Pavlovs_dog starting as she means to go on...

aliasojo

pavlovs_dog wrote: »

Thought I'd share some pics of one of our many current projects, the garden. Here is the garden looking out from the house.

That garden is crying out for some raised vegetable beds. Grow your own food pav, that'll help with the shopping bills.

I'm hooked these days. Gave up on the DIY ages ago, cucumbers is where it's at now. :rotfl:

gratefulforhelp_2

Gorgeous stone walls.

Frugaldom

I'm with the 'raised bed' brigade. Our DIY weekend was spent digging and planting.

Was taking a look at the extra spends that can be notched up when amidst DIY and can see how easily I could fall into the trap of settling for takeaway of fast food. I guess that's where we can't really fall down, as there isn't a takeaway within miles, so it's breadmaking first thing in the morning, I have eggs boiling just now and I've stocked up on Sainsbury's Basic pot needles. I also have a box of salad leaves that have been growing all winter under cover, so that's the basis for salad sannies.

Pavlov's, are you sure you really, really want all your chimneys capped off? Being able to light a fire or, perhaps one day, install a small logburner are things that can really help during bad winters where power failure is a possibility. Or am I ust reflecting how rural we live?

gratefulforhelp_2

I'm with you frugaldom, fireplaces that work are a great selling point also.

[Deleted User]

loving all the pics it looks lovely- cannot wait to have house with garden so I can grow things!! 2 of the packs of seeds I bought are outdoor use only so may have to find someone with a garden who doesnt mind me borrowing a square! good luck with the DIY - its definitley the time of year for it!

pavlovs_dog

aliasojo wrote: »

That garden is crying out for some raised vegetable beds. Grow your own food pav, that'll help with the shopping bills.

I'm hooked these days. Gave up on the DIY ages ago, cucumbers is where it's at now. :rotfl:

It's on the to do list, think it will be container gardening. Where to put the containers is the question. I've got as far as buying salad bowl seeds. Not sure what has happened to last year's seeds in the move :cool:

gratefulforhelp wrote: »

Gorgeous stone walls.

they would be if they weren't half falling down. OH's pointing skills from fixing the attic are coming in handy again

Frugaldom wrote: »

Pavlov's, are you sure you really, really want all your chimneys capped off? Being able to light a fire or, perhaps one day, install a small logburner are things that can really help during bad winters where power failure is a possibility. Or am I ust reflecting how rural we live?

quite sure, because i'm fed up of the birdies using them as a toilet :eek: the pebbled dash look in our feature fireplaces is not a good look _pale_

not to mention that i'd never be able to sleep at night for fear of a stray ember setting the house ablaze. Open fires just aren't for me. We are urbanites so maybe it's a 'local' mentality but i'd sooner fall back on alternative forms of heating (blankets, hot water bottles, electric heaters) were we to loose the GCH. We are yet (in my living memory - watch this be famous last words :eek: ) to have a winter so bad that it knocks out either fuel source, never mind both. And seeing as we're in one of Wales' biggest towns and are in spitting distance of the capital, we'd be a fairly high priority for being reconnected.

pavlovs_dog

OP'd another £120 this morning, again a combination of tutoring money and our regular £50 monthly OP. £120 is equivalent to 8 days worth of interest payments (our daily rate is currently £15, or £14.96 to be precise using the forumla provided by wantabetterlife in post 284).

This OP brings April's OP total £268. We have paid £710 of our £1500 target for the year, or 47%.

As exam season draws to a close the tutoring money is going to dry up, meaning that I will have to be more disciplined about how tightly i run the budget to find extra monies to syphon off. I've enjoyed tutoring so much this year that I am thinking about advertising my services next year (depending on how things go with the job application) as exam marking just doesn't appeal at all.

Mortgage balance currently stands at £130,175.66 Inching closer to the £120s :j

gratefulforhelp_2

I have done tutoring, do you do it at your house, and do you have any top tips? We live in the back of beyond which could be a problem.

pavlovs_dog

gratefulforhelp wrote: »

I have done tutoring, do you do it at your house, and do you have any top tips? We live in the back of beyond which could be a problem.

there's not much call for tutoring in my subject so i'm probably not the best person to be asking for tips.

I always do it in their house, feel it offers an extra bit of protection somehow. And it's nice that home remains a sanctuary, I do enough school work here without adding more to the mix :eek:

If I go down the advertising route next year I'll probably use gumtree or the local free paper. I don't really fancy paying to advertise in the main local paper because I don't want to get overscribed or open myself to having to travel too far for jobs. or, more pessimistically pay for something and get no response

my school runs easter revision sessions which pays about £100.day so next year I should see if i can get one off the ground for my department.

gratefulforhelp_2

Goodness £100 per day is fair. So long as its optional!

The local college is mangling it's A level courses in my subject and DH's, so maybe I should look into it.