Keeping up appearances.......

Honey_Bear

It doesn't sound like moaning to me, Joey. It sounds more like frustration and despair at not being able to make matters better. (((Hugs))) all round.

Some how, posting about using an electric toothbrush at the moment doesn't really do it for me. I'm doing okay on the goals, I've got four little letters to write to go with the last of the Christmas cards and then they're finished.

(((Hugs))) for you, too, Happy.

joeyjimbles

Honey, thanks for the hugs. Its not right of us to complain when we are dry and in our own homes, but being cut off from the rest of the city is starting to create issues.
Well done on (almost) finishing up the Christmas Cards - now don't do my trick and get complacent and find them in a drawer next February! Our tree was delivered today - a friend has a Christmas Tree Farm - and its huge. So I need to wait until the weekend to decorate it as I need at least one more string of fairy lights as one failed last year, and possibly more as its very wide.
We're off to the Cockermouth Taste food festival, I always mean to go but forget and this year seems the time to go and support local. And I can do the shopping on the way back.
Hope you're okay Happy and Miss H is starting to mend her broken heart.

Honey_Bear

(((Hugs))) all round I think, don't you, Joey?

I heard about an event taking place in Cockermouth on the radio last night, so I hope there was a stonking good turnout and a thoroughly good time was had by all.

Ditto about Miss Happy's heart.

And I've posted the final Christmas card which I had to take to the post office because it goes airmail to Ohio. Sadly no lovely stamps left at the tiny PO I use but as it's only about 100 paces from my front door I forgive them. Lovely chatty queue this morning; it felt just like being in a proper old-fashioned village shop, which isn't bad considering it actually has a city centre postcode.

smallholdingsister

Happy (hello btw) soo annoying about the compulsory water testing.
We have similar here but so far have managed to ignore the council.

HappyNow

Just popping my head in to say all is well and to thank you all for dropping by.

Our stables are flooded again after the deluges of the last few days, but hearing from Joey puts all that into perspective of course. Massive sympathies to those poor people .We were shopping in town yesterday and heard the local flood sirens going, so we hot-footed it straight home to check, but the house is fine. We are using snow-shovels to bale out one horse's stable three times per day until the weather is better for us to do the (expensive) repairs.

Miss Happy's heart seems to be mending, thanks . She is actually going to a Christmas party this afternoon which is a good sign - she'd said earlier that she just wanted to stay in bed.

Our finances are REALLY dire right now. I'm hiding from them and haven't updated my signature even though it's payday on Tuesday and I really should have done the calculations. I'm going to do it today but it won't be good news and we won't get the debt below £40000 as I had hoped. Too many unexpected bills/breakdowns/expenses and I feel slightly sick. But I have decided to use this month as a 'straighten-up' month, paying everything due and stocking up on coal and horse food, and hit the ground running in 2016.

Off to finish cleaning the living room now ready for the tree going up. It's our trusty 15 year old artificial one but it will look fine once it's done.

joeyjimbles

You know what, Happy, it is ok because if these circumstances had visited you on other occasions then the debt would have gone up with scarcely a thought by significant amounts. And the reality is that maybe your numbers won't go down this month, and perhaps it might even temporarily gain, but it won't be mindlessly and it won't stay that way. I believe that.
It's looking better here-ish. The main bridge is still closed but I went into the city today and it's less victim and more recovery. I hope tomorrow the divers can get down to see the bridges foundings and I hope it will be fine, but at least we'll know if they're not.
The Taste Festival was lovely - sadly it was raining throughout and we encountered snow as we left - but there were loads of people there & the stalls were full of delicious things. Probably wasn't very MSE but I did spend locally and I refuse to think of it as anything other than positive. BTW the Lakes Distillery Gin is gorgeous.
So glad the Miss H's heart is on the mend and she's venturing into the party scene, so good to hear.
And there's nothing wrong with a 15 year old tree - we are lucky to get ours for nothing more than dinner otherwise we'd be the same. I still look forward to my parents getting out the tree that we had as kids - I make that over 55 years!

Dolphin1

joeyjimbles wrote: »

You know what, Happy, it is ok because if these circumstances had visited you on other occasions then the debt would have gone up with scarcely a thought by significant amounts. And the reality is that maybe your numbers won't go down this month, and perhaps it might even temporarily gain, but it won't be mindlessly and it won't stay that way. I believe that.

Well said :T!

Dolphin1

joeyjimbles wrote: »

It's looking better here-ish. The main bridge is still closed but I went into the city today and it's less victim and more recovery. I hope tomorrow the divers can get down to see the bridges foundings and I hope it will be fine, but at least we'll know if they're not.

Sorry Joey I haven't been posting much but I just want to say how sorry I am to see the terrible destruction on the news that you have all been left with due to the flooding. I do hope things get back to normality soon although I guess for some people it may drag on for some months. It's all really awful and certainly makes me count my blessings.

Honey_Bear

It sounds as though you are having a thoroughly tough time, Happy but at least Miss Happy seems to have perked up a bit. Are the horses in at the moment? Tricky having to bale them out if they are. Massive (((hugs))) to you.

Our artificial tree is going on 22 years now, and I found myself quite cross with OH when he suggested it should be replaced. I'd have preferred a real one every year but he insisted we buy it all those years ago and I think he wants something shiney and new and I'm used to it now. Besides which, Devil Cat would be a disaster with a real tree, like this.

Healing vibes for your Dad, and I hope that you can stop beating yourself up about the money you simply have to spend to Keep Going, never mind Keeping Up. Your figures are consistent, you've been doing incredibly well and sometimes life just kicks you where it hurts. You'll get past this; it's a temporary glitch.

smallholdingsister

Thinking of you and Miss Happy.x