Second Time Lucky

amycool

I have been a busy bee.

Sawed one of the 8ft scaffolding boards in half. Just 7 to go...so very hard work! By the time I'm finished I shall have arms (a right arm at least) like Popeye.

Then I removed all of the boards from the garage side access, which was a bit of a job as the screws were very stiff. I'm saving them to use on the raised bed as most are still in good condition.

The old door, which was behind, was so rotten that when I moved it, it just sort of fell out! So we now have access to the garage and can put the conservatory furniture in the conservatory. Will probably just take the 2-seater and put the rest on freecycle. Or I could try ebay and make it collection only.

There's a huge desk, which work might want, and some metal drawers, which will possibly go to the charity shop.

The main garage door looks very easy to fix as it's just the short top wire that has snapped.

However, whilst in there I quickly realised that I hate the thing and want it gone! :rotfl:The metal frame is a bit rusty, the asbestos roof needs replacing and the concrete panels are knackered and eroded. So why spend loads of money getting a new side door made and putting a lovely living roof on a building that we probably won't use? We were just going to have bikes in there, which we could buy a special storage shed for.

The garage is sat on a raised platform of brick and concrete so there would be a few options. The most labour intensive would be to remove the entire massive platform and make the garden all the same level. This seems unlikely. The other option is to put some nice paving down and have a greenhouse and seating area. I like this idea. The greenhouse would mean that the dark gloom at the bottom of the garden would be lighter. I could also grow a larger variety of plants.

The only issue is how to pay for this and when. I really don't want to keep putting off the bathroom as I fear we will never do it, but having said that, the bathroom really isn't so bad. We could feasibly replace the bath/shower and leave the rest.

Hmmm...lots of discussion needed. My husband is going to go mad.

amycool

Another exhausting day today!

Got up early to go and collect the lamp I won on eBay (I really like it) and go food shopping.
Then OH and I planted the apple tree, but unfortunately we couldn't get it out of the pot without damaging loads of the roots. Fingers crossed it survives. It hasn't grown much since we planted it a few years ago so hopefully now it's in the ground it'll do better.
OH also sawed another 2 scaffolding boards and used some wood from the broken bird table for the corners, so we only needed one 300cm length from the DIY shop.
Next we cleaned the house as we had guests in the afternoon.
Then off to DIY shop where we spent about £60 on wood, 4 tins of paint (reduced to £9.98 from £18), sealant and very long nails for the raised beds.
Picked up friends, house tour, dropped them back in time for Doctor Who.

Feeling really tired after 3 days of digging and sawing and whatnot and feeling tired just thinking about tomorrow as we have so much to fit in.

• Trip to the tip
• Drop stuff off at Mum's
• Make 1 raised bed
• Go to local show as we have been given free tickets

I just want to sleep! I also need to go for a run. Just doing one run every 3 days at the moment to avoid injury.

catshark88

Wow, you've got so much done! Well done on the OPs too.

amycool

Thanks catshark! It's very tempting to overpay more but then we'll have no money for the house stuff.

I forgot to mention that we also went charity shopping on Saturday and got some bargains.
Work trousers for £2.99
Jeans for £3.50 (the same make as the £4 charity shop jeans I got over a year ago that I love)
2 pairs of jeans for OH - £3 and £4
A framed large reproduction of a 1648 map of Lancashire for £10

We were desperate for trousers (we hate clothes shopping and had reached the danger zone where if a pair split we'd be in pyjamas for work) and although we didn't need the map, my OH was going to spend a fortune on a nautical map and then pay for framing it, so lots saved there. Also, it was for charity.

Then yesterday we went to pick my brother up from the station and whilst we waited we popped into Peacocks as they had a sale on. New work shoes for £7 and OH got a nice pair of trainers/shoes for £10.

Feel much better now I own more than one pair of wearable shoes. :rotfl:

We also got a nice free afternoon out, courtesy of the in-laws. They bought tickets to a rural show but then couldn't go so we got the special passes! We got to sit in the special fenced off area with seats and free refreshments. All we bought was a hosta for £1. I was very tempted by the ice creams but at £2 for a basic cornet I had to refrain. Also walked there and back so no petrol or parking to pay for.

In other positive news, I have made a start on the raised bed. The neighbours probably hate me as knocking the nails in is deafening. I'm struggling quite a bit doing it on my own and 2 nails have gone a bit awry, but I've made the basic frame. It's too heavy to carry to its final position, which is annoying and then once moved we need to put the next layer of boards on. Then I shall start chucking stuff into it to annoy the neighbours more.

Now for the bad news...the boiler man phoned to say his partner had hurt himself and they can't make it. I was so excited about finally having a shower! He's going to ring later this week to re-book but sounds like it could be a while. I'd really hoped to get one of the big jobs ticked off so I'm disappointed, but there's nothing they can do about it.

Still to do today:

• Collect prescription
• Check bank accounts
• Plan day trips for holiday
• Phone about key collection for holiday
• Write 2 letters
• Sort new paperwork mountain

I cannot wait to have a whole week off where I don't have any to-do lists! Just 3 working days to go!

amycool

The compost making has begun! It's going to take a lot of green stuff to fill even one raised bed but I guess any compost will save money.

2 more days of work to go until holiday...

amycool

Had a nice surprise from Halifax yesterday. A cool bag arrived with a little bottle of wine, Thorntons Chocolates, a tool kit and a picture hanging kit! Slightly annoying that we'd just bought a picture hanging kit, but you never know, one day we might have 100 pictures to put up. I was feeling quite greedy so ate the chocolates and felt sick.

I've just e-mailed my old energy company to ask for my £30 back that I was in credit.

Meter readings pretty good this week.
Gas - 0! (well, less than 1 unit at least)
Electric - 31
Water - 1

I've been doing lots of washing this week and got a whites load on as I type.

I worked out that if we only ever use 1 unit of water a week, it should be around £22 a month for water, which is £6 cheaper than at the old house.

I'm pondering asking the neighbours to give us their kitchen waste for the compost heap, but I think they might think I'm insane. Perhaps wait until they know us a bit. :rotfl:What looks like quite a lot in a bucket is virtually nothing spread across a 4ft x 4ft raised bed. Loads of weeds and hedge to trim though so hopefully I can add a bit today. I need to water it though as there's been no rain for ages (great news for the leaky room).

I need to start thinking about Christmas but I'm completely lacking in inspiration this year. I have incredibly hard to buy for relatives. They either have no hobbies at all, or very specialised ones, or they buy what they want when they want it. My hand-made gifts haven't gone down as well as I had hoped in the past and I'm loathe to spend 20 hours on a gift that somebody doesn't want. I would really like to dispense with gifts altogether and just buy for the little ones, but I've tried suggesting a £10 limit before and that started a small war, so not worth the stress! Will have to keep thinking. If it gets to December, it might have to be vouchers!

Washing machine has gone quiet - better peg it out.

amycool

I got home from a lovely week away in Anglesey today and this evening I have been catching up with everything.

I've just added everything up from the holiday and was a little shocked! I knew we'd been to a lot of places and used a lot of petrol, but we only ate out a few times. Plus, as we went with my Mum, she gave money towards everything. We just about stayed under the £300 limit (plus £200 for accommodation) and it was definitely worth it. £100 of that was petrol as we drove miles every day and we visited a castle, a country house, a garden, a country park, an RSPB place, an old cottage, loads of beaches. Actually, when I think about it, although we only had 2 proper evening meals out, we ate tons of food! Ice creams, cakes, coffees etc.

In boiler news, they should be coming to start fitting it on Monday.

No progress made with getting quotes for guttering. To do!

Got home to the car insurance quote and it's lovely! I remember the awful days when my OH first got a car and it was about £2000 for 10 months. Every year it seems to go down and we're now at the £350 point. I'll still do a comparison though and see if I can get any cashback.

No news on the missing home insurance cashback.

I have e-mailed the water company about charging us for 9 units instead of 3, so hopefully I should get a little back there.

Got the refund from the old gas company.

In Christmas news, I have bought my OH a painting (he chose it) so I just need to buy a frame. He bought me something too. Also got a game for a friend and some wooden toys for my niece and nephew. We've bought a gift for my mil's birthday and something for mother and father in law for christmas.

I also found a lovely waterproof coat reduced from £80 to £40. :T I really needed one for the walk to work once it gets wet and cold and had planned to spend more than that.

Jobs for the next few days:

• Get quotes for guttering
• Put next layer of boards onto raised bed
• Move things to give boiler men room to work
• Get car insurance quotes

amycool

Just spent 20 minutes looking for car insurance quotes and it turns out the renewal is way cheaper than anywhere else. How odd. The same thing happened last year with the home insurance.

The boiler men are here. There has been drilling and sawing and banging so I'm trying to avoid going downstairs to look. The problem is, my bladder is starting to complain and the water is off. I am trying not to drink too much.

The first of the raised beds is complete! The neighbour suggested drilling pilot holes rather than just whacking the nails in with brute force and that seemed to do the trick! It isn't perfectly square but I quite like the look of it. The plan was to do some gardening today and start filling it up but it's gone a bit cold and I'm feeling a bit under the weather.

Solar news! Whilst I was on holiday I saw a card offering free gifts for looking into solar energy, and weirdly, as I was in Anglesey, the company was just up the road from where I live! We have no intention of rushing into any decisions and I'm expecting the hard sell, but they're coming out on Thursday evening to assess the roof and tell us what we could save. We don't actually use that much energy at the moment, but if we have kids in the future I can imagine the savings would increase and obviously prices go up every year. It'll be good to get a quote anyway.

Right, next job is to get some quotes for the guttering. I need to measure the house though and I just cannot be bothered to get up right now. Also, the boiler man pointed out that the water is above the level of the gutter, which makes no sense. Hmmm...might just wait until after the boiler is done. I'm such a wuss.

giblet1979

Great updates Amy - glad you had a nice holiday too; it is scary how expensive things are tho when you really monitor what you're spending.

You've just reminded me about car insurance renewal btw - thank you! Don't want to renew for £800 - I know I can do much better with comparison x

amycool

Hi Giblet - I know, it feels like you've barely spent a penny! Hope you got a cheaper deal than £800. I couldn't believe how much our quotes varied.