And now we go again...

PennysIntoPounds

Lots of great MSE news, congrats! Do you have plans for the Amazon voucher?

EssexHebridean

I don't think we have yet PiP, to be honest. We have noticed that some of the plant people have Amazon shops though so that's a definitely a possibility as there are bits we will want for the garden. The RSPB as well - so we may consider adding to our squirrel proof feeders. 

It does feel quite nice having some money come and find us though - we don't generally tend to be people that happens to!  

Another possibility for the remaining tax rebate when it lands might be to start building PBs again - we've talked about beginning to add to them again so this could be a good prompt to make a start on that. 

lucielle

That’s great MSE news!  Lots of lovely OPs and pot filling. 

L

foxgloves

Ooooh, nice to have some unexpected bits of cashola! And isn't it a positive feeling allocating them when they do arrive? Think it is because they are generally so rare! Normally we are posting about bills & payments going out & stuff going kaput & needing to be replaced, so anything involving actual extra ££s has to be good!
F

lucielle

Hi I made the tarka Dahl recently (posted on my thread) about it). It took the split peas ages to cook do you have any tips. It was lovely BTW so thanks for the recipe. 

L

beanielou

Great news on the refund. 

jwil

Great news on the tax refund and the amazon voucher.  Lucky escape from the old flat as well!

EssexHebridean

Hi L - glad you liked the dahl - it is an absolutely lovely one! As far as I know the only way of encouraging the split peas to cook faster is to give them a really decent soak first. If they are soaked then thoroughly drained there is no reason why you can't still do the step where you cook them gently in the spiced oil before adding the liquid, but you may want to reduce the amount of water you add as well - you can always add more later in the process if needed. Last time I made it I used the PC to do the cook - while it was obviously a lot faster I should have reduced the water by at least a third as it was still very liquid when it had depressurised and I opened the lid. I suspect the additional cooking it needed to reduce and thicken it may have offset the saving from using the PC in the first place! 

Thanks for popping by everyone - it's a lovely bright sunny day down here, AND the traffic was miles better this morning as well so I'm calling that a win! 

MSE Stuff:
- Transfers of the tax rebate to the mortgage and Savings for Solar pot were made yesterday
- Transfer of the tax rebate to my pension was dealt with this morning.
- Banks checked this morning and all is good.
- Small transfer made to cover off my cloud storage fee (99p) from the card. 
- Heating didn't fire at all yesterday evening in spite of me tweaking the thermostat up fractionally when we got in as we both agreed it might be a bit chilly later if we didn't. 
- MrEH fed his Oyster yesterday on the way home - that should be the final time this month as long as he doesn't unexpectedly have to go in to London any extra days. 
- Unless MrEH's car needs more diesel for our planned Easter weekend day out, that will I think be everything out of the joint account this month now - fingers crossed. 
- Had a quick scan of the freezer last night and have decided on fish for tonight - we've got some lightly dusted sole fillets which can be popped in the airfryer, and that should mean I can use the remaining slightly sprouty tatties up for mash as well. Veg will be the remaining broccoli and perhaps some peas. This could yet become fishcakes though using some tinned salmon - we'll see! 
- Shopping list for the week is taking shape as well - it will need a bit more work before I go shopping tomorrow.

I have a plan to pop to the pub after work this evening - the weather/cutlery related chain has their beer festival on at the moment and I walk past a rather good one on my way back to the car. I popped in last week as they had a particular favourite beer on that we rarely get in these parts, and the same thing applies this week - albeit with a different beer, so I am hoping it is still on by the time I get there later! (For the beer fans it is Titanic Chocolate & Vanilla Stout - last week's was Otter Brewery "Dark"). The pub concerned is a Good Beer Guide entry and they really take pride in looking after their beers - which isn't the case with all the pubs in that chain, sadly!  I must make sure that I add some of the CAMRA discount vouchers to my purse at some stage, as I'm fully in favour of robbing the chain of as much profit as possible, where I can! The spend will of course come from my personal spends. 

EssexHebridean

Today is NOT a NSD. I have just bought a new piece of camera equipment which I have been obsessing cheerfully about for the past year. I am still viewing this as MSE because:
- It was bought for the best price I found after extensive shopping around
- The money is already in savings for it
- I have bought on a CC for the S75 protection
- that CC will be paid off IN FULL before any interest is due
- the item will give me a huge amount of pleasure

:-) 

Now I just need to send "hurry up!" vibes to the company I have purchased from! 

redofromstart

Makes perfect sense to me, especially if the price is good. Is it because the camera equipment show thing is on?