Keeping up appearances.......

jvr

Hi all


Hope your feeling better Honey and you have recovered from the house move Happy!!

HappyNow

Oops, 11th Feb already and this is my first post of the month.

It's just all been so, so busy and I've collapsed into bed every night knackered. Mainly shopping for my parents because most of their furniture from the old house doesn't fit and has been replaced. It's been fun really; 'spend, spend, spend', but with none of that horrible 'paying for it' business because it's their stuff and their money! The flat they've bought cost less than the house they sold so they're reasonably well off now and can afford to get the flat just as they want it.

Payday on Tuesday and all the figures are in so I've updated my sig and the total debt is now more than 50% clear!! I don't actually worry much yet about the mortgage, I focus on the unsecured stuff, but 50% is too big a landmark not to celebrate so YAY!

Monday is deadline day for a decision on our Listed Building application so I'm a bit twitchy. We haven't heard anything from them so far, which I hope is a good sign, but I could be wrong........ If that's granted it's all systems go around here. If it's rejected then it's major re-think time.

Honey - I hope you're completely better now.
jvr - I hope all's well for you and I will check out your diary to make sure.

Dolphin1

:jHooray for more than 50% of your total debt paid off! Also, hooray that your total unsecured debt is now under £20k! Well done you!!!

:j:T:j:T:j:T:j:T:j

Honey_Bear

and total YAY! on the 50%! I'm so chuffed for you and you've earned every single one of those pompom tassles, too. What fun, spending other people's money - it couldn't have happened at a more appropriate moment!

I'm not surprised you're too exhausted to post more frequently. Good luck with the listed building consent thing; there are a lot of reasons to be hopeful about that at the moment, without getting political.

No, sadly, my cough and cold are still with me, as they are with OH who so generously gave it to me. He's spoken to his GP (the brilliant surgery does phone consults as a matter of course, marvellous idea) and had some eye drops for his conjunctivitus, but the GP says this particular virus is a nasty one and hangs around for three to four weeks. We're looking after ourselves and both hoping like mad that we're feeling okay by the time we fly to Barcelona on Thursday. Onward and upward as they say.

Dolphin1

:hello: Honey Bear!

Sorry to hear that you and OH are still not well. It sounds like a very nasty bug. Sending healing vibes your way in the hope that it is all cleared in time for Barcelona on Thursday. Keep on taking care of yourselves!

Dolphin1

:hello: HappyNow et al!

Hope everyone is well? It has been very quiet on here lately.

Hope you are feeling better and made it to Barcelona Honey Bear!

Honey_Bear

Thanks Dolphin! Barcelona was completely fabulous and we had an absolutely brilliant time. Got back last night and still trying to catch up with emails, post, forum threads ....

I hope all is well in Happy Land, and evereyone's recovered from the move.

HappyNow

Another crazy few weeks, not quite sure what happened to February.

Thanks for dropping by with the dancing girls, Dolphin and Honey. Honey, I'm so pleased you were well enough for Barcelona, which I believe is a wonderful place although I've never been. Master Happy went last year and his photos were fab.

Granny Happy (Mr H's mum) is back in hospital with pneumonia. She seems quite poorly with it and was only just recovering from her last fall, when she broke her pelvis

Miss Happy moved out yesterday into a lovely little house that she's renting. It's only a couple of miles down the road so I won't miss her too much and as she is very messy I won't miss that either! Master H is also moving into a gorgeous private rented flat on Tuesday so it'll be just the two of us again. Yay! I've never suffered from Empty Nest Syndrome, but that's probably because they keep coming back.

The Listed Buildng Consent people rang on the very day a decision was due to say they need a time extension. They had to contact Historic England and needed to visit and take loads of photos and have a good look round. Not sure why they couldn't have done that weeks ago, but I need to keep them onside so didn't question it. The new deadline date is 6th March. Frustrating, but can't be helped.

It was Mr H's 60th birthday last week. Rather than buy him a pressie, the kids paid his half of a night in a York hotel for us both. I booked a cheapish one, but still within the city walls, and it was every bit as good as the posh ones there. We went by train and used Tesco vouchers for the fare, meaning I only had to pay £7. We also used Tesco vouchers for a Zizzi meal that night so it was very MSE and much needed.

House-wise, we are repairing field drains while we can't crack on inside, so it's hard work with not much to show for it. The yard should be drier though. We did need to hire a man with a mini-digger for two days but he was up for a bit or bartering and we paid half his bill in field gates and a cattle crush!

Honey_Bear

HappyNow wrote: »

Another crazy few weeks, not quite sure what happened to February.

It got swallowed up dealing with big stuff. It sounds as though your feet haven't touched the ground for months.

Thanks for dropping by with the dancing girls, Dolphin and Honey. Honey, I'm so pleased you were well enough for Barcelona, which I believe is a wonderful place although I've never been. Master Happy went last year and his photos were fab.

We all fell in love with it. I decided not to take my camera as one of the other people's hobby is photography, and so far what he's posted on F'book has been fabulous. I haven't looked at any of my photo albums for over a decade so the temptation to capture everything on film has largely disappeared. However, the temptation to slap everyone who even thinks about using a selfie-stick is now almost irresistable.

Granny Happy (Mr H's mum) is back in hospital with pneumonia. She seems quite poorly with it and was only just recovering from her last fall, when she broke her pelvis

*healing vibes* for Granny Happy. Things sound very tough for her at the moment, poor lady.

Miss Happy moved out yesterday into a lovely little house that she's renting. It's only a couple of miles down the road so I won't miss her too much and as she is very messy I won't miss that either! Master H is also moving into a gorgeous private rented flat on Tuesday so it'll be just the two of us again. Yay! I've never suffered from Empty Nest Syndrome, but that's probably because they keep coming back.

How exciting for Miss Happy, and how lovely that you can enjoy your offspring's independence without feeling sad about them not being under your feet all the time. Yay!

The Listed Buildng Consent people rang on the very day a decision was due to say they need a time extension. They had to contact Historic England and needed to visit and take loads of photos and have a good look round. Not sure why they couldn't have done that weeks ago, but I need to keep them onside so didn't question it. The new deadline date is 6th March. Frustrating, but can't be helped.

Frustrating not to know but I've still got my fingers crossed for your various permissions - and jolly uncomfortable it is because it's being going on for so long. *hurrying up vibes*

It was Mr H's 60th birthday last week. Rather than buy him a pressie, the kids paid his half of a night in a York hotel for us both. I booked a cheapish one, but still within the city walls, and it was every bit as good as the posh ones there. We went by train and used Tesco vouchers for the fare, meaning I only had to pay £7. We also used Tesco vouchers for a Zizzi meal that night so it was very MSE and much needed.

How lovely. I've never been to York but the neighbours who came with us to Barcelona lived there for years and absolutely loved it. I know we all love getting wrapped up stuff on birthdays but as I've got older I've discovered that, actually, I'd far rather do something lovely to celebrate the big birthdays and there's absolutely no doubt that you both deserved a break after the past few weeks. I only wish it could have been longer for your both.

House-wise, we are repairing field drains while we can't crack on inside, so it's hard work with not much to show for it. The yard should be drier though. We did need to hire a man with a mini-digger for two days but he was up for a bit or bartering and we paid half his bill in field gates and a cattle crush!

Why is that a pot of paint that costs fluppence in the grand scheme of things gives us a real lift when we walk into a newly decorated room, but putting in damp course of relaying drains that cost thousands get forgotten about the minute the job's finished? The thing to remember is that the groundworks will stand you in good stead for years and years, and to say a silent thank you every time you walk out there and don't splash through puddles to remind yourself how much you achieved for the price of a couple of gates and a crush. *ouch* (if my memory serves me correctly from my farming days.)

Lovely to see you posting again - I was going to drop by today in any event to say 'Hi.' :wave:

zippygeorgeandben

Hi HappyNow - forgive me for not reading all your diary (just clicked on for first time) but did you tell your husband about all the debts in the end? Just reading post 1 and post 3171