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

greenbee

I'm still unbelievably tired which is preventing me from getting all the things I want to do done. I'm not getting much exercise (other than Pilates classes) which may be part of the problem...

I did get the lawn mowed on Wednesday, although it needs a couple more cuts. I've also completely weeded the bed at the back of the house and mulched it. Apparently this weekend is going to be dry and sunny so I'll aim to spend as much of the daylight hours as possible outside (and open the windows to air the house).

I've also managed to clear the spare room and my mum's bedroom in preparation for her visit (she arrives tomorrow evening), and am keeping on top of laundry - having the extra hanging space from the new wardrobes really helps with this.

Builder is coming on Thursday and will hopefully make a start on the odds and ends (must make a complete list, in order of priority) and get them done before Christmas. I'm not looking forward to the mess. I don't expect the utility room to be done by then, but it gives me more time to save. And decide on paint colours.

Garage needs a clearout, so I'm hoping to persuade my brother to come over on Wednesday with the van and trailer to remove the old greenhouse he gave me (which I've failed to put together) and any other stuff I can get him to take to the tip. Then I can put the garden furniture away.

On the paperwork side of things, tax return, electricity, phone/internet and roadside assistance all need sorting out. Along with some work...

As I'm still in my PJs (I've put a load of laundry in, and eaten breakfast) I guess I should get on, have a shower and get outside and working!

greenbee

I did a LOT of work in the garden yesterday and have run out of garden waste bags, so first job for today once I'm dressed is to go and buy more (and compost, and mulch and emergency logs). My sheets are in the washing machine and hopefully will at least partially dry on the line like the ones from the spare bed did yesterday.

Paperwork isn't progressing that well. I'm full of good intentions, but the evenings end up being unproductive which is annoying me. Given that I eat early, this isn't helpful. Maybe I need to start eating later again.

Roadside assistance has been sorted (doesn't start till Tuesday though, so fingers crossed the car doesn't know and continues to behave!), new mobile phone has been ordered and I just need to order a bomb-proof case to go with it. And remember to remove my card details from the website so they don't keep charging me for top-ups after this month (cheapest iphone SE, which is the one I want as it's small, is via giffgaff with a £10 sim - still £30 less than anywhere else, and I can get £25 for my old phone).

Guess I'd better get a move on and go shopping so I can get out in the sunshine and get lots done before my mum arrives this evening!

Karmacat

I've just ordered a giffgaff sim - the £7.50 one, still more than I need, as I'm at home most of the time, but good for emergencies. I'm totally confuzzled by how to load it up, though, and I have a horrible feeling I have a micro sim ...



Anyway, hope you get your stuff done, and hope you have a lovely time with your mum

greenbee

I can send you my sim if you want when it arrives... I won't be using it as I already have a £9-something-a-month deal elsewhere. Which I mostly don't use as I'm either at home or using my work phone.

I now have compost, manure, more mulch, logs for while my mum is here and a whole lot of garden waste bags. Freezing outside, with a cold wind, but sunny, so I'm going to try to get some logs split while I wait for the grass to dry out.

Karmacat

Hiya, I might take you up on that if there's problems ahead, thank you I'll try to sort it, because I hate being ignorant about such things, and I feel *very* ignorant.


You're splitting logs :j omg, I admire you so much! Good for you :j

greenbee

I need to get the pile of bits of tree out of the drive.... and it's a sunny day so a good time to get it over and done with.

greenbee

I ache from gardening... desperately trying to get caught up after so long away. Also from Pilates (I do classes Monday night, Tuesday morning and Wednesday morning and then have the rest of the week to recover!).

Have killed my mower, but about 30% of the garden is weeded and mulched, my mum has pruned/tied back about 70% and I am once again running out of garden waste bags (8 standard ones plus 2 large and one gigantic one filled so far). Log pile is smaller - getting the log splitter and and out of the garage is the worst bit TBH.

Need to call the mower place and see whether they can fix this one, but am tempted to switch to electric anyway for convenience/storage/noise etc. I just need to work out how to make sure I buy the right one.

Broadband cost cut by £7 a month thanks to redofromstart and I need to make sure I don't use it for daytime calls - either use the work VOIP or mobile (mobile is problematic due to poor reception, so I should really look at signal boosters).

New mobile phone has arrived, so I need to get that out and set it up - although the case doesn't arrive until later this week so I'm not sure I want to risk it! However, it will be nice to be able to get all my credit card & banking apps working on my phone - I might be a bit more in control if they're all easily accessible. The laptop is clearly too much effort!

So rather a lot of spending has been going on and not much sign of saving... I did make soup in my thermal bag for lunch

But I need to sort out new curtains for my bedroom and a couple of blinds, plus buy more plants, obviously. I'm not buying plants until everything is tidy though, so I'll know where to plant them. And be in with a chance of planting them before they die...

Better empty and refill the dishwasher and get breakfast sorted for tomorrow morning. I have to get my mum up and ready to come out with me when I go to Pilates - she's going to do some shopping. Hopefully the cleaner will be gone by the time we get back (although her time keeping is pretty erratic).

greenbee

Horrible weather today.. so a HiiT session in pilates followed by shopping with my mum. Came home just as the cleaner was finishing (she seems to have got more done this week). Vile weather, with snow forecast.

Made soup (broccoli and cheese), went out shopping again... unsuccessfully this time, although I did manage to pick up some bin liners and washing up liquid in the health food shop.

Came back and had a sort out - swapped some curtains over, and then turfed out a whole lot of stuff for the CS (I need to go tomorrow!). Also found a blind that is now velcroed to the spare room window - it needs 3 hooks/eyes in the window frame to be able to raise and lower it, and a hook to tie the cord onto, but that's one more thing out of the way and being useful. As for the CS stuff, at least it won't be cluttering the place up and will help with next year's tax return...

I also managed to get quite a bit of bedding put away in the correct rooms and move running stuff into my bedroom... so in theory it's easier to access when I need it (not thinking about when I last went for a run, but I have a feeling it was on a beach in Australia...).

There's still quite a bit more in terms of clothing that could go, and I need to take most of the stuff out of the kids' room in order to put the bed together, but I think that might have to wait until my mum has gone, as I'll have to put it in her room... I hate moving all this stuff around, but until the utility and kitchen are done, I'm constantly shuffling stuff around.

Hopefully the weekend will be warmer so I can have a go at the garage and get the rest of the garden sorted. One more day off then back to work.

Karmacat

greenbee, you sound like a whirlwind! I hope you're having *some* relaxation time with your mum.

I noticed how bad the weather was today - left my friend's house at 3pm, and it was almost dark!

The room-shuffling can be appalling, can't it ... I really can't imagine how bad it might get at my brother's house as we unpack all his stuff from the movers' van ...
:eek:

greenbee

Still isn't snowing here, despite the forecast... it keeps shifting the snow to later. As it is still very wet and not freezing I don't think it'll settle anyway.

My mum is muttering about maybe putting the bed together tomorrow... we'll see. I have a mirror to put up as well, which will be one more thing off the floor after 5 years...

Fingers crossed the builder calls tomorrow and turns up on Thursday and then actually gets on and does stuff. Not that I've chosen the paint for the utility room yet...