Mortgage free in Forever Home :-)

KajiKita

The half hazelnut shell has been confiscated by Mr KK! 😳 It’s a whole shell with just the side nibbled off so Mr KK is worried they might choke. There are now squeaky toys on strings being deployed … 😉

We are heading out, in the rain this morning, to find further timber for the catio that is currently under construction and look at possible new shower cubicle options as we are about to start remodelling our bathroom. 

I have LOTS of seedlings that need pricking out or potting on. I also want to start my runner and other climbing beans off. With the weather being like it is I foresee sofa time with a good book! 😉

KK

KajiKita

Thanks @Cheery_Daff. 

MiL is very future focused and is stripping the house down of all of FiL’s ‘clutter’ as she wants her craft room back (Mr KK’s old bedroom) and FiL gradually took it over as his office so it is now stuffed to the gunnels … She is also planning a little coach trip with her best friend. She says she needs to keep busy. I suspect a lot of this is reaction and eventually she will wind to a stop. She is eager to have some time to herself as she is pretty peopled out atm. 

KK

Cheery_Daff

That sounds like a reasonable reaction from MIL. It must be a very weird time for her xxx I've not been in that situation but I do think about it a fair bit for various reasons and that's always what I imagine myself doing,  although of course you just never know how these things are going to hit you xx

KajiKita

We are returned from catio material buying and shower room hunting …
Got a quote from Br@dfords (builders merchant chain in the south west region) and gave a spec to the independent plumb centre we bought our last bathroom from c. 13 years ago - should get a quote from the latter on Monday 😊
The good news is that most of the prices, on mid range quality items, are looking better than I budgeted for, which is a relief. That might allow us to go up a bit in spec on the panels behind the shower itself. 

Mr KK happy as I hate doing this kind of thing (I find it overwhelming with the sheer volume of choices) and now he feels we are getting close to making decisions and buying the stuff. 

Weather is inclement and we got very cold in the wood stores at the third stop so we have admitted defeat by putting  the heating in for a bit and are having a brew 😊
LCs are trying VERY hard to mesmerise Mr KK into feeding them yet more treats ….! 😉😂

KK

KajiKita

Cheery_Daff said:

That sounds like a reasonable reaction from MIL. It must be a very weird time for her xxx I've not been in that situation but I do think about it a fair bit for various reasons and that's always what I imagine myself doing,  although of course you just never know how these things are going to hit you xx

I find myself thinking about it too. I see it as preparation for worst case scenario …

My bonus landed in my pay this week but I lost about half of it to tax. 

After various money shuffles, including what was left in my current account and paying of my credit card bill (high due to various cat set up expenses) I have:
- Sent £2k off to easy access, middle interest savings account (must start organising a new ISA and transfer what’s left of my old ISA balance across).
- Moved £4K into our joint savings account to cover bathroom update costs. Fingers crossed that this covers it all … 🤞
- Bought myself a high spec, ‘super deluxe’ reading / daylight standing lamp - I have wanted one of these for years and it didn’t happen last year, so I was determined it would happen this year - for me this is a real quality of life spend and I think it is a fair offset v. me covering 80% of the cost of the bathroom …
- Made an OP of £420.96 plus a TT of the joint account of 16p. It was almost a month since I last made any OP of any kind so it was nice to get that done! 😊

KK

beanielou

That all sounds great. 

KajiKita

beanielou said:

That all sounds great. 

Thanks Beanie 😊
Trying to bring life back into focus again after drifting for a while …

KK

KajiKita

Went out to the big local garden centre this afternoon and spent quite a bit of money! 😉

Cleared a lot of oxygenating weeds and slime from the big pond (6 big trugs worth so far and there is more still to do, but I need help to reach them and pull them in to the side) and then got the pond plants set out in the big pond and the little one 😊 I decided that I was going to get cold and soaking wet whatever I did in the garden today, so I might as well wallow in the pond! 😂😉 Rescued one teeny newt and one pond skater 😊
I also have sweet peppers (mine are dying off 🙄😭),
Hollyhocks for long flowering and height in the sit spot border,
very reduced begonia tubers to plant in pots in the east facing courtyard,
fleece (had to help the assistant fight with this to cut me a 5m length! 😂), need this so I can start moving stuff from conservatory to greenhouse as I am running out of room! 😳😉
insect netting - I need to protect whatever brassicas I am trying to produce if I am serious about reducing our food bill from the veggie patch,
two trays of Cambridge blue lobelia (my absolute favourite ❤️),
necessary trays and pots, 
a small headed, swan necked onion hoe - I’m not a controlled or accurate hoer so being limited by the width of my stroke can only help 😉

I then cleaned the Perspex that we got given for free at the builders merchants this morning for the catio 😊 Spuds are now in the air fryer for dinner 😊

Good to get out and get some air 😊

KK

PennysIntoPounds

That sounds a most acceptable day!
I'm glad you got some outside time and embraced the spring elements, and that you're spending some of your bonus on things that will bring comfort and joy 

KajiKita

We had one of the deep conversations after dinner, before the washing up, that have been happening since FiL’s diagnosis. 

Mr KK is feeling ‘old’, as in won’t be young again, and is thinking of selling his biggest restoration project vehicle (1939 truck) and use the monies for, amongst other things, a ride in a two-seat Spitfire before he gets too old to enjoy this bucket list thing ….
He did the tape measure demo. Apparently most people are quite shocked by it but I was fairly reconciled to my place on the tape … 😉 
I have been thinking about what I want to achieve before the end of my life. There are two significant strands to it:

Firstly, I want to seriously allow my creativity to bloom and manifest. This will be in two areas - my garden and secondly in fields such as my embroidery - atm I am doing kits that other people have designed and whilst I am learning techniques and colour use from that, I want to get to a place where I come up with and realise my own designs. My garden I want to get to ‘sing’ and have its own soul. I have had moments of that in previous gardens, but not here, yet. 

Secondly, as I move closer to retirement, I want to train for and become a celebrant. In many ways, a lot of my previous training (Buddhist and shamanic) would fit this well and I really feel a calling to do this. I think I could be good at it. 

Deep thoughts …. but hey, that’s what death does, right …? 😉😊❤️ Gotta make sure you live before you can’t! 😊

KK