Prosperous & Creative Soul & MFW Year 3

beanielou

Great news that you have found a handyman. 

Baby steps 😊

KajiKita

A busy but productive day! 

Perhaps try stopping a bit earlier this evening so you can wind down and sleep well to enjoy your friends and DD tomorrow?

KK

jwil

Great news about the handyman

girlatplay

The handyman sounds good.

Don't overdo it.  Good that you are getting your hair cut, that means a forced break from house tasks. Enjoy time with DD.

Watty1

In awe you found a handyman that actually turns up so fast!!

savingholmes

Thanks Beanie, KK, Jwil, @Watty1 and GAP

I'm thrilled about the handyman - although at £25 an hour he's twice what my previous one cost. Let's hope when he next comes he's as good as he says he is (he came well recommended). I was awake between 4.30am and gone 6.30am which was a pain - my head was just too full of everything that needs doing. I need to prioritise and make sure that I use the handyman for things I can't do first - and then things I could do but would prefer not to - only if there is sufficient £ for all the essentials. 

Got my hair done - the hairdresser's wife gave me a hug - she's just moved too - and totally gets what it's like!! I dropped off the boxes and saw DD briefly. Taking a leaf out of KK's diary - I nipped out and bought some plants... A red rhododendron, an azalea, 4 xmas hellebores (white and pink) and some primroses. Hopefully I'll get chance to plant them up tomorrow. I have a front border I'd like to pretty up and some of my pots need a bit of help.

Sis recommended a video door bell without a contract so ordered that. It should arrive tomorrow - and that will then help as if my work from home space becomes upstairs - I'm unlikely to get to the door on time for deliveries. It also should give me a greater feeling of security given I'm in an unfamiliar area - although my parcel by my front door was still there when I got home so that was a good sign.  

savingholmes

I've spent quite a lot of time online looking at ceiling and outdoor lighting - but struggling to make decisions, With the ceiling lights - it's a debate over budget and complexity of design and the visual load of that - but still wanting a couple of statement lights... There my issue is being spoiled for choice - although they must be dimmable. But for the outdoor ones - I need them to be practical, bright, waterproof and not harmful to wildlife and not motion sensor. I'd possibly want prettier ones at the front and more functional ones at the rear. Any suggestions for good outdoor lights with delivery? I'd want one for my garage, my tucked away front door, and the 3 for the back of the house - I don't know if there are any to the side of the house - but that would be great too. They need to be waterproof and mains powered. I'd want to switch them on when needed rather than have them on all the time.

Ideally I'm also looking for an inexpensive canopy that I could put along the side of part of the garage to the front door. I'm that person that drops my keys multiple times before finally being able to turn it in the lock - so getting rained on at the same time isn't the best plan. If I ever get around to doing the garage flat roof I may at the same time see if there is a way to add a bit of covering over the front door and over the bay window which is also flatish... but meanwhile I need something that does the job for now.

I'm also looking for mains powered smoke & carbon monoxide alarms. Any suggestions? I already have some loose ones to put me on for now.

Plus any recommendations for rustic oak engineered wood with moisture resistance. I'm getting lost in the amount of options out there. While originally I was just planning to do 2 rooms - possibly with budget stuff - I'm realising what's in the house at the moment to the rear - a kind of whitish budget laminate from bnq is a terrible idea for someone who is not houseproud/relies on others to clean as it shows every mark. I had really nice wood flooring at my last place and loved it - so I'd be tempted to invest and get it again - and potentially put it upstairs too - at least in my bedroom - to help minimise allergies. It's far easier to reach a brush under a bed than it is to try and get a hoover to reach effectively under a superking size bed. I know you can get a robot to do it as per LWAP - but I'm not sure if I'd want that... 

Suggestions gratefully received - perhaps PM me - so that my diary doesn't feature in other's search results!

beanielou

Sorry @savingholmes.  I know nothing about any of these things.

TallGirl

@. 

Flooring we looked lots of places got a deal online (it was covid ) but got samples. We have real wood not the strongest but looks amazing. Ours is called white oak it does not go as dark as ordinary oak. Hope that helps a bit. 

jwil

You could have a look at your local fire service, sometimes they do free fire safety checks and will fit smoke alarms as part of the process.  

We bought a door canopy from the big river site for our back door.  It looks good enough, but it's not been put up yet for various reasons.  The one we bought isn't on there any more but there are many other options that are essentially the same.