Escape to the country & living off savings

Skint_yet_Again

Fantastic news SQS, well done knocking 7 years off your mortgage. So pleased for you ☺️

Skint_yet_Again

Had a lovely evening with friends last night. Nice dinner and glass of wine. 

Quiet day today. Washed all spare bedding and it all dried outside in the winds before the rain late afternoon. It’s now howling round the house. Hope everyone is safe in the storm. 

MovingForwards

I'm not sure how your diner and kitchen are set up and whether this would work, but have a look into invisible doors or having a small stud wall put in front of an existing wall ao doors can slide into it and be almost invisible. Even bi-folding doors to almost be invisible and only take a bit of space when opened are worth a look. All will help keep the heat trapped. You may also need a bigger or 2nd rad in the kitchen if the existing one isn't warming the room.

You're brave going to aqua, it's the walk to the car / waiting for it to warm up that gets me.

Congratulations SQS, that's a great achievement.

Skinty, what are your plans for this week and how's your weather looking?

thriftylynny

Sorry been really poorly last couple days but  yes please SQS re a heads up on those energy sessions if poss , would be so useful to me , I haven't made much cos i'm always after the horse has bolted ! ..& thankyou for allowing SYA , very kind of you both ! 
Lovely healthy meals planned SYA , I am such an unimaginative cook , but I have dug my slow cooker out recently having been in cupboard years ! 
Also well done becoming MF SQS , a real biggie twds retirement plans ! 

Skint_yet_Again

Sorry to hear you have been poorly thriftylynny hope you are feeling better now 

Thanks for the suggestions MF, I will have to have a think about doors but it may then make the kitchen very cold. 

Sunny day here today and very windy. Washing is just finishing in the machine & will be hung out to line dry. I am waiting for a call from my gp. One of my meds has been changed to a different make with a different shape & no coating and they are difficult to swallow. My chemist has told me I need to get the doc to specify a particular brand on my prescription. 

Aquafit tomorrow and Friday. Will meet up with my friend after aquafit for cuppa on Tuesday. I am out with DF & niece & baby on Thursday to visit my cousin and his wife. 

I will be glad to see the back of January. It’s always a difficult month & anniversary of DM passing 😢

February will be a spendy month as it’s my friends birthday & I said I would take us out for lunch, new tyres are due soon & boiler service due. All will be covered by birthday/ car / annual bills pots. 

Pork is in the slow cooker for tonight. 😋

Skint_yet_Again

Am still in bed this morning. Feel a bit snuffly, hope I’m not going down with something. The forecast is for rain and snow & high winds. I’m supposed to be going to aquafit so I need to get up and eat soon and see how I feel. 

The heating has not been on as much since this mild spell started. It’s 15* this morning so I’ve just popped it on to warm up to 17-18 so I can have a shower. 

I need to get milk on my way home from aquafit. I will have a pulled pork wrap for lunch with cheese, natural yoghurt and sweet chilli sauce and freeze the rest of the pork for other meals. 

Skint_yet_Again

Felt ok this morning once I got up and had a shower so I went to aquafit. Lots of flooding on the back roads. Pool was warm and it was a very energetic session. We often use foam dumbbells under the water as part of the exercises so it’s a full body workout with the resistance of the water. 

This afternoon I cooked swede & carrot mash in the microwave plus broccoli and cabbage in my steamer. I have some for dinner tonight with pulled pork warmed in gravy. Leftovers will be frozen. I have one portion of pulled pork for another wrap for lunch tomorrow (using the last low carb wrap from the freezer) and 2 portions in the freezer. I am making a mince beef chilli in the slow cooker tomorrow. 

SuzeQStan

Glad you are feeling better SYA - horrid outside here too.  Aquafit sounds brilliant - you are brave tho getting out in this horrible weather.  

Just had a visit from someone collecting some Olio food from me and bless her she has been stuck on motorway last 2 hours trying to get here! 

Food sounds lovely you are a really good cook

Skint_yet_Again

Thanks SQS, I think I am a basic cook, nothing fancy, mostly just chuck it all in the slow cooker and hope for the best 😆

The wind has been howling round the house all night. Another disadvantage of being an end of terrace it’s like a wind tunnel between terraced blocks of 4. 

One fence panel is down in the back garden so I may need to get DF to help once it gets lighter and the wind drops, unless my neighbour sorts it. They are lovely neighbours & the chap is a handyman / gardener for some of the locals. I think the boundaries are shared but they replaced the front fences when I moved in & when I asked about sharing they said that side was their fence. Will see what happens. 

MovingForwards

Your food is hearty, comforting and sounds delicious!

Boundaries might be detailed in the deeds, doesn't matter if it's the previous owners as you've not had yours yet.

Glad you made it to aqua. There's a lot of sniffles going around and possibly as socialising isn't back to how it was.

Let's hope that was the last of the storms.