The Best Is Yet To Come

slm6002

Well today has been all about painting.  The wall in the kitchen that was blocked up has been painted and as long as the morning light doesn't show any bits I have missed, is finished.  The living room wall has had a first coat on the fresh plaster.  As we have done only white paint today and the rest of the living room is yellow we will hopefully get to further coats tomorrow.  I found a pot of yellow paint in the garage and think it is the same as the rest of the walls - only time will tell lol.  

The bathroom has been painted with at least 3 if not 4 coats and I think it is done, unless a little daylight uncovers some areas tomorrow that need another coat.  The box that houses the pipes will need another coat, and no wood work has been painted as yet.  Tomorrow the mirror will go up.  I might do 1 last coast on the wooden bits before bed.

DD2 has been a great help and obviously still has some adrenaline in her from yesterday as she cant sit still.  It is her first attempt at painting a room.  I supervised but I have spotted a few areas that will need a wipe down as there is paint on it.  Not bad though for a first attempt.  I cant wait to get the towels etc back in there and it looking nice again.

3 loads of washing on the line and now dry.  Not spent a penny as all the paint etc were in the garage from the bedrooms.  As we are not finished I cant quite say we saved £780 plus VAT by painting it ourselves, but it wont be too long.

Gates paid for so will have something else to look forward to.  The neighbours came round to have a look just as we started painting today.  I think they liked it.  I know the wife would like one as she has bad knees and struggles to walk 

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Hello, well there is good news and bad.  Will start with the bad and get that out of the way....The builders were out the back of the house on the plot of land that is being built on.  The temporary fence is down and they are measuring up.  I believe things will start very soon.  Online it states they plan on having it done in 250 days but who knows.  The only days they will not work is bank holidays and Sundays.  So for the foreseeable future I will either be trapped in the house or not able to access it without all the builders moving their vehicles.  They plan on putting the skip in front of where we park so unlikely to be able to carry on with that for a while.  It wont be helped by the fact DD1 will also have a car soon and then there are 2 spaces to find.  We have been parking in the same spot for almost 20 years now.  I'm sure we should get squatters rights or something.

Ok back to good news even if grey cloud hanging over...DD1 as I said has got a car (from 1st May).  My brother is now commuting to work by train so is going to 1 car.  He is selling the small one to DD1.  We have emptied all of her accounts to pay for that and the insurance and the tax.  She has a small amount left for petrol and will be saving to get the breaks done once she starts work in July.  She is happy although would prefer to have it now.

The bathroom is painted apart from the woodwork still, and the mirror is on the wall.  Today Dad bought round a picture that me and my siblings had made my Gran and Grandad back in 1983.  It is handprints and a poem.  He didn't know if I would like it but it brings back memories and the colours match so decided to hang it.  The kids were all smiling to see it.

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I was so cold last night and hoping it is not the start of the bug that is going around work.

I received £150 from the local group to go towards my heating bills.  I didn't think I would qualify for it but guess they think otherwise.  Been into to town to close DD1's savings account so she could tfr the money to the insurance company.  That is all done now and set up for 1st May.  My brother dropped the car off onto the drive and will sign it over on Monday.  She is a very happy girl right now and has sat in it testing out all of the buttons.

Unfortunately I was greeted by builders in their vans on my arrival home yesterday, blocking my access to my house.  So I left my car blocking them.  I was later asked to move it.  I have told them they agreed that this would not happen according to the paperwork that they submitted to the council with their planning application.  I later needed to leave and was again blocked in.  Yes they moved but I had to wait until the digger had finished.  It is going to become very tiresome very quickly.  I have the site managers name and next time I see him I will get his number as he has offered it to me but I didn't have a pen and paper on me.  I have also started a record of each time I get blocked in.  Next door is also of the same mind and had issues already.

It is grey and miserable here again today.  I wonder what today will bring

slm6002

Yay its a 3 day weekend.  Lots going on a work behind the scenes that we don't know about. Hoping to be told at some point soon to stop all the guessing going on.

I met up with my best friend today and she treated me to lunch.  We forgot the time and were almost late with getting the kids.  It was lovely though and definitely needed the natta.  I think I will have cornflakes for dinner as not really that hungry after main meal at lunch.  It also meant I wasn't home when the builders were here to annoy me.

Tomorrow I have my macrame course.  It is a town about 30-45 min away and I'm not too sure exactly where it is even though I used to visit the town quite a lot in my late teens.  Will put one of my CD's on in the car that the children don't like and have a good sing song on the way.  I am really looking forward to it.  I just need to take scissors and a tape measure and the rest will be provided.

Payday was today and I have swept the money into my savings pots for the next month.  It is nice to start the DIY pot again as I had emptied it for the bathroom and gates.  Start again and watch it grow ready for the next project.  I need to do some more painting this weekend to get it out of the way otherwise it will be half term and I will have visitors.

Yesterday I found a family ticket for the local farm that we had won last year.  I think we have until the beginning of July to claim it so need to see when we can go.  Maybe a Sunday when XH doesn't have DS & DD2.  We haven't been for some time so it would be nice to go and take a picnic with us (hopefully the weather will improve soon).

I wrote the above hours ago but got distracted setting up the summer holiday calendar and getting some dates on it.  I also purchased a online escape room with groupon and extra 30% off code for when mum is here.  Will keep an eye out to see if there are any more vouchers for things that we will like.  When I changed laptops a big chunk of my files didn't transfer properly so when I set up this years summer calendar it still had swimming lessons on there and ideas from the children were quite a bit younger.  However many of the ideas are still valid like cooking, but perhaps instead of cupcakes they might learn to cook a meal.  Almost all of the ideas were free or very little cost.  This is because when I did it we had very little money for 'fun' even though there was plenty of fun each year.  Feel happier now that I have started planning as the 6 weeks holiday will soon be here.

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I also had a good idea for DD1's 18th bday in Sept.  I am going to do a photo book starting with the scan photo up until now.  Need to take some good photos this summer and look back over hundreds of photos for the best or most memorable one.  Thought it would be a nice keepsake.  I was going to print 2 - 1 for me and 1 for her

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Yet again good and bad news.

I really enjoyed my craft course and made a cute macrame bag.  I found it quite easy once I got going although many of the others seemed to struggle.  

Bad news is I have quite a big leak under my kitchen sink just under the stop valve.  It was replaced last Thursday and I think it has probably been leaking since then.  I haven't noticed until today as there is quite a lot under the sink so its just dripped through.  It wasn't until I noticed the floorboards near it looked wet and when I took the kickboard off, yes it was soaking.  Next door helped to turn the water off at the mains on the path outside the house and I have tried calling the builder.  There is no answer so far and neither is the other plumber  I have a number for.  The leak has obviously stopped but now we have no water.  Just tried the local 24/7 man, but he is out enjoying time with his family so cant come.

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It would appear that all of the plumbers in the local area are on days out and can not come.  I don't blame them as its a bank holiday weekend and the sun is out, but don't advertise as 24/7 and decide as a group to all leave town on the same day.  Leave 1 plumber behind please

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Ok so a friend of DD1 had a dad who knew lots of plumbers.  I finally got in touch with one and he came and fixed the problem.  What is even better is that he only charged me £20.  I was so very grateful and will keep his number to hand.  So back to normal hopefully.  I expect it will take a day or two to get the floor dried out but hopefully no lasting damage.  Now off to inform the water company.

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I've had quite a good and productive day.  Worn out now and will sit until the dinner is ready as it is all prepped.  I can smell the chicken and just need to pop the yorkshires in and turn veg on.  Not long to go.

Brother and family came round to collect his tools as he finished my kitchen worktop for me yesterday.  I do still need to put the edging tape on the back but I can do this maybe tomorrow.  They also signed the paperwork to transfer their car into DD1's name and she paid them.  She needs to get the tax sorted tomorrow and then we are sorted.  We will be going for a drive tomorrow to get her confidence up a little.

I also finished painting the outside wall of the downstairs bathroom which means it really is only the wood and the doors that need doing now.  I will tackle this over the next few weeks.  I can now put the printer back in its place and sort the living room out a little more.  The paint is back in the garage and we are slowly getting the tools back there too.  Sitting here I can see a patching job under the window that I should have tackled before I put the paint away.  I need to fill the hole and then paint.  I can then put the new curtains up although may need to shorten them first.  I also bought a curtain to make into a matching blind for the kitchen so will need to have a look and see the best way to transform it.


The leak has stayed away thankfully and already the floor looks dryer so hopefully no lasting damage.

I've done 2 loads of washing which are now line dried which I love, and been food shopping after I did the meal plan and wrote a list.  It is coming together again.

Going to have a relaxing night and maybe do some more of my cross stitch and listening to the radio.  Then an early night 

slm6002

Pizza dough is almost ready for dinner so thought I'd pop on here for a quick catch up. 

Today we have been driving and driving.  DD1 was able to tax the car this morning so we have been practicing driving around.  We went to visit Grandad who has a tricky entrance on a slope, and getting out is a little nerve wreaking.  In fact the whole day has been quite scary.  Although she knows what she is doing she has very little confidence.  That mixed in with a new car to get used to and it was like she was a beginner again.  By the end of the day we were a little better but still some way to go before she can go out alone or with friends.  She would like to go out later when it is dark but I'm not sure I have enough energy left.  She had planned to drive to school and back on Wed with boyfriend but has realised she is not ready for that yet.  At least it is not me saying she cant, it is her own opinion.  She said I was being very calming in the car - didn't feel like it lol.  I could not be a driving instructor.

Back to work tomorrow but could easily have a week off now as nice and relaxed at home and enjoying it.  At least it is only 4 days and then another long weekend.  I am planning on a little cream tea thing I think for the coronation.  Scones, sandwiches and cakes.  Not very healthy but once every now and again.   House is looking reasonable (not tidy but not a complete disaster zone).

Right time to make pizza as the bread maker has just bleeped