Daydream thread continues.....

COOLTRIKERCHICK

Itismehonest wrote: »

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



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.

glad hubby is going to have a word... I know if it was me the language would be flying blue everywhere..

we used to use old fruit boxes, which looks lovely, but you lose a lot of 'stacking' space,

I have just googled, and its basically not worth it, so going to delete part of my post.

Itismehonest

COOLTRIKERCHICK wrote: »

glad hubby is going to have a word... I know if it was me the language would be flying blue everywhere..

we used to use old fruit boxes, which looks lovely, but you lose a lot of 'stacking' space,

I have just googled, and its basically not worth it, so going to delete part of my post.

OK I'll edit mine, too.
Will you also edit my quoted bit on your last post? This could get out of hand :rotfl:

Tee hee - Bloke in the cottage garden. That'll be why she was in bed & didn't answer the door last night then :rotfl:

alfie_1

helloooooo

absolutely baking here today.:D
just off to deliver beaureu thingy i sold.:)
lots of watchers for trailer.....:D:D

NO RANTS HERE......YET.

CAR BOOT SALE WAS MASSIVE TODAY, GOT SOME BARGAINS :D:D

i love this weather :)

Rummer

Cold and wet here Alfie

ukmaggie45

Sunny on and off here in Liverpool. Here's a pic of the magnolia.


Magnolia by ukmaggie45, on Flickr

And the garlic looks like it's doing OK!


The garlic patch by ukmaggie45, on Flickr

The apple blossom is thinking about opening!


Apple blossom in bud with a ladybird by ukmaggie45, on Flickr

We're going to be Twin-ified a bit later, so may be too knackered to look in again later!

lostinrates

Hot here.

Rhs website says 5 5 10 fertiliser to try and save the hollies. I hope it works.

r.a.i.n.b.o.w

rhiwfield wrote: »

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.

Yep! I live at the top of a tower block in London, so my main priorities for my dream is to swap with a property that 1) has a garden, and 2) is near the coast. As I'm a city girl born & bred, I don't think a fully rural life would suit me, so a nice small coastal town would be pretty much ideal.

COOLTRIKERCHICK

r.a.i.n.b.o.w wrote: »

Yep! I live at the top of a tower block in London, so my main priorities for my dream is to swap with a property that 1) has a garden, and 2) is near the coast. As I'm a city girl born & bred, I don't think a fully rural life would suit me, so a nice small coastal town would be pretty much ideal.

What area would you like to live in ( I know you would like to live near the coast, but what coast)

Have you got any ties that would keep you in London, job, family etc... do you work?

Sorry for being nosey:D, but maybe the answering these questions ( in general) would maybe help us come up with some suggestions in getting you a step nearer to a place with a garden ( to start with) and getting your daydream to a reality..

You mentioned the house swop website... in reality would there be people wanting to swop a house/flat with a garden with a top floor flat in a tower block???

Could you save up for a deposit to rent a private house with a garden, somewhere near a coast?

ferretkeeper

There's more than one way to achieve the dream and I dearly wish I knew what I know now when we were looking to move.

I have recently met a group in Swansea city centre who own their house but through a co-op. I haven't got my head around the arrangement fully but I was amazed to find it is an incredibly affordable way of living, albeit communally, reminded me of student living actually!

They have a decent size garden which will provide some of their food but the dream for some of them is to start a new co-op in a more rural place with land.

There are a couple of projects already up and running here in Wales, Lammas is one I know off the top of my head. Wales seems to be slightly ahead of the rest of UK on planning approval for these.

If I could have a similar lifestyle but without the pressures of mortgages and loans and business managers and accountants I bloomin well would! But selling up isn't an option so I've got to make it work, and I will but it isn't easy.

Rainbow, don't rule out allotments, cities seem better served than some towns - I got one in Reading instantly at Uni (12 years ago admittedly) then in a small Wiltshire town we moved to it took 3 years. Also Landshare and even guerilla gardening!

Something else to consider - for livestock without the commitment some small farms will rear an animal on behalf of a customer who has no land/time etc. You choose your lamb/piglet, and have it butchered as you like. Friends/families can get together to share the cost and the resulting meat. I have offered this in the past and will probably do so again, you may find someone more local to you would be willing if you ask? Not quite the same as rearing your own but maybe the next best thing in the interim?

Good luck with the dreams, they are good to have, but I agree with Rummer. I too have learnt to not overlook what is under your nose and I now love where we live and can see past all the problems

r.a.i.n.b.o.w

COOLTRIKERCHICK wrote: »

What area would you like to live in ( I know you would like to live near the coast, but what coast)

Have you got any ties that would keep you in London, job, family etc... do you work?

Sorry for being nosey:D, but maybe the answering these questions ( in general) would maybe help us come up with some suggestions in getting you a step nearer to a place with a garden ( to start with) and getting your daydream to a reality..

You mentioned the house swop website... in reality would there be people wanting to swop a house/flat with a garden with a top floor flat in a tower block???

Could you save up for a deposit to rent a private house with a garden, somewhere near a coast?

I'm currently looking at anywhere between Hastings (south coast) through to just short of Dover (south east), I have 2 grown up daughters and a grandson in London so need to be pretty close for easy travelling, and one of my daughters (the one with the son) would most likely want to move *with* me too (not into my house, but if I get a place she'll probably follow me shortly).

I'm self employed, so the work side of things would be easy enough, and the garden (and a couple of chooks!) would *ideally* supply the bulk of food. If push comes to shove I can go back into retail for a while to tide things over.

The block I live in is apparantly desirable, it has on-site management, caretaker, security guard, CCTV and a landscaped communal garden. On the swap site there are people looking to move to London to "follow their dream"! So I think I do have a chance - I know realistically it's a small chance, but still a chance is better than nothing. Another option would be to swap with someone who is in a good area but with no garden, and then swap again with someone who does have a garden in the same area. OR do a 3-way or multi swap - this would probably be the most likely way I will get my place straight off.

It's actually quite amazing the amount of people who want to move to London - I know someone who lived just up the road on one of the yuck estates on the 3rd floor, who signed up for a swap to Norwich to be nearer family. Not even 6 months later, she had swapped, now lives in a 2-bed house with a lovely garden!

With regards to saving for a private let - yes, this is an option when the cash flow allows! Bit scared of leaving the relative safety of social housing though, cos I know I CAN'T be evicted unless I break my tenancy conditions, and after 23 years here I don't think that's going to happen

One thing in my favour (although I HATE them with a passion) is the recent welfare cuts and austerity measures. I got hit with the bedroom tax, have to pay £25 extra per week thanks to having a "spare" room, and I know I'm not the only one saying "well if I have to pay for an extra room, it might as well be in the place I WANT to live".

Anyway, thanks for reading my ramble, if you got this far! :rotfl: