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

QueenJess

Sorry as I am very behind on the diary reading, but I also had problems with the Riverford milk going off quickly and sadly had to go back to sm milk

Cheery_Daff

Loving how organised you are! Reading your diary feels very calm and ordered at the minute, it's like a lovely breath of fresh air 😊 Lota of cheerful plans too, well done!

themadvix

QueenJess said:

Sorry as I am very behind on the diary reading, but I also had problems with the Riverford milk going off quickly and sadly had to go back to sm milk

Did you let them know Jess? It seems to be a regular issue (I've had problems before and clearly beckistar has too) - I think if we continue to make a noise about it, they'll have to do something. At least CS is sooo good there - a benefit of being employee-owned, I guess.

QueenJess

themadvix said:

QueenJess said:

Sorry as I am very behind on the diary reading, but I also had problems with the Riverford milk going off quickly and sadly had to go back to sm milk

Did you let them know Jess? It seems to be a regular issue (I've had problems before and clearly beckistar has too) - I think if we continue to make a noise about it, they'll have to do something. At least CS is sooo good there - a benefit of being employee-owned, I guess.

I didn’t because I spent so much time before that complaining about the milk delivery I had from the milkman and got so fed up I had switched to Riverford! I couldn’t be bothered to do the same thing again.

themadvix

Cheery_Daff said:

Loving how organised you are! Reading your diary feels very calm and ordered at the minute, it's like a lovely breath of fresh air 😊 Lota of cheerful plans too, well done!

Organised? Am I? I think usually when I appear organised it's because not as much work is happening as should be! 😬

I have decreed today a Cambridge day. I've been ignoring a couple of report-related bits and I have a meeting with reports boss at 10, so I need to get them done before then. I then want to spend the rest of the day finishing up a couple of other reports (despite the lack of input from necessary contributors!) and maybe start/finish a third one - having done so many, I know that if I have everything to hand I can just sit down and crack on with them. (Not great for earnings that I'm so quick now, but it means I can get back to my SE work faster, which isn't hourly-rate based.)

Better get to it (plus the bathroom - today is bathroom day on flylady and I'm trying to get the house clean and orderly. Am looking forward to having a beautifully clean bathroom!)

rtandon27

themadvix said:

...plus the bathroom - today is bathroom day on flylady and I'm trying to get the house clean and orderly. Am looking forward to having a beautifully clean bathroom!)

I had a go at some of the stubborn scum this morning before having a shower!  It was great to see it gleaming!  We find in the winter the bathroom seems to need extra cleaning - probably because we don't throw open the window and doors so the water does not evaporate naturally!

themadvix

Afternoon all,

RT, my achievement for the day, which I am inordinately pleased about, is getting the limescale off the underside of the basin tap - my life is the height of excitement! 😂 But the tap now doesn't spray stuff out at an odd angle and doesn't look gross. The rest of the bathroom is also gleaming now - I do clean the basics regularly, but it's the other bits that get missed - like cleaning the side panel for the bath - generally I think life is too short, but it does need doing sometimes!

I have also achieved with Cambridge reports, despite my meeting not having happened yet (boss is going off on maternity leave on Friday, but is also dealing with a bereavement, so I have to cut her slack... but we do need to meet!). I have decided to ignore the people who aren't getting back to me and crack on regardless - it's not me that won't look so good if there's gaps in the reports. I have chased both of them though (again).

I need a break now, so am going to post my RM survey items, stretch my legs and pop to the allotment. When I come back, I might do some of the work for my main client if I still need a break. Otherwise, I'll crack on with one of the reports still to do. I feel I've made progress today though - two are completely done and off my desk (until feedback arrives), a third is pretty much there (barring a key detail needed from silent colleague) and I've done some tedious transferring from an old template to a new one.

Lunch was a bowl of yellow split pea soup - with ginger and lemon - and it was delicious. Enough left for tomorrow too. In a deviation from the meal plan, I'm going to make a squash risotto for dinner as the squash has been cut and needs eating and there's only enough risotto rice for one. I will roast a decent chunk of the squash at the same time, but leave some as we'll have another squash and 'sausage' traybake at the weekend ('sausage' because there's only one veggie one left and no meat ones... so I might have to try halloumi with it??).

Better get out before it's school picking-up time!

rtandon27

We live on a road that leads to three schools so 3pm-ish is the time to avoid on days that I'm working from home - so difficult tbh as that's usually when I'm dying to have a coffee break and get out for a brisk walk!  Now I try to go around 2pm or wait until 4 when they have all dispersed!

Suffolk_lass

What about trying hm stuffing balls instead of lack of sausage (onion, breadcrumbs, lemon zest, herbs, egg, and if it needs more to bind it, bit of veg fat (suet or something like trex)  or oil)? they work well when I make sausage toad-in-the-hole, in the batter or as balls

themadvix

I like that idea SL, think I’ll ask Mr MV which he’d prefer. He’s eating the same dish again under duress as last week my cooking skills were distinctly under par and neither the squash or lentils were particularly well cooked (and undercooked squash is a definite no-no for him). He loves stuffing, so it might pip halloumi to the post.