Tales from The Shire

beanielou

Glad all well with you x

doingitanyway

Good to see all is well in The Shires

PurpleFairy26

So lovely to hear from you All sounds wonderful and your bay of E experience is like most, you go at it, stop for a bit, then forget the bad bits and then go again :rotfl:

greent

Glad to hear that all is sounding lovely in the Shire x

Fortune_Smiles

doingitanyway wrote: »

Good to see all is well in The Shires

greent wrote: »

Glad to hear that all is sounding lovely in the Shire x

beanielou wrote: »

Glad all well with you x

Thanks guys. It does feel like two steps forward and one step back. You just get into the swing of things and then you get a dog... or a cold :rotfl:

Fortune x

Fortune_Smiles

PurpleFairy26 wrote: »

So lovely to hear from you All sounds wonderful and your bay of E experience is like most, you go at it, stop for a bit, then forget the bad bits and then go again :rotfl:

You're absolutely right Purp. I'm desperate to progress the house so will be back on the Bay wagon soon I'm sure.

Fortune x

Fortune_Smiles

Just when I start to get into a routine here, something happens to set me back. Yes, yes, I know FDawg was self-inflicted but now I have a cold :mad: Not a bad one thankfully but it has slowed me down a bit. I'm hoping that means I'll be well over Christmas

So, MS news:

• posh bin came up in the sale with 25% off So I bought it I've been monitoring prices for ages and this is the lowest it's got so far. No money left in the household budget so I used my personal spends. Can't believe I'm typing that... I used my own money to buy... a bin :rotfl: Also very excited about its arrival This is what my life has come to :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:
• used my sitting around and recovering from cold time to review future finances and make some decisions. We've decided not to transfer my employer pension but review again when I get to pension age
• came in about 50% under budget for the grocery shop this week. There is an up side to Mr F being away
• ordered more stuff to keep FDawg occupied as I'll be on my own with him for a couple of weeks. Can't help spoiling him - he's the least MS part of my life right now

Baying is likely to recommence soon. We re-arranged the living room funiture and I love the difference it's made - so cosy and inviting. I'm desperate to get on with things but have run out of funds.

I've found another writing club which is much closer and meets fortnightly. It concentrates on development so I'm going to go to both clubs for the time being.

So, despite me being impatient to make progress in the house, all is well in the Fortunate household. And for that, I am very, very grateful.

Fortune x

Fortune_Smiles

Feels like I'm winning against the cold now and have had quite a productive day.

• Versatile Veg Soup for lunch with mediterranean bread. Felt the need for something healthy
• Baked Cauliflower Pizzaiola for supper. A new recipe which I enjoyed but Mr F thought was a bit bland
• gave FDawg a bath. He's not keen on the soaking and shampooing bit but he likes the hot shower at the end (what a good buy the camping shower was). Fortunately it was warm enough today to bath him outside. If it gets colder I'll have to get the mobile groomers round.

Chores are done and I'm having a cheeky glass of red before an early night - don't want to set back my recovery :rotfl:

Hope your Saturday night is a bit more exciting than mine

Fortune x

Fortune_Smiles

I slept well last night so I think the cold is definitely on its way out although Mr F said I kept him awake snoring :eek: I am not usually a snorer so I'm sure it's down to having a virus

Mr F took FDawg for his morning walk so I didn't have to go out in the rain :smileyhea I took advantage of the quiet time to review the goals I set at the start of this diary:

Clean All The Things!

The 'moving-in' cleaning was completed long ago but I have slipped a bit with keeping on top of things. FDawg has a long nap after his morning walk so that's the perfect time for me to get chores done. If I eat frogs in the morning I can give myself the afternoon for more interesting things

Unpack All The Things!

We still have boxes on the landing and lots still to sort out in the annex. I will add these things to the 'frogs' list.

Barn Raise

We have paid a deposit and our builder says the materials are on order. They should take 3-4 weeks and we're now 6 weeks on. Mr F is going to chase him tomorrow. We have enough saved to meet the quote amount. Our builder thinks we've been given worst case scenario estimates for materials so we could come in under (as if that ever happens) and we could come in over (more likely). We could meet any extra costs from our emergency fund if necessary.

Pay Off The Mortgage

We'd decided to concentrate on getting the emergency fund up to a reasonable level and progressing the house rather than OPing for the moment. Very pleased now that we went for a 5 year fixed. The monthly payments are making a noticeable dent in the capital owed because of the low interest rate. Our disposable income will go up in March so we'll reassess then.

The emergency fund is currently at 54% of what I'd feel comfortable with.

I think my next house goal will be some occasional tables for the living room. I'd planned to get these from the Bay or charity/antique shops so they wouldn't break the bank and I already have the chalk paint to revamp them. Mr F is currently using a small step ladder to put his coffee cup on

Help

We'll be making the last payment to DS1's ISA in March :T and can then re-allocate the money to other goals

We've been in the house four months today :T and I'm pleased with our progess so far. Plenty more to do but it's really starting to feel like home now :www:

Have a great Sunday all

Fortune x

Karmacat

Lovely clarity in your aims and the reassessments, FS, well done you.