Champagne Lifestyle on a Lemonade Budget.

t14cy_t

seeing the grandkids and 2 jumbles to go to today!!! wowsers. xx

helensbiggestfan

Good morning my lovely friends.

funeral went well thanks.  Not many attendees but as he was 97 he had outlived all his peers.  A long, happy and interesting life that we celebrated rather than mourned.  

Weather has been surprisingly kind so we have been out and about a bit. Today I'm taking SIL to see Military Wives.  Like You Sugarbaby she is an ex MiliItary Wife so it will be interesting to get her views.  Like you she subsumed her own personal identity as a Military Wife, giving up a very promising career to follow her husband from positing to posting.  

Just going to have a couple of leisurely days now  and then I'll be home on Tuesday,  

sugarbaby125

My Champagne moment was going to the book launch of Small Thoughts & Poetry by Lucy Thatcher at House of Hygge on Acre Lane in Brixton. It was a really positive event and I had an enjoyable time.  

Lucy performed some of her poems throughout the event, told us how she had become a spoken word performer of her work and finally decided to write her 1st book.  

I got her to sign my copy of her book with a birthday message for me.   I have over 150 new books waiting to be read, so this year I am not going to buy any books apart from books that I buy as part of book events, as having authors sign the book with a personal message of my choosing is really special and I will treasure each of these books. 

helensbiggestfan

Hello my lovely friends. 

On my way home.  Nice leisurely rail journey, just had lunch, enjoying sitting back and watching the scenery go by.  

Had a good week.....despite the sad purpose of my journey.  Spent some nice times with SIL. Looking forward to getting home now.  

East, west ....home is best. 😂

sugarbaby125

My Champagne moment on Sunday evening was going to a birthday party in the wine bar in Herne Hill with Wayne. I was not keen on going to the party on my own, so I asked Wayne to come with me and he was more than happy to. I wanted to get really dressed up in glamorous clothes and wear a pair of my Van Dal sling backs, and even though the weather was not icy cold, I did not want to be stood at bus stops waiting for buses. I danced the night away with Wayne until I was aching all over, but we both had a great time at the party. 

My Champagne moment today was taking receipt of the Me Before You trilogy of books (2nd Hand in great condition) and a new copy of the book Random Attachment by Gertrude T. Kitty from eBay for the total of £6.40 including post and packaging costs.. 

helensbiggestfan

Good afternoon. 

Loving being home again. My own comfy bed, my favourite coffee, a nice  soak in a bubble bath this morning instead of having to make do with showers. Bliss.  

Decorator here, kitchen really starting to take shape now.  He should be finished by the end of the week.  I will go and buy Paint for the kitchen cabinets tomorrow.   Just need to source a centre island unit and a new cooker, then some nice new accessories and blinds. It is going to look fab.....amazing what you can do with a few gallons of paint and a dash of imagination.  😉. Cheaper than a new kitchen. 

Went to Aldi this morning, they had some great shrubs in @ £1.79 so I bought 8.  

Have booked some outings and days out but I'm half expecting some cancellations due to the escalating situation with the coronavirus.  It doesn't matter, I have got plenty to keep me amused and occupied should we need to self isolate.  

As well as buying the paint I need, I have fabric and diy materials and I too have ordered the Me Before You trilogy, plus I bought some books from the charity shop last week which I have not touched yet. I am well stocked up with food, cleaning materials, comfort meds etc so I can pull up the drawbridge and go into hibernation if necessary.  

Im not going to worry, I will do my best to protect myself and my family of course but fretting and getting in a tizz won't help.  

Que Sera, Sera...and all that.  

Super_Stomper

sugarbaby125 said:

My Champagne moment today was going to watch the film Military Wives at Streatham Odeon. I used one of my Groupon Odeon codes to book my ticket, so it only cost me £4.75 instead of £13.25. 

I saw Military Wives free courtesy of Saga Magazine Possibilities club (Saga Magazine is really quite cheap if you are a regular subscriber and the club is free to join). I have also ordered a free ticket to see Dream Horse via Radio Times... another regular subscription for me.  You just need to make sure you are there in plenty of time to get a seat. :-)

helensbiggestfan

Good morning lovely friends...

champagne moment this morning ......decorator has finished the kitchen. And it came in well under budget. 😁.  There are still some little bits for me to do - colour wash some exposed fancy brickwork and paint the Cabinets. As usual I am suffering a bit from the paint fumes .....headache and my tummy isn't that great so I'm going to have a little break. Give it a few weeks until I can throw the windows open when painting.   

phoebe1989seb

Hi lovely ladies 

I do hope everyone is managing to keep safe in the current uncertain times and that you are all still finding a way to enjoy the champagne moments! 

LL, I was sorry to read about your FIL but also excited to see you are going to be a grandma for the second time....congratulations to you and your family!

It's been an absolute age since I posted on this thread, but all this doom and gloom everywhere else has made me realise how lucky we are to live in a beautiful place in a home we love and are creating on a very tight budget and now that the forum has apparently made it easier to share pics I thought I'd give it a try, especially as kitchens were on the agenda!

Our new kitchen is one of our biggest champagne moments on a lemonade budget as it was already purchased to use at our previous house when we decided to sell up and relocate. As there were so many other pulls on our purse strings here (£11k for a borehole, anyone?!?!) we're having to make savings where we can, so more matching cabinets at several hundred £££ a pop were out of the question. Instead we've used a mix of vintage stuff and DH has made the rest, making it all look like it was intended to be together. The original cabinets we bought came unpainted so I have done that as well as the styling. DH plastered walls, did plumbing and carpentry etc. I'm so incredibly lucky to have such a talented DH 

The 'tiled' backsplash is actually wallpaper with tempered glass over - a huge champagne moment for very little outlay as we already had the paper!
 Most of the accessories are items we've had for years whilst a few were charity shop/ebay/fleamarket/Homesense finds. There's hardly anything we've paid full price for and virtually everything was done by us! It's not quite finished - the island is still awaiting its microcement but currently DH is too busy working his gardening magic for paying clients....... I might have to learn another skill myself.....

Wednesday2000

I'm looking forward to the weekend. I am supposed to be seeing the comic Steve Martin but I saw that the Belfast show was cancelled so I will have to check. I am going to see the film The Invisible Man and have a meal even if the gig is called off.

I got some brown shoes and a nice brown bag and three new dresses and a scarf from a chazzer today. I am going to wear a new outfit when I go out tomorrow. 

I am going to have a pamper session today and have a bubble bath tonight.