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

beanielou

Absolutely realistic to have the conversation.

greenbee

I did have a grumble on a call with a third party analyst that when I tell them this stuff I get told off for being too negative, as I'm expected to come up with the solutions whereas external people aren't (although someone from Finance proved me wrong on that and asked them for analysis of why the numbers for our performance vs. our competitors are what they are - I don't think we (or our competitors) give them enough information for them to be able to do that).

Re. seeds/plants - local nurseries and garden centres don't have the varieties I want. And I have billions of seeds :) I'm hoping to get some more garden time this weekend.

greenbee

Have a horrid cold developing, and for some reason back/hip pain and mobility problems. Luckily we got a decent walk in yesterday, as between that and the wind there's not much walking going on today!

Drain man and electrician came this morning so the septic tank pump should now be working. Electrician has looked at what I've got plans to do and will come and meet the builders when they start digging out the footings to plan what he needs to do. So I need to make heat pump decisions. I really should get a second quote, so probably need to ask my neighbour whether they'd recommend their installer as an option.

Not looking forward to all the work though.

beanielou

Boo to the hip & back pain & mobility problems.

greenbee

Hip and back magically fixed themselves, but cold is miserable and spent yesterday working feeling like my head was full of snot. And it was busy, so didn't actually get round to having proper lunch.

Visible monitor shows I'm burning through pace points (not unusual with an infection), with an elevated heart rate pretty much all the time. So the plan was for a quiet evening and a quiet day today… not quite what happened.

I did have an early bath yesterday - finished work, walked Stinky, fed them all, and had a bath before bothering to eat (just had a few random bits rather than a proper meal) and a reasonably early night. But made the mistake of letting the cats sleep with me… Stinky started barking when I sneezed which scared the cats (so had to calm Stinky down, then the cats), and slept badly, before being woken up at 5am by cats wrestling on the floor.

Today was a couple of short walks, a trip to the compost bin, moving some sticks around (I'm burning sticks rather than logs at the moment to try to clear some of the junk in the garden and avoid having to chop logs), running the DW (just emptied and put away, need to clean the filter and reload), and a load of laundry washed and then dried on the line. I was about to give up for the day when a friend invited Stinky for a run in the field with her dog - they're the same age/size and neither is dominant so they race around like a couple of toddlers and have a lovely time - so we walked up there and I had a cup of tea while the dogs played, then walked back. Oh… and I found my thermometer in with some sewing stuff that hasn't been sorted and put away yet. Slight fever, so hopefully that means the cold is on it's way out.

Tomorrow won't be restful either - I'm meeting my mum and one of her friends at a local plant nursery, then they're coming back here for lunch (my mum is bringing lunch as she invited her friend). And I'll have to go back in the utility room and check whether the damp spot I noticed on the ceiling earlier today has spread. I can't do anything until Monday anyway, and will need to get someone up in the roof to see whether it's a plumbing problem or a roof problem.

For now, Stinky is asleep being watched by not-Fatty who has positioned herself strategically under a chair with a good view of him. I'm watching rubbish on catch-up in front of the fire.

beanielou

Good news on hip & shoulder.

greenbee

Feeling much better today thankfully, so met my mum at the proper plant nursery (not a garden centre) as she wanted to get some geraniums. I ended up with a magnolia (a deep purple one that I'd bought a 9cm pot version of last year that ended up getting cooked on the patio) and two teeny tiny purple tulips that will go in a pot and then move to outside the summer house by the orchard and hopefully naturalise.

My mum and her friend came back for lunch, and finally left just before 3pm. So poor old Stinky really hasn't had enough exercise, and I have got very little done and am now out of pace points. He'll have to make do with another short walk and some ball throwing, as I really need to a. rest and b. cook some BNS so I can make up more lick mats and kongs for him. And possibly plan some food for me for the week. I've missed both the sun and the cheap electricity slots for getting cooking done, which is a pity, but the battery is full and the prediction is for lots of cheap power overnight so I'll aim to cook tonight and set the battery/hot water and a bit of heating overnight if it turns out to be right.

Damp patch on utility room ceiling seems not to have grown, so I just need to keep an eye on it, and get it checked out at some point.

greenbee

Discovered when I went out to fill the kindling basket that the pump had tripped the electrics AGAIN and this time can't be turned on/off manually as switching the breaker on trips the switch. So messaged both electrician and drain man and have them both on a shared chat and hopefully they'll be here at 8am tomorrow (I need to leave at 8.30am in a suit, with makeup on, to drop Stinky at my mum's and catch a train to London). I'll have to get the electrician to lock up - I just need to find a spare key and work out where to get him to leave it!

Went to see a neighbour yesterday, and came back with a recommendation for an alternative heat pump engineer to get another design/quote from and he's coming over next Wednesday. Also got the details of a financial advisor who I'll call when I've made it though this week and the first half of next. Called the hospital to find out where my biopsy results and blood test analysis are - consultant's secretary is on holiday so hopefully she'll call when she's back on Monday, but at least I've chased it. And I send the builders' details to building control (which reminds me, I need to chase the builders at some point).

Gardener came today and did lots of mowing, pruned the hydrangeas, and did the first level of wire on the pergola and also put wire on the raspberry supports… we now need more wire! I shoved two lots of potted tulips into a pot on the patio and walked Stinky a couple of times. And moved more burnable wood into the house (which means I need to shift more onto the porch, and then more into the log store… but it's all moving.

Hopefully some decent weather at the weekend will mean I can get on with a bit more in the garden.

greenbee

Electrician says pump is dead, so old one (faulty but not dead) is back in place and hopefully will behave while Karcher decide on an appropriate response to my email telling them that this one is dead and I'm fed up with running up costs for diagnosis/installation/diagnosis and not having a working solution.

Exhausting day in London yesterday. Not sure how I'll manage next week's trip. And I need to book some leave.

Book group tonight, but looks like it'll only be four of us as some people are away and some have dropped out at the last minute. That's probably a good thing as I have a lot of work to do for a presentation tomorrow!

Stinky had a lovely day with my mum yesterday as she spends all day with him, but he's still very definitely a mummy's boy and was very pleased to see me!

greenbee

Still waking up with a headache and nausea (it's been going on for about a month now) but at least this morning was 5am so I got some sleep. And I made the decision to go back to bed after letting everyone out, walking Stinky (very short walk), and feeding them all. Poor Stinky is very bored, but I think I might actually be able to make it through until after my 2pm meeting where I'm presenting.

Thankfully the house is relatively tidy and clean after the cleaner coming yesterday, and while I'd like to get a LOT done in the garden, and get the garage conversion moving, there is nothing urgent to do. Stinky has a walk with a friend scheduled for tomorrow morning (he's very fed up with the lack of long walks and the moment), and my mum is coming over to help me get started on workshop/garage clearance ready for when the builders decide they are going to turn up…