our forever patch challenge

sammy70

Poppy, we think it is a stoat, all the pictures and descriptions on the internet match, and we read, even though we thought it couldnt be a stoat due to large size, that they can grow up to a foot long, which matches our furry critter:)

Im just worried it may eat any chickens we are getting, im looking into this further, as i dont want our chickens to be sitting targets, but we arent going to destroy wildlife who have made their home on our land, its a difficult one..:(

sammy70

We have had an exciting morning! hubby on his way home from his night shift, was met by sheep on our lane , which we assummed had xcaped from our neighbour. So hubby firstly drove carefully down the lane, and found a large hole in the fence, and the reason became clear for this, a large badger had dug through, and was still sat there looking at him!
H etook a couple of phots of it, then went to the neighbours farm. The farmer said the sheep were from our neighbours with the meadow our bedroom overlooks, apparently they had been loading them for market,and they had made a break for it :rotfl:

After much racing about on quad bikes, the sheep were safely back home, though ive just walked up our lane, and though mr badger has gone, the massive hole and damaged fence is still the same, i hope our neighbouring farmer sorts it, before we have sheep dash 2!:)
He was in the field sat in his pickup watching over some lambs being born when i just went for the post, so at least hes on site.

Have a lovely long weekend everyone

xx Sammyxx:)

sammy70

After the contractual mortgage payment, and £150 standard overpayment have goneoff our mortgage, the balance stands at £238,737.44 :eek:

So, in the interest of rounding things off, i made an overpayment today of £137.44, leaving the new balance a rounded off £238,600 :j

Our workshop roof needs replacing before winter, and we have had an estimate of £4000-£4500, so ive started a savings pot tonight, called it workshop roof, and the balance stands at £0.48

Our challenge is to save as much as we can, through work, and penny watching, to pay for this in the next 2/3 months..

Lots of jobs that we need to do involve labour, but no or little cost, so that will keep us busy without affecting the roof savings.

This week im meal planning, and have carefully planned the budget.

we have been clearing overgrown land, remodelling a banking alongside our new track to our little top field , and planting wildflower areas using gifted seeds and any we had from magazine fronts etc.
Blackberry clearing on the field has stopped, as we have discovered a nesting pheasant, so we are giving her time to hopefully bring her little ones into our world

sammy70

We have done well this week, received £300 cheque from national grid, so that has been shared as so- £100 each to roof fund, mortgage, and p.bonds/emergency fund, also tha £3 montly payment from halifax /bill account has gone to the roof find, so-

Roof fund now =£103.48
Mortgage balance= £238,500
bonds/emergency fund=£2000
new business fund=£700
horse savings=£5000

We are doing well, if the roof is done before we have saved enough, i willborrow the funds from my horse savings, and pay back monthly, as im not planning on buying one until 2018, when we have had the chance to complete the stable and all the fencing/gates etc

right, time to get some house cleaning done while hubby gets some sleep after his night shift

sammy70

this week has gone by so quickly!

To be honest, work , petty arguments and what have you amongst work collegues have really got on my nerves this week, unfortunately evey work place seems to have a sprinkling of these types, vindictive sneaky trouble causes, the trick is to see them for the sad individuals they are, and use mind over matter- dont mind their idiocy, cos they dont matter!
Anyway, enough about morons, not a lot to say about finances this week, other than gone slightly over this months grocery/bits and bobs budget, but ive done meal plans etc.

Our lovely new outside wall lights have arrived, we have an electrician coming monday to price up, and hopefully arrange fitting them.

After being messed about by the roofer , hubby and son have made the decision to have a go themselves, they are both handy, so we are scheduling it for the end of july, holiday days booked for time off, now th correct equipment to price up, roof to measure, and order supplies.. and should save at least £1000, so as we say, if you want a job doing well, do it yourself!! :rotfl:

sammy70

Electrician been to look at what we need regarding the outside lighting, seems a nice man, lets hope we receive a not so hefty price

Getting twitchy , NEED to overpay !!:rotfl: where can i scrape some cash..

sammy70

At last the rain has stopped, our land is awash with lush green grass/trees, and weeds of course :rotfl:

Hubby has worked all weekend, a little extra for payday, but means no strimming etc done.. iintend toget stuck into more clearing this week, every little makes a difference.

No cash has appeared to make another overpayment this month, but next week sees both our paydays, so friday will be overpayment/budget day, one of my favorite days of the month :j

Today saw the first of the pheasant chicks meandering down our lane, so sweet and made leaving the top field a jungle worth while so they could hatch and get going in life without being disturbed :T

had a money saving call at tesco for bread, whilst there i spotted our favorite homepride chipotle cooking sauce for chicken on reduced to clear at £0.85p a pack, usually pay £1.70, so needless to say i bought all 13 packs on the shelf ! every little saving helps :beer:

sammy70

made £150 overpayment, new balance now £238,350

Friday, after hubby gets paid, i will do the monthly budget, and then leftover cash after all the bills are paid will be divided into our various savings pots, im thinking about transferring all the savings into the p.bonds seeing as the interest rates still rubbish on the savings accounts, and it pushes me to be more careful with spends when i know i cant access cash easily..:)

try_harder

All sounding lovely ,i can just visualise it all ,i would love to be able to look out on my own land preferably a field of barley maybe one day .

sammy70

Thanks for your lovely comments Tryharder, I must admit, the novelty of looking out onto, and walking around our little rural oasis never gets boring, we absolutely love it here, all the hard work was worth it :j

Tonight ive done the June budget, and all cash left ovr after bills have been accounted for has been divided into savings pots, including another £150 mortgage overpayment, which means the new mortgage balance is £238,200 :beer:

Total over paid to date from november 2016 =£2,382.37

This week we have had the delight of honeybees emerging from our living room chimney :eek: i spent last night waiting as another emergd, then catching it in a glass, and releasing it out of the window.. on sunday, we came in after working outside, to find approx 5o bees on the window sill, which we managed to get outside, the poor things were all sooty.. dont know how many more, if any, will emerge, its all quiet tonight, i hope they have all gone! the joys of country living :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl: