Prosperous soul, mortgage neutrality & creativity Year 2

savingholmes

Thanks HSL, Dancing and Jwil


Slowly making progress.

Direct sowed some sugar snap peas. Pulled some green garlic and used in a veg pasta. It was surprisingly tasty.

Planted strawberries and potatoes. Transplanted some broccoli. 

I want to direct sow some carrots and lettuce. I've put purple basil out to harden off. I planted my rhododendron and azalea in pots.

There's 2 apple trees in the photo, lots of raspberry canes and some blackcurrants too. Black elder, Rose,  Escalonia and Weigela (not sure on spelling) background shrubs.

The branches as stakes are an experiment. Will see how many plants survive!

beanielou

Do you ever stop!

savingholmes

beanielou said:

Do you ever stop!

I feel like I spend a lot of time lazing around. It's all 'no dig' so relies on compost rather than hard manual labour. I've ordered a compost bin and if I like it when it comes - then I may get another. I have a couple of gaps in the side border that runs along my house where I could put it/them. I'm hoping that would then save me money longer term.

The background trees and shrubs are already there - not new - just was commenting on what they were. I have boosted my step count and intensity far above average this weekend so very happy. Right next to the veg area is the arbour I put in (got the handyman to do) a year ago - so seat available whenever I needed it and there is a moveable stool I used while doing some of the planting. I have a wheelie truck to help move compost. It was very satisfying. It will be even better if/when I get to eat the fruits and veggies of my labour. Last year I ate home grown apples for months and some plums, raspberries and the odd blackcurrants, . DD is out more recently which together with better weather has boosted my motivation and energy for gardening. My handyman had weeded the veg patch a few weeks ago which helped - I also use cardboard to suppress weeds.  

My mahonia japonica has purple berries on it. My cherries are green but forming. It's an exciting time in the garden. 

Got my washing done - all in one load so happy with that. Tomorrow is payday so I'll get to do the money shuffle. Meeting a friend for a drink after work tomorrow which I'm looking forward to. 

lucielle

Garden photos are great!  I was useless at composting and it just ended up as a soggy sludgey mess. 

L

WelshmansDaughter

Love the raised beds

savingholmes

Thanks Lucielle and WD.

I informally compost in the back corner of the garden and that always works okay as I leave it and forget - the occasional bit of cardboard and mainly prunnings. The only time I tried an actual compost bin a couple of decades ago though I ended up with a family of mice and then didn't have the heart to disturb them / ran away shrieking so stopped using it. Hopefully this time will go better. The cat brought in a live mouse the other day - it was tiny. I managed to get it out of my house while shrieking 

The payday shuffle has happened. I've paid over half off my largest in month CC balance and should be able to clear the rest later in the month. I cleared another tiny balance. £450 went automatically into AVCs (pension) and I've sent £300 for savings. That means I now have over £6.1K in savings - so now have at least 3 months basic EF. When DD sends her board money I should be able to put a bit more into savings...

Got a nice week coming up. Seeing friend tonight. Early finish Thursday as I'm going to the hairdressers. Saturday day out with wider family as part of an early birthday treat. Birthday Sunday followed by a day off. Depending on the weather I may go to the Lakes on my day off. Will see what happens.

Have a lovely week.

lucielle

That does sound a lovely week with lots of things to look forward to. Enjoy. 

L

jwil

Enjoy your week!

beanielou

Have a good week 

savingholmes

Thanks Beanie, Jwil and Lucielle

Had a lovely time with my friend last night. She too would like to move to the country. Will see what happens. She may go to the outdoor pool with me - so I need to work out logical times. Arranged to meet a different friend in a couple of weeks time.

I've asked my cleaner to decorate the room of doom tomorrow and she's up for it which sounds promising. I'd asked the handyman but he didn't show up last week to do any of the jobs asked due to the rain - despite there being indoor options. I plan to go through the stuff after work tonight - and try and look at it all with the lens of - 'if I was moving would I pay to cart this with me and have it clog up the next place?' DD being out more has meant the house has stayed a lot cleaner and tidier - whether that's because I'm more motivated to keep it tidy or genuinely less mess I don't know. 

I've decided to work towards getting my house 'valuation ready' - depending on what the value is - and how I feel about it at that point I can decide whether or not I truly want to move. The pretty options close to home are all dearer than I'd like - so currently expecting to have to travel further away in search of a pretty place to live. This would be a great time of year to get some photos done though as my garden is looking pretty. I'm trying not to get sucked in to over-spending on my next house (if I move) - and am keeping an eye on what my mortgage payments could be if they stay at this level. In theory I can port my mortgage - but that doesn't mean they'll value the new place at the price I want so I could still get stung.

My Mr A delivery didn't arrive last night. Given it sent me an auto text saying it would be delivered between 12.41 and 1.41am I had a little clue - but as an autistic person I found that confusing as part of me was unsure if I should wait up. It took me until midnight to convince myself they definitely weren't coming... The curse of a literal mind!

My parents are sending me money for my birthday which is handy - so many things I'd like...

Need to get dressed and get off to work now!