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

themadvix

greenbee said:

Eggshells really need crushing, but TBH I'm not bothered about my mulch/compost being lumpy... they break down eventually in the beds The smaller you chop stuff up the better it works - and you need plenty of paper/woodchip to balance out the green (and I shove grass cuttings in to heat it up too). 

My perennial weeds go into the barrel to rot down before being mixed with compost, but I've seen other suggestions of putting them somewhere to dry them out first. 

Viking_mfw said:

I love my hot bin! Eggshells do need crushing but I've recently been saving mine up in an ovenproof dish and shoving them in the oven when it's just been switched off then crushing with a rolling pin end (you're supposed to use a pestle and mortar). You can then just scatter that on the soil. 

I suspect I would get better results if I transferred the hot bin contents to a regular compost bin after six months. Key is giving it enough roughage to keep air flowing - wood chip is ideal. I use cardboard and it's not quite good enough. Apart from eggshells the only things that come out looking the same as they went in are bones, so I put them in the council food waste collection.

Thanks for this. Annoying about the eggshells - I really like a neat and tidy compost! But I guess I'll learn to live with it. I used to dry and crush the shells for my wormery (less said about that the better) but found it a right faff. Probably not so bad for the compost as they don't need to be so fine (watched a video about crushing them for the wormery and the man warned viewers to wear a mask due to risk of inhalation of dust causing pulmonary embolism (? I may have mis-remembered, but it was a life threatening issue regardless!) - so that kind of put me off! I've got the remains of the woodchip that came with the bin and intend to go and shred some of the stuff we cleared from my mum's garden for a ready supply. Have been shredding (by hand) all office paper and corrugated card that comes near me and mixing it in. 

Interesting about the perennial weeds - I might have to think more on that. Not sure how well marestail rots down with its high silica content, but I could have a go. It's just time (and space) for all these things!

themadvix

Morning all,

Awaiting work from main client this morning (it won't arrive until midday at the earliest). The project we were originally expecting is now not due until the end of the week - so frustrating when you put time aside for these things and then they start to collide with other plans. However, two other things should arrive today, so here's hoping. In the meantime, I have a regular Cambridge meeting mid-morning and reports stuff to get on with (it'll be quite nice to make progress with these - once I stop procrastinating and get on with it!).

The weather is miserable here today and the low light is quite depressing. Glad the forecast is better for the rest of the week! However, because of the new battery, we still have 10kWh of power at our disposal (just as well as apparently we're only making 45W from the panels currently!), so should be fine until tonight.

Last night's dinner was sausage and mash - some of the potatoes disintegrated in the pot when parboiling at the weekend, so they only needed topping up and we had some leftover veg too, so minimal additional cooking required. My sausages were the last of my Glamorgan ones. Think it's going to be a couple of weeks before the first leeks are ready to make some more... will try to hold out for them though as it's silly to buy them when I've got 30-odd growing!

Have realised I don't really have the ingredients needed for tonight's planned dinner (Tuscan bean stew) so I think we'll end up having the remaining sweetcorn dhansak. Tomorrow will be a tofu stir fry bowl - I'll pop to the allotment for some walking onion greens and some kale to add in (Friday and Saturday we're away; planning on buying a few bits of veg in the French supermarket as organic is both cheaper and generally less packaged there, and I can't bring back cheese, so might as well buy something!). 

Next month's food budget will be back to £250 - mainly because there's very little wiggle room in it. This morning I asked Mr MV for the money for some tablets he asked me to get for him. Normally, I'd just cover this from the 'grocery' budget, which works for us, but there's no room for it. It felt very stingy asking for it! We should probably have a health or household budget to cover these things from, but on our normal £300 budget, it's fine to use it for these things (or even bigger things and limit the food spending as long as it's not every month) and it works for us. But not when it's only £200! Also, allotment bounty is beginning to dry up now, in some respects (hoping to continue to have good supply of kale, saltbush (spinach replacement), walking onions, broccoli, leeks and parsnips, as well as 3 squashes, a year's supply of garlic and my many jars of stewed fruit), so more R'ford orders will be needed. 

In terms of savings for heat pump/asbestos/battery: Battery has been paid for by Mr MV from savings. I currently have £2000 put aside for heat pump/asbestos. Asbestos removal will be £1500, so we've got £500 towards the heat pump currently. We can pay on cc and Mr MV has procured a 0% card. I've also got a bumper pay from Cambridge coming next month and I may pay myself slightly more this month as I my very large invoice from main client paid yesterday (while still retaining plenty to cover a lower income this month - due to delays in work arriving!). Mr MV has started saving towards potential college fees (although he's been less keen on this idea lately - I think it's just fear of the unknown, but hard to tell - there's so much going on that I suspect it's a lack of brain space to think about stuff). We will still need to be saving for next year once the heat pump has been paid for, but at the minute we've not worked out exactly how much (and of course heat pump/battery combo has yet to be tested in terms of effect on electricity bills (although no gas standing charge to pay!)).

Right, enough procrastinating waffle from me - I need some breakfast and to get on with reports!

EssexHebridean

Eggshells - we leave them to dry in a plastic tub without the lid on, then don gloves and just crush them by hand. They then get used as an additional slug/snail repellant - on the basis that even if they don't help, they won't do any harm - so we use/get them into the soil  that way. 

Great news on your battery, that will be helpful even before you get to the heat pump being installed, won't it. Sorry to hear that the  news on the work front isn't as good though - and yes, why DO companies do that thing of saying "Something is going to happen, and it's probably not going to be good, but AH-HA - we're not going to tell you what it is for AGEEEES!" Grrr! 

ladybird1106

We put our dried eggshells in a large empty mayo jar and shake them. Breaks them up really well and no dust inhalation.
love 🐞

themadvix

Morning all,

Thanks for the eggshell tips. I guess I'm going to have to do something with them! It's just another 'thing' to have around in the kitchen, which isn't large at the most decluttered of times. We'll work something out.

EH, you're spot on with the battery - when the heat pump is off (or only doing hot water) i.e. in the spring/summer/autumn, it's definitely going to be of benefit more widely. And re work, apparently there's a likelihood of rumours, so the boss was getting ahead of them. Not sure there should be rumours when people's jobs are at stake, but as my employment experience is limited, what do I know?!

The large, long-awaited project has arrived, so I've been working on that this morning. Somewhat frustrating as the 'other person' has had at parts of it and I'm as usual dealing with stuff that should have been dealt with earlier in the process. I really don't know whether or how to say something to main client - he must be aware as he sees what I've had to do (and has made oblique comments to that effect), but things aren't getting any better. Hopefully the parts that the other person alone has dealt with are few and far between and it mostly goes smoothly. I think it's unlikely I'm going to get it done before we go away tomorrow lunchtime (which might have been a possibility without the correcting I've had to do). I don't think there's an expectation it'll get done this week though, so that's good.

Dinner last night was sweetcorn dhansak, as expected. We put the inner sides on the caravan and installed the shelf too - it is actually beginning to take shape now! More bits have been ordered for the upcoming wiring part of the build.

I had totally forgotten there was a pack of mozzarella in the fridge, so instead of the tofu stir fry, we're having pizza tonight. Dough is proving now. Mr MV has taken a sandwich, but might be getting lunch provided 🤷‍♀️ He only remembered this after he'd made the sandwich. And as I'm finishing some open baked beans for lunch, I declined to have his sandwich. It can be lunch tomorrow if necessary.

Better get back to this project (and/or make those beans on toast...)

ETA: Just seen an email from a US client about a potentially large project starting in the next couple of weeks. That would be nice. I've asked if they can do anything about the rate (which is a little lower than I'd like, but it's likely very easy work, so....) - if you don't ask, you don't get!

EssexHebridean

I've actually just tracked down and saved that dhansak recipe as we have two remaining small cobs on the plants which will need using, and it would be nice to do something a bit different with them! 

themadvix

I'd highly recommend in EH - it is delicious. Don't skimp on the mango chutney though!

Right, I'm abandoning work for the day - I've got to about where I thought I would. No chance I'll have it finished before I go tomorrow, but that's fine. Think I might go for a quick wander (to the allotment maybe?) before I start on dinner. Or do a spot of yoga - I need to move!

MS things:
* Remembering the mozzarella before it went out of date
* Ordered cat's food - but remembered to go through TCB and I get loyalty points and a small discount through their savings scheme
* TCB claim for missing cashback seems to have worked! (Added another too for hotel booked the other day.)
* Have a shopping list for the hypermarket and have got the shopping bags out
* Have got the passports out (and checked that the horrible blue/black one was mine - the first wasn't as Mr MV's new one was on top!) - woke up in the middle of the night the night before last panicking about passports - I think because we're going the night before there's a part of me that had forgotten we're *going to France* 🙄

Gratitudes:
* Sunshine here
* A calm forecast for the crossing - always good when Mr MV is sailing 😬
* Work has gone more smoothly since the first bit this morning

Just realised I should probably do 5 mins of Cambridge work before I entirely give up for the day.

themadvix

Morning all,

Was awake bright and early this morning - checked my Garmin for the time and it was keen to wish me a happy Friday and tell me how well I'd slept! (It was 6am). I do feel well rested and it certainly put me in a cheerful mood, so that was nice. Working until 11.30 this morning, then packing, lunch and leave by 12.20 to pick up friends en route to Ashford.

Not much MSE stuff to report. Enjoyed our pizza dinner last night, along with a glass of rhubarb and ginger liqueur. We'll be having Mr MV's sandwich from yesterday for our lunch, with a little bit of pesto pasta alongside (finished the loaf yesterday... although there are rolls in the freezer - I could get one of those out instead, for a less weird lunch!). Will be taking a bottle of water and my thermal mug with me so we've got drinks for the morning. Don't want to spend money on boat food, so might try to find some pastries in a T's this evening - will see what our friends are thinking (they're staying in the Hampton, which means they get free breakfast, but probably not at the time we'll be leaving; we're in the cheaper TL over the road, so no breakfast included for us!). Have my shopping bags out ready for the hypermarket - after reading that food price inflation is much lower in France (and knowing that their organic stuff is usually cheaper than here anyway), I intend to do some normal food shopping tomorrow too (no cheese, butter or milk). Will price check the vodka/brandy on the boat (as they had a really good price for vodka last time - used for the hm liqueurs) - I have a photo of the Costco price on my phone - and compare to the hypermarket price. 

Time for some breakfast/to get back to work...

Have a good day all!

QueenJess

Happy travels

themadvix

Thanks Jess! 

Work is getting slower and slower... more exciting things to do! (And I hate packing, so that just shows how boring this piece of work is!)