22 Foxhole East

KajiKita

Can you not get someone you know who’s had work done to recommend a builder. That might ease your antennae?

The ‘get the birth rate up’ ideas that have been presented have made me roll my eyes so hard they have nearly fallen out of my head today! 🙄

Well done on the pension 👏😊

apple_muncher

Hey, f0xh0les! Hope everything is okay ❤️

KajiKita

Yes me too 😊 <waves>

KK

f0xh0les

Hello! Sorry for neglecting you,

Dr F-H swanned off to Estonia on a thinking retreat (no really, he bid for it and won up to 4 weeks in a villa in the middle of a forest with a sauna and hot tub and other philosophers to chat to - daily yoga optional just bring your own mat) he only had to pay for his food. All travel and acc. paid as long as he presented a paper at a conference at the Uni first. Tbf he did ask if I wanted to go with him, but I had to politely decline as DS3 has his mocks, and DS4 is being a swine about going to school, and DS2 is too lazy to eat unless you make him.

DS4 has only gubbed me once when he claimed to be soooooo ill and dizzy he couldnt possible go to school, but after sleeping til lunchtime, I found him with his 0culus on, leaping about his bedroom, drenched in sweat, and he looked sheepish and said in a very small voice "I feel much better now mum". Lazarus Lives!!

So, since DH skipped off 'thinking' to the frozen wastelands (the sea froze, he was very excited) DS1 has secured a job at the NHS! It was only to be 16 hours, but it was something he had done, then when they contacted him and asked him to do his onboarding nonsense, it turns out he is bank staff, zero hours, no actual job at all, but at least he gets access to the jobs page, and he is quite confident he can make this work. He has also been forwarded for a warehousing job (48 hour week 4on/4off). He worked out how much money he would be making, and was shocked, and asked what on earth he would spend that kind of money on, he quite liked the idea of paying off his entire student loan - for his misguided year in London - in less than 8 months, and then saving up a deposit for somewhere to live, and going to see the Solar Eclipse with some friends in Santander this summer…. The penny has finally dropped. He wants to work. We hope he will have 2 jobs by the time DH returns next week.

DS3's college placement fell apart. The 'start up' where he was working, decided it was better run from his bedroom rather than an office space, so he sacked all the students after 8 weeks. DS3 has to do 175 more hours before the end of July - so I let DH panic and take over, but nothing came of his efforts except more stress and upset, and after 2 weeks of daily panic, I took over, got him a job with my volunteering thing (didnt give them much of an option to be honest) where he can learn some skills and learn to talk to all sorts of people with all sorts of problems and behaviours. It will be an eye opener for him, but he needs it. He can do some clerical work and admin bits and meet lots and lots and lots of people. But that was flippin stressful and the college was useless in getting him a replacement post. DS3 was in bits, he cant pass the course without the hours, and the college has to okay the placement and they honestly didn't really care. Awful, but I sorted that so yay me! I invented a project for him to do, wrote his job spec, sold the volunteering coordinator the project that needs doing, and sent it in to the placement officer.

I am skint - monthly budget wise. I had to pay a lovely lady £400 to do a structural plan with specs for load bearing beams and <stuff>. Now I have £5 until Monday and that is going on soya milk. I can't remember the last time money was this tight.

The house insurance was £600 because I plan on doing building work and removing walls and all that nonsense, so even though the builder has to have a £million insurance in case of mucking up, I still have to pay through the nose for the pleasure of being insured. Oh well, I can get it all sorted and then become cheap again.

Then £700 to get us all to Ireland for f-i-l birthday at Easter. Hopefully DH will offer to contribute.

Most worryingly, £160 has gone missing from one of the boys bedrooms, and it can only have been one of the other kids. Nobody else has been in the house, so I paid that back, because he should not be out of pocket, but nobody ain't admitting nuffink. Whoever it is I am pretty disgusted with them. I hate thieves. But that is a fair old whack to be coming out unexpectedly. Luckily child benefit comes in on Monday, but I have no wages coming in this month at all. And someone thinks it is alright to take from their brother. Not on.

In utter panic of money running out, I applied for a job at the local stadium last Friday, and got it yesterday, so now I have 4 employers, all on zero hours contracts. It will see me through the next 3 months of no work at all - well, I have one day booked. One whole day. It does look good for paying tax next year though! One step closer to being a productive member of society.

DS3 and DS4 both have their big exams in May/June. I am more stressed than they are. 13 weeks until it is all over. Yes I am counting, yes I have been online and have all DS4s exam dates, yes DS4 is still on track to get a 5 in Maths and an 8 in Further Maths, which hurts my brain and reinforces my belief I simply do not understand Maths, unless it is in relation to money or carpets or sewing, something practical to me.

So really, it has just been very stressful with DH not here, and random idiocy from the kids.

But, I have got the structural plans, because builders won't quote without them, it is done, and I am waiting for this builder to get back to me with a quote. I have asked for a quote to remove the walls, do electrics and plumbing, plaster walls, and relay concrete floor. Nothing else, because when the walls come down, I need to see where the light hits before I know where things will actually be. The back of the house is so dark right now, but the tiny 5 foot square room where the sink and cooker are, is really light and the 2 walls coming down will totally change it, but the whole of the large kitchen could be flooded with light from 7am-2pm if I do it right.

Oh, and I pushed the button on getting my Green Passport, filled out all the forms, made sure I had copies of my mothers birth cert, her marriage cert, paid the £100 fee, went to get my birth cert and marriage cert from where I keep them ……… and DH has not put the marriage cert back. Bloody man. So now I have to wait because he has no memory of where he has put it. I ordered another one, but it won't be here until 10th April. I am so cross with him. It is the single document that ties my birth name with my ID in my married name, he just doesn't get how important a document it is for proving my identity. It is probably for the best he is 1800km away.

KajiKita

Wowsers …. You have been BUSY!! 🫨

Firstly well done on all the son wrangling - the DS3 placement resolution is awesome (well done) and the DS4 leaping about waving a wand when supposed to be ill made me chuckle 🤣… That the penny is finally dropping with DS1 about the opportunities monies from working gives you, must come as something of a relief! 😉 Sorry to hear about the cash disappearing though - that unsettles everyone …

The building plans sound amazing - looking forward to hearing more as they happen ….

As for the marriage certificate - they really don't get the importance of that do they?!! I have several copies and they are all under my control!!

KK

f0xh0les

DH had some shares or investments or something that he wanted me to receive should he fall under a bus, so he took the cert to prove we were married, got certified and witnessed by a colleague, and then .... ???? It was the one document I didn't think to check I had, because it is only ever used to.prove I am me. I.kept it safe for over 25 years, only ever had the one copy.

Second copy ordered. Another £16 o the credit card, but if I wanted it quickly I could have paid nearly £50 to get it in a week. Scam! Another example of how it is more expensive to be a woman.

f0xh0les

So far this morning ...

Got weather report and photos from Estonia (sunny, -3, possibility of bats later) he has been defeated by the hammock.

Philosopher 0: 3 Hammock Yep 3 x ....😄

One laundry load washed and put out on the line.

Bedroom tidied, paperwork put away, bed made.

Sourdough wrangled and baked, next yeast batch in a sunny spot, will prep later this afternoon for fresh breakfast bread tomorrow 😋.

Moved bistro table and chairs from end of yard to next to the patio doors. Will be new F0xh0les Cafe sun trap. Deadheaded, moved pots about so the dead ones can be processed and repotted after Easter - still convinced we will still have snow this spring.

This time next week I will be busy with graduates. My one paid day of working in March. Annoyed I had to pull out of Southern seaside town work this month (1 day) but DS4 would not have gone to school, or to bed, and his brothers would not have even noticed. So I did the right thing but I am well aware I have no budget excess this month. A R/S does mature on 1st May though, so a short term monetary blip. I thought I was over those! Apparently not 🤷. Surprise!

Second ☕️ being consumed, last scone for breakfast then had a 🍌 because I am supposed to be a grown up and eat vaguely healthily. I made the scones though, so I am allowed to eat them before they mysteriously evaporate.

Happy weekend folks!

KajiKita

I have to admire Dr FH’s persistence with the hammock! 😂

Love the idea of the chairs and table being in the sun - very civilised 😊🌞

Glad you got at least one scone! 😉

KK

Baileys_Babe

@f0xh0les earlier this week I made a batch of aquafaba merginues based on a recipe you shared many moons ago, they were a great success thank you

f0xh0les

Hoooray! Happy to be of service..