the daydream fund challenge thread

Itismehonest

rozeepozee wrote: »

That's a shame, Lucielle. It's frustrating when sellers won't get real about the market. The survey of the property which we put an offer on but fell through suggested that it was about £75K over priced and, whilst we appreciate that a survey is an opinion, our surveyor said he was just not seeing any properties that were selling for over £300K in our area

Sorry for the snip:o & sorry to hear your news, lucielle.

It's the same around here. Nothing moving above around £3-400k. That means nothing moving at all in the immediate area. It's one reason why we're not sure it's even worth trying at the moment.

lostinrates

Rummer wrote: »

Ah yes the fruit garden and the medicinal garden

If anyone knows of a place that fits my description that is free and requires no money for upkeep please let me know

Oh and if they can throw in a Fresian Schoolmaster and an Irish Wolfhound then my joy would be complete

we have the last on the list (big dog is a wolfhound, my family always had wolfhounds but big dog is the very last I think. ),and a ''mock fresian'' but no indoor school (one day we'll buy a second hand steel frame, because there is no way I'm keeping horses fit in this bloody weather) and very sadly upkeep is very far from free.

Rummer

lostinrates wrote: »

we have the last on the list (big dog is a wolfhound, my family always had wolfhounds but big dog is the very last I think. ),and a ''mock fresian'' but no indoor school (one day we'll buy a second hand steel frame, because there is no way I'm keeping horses fit in this bloody weather) and very sadly upkeep is very far from free.

Big Dog is a Wolfhound! I am green with envy! I have, since the first time I saw one, loved them and wanted one!

I would happily keep horses fit all year round, as my mother always said "It never rains on the back of a horse!"

Now I know who is living my dream, LIR give it back :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Davesnave

rozeepozee wrote: »

Oh, Rummer, I'm wondering what to do with our land now we actually own it! We have lots of horrid creepy buttercups too. If you look at the Google Earth pictures, it actually looks really tidy, so maybe we'll be able to restore it, but the old man was knocking on 90 when he died, so I think things had gone down hill for a few years. I'm sure the land can be restored. We were in a similar position. We have the creeping buttercups in the fields and they don't bother us too much. Find someone to run sheep on the land and/or take hay from it.
Draining the field next to the curtilage wall is a big necessity as it must have an impact upon the bungalow's south wall... Damp! The DPC on a relatively modern bungalow should cope. Having these large holes around mine ATM shows that we are 'floating,' with pits of water up against the house walls up to 3' deep at times. No sign of damp. It isn't all year though. We're actually on top of a ridge!

Does anyone have any suggestions for what we can do with our land whilst we are in the limbo of waiting for planning permission and not wanting to do much to the garden until late summer when the builders will have done their thing and left? Just keep things tidy and plan. No harm in knocking up a deep bed somewhere, but your ideas are likely to change. Have you a mower for those large grassed areas? You'll need a ride-on sooner or later, and a brushcutter. I'd recommend a 4 stroke, like my Honda as it's kinder on ears and no messing with mixing fuel. Buy good equipment, more powerful than you think you'll need!

A few educated guesses about your site:

You'll need a good path from your house to the dell because the kids will play there a lot and you will want to collect firewood there. The stream will be good for ground source heat pump, maybe, but not for watering the garden, unless you can pump. Depends on the depth of the dell. Water isn't easily pumped vertically beyond 30'.

You may want to cut some trees, to give light to the garden to the north and to give yourselves a gap to see through to the east, and morning sun. Tree felling produces a lot of fuel, and if your contractor has a chipper, loads of chippings too.

The heavy clay soil isn't bothering your neighbours to the north too much. There are two properties there with nice looking veg or fruit gardens. Over to the east, there's a big, posh house with a walled garden where they seem to be producing on a commercial scale.Of course, improving the soil takes time, and the neighbours may have changed since the aerial picture was shot.

I think that's enough for now! :rotfl:

ukmaggie45

rozeepozee wrote: »

Don't forget to delete your postcode, Maggie

Thanks Rozee, remembered late last night after an extended online shopping session!

COOLTRIKERCHICK

nice and dry here, and it sort of sunny....lol...

went into work for a few hours this mornning.. to try and catch up on things

Rummer

I still have not made it into the garden this holiday and I am deeply ashamed

lostinrates

Re buttercups and sheep or livestock....make sure it's not your livestock. They have negative impact on fertility, some can increase photo sensitivity , and thus things like skin cancers, and also I believe some liver damage. In large amounts that is. I think the impact is cumulative. It's a swine, but certainly not the worst enemy. They dig out over time, and uctually, I find the weed pulling tool quite decent on them.

Davesnave

COOLTRIKERCHICK wrote: »

nice and dry here, and it sort of sunny....lol...

went into work for a few hours this mornning.. to try and catch up on things

Yes, the ground's still very wet, but we're getting a few things done now, instead of being rained-off or blown away.

I still have my big bonfires of hedge blackthorn ready to burn in the lower field when they've dried out a bit more, but maybe I should wait for 'Choille Day' now?

(I should explain to all newbies that some kind of pyrotechnic event is called for on January 15th to celebrate the day when the sun's rays reappear from behind the mountains where choille lives. Obviously, the bigger the better, but a firelighter in a bucket will do if you're really pushed! We wouldn't want this cosmic event to fail.;))

I'm getting a bit fed up with skinning pheasants now. Did I tell you two more turned up the other day? Well, anyway, I did 3 this morning, and I'm secretly hoping they will be the last for a while.

Actually had 3 eggs yesterday, so the chooks are feeling that spring is around the corner, although that's by no means the case. All this talk of seed sowing is premature IMO, but I have to admit it was 12C for a while here today.

I've just harvested some chillies for seeds. DD2 has an Indian BF and I am his sole source for the really hot citrus-flavoured ones. They were pretty difficult to produce in 2011 though, as they like hot conditions to crop well. In contrast, I overwintered one of the Bishop's Hat variety, stuck it outside the back door in May and it's still there, complete with some ripe 'hats!'

lostinrates

Re weather, today and yesterday both felt like spring. What tomorrow, next week, or even next month will feel like is anyone's guess, I'm certainly giving up guessing!

rammer, big dog is having a phantom pregnancy ATM, so you could have a phantom pup if you like .