Keeping up appearances.......

HappyNow

FlacosFloozie - Thanks. Mr H is getting a bit better each day. Well I think he is - I keep forgetting to ask nowadays because the sling is gone and he looks normal . Weight staying off too, probably the stress!

Eager_Elephant - Sorry, Hyacinth doesn't live here any more :rotfl:. She'd not like it AT ALL now! Hope your Saturday downer has passed, I will nip onto your diary to find out.

Right - down to the money business . Payday last weekend and it is not good news.

1) I've had to tax the big car (£154 for 6 months :mad:).

2) I had to buy creosote to treat our wooden outbuildings and stables. They haven't been done for years and were starting to rot. We really couldn't let them go through another winter untreated. We have loads of outbuildings and they are massive - brush painting wasn't realistic so I had to buy a pressure sprayer. The total cost for the creosote and sprayer was £154 . But they're done and it really was an essential.

3) £5400 of credit card debt had reached the end of its 0%, so I had to pay £243 in fees to get it back onto 0% for the next 14 months.

4) Both kids now home from uni and household expenses are up. I've also had to pay Little Miss's train fares.

5) I've generally been slack over the last couple of months and started this month with a deficit. I am most disappointed in myself!

So............. with all the bills paid and the credit card debt remaining the same as last month, I am approx £250 short of managing this month:(:o:(. I'll need to be resourceful and inventive, but I WILL DO IT. Somehow. I think.

brizzledfw

Hey Mrs H! You're back!! Ace.

Sorry this month will be tight, especially with the extra mouths to feed and care for..but you will indeed do it. Keep the faith. We are all here for you.

HappyNow

Thanks Brizzle

Just wanted to say - my lettuce is growing ! I planted some speedy salad seeds (as recommended by Pooh!) and Rocket seeds,and they are already half an inch high after about two weeks. You can't tell what they are yet, they all look the same, but before long I will be serving home-grown leaves! Nothing else, just home-grown leaves . The seeds/compost/container cost £6 in total so there's every chance of breaking even on this venture!

Disappointingly, yet again I did not win the lottery . Mr H insists playing it every week despite not being very good at number-selection. Maybe next time.......:D

brizzledfw

Fab. A natural gardener, clearly!

X

turfy6

Hi happy good news on the seeds sounds good. glad all is well with you and yours.

HappyNow

Thanks Brizzle and Turfy, we should be eating home-grown salad leaves and rocket within the week and I have already sown a follow-up batch .

I am poorly . I've had really severe abdominal pains for almost a week. I went to the GP yesterday who thinks it is a urinary tract infection and gave me some medication, plus sent a urine sample away for testing, results due Tuesday.

Right, that's the bad stuff, now for the good! Or potentially good. We might be getting a bit of money! Mr Happy's mum has announced that she is selling off a family heirloom, the proceeds of which she wants to share between her three children (one of which is Mr H, obviously). It has been in the family for years, but has no sentimental value and she would prefer it to be sold to someone who would love it, and for her children to benefit from the money. It goes in a specialist auction next week! Naturally we have no idea what it will fetch, but one third of the reserve is £6000!!! I'm trying not to get too excited because it might not reach the reserve and will be withdrawn (and the next proper auction for this type of article isn't for six months), or she might even put stipulations on what she wants us to do with the money. And whatever it fetches it is likely to be many weeks - maybe months as it will probably sell abroad -before we receive any dosh. But exciting times and just the boost I need right now! Please cross your fingers and toes for us ! I will update on here how it goes .

Of course, this forced me to discuss our money situation with Mr Happy as otherwise he would have been planning for a new car. He took it rather well and I will update fully on that later, but I have to go now because I can hear him wandering about upstairs and my diary is still secret!

grannyx2

Hope you feel better soon

Fingers and everything else crossed for the auction

Granny x

HappyNow

OK, so in 35 days or thereabouts, I will be receiving a cheque for over £7,000!!!!!!!!. Actually I should probably say 'we', because the cheque will be in Mr Happy's name. Mr Happy is still reeling from the events of the last couple of weeks, but he is being the trooper I know and love. At least £5,000 will be going towards our unsecured debts.

Lots of updating to do but I just cannot get near the PC for more than five minutes at a time right now. Looking back to last summer I was doing most of my diary updates in the middle of the night. This year in the middle of the night I AM ASLEEP!! That's progress, no ??!

pennywisepoundstupid

:jThats great news about the cheque.

Its also good that your sleeping now, everything seems so much worse at 3am.

Fortune_Smiles

That's fantastic news Mrs Happy - so pleased for you.

Fortune x