Champagne Lifestyle on a Lemonade Budget - 2021

sugarbaby125

My Champagne moments yesterday evening were all to do with having a delicious 2 course Caribbean meal with my son at Leilani restaurant. I had a Groupon which with a discount on the day of purchase only cost me £18.40 which saved me £49.40 on the menu prices.   

My starter was saltfish fritters, my main was jerk chicken with rice 'n; peas with a side salad. I had a Disaronno gladiator cocktail and bottled water with my meal. My son had peppered beef with rocket and parmesan shavings for his starter and a steak burger and hand cooked chips for his main and he had a Mai Tai cocktail and bottled water with his meal. 

phoebe1989seb

That looks delicious, Sugarbaby 😋 Sounds like you and your DS had a lovely evening!

Thanks, needmoney....sadly inside most of the character was lost when first the Victorians converted the mill to residential use and later (in the 1990s) when it was sold by the grand estate to which it then belonged and moved into private hands 🙁

Apart from a couple of small bedroom fireplaces - one of which is in the room that we converted to a bathroom - the huge, exposed brick chimney breast in the kitchen (formerly a narrow scullery) and some black/red quarry tiles (all of which date from the Victorian conversion), every other bit of period charm has been added by us. Even the window openings are no earlier than Victorian.

Outside is a slightly different story, with many of the boundary walls being fairly ancient 😃 Unfortunately, however, the original stone roof - such as the ones on the nearby stable building (now also a home) and the main house (a mansion with Tudor origins) - was sold in about 1999 to pay for *modernisation* of the property 😮

sugarbaby125

My Champagne moment today was receiving £40 credit from Thames Water as a goodwill gesture in response to my complaint. 

For some strange reason, I never received my 2021/2022 bill from Thames Water. I phoned on 3 separate occasions and was told each time that the bill would be forthcoming within 10 working days. I actually waited 20 working days between phone calls and eventually made a complaint about the non existent bill. 

sugarbaby125

I went to the Open Mic Poetic Unity event last night and it was such a positive, enjoyable event. I received a compliment from one of the other women who said to me 'I have come here to listen to you perform'. 

There were more young poets this time than mature poets and they brought more energy to the event. 

helensbiggestfan

hello my lovely friends.  

For some weird and wonderful reason I cannot access MSE on my iPad. So using my mobile. And it’s pitiful trying to type. So I’ll keep it short but sweet. 

All is good. DS1 recovering well. Ive been busy. As usual.  But I’m still reading all your exploits. 

Hopefully DS2 will be able to sort out my tech issues when next I see him and normal service will be resumed.  

Until then stay well and keep
those champagne moments flowing. 💕

sugarbaby125

LL so good to know that all is well with your son after his surgery. I hope your IT issues are resolved soon. 

phoebe1989seb

Hope everyone is having plenty of champagne moments? Glad to hear your DS is making good progress, LL, but sorry to hear you have IT issues.

What's been happening, chez Phoebe? Well, I've been beavering away at my *artwork* and am reasonably happy with how it's progressing, which is a surprise as I wasn't particularly confident at the outset. Ok, it's a copy of something I'd seen and admired as opposed to an original idea, but some tweaks to the details are making it my own...and saving us a few hundred £££ which is even better 😃

With the help of DH's steady hands - not to mention his knives and mount cutter - yesterday I got my fabulous pair of limited edition peacock prints mounted, framed and hung. Cutting the mounting boards was a nerve-wracking experience - not least because of how much the prints set us back - as we were both conscious of not wanting to make any boo-boos!

I can honestly say that if there's a next time I'll revert back to paying a pro to do it and save DH further aggro 🙄

Anyway, they're now in situ, flanking one of our few remaining Arts & Crafts/ Nouveau mirrors (itself a bargainicious purchase back in 2008 for only £400 from an extremely interesting lady who designed costumes for London stage shows that we met when we bought a few other items of high art nouveau from her on eBay).

When we went to her bohemian home in Maida Vale to collect the other pieces, she offered us the opportunity to buy the huge mirror too and even gave (!!!) us an original art nouveau lamp as a gift as she recognised that we were collectors who were passionate about the period 😍

Imho, the quirky birds and copper mirror inset with pale blue Ruskin cabochons are a match made in heaven (I've added a couple of pics - Mrs Peacock and the mirror. Mr P is on the left outside of the shot. Excuse the flash!).

And with every addition, the old mill is feeling more like our home (which is about time 😉).

Later today we'll be making one of our favourite homemade curries and might even have a glass of wine.....

Enjoy the rest of the weekend, everyone!

sugarbaby125

Phoebe the bird and the mirror are beautiful Thank you for sharing them with us. 

Humdinger1

Ooh, feeling my wellbeing levels rising as I bathe in the staggering talents and glorious positivity of this thread! Thank you; it really is all about attitude, no? Love Humdinger xx

phoebe1989seb

Champagne moments yesterday....

Having DH home for a rare weekday off (Landy in for service/MOT 😉) meaning we could get more building prep done, although actually in this case it meant rebuilding an area of the old stone wall that will sit behind the new building. It won't be seen eventually, but despite the wall being a good 60cm+ thick, we don't want any stability issues down the line!

Having an alfresco lunch together was lovely, although there were showers to be dodged 🙄

In the afternoon I worked on hanging a gallery wall of prints etc in the guest bedroom - it's not finished being decorated yet, but I needed to get them off the floor as they've been there for three years, lol! I'm thrilled with how it's looking 😄

Later, dinner was a massive roasted joint of pork belly from the farm shop that was a gift to DH from a satisfied customer.....delicious 😋

Today I'm gardening - weeding the *jungley* area that's full of architectural type plants that are more about size/foliage than flowers. I need to get this done as I've some crambe cordifolia to get in the ground. Sadly, my recent neglect has allowed the weeds/wild strawberries to take over.

If that goes according to plan I hope to complete my artwork later.....