Prosperous soul, mortgage neutrality & creativity Year 2

beanielou

Did you manage to find out if you could claim back time from work for appointments?

becky170

Hi Savingholmes, just spotted your new diary. Wow what a year for you! Keep taking care of yourself 

powerspowers

We’re a fan of pallets here as well! We’ve got 3 logsheds made of pallet wood and a planter made of decking that the previous owners made. The planter hasn’t rotted as much as the decking we walk on, i wouldn’t be surprised if it was 10 years old as that’s when the conservatory went up. 

DaisyCheerings

Hello SavingHolmes.  I've just caught up on the last pages of your previous diary and this one.  Everyone is saying it and it's so true how great you've done this past year, especially with an ADHD diagnosis.  You've given me a little boost to get more done too.

I've now subscribed to this diary, so I'm looking forward to keeping up with your journey.

EssexHebridean

Hey SH - everyone keeps saying the cough part of this rotten lurgy lingers don't they, mine's still being annoying! 

Great plans for the garden - and planting up tubs for your parents for Christmas too - that occurs to me as something I could potentially do for my Mum and MrEH's folks too - although goodness knows when we'll get down to see them. 

badmemory

I hope you don't mind me asking but does having the diagnosis help?  My son is still waiting & I am not sure whether having the diagnosis will actually help at all.  Will it make him feel, thank goodness that's okay then or so what.  If you know in your head anyway does it actually help that others know?  Also I have been trying to find out if you can inherit it.  When we did an online thing a few years ago when it was all just a thing I did worse (or should that be better) than he did.  Isn't maternal guilt a marvelous thing.

savingholmes

beanielou said:

Did you manage to find out if you could claim back time from work for appointments?

I didn't get a direct answer - but will work something out.

becky170 said:

Hi Savingholmes, just spotted your new diary. Wow what a year for you! Keep taking care of yourself 

Thanks Becky - I think many of us on here have challenging lives! Thanks for the visit!

powerspowers said:

We’re a fan of pallets here as well! We’ve got 3 logsheds made of pallet wood and a planter made of decking that the previous owners made. The planter hasn’t rotted as much as the decking we walk on, i wouldn’t be surprised if it was 10 years old as that’s when the conservatory went up. 

I think it's definitely something I need to pursue. Could be fun - it's mainly noise sensitivity and clumsiness that puts me off trying - but I'd like to at least give it a go. I don't want to rely on others for basic diy - and that is a nice entry point...  (says the office worker )

savingholmes

DaisyCheerings said:

Hello SavingHolmes.  I've just caught up on the last pages of your previous diary and this one.  Everyone is saying it and it's so true how great you've done this past year, especially with an ADHD diagnosis.  You've given me a little boost to get more done too.

I've now subscribed to this diary, so I'm looking forward to keeping up with your journey.

Thanks Daisy - I am good at delegating tasks if I have helpers - I often beat myself up for what I don't do though... Nice to have you aboard. 

EssexHebridean said:

Hey SH - everyone keeps saying the cough part of this rotten lurgy lingers don't they, mine's still being annoying! 

Great plans for the garden - and planting up tubs for your parents for Christmas too - that occurs to me as something I could potentially do for my Mum and MrEH's folks too - although goodness knows when we'll get down to see them. 

Someone even commented on my croaky voice today - thinking it was rusty with disuse - until I explained about the lurgy.

Glad to have been of help with the xmas list. 

badmemory said:

I hope you don't mind me asking but does having the diagnosis help?  My son is still waiting & I am not sure whether having the diagnosis will actually help at all.  Will it make him feel, thank goodness that's okay then or so what.  If you know in your head anyway does it actually help that others know?  Also I have been trying to find out if you can inherit it.  When we did an online thing a few years ago when it was all just a thing I did worse (or should that be better) than he did.  Isn't maternal guilt a marvelous thing.

BM - It's too early to know. It explains why I struggle with certain things - and may encourage others to make more allowances. It will help protect me at work and helps with any benefit claims etc. I'm on a waiting list for meds - which could take until around April - related counselling could be longer still. I'll only know if meds help when I get to try them. I am kinder to myself knowing about it though - that I was when I just felt I was messing up / procrastinating for no reason. 

On maternal guilt - they still don't know what causes ADHD. There is still a huge debate. There are genes implicated but not everyone with those genes develops it so who knows. It may arise in some cases from childhood trauma - but not every case - so again who knows.

savingholmes

Well this day hasn't really gone to plan. I went into work but needn't have - so came home early and worked the afternoon from home. I finished earlier than planned but need to make myself do more - but not succeeded in that yet. Debating whether to do the work tonight or do the adhd thing of waiting until it is critical i.e. first thing tomorrow and doing it then. I need to review a nearly 100 line spreadsheet and check data sources / accuracy. Some elements jump out at me as being wrong - others will require more work and my brain doesn't want to focus on that yet... annoying. Tomorrow AM - it will be screaming urgent and then my brain may play ball... Here's hoping anyway. (RL ADHD). DD has to be up early for the train - so dropping her off will at least mean I'm up!

My cleaner didn't come - which saves me £ but is a shame as I've got family coming Sunday. 

The handyman rang me first thing this morning and asked to come with a mate as I was leaving for work. The good news is the tree I wanted gone now is. They cleared the crap from next to the shed. They've put a slab under my new compost bin / potato planter. My water butt arrived and looks smart where I wanted it - he will attach it properly next time. They've dug out a load more bamboo but there's still more to go. He reckons he'll have to take up some of the flags under my arbour to get the bamboo out. They reckon the bamboo is at risk of returning still as the neighbour behind me has it along the fence line. I'm tempted to offer to pay for it to be dug out on that side of the fence too so it can't keep returning - but it came from them originally and they may want it.  Watching them work was very distracting - but I got more work out of them than I would have if I'd stayed at work. (Ironic). Sadly, it's infested a corner where an apple tree is and the apple tree might not survive their efforts to dig out the bamboo. Worst case though I'll plant another to replace it - but a little further out from the fence this time!

£200 for most of the day - and I gave the main guy £20 xmas bonus but said I couldn't afford him again until after January pay day. He said to just text him in the new year.  I got him to leave me some branches so I could make an arch wigwam with them over my raised beds in the new year. I said 6ft and they were more like double that but he was struggling to get his chain saw working after cutting the main tree down so I thought just deal with that in the new year. He still needs to fix and return my shredder too - but as I've written - bargain prices so happy to wait. I'd had quotes of upto £450 for that tree alone - so really pleased with everything they got done in the day. That tree going has been on my wish list all year. It was a pretty tree but I'm not a fan of trees that are taller than your house in a garden. Already its increased the light into my garden and made it feel bigger. I think the max height for a tree relatively close to houses should be a fruit tree - and ideally that should be on a dwarfing root stock.

I also got him to put some of the debris from today into my new compost bin - so that should be coming along well by the time I want to plant potatoes in it in Spring. I will need to level off / get the handyman to level off the future raised bed area as it has a definite slope. I think it's from 'earthing up' potatoes - but whatever it's not remotely level. Will review at the weekend. The good news is that the ex-display 1.8m wooden raised bed I bought does fit lengthwise in the space - and I reckon could fit two more like it. What I don't know is how that translates with the other two I bought from B&Q which are 1.2m long x 0.8m wide. I don't whether I could then fit a third in sideways. I have the feeling the patch also widens going into the corner - so may need to do them in a different order / configuration than I originally planned. Definitely should use one of my many tape measures and check!!

He may have found a second hand pump for my pond for £30 - but isn't sure yet. I'm not rushing on that one as while a moving water feature would be nice - it's pretty even as it is. BnQ look like theirs new would be about £100. The pond has really filled up with all the recent rain. The birds seem to be enjoying it already. In the new year I may get the handyman to repaint my fence - particularly the parts I couldn't reach last time I did it. I need to look out for paint. He also offered to pressure wash my flags. I suggested he'd want warmer weather for that bless him. I still want to get an electrician to update my outdoor electrics so I can put up my pretty outdoor lights. Lots of plans - just need to pace myself money wise! I've made a lot of progress improving my physical environment this year and while there's more to do - my home and garden is in a much better state if I wanted/need to sell - or to stay and enjoy. Next year's target would be to pay for some decorating help.

lucielle

Wow!  They’ve got lots done and you sound very focused on what you want doing going forwards. 

L