Champagne Lifestyle on a Lemonade Budget.

candygirl

Just to clarify : Sometimes when you already have a dog that won't accept other adult dogs,  you have to get a puppy , and there are very rarely any staffy pups in rescue centres. I am vegetarian,  despise animal cruelty, and subscribe to several dog charities.In no way do I advocate buying from puppy farmers Responsible breeders are essential for this reason. 
I also hate circuses, zoos , elephant n camel rides etc etc .
Ps my first two dogs were rescues  

helensbiggestfan

Candy.  I have been really shocked at pictures and reports of puppy farms and unscrupulous breeders.  Unbelievable  cruelty.   I know that might sound like hypocrisy coming from an omnivore but I do try to eat meat that is ethically farmed and humanely slaughtered. 

 I was thinking of getting a rescue kitty...really miss my sons cat......but all the centres near me are closed at the moment. Well they are still accepting rescue animals but not rehoming them.  

Today I have started whitewashing the exposed brickwork in the kitchen.  Very rustic. 🤣. But they are decades old and look very dark......so I'm giving them a half paint/half water wash - going for an aged sun bleached vibe.😉  Very hard work and very messy but just taking my time, listening to some "bangin tunes" to keep me working at speed.  You need to work very fast so fast tempo music helps. I think it should look nice, if not then I will just paint them properly but I rather like the idea of the patterns and texture showing through rather than covering them with paint.  

Just having a break, enjoying a well earned cuppa and a couple of naughty Jaffa cakes.....

Wednesday2000

Yeah, not all breeders are as bad as others. 

My champagne moment today was waking up feeling better than yesterday. I have also lost a little more weight.  I think I'm going to use my foot spa and listen to the radio for a while. Another pyjama day. I thought my pyjama bottoms felt a little bit loose actually. I always lose weight from my legs and hips first.

helensbiggestfan

phoebe1989seb said:

chanie said:

Helen I use an app called Picture this to identify plants.  It’s been handy for us when we have gone on our family walks.

According to the app, your flowers are Chinese trumpet vines.

I think it looks more like a type of poppy - the leaf is wrong for Chinese Trumpet Vine and Helen's flower is flatter-faced 

Whatever it is, my garden is crying out for some, lol!

Well I didn't pay much......either Aldi or B&Q. Last year.  And as I say a perennial so I guess you could split them once established.  And they flower for months, you can  just keep cutting them.  I am aIming to plant some dahlias this week.....another great cutting flower because they just keep on flowering all summer long.  Need to get some geraniums (sorry should say pelargoniums too). I love the deep red ones,  I can pretend I'm in the Mediterranean.......

mrs_slapshot

Well, I can't believe how long it's been since I last posted!! Almost four weeks...I've read through all of your posts since I was last on - Candygirl - if you like documentaries, I can recommend 'The Minimalists' on Netflix.  Made by Matt Davella who I folllow on YouTube, it's very thought-provoking.  Wednesday - lovely to hear that you have decided to retire 'early' - life is for living, I say!  And as you all know, that is my goal too.  Phoebe - lovely to hear about your progress with your house and garden, and an Instagram account is a great idea..people love to see that kind of content. LL - (I can't bring myself to call you Helen, you'll always be LL to me!) - I too am a planning kid of gal  My family all laugh at me but I don't care   And I love those flowers (and your paint colour).
I have been busy since I was last on here - I'm one of the lucky ones, able to work from home and be paid..but I must admit it's a struggle to get motivated some days. I've signed up to a couple of training courses at work, and I have started to be a bit more active on my blog and my Instagram account, building on the momentum since I returned from Palm Springs.  I also had a week off over the Easter bank holidays, which was absoutely lovely.  I spent loads of time working on my garden - I didn't think I'd get the grass looking reasonable again; I had to buy a new strimmer and a new lawnmower but the investment was totally worth it! I want to paint my fence but it seems everyone in the land has had the same idea and I can't get my hands on the colour of my choice!   I've just had a delivery of bedding plants from a local nursery so I spent yesterday potting those up; hopefully will see some colour some time soon.  I've also bought some paint for my living room - I'm just going to paint it the same colour (Farrow and Ball Elephants Breath) as I love it, and it goes really well with my wallpaper which I adore.  (Phoebe - I think you said you were ordering from the F & B website? I got mine online from B & Q).  I am still planning on selling up at some point in the near future, it just depends on when we get out of this and what the housing market (and my job) look like.  I have become OBSESSED with watching Tiny House videos on YouTube!  I really love the idea of living in one, but I'm not sure how practical it would be - and I think tiny houses are only really a 'thing' in the US, Canada and N Zealand.  However, the principles of tiny living can easily be applied to living in a two bed house for me - depending on my plans.
I've also started to do some drawing - nothing special, just something I saw on Twitter - #DrawwithRob - he's a children's author/illustrator and has done some videos - aimed at children but great for someone like me who's nervous about committing drawings to paper - and I really love it.  So soothing.
My champagne moment last week was managing to get a 'click and collect' slot with Tesco!  They are like gold dust!  I've spent a fortune on food, but obviously have had savings in other areas - approx. £450 in total.  I've increased my mortgage payment so I can pay it down quicker, and I'm going to set up a Vanguard account to do a monthly investment.
Although I miss seeing my friends enormously, I have had so many Zoom/Facetime/Whatsapp catchups I really don't feel like I've missed out - in fact, quite the opposite!  And I  had a quiz night with my family last night - and we never normally see each other very often.
I'm afraid I am one of those people who are bizarrely 'enjoying' lockdown.  I've questioned myself as to why I feel like that, and I think it's because at heart I'm an introvert, and I wanted a slower pace of life - and now we are all having to do that.  I hate the reason we are in this situation, and there are many things that make me sad and angry about it, but it's also helping me to realise that it's an opportunity to make positive changes to my life.  I hope when we are out of this that we will remember that there is another way..we don't need to be busy busy all the time, and we all need to be kinder. I hope you and your loved ones are all well, and are keeping safe   

Wednesday2000

mrs_slapshot said:

if you like documentaries, I can recommend 'The Minimalists' on Netflix.  Made by Matt Davella who I folllow on YouTube, it's very thought-provoking.   

I liked that documentary too. I follow The Minimalists and Matt Davella on YouTube too. I follow so many people.

phoebe1989seb

Glad you're feeling better, Wednesday 

Champagne moments over the weekend have yet again been mostly garden related!

Managed to get all the new David Austin roses into the dedicated rose beds and the last of the Sarah Bernhardt peonies in too. Also moved a few Digitalis (Sutton's Apricot and Mertonensis) around to spread them out a little.

The rose area we
planned two years ago (wasteground when we moved here) was originally intended to be one large space (approx 35' x 18') but after the first summer we realised it was way too huge to be manageable so we've gradually been dividing it into four, intersected by pathways.

Talk about gluttons for punishment especially as DH now does this for a day job too, lol! But gardening is good for the soul, imho - feel so bad for those without access to their own outdoor space right now....

Anyway, the whole area will hopefully eventually be a mass of roses, peonies, liatris, poppies and digitalis.....it's starting to look good, but only buds obviously at the moment.....

Picked up three Eremurus from our fab little local garden centre yesterday. I'm really hoping these do well as they weren't cheap....but they  are notoriously hard to grow. It's good though to be doing our bit (albeit tiny) to help these smaller businesses keep afloat in challenging times......

Just wish we could visit some gardens/larger nurseries in person - hoping it won't be too much longer now!

Had a delicious curry for supper last night, then binge-watched some more Walking Dead. Have also been re-watching all the Bond films in chronological order......

helensbiggestfan

Today's champagne moment.....cost peanuts, Just half a litre of paint......need to do a cheap and cheerful revamp with the splash back until I get round to replacing the cooker and getting it tiled.  I have some of that denim blue left and some art that can go there so that will be a nice easy quick fix and wont cost anything.  

Anyway time for a snack and put  my feet up. I'm done for. 🤣

sugarbaby125

LL  the brick work looks great 

helensbiggestfan

thanks.  I wasnt sure it would work. Though it might look tacky and amateurish but I'm quite happy with it.  

Just watched the daily update......great to see the numbers coming down.