going in the guest bathroom and then the cats water have been moved to the utility room. I think it will work well as that room is in direct access to the lounge dinner and the kitchen which is where it gets really messy. There is also a sink to empty and fill it up again. 

Also booked hotel at Gatwick £72 but we will just get a TGTG bag and breakfast will be via our free lounge pass with DGs credit card. Still need train tickets from London down South and Train ticket from South to Gatwick but cannot really prebook sadly. 

Right now back to work I have to get this report done by end of today so please tell me off if I come on here again. 

TallGirl

I did get my report done and sent off last night so that was a relief now I do not actually have that much to do just 3 meetings, close some projects and make sure I copy all my previous work I want to take with me. 

The robo vacuum cleaner is already at the shop ready for collection the delivery system is actually really good even though you pay for it and they do not have Amazon. DG is going down to town to do her Danish lesson but I am not sure she will have time to collect it so I might go later when I am done with my meetings. I do also need to go and collect my Vinted purchase of some trainers. 

The snow is all gone now which is nice it is just a bit wet. I still have not done the mulch but I do hope to do it before we got to England. We practised Danish last night with DG and she feels it is helping. She is really up against it with work those big cases are moving slowly but there are lots of deadlines. She will be working when we are in the UK it is quite handy that she now has a laptop and we are also in an office for 3 days so she might be able to do a bit of her own work over there even though it is with her other employer. 

I got all the money transferred yesterday so the money should hit my Danish account soon and I can pay my mum back. Then in January I will look at everything and decide if I invest again via my English firms or transfer everything over here. The £ really is bad right now so I suspect I might be leaving it in the UK as the charges on investments are much lower than here. I wont be able to take advantage of ISA's etc (well I can but I am still going to have to pay tax off it here.) How they work that out I really do not know. 

I know now how much the big work will be the door in the pool bar (DG will pay me back for that) and the kitchen so the only other expense will be the car. We can use my dads car as long as we want as he is definitely not driving again. Problem is we do not have any paperwork on it so it would be difficult to sell anyway. It is actually fine for our needs. 

Just messaged by niece about cat sitting she still has a key so that is handy. I did want to show her how things works in the pool bar but I think the only time she can get down here is Saturday and we have to leave at 8am. The joys! She really does not want to spend the whole time here which I totally get but DG wants her to for the cats. We do leave them overnight and its totally fine so hopefully we can find a middle ground. I do want my niece to say yes next time as we really need her so best to go with what she can manage it is 10 days so a long time for an 18 year old lol. 

OK I best get on with it. I look forward to trying the vacuum cleaner out the big cat left huge mud prints on the tiles so I left them to see how it works. 

Before we leave:
Pack
Clean house
Move table into the carport 
Fit cupboard door to freezer 
Register the cats at the vets 

To do
Hem the lounge curtains 
Find bedspread in the UK and curtains for main bedroom
Make a cushioned seat cover for the toy box 
Book flu jab UK
List my stuff on Vinted. 
Apply to get 25% of works pension out. 

Garden jobs:
Continue to mulch

TallGirl

Morning so far this morning we have played with Rob the Robo vacuum cleaner and he is very clever and quite noisy. He is currently charging but he has mapped the entire house and cleaned 62m2 so about 2/3 to go. I am lobing not having to do it myself and he mops as well. We have discovered you need an accessories pack every 6 months with new brushes and bags etc. It is £140 but needs must. It is just too expensive to have a cleaner and this way I only have to dust and clean surfaces not actually do anything with the floor. 

We have also done a bit of black Friday shopping. The place we bought our curtain rails had a sale on their rugs. They are not quite the size we want but we got 40% off ( two discount codes worked at the same time) so £15 per rug is an excellent price and they are colourful like we wanted so that is the 2 guest bedrooms sorted. Our bedroom will have to wait until we know what colours we are going with. 

We also go some cushion covers and some inserts and I hope they will look ok with the rest of the room. The sofa is so large it will be nice to have quite a few dotted around. 

I have only got one meeting today so I might go and register the cats at the vets and also take the stuff to the dump and the charity shop as my niece is coming tomorrow so there wont be a lot of time before we go. 

DG missed the Danish lesson yesterday but she has one tomorrow I could go with her and do all of the above while she has her lesson. The snow is at least now gone and it has dried out a bit. I can hopefully get back to shifting compost onto the garden before the next snowfall. 

Anyway have a lovely Thursday. 

TallGirl

Rob the Robo is amazing honestly it cleans so well and is so easy to use. The cats are looking a bit strangely at it but not scared so that's all good and all I have to do now is to wipe down surfaces, moves things off the floor and dust before he gets going. We are going to try and have it on twice a week to keep on top of the pawprints and cat fur that is always flying around. 

£91 spent on Long Tall Sally, £10 off and that also means I get clothes in England and do not have to bring it over. That was a dress, skirt, yoga pants and a track suit so I am quite happy with that. I have gone a size smaller as I really do want to slim down. Luckily bootcamp straight after we get back so that should help. 

DG has her Danish lesson at 10am so I am going with her to drop stuff off at the charity shop. I will also register the cats at the vets which needs doing. I will also see if we can get some second hand chairs I am now hosting a family lunch for about 15 people in Feb or March but I can borrow off my sister so that is handy. 

Right best get off then.