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

themadvix

EssexHebridean said:

Nice tip-off about that seed company Vix - they have some unusual bits and bobs don't they! 

I love Real Seeds - such a good company and some very interesting varieties. The whole big seed company set up is quite scary when you dig into it - hybrids are designed to keep us needing to buy from them, they're often owned by the chemical companies that produce the artificial fertilisers etc (which they want to keep us dependent on) and most of those have links back to Nazi Germany.... it is quite eye opening! So Real Seeds, Vital Seeds and King's Seeds are my go tos for seeds! And I'm sure there are others too that are good. I love that Real Seeds give instructions on how to save the seed with every sale, so you can harvest your own (obviously for some it's a lot more effort than others, which is why they're not precious about the knowledge - not that it's secret anyway - I very much doubt I'll ever try to harvest my own carrot seed for instance!).

EssexHebridean

I draw the line at tomato seed for sure with the amount of faff that entails!  Good to know of some solid options for "ethical" seed purchasing though - although most of ours are traditionally the freebies with the magazine, there are always some we need to go ahead and buy too, though. 

themadvix

For exotic tomatoes, this place is good, although I've not actually bought from them yet (they are a bit pricey, but some of their varieties are magnificent - the black beauty tomatoes!). I could quite happily harvest tomato seeds (I'm just not very good at growing tomatoes!), but I'm not replanting carrots etc. to allow them to produce flowers - too much space taken up and too much risk of things not setting true.

EssexHebridean

Oh my don't those look amazing - I see your point! I think the only toms I need for this year are "Minibel" - and it looks like the best place for those might be Budget Seeds - if I'm ordering then I'll definitely have a browse and see what else they have. Those are my "go to" toms though - they fruit SO prolifically it almost doesn't matter if the rest don't fruit as much as I might like!  Aside from that I usually try and do a couple of "safe bets" plus one more unusual option - maybe a black variety is something to look at for that! 

Agree completely about it not being worth messing about with saving seeds from things where it will take up space and be an uncertain result. If we end up with an allotment then it might be something I'd consider as a decent enough way of "taking up space" that we're not going to use for anything else immediately and aren't ready to fully cultivate - I've got green manures up my sleeve for that scenario as well!  

themadvix

I'd forgotten about your allotment plans! It's definitely different when you have more space available. I am so looking forward to having more this year with plot 2 (both are half traditional plots, so effectively I've got a whole one now) - lots more beans for drying and squash for the winter!

themadvix

Afternoon all,

Good news! I've had a phone call from the lovely area manager at 🐙 and he is sending his top guys to remedy the situation before Christmas. No guarantees as yet as to what they'll do, but we discussed rerunning the pipework - it was his suggestion that it goes where I'd like it to go. Obviously the final decision will be with the engineers he sends, based on feasibility, but he understands!! 🎉I am absolutely thrilled to have had a response and my concerns be acknowledged. Hopefully this will result in a good outcome that we are happy with. 

Mr MV has just gone off to an awards evening - he's gone early so he can spend a couple of hours beforehand quietly preparing for tomorrow's 'initial chat' interview. He's spoken to someone he knows who works for the interviewer so has a bit more background on the situation etc. which can only be a good thing. He'd rather not be going to this do this evening, but it was all arranged before the interview - he's not planning on drinking and will get away as soon as he can.

I am working on a project for main client and have had a quote request for a project for another client through. Have also spoken to Cambridge boss (not friend) about some preparatory work for a meeting in January that should be quite a chunk of work for me (not entirely happy about this - for someone on mat cover is she fiddling with a lot of things), but I've aired my concerns and we are taking it cautiously.

With Mr MV away tonight I will probably work late as this project needs finishing before we go away on Monday. I've also got a short list of other jobs I'd like to get done (checking what we have in the way of euros, for starters!) - including some baking prep for Christmas Eve/Boxing Day hosting. I've also discovered a pack of meringues in the cupboard (BB Dec 2024 - they'll be fine, right?) so think one of the desserts will be Eton mess!

Supermarket delivery came this morning - unusually three items were damaged so £6.89 to be refunded there. Have baked some mincemeat crumble slice this morning - although disappointingly the open jar of last year's mincemeat had gone mouldy. I'm going to have to make some more!

MS things:
* Dinner last night was salmon risotto, as planned, using the leftover salmon from Monday's lunch
* Have chopped and stewed the prepared apples I was also sent home with with some foraged blackberries for my porridge for the next few days (and probably dessert too as there is quite a bit)
* Have assessed Christmas card needs - probably only need 15 or so (I try to avoid sending them)
* Clicks and HW

Gratitudes:
* Acknowledgement and hope from 🐙!!
* Work - I always get a bit panicky when I have a couple of quiet days (especially when it's all spend, spend, spend)
* Niece is 100% better today and back at school

Have a good afternoon all. I'm going to try to get out for a walk shortly - just hoping the rain eases a bit!

Greying_Pilgrim

Fingers crossed for a positive 🐙 outcome.  Is it the indoor pipework they are coming to re-route - or will they have a look at the stuff on the outside of the house too?

Great to hear that your DN is well again, and back at school (and that it was clearly something not associated to the ill-health a couple of weeks ago - phew, a relief!).

Greying X

themadvix

The outside stuff GP! The inside stuff will be resolved by the rerouting of the outside stuff, should it go as discussed, so it's really the win I was looking for (if it all goes to plan). The engineer is coming for a look-see tomorrow - and I suspect I'll then be arranging another asbestos test as the planned route is likely to go through our bedroom ceiling, which we know doesn't contain asbestos, but they don't. (Who knows when for though - might have to see if Dad could come and be here for it as we're away next week).

Yes, definitely a relief that Niece is all good 😊

Greying_Pilgrim

Fantastic! 😁👍

Greying X

Hettyhound

I’ve used she grows veg before.  I currently have some micro tomatoes growing under my grow lights which was seed I harvested from the fruits.  Really good germination rate from saved seed.  I also like Kings 😁