Mortgage free in Forever Home :-)

KajiKita

Merlin's_Beard said:

I wanted to shake Wordsworth until he got a little something about himself when I had to study him.

That response for me, was Keats! 😉😂

KK

KajiKita

2024 goals for KK

Yes, it’s a bit late, but there’s a lot going on here and the thinking process has taken longer this year …..
Sharing headlines and themes here that I have greater detail elsewhere for, partly because I find that achieving every detail is difficult but also because if I pin myself down too much life stops being fun - outside of work I need a bit less structure and rigidity as I have so much in work. 

Home:
- Decluttering - have a list of 16 tasks to do and found another one in the garden (the muddle on the outside of the potting shed) yesterday. To be done partly in and around other tasks and conditions (weather etc) - this is largely a nibble, nibble, nibble approach ….
- Change bathroom - this needs more planning both logistically and financially. Budget is c. £3.5K with a lot of the value being labour. We will start looking for materials in February and hope to start in April.

Garden:
- Make veggie patch productive. I have written this every year and have failed spectacularly since moving here. This year, as well as doing all the seed sowing planning, the compost spreading, weeding, watering etc etc …. my biggest task is to watch myself for when I ‘give in’ and understand why that happens and how I can get myself through it. (Who knew gardening would be so psychological?! 😂)

- Ornamental beds; finish weeding, mulch with sterile material and keep clear ready for bedding plants as I either grow or buy them. £100 budget for buying plants. Enjoy them. 

- Front garden - finish removing dead plants next to house (some of these are hefty - roses, self seeded hawthorn etc.), sow grass seed in gaps and water (if needed), start mowing, enjoy the clear space 
- Front garden - work with Mr KK to widen and / or formalise paths between front gate and front door, front door and cellar, front door and drive (this is his pet project for before the bathroom starts)
- Enjoy it. Just spend more time out there breathing, listening, being.

Financial:
- May - start looking with our tame and kind broker for a new mortgage deal ready for October. By end of September, pick one! 

- June - based on initial mortgage costs, start looking at solar options again. Get at least two more surveys and quotes. Do the maths as to whether we can afford the loan / it balances out v. the likely increase in electric costs we will see by the end of September when we come off our fixed rate deal. Ask my mother nicely if my birthday present this year could be new rafters for garage roof to support panels, if we decide this what we want. 

- In general, save. Hard. This is going to be a tough year financially due to some of the things we want to do and the potential risk of my car failing …. I want to at least save all of my payrise this year until such time as the increased mortgage or energy costs kick in.
- The one exception to the ‘save hard’ approach - *if* I get enough bonus this year, spend some of it on a really high spec crafting light, so I can sew / tapestry in the evenings without disturbing Mr KK’s TV watching or blinding him. 

Personal:
- Learning. Continue with Duolingo (I will be on a 600 days streak as of tomorrow 😊), more about growing and gardening, more about crafting. 

- Staying calm in the midst of it all - the daily walk at lunchtime I have managed every day in the first week that has become a meditation on my archetypes / chakra states, the rock on top of my laptop when I close it to go home, the chanting of the Heart Sutra when I actually get home to disconnect from the commute etc, so far has been really helpful. 

- Reading - doing more reading last year was really helpful. Re-set the target of 52 books for this year 😊
- Possibly, if my dad can complete the UN level negotiations required, visit my parents. 

- Health - focus on good eating (limit UPFs where I can, minimise carbs where possible), watch how many steps I take per day - ideally lose a stone - as a minimum do not gain any more weight.
- Be there for Mr KK and his family as FiL’s diagnosis pans out. 

I think that’s enough …. 😉 Good to have it written out though.

KK

ladybird1106

It's good to have goals. Good luck. 
Love 🐞

KajiKita

ladybird1106 said:

It's good to have goals. Good luck. 
Love 🐞

Thank you 😊

KK

skint_spice

Good luck with your goals, I aim to read more books this year too.

redofromstart

Sounds like great goals to me, the bit about just enjoying the garden really resonates.

I didn't mind the poetry so much, washes over me fairly neutrally. My school reading trauma has to be Steinbeck - absolutely loathe his books as a result. 

skint_spice

redofromstart said:

Sounds like great goals to me, the bit about just enjoying the garden really resonates.

I didn't mind the poetry so much, washes over me fairly neutrally. My school reading trauma has to be Steinbeck - absolutely loathe his books as a result. 

I have terrible memories of studying The Pearl at school😫 not sure why it was chosen as I have read and loved some of his other books.

redofromstart

It was The Pearl that did it for me @skint_spice

Brie

redofromstart said:

It was The Pearl that did it for me @skint_spice

Likewise!  That and The Red Pony.  At the time I could never understand why we couldn't read fun stuff rather than depressing stories.  And poetry!!  Shakespeare was fine.  It was having week after week of the collected verse of Leonard Cohen and Margaret Atwood!!!  Dire!!!

KajiKita

English teachers seem to have a lot to answer for! 😉

Had a good day today:
- booked a tip slot for this afternoon from bed! 😉
- got out in the garden this morning - the garlic that was pushing itself out of the pots in my potting shed is now in the ground, ready for the sun and the frosts this week 😊
- weeded some more of the bark path around the veg beds and potted up the resulting strawberry volunteers 😊
- found deer prints in my veggie patch and a lump of my Kale pulled off. Mr KK went round all the most obvious gaps in the hedges etc. I have hoed over the prints so we can see if we get any more ….
- Mr KK checked and refilled my tyres - my car is driving so much better now 
- tip run - got rid of my old suitcase that failed on me when I went to Germany last year and another load of rubble from the lounge 
- Mr KK went round to the neighbours to go on their roof to see if he could find the source of their water ingress - nothing immediately obvious, Mr KK thinks the whole valley and back, original part of the roof needs replacing. 

Gave up on the garden after coming back as the sun had left the garden, the wind had picked up and it got proper cold! We are now inside in front of the fire and I am about to have a second cuppa 😊

KK