A Better View 🌄

Merlin's_Beard

Surely £300 a week is just every night or every other night?

beanielou

It must be every meal. 

South_coast

It was every night after the kids had gone to bed and after they'd all had a healthy dinner together. The comical thing was that they'd brought in the camera crew and Dr to try and fathom out a) why they'd gained weight when they were eating so healthily; and b) why they were struggling to save for a deposit on a house. I'm sure it was all contrived for the cameras, but it was quite entertaining 🤣!

LadyWithAPlan

Are you already taking in pension contributions? I am not clear what you meant  but sounds like you are for you.
I meant that I add to my sipp via my Vang  via my ltd company and that amount say £10k a year goes as a business expense as I am also a ltd co director so it reduces the corp tax bill as its an expense to the business so no tax at source.

Fortune_Smiles

LadyWithAPlan said:

Are you already taking in pension contributions? I am not clear what you meant  but sounds like you are for you.
I meant that I add to my sipp via my Vang  via my ltd company and that amount say £10k a year goes as a business expense as I am also a ltd co director so it reduces the corp tax bill as its an expense to the business so no tax at source.

We've not made any further pension contributions since Mr F left work but could do so and, yes, would get the Company to pay those to reduce Corporation Tax.  Not sure we'll get to that point but have it in mind as an option.

Fortune x

Fortune_Smiles

There's no place like home 🏠

What a blustery night.  I lost a lot of sleep worrying that I wasn't wearing my ruby slippers 😂 So I'm tired today but my mojo is gradually returning and I've been a little more productive.

Mr F took an inspection tour this morning and reported that the homestead had survived virtually unscathed.  One of our rotten fences blew over but Mr F has propped it back up and it will fine until it's planned replacement takes place.

The boiler didn't like the storm either and refused to ignite until the wind died down.  Thank goodness we now have a safe, working log burner 🔥

I forgot to mention earlier that our water bill has gone up,  We couldn't understand why we'd used so much more water this year then remembered the emergency sheep homing in our field.  Mr F was away at the time so Friendly Farmer connected the water trough and damaged the pipework.  We didn't realise it was leaking for several months 😲  But on the upside, our electricity bill has come down.  Significantly.  The impact of having Uncle F in the Annexe, lockdown and energy bill support payments has finally filtered through and our bill is now reflecting our actual usage.  Hoorah! 😁

No Tai Chi or exercise as today is a rest day.  Breakfast was Mushroom Hash with Poached Eggs on a tortilla.  We had Jerusalem Artichoke & Leek Soup for lunch with buttered, wholemeal, breadmaker bread.  Supper was Roasted Red Pepper Pasta Sauce, with some sliced chipolata sausages added, on wholemeal pasta.

I have crunched the numbers again and have settled on a plan to draw monies from the Company.  It will probably mean we don't get paid anything until the end of March but we can manage that.

Sadly, the kettle gave up today (probably in sympathy with the boiler) and, as our toaster has been playing up for months too, I ordered replacements for both.  Got them for a sale price and a tiny amount of cashback.

FDawg is due his bath tomorrow and Mr F has meetings so I've arranged to meet a friend for lunch while waiting..  The new jigsaws arrived today so I will probably set one up tomorrow evening.

Soooo looking forward to a quiet night's sleep 🥱

Sleep tight all

Fortune x

badmemory

There's nothing quite like a jigsaw for keeping you out of mischief.  I have rather a lot of wasgijs that I am working my way through.  The great thing is that with a memory like mine I can do them & a year later do them again & I have forgotten what the picture is going to be.

Fortune_Smiles

badmemory said:

There's nothing quite like a jigsaw for keeping you out of mischief.  I have rather a lot of wasgijs that I am working my way through.  The great thing is that with a memory like mine I can do them & a year later do them again & I have forgotten what the picture is going to be.

I'm the same BM.  The jigsaw we did over Christmas was one I'd done before and forgotten.  It was from the Rav£nsburg£r Curious Cupboards Collection and I've just bought a further 2 in the set from the Bay.  I love all the little details you discover when you put them together.

Fortune x

Fortune_Smiles

Wait a minute Mr Postman 💌


Mr F and I got very excited this morning as our new kettle and toaster were due to be delivered 😊 Except they weren't 🙁  Apparently the driver couldn't find us.  So now it's a waiting game to see when they'll re-deliver.

Mr F has been in meetings today so I dropped FDawg off for his bath and then picked up a friend to go for lunch.  The groomer's costs have gone up which I'm not surprised at but it is making FDawg's pampering session a bit of a luxury.  However, we don't have the facilities to bath him properly at home, and it's very hard on our backs, so I think we'll need to continue.  I was very disciplined at the pub and had a soup lunch with a de-caf coffee - even bought the mint chocolate home to have as my after dinner treat this evening. Costs will be met from my personal spends.

The veg box and grocery shop are due today and have come in under budget so that's good.

Mr F completed an induction with a new client and has been booked for a week's work in the spring and another in the summer.

We had leftover mushroom hash on tortillas for breakfast, Mr F finished up yesterday's soup for lunch and there's leftover pasta sauce with chipolata sausage for supper.

One of my blood pressure readings was almost normal today 🥳  I shall keep on doing what I'm doing and hope it keeps moving in the right direction.  Mr F is off to a fitness class this evening so, while he's out keeping fit and fab,  I'm intending to do an hour's Tai Chi and the 10 minute session from the aerobics series (the 5 minute session was super easy).

A little question for you.  My friend who I had lunch with today is a very young looking 70 year old.  Our very friendly waitress complimented us on our hair and makeup and, when my friend mentioned her age, asked her if she'd had any work done 😲  Is it ok to ask that these days?  Am I out of touch? 😂

Answers on a post please.

Fortune x

Cheery_Daff

I have no idea whether it's 'acceptable' but I suspect it stems from the general idea that 70 is 'old' and 'old' is 'bad',  and therefore if you don't look what people imagine to be old, then it must be because you have had something done to yourself - and not because our general perceptions of what 70 years old look like are skewed.

In this case, I imagine she was just complementing you both on being beautiful 😊 

But I still have issues with the idea that it's surprising that 'old' people can look good...