And now we go again...

LadyWithAPlan

Loving your update - I have lived in London for decades and still discover new things - such as the Roman amphitheatre remains  under Guildhall art gallery that I literally didn’t know existed til a few weeks ago - worth  a visit (free) if you haven’t seen them 

With a 2000+ yr old city there is always something new and old to discover when they start digging ! 
Your b””ts skincare sounds like a  great deal  - I am seeing similar deals but have promised my self no new spending on any toiletries til I have whittled down my collection and so I am shopping from myself - not spending even on great deals on my favourite day creams etc - I have loads of other gifted /given/half used potions/lotions/serums/creaks  I am quite sure are almost as good 
And don’t get me started on the excess body and hair care products ..

themadvix

The vintage Tube trains are advertised to me on Instagram... We've considered them before, but not been convinced - interesting that you really enjoyed it (*adds it to the list*).

I hadn't really considered that you can wander into the Royal Courts of Justice - I'll definitely bear that in mind for another day too. Crunch sounds delicious - will keep an eye out for it!

Hope the challenging stuff sorts itself out soon.

Makingabobor2

I didn't know you could just go into the Royal Courts of Justice either. Sounds like something to add to the list for next time we go. I would love to do a tour of Houses of Parliament, but think you have to book that. DH says he's not bothered, but then he's not really interested in politics like I am.  There's just so much to see in London and its actually 5 years today since we were last there. Definitely time to go again

lucielle

Hope the challenges are sorting themselves out!
L

milann

I did actually know about the Courts of Justice. I went on a talk by  an author who was a barrister - he grew up in The East End and against the odds ended up working there before going on to his writing career. Twas very interesting and he was telling us of the magnificent building, although I’ve never visited. I do want to read the rest of the series…..thanks for the reminder.

Blackcats

EH - I think Thursday is your Friday (last working day of the week) so I hope that you can leave work related challenges behind you for a few days and enjoy a nice weekend.

lucielle

Hope you’ve got some nice weekend plans. 

L

savingholmes

Hope things improve workwise soon or you find a better alternative

EssexHebridean

Hey all - thanks for stopping by! BC you will be delighted to hear that work related challenges were indeed shrugged off at 5pm on Thursday and we had a LOVELY weekend! Also a spendy one - although actually not so much as we might have expected, and budgeted, so well worth it!

So Friday morning saw us loading the car with our not-used-for-ages camping gear and heading off to Ludlow. Same campsite as we have used before - which hasn't changed in the slightest and is still its lovely friendly, chilled laid back place. Prices haven't increased much either which is always a win - £20 a night for the two of us. Got pitched, used up a free-to-us can of waterproofing spray which Mum had passed on to us (it was one Dad had bought for "something" but then never done) covering as much of the tent as possible, then headed down to the town to grab a few shopping bits that were needed - bacon, milk and snacks. By the time we got back to the site our pals had arrived and were in the middle of trying to recall how their not-used-for-ages tent was erected! Time for a bit of a sit and natter once they were done, then we all piled into T's car and headed for dinner at a lovely pub we've used before. It's gone a bit gastropub since last time we were there but the beer was good and the food was stunning - especially the cheesecake I had for pudding which was one of the nicest puddings I've ever eaten. Once we'd done scoffing it was back to the site so that T could have a few beers (and the rest of us could have a few more) and the campfire was lit. Saturday morning was a lovely 4 miles walk down to the town through the forest - then a day in the Food Festival before heading to some local pubs in the evening, then back to the site for another campfire. Sunday we were SO close to getting packed up before it rained - but just not quite, which was annoying, although it does look like the waterproofing spray has worked which is a win, at least! Back to the Festival to meet some other pals, and buy the odds and ends of food we had seen and fancied from the various stalls. The drive back was a bit grim as it rained almost all the way - but MrEH was a trooper and drove the whole way with just one stop for coffee. A really nice weekend anyway - lovely to catch up with folk, have time to just sit about and chat over beers, and some nice food bought at a reasonable price as well. Overall there was a lot less at the food festival than there has been in previous years which was a shame - it's far more heavily weighted towards drinks these days too - but mostly distilleries and cider makers rather than breweries. It's still a decent thing to visit, but I will ensure that I give feedback if asked for it. 

MSE Stuff -
- Free tent waterproofing!
- A really lovely meal at a very decent price - and good company to enjoy it with too!
- One of our favourite meat stalls being at the food festival - we came back with a couple of packs of bacon, 2 packs each containing 2 enormous faggots, and three large packs of different cured meats - and spent just under £23 which I was very pleased with. They will be eked out as components of different meals over the next little while and will be very much enjoyed!
- MrEH made a complaint to his car insurer a while ago about how difficult they made it to change something on his policy. They have apologised, and set him £50 as a goodwill gesture, so that has been shifted to the mortgage OP pot and will be moved over in due course.
- CC bill is *mostly* sorted - although I still need MrEH to transfer his share of the weekend spends and then get to the bottom of a small balance that is sitting outstanding at the moment - I think it is probably a few food spends that didn't get accounted when they should have done, to be honest. 
- General shopping this week is a bit hit and miss but also currently looking like being quite budget friendly as aside from the basics we are relying on things we have in, plus stuff from the garden. I went to T's after work yesterday, MrEH has gone to Al's this morning, and we will hopefully now get through until Friday. If so then delightfully this weeks grocery spend will be under £18.
- General money stuff is all now done for the month - and we are still looking like having a surplus although a far smaller one than in previous months thanks to travel being a particularly heavy hit this month. Both cars will need a visit to the petrol station before the end of the month, and MrEH will have to feed his Oyster again yet, too. 
- Lovely weather yesterday and today means that two loads of washing have already gone through and out to dry and MrEH is sorting out a further load today as well. 
- A few more tomatoes picked last night, and I think there will be some ore tonight as well assuming the sun is blazing at home also. Hoping for a few courgettes and cucumbers still to come, although annoyingly one of the courgettes in the fridge had gone past its best when I looked last night. The compost benefited from that.

After several pretty busy weekends I am thoroughly looking forward to a quieter one this week. We do have an online meeting on Saturday morning, plus the farmer's market,  and MrEH may be playing rugby in the afternoon, but aside from that we have nothing at all planned. I want to get some cooking done, put together a proper meal plan, get a blog post written and various other things too, but above all I just want time to be quiet, and read, or potter about, or whatever! The garden needs some attention - the garden waste bin has gone out for emptying today but I fully expect to have to contact them this evening when it's not been done. Should get sorted tomorrow if so though as they are usually pretty quick picking up on missed collections now. That in turn means that we will probably be able to get some more clearing of bits and bobs done as well. We've had our money's worth as it was absolutely full to the brim! 

Meals this week will be a bit hit and miss - last night was a stir fry with pork from the freezer, this evening will be couscous with the usual veg & halloumi. I will probably do a potato bake for tomorrow - maybe with feta and bacon as we have a bag of baby tatties to be used and hopefully can start harvesting our home grown ones soon too. Thursday I'm not quite sure yet, but Friday will be curry from the freezer - yum! 

PennysIntoPounds

Glad you're having lovely times and making the most of summer to autumn