Simple living in the country - back to basics

badmemory

I love that they put security on bottles of alcohol in stores (a touch of sarcasm there).  I once asked someone for a bottle of a particular whisky.  He checked his little machine (tablet) & said that he had 13 bottles in the "back" & came back later they had ALL gone.  Now I know that shoplifters can be good but even they can't shoplift from there.  So I tend to wonder how much of the stuff that is lifted is actually done in store & how much from the warehouse.  I have a certain amount of sympathy for someone who is stealing because they are hungry, but absolutelu zilch for someone stealing a box of 12 bottles for resale to profit their pocket.

Elisheba

Matt the bat? Pat the bat? Barty the bat. Basil bat?  Batty McBatface?

Karmacat

Batty McBatface!  Yes!  I get lots of bat videos and memes on fb, and they're wonderful 🦇

beanielou

Enjoy your weekend 

Cheery_Daff

Thanks Beanie! You too 😊

Batty McBatFace indeed 😂😂 I'm tempted to pick a name but I'm going to wait for Mr Cheery 😂

Got some work done this evening, but tomorrow is still going to have to be a focused on. Yawn - but worth it in the longer term. 

Definitely looking forward to Christmas! 

Happy Wheel was a nice success this evening - made £137! 

Cheery_Daff

Morning MSE chums.

Didn't sleep well last night, woke up about 6am with a really sore shoulder, although it seems fine now. Let the chickens out, and have been lazing round on the sofa ever since. Not a crisis, but I do need to get dressed and crack on with the funding bid. 

Mr Cheery should be back tonight, but it might be late. I'd like to get the bulk of the work done today so I can have a little bit of time off tomorrow. 

Not done a November YNAB/bank round up yet as I can't use the laptop - I've done it on a combination of phone and tablet before though, it's just a bit more of a nuisance, so I might aim to do that tonight. I think one of the savings pots will be filled this time, so I can move onto the next one, which is always nice! But then I did just spend £200 on a new laptop... so that'll need topping up in whatever fund it comes out of. 

Will also add up what I've spent on Christmas so far - I was putting things in the YNAB app as I bought them and am still well within budget. Need to inventory what I bought and see what's left.

Not right now though. Now I need to..

* shower and get dressed
* put some washing on
* do the washing up
* get on with this work!

KajiKita

There must be something in the air atm - I woke at 5am this morning with a touch of sciatica and couldn’t get back to sleep 🙄

Good luck with the work!
Sending strong focus vibes!!
+++++++ Cheery++++++++

KK

Cheery_Daff

Welcome scarter, nice to meet you 😊 Sounds like you're doing a fantastic job! 😊 Longer term I think we'll likely aim for something more on your scale - this scale is definitely just a little too much... and I do often end up feeling overwhelmed. Also I don't get round to doing half the things that you do (jams, pickles, growing food etc) - all of which I want to do! 

I'm hoping things will eventually balance as more of the house gets sorted, but we'll see. So I'm not sure you're not to get much in the way of ideas and inspiration from me - more likely the other way round!! 😂

Interesting seeing the first post from this diary again. I've STILL not made cheese or soap this year - how can I have put that off for the entire year?! Didn't grow any food this year either 🙄

Still, no point dwelling on that right now. Better to dwell on the fact that I haven't even started work yet, aarrgghh! (Although I have done the washing up and put the washing machine on!)

Going to set the timer and do an hour before lunch, see how much I can get done. Ready, steady, GO!

greenbee

Don't worry about not having started today yet Cheery - you've done more than I have. I remembered I needed to submit my expenses, put the food waste in the hot bin, got the ironing board out and then decided I needed to sit down with coffee before doing anything else.

Lots needs doing outside, but it's cold. So I'll put it off again  

It's tough when you take on a 'project' property, as you spend so much energy living with the chaos. Hopefully now you have the kitchen and bedroom done, insulation and heating/hot water sorted and your study is warm, things will look up. If I were you I'd concentrate on the things that will make your life easier and more comfortable first (and ideally are permanent, as temporary fixes end up either staying for ever or depressing you because they need redoing) as that will give you more energy for other things.

When it comes to outside, I suggest minimal effort needed for maintenance for the majority (and consider whether budgeting for some help with the bigger pieces of work, like the hay... or maybe selling it as 'standing hay' for someone to cut and take away) and focusing on making a garden for yourselves from the house outwards as it's easier to keep things under control if you don't have to venture too far. Herbs, salad and strawberries near the kitchen/where you sit work well. Hopefully you can do some planning over the winter and get some seeds started so you get back to veggie growing and using your greenhouse!

Good luck working through your list today. I'm off to iron a couple of things before my next break... 

Cheery_Daff

Good luck greenbee! 

Yes, you're right about the energy taken to live with the chaos! 

And yes, that's mostly what we've been doing in relation to the house - big stuff that makes a difference (kitchen/bedroom building work), now focusing on WARMTH - so carpet in the study, making and putting up thermal blinds, sealing round a couple of windows. 

Focus for the next few weeks, aside from the blinds, is creating a bit of order - Mr Cheery is going to bring back some wood from his dad's tonight so we can rebuild the bed in the new bedroom - which means (a) we won't be sleeping on a mattress on the floor, and (b) I can start moving stuff into my craft room.

We've also got brackets to put up new shelves in the study, so between those two things (bed and shelves), we'll be able to clear all the books/craft stuff out of the offshot and downstairs loo/shower. 

That then means we can clear some more stuff out of Mr Cheery's music room.

It's always a giant game of house tetris round here - which in itself is exhausting! But it's definitely moving towards "more done" than going backwards, so that's a start... 🙄

Outside main focus is usually on generally keeping the grass from taking over 🙄 and on building things for the chickens 😂

Anyway, cheerful pondering and planning is not getting this work done! Definitely feel like I'm going backwards there! 

Mr Cheery just rang - he's should be home at 8.30, so that gives me something to aim for, and means I won't be working as late as the last two nights.