Living the Good Life - mortgage free and living in line with our values

themadvix

Morning all,

A busy but cheap weekend - pub on Friday evening and we did get a Caribbean curry for dinner (but £12, eaten in, so not exactly breaking the bank  -and there was enough leftover to bring home for my lunch yesterday). Saturday we were at Mum's gardening all day (by gardening I mean cutting things back to stumps so we could get fence panels in - not tittivating!). Shredder did come in useful and I think mum will keep it. We worked like troopers (Mr MV, Sis and I, with Niece and Mum doing odd bits and keeping us fed and watered), but got all the fence panels available in - still have two to do, but one needs cutting down and one needs ordering. Mum cooked for us in the evening (good job too as we could barely move!). Yesterday I ran some errands in the morning, but mostly we were at home - I sowed a large chunk of my beans and potted on some tomatoes and baked hot x buns. Otherwise, we chilled, watched the GP and did very little (Mr MV has pulled a muscle in his back so was very limited in what he did).

We got up and went straight out for a walk round our sunlit bluebell woods this morning - great for a gentle wake-up and to clear our heads before work. The bluebells aren't quite out in their full beauty (and scent) yet, but it was a lovely way to start the day. Popped into the allotment on the way back and have established that there's definitely signs of life in at least two asparaguses 😁

Have been making progress with Cambridge report this morning which is good and will go back to it shortly. Also have some urgent text for my UK client, but that's for this afternoon.

Not moneysaving - Mr MV and I are currently 'divesting of Google'. We now have Proton email accounts (which are light years away for privacy) and are in the process of changing everything over. We are paying for our accounts (although there are free ones), for various reasons, but it's a satisfying thing to be moving away from Google knowing everything about us. Unfortunately this may mean giving up the S&S Web monitoring thing in the future, but the jury is still out as that pays quite well!

MS things:
* PA surveys
* YG survey
* Free jar of chickpeas from Mum - had been gifted to her, so 🤷‍♀️ (she kept one for herself)
* Fed in exchange for hard labour 😂

Gratitudes:
* A peaceful walk in the bluebell woods
* One cat friend understanding that I'm already booked up for cat sitting when she wanted to book me (phew)
* Delicious Jamaican curry for dinner on Friday
* My cough/cold might be on its way out - hard to tell as I've just sat and steamed my head for 15 minutes, so am feeling perkier at the moment anyway!

Have a good day all!

Greying_Pilgrim

Sweetie,  I can't recall if you've an air-fryer or not, (I know you plan your appliances in relation to available counter space in your kitchen).  But just in case you do, and I know you make Hot X buns; I spotted this recipe for Air Fryer Hot X Buns the other day, when I was trying out the Greek Bakers Pot recipe.  I have no idea if it's good/bad/indifferent.  I haven't an AF, but just thought I would provide the link, just in case, you or your posse found it useful.  

Greying X

themadvix

Thanks GP. No air fryer here, but good to know nonetheless! We could borrow one from the library of things - and I plan to if/when okra fries or scotch eggs are on the menu as the vast quantities of oil needed otherwise is just unnecessary. Who knew you could air fry a hot x bun! Fortunately we had plenty of sunshine here yesterday morning, so not too worried about leccy use.

Cheery_Daff

Sounds like an excellent day of hard labour in the garden, well done!

And your mention of the Library of Things reminds me that I offered to take an old dog crate to ours months ago but have completely failed to drop it off 😬 I think it's open tonight so I might pop up with it then (counts as decluttering too, right??)

themadvix

Absolutely counts as decluttering Cheery - and of something that size it should make a material difference!

Cheery_Daff

It would have done, had I remembered to take it!! 🙈 I wrote it on my hand, but then ended up on the phone to a friend for an hour and then to my sister for another hour, all the while merrily planting seeds in the greenhouse, and before I knew it, it was after 7pm 😂 Next time!

Have decluttered a packet of mozzarella with an expiry date of January from the fridge instead 😂😂 wasn't taking up quite so much room, but it was more tasty than the dog crate 😂

newgirly

That pod is amazing Vix, I would love to see a photo when it’s finished, I can’t believe you can get one for a mini to tow!  😊 

QueenJess

themadvix said:

Not moneysaving - Mr MV and I are currently 'divesting of Google'. We now have Proton email accounts (which are light years away for privacy) and are in the process of changing everything over. We are paying for our accounts (although there are free ones), for various reasons, but it's a satisfying thing to be moving away from Google knowing everything about us. Unfortunately this may mean giving up the S&S Web monitoring thing in the future, but the jury is still out as that pays quite well!

Good work - I did the same thing a few years ago. Changing your email address is a right pain though and took ages. I actually bought my own domain and host it myself so I can chop and change email providers whenever I want, but keep my own email address forever.

I even use aliases for different email addresses for each account so I never have to give my real email out. You can do that through Proton although it can cost extra. You can go down a bit of a rabbit hole privacy wise and have to choose what you are comfortable with.

themadvix

@QueenJess, yes, we've got our own domain too, but I'm resisting too many aliases as I will just get confused! It is taking a while and I'm finding it very frustrating that I change my email address with an organisation but still seem to receive emails to the old email address! (Everything is on auto-forward and tagged to show it's coming to the old one, so it's not that I'm missing stuff, just frustrating - the most ridiculous was Ethical Consumer, whose article sent us this way in the first place!).

themadvix

Evening all,

I've been absent again! There's been planting/potting on/general allotmenting. There've been several nights away (I feel a bit of an MSE fraud in this respect) and we're off to Amsterdam at the weekend (our 40th birthday treat - paid for by some very generous cash gifts for our birthdays). We have actually reached the point where we will both be glad to have a couple of home-based weekends after this weekend - I love going away and exploring new places/visiting favourite places, but this always involves a lot of walking/doing and not so much relaxing. It'll be nice to get caught up at home and enjoy being here. Hopefully May will also be cheaper in this respect too, although we've stuck within budget (or I have - Mr MV has a different approach to his personal spends, but he has a much bigger income). Excitingly we went for our first paddle in our kayak this weekend - only locally and only for a couple of hours, but it was good to get out and test it and we have learnt a few things that will improve the experience next time (specifically not dropping the paddle on the floor without checking for dog poo first, Mr MV!).

Most non-MSE thing was having to take B&W cat in for a dental - the estimate (including several removals, a blood test and possible small lump removal) was £1800. Fortunately he didn't need any teeth out or the lump removing in the end, so it was 'only' £800. And of course, dental work isn't covered by the insurance! So most of my bumper Cambridge pay this month will be going towards that, along with some savings that had built up in the monthly bills pots.

I've invoiced my main client this morning and despite concerns to the contrary, it was a bumper invoice and I'm not surprised I felt I'd been run ragged last month - between Cambridge and self-employment I was extremely busy and then ill on top of that for a fortnight. Work continues to be busy, but current Cambridge report isn't quite so urgent or large (and is well underway) and the latest piece of work for main client is enormous but has no tight deadline, so I am taking it at a more moderate pace.

Allotment update: cabbages in; broad beans are doing well; first early potatoes are doing nicely; main crop, just showing their heads; have planted my perennial kale, saltbush and walking onions; soup peas have gone in yesterday; asparagus was an abject failure for the third time; seedlings are doing well in the greenhouse/dining room - I think they'll stay there until we get back from the weekend. Have bought a frame for the squash to grow up, so am hoping this will save some space. I have a lot of beans/peas in the greenhouse - hoping I have space for all of them!

MS things:
* Food is growing - we're not far off of harvesting things now, which is promising. So far, the dry weather has meant slugs have not been an issue. I'm taking a belt and braces approach though, with copper tape collars, wool pellets and beer traps.
* Clicks and HW (sometimes)
* Some surveys (have been a bit lax lately)

Gratitudes:
* A lovely day out on Sunday for my belated birthday treat - a lunch river cruise on the Orwell
* Takeaway at Dad's for his birthday - and a chance to meet Sis's new man
* Dinner with some friends in Leeds last weekend
* Birthday tapas for BIL on Friday
* A paddle in our kayak
* Mum, despite arriving in Malaga just as the power went out last Monday, was fine - they had the foresight to get enough food for tea as well as lunch at the Pret at the airport

Have a lovely evening all!