And now we go again...

beanielou

First OP already! 

Go you 😊

EssexHebridean

Oh my word - HOW hot?! Absolutely roasting here - I’m sorting out odds and ends in the shed and garden and in between retreating back to the shady spot on the patio for more water and to cool down!  Already been to BandM and Lil’s though - and remembered as I came back that there was a doorstop (to stop the front door banging back into the wall) awaiting collection at Scr3wf1x so popped in there for that as well.  While I was doing that MrEH popped to Mums and collected the big swivel chair and a couple of smaller bits. 

Agreed with MrEH that we’d do our own thing for tea tonight - my guess is that he will hang on at the club for the England match - I may yet head down and join him but we’ll see how social I feel later - and if I can be bothered come to that! I’ve got a pizza anyway - it will be more than I’ll want tonight so the remainder will augment tea tomorrow I suspect.  I also treated myself to a sourdough loaf again - and will have a couple of slices of that for lunch toasted, spread with wild garlic pesto and topped with crumbled feta and tomatoes I think - it feels like just the thing for a hot day! 

Just had a knock on the door from the lovely lass who’s just collected the boxes and bubble wrap I freecycled - she was so grateful for them, I’m really glad they’ll be helpful to someone else! (and they we’re in SUCH a small car I have no idea how they got them in, now I think about it! 😂) There were 19  large and 29 small for her anyway - which is a reasonable proportion of what we had! 

Garden waste bin now ordered - first collection will be beginning of October as I expected but I’m hoping they’ll deliver the bin pretty soon so I can get rid of the stuff that is currently sitting in rubble sacks and old compost bags - we will be thriftily saving those for reuse though once they are empty.
Bug-box is now up on the shed wall. 

Next job is to try out the handheld steamer on a couple of things to see how I get on with that - I’ve certainly been impressed with the steam mop itself anyway - very easy to use and far less faff than a traditional wet mop. 

enthusiasticsaver

You have done well unpacking the boxes  in less than a week.  Great news on the mortgage OP too.  

Cheery_Daff

So impressed at you making an OP before an actual mortgage payment! 

And yes, definitely roasting 🥵 A woman walked past my house earlier on the footpath as I was pegging the washing out and I thought she might kiss me when I offered her an ice pop 😂😂

Brie

If anyone can do it, it's you!

savingholmes

Well done on unpacking such an impressive amount already - and passing on the boxes and wrap. Very carbon friendly.

Well done to on your first OP. I don't know if they've given you your first mortgage payment amount but it is often different to later as it takes account of your move in date. It could therefore be slightly smaller or larger accordingly.

Cheery_Daff said:

And yes, definitely roasting 🥵 A woman walked past my house earlier on the footpath as I was pegging the washing out and I thought she might kiss me when I offered her an ice pop 😂😂

That was really kind. Hot here too yesterday and where I travelled to.

milann

I’ve not been around for a few days and here you are….moved into you’re new home with a new diary and already over paying 👏👏👏
May you enjoy many happy memories  👍

maggiem

Pleased to read that you are settling into your new house. Congratulations on the first (of many, I'm sure) overpayment. Enjoy living in your new home. 

EssexHebridean

Morning all! Cheery - loving your work with the ice pop! SH - handily our first payment is just a straight month so we know where we stand with that one. We were surprised they didn't want a payment for September at all though! 

So here we go with another week then - a little cooler than the last I believe, which it must be said I'll be quite grateful for. I love a bit of heat and sunshine but the last few days really have been a bit too much even for me, and MrEH has been positively wilting. I've no idea how he went and played rugby on Saturday either! 

MSE stuff:
- Gained a couple of unused fans from my Mum yesterday (I swear she's clearing out her entire house in our direction!)  - one has gone in to the office and the other one is currently in the front rom, although I think that might actually end up being used in the office instead as I have a suspicion it might be less power-hungry than the one in there while also being more effective - we'll see. Need to remember to check the power consumption of both this evening so we can take a view.
- Staged a raid on Wilko yesterday - some seed trays and propagator style covers, some seeds, a set of outdoor solar powered lights and TWO of their wide mini greenhouses - we don't have room for an "actual" greenhouse, but can certainly find space for those and they will be really useful for getting seeds started next year I suspect. We had one on the balcony at the flat for ages and loved it - but then when they replaced the gutting and left it pouring water down everywhere the cover got damaged.  Total spend there just over £50 which MrEH is going to clear off. 
- Opted for paid parking in the town yesterday but it was the most budget friendly option of the car parks near to where we were heading at 50p. Carrying what we'd bought across to the nearest free option wasn't going to be viable really - just too far!
- Full on budget wrangling/tally up session on Saturday evening. Scary amounts spent over the past couple of weeks but have to remind myself that it was all planned, we have the money standing by for it etc etc. Rounded up "stray" money from the new house fund, the Coventry account where the deposit/cash input money was sitting (interest that landed after we withdrew) another Coventry account and a couple of other odd accounts and offset some spending from those funds, allocated a sum from the joint account for a bit more, dealt with our personal spending and food amounts and am now waiting for all those payments to clear down before I check the figures on the remainder and get that cleared back. 
- Also noted down the new amounts for various bills so I can see where I stand - I'll now leave things to settle for a couple of months before I tweak the budget again. 
- Spatchcocked last night's chicken for roasting which I reckon took a good half an hour off the cooking time. I'll get the rest of the meat stripped off the carcass this evening.
- Meals all planned out for the week - and I've actually made a start on next week's shopping list too! 
- Got a good resolution to a complaint I'd made about the quality of the house number sign we'd ordered from an Amazon supplier - they asked for photos, which I sent, and they immediately apologised and are sending me a replacement.
- Bright App installed and up and running on my phone now - it's excellent to be able to compare our energy use with our predecessors, and also to be able to see what they used through last winter. On the fact of it I'm thinking that the house should be pretty economical to run, and certainly more so than I was suspecting it might be. 
- Plugged our existing wifi booster in to one of the sockets in the office yesterday and it works fine in there and means we now have full wifi signal right through from front room to back of garden and at no extra cost. 
- £2.11 spent on the Bay of E on a second hand copy of "Nella Last's Peace" - I have "war" and "in the 1950's" and decided that was a good price for completing the set - has come from my own personal spends. 
- washing done up to date over the weekend to take advantage of line-drying weather. 

General stuff:
- Office now fully sorted ready for MrEH starting to WFH in there tomorrow. Windows all cleaned, floor thoroughly steam-mopped,  all the boxes designated for "office" now unpacked, recycling crammed into two big boxes which we will put out alongside the bin tomorrow and hope they take ) and any other boxes flattened. I may yet get hold of the freecycle lady again and see if she wants any more as we do seem to have a few more ready to go already. 
- The handheld attachment on the steam mop is brilliant! It's already made a huge difference to some marks on the arms of the old sofas, and the bathroom floor tile grout is going to come up a treat I think. Very impressed, and now looking for other things to use it on! 
- the M@t@lan leggings I bought last week fit beautifully - they're allegedly a petite fit although allowing that usually I struggle with their petite leg length being too short, I'm not sure how these would suit anyone with genuinely short legs as they are spot on for me. At £6.50 they were also a bargain so I shall probably head in there this evening and get another pair or two. 
- We got the large mirror we brought from the flat up in the hallway yesterday - it covers a couple of holes where they have a mirror fixed which is handy, and the frame is pretty much a perfect match for the colour of the flooring. Another bargain too as it was in the flat when we moved in so a zero cost to us item! 
- Took a couple of bags of general waste to Mum's yesterday as her bin collection day was today and her bin was practically empty! 

Plans for the week:
- Work in the office for me through until Thursday, MrEH is currently planning being in London today and Wednesday although that could yet change. 
- I'd like to investigate getting at least one more bookshelf in from the shed - there are still three out there now - one has been an "outside" one for a long while storing stuff on the balcony and probably isn't fit to use back indoors again at all. The other two have both been in the garage for a while but we have hopes they may clean up OK. If so for the time being it will go in to the spare room. 
- I'd like to get one box unpacked each evening this week to continue making an impact on those.
- Recycling bin gets emptied tomorrow so I'll be able to lose another box full of newspaper into it after that, and then that will be another box flattened. 
- I need to investigate what happens with my fixed rate ISA when it matures - and will probably transfer it into my current year's one I think. 
- Also need to do some research on options for another fixed rate account with joint funds in it - that one is a couple of months off finishing yet though so I have time on that. 

And that's about it for now I think! 

Cheery_Daff

Making good progress there EH! I used to love our old plastic greenhouse at the old house. Perfect sized and worked a treat!