Daydream thread continues.....

Davesnave

lostinrates wrote: »

We haven't sorted ANYTzhING out with the house. No progress at all. It's been a rough few months and we have ground to halt totally.

We have the detailed plans being drawn for Building Regs ATM, but for reasons I won't go into here, I've called a halt on starting anything until next year. We have enough to do elsewhere.

We recently visited someone who's done an extension on a bungalow, using solar tubes to get light into areas where a Velux type window would be impractical. That was impressive, highly relevant and it would solve one problem quite cheaply.:) The question is, why didn't our architect suggest that?

I've come to the conclusion that many architects are just glorified artists with a knowledge of the regs. Ours doesn't even like bending them. When I pointed out that we could horse-trade the window we were losing in the dining room for one bigger than the regs allow in the kitchen, he just said, "Oh yeah, that would be OK." :wall:

DW virtually designed our refurb herself in the end, after discovering that architects don't necessarily make sensible decisions about things like where wardrobes might go. When we said to ours, "Now we have to pass through a corner of the sitting room to get into the rest of the house!" he replied, "But you gain a few square feet that way." OK, but at first principles stage we said "No open plan nonsense."

Sorry, having a rant here! :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Davesnave

I enjoyed reading this story this week:

http://www.thisisdevon.co.uk/15-telegraph-poles-stolen-Combe-Martin-lane/story-18869485-detail/story.html#axzz2SP2JQX3P

In my own saga, it appears that Mr Dog has done me a favour, as BT's own info says that poles erected illegally must be removed by them at the landowner's request within 28 days of notification. There's no doubt now that ours is illegal, as I now have copies of Mr Dog's title plan from the Land Registry.

The trouble is, I have already tried 'notification' and they haven't responded. :mad::mad::mad:

I'll be having another go by recorded delivery shortly, but I really have better things to do at this time of year.

EDIT: Ooops! another rant! :rotfl:

Itismehonest

Rant from here, too, Dave.

Ruddy rug rats next door still bark at everything & practically all day. It's impossible to work outside without the constant yapping.
Their owner wouldn't know as they're seldom there & just leave the dogs to their own devices. They are shut in but use a catflap to get in & out.
We have several sheepdogs around here which bark .... occasionally..... when they see something/someone where they don't think it should be but not constantly & at everything. The things in the cottage are completely untrained :mad: I think all they are is part of the idyllic dream of a country cottage, with dogs, cats etc that the woman has. Fine, but with the dream comes responsibilities.

Add to that we now can't open any of our downstairs windows because their cats get in. Yes, these are the cats that are scared to go to their own home because the dogs chase them.
I was about to go to bed last night when I heard mewing from the dining room. Today I'll have to go right through the place making sure the ruddy thing hasn't peed or carpped anywhere.

:mad:

It won't be long before I'm yelling at more than the dogs. I'll be tackling the landlord (charity), too.
My rant over.

lostinrates

Davesnave wrote: »

We have the detailed plans being drawn for Building Regs ATM, but for reasons I won't go into here, I've called a halt on starting anything until next year. We have enough to do elsewhere.

We recently visited someone who's done an extension on a bungalow, using solar tubes to get light into areas where a Velux type window would be impractical. That was impressive, highly relevant and it would solve one problem quite cheaply.:) The question is, why didn't our architect suggest that?

I've come to the conclusion that many architects are just glorified artists with a knowledge of the regs. Ours doesn't even like bending them. When I pointed out that we could horse-trade the window we were losing in the dining room for one bigger than the regs allow in the kitchen, he just said, "Oh yeah, that would be OK." :wall:

DW virtually designed our refurb herself in the end, after discovering that architects don't necessarily make sensible decisions about things like where wardrobes might go. When we said to ours, "Now we have to pass through a corner of the sitting room to get into the rest of the house!" he replied, "But you gain a few square feet that way." OK, but at first principles stage we said "No open plan nonsense."

Sorry, having a rant here! :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Just like to say that not all architects are created equal! Ours is fabulous, pointing out problems in usage with our ideas (sunken bath with ceiling mounted showers for example) and impact of other things on budget.

Rummer

r.a.i.n.b.o.w wrote: »

Made a decision this week!: as finances are looking unlikely to improve before I reach my coffin, I decided that currently the most sensible way to chase my dream is to join the HomeSwapper site and advertise my home to swap! You can put all the details of where/what you're looking for and then you get matched with people who are looking for where/what you have, and take it from there. It's available to anyone in a council or housing association property, and you can look to swap ANYWHERE within the UK, which is great if you need to move for family/health/work/whatever reasons.

This could be a loooooong process yet, but it's given me a kick up the backside in terms of getting my home clean and presentable, and given me hope that my daydream doesn't necessarily have to start with a huge savings pot and a mortgage!

If anyone else reading this is in a council or housing association property, and want to have a look at realising their dream from a different angle, google "homeswapper". The more people registered, the more likely we all are to find something suitable

:T:j

That sounds like a great idea! We had planned a Dreamers future however life dealt us a hard blow last year and we have had to re-evaluate everything over the last 12 months. I have grown tired of putting my life on hold for the what ifs and the promise of something more exciting in the future so I am building my daydream life right where I am at the moment.

I looked at our garden and have made plans to build on it year after year so that it is slowly evolving into the space we want it to be. I may not have pigs and chickens and the alpaca I dreamt of but I will have the best growing space I can create. Our house is not exactly what we wanted either but a change of thinking has mean that I am
seeing more and more potential and again money allowing tweaking it into a home I will be happy in.

Yes it is good to save and plan for the future (National lottery win included) but it is so important to enjoy the here and now and to work with what you have just incase the dream stays that little bit too far out of reach. Gosh I have written loads :rotfl:

lostinrates

It's me, I thought that rug rats was a term for crawling age kids....so your neighbours behaviour seems even worse in that context!

rhiwfield

Rummer wrote: »

That sounds like a great idea! We had planned a Dreamers future however life dealt us a hard blow last year and we have had to re-evaluate everything over the last 12 months. I have grown tired of putting my life on hold for the what ifs and the promise of something more exciting in the future so I am building my daydream life right where I am at the moment.

I looked at our garden and have made plans to build on it year after year so that it is slowly evolving into the space we want it to be. I may not have pigs and chickens and the alpaca I dreamt of but I will have the best growing space I can create. Our house is not exactly what we wanted either but a change of thinking has mean that I am
seeing more and more potential and again money allowing tweaking it into a home I will be happy in.

Yes it is good to save and plan for the future (National lottery win included) but it is so important to enjoy the here and now and to work with what you have just incase the dream stays that little bit too far out of reach. Gosh I have written loads :rotfl:

Spot on Rummer! When you see gardens full of flowers and veg and looking great, they uplift the spirit. Its amazing just how much can be achieved with intensive cultivation.

Making what you have now work for you, doesnt negate the dream but it makes any waiting more enjoyable and less frustrating.

COOLTRIKERCHICK

morning all:j:j

ITSME... I would be straight on the case with those yappy dogs...

Alfie lovely idea with the ladders and planks, BUT the prices most of these shows charge for stand space:eek::eek::eek: We nee to get the max amount of stock on the displays..

We are resorting to metal garage storage stands in machine mart. not as rustic looking as the lovely wooden stands ( an not has heavy too:D) but with the diff sizes they will be good when trying to work out the stand layouts depending the sizes ( stands vary from 1.5 to 3m in depth)

R.a.i.n.b.o.w. it sounds as though you got nothing to lose with that site... so worth a go. Never give up on your dreams... sometimes you just got to look outside the box for ideas etc..

Itismehonest

lostinrates wrote: »

It's me, I thought that rug rats was a term for crawling age kids....so your neighbours behaviour seems even worse in that context!

I think that comes from Rugrats the kids cartoon. We've always known the term rug rats for small, non-working, noisy little dogs.

Itismehonest

COOLTRIKERCHICK wrote: »

morning all:j:j

ITSME... I would be straight on the case with those yappy dogs...

DH is off round there shortly to have a word. I won't go or the word would turn into several, very harsh &probably unladylike sentences

COOLTRIKERCHICK wrote: »

We are resorting to metal garage storage stands in machine mart. not as rustic looking as the lovely wooden stands ( an not has heavy too:D) but with the diff sizes they will be good when trying to work out the stand layouts depending the sizes ( stands vary from 1.5 to 3m in depth)

Could you not make up cubes - wooden squares similar to these but in 'reclaimed'/cheap wood? Then you could build the cubes into whatever size & shape fits the area. The same would be true of transporting them.

Rugrat update: Errrmmmm.
"They're very protective"..... so are sheepdogs but they are trained. They don't bark at every little thing & nothing in particular. Apparently the dogs start barking at 5am because that's when she gets up. (They obviously even bark at her then). She will stop them using the catflap while she's out (so that will be most of the time).
Oh & she laughed when DH told her that her cats were getting in if we opened the downstairs windows. :mad: Apparently she was in bed when he took the thing back around 9pm last night.