"Isn't it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it."

kazwookie

I think your creeping buttercups have crept over here! I have stuff to spray it with, but it is clouding up with very black rain clouds, so later on this week fingers crossed.

redofromstart

My spraying worked but really very slowly. 

greenbee

Things are looking slightly unwell, but I think they need a second dose. There's enough left.

Kaz - I think the creeping buttercup is probably one plant nationwide!

greenbee

Definitely need more weedkiller. Need to check the workshop to see how much I have as there might not be enough left after all. But not tomorrow, as apparently we're due some rain (which would be handy as the water butts are looking empty).

Lots of progress this week. New hearth and woodburner are in. New carpet is down in the bedroom and I've started moving stuff back in there - but it looks so much better already, even though it hasn't been painted as the carpet is much lighter than the previous one. Hopefully the sitting room floor will be done soon and that furniture can go back in. Some decisions made on the ensuite - the roller blind I have in the adjoining bedroom is available as a roller blind, so I'm going to order those before they disappear to tie the two colour schemes together. I want to take the cupboards off the wall as they're oppressive, and find some shelves to go along the wall above the bath for my plants, bath oil, bubble bath, jars of epsom salts etc. The old bathroom blinds have been put on FB marketplace, but I'm not holding out much hope given that very little seems to have been moving there. 

We also checked the attic (I wanted to make sure there was no sign of any dead bats before arranging for a bat inspection!). No sign of any bats, so it may just be a hibernation roost. The insulation is a mess, so I need the electrics finished, internet connection moved and all the phone cables taken out, TV arial cables removed as they're redundant (I should get the arial taken off the chimney next time there is scaffolding up too), cables all clipped properly to the joists, then the insulation put back down properly and topped up. I'm debating getting someone to raise the existing walkway so it there is more insulation under it. Once that's done (I guess the solar as well), I'll add an insulated, well-fitting loft hatch, and shut it up! There were lots of carpet offcuts up there, so they've been brought down and are in the garage. 

Garden waste bins were emptied and we're almost caught up with the backlog now. Waiting for a quote for someone to do some hedge cutting, pruning, and tree work. Also confirmation that someone will be coming to repair the sheds and summerhouse. And I've found someone who can glaze the sides of the porch to make it a bit more weather proof. 

I do need to get back to the electricians about their solar quote and find out whether there are any other recommended installers. But probably not worth doing much about it until I've organised the bat survey and know what I can/can't do when. In the meantime I need to ask the electricans to sort out the cable from the house to the shed. Some is underground, but looks too close to the surface. Part of it is armoured, part is not and is attached to next door's fence. So really it needs to be armoured and have a trench dug and be properly installed. There are nicks in the armoured cabling already, so clearly the current set-up isn't good enough. It would also be handy if the switch was outside. Not on the kitchen worktop. 

Money is vanishing at an alarming rate, but at least I can see the improvements at last! Oh, and I've had a courgette and a few peas from the garden. I might get one pod of broad beans if I'm lucky. 

Rain forecast for tomorrow, so either indoor stuff, or weeding, or pressure-washing the patio are on the cards. Maybe with a trip out to pick up some paint samples. 

greenbee

Patio has almost all been cleaned, planters rearranged, junk removed from the patio. Additional paving round the greenhouse means that there is more staging outside it so more stuff has moved out of the greenhouse freeing up space. 

Hoses have been extracted from various locations, and hose accessories - although I still can't find the attachment that allows me to connect multiple things to the outside tap. I've set up soaker hose in some beds using the left over soaker hose from the old house together with the web of hosepipe I used to connect the hoses at the old place. I need to order more bits and get it set up properly so I can water while doing other things!

Windows and doors have been prepped today. Some bits had been done well, some had been done badly, some bits had been missed. There's some rot which is being treated and will be filled tomorrow. No dust in the house, but quite a bit of dirt on the windowsills that has come off while he's been prepping. Hopefully no homeless spiders have moved in as a result. 

South_coast

greenbee said:

Hoses have been extracted from various locations

Good lord 😳!

rtandon27

South_coast said:

greenbee said:

Hoses have been extracted from various locations

Good lord 😳!

😆😆😆😆😆 Love it!

greenbee

🙄

Lots of progress recently. External woodwork is now all painted, and the workshop doors cleaned up and treated. It looks so much better.  

Decorator then had a random extra couple of days available so has started prepping the bedroom and ensuite (we picked colours yesterday for the bedroom so he bought the paint and made a start, and then brought his sample tray over so we could work out the colours for the ensuite - and has left them so I can try to come up with colours for the sitting room!). 

Sitting room floor is down and looks fabulous. The doors into the garden room have also been levelled as they had to be cut down slightly. It's now clear that the floor slopes as the doors are definitely straight along the bottom! The finished this afternoon so I mopped/wiped down between meetings, and then after work hoovered/mopped/hoovered/damp wiped/mopped and it's pretty much dust free. The floor guys helped me move the two big, heavy (and awkward) bits of furniture back in there, and I've now got the rug down (was upstairs, needs underlay), a chair in, a couple of small chests, all the bits for the fire, and a side table. If it rains tomorrow I'll get on and move more back in there so I can work out where furniture and pictures need to go. And put the blinds back up, change the plugs on the lamps to 5 amp. Once the furniture is in, I'm hoping it'll be easier to work out the right colours for walls and woodwork. 

I'm still waiting for a bill from the electricians for the work last month. And I've found a different person to do the solar, as I'm a bit fed up with the current electricians. This guy has been recommended, so hopefully he'll be good and then I can get him to do the other electrical work. It would be nice to find a decent plumber too, as I'm not a fan of the ones I'm currently using. 

Garden is coming on, being filled with stuff taken out of other people's gardens and some stuff grown from seed. Most of the planting is temporary, but looks better than what was there before so makes it a lot nicer! Someone is coming tomorrow at 8am (I hope it's worth giving up my Saturday lie-in!) to start repairing the sheds and summerhouse. If it's nice, I'll sort out the stuff from the shed, do some weeding, maybe some mowing if it's dry, and cut some long grass so I can lay more cardboard and build more beds.

Tree work and hedge cutting is booked for mid-August and I'll then have a regular hedge-trim booked twice a year which will be cheaper and more manageable. They'll be able to do any additional tree work at the same time. We're going to remove some conifer and laurel from the front hedge and replace/restore with mixed native hedging. 

I've also got someone to fit glass in the sides of the porch to make it a bit more weather proof... I just need to chase them up and find out when they can do it!

I may be feeling strong enough to get the bathroom and two smaller bedrooms done in the autumn, in which case there's a possibility that I could finish next year - garden room, kitchen, main bedroom and ensuite are a fairly major project, there's the utility room and downstairs loo to sort out, and a rough idea of what the garage might end up being used for to work out so I can fill in the garage doors with a door and window.

My mortgage fix is up at the end of October. While I could switch to a new fix now, I'm going to hold out until the last minute in the hope that rates fall - and possibly pay a lump off it to reduce the term.

Watty1

I have caught up with your thread and am now exhausted on how much you are getting through.

greenbee

I'm exhausted too! And most of it is being done by other people - but I still need to organise them all! 

I also need to do some filing, find my passport, and do my tax return at some point. 

For now i've cleaned up a small drawer unit that's been in the utility room (all the gloves/hats/socks are in a cardboard box so will probably end up as a cat bed) and put it in my ensuite as extra storage. There isn't much in there (I think it was built as a spare room) and I have no where to keep (or apply!) makeup. Which I need to do for work on video recording days.