Champagne Lifestyle on a Lemonade Budget - 2021

sugarbaby125

My Champagne moment on Saturday was my son coming for a visit and to have dinner with us. He is definitely more willing to spend a few hours visiting us, now that I have had my 1st Covid-19 vaccination.   

balabooberlies

That's lovely Sugarbaby

bala

x

sugarbaby125

Thanks Bala   

helensbiggestfan

Good Morning my lovely friends.  How are we all. Hope you are all well, happy and enjoying a few champagne moments along the way.  I know we can't rush out and paint the town red just yet but it's so nice to know that soon we will be slowly inching  our way out of lockdown .  I'm feeling good, optimistic and positive.  Good things are out there - just waiting for us - I feel it.  

Another lovely day here, will be getting out in the garden later.  I'm currently moving rockery stones, from the rear of the garden down to the side of the house where they will be out of sight until I decide what to do with them.  They are heavy so I just shift 10 a day.  

How do you eat an elephant.?   One bite at a time......how do you move a rockery.......10 stones per day.  😂

They are sat on a paved patio area in the one  part of the garden that gets natural shade in the heat of summer. It's been unloved and neglected for years so my plan is to clean it up and dress it nicely with shade loving plants and put some seating there,  it will be a lovely shady spot for hot sunny days,  relaxing with a book, sipping a glass of something cool and refreshing.  Perfick!! 

Still living quietly. Really pleased with myself I finally managed to sort out some of the messes I had got myself into with PayPal and internet banking.  It's all sorted now. I've rejigged my finances and, thanks to living so quietly and being frugal, I have managed to pay a big bill without cashing in my investments so, feeling pretty pleased with myself. My "austerity budget" did the trick. 😂.  I need to build up my cash reserves again now though so I shall continue to live as frugally as possible for a little while longer.  

I was sorely tempted to book a cruise but thought better of it.  Lol. It's not until 2023 but I just didn't want to commit to it and pay a deposit on something so far ahead.  Doubtless there will be some last minute bookings available if I decide to go after all.  My upcoming holiday in the Peak District won't break the bank and it will be a very welcome change after "doing solitary" for months.  😂.   

Needless to say no exciting champagne moments, more like moments of quiet satisfaction, getting stuff done.  But that's ok, that will do for now.  

One thing I am pleased about is that I have begun a proper health and fitness programme and have actually managed to stick to it.  So far consisting of healthy eating, dancing for cardio and a mixture of tai chi and pilates for flexibility, plus more walking.  It's working really well, my body is responding well and already I am in a lot less pain (fibro and arthritis) and I'm starting to feel more flexible.  Another week or so and I will add some strength training into the mix.  I really want to build up muscle strength - very important now that I'm pushing 70. 😂🤣

Other than that no news this end.  Still sticking to my bubble, still keeping in touch with everyone else through technology.  Still enjoying little champagne moments of the domestic variety, a nice meal, a glass of something, a good film or tv programme.    It's all good.  

Stay well and safe everyone.  Keep those champagne moments coming,  

phoebe1989seb

That's such a coincidence, LL, as I also have a load of rockery *stones* I need to get moved! We have a reasonably large rockery area that comprised nothing but rocks, gravel and weeds when we moved here in Feb 2018.

That first spring/summer I dug out all the weeds and replaced with a mix of typical and not so typical rockery planting. It's in a very sunny, south-facing position and usually looks quite lovely in peak season. Sadly, it's also right on the edge of where our new extension will be going and in order to dig the footings/build a small retaining wall as it's adjacent to a slightly sloping area of the garden, the whole lot will have to be relocated.

My very rough calculations suggest  there's between 75 and 100 stones to move.... ranging in size from 20cm in diameter up to one massive beast of almost 1m long. Many are too heavy for me to even consider lifting, although we have a very sturdy sack truck I can make use of.

I won't be starting this till the perennials I need to relocate elsewhere in the garden are viable. Well done you for tackling yours yourself 👏

I also have a few other plants to get into the ground at some point - 4 x yuccas given to us by a client of DH's, a gingko tree, 4 x David Austin roses, an azalea, an astilbe, medlar and quince trees plus all those alliums 🙄

It's dry but cold here today. I've done a bit more garden tidying - fighting a losing battle right now as it keeps getting so windy - but really I'm itching to start on the extension prep. Not just the rockery clearing, but the site clearance itself - currently a very scrappy *patio* area that we use as a dumping ground for excess building materials and stuff headed to the skip!

I put one of our bistro sets there recently to take advantage of the sunshine and to get an idea of the view we'll have from our new living room 😉 It's going to revolutionise how we use the house!

Talking of which, steady progress is still being made in the upstairs hallway - plastering due to start at the weekend and the built-in shelving is almost complete. I can't wait to get the wallpaper up and the storage cupboards in.....first I need to make a decision on the flooring, although it will definitely be one of the Karndean choices.

The twenty-odd primroses that I painstakingly transplanted into one area are brightening our otherwise rather bare looking garden - so much stuff has been lost over winter including most of the hellebores planted over the past couple of years - as well as a few daffodils plus the bluebell foliage is making an appearance. 

Indoors I've a bit of a mauve theme going on, flower-wise with some really unusual hyacinths that we bought believing them to be pink.....

Keep safe everyone.... the end is hopefully in sight!

MrsPorridge

Lovely flowers, Phoebe. 
My champagne moment last night was half inserting the centrepiece into the Jane Austen quilt I am making.  Will complete the centrepiece tonight.  It is all hand sewn.  I just need to put the borders on and then attach the wadding and backing.  Then comes the job of hand quilting it!  I have set myself the target of aiming to get it completed by December of this year.  It is for our bed.

sugarbaby125

LL it is so good to have the sun shining and to feel it's warmth when I went out for some top-up shopping today   

Phoebe you and your husband are doing a great job of your house and garden renovations. The flowers are lovely   

joedenise

MrsPorridge - that is truly a labour of love.  It's beautiful.  You must have so much patience to have hand sewn all that and to be tackling hand quilting!

MrsPorridge

Thank you Joedenise.  I don't have much patience, only for sewing!  I doubt I would have completed this much if it hadn't been for Covid.  It has given me focus and joy and will continue to do so for a while yet

helensbiggestfan

Mrs P. Your quilt is beautiful.