And now we go again...

themadvix

I, too, have had a back tooth out and apart from it removing some much needed wisdom (!) I don't notice it. But definitely not the couscous.... Hope he's feeling less sore soon.

beanielou

Can you watch the new series 'The Tube:Keep LOndon Moving'?  I am enjoying it 

savingholmes

Best wishes to Mr EH.

Great find on the garden centre. My plants - and the colourful splash - bring me so much joy too.

EssexHebridean

I'd got that new series on the tube in mind - Beanie you've just reminded me so thank you! I've now done the download to the TV box so it will be there to watch!

ROFL everyone can stop worrying about the couscous situation - it will be pasta this evening for MrEH and I will have a sachet of mixed grains of some description as an easy solution! 

jwil & Vix thanks for sharing your back tooth experiences as well - he has already had all his wisdom removed (!) so this will just be a slightly bigger toothless space on one side but yes, the dentist did say he thought it wouldn't cause any issues and himself would just adapt to it. I'm delighted to say he was already SO much happier just for not having the ache any more last night - even though that bit of his mouth was still a bit sore.

Thanks to everyone for popping by - it really does make me smile when I log in and see I have comments so thank you! It's always nice not to feel as though you're shouting into the void, eh! 

MSE Stuff:
- We're in the dead zone of course - both hurrah and boring - but banks are checked and all OK
- I have transferred the money for my lens across to my savings account with decent-ish interest with N@t10nw1de so it's in the right place to pay across to the card as and when - BUT I'm going to hold my nerve and leave it there for a while as it will still be earning interest for the time being that way. My inclination is just to get it cleared off, but that's daft considering the amount involved.
- Nipped in to T's last night for a specific item (which would have been from personal spends) and came out with £3.30 of totally different stuff as the offer I wanted on the other thing wasn't in place. Proper fritter spending, but the stuff I bought will all get eaten, and the coconut milk in particular was an excellent price. (60p a tin)
- Food spending now cleared off the card, and yes, we will be over budget this month. It is what it is - if I can nail April right down with some thorough and inventive meal planning, and the first bit of May, then we still ought to have a decent balance to use for holiday food which would be useful. 
- My new (expensive) insoles have arrived - having worn then for the first time this morning first impressions are REALLY good - they are a world better than anything else I have tried. The key point will be trying them in walking boots as those are what I really need the improvement in the footbed in. Might try that with the cleaner of my two pairs tomorrow and see how that goes - at that stage if I'm still impressed and the 40% off deal is still on I will probably buy another pair. 
-  Just need a few more oddments from PA to get my earnings this month to £20 which I'd be pretty pleased with. Of course the easter break will make them harder to come by though! 
- Looks like we'll be seeing a £2-ish increase on the broadband cost which while annoying, could be worse I guess. I need to remember to enter than into my budget sheet at some stage. 


Other stuff:
- Solar survey has happened this morning. Apparently we have "a lovely loft" - the chap was most appreciative of it being relatively clear, relatively clean, well boarded and well lit! It sounds like there is a minor cabling issue to be sorted, but he didn't raise any other concerns which is useful. 
- The chap who is going to do the garden might be able to do it Thursday if we can work around that - I'm very much hoping that MrEH could wangle a WFH day to enable it as that just might mean we will be able to start working on the bed over the weekend which would be incredibly useful. Fingers crossed! 
- The chap doing the roof might be coming today - I really want to get this one sorted now, not least as April can often be wet! 
- still planning the weekend to be a mix of just chilling at home, more garden stuff, and getting out and about a bit. 

Definitely looking forward to the long weekend I have to say - it'll be nice to have a run of days with no alarm set - although at the moment the weather doesn't look the most favourable, it's also far from the worst bank holiday weekend forecast we've ever seen! Right now I am also enjoying the advantage of the lighter traffic as the schools have started breaking up - I was parked up a good 10 minutes earlier than even the best of term-time runs through this morning which felt like such a win!

beanielou

Sad to report more ferry delays on the horizon. 

Chief exec of ferry building company finally sacked. New chief executive lives abroad! 

EssexHebridean

Well at least changes are being made - that's something. Apparently the berthing trials they were running for covering one of the outer isles routes have also proved unsatisfactory - on the face of it for us this is good as they have currently said they will be making no further changes to the outer isles timetables, but we know from experience that promises like that aren't worth the paper they are written on, from Calmac! 

In todays "exciting news" my new toy has arrived at Mum's and I will be heading round there to collect it this evening - yay! So pleased it has arrived ahead of the weekend when, all being well, I should have time to play a bit! 

MSE Stuff:
- I have been paid - money shuffled off into savings for a few days as it may as well earn "some" money in interest while I'm waiting to allocate it to all the usual places! That account is looking quite happy at the moment as it's got my lens money stashed in it as well! 
- Banks checked and all looking fine. 
- Small amount swept across to the VSP from my personal budget account.
- a scout through the freezer last night has lead to sausages, three root mash & veg for tea tonight which will do fine for a relatively straightforward mid week option. I'll probably throw the sausages (lamb & mint ones - yum!) in the airfryer I think.
- Another nice little flurry on PA last night and I am now over £24 which I am entirely delighted with! 
- Little free win which I can't recall mentioning previously - I was on my way to the office one day last week when I spotted two discarded wooden wine crates - the sort of sturdy ply construction ones with sliding lids. Excellent condition, so in true womble style I nabbed them. Had the car near enough the office to make carrying them back to it a possibility yesterday so they are now at home, in our shed, awaiting a use to be assigned to them! 
- Thanks to a fairly grim weather forecast the garden work has now been pencilled in for Saturday and I am really crossing my fingers it can happen then! 
- MrEH placed an order yesterday from our favourite local-ish brewery as they were doing a 15% off deal for the Easter weekend. Looking forward to that arriving now - the cost will get split between us I think. 
- New (expensive) insoles are in my second favourite pair of walking boots today - these are the boots that I bought and almost immediately regretted due to how heavy they are, and that they also didn't feel wonderfully comfortable  through the soles but they definitely feel better with the different insoles. I'm hoping the weather plays ball for a walk at lunchtime and another walk this evening and then that will give me a proper vibe on whether to order a second pair of them although annoyingly it looks like the discount code has finished now so I'll be waiting for a bit anyway!

jwil

Great that your new toy has arrived in time for the weekend.  Hope the insoles made a difference.

EssexHebridean

Morning! Thanks jwil - I think they are - the boots I was wearing yesterday still weren't the best, but I think that may have been partially at least sock-related. I'm going to try the other boots over the weekend - with different socks - and will see how they feel. The insoles are back in my usual walking shoes today albeit the older pair, and those are certainly even more comfy than usual, plus far more supportive, so that's a win. 

I had a little play around with the new lens last night and I'm mightily impressed - I'm looking forward to getting out with it over the weekend and really seeing how it performs. 

Well hurrah for the final day at work before a long weekend! It's looking like a slightly "mixed weather" long weekend for sure, but then when are they not in the UK? Anyway - it also looks like we will manage to line up a decent mix of indoor and outdoor pottering, plus a few decent walks too, so all good. 

MSE Stuff:
- MrEH has now been paid, and that pay features the final part of his tax rebate as well, which we have agreed will get split 50/50 between my pension and the solar pot. (Solar pot transfer has already gone, the pension one needs me to have access to my debit card)
- Joint account surplus month end OP to the mortgage - £186.23 knocked off there and a nicely round balance for the end of the month too! 
- I am informed that the OP there also knocks another month off the term which is ace! 
- MrEH's eagle eyes spotted that the EmmandEss near his work had Y/S'd caramel hot cross buns this morning so he bought a pack, and is going to go back for another at lunchtime I think. one pack will go to the freezer and the other will make a nice treat over the next few days! 
- Remainder of the joint account surplus has also gone off to the solar pot which is now looking rather better fed than it did! indeed - when the £500 "not going to the Coventry" money is transferred across it will be at just a few pounds below £2k so that's a good chunk towards the installation. 
- I will set aside some time to do the new month money shuffling over the weekend, and that will probably include a quick review of all the pots to see where we are at. It's only a short while now before the cottage balance for our holiday needs to be paid, too.
- Food this evening will be a chilli I think - I've got mince out anyway. 
- Lots of useful looking coupons on this week's Lil's offers so I've activated any I think we might use and we'll see where we go from there.
- Nothing useful on the C0-0p app this week but we do still have the 25p off one so will probably still pop by for milk to use that rather than letting it expire. 

Other stuff:
- We are going to pop to the pub this evening again - we're both agreed that it's a habit we are really enjoying and this week will be even  better from the perspective of it being the start to the weekend for both of us rather than just for me. I have remembered to pop some of our remaining CAMRA vouchers for this year into my bag too - they finish on 31/3 and we still have loads as we hardly ever use them! I will use one this evening though. I don't always make use of the discount scheme but I will cheerfully use the vouchers in a JDW pub as that chain can afford to take the profit hit! 
- The beer delivery should be happening tomorrow as that is their standard day for our area and they haven't told us anything different. It should work out OK as they usually deliver in the AM, and I can just pop and get the shopping while MrEH waits in for them if needed. It might mean that if we head out for our usual Friday morning walk we need to pop a note on the door, though. 
- If it looks like the garden work might actually happen on Saturday then we'll need to buy more compost for that bed - probably more of the same stuff we have as that is decently "fibrous" for the purpose. I think for more sowing we're likely to try a different one though as ideally we prefer something a little finer in texture for seeds. 
- Regardless of the above, the stuff currently in the covered propagators will need to come into uncovered ones OR head for the mini greenhouse depending on how their progress looks. We've got true leaves appearing on a good number of toms though so I think they will be heading for cooler climes! 
- Also need to consult the list to see what else needs sowing at this stage, and I want to get some seeds into the front as well - certainly some of my saved aquilegia seeds, and we will probably empty some of the various wildflower type seeds we have in there too - we've got a number of freebie packs of Cornflower seeds from when Morries were giving them away so those are a good starting point.

I think that's about all from me for now. Enjoy your "sunshine and showers Thursday" all! (Down here at least it feels like the April showers have arrived early!)

themadvix

Your weekend plans sound lovely and I'm glad you're pleased with the lens!

There'll be more seed sowing here this weekend too. Your toms sound like they're a bit ahead of mine, but I'm getting true leaves on my peppers, so it'll be time to get them out and free up some space in the heated propagator (the only issue being where they go, given the cats' ability to eat/knock plants over). 

Enjoy your pub trip this evening

ETA, I meant to say that I'm happy with the BnCoo seed compost for sowing and seedlings - it's nice and fine and seems to suit them.

PennysIntoPounds

Loving your OP work.
Enjoy the pub, good remembering on the vouchers- we still have tons too!