Champagne Lifestyle on a Lemonade Budget.

balabooberlies

Just popping in to say hello and hoping that you are all safe and well.

Don't know if this is a Champagne moment but changed my internet package and now it doesn't drop out a hundred times a day.  AND it's £1.00 cheaper !  Also my brother got the printer working.  These small things will make a difference as am going to try for the first time to sell some things on a very famous auction site.

bala

x

sugarbaby125

balabooberlies said:

Just popping in to say hello and hoping that you are all safe and well.

Don't know if this is a Champagne moment but changed my internet package and now it doesn't drop out a hundred times a day.  AND it's £1.00 cheaper !  Also my brother got the printer working.  These small things will make a difference as am going to try for the first time to sell some things on a very famous auction site.

bala

x

Bala, both of those count as champagne moments in my book. In fact having an internet connection that is not constantly losing connectivity is going to give you ongoing champagne moments. Good luck with selling your items, I hope you get some good prices. 

joedenise

Just had an email to say our internet connection speed has now been improved.  I should say it has - it's currently well over 20 Mg, usually we're lucky if we get 5 Mg.  Lets hope it stays at the faster speed!

phoebe1989seb

Hi everyone 

I hope that those still in lockdown (and those that are not!) are doing ok and managing to get some champagne moments despite the restrictions?!?!

Alongside some hard work, we've had some lovely ones ourselves over the past week.....

Having completed another area of tiling/grouting and painting walls, on Wednesday our bathroom came a huge leap closer to being finished as the vintage demi-lune vanity, basin and tap were fitted, followed by hanging one of our remaining antique Art Nouveau mirrors (carved with sinuous poppies) above 

There's a tiny area of painting to do (where one of the doorways was blocked up/plastered), plus a little more tiling/grouting, then - apart from the jib (concealed) door and fitting the heated towel rail - we're done!

It still feels utterly weird having a proper bathroom after all these years and it's so beautiful we are absolutely delighted 😍

At the beginning of the week I spent a whole day bagging up loads of rubble before removing them to the drive in readiness for a skip. I keep thinking this will be the last mucky carp to be removed from inside the cottage, then I remember something else, lol! At least virtually every last vestige of the previous owners has been eliminated now....hurrah! Just a wall of limestone tiles and a couple of louvre cupboard doors to go 

It's amazing what stuff you forget you'd bought intending to use somewhere in the house when you've been living out of boxes for several years. This week I stumbled upon a pack of Liberty of London prettily patterned pinwheels that I seem to recall buying in Homesense for a bargain price about three years ago. I had nowhere particular in mind back then, but I suddenly realised they were just what was needed to decorate the walls either side of the main bedroom headboard. It's not like we've a shortage of art (mostly vintage prints, but also a few original pieces) to use, but I was struggling to find something with the right vibe for the room.....and these are perfect!

I'd purchased two stunning - and greatly marked down - fabric remnants on eBay and these arrived on Thursday. With the addition of feather pads that I already had, these are now lovely cushions for the main bedroom and book room.

As if we don't have enough David Austin roses, lol, I took advantage of their 15% off deal and ordered a couple more bare root varieties - including Comte de Champagne ( ) which is one I've been coveting for ages - these will arrive in early December.....

Last night we had another trek to Homesense, hoping to find those elusive mirrors for the main bedroom, a nice laundry basket and a bathmat. Two out of three successes - still no decent laundry baskets, but we found a pair of mirrors (on clearance for £32 the pair, retail price £360!!!) and the perfect bathmat. We also got another stocking filler for DS/his partner in the shape of a MCM style dish. Total spend £77. Total saving on retail prices £399!

Today, while DH cracks on with prepping for more stud wall building, our sparky is here doing first fix electrics in the soon-to-be-created upper hall/moving light fitting and sockets in the guest bedroom. The hall lights themselves are all good to go, but will be hung once the new walls are in place/plastered/painted. 

It's been a busy week so as a treat we're cheating and have an M&S ready meal curry feast to look forward to this evening 

Enjoy the weekend everyone!

sugarbaby125

Wow Phoebe, you and your husband have made such great progress with your house fabbing and now you finally have a usable bathroom.    Also great that you have managed to secure such bargains on items for your home. It makes each find for your home that much sweeter when you can find just what you were looking for at a bargain price. 

I have learnt to be patient when looking for items for personal fabbing or house fabbing, as it really pays off when you can secure the item at a much lower price than you 1st spotted it selling for. 

sugarbaby125

My Champagne moment on Wednesday was receiving my 1st Christmas card in the post from my sister M.    She also enclosed money for me to choose presents for myself, my younger son and younger daughter for Christmas, so I am hunting on my favourite auction site for suitable items for the 3 of us.   

I also got told by my younger son that I could choose my own Christmas presents from him to a maximum of £25. 

Just when I thought I was done with Christmas present buying and wrapping, I have the pleasure of finding just so items for myself that I will love and will give me enormous pleasure. My 1st purchase was a pair of  new with tags M & S black leather gloves for only £8.79 rather than the £17.50 they currently retail for with Marks & Spencer. 

phoebe1989seb

Some great champagne moments there, Sugarbaby  Lovely that you get to choose what you would like, but more Christmas shopping when you thought you'd nailed it, lol!

We're both really excited about the bathroom! Even though the main bathroom at our previous house was a great size and equipped with good quality - if dated - sanitary ware etc, we hadn't chosen it ourselves and the layout was poor. Had we not decided to sell/move to Wales, it would have been the next job on our list. This is therefore the first bathroom where we've done everything our way since the three we fitted at our old house in Wiltshire that we sold back in 2014.....

sugarbaby125

Phoebe, it is ironic that I am buying Christmas presents once again, but it is far more fun choosing presents for myself. I have managed to find some great bargain items for my home fabbing from my favourite auction site. So I am happy 

balabooberlies

Phoebe, I think you and your husband are amazing.

Sugarbaby, I watched a programme on Sky Arts called Life & Rhymes.  Only caught the last ten to fifteen minutes but was stunned.  Am recording the next one.  Must confess I kept looking for you in the audience. 

hope everyone is well.

bala

x

phoebe1989seb

balabooberlies said:

Phoebe, I think you and your husband are amazing.

Thank you so much, Bala  DH maybe, but I'm really just the gopher/labourer, lol! 

A few champagne moments here since I last posted....

On Sunday morning we decided we'd achieved so much the previous day  that we deserved a walk on the beach with the dogs. It was bright, sunny and not overly chilly, so perfect for chasing a ball on the miles of sand, followed by a picnic lunch in the landy. Then a slow drive back on the mountain road.... the whole outing felt like a real treat 

Later (and completed last night) we moved the main bedroom furniture into position - so I no longer need to clamber over a sofa to get to my knicker drawer 🙄 - this allows us space to decorate the area that was previously clogged up with bathroom supplies etc! 

It finally feels like the cottage layout is coming together and that our - admittedly wacky - ideas to rejig the floorplan were justified. Before, everything felt off somehow and now it seems as though this was how it was always meant to be.... although tbh until about a hundred years ago there were no actual habitable rooms in the 400 year old mill building!

Just having the door and light switch in the right place was a champagne moment for me, lol!

Yesterday it was back to shifting (interior) building materials from A to B in readiness for next assault..... the upper hall. Not so champagne-y, just exhausting!

Today I've been moving my extensive collection of original Art Nouveau Bretby jewelware pottery from the guest room to the main bedroom, something that involved a serious amount of dusting! Ultimately this will live mainly on still-to-be-built shelving, but for now it's safely out of the reach of our inquisitive/clumsy dogs on top of the wardrobe/a high window sill. 

I've been collecting this *art* pottery  for sixteen years (but haven't bought a piece for a few years now) and it was interesting to revisit the stickers I'd applied to the bases at the time of purchase, cataloguing when/where purchased and price paid. Although I knew I'd spent a fair amount, I was amazed to discover the total outlay was in excess of £2500 😮