From debt to freedom...

janb5

Dont panic yet- it may be a minor repair or could be covered by your insurance hopefully?

Honeysucklelou2

Thank you SH and Jan.

Jan - I hadn’t thought of insurance, will look into that.

Yesterday was stressful for a few reasons, so it was a relief to get to the evening. I did a food shop, which I’m hoping will last us for a few days. I got out for a run with DD2 and always feel better for having run, even if I have to drag myself out of the door!!

I have a bit of work to do today and then intend to investigate wet pipes and floorboards to see if I can find where the leak is. I have promised the children pancakes for breakfast to celebrate VE Day. I thought it would make the day seem more special and perhaps a tiered Victoria Sponge for this afternoon.

Almost forgot, I did make a “splash out” purchase earlier in the week of 24 hatching eggs. I have the incubator and heat pad sitting in a cupboard, so dusted it off and the eggs are in there . The younger ones are very excited - poor DS3 has no concept of time, so each night thinks they will hatch tomorrow 😉. While the eggs are incubating I’m going to make sure the pen at the allotment is as fox proof as possible.

Mumoffourkids

Ooh egg hatching is so much fun. We used to do it in France and the kids (and me) were always so excited when the eggs started hatching and the chicks came out. I’m excited for you and for your kids.

Bad news about the leak, hopefully it’s an easy fix and not too expensive.

janb5

How exciting - that sounds a great idea.

savingholmes

Hatching eggs - sounds amazing. How long do they take to come out and then mature?

Honeysucklelou2

21 days in the incubator, then up to 6 weeks really before I would consider moving them to the allotment. I have pens there that ensure they are as free range as possible without giving them free reign over the plants! Typically they are about 20 weeks at point of lay.

Cherryfudge

You've had me looking on YouTube for hatching eggs! What fun. We had chickens when I was growing up and once raised a brood of chicks. Now I want to do it again.

Honeysucklelou2

Thank you Mumoffourkids, Jan, SH &  Cherryfudge. DS3 continues to be fascinated by the incubator, particularly when the turning  cradle tilts the incubator in a certain way so that the egg should can be seen more clearly🙂.

Saturday was busy!   Got a lot of washing done ( lost count of the loads but at least 4)  and put on the line. It was so hot at one point that it was only taking an hour to dry bedding!  I did the usual weekend cleaning jobs. Whilst  cleaning the bathroom, I noticed that the Lino flooring was ruckled in one place ( the opposite side of the room to the seeping water found underneath the bath). I pulled it up to find that the bathroom floorboards are totally wet😨☹️. I thought that maybe the airing cupboard, which is on the other side of the internal wall, might also be damp on the floor but that feels bone dry. The hall carpet has patches of wetness so am feeling quite confused. It looks like I need to try and take up the carpets and possibly the Lino to find out more. I’ll need to contact a plumber on Monday and hope that they are  able to work.

I got the grass cut which proved to be quite a workout ( just have an old-fashioned push mower).  I let it grow a bit too long so hopefully next week it should be easier!  My neighbour has a lovely climber on the shared boundary fence that has small cerise pink flowers but I noticed that at the bottom, it had grown through the fence and had spread across the path and was growing up the side of the house wall. Admittedly it’s a side of the house I don’t look at as it’s just a shady path , but thought I’d better get that cut back.

I got some peppers potted on and started to pr*ck out the cape gooseberries.  Yesterday I sowed some purple sprouting broccoli, a 3rd sow of beetroot and some more cauliflowers to replace the rabbit eaten ones. The forest of antirrhinums carries on! I keep pr*cking them out, but not enough t8me to do the whole seed tray in one go, then by the time I get back to it, the remaining seedlings have bushed out a bit more so the tray looks just  as full! Hopefully if they all flower the allotment will be a sea of colour between the vegetables!!

DD3 was a star today and declared that ironing made her feel relaxed. I remember having the same sentiments at her age and did my mum’s ironing before the novelty wore off! She was happy to listen to her music and iron and managed to clear a backlog! I did not argue- I’m always grateful for any help around the house. DD2 has started to cook a meal a week, so she pitches in too.

I got out for a run in the evening with the older DDs ( DS1 looked after the little ones). It was the last run of Week 2 of C25K. Whether it was because I had expended so much energy with the lawnmower already, but I did find it harder going. Certainly feeling a bit achy now which I’m putting down to the mowing rather than the running.

Money wise the last 2 days have been NSDs and today is looking to be one too. I had planned to order some  oil this week and fill the tank, while the oil prices are so low but I think it will be better  to hold onto the money in order to pay the plumber.  I had a letter from Santander last week to say that due to the lockdown and reduced staff the last few PPI claims ( of which mine is one of them) have been put on hold. I got the claim in by mid August last year, I guess there must have been lots at the same  time.

crazy_cat_lady

Sorry to hear about the problems with the plumbing. I'm crossing fingers that it's a quick and cheap fix. You seem to have all the same luck as me - just start getting somewhere financially then something else comes and knocks me off my feet.

Sun_Addict

Finally caught up with you. Boo to the plumbing issues, hopefully will be fixed soon and not expensive. How exciting about the hatching eggs, looking forward to hearing how this develops, sounds brilliant 😁