Tales from The Shire

Fortune_Smiles

XSpender wrote: »

My lips are sealed too although it did make him sound cuter

greent wrote: »

I love FDawg as a name I did wonder whether the 'outing' was an accident - hence my comment and why I didn't quote your post
x

Thanks guys. I think FDawg (short for Fortunate Dog of course) suits him. There is definitely something cartoonish about him :rotfl:

Fortune x

Fortune_Smiles

It suddenly feels very busy here:

• builders arrived this morning. All the materials and equipment are on site and they've got most of the roof off the outbuilding already. Glad to see the work started but not looking forward to all the mess and noise which will be going on for weeks and probably over Christmas now It will all be worth it, it will all be worth it, it will all...
• FDawg had his second vet visit today. He was really anxious to start with but we ended with the vet feeding him turkey slices and petting him Need to give him worming and flea tablets over the next week - I think a hollowed out cocktail sausage is going to be the best vehicle All costs covered by the monthly plan payments :T
• I have a friend staying over tomorrow so I popped in to M&$ whilst we were out and picked up some treats for us. Going to use this month's fun money to meet the cost as Mr F isn't here to share it with
• returned a form to the Wayleave Department. We have electricity poles crossing our property and are entitled to some money for that apparently Not sure it will be much but happy to have a few extra pennies.
• turned the heating on during the day for the first time today. It's been coming on for a couple of hours in the morning and the same in the evening but I've found it very cold today.

My neighbours have a burst water pipe outside their house which is flooding the lane. The water company have been out but can't fix it for a couple of days apparently. Rather than leave my neighbours without water for that time they have decided that gallons of water flooding the lane and verges for days is the best option :mad: It's quite deep and you can't get around it so have to wade through. I have my wellies but FDawg doesn't and it will be freezing when we are out for our walk in the morning. Think we'll stick to the fields until it's fixed.

Feeling tired this evening as was up early to deal with the arrival of the builders. Might just go and cosy up with my electric blanket soon

Night night

Fortune x

wishingthemortgaheaway

Such a lot going on Fortune.
Remind me what the outbuilding is going to be?
I can't keep up with everyone's renovations at the moment.

Fortune_Smiles

wishingthemortgaheaway wrote: »

Such a lot going on Fortune.
Remind me what the outbuilding is going to be?
I can't keep up with everyone's renovations at the moment.

It's going to be Mr F's man shed Wishing :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl: (aka garage and storage).

Fortune x

wishingthemortgaheaway

Fortune_Smiles wrote: »

It's going to be Mr F's man shed Wishing :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl: (aka garage and storage).

Fortune x

So you'll see him even less than you do now?

Karmacat

Fortune_Smiles wrote: »

It suddenly feels very busy here:

• builders arrived this morning. All the materials and equipment are on site and they've got most of the roof off the outbuilding already. Glad to see the work started but not looking forward to all the mess and noise which will be going on for weeks and probably over Christmas now It will all be worth it, it will all be worth it, it will all...

Honestly, I was *amazed* at what my builder did on the first day. My brick shed is only tiny, 8 x 6 feet, something like that, but he, all on his lonesome, got the old roof off, rejigged the brick edges of all three walls (its attached to the house) put in new supports for the new (resin and glass) roof, got the roof on and attached it. And that was just the first day, solo!

The guy in charge of the firm made a mistake (ie he didn't listen to what I wanted) so the whole of the second day was spent building a doorframe, to a specific size. Work has stopped there, cos the builder's ill, but I have every confidence a third day will finish that particular piece of work. And the new fence and side gate is complete too. The sound insulation inside the house, and the repointing, and the new loft hatch ... thats another story

Loving The Tails of FDawg (see what I did there :rotfl:)

Fortune_Smiles

wishingthemortgaheaway wrote: »

So you'll see him even less than you do now?

See who Wishing? :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Karmacat wrote: »

[/LIST]
Honestly, I was *amazed* at what my builder did on the first day. My brick shed is only tiny, 8 x 6 feet, something like that, but he, all on his lonesome, got the old roof off, rejigged the brick edges of all three walls (its attached to the house) put in new supports for the new (resin and glass) roof, got the roof on and attached it. And that was just the first day, solo!

The guy in charge of the firm made a mistake (ie he didn't listen to what I wanted) so the whole of the second day was spent building a doorframe, to a specific size. Work has stopped there, cos the builder's ill, but I have every confidence a third day will finish that particular piece of work. And the new fence and side gate is complete too. The sound insulation inside the house, and the repointing, and the new loft hatch ... thats another story

Loving The Tails of FDawg (see what I did there :rotfl:)

Just popped into your diary Karma and all sounds as though it's going well. What a difference it's going to make for you.

Fortune x

Fortune_Smiles

My light cold left me with an annoying, exhausting cough and constant heartburn - as if the usual cold symptoms weren't enough :rotfl:

Anyhoo, I am through the worst and can start getting on with things:

Clean all the Things

Despite the cough, I am almost on top of the cleaning :T

Unpack All The Things!

No progress but the landing boxes are top of the list for tomorrow

Barn Raise

The old building has been stripped back to the steel and a sub-contractor arrived today to start shot-blasting and painting the frame. I did feel sorry for them out in the freezing wind and snow flurries but some hot cups of tea and chocolate biscuits seemed to bolster their spirits and they are about half way through the job. Hopefully it won't be too cold for the paint to dry tomorrow. The builders are hoping to put the new roof on Monday :T

Pay Off The Mortgage

OPs are on schedule to start in March.

The emergency fund now stands at 57% but I don't think I'll be able to add anything more to it until after Christmas because...

we visited a local antiques warehouse at the weekend and found the perfect chairs for the extra seating we need in the living room. Just the right size and exactly the same colour as our current suite. Not an opportunity that's likely to come up again so we bit the bullet and bought them. Happy with the decision as everyone will now have a seat over Christmas but it has wiped out the budget.

Help

Our house deposit contribution for DS1 is now at 88%.


In other MS news:

FDawg had two emergency visits to the vet :eek: One because he developed a bad limp after our morning walk :eek: Turned out he'd probably dislocated a toe so nothing too serious. However, he had a serious reaction to the painkillers they gave him :eek: So I spent a horrible, horrible night on the 'phone to the vet and watching him suffer and took him for a second emergency appointment the next morning. He is absolutely fine now and happily pinching things to put in his bed as usual. I've started wearing my warm sheepskin slippers now the weather's turned colder and those are his favourite things to steal at the moment. The vet bill was £75 which was a relief as I was expecting much worse.

I'm pretty much there with Christmas stuff and have managed to get everything in the sales and via cash back sites. I've cashed in any vouchers and account credits too. Good job too as there isn't much left to play with now :eek:

It's been bitterly cold here for the last couple of days. The heating is currently on for 2 hours in the morning and 3.5 hours in the evening but I think I'll keep it on until we go to bed this evening. I'm worried about FDawg getting cold in the kitchen overnight. Although I tucked him up under a blanket last night and, as soon as I wasn't looking he wriggled it off and stamped on it :rotfl:

Really appreciating the log burner right now and the huge bag of off-cuts we bought to feed it are lasting well. Also really appreciating my electric blanket

Stay warm and well peeps.

Fortune x

Fortune_Smiles

The cough is almost gone now and I can feel my energy returning

I decided not to unpack the landing boxes after all and cleaned the dining room instead. I'd like to put up some Christmas decorations over the weekend so needed to get rid of some dust and dirt first. I particularly needed to clean the french windows as, somehow, several rows of nose prints have appeared on the panes :rotfl:

The sub-contractors have finished and we now have a solid frame to work on. Hopefully the roof will be going on this week and then we have the noisiest part where they dig up the old concrete floor :eek: The builders are hoping to be finished by Christmas :T

Mr F is away at a works Christmas do this evening so I had a quick fish and chips from the freezer for supper. Cooked a proper lunch though - Easy Cheese & Onion Slice. It's huge! Will probably do for lunch for the next two days or more.

I've been experimenting with the heating. We don't have a room thermostat, just thermostatic radiator valves. Some rooms are too cold and others too hot so I've had a play around with them. It does seem warmer here today and we had some sunshine which helped to warm the south side of the house. I'll have a check of the heating oil level tomorrow but I think we'll probably be ok until after Christmas.

Have a good weekend all. I'm off to rescue Mr F's slippers from a certain someone's bed :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Fortune x

Karmacat

Sounds like you're having a fine time

I was with a couple of dogs for one of the days of my trip away, and it was utterly blissful! I'm loving FDawg, sorry to hear he was taken so ill by the painkiller it's awful to see them suffering.