Cheery's country living adventure

Cheery_Daff

Ha, yes, definitely need to channel both of them! 

Clearly the universe has decided I need some kind of assertiveness training, and is giving me plenty of opportunity to practice 🙄🙄

Do you think if I just stay in bed it will all go away?? 🙄

themadvix

Sadly not, but that would be my thought exactly! Remember it’ll be worth it in the end!

Cheery_Daff

Certainly will! 

We actually figured it all out between us. Bit of re-doing for the plumber, but nothing drastic, and I've bought them a couple of nice cakes as a sweetener 😁 We mentioned the radiator that wasn't in the middle, and by that point were about to say we'd leave it as we'd already asked for so many things, but the plumber said 'good grief, I'm not leaving that!' 😂 He realised what he'd done with his measuring, and refused to leave it offset, so that's getting done too. 

Electrician is on the case hopefully fixing the boiler as well as everything else, so it might not be today, but hopefully at some point we'll have some central heating...

Deep breaths!

Karmacat

Wow.  I'm horrified for you, and impressed at your actions, at the same time   

EssexHebridean

woo - go you for standing up for the things you wanted to be right - and yes, absolutely with you, I HATE having to mention stuff like that to tradesmen as I'm always afraid they will think I'm just being over-fussy - which is daft, if I'm paying for a job why should it NOT be done properly?! 

It will indeed be worth it in the end though - and having emerged from the other side of ours, I say that from a position of knowledge!  

(but yes - can also definitely see the temptation of just staying in bed!)

themadvix

Glad to hear the plumber was horrified at the radiator being off-centre! Cakes as a sweetener is a good move.

fannyadams

Cheery_Daff said:

Thanks for the suggestion Vix, will keep an eye out.

And you're right of course EH. We are indeed detached, exposed on all four sides, and the house is a kind of horseshoe shape, and only one room deep, and in some places only one storey high, so several of the rooms have 3 exposed walls, and of course they're all old stone so no cavity wall insulation. 

We're doing bits as we go along - although windows are double glazed now, and we'll have a couple of extra radiators, and the pipework has been changed so hopefully the radiators at the cold and old end of the house will actually get properly hot, rather than us having a warm end (70s extension) and a cold end (everywhere else).

Anyway, at least while the central heating is broken we aren't using any gas at all 😂😂 And we had a top up a few months ago and have barely used any since (just hot water in the bathroom, not even for washing up) so I'm hoping that'll get us past Christmas at least.

There's currently about £900 in the gas fund so I'm hoping when I look at the budget properly we'll be able to reallocate a bit of the surplus and add a bit less each month.

Electric bill will go through the roof for a while with three heaters plugged in, but it is what it is and it won't last.

Anyway, just arrived at work so should get on!

<delurks> Just catching up on your thread, and don't know if anyone has suggested this yet but
we have a long run from the boiler to a radiator and have lagged the pipe with the 'poolnoodle shaped stuff' to reduce heatloss along the run, I like to think that it makes the radiator in my office as hot as the others in the house.
Although I'm betting all the pipework that you have isn't as exposed as ours is and is all boxed in nicely or runs in between the ceileing joists or something equally clever. Picture for reference.

Cheery_Daff

fannyadams said:

Although I'm betting all the pipework that you have isn't as exposed as ours is and is all boxed in nicely or runs in between the ceileing joists or something equally clever. Picture for reference.

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 Ha, no 😂😂😂😂😂 No boxing in, althoughit's a lot tidier in the loft now than it was. And yes, we'll definitely be lagging it all before the winter gets here properly!

Fortune_Smiles

Reading back over my list now @Cheery_Daff it seems a bit strident.  However, I always ask nicely and do so with a smile on my face.  I find it helps to begin with:

• I'm a bit worried about...
• I'm really sorry to do this to you but we've changed our mind about...  I hope it won't be too much trouble.
• You're going to say 'I told you so' on this one but...
• I'm sure you'll know the answer to this one...
• Can I just pick your brains about...
• I really love what you've done with... I'm just wondering about...
• or my favourite - Can I just talk to you about... it's really triggering my OCD 😆

and if you praise freely and often about all the things they get right it helps to make the niggles feel like little ones.  Do keep a list of the things they've had to put right through their mistakes (should be rectified at no extra cost) and your mistakes (which will cost you).  In a big project like this it's easy to lose track.

Again, I know you know all this but I find it helps me to have it set out in front of me to revisit before any conversations.

Fortune x

Cheery_Daff

Thanks Fortune, that's really helpful to see it all written down like that! Yes, I do praise freely 😁😁 And I did start this morning with 'you were right and I was wrong' 😂 Things seem to be progressing nicely today (fingers crossed).

Rusty chicken is not progressing nicely though. Still wandering round with the others, but not really eating anything and won't take her medicine 🙄 really didn't want to have to go down the route of shoving it down her beak but I will if I have to 🙄

Got a LOT of student one-to-one meetings today,mostly for the same thing, so feel like I've been saying the same things over and over again 😂 Have left Mr Cheery on chicken duties while I wait for the latest one, who seems to have forgotten she's booked an appointment... 🙄 Hey ho!