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MeandO

Morning all,
DS and I have had a lovely chilled morning finishing a craft project we started earlier in the week and decorating the house with a few Easter decorations. We plan on making some cards shortly and walking to the post box to send them to our family. DS is going to his Dad’s this afternoon, I am going to miss him like crazy. 

We had a milk and juice delivery from the milkman this morning (he forgot us earlier this week so I was glad he turned up). I also ordered some double cream from him to make a panettone (left from christmas!) bread pudding later. We made cupcakes and cookies yesterday and some breakfast muffins which were from a mix I’ve had in the cupboard for a while. I’m enjoying using what we have and feeling like we aren’t wasting anything. 

The mortgage op is showing on the online balance today, nice to see it under £100K. 

Honeysucklelou2

Well done on the mortgage figure MeandO. You have inspired me to squeeze the odd extra payment wherever possible in order to bring the debt figure down. 

Enjoy your afternoon making cards.

MeandO

Thank you HSL2, the little payments really do add up over time.

We had a lovely time making some Easter cards and used our daily walk as an excuse to post them in the post box not far from us. DS scooted on his scooter and found a grassy hill to roll down. It’s scorching hot today so half an hour was plenty outside before we both needed a cold drink and a cool down. Unfortunately my garden is nothing more than a typical new build lawn with an uneven slope, so it’s not the most inspiring place to spend time in at the moment. There is no point me spending money on it if I intend to sell up, so we don’t really spend an awful lot of time out there which is a shame as our last house had a fantastic garden with lots of different areas to enjoy. I am glad we have the option of outdoor space at the moment though. 

DS is off to his Dad’s soon so I need to dash and get his stuff ready. Am always blue when he heads off over there, I miss my little buddy so much.  

Chrystal

I don't think that doing the garden would be a waste of time and money.  You don't need to spend a great deal, and it definitely makes a house more desiralble when it comes to selling, plus you and DS would have the benefit of it in between times.  (((hugs)))

Honeysucklelou2

Is it worth scattering a few hardy annuals around that would give you a bit of colour and cheer, attract butterflies and other insects and could well still be flowering into late summer, if deadheaded regularly?

MeandO

Thanks both, you’ve given me food for though this week about the garden. It’s not completely bare as there is a small apple tree and a cherry tree I planted last year that are growing ok and some young blueberry bushes which are presently flowering, but other than that it’s just a few pots which I brought from the last garden and all need a bit of TLC really. My originally plan was to build some decking to put the table and chairs on, landscape a bit around this and some edge borders, put a gate in a fence and make a path to and from the back door. Originally, I’d priced the decking materials up at around £600, but looked at a local timber merchant’s website last night and got it down to around £350. 

That would be building it myself, which I can do as have done it a few times before, but it’s hard work, especially there is a slope to deal with. It’s a lot of money though and it doesn’t sit easy with me to spend the savings. I will have a think about it for a few days. I have,however, ordered timber to cover the gaps in the rubbish fence the developer installed to give us some privacy. Everyone can currently look in, and seem to do so as they walk past, as it is a slatted open fence. This has cost me £100, but will make a difference and will give keep me busy for a few days. 

MeandO

I’ve just switched the mortgage deal for one of my mortgage sub accounts as the deal is ending in around 3 months. The interest rate on that one has now gone down to 1.77% from 2.19% and is fixed for 2 years so will equate to a saving of just over £20 a month. I’ll keep the payment the same though and the £20 can be another little monthly OP.

I didn’t sleep at all well last night and feel like I’m walking through treacle today. Today needs to be an easy day and early night. 

Chrystal

Hope you're feeling better MeandO.  As for the garden even just a few bright flowers in pots wil be something cheery to look at.  ((hugs))

MeandO

Thanks Chrystal, I'm doing ok. Still tired and not sleeping great but I think that could be said for most of the country (world?) at the moment!

Some timber I'd ordered from ebay to make our garden more private arrived yesterday, so I set to and built a new fence. The developers did the bare minimum they had to and the amount of people who stared into our garden as they walked past was just ridiculous, so now they can't see in and it feels a little more like our own space. I also bought a pack of bulbs from Aldi when I picked up some shopping the other night so will plant those today and will cut the grass later. I will do what I can without spending for now and see how I feel in a few months time.

Moneywise, there's not a lot left in the account but I can transfer some if needed. The ironic thing is I actually have cash in my purse for once at the moment - birthday money - but am refraining from going to a bank to pay it in as it's not essential and am using my card in shops, as is preferred, when I do go to a supermarket once or twice a fortnight. The second child benefit and tax credits payment will be paid next week and I'm hoping to be able to save a bit of those or make an OP with some of it to, although half of it will probably be sent to the credit card to pay off the wood I just bought.
The SO of £25 has been swept to the EF today, so that now up to £1300, total savings of £3250. £5K is my next target.

I have done a freezer stock take this week over a couple of days and made a list of everything we have in. There's plenty for a good while and I just need some fresh fruit and a couple of other bits I've run low on this week. I'll pop to a supermarket late when it's hopefully quieter.

DS is at his Dad's which I'm finding difficult, but I'm trying to be positive and make the most of the free time I have. I may paint a room after cutting the grass later, I have the paint already but not sure about rollers, I will have to have a dig around in the garage and see what I have to use. 

Hope everyone's safe, well and managing to keep busy. xx

crazy_cat_lady

I wish I had some of your motivation. Didn't take me long into lockdown to realise I was never going to be into gardening or decorating no matter how much time I have on my hands. It took me over a week to do the bathroom (at my own pace of course), and now dd is asking for her bedroom to be painted