Simple living in the country - back to basics

Cheery_Daff

Oh! And I forgot - while I was grumpily waiting for him, I did quite a few QMee surveys and got to £5.04 so I've cashed out again 😂 So not an entirely unproductive afternoon!!

themadvix

I’m glad he turned up at last, although it doesn’t sound like an ideal solution! Well done with Qmee, I’ve just eliminated it but it does pay ok.

Karmacat

themadvix said:

I’m glad he turned up at last, although it doesn’t sound like an ideal solution! Well done with Qmee, I’ve just eliminated it but it does pay ok.

Yep, all of this.  What a day you've had!

Cheery_Daff

Thank you both, it has indeed been a bit of a day!! We persevered, and did another hour and a half, but that was all I could manage. My arms ached so much I could barely lift a cup of tea! Strimming on the same day was ridiculous, I don't know what I was thinking.

Anyway. I'm not sure how effective it is - it feels like it's literally skating over the top of the flattened grass and only occasionally cutting a bit. Not at all ideal conditions - the mix of lush new growth and flattened dried grass makes it difficult - this is the very thing that makes hand scything difficult, but I was hoping machinery would be a bit more robust than me! 

Hey ho. I'll persist tomorrow and do what I can. I think perhaps two passes with the mower will be beneficial, if I can keep hold of it for that long 😮 A friend is coming on Sunday morning - she'll help if there's anything left to do, but by that point I hope it will just be raking.

Gosh I'm tired!

EssexHebridean

You’ll sleep well tonight! I’m glad it did finally turn up even if it IS a beast - hopefully you’ll feel you’re making a bit more progress with it tomorrow! 

Cheery_Daff

I did indeed sleep very well last night 😂😂 and I do indeed very much ache this morning 😂

Weather is a bit grey, but not raining, and not as windy as yesterday. I've delayed over breakfast as long as I can, and am going to head out shortly. Raking first I think - that will show me whether what we did yesterday made much difference... and then I'll not be able to put it off any longer.... 😂😂

I started filling the pots with compost yesterday ready for seeds so I might try and finish that today too. 

Cheery_Daff

YAWN.

Goodness me. Another long day. Spent a couple of hours raking what I cut yesterday - there's a sizeable pile. It's not cut as much as I'd like, but it's better than nothing. Then another couple of hours with the machine - gosh it's hard work.

Then we had a brief excursion and cafe trip, during which I could barely lift a cup of tea 😮

Been back out for a couple of hours doing some more raking, but the wind's picked up so that's getting a bit pointless - it's blowing about as quickly as I can rake it up 😂

Going back out for a last hour with the machine now, and after that, what's not done won't get done. I'm not far from the edge now though- I've been going in an odd diagonal direction so my rows as getting much shorter as I go along! 

Friend is coming at half 9 tomorrow - she might want a go on the machine 😂😂 but I don't want to HAVE to do it then. Then we're going out for lunch with different friends at half 12, and then band practice for me late afternoon.

Need to dust off the bread machine tonight - friend expressed an interest in egg butties and I forgot to get bread. I'm an unreliable bread maker, even in the machine, so it might be a trip to the village shop in the morning...

Right, best get back out I suppose...

Cheery_Daff

Ooh, I didn't actually come in here to waffle about all that! 😂😂 I came to say I've had an email saying my Ziffit payment is on its way 😁 Won't count it til it arrives, but it'll be another £12.90 to add to the extra dosh total for April.

Hoping I can tip it over £200, but that will entirely depend on the behaviour of the Happy Wheel. Don't think Prolific is going to get to another £10 - I'm only up to £1.05 I think. Might get another £5 from QMee if I focus, but mostly all eyes are on the Happy Wheel...

Right, now I really MUST get back out there!

Cheery_Daff

Goodness me. Got into a zone of noise and pain for an hour and a half until Mr Cheery came out to make me stop. I'm really not far from the end now, but it was gone 8, and we had to mess about getting the beastly thing back into the garage.

Thank goodness for Earlier-This-Afternoon-Me, who (with an unusual display of foresight) prepared a pan of lentil curry while making lunch, and then entirely forgot about it. Much joy when I remembered as I came back inside. Paired with some of the cooked brown rice from the freezer, we had a delicious, home made meal for two in five minutes 😁😁😁 Mr Cheery had been all for going out to buy treats 😮😮 (does he not realise about the importance of the grocery challenge?? 😮😮) but quite frankly the prospect of going anywhere other than sofa/bed tonight was out of the question.

I illustrated this nicely when he mentioned putting a box of (my) shoes in my study for me to sort out, and I promptly burst into tears 🙈😂😂

All remedied by food, of course, and a nice cup of tea. 

He's midway through sorting out a load more clothes, which he's going to have to finish as they're covering the bed. And we'll need to spend a bit of time tidying before our friend gets here at 9.30 tomorrow, but it doesn't need to be pristine (good job 🙄).

Anyway, waffling, as usual. The owls are out, and I need to go and make sure the chickens are tucked up in bed before I fall asleep myself...

Karmacat

Oh Cheery!  That's a bit too much work you've done, is what I'd say.  Sleep well, and your chickens too  🐔🐔🐔