Live on £4000 for a year - part 4 (Oct - Dec 2008)

charlottecarter

CW - just wanted to send you and your family our love - our thoughts are so much with you. x

Frugaldom

CW - I'm really sorry to hear of your loss, you are in my thoughts. It's so sad to lose a loved one, we can only hope that this has been a blessing that has allowed your dear husband to find peace and eternal freedom from his suffering. We are all here for you and, as someone else has said, if the Internet is your sanity, then we shall proceed in an orderly fashion into the realms of everyday life so you still have plenty to read, even if you don't feel like posting. (((Hugs))) of support from everyone here.

cw18

Many thanks to all for the thoughts and hugs -- but please don't feel you may be treading on toes by sticking to 'business as normal' as I'm keen to hear what everyone else is up to

sophiesmum -- I have tomorrow earmarked for making all kinds of phone calls just like those. My elder son won't be home from Germany until late tomorrow evening, so -- with the full support of my parents and DH's brother and sister -- I am refusing to make any funeral arrangements until he's home to have a voice in the decisions. So tomorrow is my 'practial and financial day'

Marru - what a cuuuuute dotty dog...... but he's not a matching pair to mine !!!




Whoops! Think that may be a tad large :eek:

[Deleted User]

Cw - Just want to echo what others have said.... so sorry for your loss. Thinking of you x

whitewing

Gorgeous dog, cw - hope you're getting lots of cuddles today. Was thinking a lot about you through the day.

I actually have had a nice couple of days. Got given some lovely flowers - roses - by my mum (couldn't quite bring herself to actually say sorry, methinks). But they are gorgeous.

Picked up a pergamano card-design book for 30p today, which I am most pleased about. Lots of very nice designs in there for when I'm feeling creative.

Can't think of anything else to say. DH and I are going to do a 4 year life plan soon. (That's the fixed rate part of our mortgage over by then). We keep putting things off that he wants to do but I'm conscious now that we need to make things happen. Bless him. I think I'm going to get a funky lever arch folder with dividers for 2009 and have a section for stuff (eg batch cooking) loosely related to this challenge, so I can collate the ideas into a 'house manual'. Then we can all mooch through it as and when.

Frugaldom

I shall resume as normal, I mean no disrespect, nor do I mean to appear insensitive.

Today, the rest of the family got moved into the new house - the finches and the guinea pig. All had their homes completely scrubbed and each had a manicure prior to being returned to their newly relocated homes. I'm almost certain that Guinea Pig enjoyed his car trip and his new home has a beautiful view out the back door and across the field (if GO stands on top of his house).

Frugal 'catch of the day' has been 2 large bags of peat for the fire. Or, at least, I'm HOPING it's peat! :eek: It looks like peat, burns well and it was at the back of all the junk that was going to the tip! Umm... I sincerely HOPE it wasn't anything else, otherwise, the way the wind is blowing tonight, an entire village a few miles away may be under the influence of whatever the peaty looking bricks really are! :rotfl: Another (kind of) plus fact is that the new landlord isn't going to be emptying the garage of the junk, so I may have a whole stack of wood for the winter. Anything else will need to be binned and council has been today to take away an old freezer that was there.

It was sunny today, so I had the washing hanging out before 8am. The greenhouse and birdbath withstood last night's high winds and the boxes of firewood have nearly all been brought over from the old house. Roll on emptying the garage, as it'll give us extra parking space and storage. And, if all of that isn't enough, I HAVE BROADBAND! :T Not very fast broadband, as we are borderline distance from nearest exchange (7km), but it's 10 times faster than the dial-up! It means that all my work can now be done from here - no more trips to the other house. :j I even brought 'Big Jim' the pepper plant with me, he's on the kitchen window sill. Now I just need to await the delivery date for cooker and washing machine, both ordered with discount codes, free delivery and double cashback. I had allocated £300 for my white goods, but being a good frugaller, it'll work out at less than that, and it'll all be recouped when we eventually get the deposit back from renting the other house. :cool:

PS: I need to do the washing at the old house as it has a washing machine, but the washing powder is free, as it was left here by previous tenants. Works fine even after sitting since April - such a luxury for me, as I'm a 'soap nut' user unless there are freebies.

PPS: I repaired the clothes pulley with new rope and makeshift poles but need to buy new ones, as the wood I've used is slightly too short and I'm scared the whole lot falls on my head, as it's hanging above the kitchen sink. :rolleyes: Can anyone remember the handy 'old-style' website that sold stuff like that? It's the site that sells carbolic soap.

cw18

Fab news on the Internet connection Nyk :T I bet you're sick of the "commute" :rolleyes2

Brighton_belle

Now that is one gorgeous dog CW. I can't tell if it's a brown dalmation or a cross of some sort. I don't know a lot about the technicalites of dogs, but I know what I like.
I hope the nitty gritty of tomorrow goes as smoothly as it can and you hit upon some very helpful and understanding people. Sounds good waiting your your son. As you've realised, that'll certainly make a difference to him.
Whitewing - it's good to hear you've had a nice couple of days. Do you think the lamp has made any contribution to this (not that it could have told your mum to buy you flowers (if it's that clever, I think I'll get one:rotfl: ))

OH thinks interview didn't go well today and it may be a week before we know. We were a bit down at first, so much is riding on this -feels bit of a last chance saloon for various reasons including age, but we've cheered ourselves up with fish & chips from the emergency fund and will try not to think too much about it.
Finished mosaic so it is is ready to grout tomorrw at class. 3/4 of way through typing mum's memoirs (they go up to her marriage in 1951). We're in the Plymouth Blitz of 1941 at the moment. The pier has just gone up in smoke and everyone in the shelter has spontaneously cheered at the news.
Spends for November are on track.:j Freecycle shelves collected. We will have storage for OH's stuff, I am determined, dispite our small space.

cw18

He's a liver (as in the meat) spotted Dalmatian -- apparently the colouring is a genetic throwback, and if we put him to stud it wouldn't give any higher a chance of the puppies being this colour !!

Frugaldom

Found the website I was looking for earlier! It's carbolicsoap.com :rotfl:

Hi CW - yes, I am fed-up flitting backwards and forwards between 2 houses but have resorted to doing an entire wash of all sorts together at 30 degrees and hoping for the best. I don't think DS has sporred the pink streak on his white top yet. :eek: Maybe I could promise him a new dog from the SPCA shelter and he'll overlook my little, accidental, faux pas? :rotfl:

BB, fingers crossed for OH's interview having gone better than he thinks it did. Hope it's for working somewhere he can get a good discount in time for Christmas.