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

themadvix

Afternoon all,

The GWR cabin cost saga continues and I've just submitted a full complaint (the situation was made worse by overhearing someone upgrading on board only being charged £99 (I was charged £129) - the staff were cross on my behalf, especially as the train was only a 1/3 full!). So I am expecting a chunky refund. I've also claimed (and been approved for) a £20 delay repay claim for the journey down there. While I didn't sleep well on board, it wasn't the train's fault - the bed was comfy, the bedding was lovely, the staff were excellent and it was generally very nice.

Spent most of this morning working as main client was a bit twitchy about me being away for an extra day - we're back to super busy with work again (plus US client has some more urgent files due Tuesday). Have also potted up my tomato seedlings and sown some lettuce as well as sorting various adminny things (ordering cat's prescription, entering a competition, clearing inbox etc.). Need to pop to allotment, but it's chilly out. Will go shortly though as I need to see what's been happening in my absence. Haven't got as far as thinking about dinner, but I might do a quick emergency chickpea soak, so we could have the peanut/sweet potato/chickpea stew for dinner.

Gratitudes:
* A lovely, lovely visit to see my friend and a great adventure too
* A catch up at the pub with BIL and SIL last night - between us all being busy, it's been a while
* Mum, Sis and Niece were in town earlier, so popped round for a quick cuppa - nice to see them too!

Have a good afternoon/evening (I hadn't realised the time) all!

Cheery_Daff

Sounds like you had an excellent time, and I hope that refund goes through! Work can pesk off being annoyed by you having an extra day off - in sure it won't make any difference at all to them in the long term but it's made you have a more relaxing holiday!

themadvix

Morning all,

Main client pretty much said exactly the same as you Cheery - he doesn't want me burnt out and is very much a fan of not working weekends. He's definitely not forcing me to - but I know it will make his and my life easier if we're on top of things. And, of course, he doesn't realise that I'm balancing other clients and Cambridge work (that report deadline is looming) alongside his stuff - one of the downsides of being self-employed. He rang this morning about something and his first question was had I had a good trip - he's lovely!

I worked yesterday morning on US client's stuff and got that up to date/finished for now. Unfortunately I did it in the wrong place, which is going to cause further PO issues. (The work is all still done, but it's going to create more admin for my contact - which I don't think will go down well. But I actually couldn't do it in the right place, as the login hasn't been set up for it, so 🤷‍♀️). We popped out in the afternoon to see a friend who has just had a baby - so it was lovely to see her and have some cuddles. Around this, I made tofu from scratch! I got a tofu/cheese press last Christmas (i.e. 2024) but hadn't yet had a chance to use it (have had the beans for quite a while too!). It went well, I think - and we'll either eat it tonight or tomorrow (I was meant to be out for dinner tonight, but that's been cancelled - it depends whether Mr MV decides to have a main meal at lunchtime at work, which had been his plan). It also makes a lot of 'okara' - ground up, soaked, partially cooked soybeans. Not wanting to just compost these, I found a recipe to make patties from them. We had some last night and they were good (not perfect, but a work in progress in terms of content and flavour) - so I've kept the rest of the okara and will make up some more of these later today. I think they should freeze well and so will be veggie burgers (the next batch are going to include kidney beans and sweetcorn, so be a bit like Good Life bean burgers). Given all the beans used only made one block of tofu (it's very like cheese making), it's a good job there's something useful to do with the waste!

This morning I've baked bread and granola, and cooked the kidney beans for the burgers. I've got more work from main client I'm cracking on with, but I did start by doing some Cambridge report work - I think I need to get a page done each day if possible, to get this finished and sent out (the tricky bit with all the approvals from various folk) before the end of April. Hoping to get to the allotment later - would like to sow some beetroot and carrots in my newly filled raised bed and start preparing for peas, which are ready to plant out.

Not holding breath on GWR complaint - according to their website, it could be more than 10 days before they get back to me. 🙄

MS things:
* Cancelled bean burgers from supermarket order!
* Discovered an unopened bottle of maple syrup, so also removed that from supermarket delivery
* Back on RM survey - first stamps arrived (after a year without any!), hooray!

Gratitudes:
* Lovely catch up with friend and cuddles with baby
* Got on and made the tofu, despite having to work
* Dinner out was cancelled - was looking forward to it, but timing wasn't great - this week is a busy one and we've got people coming on Friday, so I need to keep on top of everything. (When am I going to fit in hot x bun making?!)

Have a good afternoon all!

rtandon27

An unopened bottle of maple syrup?!? 😱 How is that even possible? We almost had a maple syrup crisis the other day when there was only one spoon left - I've ordered some from back home and a tiny little bottle for the interim!

themadvix

We get through quite a bit here RT as I make granola with it - so there's often a backup bottle as I only do a supermarket delivery once a month.

EssexHebridean

Delighted to hear that both Scilly AND the sleeper were wonderful - in spite of all the stresses around changing plans etc.

Lovely also to actually make something which you'd usually buy and consider as a "ready made" ingredient in the shape of the tofu.

QueenJess

Just catching up quite a few pages in your diary. The trip sounded lovely :). I will be stalking your diary for a while as Denmark is on my wish list of places to go and DS is desperate to go to Legoland.

rtandon27

@themadvix - How was your April hun? - It's been a whole month since we'vve had a catch up! Do drop a line if you get a chance xxx

themadvix

Afternoon all,

Hi RT, thanks for the nudge…. April was super busy with work, socialising and allotmenting. And spending…. There has not been a lot of MSE activity (beyond the ingrained stuff!). We are, at least, mostly in negatives for electricity spending - due to the super low 3.5p/kWh rate overnight, there was even one day when we charged the car overnight and were still in negative figures for the day. So that's very money saving!

Workwise, the American project is on pause and I think they are likely to cancel the remaining parts. I am still waiting for the majority of my March POs to be raised 😡 but have invoiced for April and that was a nice chunk (even without the remainder of the project). Work for main client was quieter in April (plenty of it, but not manic) and has now died down to nothing, despite us expecting a large project from the client. Main client has chased… and I'm sure will be in touch with them again if he doesn't hear anything. Cambridge is still very demoralising, although mat leave boss is finally back and boy, have I missed her! Will be going in on the 19th for at least some of the day for a catch-up (and lunch!), so that will be nice.

Allotment-wise, I had a tonne of compost delivered in April, and have just ordered two more for delivery Thursday. 😬 Fortunately, I have a good local source for this that is reasonably priced and a dad willing to help move it (it'll arrive during the day when Mr MV is working - conveniently!). This will be plenty to complete the setup of my new plot and there should be some leftover to earth up potatoes, add the much smaller layer to the old beds. Anything left will be bagged and can be stored in my allotment shed. Going forward I won't need anywhere near as much - it's very much a set-up cost.

Cats have been another expense. Both have been in for boosters, a prescription (for flea tablets) and B&W cat has had the lump on his neck removed and an ultrasound and bloods this week to check his stomach (he keeps being sick). He is currently wearing a fetching onesie and having liquid opioids 3x daily under the tongue (our cat-wrangling skills have seriously improved this week and he's pretty submissive now!). The bill for him is £1750, although we will get some back from the insurance co. (which will then massively hike his premium 😏) - we'll have to pay two excesses (for two different things) and 20% because of his age…. 😡 And I can still hear Ginger cat hissing/growling at him as I type because he 'smells funny'… the op was on Friday. 🙄 Cats! Awaiting bloods and lump analysis results.

Spending: we were away in Norfolk last weekend for a special birthday for my Dad. Stepmum paid for the accommodation and most of the food, but we bought some bits and obviously made the most of being in Norfolk for 4 days, so there were some additional spends. We've also bought a pizza oven too - it was great to be able to borrow one from the library of things, but it's so popular and we are really keen on pizza, so it should be a good investment. Plus, we opted for a refurbished o0ni from Ebay at a fraction of the original price (£180 vs £340)…. and then it turned up and was brand new - clearly a return or similar. Mr MV has even managed to register the warranty. So that was money-saving-adjacent… It makes excellent pizza though 🤤

Unfortunately we also seem to be at the point where lots of things are wearing out at the same time - I've had new undies, new sock and need new shoes (falling apart) - I have a clothing budget but it's not enough to cover it all at once! And we've been booking our holiday (that, at least, is covered by a budget pot). Oh and Mr MV has had new glasses (also budgeted for) and the car has had two new tyres (also budgeted for). So… it's been an expensive time….

Greying_Pilgrim

tmv - is the pizza oven solid fuel briquettes or gas? Funnily enough I was just reading about the Aldi version that 'looks' similar to the 00n1 - I'm not sure about size wise, just shape-wise. If we got our garden sorted, I'd love a pizza oven - I think we would make good use of one. Although a brick built one would be my absolute dream - move over Jaymee! 🤣

Greying X