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

themadvix

Yes, the reduced stuff from the frozen place is new. When they added it, it was at the top - clearly there was feedback given (rightly so!) about that. I don't think you can reserve it, no - I've not investigated as I wouldn't  choose to shop there. It might be tricky for you living so far out - a lot of the good stuff (use by) is listed at night, and has to be collected before midnight - perhaps worth a look while Mr C's playing a gig?! But should be lots of bread and pastries too - check at night or early morning for these. It's likely your doughnut donator (see what I did there?! 😉) had other things but they've been claimed (suspect there's a lot of doughnuts going to waste currently as everyone is finishing off unhealthy festive things or trying to be healthier!).

Greying_Pilgrim

Interesting your talk of 'spare' doughnuts - there was a 6 box at the food waste 'stall' we came across yesterday.  I think LG said they were 2 days out of date, we don't need the extra calories, but I can't imagine they would have tasted that great - mind, they looked a very, very 'posh' box of doughnuts, must have cost a packet full price.  

Greying X

rtandon27

Our local frozen food place tends to list their offerings early in the morning.  The local (retired) ladies have said they pop in there as it opens & manage to get what they want from that 0li0 listing, they then pop over to the Waitflower which is a short walk away and get their free coffee & a fresh pastry for breakfast.  Usually if I'm functional that early, I'm well on my way to the office and on days I wfh or the weekends I'm not going to venture forth at that hour!  A morning person I am not!!!!!

themadvix

The ladies near you seem to have got it sussed RT!

 I’ve popped out again (on way to cat - where I am now) - managed to nab (from a private listing) some organic houmous and a pack of party king prawns (ie in batter/gussied up). Not even on their use by date!

 Have also made four portions of parsnip dal with the parsnips collected this morning - once they’re cold they’ll go in the freezer. Still need to make the wraps for dinner, but will do those when I get in.

 Friends have confirmed they don’t have any special  pizza requests for tomorrow, so think we’re fine with what we’ve got in - good job too as there’s pennies left in the (larger-than-normal) food budget. The fridge is looking pretty empty now, but I think I’m going to try to get inventive between now and the 9th when we can have a R’ford delivery (they have the week after Christmas off). That will make a good start for frugal Jan. Need to do a freezer inventory at some point and harvest some broccoli for Mr MV’s soup.

Cheery_Daff

Ooh, parsnip dal sounds lovely 😊

Greying_Pilgrim

Is it the R1verf0rd one tmv? 

Greying X

themadvix

Yes it is GP. Recipe here Cheery: https://www.riverford.co.uk/recipes/parsnip-dal. Thanks for reminding me - need to go pop it in the freezer - it hadn’t cooled enough after dinner.

I broke the grocery budget earlier - could not find the energy to make the wraps, so bought some. Did only use half, so technically only pence over the budget! Dinner used up the three avocados from Olio, the crème fraiche and a frozen half block of tofu. Some leftover spicy peppers for tomorrow - will no doubt have them with crackers and cheese at lunchtime.

themadvix

Afternoon all,

Did indeed finish the peppers with the latest edition of cheese and crackers. Not sure if I've mentioned before, but my Aunt and Uncle gave us a block of mince pie Wensleydale for Christmas - I really wasn't convinced I was going to like it, but it might be my new favourite cheese! It's delicious! We also broke into the houmous I picked up yesterday afternoon, but we're saving the prawns - if we're hungry they might be our late-night snack tonight, otherwise we'll enjoy them in the next couple of days.

Friends are expected for dinner and Mr MV has got the fire and oven set up. The fact that the rest of the house is a tip is neither here nor there. I did manage to put the dough on this morning (albeit not first thing), but I might make up another batch or half batch - we're planning on having dessert pizza too, and I'm not sure if there's going to be enough, even with small dessert pizzas. Plus, we're likely to pizza again tomorrow (although I'll need more cheese) - might as well make the most of it while we've got it! I do need to have a clear up and hoover before they get here (not expected until 6.30, so we've got time).

I am plodding on with work for main client - making steady progress which is good. I should have what I'm working on back to him by Monday, which makes for a great start to the NY (he's just paid my final invoice of 2025, so this will be on my January one). And I've even popped into Cambridge - did lots of email clearing (in three inboxes) and attempted to open the file I'm meant to be editing, but have discovered it's password protected - not feeling too guilty about not doing it now!

Quick heatpump usage update - last year we spent c. £125 on gas and electricity in December. This year, £88 (to run the house, the car and the heating). So it's definitely saving us money, outlay (heatpump, asbestos removal (albeit I am very glad that the really nasty stuff has been removed) and additional battery) aside - especially as we've not actually paid for the heatpump itself yet. That is with a warmer house than we've ever had before too. Mr MV is working on a proper tracking spreadsheet so we can do proper comparisons and monitor payback over time. Our house is a 1960s offset terrace - so it's nothing special when it comes to being well-insulated - it has some dubious (and not the recommended amount of) loft insulation and cavity wall insulation, but only what is commonly available (all installed before we got here). We have noticed some draughts since a) having the asbestos removed (it was below our stairs and we definitely need to replace it with something soon) and b) the house being warmer, so there's work to do there - and that's on the 2026 to-do list. Octopus are due back on Friday and once they've finished, we should be happy with the install - I have faith in the guy who is rectifying the first installers' errors. It's not been an easy path, but I guess to some extent that is the issue with being an early adopter. If anyone is thinking of getting one, I'd strongly recommend visiting a current one (something we didn't do) and seeing what the pipe runs will look like - then you'll be better informed as to where they should go on your property.

I was intending on going to the allotment today but given how cold it is, I think I'd have struggled to do anything. Plus, I can't get into my shed with Mr MV's help and he's definitely not well enough to come down there yet. The shed has developed a lean, which means the door sticks and I can't push it and open the door simultaneously. It's another job for 2026!

I'm not one for big round ups at the end of the year - we've definitely had a good one though, and hopefully Mr MV's new job will be a success in 2026. 

Whatever you're doing - out on the town or in bed fast asleep, I hope you have a lovely New Year's Eve!

themadvix

Morning all and Happy New Year,

We had a lovely evening with our friends, who left about 10.30. We stayed up to watch the fireworks on TV and then went to bed. Yesterday was a very quiet day - my cough is worse and Mr MV is no better. I did my cat sitting duties and picked up some past-it salad from Olio for my hotbin (stroke of inspiration - I want to get the temps up and rotting salad is very similar in composition to cut grass), but otherwise we ate what we had in (last lump of pizza dough went in the inside oven) and did a puzzle.

Still feeling very rough today - had a headache all night and didn't manage to sleep great. And today we have the lovely 🐙 fitters back -  the last thing we need! And worse, I was forcing myself to think that at least this would be it and it would be done, but the electrician booked has called in sick (sick or cba as he wasn't expecting to have any work today? Entirely supposition on my part, but...). So they're going to do what they can, but there's little likelihood of another sparky being found today. Joy. At least a) we might have heating all day and b) they won't be here all day if they can't find one.

I'm off to see my cat charge shortly - today is a twice-a-day visit day. Mr MV is up in his office so he can deal with any issues arising! I also have the work to get done for main client and I need to do invoicing. I paid myself yesterday and the main thing to note is that a very frugal January would be helpful as I'm going to be down on income next payday (unless I manage a large platform job if there's anything available). Cambridge pay will be low both because I was away in December and because the cut-off  was early (plus the cba-ness of Cambridge work at the moment).

Right, lappy needs plugging in, so I had better go and see the cat.

KajiKita

Good that you had a nice NYE 😊 but sorry to hear you’re both still feeling rough. The bugs this year seem to be real lingerers! 🙄

Hope the cat is grateful and you get lots of furry fuss 😊

KK