Simple living in the country - back to basics

Cheery_Daff

Aha, I didn't know what half of them were, so I just left them all ticked for now - I might go back and edit! Tobe fair, there are several options in the other town we go to pretty regularly, I was just trying to avoid another trek this weekend.

Cheery_Daff

Right. A summary of today! 🙄

HOME

* plumber came this evening. One thing led to another, and after some trial and error, and some ripping of very damp plaster off the wall, wires have been removed, a soggy plug socket decommissioned, and the living room ended up looking like this



🙄 We're actually counting this as a win 😂 We knew that wall was a bit damp, but the last couple of weeks thrle rain has battered that side of the house. This was one of the projects on the house list, so we helped him rip off the mantelpiece and plaster until we found the actual problem. When we actually redecorate we'll need an electrician to put some extra sockets in that room, but for now, touch wood, there's no electrics on that wall, everything is safe, and the dehumidifier will be going for a good while 🙄

And he was only here an hour, so it shouldn't be expensive. Didnt have time to service the boiler so that'll wait til he's back off holiday.

* Mr Cheery did some decluttering in the loft to help trace the wiring, so we've now got rid of some stuff that's been up there for yonks and won't get used (or was irretrievably mouse-nibbled 🙄)

GARDEN & LAND

* Spent a couple of hours raking in the field again. Want to get the seeds sown before the proper cold weather kicks in (they need a period of cold dormancy) so I've started doing that now, and the rest of the raking can be done as and when.



There's a wheelbarrow under there somewhere! 😂

FINANCES

* sold a coat on Vinted, so another £6. That's in the post.
* electrical work was pretty straightforward so shouldn't cost too much, not at the minute at least.
* had soup out of the hay box for lunch
* briefly contemplated going out for tea while we were clearing up the plaster mess - a hangover from the old days of DIY 😂 Instead we found a Mr A cheap pizza in the freezer, so that's now in the oven, along with half a garlic flatbread, and a bit of flapjack to make use of the heat. We would have only gone to Wetherspoons but still saved ourselves about £15 and a trip into town. 
* used some of our cafe vouchers this morning, so breakfast for 2 cost us an additional 60p.
* £50.10 spent in Mr A - no booze or cleaning products etc, just food.

HEALTH

* lots of exercise out in the field - lots of wielding a pitchfork full of soggy long grass, and I've walked almost 9000 steps pushing that wheelbarrow up and down the field - definitely counts as a workout 🙄
* eaten reasonably well today - tea count be better, but half a value cheese & onion pizza and a quarter of a garlic bread isn't too bad 😂

CAREER

* not done anything on this today. Got rather overtaken by events this afternoon and am now whacked.

OTHER THINGS

* no other things, the day has been eventful enough quite frankly!

redofromstart

Absolutely love the wheelbarrow under.  That's what me and Mr Redo want. The challenge is that we have so much glorious house to give up so whatever we buy has to also be stone fronted wisteria laden beauty but with many acres and a nice view. Meh!

Cheery_Daff

Ha, good luck! Definitely wouldn't recommend what I've been doing today - far better to get it all cut and shifted as actual dry hay in the summer!! 😂

rtandon27

Well done on your Friday fakeaway Cheery! No spend is always a good thing in Ultra Frugal January!

We did one as well - Spanakopita & Calamari from the freezer section of our local Waitbloom - it was low spend rather than no spend as all our no spend options involved too much effort!  We'd exhausted ourselves rescuing fence panels for our friend who is in SA for Xmas.  Luckily it was only minor damage to her fences from the storm, but they are only temporarily fixed until she returns a week Monday!

Cheery_Daff

Ooh, excellent Fakeaway yourselves, and well done on retrieving fence panels. They are pesky things and turn into sails in the wind!

EssexHebridean

Excellent work in the hay field but eek to the electrics - thank goodness you managed to track down the issue, albeit with a bit of devastation! Thank goodness for handy multi tasking plumbers! 

You really have had a proper productive couple of days haven’t you - I confess I was channelling you when I wrote my 40 minute list of things to do this morning so thank you for that - a list really can work as a good incentive can’t it! 

Cheery_Daff

A list does indeed work wonders! I confess I suspect my productivity has been wildly increased by a fortnight off work,  and will be back to normal levels by next weekend 🙄😂

Tomorrow will be a bit of a faff, but here's a list

* get the rest of the seeds sown in the field (not as simple as just scattering them - I have to make sure they are all in slightly cleared soil and in contact with the earth, not floating in the existing grass).

* sew a silver emergency blanket onto a jacket for Mr Cheery (don't ask 🙄😂)

* pack stuff to stay overnight at friend's house

* find something to wear - we are going to a 70s birthday party 😂 Obviously won't be buying anything, will have to raid the dressing up box (basically our entire house) and get creative

* Leave at 3.30. Mr Cheery will drop me in a nearby town, and continue to the party alone. I will meet some friends who happen to be nearby, and then get the (£2) bus the rest of the way to join him 

There are other things I'd like to get done, but priorities are sowing these seeds before the weather turns, and ensuring we are both appropriately glam for tomorrow night 😂

themadvix

I’m going to assume your ‘don’t ask’ relates to the why not how - are you sewing to the outside, cape style or into the lining?!

Cheery_Daff

themadvix said:

I’m going to assume your ‘don’t ask’ relates to the why not how - are you sewing to the outside, cape style or into the lining?!

Neither - sewing it over the top, effectively creating a jacket made of silver blanket stuff 😂😂 Will post a picture if I manage it 😂