And now we go again...

EssexHebridean

Oh what a lovely lot of visitors - Happy New Year to you all and thank you as always for reading my wittering! 

Lurgy seems to be on the march - MrEH's is annoyingly far more on its way to being gone than mine is - frustrating as I had it first. we didn't bother with Covid tests in the end MAB as we weren't going to be mixing with anyone else at close quarters anyway so there seemed little point. Thankfully it seems that I did manage to avoid passing it to my Mum on Christmas day anyway! It does just feel fairly standard cold-y anyway so I suspect it is nothing more - my nose is still streaming anyway! There does indeed seem to be a lot of the various winter bugs about at the moment though - AND Covid of course. 

Blackcats said:

Hope you are both feeling better.
my in-laws' parents were re-housed in Morden from Bermondsey when the Northern line first went out that far.  A big estate of council houses was built at that time and they were able to chose which one they wanted.  They chose a house with the biggest garden as they had never had a garden before.  That garden gave them so much pleasure but my oh my it took a lot of looking after.

I love this! Of course the tube was responsible for lots of people moving out of their original London areas as it extended out - the best known is "Metroland" at the end of the metropolitan line, but almost everywhere lines have extended it's had similar effects I imagine, and the northern Line Extension - much vaunted at the time - was no exception. It was quite fascinating going that far south as I'd jut never had cause to do that previously - and we then walked through from Morden to Wimbledon - you can imagine how wonderfully green and leafy it must have felt out that way to those who had previously been used to London terraces! 


On the face of it 2023 doesn't feel like a year where we did or achieved all that much, but the thing we DID of course was massive, and required far more physical and mental effort than most other things we might have chosen to do with our year!

- Moving house! :
It felt quite momentous walking downstairs yesterday morning and realising that we are at the start of our first full year in our lovely house! Thinking back to last New Year where we were fully racing through getting various stuff done on the flat to get it on the market as well - it took a little longer to sell than we'd hoped but of course that time was also what enabled us to refine what we actually wanted from our new home, agree to commit ourselves a little more financially, and indeed end up buying where we did! 
- Beer Festival :
Far easier than in 2022 as we had fresh memory of all the various aspects to our role - and we were able to have at least a couple more face to face planning meetings as well, which was useful as it does feel we achieve more as a team that way! Another year where thigs went well - the bar felt "easier" than usual as we had less beer to look after, and the order role although complicated by the really busy period in late spring clashing in part with our Hebrides trip and also the house move being in there went smoothly and yet again got lots of appreciative comments from those who enjoyed the beers we chose.
- Social :
The winter was pretty dire for me - I used needing to spend time working on the flat as quite an excuse - the reality was that I just wanted to hibernate and doing anything social felt like too much hard work for my mental health to cope with. On the flip side the airshows I did get to during the summer were great fun - just less of them than usual thanks to dealing with the move and lots of time was spent with pals at those. Also - more of those beer festival meetings being face to face improved the amount of social time there. 
- Finances :
Well it was an "all change" sort of year - and we said goodbye to pretty much all our premium bonds and a chunk of the long term savings pot in the interests of reducing the amount of mortgage we took for the new house. Absolutely the right decision, and one which means we have been able to maintain a good level of savings monthly in spite of quite a dramatically rearranged budget. 
- Family :
Losing MrEH's Dad early in the year was quite a shock in some ways, although not entirely unexpected in others. It was very sudden though and that is tricky to deal with. He went down to Devon for several days immediately, and we both went for several days around the funeral. We then get down there again a little later in the year and he went again for his usual trip for the local regatta in August although as that was right before our moving date I wasn't able to go then. Some good time spent with family though - including spending time with the bit of it that is now based in Brazil for a few years before they went.
- Adventures: 
Our usual two and a bit weeks in the Hebrides, where we managed to choose the fortnight where the islands had quite literally some of the best weather they had EVER had! A different location to stay this time - and one we quite liked and may consider returning to in the future but weren't quite as keen on as our usual cosy little cottage up on the headland. Then a few days with a big group of pals down in Dorset in July too - just a long weekend but we packed plenty in! Other than that - and aside from a couple of overnight trips, that's been it for this year. Cutting back on time away is something which we were aware was going to have to happen once we had taken on the mortgage, but we do still have some adventuring planned for 2024 and indeed beyond! 

And now it is time to begin planning anew - as always, there will be no "new year's resolutions" here, but there are things I'd like to focus on, habits I'd like to create, and things we would both like to get done, notably reorganising our garden to give us more space for growing edible things. the loss of the beer festival for this year is a blow but on the flip side it will give us more free time in a year when we may find that very welcome as we really get to grips with the house. 

Another post required, I think...and possibly not immediately as I think things through! 

EssexHebridean

I'll be thinking through my new year's planning over the next few days I suspect, so time for a regular post instead! 

We did fit in a lovely walk on the 30th although not the RSPB reserve as that is currently closed on saturdays due to staff shortages - instead we headed for a nature reserve a little further along the same road, and rather than our usual loop to one of the hides, we followed the old disused railway line out to a point further than we had been on it before, then looping off with the intention of rejoining the line to come back a little further on...except that end of the line now has a "private" sign on it - boo, how rude?! Ended up having to walk a bit of the return along the road, but it wasn't busy and was perfectly manageable, and came back across a hill overlooking the top end of the lea valley and a local market town which even in fading light was a glorious view. 

NYE was delightfully quiet for us, we had a very wet but pleasant walk at the RSPB reserve in the afternoon, a nice tasty tea involving a baked camembert, and  I was quite cheerfully in bed and asleep well before midnight and more than a little narked to then get woken by some really alarmingly loud fireworks. I do feel SO sorry for those with pets who get scared by this, or indeed even those who don't cope well with such an onslaught of sound themselves. MrEH informed me that they began around up at about twenty to midnight, and the last ones were still going at half past. I'd have less issues with it if it were just a quick barrage of them at midnight - but so many folk now seem to use it as an excuse to have a fireworks display at an exceptionally antisocial hour - grrr! 

Yesterday also involved a walk - through the Town Park and out the other side (we had planned to get treaty hot drinks from the little independent cafe in the park, but they closed just before we got there so that was a spend saved!) then a loop along a short section of the river and back through the park via a different route. Also done yesterday was finally getting some more pictures/photos hung (on the middle landing and over the stairs - thank goodness for MrEH's height and long reach!) and some holiday planning too - although not so much as we had hoped as the timetables for the ferries aren't even available to view as yet. We DID book our first two nights on the islands though - in the glamping hut on our usual favourite campsite! 

MSE Stuff:
- Much effort made in using up various items of festive food - the ham continued to provide bountifully, yesterday's roast dinner used half of the final piece and the remaining bit is ready for a stir fry tomorrow. Yesterday's lunch also involved some sprouts, the last of the streaky bacon from the fridge, and half a pouch of cooked chestnuts as a side, plus one of the parsnips roasted in the airfryer alongside roast tatties. The last of the double cream was turned into a pudding alongside some defrosted frozen fruit and a couple of crushed meringue nests from a YS'd pack. 
- Weekly shop mostly done in Al's - and just over £18 spent then including some reduced price lunchtime roll fillings which MrEH divided straight up for freezing, and some reduced bread (75% off) which has gone into the freezer. we also then popped to T's later in the day to see if there were any YS'd bargains and nabbed those meringues, a dented tin of chopped toms (18p!) a couple of packs of mixed savoury crackers at a very favourable price, and 2 75p dark chocolate oranges - yum! A couple of other bits too, and just under £7 total spend there. 
- Meal plan done for the remainder of the week - starting with bolognese this evening which I will - as usual, turn into a batch cook so providing an instant option to add to a future week's meal plan as well. 
- Thanks to various bits of reduced price shopping/pre christmas stocking up taking advantages of god offers, and planed leftovers, we are generally pretty well stocked up currently - this will be a factor in our plan to ensure that January is as frugal as possible as this feels like a good way to start the year with a bit of a financial re-set.
- Money was shifted back to the bank accounts where it needed to be in good time and the start of month DDs have gone out today as expected. 
- A good look through the joint account transactions revealed that MrEH's standing order to one of our old Reg Savers is still in place and going out - reduced to £25 a good few months ago as the interest rate was no longer as competitive as we would like, but nonetheless, the account is now matured and paid out so this is probably dropping into a standard savings account. I have requested that he goes and finds it and sends it back to the joint account! 
- Getting to the cafe yesterday after they had closed, and so saving the cost of the drinks! 

Spendiness:
- Shopping, as above, but £25 for a week's shop AND some taking advantage of good offers seems like a win.
- The 2 nights in the "Hobbit Home" at the start of our holiday - this is of course covered by the holiday pot. 
And that's it, I think. MrEH will be feeding his Oyster tomorrow morning, but both cars have sufficient fuel for the week. 

Plans:
- We have started planning out the garden a bit more - we now have a scale plan of it which is an excellent starting point.
- Need to get the chap who might be able to do the work we can't do ourselves round to look at it, now we know what we plan to do. 
- Need to get further holiday planning done once the ferry timetables are up
- I also need to start planning my airshow year out a bit and adding likely costs against things I want to do so I can budget for that. 
- I need to plan for some soup making with the parsnips, and also remember to add "mutton stew" to the meal plan - probably for the weekend. That will use a small amount of mutton on the bone that we have in the freezer and a chunk of the 15p swede!  
- general diary writing and forward planning! 

savingholmes

It's been a full on year for you. Hope this coming year is smoother for you.

Cheery_Daff

I reckon any year that has a house move in it shouldn't expect to have any other activities, so you have done excellently! What a lovely feeling to have new year in your new house 😊 We moved in Feb so the novelty had somewhat worn off by the time we got round to new year again 😂

Looking forward to seeing what your plans are for 2023!

Makingabobor2

sounds like you had some lovely walks and some great plans for the year already. With this awful weather, its nice to plan holidays. 

EssexHebridean

Thanks SH - I'd settle for this year being calmer for sure as the last few seem to have had "events" in them - many of which we could have done without. The pandemic in 2020/21 of course, then me losing my Dad in 2022, losing MrEH's Dad last year...yes, "calmer" would be just the ticket! 

Cheery - you're probably right, I'm quite surprised we did manage to do so much to be honest!  I reckon there is good and bad relating to all moving dates though - earlier in the year would have meant we'd had more scope to do things with the garden right away, but this way we've got more planning time, so...! 

MAB - quite agree, we always try to get some holiday planning done over the christmas break - there would usually have been a household financial summit in there too but we've been keeping a more regular eye on things over the last few months so agreed we didn't need to do that quite yet. 

It has blown up a proper hooley down here this afternoon - most unusual weather for us, we actually have an amber warning though so I will be taking due care on my way up the motorway this evening. Hoping MrEH remembered he was going to check the garden for any loose items which might take off and cause damage... 

Seasidegal58

Just popped in to wish you a very Happy New Year to you and yours EH!😀👍. 

I've been catching up with your diary now that I'm back on the boards.  I'm still only at the posts for 28th September though!🤣🤣🤣. Bit of a long way to go still but loving all the new house chat!

badmemory

You have to watch those hooleys.  In the last one the cowl for my central heating took off & it must be much travelled as none of my neighbours have seen it.

Blackcats

Glad you enjoyed your trip out to the south of the Northern line and across to Wimbledon.  I grew up near Wimbledon common and spent a lot of time unsuccessfully looking out for Wombles.  

amber03

I’m definitely hoping for a quiet year, just happily plodding along.  Oh and also better weather in the next few weeks. Had enough of rain and definitely wind now. Hope you have a safe journey on the motorway and arrived home in one piece.xx