Forever Starts Now

starnac

What a lazy day it has been. I'm sitting down with my umpteenth cuppa and the dog snoozing by my side. 

We got home pretty late yesterday from our pretty busy, weekend away and we are all just tired. None of us were up early, even DH stayed in bed reading for a while before getting up. He later popped to the DIY place to buy plaster and has started plastering the dining room. He's doing a really good job despite the swiggly artex that's in there. 

I, on the other hand, have been out in the garden. It was nice this morning, so I let the chickens free range in the vegetable garden (under supervision! ) while I did some weeding and tidying in there. I also pulled down some of the climbing plants from the boundary wall. I want my raspberry and soft fruits to grow along there. The chickens were very willing to help me there although it made it difficult as I was constantly worried about stepping on one of them. There is more to do but a big black cloud came over so I went back inside. 

Since then, the cloud blew over so I went out the front garden and started clearing the bed I want the lavender to eventually live. I also started clearing the area to the gate that goes around the back garden. There is a big rose plant growing there and DD would like a rose arch there. Her plan is, that when she's in 6th form and allowed to come home for lunch, she can walk under the rose arch, around the back and sit in the outdoor eating area DH has planned for one part of the garden. We only have one more year to get that done for her to be able to do that! No pressure! 

I felt a little guilty then as we both have To Do lists for this week and DH is working on his list while I haven't started mine. So I started clearing the porch. I have moved everything bar one box, I took the coat rack off the wall, and the little weird shelf thing that was in there. I still need to move one box, that needs to go back to DS's room as it's full of dinosaurs that I borrowed for a messy play morning I did with my toddler group. Then I can sweep, wash the walls, then paint. None of that will get done today though except maybe move the box as I'm going to finish my cuppa then start having a look in the freezers and cupboards and make a meal plan for the week. 

Hope you are all having a nice Bank Holiday

Cheery_Daff

Sounds like you're making excellent progress! What a lovely idea for a rose arch 🥰

I do miss having chickens 'helping' with the garden, although yes, the struggle of not standing on them is real 😱 They seem to have no sense of danger in that sense - one of ours once stuck her head into the prongs of a fork as I was stabbing it into the ground 😱 (hand tools only from then on!) and another jumped onto a camping stove a friend had lit 😱😱 (no fire AT ALL without chickens locked in their run) 😱

But I loved having them pottering about digging for worms 🥰

EssexHebridean

Oh well done to DD for her results - particularly satisfying when you get good results in subject that you don't feel are you strong points as it really underlines what hard work can achieve. 

As for hard work mind - you guys and the house! The rose arch sounds like a fab idea, how lovely! 

starnac

Cheery_Daff said:

I do miss having chickens 'helping' with the garden, although yes, the struggle of not standing on them is real 😱 They seem to have no sense of danger in that sense - one of ours once stuck her head into the prongs of a fork as I was stabbing it into the ground 😱 (hand tools only from then on!) and another jumped onto a camping stove a friend had lit 😱 (no fire AT ALL without chickens locked in their run) 😱

Oh my word!! 😱 How scary! Although I can totally see them doing that! Yikes!

EssexHebridean said:

Oh well done to DD for her results - particularly satisfying when you get good results in subject that you don't feel are you strong points as it really underlines what hard work can achieve. 

Yes I think she's happier with her B's in the sciences than she is with her A* in drama. Which is understandable. She knows she's good at drama, she enjoys it, it's fun, it's easy. But science, she really struggles, she has to work at it. So it's nice for her to see the reward for that. I'm happy that she's happy. 

Karmacat

It *is* understandable - I remember that's exactly how I felt for my A levels and my degree.  The lower marks for a much harder subject for me, they were a real achievement.  Or comprehending the subject at all, at one stage, I kid you not.

Good for DD!

starnac

Morning all. It's a very miserable rainy day here! I have a training session later this afternoon then a 4 mile run planned. I'm not convinced the run will happen looking at the weather lol! 

The council finally came to collect the "big things" we needed to get rid of. We booked it about a month ago and this was the first slot they had. So the broken sofa, and the two old mattresses that were in the basement when we moved in here are now gone. It's been so difficult to organise that I'm just pleased they are gone. 

DH has got one coat of plaster on all the walls in the dining room which has mostly evened out the artex. He thinks that one more "topcoat" of plaster should be enough for the walls to be smooth. He's hoping it will be dry enough to do that on Saturday. That leaves next week to do that weird first coat of glue paint, and possibly two coats of white emulsion. Once that is done, we can pull up the awful carpet. There is a floorboard that needs fixing when we do, DH doesn't think that will take too long, then it's just laying the laminate flooring. 

While DH has been doing that I cleared the porch, cleaned the walls and gave it a first coat of paint. Looking at it in daylight today it definitely needs a second coat. I haven't got time to do it today, unless my run is called off, so that's first on the list for tomorrow. It feels like we are finally getting somewhere with the house.

Cheery_Daff

Gosh, lots going on at your house! Fantastic work!

EssexHebridean

It certainly sounds like you are getting somewhere with the house! Brilliant work - well done! 

starnac

Thanks both. We have the incentive of DD's birthday to get it done by and a week by week list of what needs to be accomplished each week to make sure we're not up all night the night before trying to finish everything. Once the dining room and porch are done, then it's only really the kitchen that needs doing. However, that will cost quite a bit of money so savings have been started for that. DH has a big birthday next year and we had a chat about what he wants to do for it. He doesn't want to go away or do anything big so maybe just a gathering in the house so we discussed getting the kitchen done before then. His birthday isn't until November so we have plenty of time to save and get the work done. 

starnac

First of September already!! How fast is this year going? It's incredible!

August was a bit hit and miss for goals and getting things done. The beginning of August was slow as we spent time as a family and doing bits and pieces. Then we had the Holiday Club, went away and started getting stuff done to the house towards the end. 

So Goals for August:
Decluttering 3/20
Money Made £1397.37/£200
Overpayment £100/£200

As I said, hit and miss. I am overall pleased with the results as I was expecting it to be worse than that. Decluttering was 3 large items so they make a big difference. I finally got paid for an invoice I have been waiting for since last year, which makes up the majority of the money made for this month. We spent a little on Summer Holiday stuff, going places, eating out etc so only made £100 overpayment. 

September brings about a feeling of Starting Again for me. A bit like New Year but without all the pressure of resolutions etc. We have already started being more productive in the house, my new job starts this month and that will bring about money changes. Our new fixed rate starts end of this month for our mortgage which means that our payment goes up a bit. That increase has already been accounted for in our budget but ideally I'd like us to be a bit more mindful when it comes to spending money as we have 4 birthdays and Christmas coming up too. We have savings for those so it won't affect the budget too much as long as we don't go overboard, which we don't tend to do, but it is easy to get sucked in to all that if we are not careful.