Champagne Lifestyle on a Lemonade Budget - 2021

sheilavw

hi, no not snowed in Candygirl but was plenty of it, side roads weren't great. Nicely thawing now. My New Year wish is that this vaccine is rolled out quickly and we get back to some type of normal, would love to have a holiday in the pipeline!

helensbiggestfan

Good morning my lovely friends.  

Champagne moments...... yesterday a lazy sofa afternoon, films, books, chatting on the phone.  My lovely neighbour dropped me off a dish of home made moussaka.  No reason, I'm not sick.   She's just a lovely person. (Bonus, she used to be a chef😁).  I'd already eaten so I'll have that today.  Then a fabulous long sleep, 9 hours straight.  Feel fantastic after that,  tooth pain and earache all cleared up now too.  So a great start to 2021.  

Sheila I echo your sentiments.  I think we need to be patient for a little while longer and we still need to be careful because the new strain off covid is running rampant.  Fingers crossed by Easter the worst will be over.  I'm going to just hunker down, keep to my little family bubble and avoid taking any silly risks.  I've got plenty to keep me amused. House projects, decluttering, getting fitter, losing weight all on the agenda for the next few months. 

Gorgeous sunshine at the moment but very cold.  Snow forecast. I'm all stocked up so no need to go out.  Can stay warm and cosy, safe in my nest.   Family popping over later.  

Have a great everyone.  Stay safe and well.  Dont despair, it will soon be over and we can get out and about, socialising, meeting friends, having fun, not sure about foreign travel this year, we might have to wait until 2022.  

Oops family just arriving.  

Have a great day y'all.  

Wednesday2000

The new Minimalist documentary was very interesting. It struck me when Josh said about having to clear out his mother's house after she died and how much stuff she had crammed into a one-bed apartment. We paid to get Netflix back as it is only £10 a month and I will have to make sure I watch it often to get value for money.

I'm just staying at home today, doing some decluttering, batch cooking, tidying up and doing pampering things like a hot bath and curling up with a book.

I can't remember if I mentioned the book I'm reading on here, a book called The XX Brain. It's about women and why they have such a higher risk of dementia. 2/3 of Alzheimer's patients are women. Also that it starts with negative changes in our brains in our forties and fifties and menopause is very important.  I was completely unaware of any of that. I don't think this is general knowledge at all. It is quite timely for me as I'm going to be 45 this year.

helensbiggestfan

Good Morning my lovely friends...,,

Well that's it, the new year celebrations are finished and its back to everyday life.  A brand new shiny year, just waiting for us.  Ok we might not be able to get out and about much and socialising will be off the agenda for a good few months yet but hopefully we can still find a few champagne moments whilst we wait.  

This week the declutter begins, starting with taking down the last of the Christmas decorations today and having a good tidy up.  Not exactly champagne living, more a quiet glow of smug satisfaction when it's done.  

Wednesday.  I agree with Josh.  I lost three people in 2.1/2 years, had three estates to deal with and all their goods and chattels.  It was difficult and painful, and at times almost overwhelming especially because my dad was a bit of a hoarder.  Fortunately not tv show standard, most of his was confined to sheds and outbuildings.  My sister is till hanging onto lots of my parents possessions and I can tell they are weighing heavily on her, but I realised a long while ago I really don't need physical possessions to treasure someone's memories or hold them close to my heart.  I have kept very few sentimental items.  

 I'm hoping that this year I will manage to make good inroads into my stuff too.  I want to live a lighter, freer life, not encumbered with stuff. I am aiming to make next move will be to a smaller home which I can just "lock up and go" so that I can travel more. My stuff weighs heavily on me now, I don't need it, it's holding me back, physically, mentally and emotionally.  Time to let go and realease it into the world.  

What is the point of boxes and boxes of treasures stuck in the attic that never see the light of day, wardrobes rammed with clothes, shoes, bags and jewellery I never use or wear.  

Time to get selling.......😂

Car repair man here, doing his thing. Then he'll put the car in for its MOT.  

Wish me luck, 🤞🤞

phoebe1989seb

Fingers crossed for the MOT, LL 

Decluttering due to start here this week too, although as DH is working from home today (project management stuff for the cottage he's working on nearby) I doubt I'll achieve much as in our small space it often feels as though we're permanently in each others way, lol! If - and it's a very big *if* - we ever move again, it will be back to somewhere larger, as the one aspect of living in this tiny cottage that I've not acclimatised to in almost three years is the lack of spaciousness inside.

That's why we've made certain decisions regarding floorplan/layout....ie, creating a large bathroom as opposed to a third bedroom. And why - in addition to the new extension we'll be building this year - we plan to knock through between the snug and existing second reception room. Hopefully all this will give us the feeling of space I miss, but if not DH has grand plans to self build our next home 😉

My decluttering will mainly focus on clothing - we also lost three family members within a short period of time (FIL in 2013, my dad in 2014 and my mum in 2015) so can empathise with the overwhelming nature of all that accompanies this, although fortunately we cleared the majority when selling our last house in 2017/18. All we have left apart from photo albums/old cine films that need transferring to dvds is my parents' whisky decanter and glasses. We also took that opportunity to offload masses of antique furniture that would have been way too large for the cottage.

Recently DH and I have both come to the conclusion that we feel liberated from the shackles of collecting Art Nouveau/Arts & Crafts Movement pieces (although we still have a fair amount 🙄), but whilst overall we now own less *stuff* (especially expensive stuff, lol!), it has in reality opened the floodgates for buying more - it's just of a different kind.....

However, as I've said many times, I'll never be a minimalist and have no desire to be one!

So, I'll be chucking away lots of unnecessary clothes but keeping everything else 🙄 Obviously there's no charity shops open - most here have been shut since the first lockdown - and no sign of fleamarkets reopening, so as controversial as it sounds we'll just be adding everything no longer needed to the bonfire pile!

In other champagne moments, imho the kitchen is now looking its best ever and the snug has been hugely improved by the addition of the inexpensive rug we bought each other for Christmas (and creases almost all gone at last!) 😊

helensbiggestfan

Oh what a shame you have to resort to a bonfire.  Can I make a suggestion.......if you have a women's refuge or maybe the Salvation Army or a homeless shelter they might be able to help.  

  I was only thinking about this very issue yesterday........the charity shops are not going to be able to cope.  Already they were turning donations away after the first lockdown.  Such a shame because so much of it is genuinely wearable, if not for the west then I'm sure developing countries or areas where disaster has struck could really use all this unwanted clothing. 

There is a book called "Stuffocation". In which this is discussed.  The earth really has reached saturation point when it comes to waste.  We have a real problem, landfill sites are almost full, and currently used clothing does take up an enormous amount of space in landfill.  Now if they are natural fibres such as wool, linen, cotton then it's not too much  an issue, they do biodegrade in a relatively short time but alas synthetics do not.......they are after all plastic and they can last decades. Plastic will lie in the earth and our oceans for centuries. As they eventually degrade into smaller pieces these then leach into the earth, contaminating the soil and polluting water tables.  

Sorry don't mean to preach but the degradation and pollution of our planet is a subject I feel quite strongly about. We are essentially destroying our own home and we won't get another, and I'm frankly appalled at our wasteful throwaway society.  

(Re synthetics being highly flammable.......if you do a fire test, say a pure wool jumper versus an acyriclic or polyester garment and compare the burn time of the two......you will be shocked at the difference .  This is why fire is such a risk in hoarders homes, because so many of our possessions are made from synthetic materials, not just clothes but carpets, curtains, soft furnishings, sofas etc and when they are packed tightly together they can self combust and you will have an inferno within minutes).  

Thankfully there have been developments into turning old textiles into insulation materials but the process is still actually quite expensive but hopefully eventually something like this will ease the dilemma.  

I am not a true minimalist either and like you my taste does change and evolve over the years.  Houses are smaller now,  room sizes are smaller too and even the most handsome piece of furniture can be too big sometimes.  

I think if you can, then opening up two (or even 3) small rooms into one larger space can work really well.  The feature that really sold this house to me was the lovely big open open kitchen diner.  Well it's open now since I had the silly dividing half wall removed.  First job I had done.  It also has a nice decent sized entrance hall, at least for a house this size.  Both are features you don't see in bungalows  very often.  

This house isn't big, around 1000 sq feet but I think it works so well because of the way the rooms are laid out.  Hardly any of the bungalows I viewed had a nice family sized kitchen or the potential to create one without losing a bedroom so I think I struck gold with this house, despite the amount if work involved.  Still a bit to be done, still need to decide what to do about the loft, wether to upgrade the staircase, actually moving it in the process, but it's a big commitment if I'm not  staying here long term.  I'll have a year off any major works this year and then next year I can decide whether to move or improve.  

Car man has done his stuff and gave it a good pre MOT check, says it should be fine.  He will take it in next week. 🤞 but he doesn't foresee any problems,  

phoebe1989seb

Indeed, burning it really is a very, very last resort....will look into those suggestions, thank you LL  although tbh, the items are probably too quirky/vintage for most - possibly even desperate - people, lol! 

Our previous homes have had ample storage which is how come I've built up such a hoard. Even when we were selling online/at fleamarkets I never really saw the need to offload it all. Fabrics too.....a few from my designing days, although I can't really see me getting rid of those 🙄

I did have a collection of Liberty and other vintage designer handbags. Fortunately we sold those when fleamarkets were still operating.....

The other day we drove past a charity shop whose frontage was almost entirely covered by bags of donated clothing etc, destined no doubt for landfill. The blooming pandemic has an awful lot to answer for!
 
Regarding home improvements - DH wants to get all of ours completed this year as Christmas 2021 is his self imposed deadline for making a decision on whether or not to sell and buy a plot on which to build. It's a tall order as there's still an awful lot of messy building work to do here!

helensbiggestfan

Good Morning lovely friends.  

🥶🥶🥶. It's like Siberia here..  It's very icy underfoot so I doubt I will be going out for a walk today, no matter how pretty the frost looks.    Champagne moments today will be of the indoor variety. CH at full belt, a roaring fire in the kitchen diner, candles and curling up with a sofa throw this evening, good hearty meals (not the day for dieting) . The outside world can wait and anyway given covid figures it's probably safer at home.  Just so grateful I'm retired and don't have to venture out.  My son the electrician will be freezing on site today, poor lamb.  

Made a cracking start on the decluttering, more today although I very much doubt I will be venturing upstairs to the loft or attic bedroom.  Bit too nippy up there to hang around for long. There's no rush.  

Wardrobes today.  I'm enjoying the process, it's very cathartic and liberating.  Cant really dispose of anything yet, charity shops, antique shops and auction houses all closed so I'm just boxing and bagging it all up for now and storing it all in a spare room.  I can then dispose of everything properly when lockdown is over.  

Each day I have a nice long chat with a friend on the phone,  so looking forward to seeing them all again. 

Take care, everyone.  Stay safe and warm.  ❤️

helensbiggestfan

Hello my lovely friends......

champagne moment this Morning the beautiful sunny weather, almost like spring,  Birds singing, bulbs coming through, some shrubs in bud. Lovely.  Went for a walk.  Seeing the sunshine first thing spurred me on to fling open the windows and get some cleaning done. Everywhere smells clean and fresh.

have been busy decluttering and sorting out stuff.  Not much has left the house yet but it's all neatly packed and bagged ready to go once everywhere opens up again.  

My other big champagne moment is how canny  I have been with shopping. I have only spent £13 this week on groceries.  And yesterday I recycled some wax from old candles and made some new ones.  Very MSE.  

I received a ping from the NHS track and Trace service, just a warning that I had been in a place where covid had been found, but because my exposure was very short lived I don't have to take any further action. However, seeing as the stats are so awful, I have decided to keep a low profile for a few weeks and self isolate.  Better safe than sorry.  It would be a shame if, having survived this far, I was to blow it by taking unnecessary risks. It's no great hardship, I'll just keep busy.

stay safe everyone and try to find a few champagne moments amidst all the doom and gloom. 

helensbiggestfan

Good Morning my lovely friends.

How are we all. Very quiet on here, hope you are all well and happy and managing to find a few champagne moments in these challenging times. Mine continue to be those of the quiet domestic variety, a nice meal, a bunch of tulips, a leisurely walk in the sunshine and best of all my car sailing through its MOT. Wahoo.  So glad I still have a set of wheels for another year and dont have to worry about buying a new car.  

I'm keeping busy, decluttering, organising and cleaning.  I think decluttering is the new rock and roll, everyone seems to be doing it.  😂.  The charity shops are going to be inundated.  I think we all are feeling the need for a dose of out with the old and in with the new.  

One thing I've done is to switch round my rugs and accessories. I like to ring the changes every so often and even just something simple like different cushions and throws can really change a room. I've also bought  a few new house  plants to brighten up the winter gloom.   Stay safe and well, and keep enjoying a few simple champagne moments.  Spring is on its way.