Champagne Lifestyle on a Lemonade Budget.

helensbiggestfan

Thanks Sugarbaby 

good morning my lovely friends.....

champagne moments.......When I got home yesterday there was a beautiful card and a gift voucher from DS2 waiting for me for my birthday.   Then this morning I discovered another unexpected sum from FILs Estate in my bank account....Bless his heart.  Such a kind and generous man.   I shall spend it wisely.  

Not a champagne moment......popping myself on the scales 😱😂.   

As you know it was my 69th birthday so that means the next one is the big 70. The family have already mentioned it and DIL is scheming and plotting.  TBH, what with the weight gain, the arthritis and all that I have to say that I am feeling every year of 69 so I have decided to take myself in hand and sort things out.  

In order to motivate myself my new mantra will be "Sensational at 70". 

Last year I bought myself a book called "Younger Next Year". I skim read it but never really acted upon it so now is the time to reread It and start putting it into practice.  

It begins in earnest next week.......starting with a consultation with my physio on Monday for a spinal scan and then the treatment plan begins on Wednesday.  

Time to turn back time. 😂🤣

helensbiggestfan

Good morning my lovely friends 

champagne moment.  Decided to use some of my windfall from FIL to make an extra overpayment on the mortgage.  I already overpay each month Which should reduce my term to 10 years if I 
can keep it up.   I played around with the mortgage overpayment calculator and if I could just push myself a bit harder I might be able to clear it in 5 years.   So
Thats my new target.  😂😂. I know I don’t make life easy for
myself but I figure with some effort 
and a fair wind I can do it. 

I’m not exactly sure where I’m going to
find this extra money but I’m sure I can figure something out.  😉

early start today, have been to Aldi and stocked up on healthy stuff so
let Operation Sensational at 70 commence.  Starting with my weight and setting a target of 25lbs  loss by Christmas.     

Beautiful day so the garden beckons. 

phoebe1989seb

Pleased to hear that you and your family had a lovely break despite the less than perfect weather all week, LL! Belated happy birthday to you and your GS!

Sunny and warm here today, but we need to crack on with getting the new main bedroom ready to decorate, so apart from some deadheading and a little bit of strimming, we're inside. Since removing the stud wall it's the largest bedroom with a pleasant aspect over the courtyard.

The plan is to paper the chimney breast with some CFA Voysey inspired wallpaper we bought for a previous house but never used. We originally had 16 rolls but annoyingly sold 14 when decluttering ahead of selling the place. It was an eBay bargain - just hope we've enough. If so it will be a definite champagne moment!

On Friday I managed to reduce our huge pillow pile (a little) from 20 to 16, cull lots of clothing and earmarked about 12 (mostly art nouveau/liberty style) vintage cushions for the flea market.

Whilst the weather was damp last week I tried channeling my creative side - the art is coming along but will be better suited to the bathroom. Nonetheless it will have saved us a few pennies as it's enormous, lol!

So much for my resolve to rein in the (garden) spending..... I was first seduced by bright yellow helianthemums on offer at our local nursery, but at only £6 for three I guess I can be forgiven! As if that wasn't enough, a nearby good antique/curio/gift shop is closing down - not covid-related - and has everything with at least 50% off. Prior to lockdown, they had some fabulous lamps that would have been ideal for the new bedroom but unsurprisingly by the time I got there these had been snapped up.

Instead, I found a stunning aesthetic style black and gold side table that was a snip at £60, marked down from £138   It's a perfect fit for the look we have going on in the snug, topped with a flea market gourd shaped vase and my late parents' crystal whisky decanter/glasses. There were one or two other interesting items on offer so there's every chance I'll be heading back for more mooching before they close their doors for good.....

It might not be all bad news on the lamp front, as coincidentally we've been offered a pair that may do the job with the addition of some new shades. From the same source as the recently acquired giant terracotta gate post orb/finial, these are free if we want them! Just hope they're as lovely as they sound as DH forgot to take a pic.

So another potential champagne moment on the horizon 

Enjoy the sunshine/rest of the weekend!

candygirl

So glad You enjoyed your hols LL , it sounded fab
I've made the most of the sun today, sat out with mum this aft, n Bon tonight until 830pm! I'm so lucky to have a South facing garden .
Hope you're all ok xx

helensbiggestfan

Champagne moment.  Cuteness overload.   😂

Tiger Lilly. Latest addition to the family. ❤️❤️

helensbiggestfan

Tiger Lilly's big brother.  Mr M.  

helensbiggestfan

Ok enough with the cute cat pictures.   😂

Champagne moment yesterday.  Having my consultation and spine scans, and being told it's all fixable.  Apparently, my issues are "𝐋𝐢𝐟𝐞" related and not age related.  (Previous injuries, riding accident, car crashes and 6 years as a carer). He's convinced he can put me back together again.  Good to know. 

So maybe I really can turn back time.  😉.  Will have to wait and see.  

Anyway first treatment tomorrow.   

DS1 and GS here today so going to play with the new sand pit in a bit, when GS has had his nap.  

Ps don't forget to look out for  the comet.  Probably too cloudy tonight but hopefully skies should be clear enough in a couple of days.  

phoebe1989seb

Great positive news about your spine, LL 
And loving the pics of utterly adorable Tiger Lilly and Mr M 

Reminds me of our late boy, Liberty Lily......a pure white Exotic Shorthaired Persian.

Yep, I said boy, lol! When we chose him at the breeder's back in 2006 she was aware that we wanted a girl, which she insisted our choice of kitten was. Fast forward to collection day and later that evening getting *her* checked out by our vet - when he dropped the bombshell that our girl was actually a boy. Names had already been decided upon so there was no turning back. From henceforth he was known as Libby.......

Sadly, he was a rather sickly little chap who only survived three and a half years, succumbing to kidney failure 

Hope you had fun with the sandpit!

helensbiggestfan

good morning My lovely friends.  

How are we all, it's very quiet on here. Hope you are all still enjoying your champagne moments, no matter how small and that you are still finding joy among all the doom and gloom.  

Well yesterday was my first Chiro treatment.  I wouldnt call it a champagne moment as such. In fact I was secretly dreading it because I have had chiro in the past and found it painful and disconcerting but it went well. It was all very high tech, Using something like a sort of mini cattle prodder 😱🤣 but definitely an improvement on all that cracking and manual manipulation.  It felt a bit like a very targeted painless punch, you feel the impact but no discomfort or pain.   Anyway it definitely did something because within seconds my fingers started tingling and within in an hour or so my shoulder felt "looser" as if a blockage had been cleared somewhere. Even my knee felt a bit easier.  When I got home I crashed out and slept for 3 hours on the sofa, then kept dozing off in the evening then slept a full 8 hours last night. 

Of course because my condition is chronic it's going to take a course of treatments, not just a one off and I start properly next week, twice a week for an estimated 18 weeks.  I'm hopeful and am going to put my faith in them - they are a husband and wife team, he did the consultation and scans and she did the treatment.  I used to see the wife years ago, after one of my car crashes and she really helped me then so I feel I'm in good hands. The clinic was spotless, everything sanitised, everyone wearing masks and no sitting around with other people in waiting rooms so it felt safe.  

I realise I'm never going to have the flexibility and energy of a 30 year old again but if I only see a 50% improvement I will be ecstatic.  I want to age as well as I can and that means not just reducing pain but also improving my strength, stamina and flexibility so I can remain mobile and independent for as long as possible.  Lockdowns might be a feature of life For a while and for a time I might have to forego exotic travel and adventure but hopefully one day life will return to something resembling Normal so I want to remain fit, healthy and energetic to make the most of it.  

It feels almost autumnal here today......😂  Yesterday was murky and miserable and in the afternoon I felt really cold (I think an after effect of the treatment) so I whacked on the central heating.  I can't help but think we might be in for a bad winter - the weather has definitely Had some extreme moments This year.  Anyway - champagne moments planned for today.......a Long soak in the bath and a bit of a pamper then a trip to Next to spend my birthday voucher.  😁. If it's not too busy I might have a mooch round TK Maxx, have a look at housewares.  

Have a great day ......keep those champagne moments flowing.  

phoebe1989seb

Glad your chiro treatment seems to have helped, LL! Hope it continues to do so and that your shopping trip proves fruitful too.....

I've been having a few internet issues - the joys of rural living, lol - but have been keeping busy painting/creating more champagne moments 

Visible progress is finally being made in the main bedroom: paint colour selected, purchased and first coat begun in the areas unaffected by building work. We also now have the lintel in readiness for the new doorway and I've painted a small chest (£25 from a fleamarket last year) using a sample pot of F&B 'vardo' that I already had.

Earlier in the week we managed to squeeze in a visit to our nearest branch of Homesense which had reopened on the 6th. Stocks were sorely depleted but we came away with an interesting piece of art that could have been made for the snug - right size, perfect colours and most importantly, it has that eclectic vibe! I knew it was *the one* as soon as I saw it, but DH took some convincing. Now it's hung, we're both absolutely delighted with it....great price too!

The lamps I mentioned earlier in the thread have arrived - DH brought them home along with a few other items that were being given away as the owners are clearing out their existing house for sale, now they've moved into their newly renovated, much larger house (and bought everything new - as a collector that's a concept I can't quite grasp!). 

As well as the lamps, he came home laden with a massive ornate gold mirror, a pair of small cabinets on stands, a pair of low lamp tables and three prints plus an original contemporary oil painting.

Having downsized considerably in our move here, which involved selling the majority of our *much loved but too large for a cottage* Arts & Crafts furniture collection and ornamental objects including lighting plus several mirrors of the same period, I wasn't particularly excited by the prospect of taking someone else's stuff, sight unseen.... which sounds entitled, I know 

DH assured me that if they weren't up to my exacting standards, lol, we could offload anything we didn't want. My thoughts were also that we just don't have the space, but I didn't want to upset him by saying this, so decided to take a chance that some of it might be ok.....

Anyway, the lamps are fab - or will be with the addition of some new shades (I've found lovely handmade ones online, but they're currently out of stock), as the existing red coolie shades are a bit too 1980s, even for my eclectic tastes! 

The cabinets - decorative, vintage, but not antique, so I've no qualms about upcycling - will get a few coats of paint and be used in the covered porch dining area of the courtyard.  I've already painted the 4' x 3' mirror - using leftover Little Greene 'citrine' paint - and it's now looking far more funky, hanging in the book room, where it's keeping our 9' long (yep!) mirror company whilst bouncing more light around, which is never a bad thing!

The side tables will be put to use alongside a chaise sofa in the (yet to be built) rustic garden shelter and the art......well, I'm still undecided about the painting (an Italian lake landscape which I'm currently *auditioning* in the new bedroom, lol!), but the prints - neither of us like those so they'll head to a fleamarket at some point. 

The previous owners were going to skip the lot, so everyone's happy and a few unexpected champagne moments for us 

Sadly, the weather's not so champagne-y at the moment......hopefully it'll be better in Brighton where we're heading at the weekend for that long awaited visit to DS and his family!