greent's mfw journey

brizzlegirl

Thrilled that nothing dire happened to you and yours...and great news re sister and Oh’s new job...enjoy the rest of the school hols xx

chumpy45

Congratulations to DD on her graduation. That seems to have whizzed by! It's such a special day isn't it. Great news on OH's permanent position too, I can empathise with the change from being away to being at home all the time. This happened with us and it took a lot of adjustment all round! Glad to hear your sister is recovering, sounds like it may be a slow journey and definitely hard with a toddler in the equation. DS1 was home at the weekend and he was trying to persuade us to book Florida for 2021. At least the oldest 3 would be old enough and working (hopefully) so able to pay for themselves by then which would make it slightly less painful. He worked one summer in Disney and one in Universal and absolutely loves it. Perhaps I should copy you and start a fund. Hope you enjoy the rest of the summer before the "back to school" routine starts over again x

greent

Hmmm - I'm not doing too well at posting!

So the smaller 2 are back at school (Tues/ Weds of last week) and OH started his new job last week too - it's tiring, but he is genuinely excited by the challenge and the possibilities of where it may lead. Him being home all the time (and tired from the new job) is also somewhat of a challenge...... :rotfl:

Florida flights are booked! :j: :j: - nothing else is, mind - but we are definitely going! Florida fund has therefore taken a large hit.... Have paid for DD's boyf and he will be paying me back - first instalment after his student finance comes in (he gets a huge post grad loan, as he is from Wales and also has a pt job this year - same place as DD) Next stop is to book travel insurance (a priority) and then accom / car/ get DS3 a new pport/ re-do ESTAs/ book pet boarding/ airport parking/ Disney &Universal tickets (some of these are more urgent than others ) Friends are joining us a few days in for 14 nights - fingers crossed it goes well (my one experience of holidaying with friends in same accom abroad was not fun.....)

Remaining gpig (we lost one in July) has been poorly - with cystitis (who knew!) - so she's on a course of antibs and anti-inflamms - she doesn't like me very much at the mo!!!

WM has broken down again.... sigh.... have repair person coming out tomorrow. Will also be choosing a new one - this is the 4th or 5th call out in less than 12 months....

Right - am now quickly off to work for half hour or so of updated training - and taking some of the fruit mountain from the trees with me to offload
x

greent

WM has been repaired :j :j - although at a cost of £125 Still - it means I can take advantage of the weather again

Have had DS1 helping me in the garden the past couple of days - rear lawn mowed (hoping for the last time), some pots emptied and replanted with chrysanthemums and violas for the Winter 2 courgette plants have been left - the others weren't doing anything, so have gone. A handful of tomato plants have been added to garden waste, too - the remaining plants are stripped of foliage, waiting for the fruits to ripen BBQ has been moved close to the house ready to ensure it is thoroughly cleaned before going away until next year. The strawberry patch has been overtaken with cinque trefoil (?), bindweed and something else - along with a couple of brambles, so we've dug up around 4 dozen or so plants to save (some with runners) and have attacked the area with strong weedkiller - hopefully this weather means that in a couple of days or so they'll show good signs of going and DS1 can then burn them

Money news = none - although I am working Saturday morning (grammar schools entrance exam) - so that's more money for the holiday fund next month :T

Keeping on plodding along.....

Suffolk_lass

Gosh you're brave re the strawberries - we put in triple height (railway sleeper) raised beds for strawberries and the field bindweed has come up from underneath. Our only option I think is to apply topical weedkiller to it as I never leave the bed empty (cucumbers in one, underplanted by dwarf French beans and salad crops in the other). I might copy you when the last of the veg have been harvested.

brizzlegirl

Good to hear from you greent. We are planning a garden clearance day on Sunday..much needed before the winter. And I also want to enjoy an evening there with the chimenea before it gets too too cold.

Xx

greent

So around half of the strawberry bed has been cleared - and I have around 60 or so strawberry plants all potted up ready to go in the ground in the Spring. Not sure when to do the other half

Tomato plants all stripped at weekend - tubs of them are now on the kitchen windowsill and the plants in the green bin. Courgettes also all harvested (4 tiny ones picked today) and plants in green bin. Trees are dropping leaves but it is too wet this week to clear them - am hoping I can get some up next week (they will be falling for weeks...) Still have loads and loads of pears and apples to harvest - but I do now have lots of freezer space now that the eldest 2 have gone back to uni!

DD went back yesterday and DS1 on Saturday - he has a lovely big room in a houseshare this year Kitchen is already a state, though - as are the bathrooms! Both have gone back with heaps of food

Our flights for Florida next Summer were booked with Th0mas C00k - so they've fallen over. We have reserved some more for the same dates with Br1t1sh A1rways - slightly more expensive, but at least we have some. OH has put in a claim with his CC (tesc0) so now it's just a time issue, hopefully..... My mum has offered to lend us some money to cover the 2nd lot of tickets - we do have some left in Florida fund after paying the Tesc0 CC bill, but the 2nd bill may have to be paid before the refund comes through and we don't have enough to cover both bills!! We also do have scheduled supplier failure on our travel insce- but only to the value of 5K (1st lot of flights cost 7k...)

Have donated 2 big bags of stuff to CS this month, have a large box half full in my car boot for them (am going to try and fill it up), a large bag of small items/ toiletries to shoebox appeal, sold several items via fb00k and flebay and sent an emptied bookcase (so currently surplus) off with DD. Have also been dealing with my Nan's house - have 1 more van load to clear from there - hopefully this weekend if the weather is good. I then need to organise getting it cleaned and then can get it up for sale Once sold I just have to keep details of income (2 x pension, attendance allowance and bank interest) and outgoings (care home fees, hairdressing etc and clothes/ toiletries etc) - will be much easier and take up a lot less time :T

DS3 has taken the grammar school entrance test - so now it's just a case of waiting. He doesn't want to go - he wants to go to the local comp (just under 1 mile from our house) so we'll see.

OH is enjoying his new job (always good!) - tiring and challenging - but in a good way. He'll get paid this week - it'll be a few days under a full month, but it will give us an idea of our new budget

Karmacat

What a good job the Florida holiday is so far away! I mean, normally taht would be awful, but the rebooking sounds like its been fairly painless for you. I'm glad to hear it! And about OH's job too

brizzlegirl

Yep fingers crossed for a speedy resolution on flight costs. Glad you’ve got a back up plan.

Garden work sounds good. Have a great week

X

CathT

Your garden sounds delightful greent, so much fruit and veg to harvest.

Lovely to have you back posting again.