And now we go again...

greenbee

We've just put Billy bookcases in the room I use for work videos. As we were redecorating, we cut out the skirting where they were going which means they sit flush against the wall (they have cut-outs, but they're only for very narrow skirtings, so if you have deep skirting it is well worth doing rather than painting - you can keep the old skirting ready to re-fix if you decide to move them at some point. 

jwil

Glad you had a nice time away   I also like David Baldacci books.

EssexHebridean

Happy Frugal Friday all - well hopefully we’re all being frugal, although my visit to Lil’s earlier didn’t feel it, particularly…hmmm! 

Thanks Vix - yes, I was leaning towards the “sow them in modules” approach for that very reason - it may well just be 3 or 4 in ordinary flimsy plastic pots now as we have a few of those and they are now unused of course as we are mostly past seedling stage! (Or thought we were!) 
BM - yep, and we’ve all been there, raging quietly at ourselves, have we! That reminds me, I must reinstate the standing order instruction ready to move money to PBs at the end of the month… 

Greying - I came SO close to that course of action after the “big flood” where it turned out that they’d just let the damned toilet overflow and done nothing about it… 🤬 Of course we had no option then but to redecorate the hallway including flooring, and I was in such a panic that it would happen again and without us being there we’d come back to find the (expensive!) flooring trashed…thankfully it never happened, but I vowed them that as soon as I could stop being at the mercy of that level of stress caused by things outside our control, I would! 

Greenbee we are a very “Billy household” - we’ve got two of what they now call the “Oxberg” ones  - with doors on the bottom, plus one with full height glass doors and one of the narrower width ones in the living room - we’ve had those for years, they are in the nice light wood finish  that they no longer do - and team up beautifully with the two CD/DVD towers from the same range - one ours, and one which was originally Dad’s…to fit beautifully across the end wall. At least one of those dates back to when MrEH and I first moved in together, so 25 years old and 2 house moves and still going strong! Got one white one upstairs already as well, plus one of the smaller, less sturdy white ones too…perfectly good but not “quite” as robust, hence the decision to go back for the regular Billy versions when we buy. At the flat, they did indeed all fit flat back against the walls as the skirtings there were all the low ones - here though the whole house has deep ones so they do stand off the walls a bit - although that’s better for airflow, so a possible advantage, I guess! 

Jwil - thank you - I should have sought book recommendations from here sooner shouldn’t I! 

Well so far today has been reasonably productive. 

MSE Stuff:
- pottered outside briefly first thing this morning - some more weeds pulled, MrEH dealt with bird food first thing (and the squirrel promptly ate half a fat ball!) and a bit of mental planning of stuff I needed to do this afternoon. Oh, and turned the bagged potatoes which had flopped over round so they have the fence for support, and aren’t shading the courgettes! 
- our usual Friday morning walk - a bit shorter than normal for various reasons but still some nice wandering time.
- returned Mum’s freezer items to her - we’d been looking after them since the beginning of the week as she had to have her main freezer relocated.
- shopping - Lil’s. Came to £40.14 which felt a bit painful but did include a bit over £10 of frozen stuff which included salmon and king prawns , plus some ice creams in the hope that summer will ever make a return!  Also washing liquid - I’ve given their own brand B0ld rip-off one a try as we used their washing capsules while we were away and found them fine. (They were just what was under the sink in the cottage!) 
- grabbed the final piece of the hams I cooked at Easter out of the freezer, along with some other odds and ends for tea tonight. We fancied a fry up, but decided to involve stuff we had, so there will be a nice thick slice of ham each, tattie scones, fried eggs, mushrooms, black and white puddings (and fruit pudding for himself, too) and beans. 

- updated the garden book with when we were away and what we lost while we were gone, plus the new month’s stuff for doing out there. 

- more money shuffling done - as planned I have moved a chunk from my fun account to take accounts of the small holiday shortfall - there will be one last bit to deal with but that will probably just come straight from the joint account. I’ve moved today’s shopping money straight across as well so one less job to do next week! 

- the bits I ordered for MrEH’s birthday have arrived already - I’m especially pleased with the speed the Etsy seller got that little print to me. I’ll need to find a frame and a mount for that, now. 

Spent a further chunk of time in the garden this afternoon.
- more weeding - including between some of the slabs. Found a red ants nest - grrrr. 
- a short but productive session with the shears dealing with the grass. It’s not perfect, and more needs doing but I did manage to avoid most of the hawkweed and the daisies both of which the bees LOVE! 🐝 
- staked two of the sunflowers which were looking a bit at risk of keeling over.
- tied up two of the foxgloves which have already keeled over - used the last of the natural twine in doing so, however…
…was sure I had some more, so checked the old gardening bag and sure enough several more balls of it, so a shopped from home win for a replacement! 

- cleared the now bolted spinach and cut and come again salad out of a small trough - that will get reused for the next sowing if carrots I think
- sowed some more radishes 
- watered a few bits which astonishingly were feeling a bit dry. 

I think plans for tomorrow are going to involve trying to get to the country park a short distance away where the aircraft for the Kings Birthday Flypast will be running in, as I’d like to see that. I need to do some checking of maps once I’ve confirmed the route to see if there might be anywhere better. We also need to get to the nursery as planned, but can likely combine the two things. Then lots of sowing/more weeding and other garden related stuff, I think! 

greenbee

We've had the flypast rehearsals overhead (apparently it was only 2 days last week, but there have also been night-flying recertifications and the usual fun and games of living in a low-fly zone Sadly the cloud has meant we haven't had much to look at, just noise. I hope tomorrow is better!

PennysIntoPounds

What a productive settling back in day! Bah to the red ants nest though, what's the recommended action on that?

Can't believe you've cursed the potential arrival of summer by buying ice creams 😁

That's a good mse move if you take to the own brand laundry liquid. I'm in constant shock at how pricey laundry stuff can be!

Fab you got Mr EH's birthday print already. I stayed in an airbandb last year and loved a print there, I asked the person in charge of the property if they could let me know who it was by and they never got back to me. And now I can't go back to stay there (even if finances allowed it) to see if I can find out myself, because I can't reward someone who doesn't get back to me on important matters 😂

EssexHebridean

I'm not sure that Saturday WAS much better in your part of the world was it greenbee? We had a torrential downpour shortly before everything was due to fly over, and then it was cloudy as they came across, but there was really pretty blue sky just a bit further into London...typical! At least I was able to use it for a few rear views, I guess...



PiP - completely agree about not being able to go back and stay there again due to the reprehensible laxity of the accommodation provider - if he doesn't realise the importance of stuff like that then your customer is definitely better placed elsewhere! 

Red ants have been liberally doused in ant powder - as have the absolute MASS who has invaded the office. On the subject of that, we do at least know what has been eating the (rather rubbish) timber door, though...sigh. Well we were always intending a replacement anyway - we'll definitely be getting that lined up ahead of the winter now though! one for the to do list! I'd sooner not use chemical stuff like that, but honestly, when there are so many and they are causing actual damage, there's not much choice. Previous experience says that once they've been napalmed a few times they will elect to go elsewhere anyway...fingers crossed!

The grocery budget has taken a bit of a hit over the weekend - a trip to the Farm related Food place as we were passing right by the door - Tuna stocked up on from there. Also a trip to Als yesterday as we still needed bananas and tomatoes - nabbed a few other odds and ends we can only get in there and then pounced on a couple of their sliced sourdough loaves at 75% reduced too - those have gone straight to the freezer!

Other spendiness - garden bits, some more plants, mostly needed with a few "ooh, pretty" additions. More canes, tomato food and the ant powder. The reason we were wandering by F@rmf00ds was to go to the cheapest of the local charity shops - MrEH found a pair of trousers, we nabbed a couple of jigsaws, we both found books (including one to add to MrEH's birthday stash), a set of china coasters perfect for use on the garden table, and - completely unexpected, I happened to spot a copy of a book I have been hankering after for a long while. It's a history of our town (Which is a New Town) from its inception through to 1980 - it's pretty rare, and copies that come up on the bay of E etc tend to go for  LOT more than I can justify paying for a book - so even though it was in with the general books, i assumed it was going to have a big ole' price sticker on it....nope. £1. Rubbed my eyes, looked again. Still £1.00. Showed it to MrEH and he confirmed it too, so...! I'm the sort of person who NEVER gets a bargain of that type - other people spot these thigs but usually not me, so I'm entirely delighted! 

MSE Stuff:
- Opted to skip the farmers market as one of our regular stallholders was away anyway, and we could manage without anything else for now, so the food account didn't take that extra hit.
- Price reduced bargains and visiting places while we were nearby rather than making a special trip.
- MrEH went into T's for his paper and came out without buying anything else!
- Lots of time spent adding to the productiveness of the garden! (Unless the flipping slugs get the lot!)
- Ordered the replacement plugs for the kitchen sink - hopefully they will fit and will mean we lose less water down the drain, thus reducing the need to top up when washing up. (Yes we could use a bowl, but it would be a PITA when not in use)
- A visit to Mum netted a book she had finished with and 5 wooden coathangers that she was getting rid of! 
- When we left Mum's, a couple of horses had just gone up her road, and one of them had left a deposit, so MrEH grabbed a dog poo bag from her and we collected that - straight in the compost when we got home! 
- Much discussion about the planned re-build of the log store. We really drilled down into what we actually need from it, and we think we may have found a way of DIY'ing the task - a bit more planning needed, but fingers crossed...
- It has been confirmed that the accommodation that we will need for a weekend meeting we have coming up in the diary will not only be paid for, but will be organised by someone else too, which is a win. There will be a travel expense claim for that one too, so it will just cost us food and drink.   

Plans:
- I am intending to add an extra day away to my weekend of airshow stuff next week, I need to sort the accommodation for that. I've got a search up for it, as sometimes that drives the price down a little, so we'll see. If it hasn't changed by tomorrow I will probably book it anyway. 
- we need to look at the diary to work out when we can order the two new bookcases for the spare room. We've done the measurements now though, so we know what fits. the money for those will probably come straight from joint account surplus as it will be higher this month due to travel savings from being away.
- I have remembered to check with the friend who's arranged the accommodation for our group for airtattoo when the balance is due and that's not until next month. It's sitting in my airshow account anyway. 
- I need to go through the diary updating my stuff to be sure I have a tally of which shows I am going to and when. Still planning on factoring in downtime-weekends as well though.  
- I need to check on the cost of doing that weekend meeting by train rather than by car - if the accommodation is very central, that might be the only practical option, but if it is a big increase over what we would be paid for the mileage we may have to re-think. 
- Need to make a decision on the upcoming Shuttleworth airshow weekend - I'm currently leaning towards the day the Typhoon is displaying over the day the Reds are, though. whichever day I choose will undoubtedly be wet! 

This evening, I need to
- invest 15 minutes in a quick tidy up in the living room
- clear my memory card and do any back-ups that are needed
- Remember to put my journal in my work bag so I can do diary stuff at lunchtime tomorrow
We will be eating omelettes and baked sweet potatoes. 

lucielle

Phew! Exhausted just reading that list!
L

greenbee

Nope, the weather didn't improve here on Saturday EH - we had thunderstorms and torrential rain. Glad it was better over London. 

Cheery_Daff

Ooh, happy book finding! 

We have a difference of opinion about washing up bowls 😂 I prefer to use one, Mr Cheery doesn't. We compromise in the form of a folding one, which we found in Wilkos one day - it squashes flat and is stored under the sink when not in use 😁 i think it was designed for camping or something (although it was in their kitchen section). Not suggesting it as an option for you as you both seem happy woth your plugs, but in case other readers have similar marital disharmony to ours 😂

themadvix

Fingers crossed that with the drier weather this week the slugs miss out. 

Cheery - if we were going to be handwashing long term, that would definitely be a necessity here for marital relations! However, no plans to suffer without a dishwasher for any longer than necessary!