Extending our house without extending ourselves beyond our means

PurpleFairy26

Well the grey weather soon left us this morning and I managed to get 3 loads of washing done and dried in the glorious sunshine. We went on our daily walk and saw some friends to say hello to from a distance which was just so good for the soul. I do miss them. 

We walked to somewhere different and found a new path and the scenery was stunning, right on our doorstep. We are very lucky indeed. 

Came home and replicated last night tea as requested by smalls, easy to achieve and more veg used up. We then had a lovely fire outside using free wood and made s’mores for the smalls. DH and I then sat and watched the sun go down and the stars come out whilst the fire burned down. It was lovely. Rounded off by a soak in the tub to get rid of the smoke smell 😜 

no decorating done due to the change in weather but see the forecast not so good for the next few days so there will be plenty of opportunity I would image. Also managed to do the last bit of one sock too so can cast on a new one. 

Happy days. 

savingholmes

Sounds like you are making the best of the situation and having fun too. The weather has been amazing.

PurpleFairy26

Another day has been and gone. We've had a good day though. Baked bread with the smalls. Used some random bits in fridge for lunches. 

Managed to do a bit of knitting and some more planned for tonight. 1 load of washing, washed, dried and put away 😀 just to keep on top of things. 

Didn't get round to making a proper pudding today, so will do this tomorrow or Tuesday instead. 

Managed a 2.6 mile run to take part in 2.6 challenge. Was hard after a run a few days ago as my legs are still a bit sore as I'm out of practice. But persevered. Plus another reason to have a lovely soak in the bath tomorrow!! 

Need to print some stuff out for smalls to work off tomorrow. 

PurpleFairy26

Productive hour this morning enjoying coffee and cat cuddles before the rest of the house got up. I have planned (on paper) something we want to try and achieve in the garden. We will do some of it ourselves but will need the builder to do some stuff too. We're likely to do it in stages but it was good to get some ideas down on paper. 

I've also updated the lockdown to do list. Some items were not getting done. No surprises that the easy ones have been ticked off but the more challenging and less specific (remember being told goals should always be SMART - there's a reason for that!) hadn't been completed. In reality we'd started them but they were just too big, so I've made some adjustments. 

Today we are back to schoolwork for the smalls. 

No movement in the bank, but that means no spends which is good. We've a food shop coming tonight, I'm definitely a convert of 12-14 day delivery cycles. 

crazy_cat_lady

I still haven't seen either of my children yet today so I've now worked out that mornings are when I will definitely get my work done. I have an annoying jobs list now alongside the daily jobs and bigger things. I'm making sure I do at least 1 annoying job a day. There's loads of them but they're all just little faffy things that if I spent 10 minutes actually doing them then they would be done.

PurpleFairy26

Cat it’s always pleasing to get annoying jobs done isn’t it. I find they often get left because I am unable to action them at the point I find them annoying and then forget about them. Like my sweaky bedroom door that needs a dash of WD 40 on it. It squeaked when I got up but as Mr PF is still sleeping it wasn’t the right time to go back and oil it and wave it backwards and forwards. Must remember to do it later or the same thing will happen tomorrow! 

 I’ve signed up to read1y it’s a magazine site and they are currently doing 2 months free. I gave up buying magazines when I had my LBM and whilst not quite the same as a physical magazine it’ll be nice to have some different material to read. Have made a note in diary about cancelling. 

Reconciled my just for points CC. Pleased to see there is £25 of vouchers now totalled up earned from everyday spending.  

Have a few sewing jobs that have just been sat there for a while. Will try and get those done today and sew another few badges on smalls blanket whilst I have my sewing kit out. 

Need to dig a Roman blind kit I have in the garage out so I can finalise the amount of material I need. 

savingholmes

Roman blind kit sounds interesting - what kind of pattern are you planning to get?

PurpleFairy26

Well the Roman blind kit is just the mechanic, I’ve to buy the material separately. Im
not an experienced sewer at all and originally bought the kit to make a blind about 10 years ago but never got round to it. Since we’ve extended I’ve a few rooms that don’t have anything at the window and figure if I can work out how to make blinds it would save me a fortune (after getting eye watering quotes from several companies to make them) 

as for pattern I’m probably going to cop out and do plain ones. The main reason being that this means I won’t have to join the material as I can turn it on it’s side which should make it look neater as I’m no expert. I do have 1 that is small enough to do without turning so I could have a pattern but I’m yet to find one I like enough but have found plain fabric I like so we’ll see. 

In other news my reduced BTL payment went out today (change in interest rates) I’ve changed my OP to include the difference, that way the money is going to really good use and if (when) the interest rates go up again I can always amend it back if we can’t absorb the extra. Have amended the budgets accordingly. 

Meat box delivered yesterday in the absence of being able to get to the butchers. Extremely yummy sausages enjoyed in toad in the hole for tea. Mince has arrived in bigger packs than I would normally use so I’m going to reportion and freeze so they go further. 

Finally did 3 small sewing jobs yesterday and a few more badges on the blanket for DD. It’s very satisfying! 

debtfreeoneday

Urgh badges on blankets!  Worst job, I used fabric glue recently and oh that was a bad decision!

PurpleFairy26

debtfreeoneday said:

Urgh badges on blankets!  Worst job, I used fabric glue recently and oh that was a bad decision!

I have several to do so have to do a few at a time as otherwise my fingers hurt! Im determined to get there though so they don’t get lost!