Prosperous & Creative Soul & MFW Year 3

KajiKita

Perhaps talk some of these challenges over with Handyman? He might be able to give you a steer or two, or what not to buy? 

I am delighted that I am influencing the purchase of morale boosting plants 🌱 😊

KK

skint_spice

It sounds like it has been a good week although obviously exhausting. Remember to take some time to rest, nothing is too urgent now you are in.

LeighofMar

Congrats on your new home SH. So happy to hear the move is done and now you can wake up to dream views every day. Enjoy all the firsts. First coffee in the quiet of the morning. First bit of gardening. First coming home after dark. First thunderstorm etc. Enjoy it all!

DancingInTheRain

Hope you've had a lovely first weekend in your new home & that you're managing to get a bit more sleep/rest. I'd second talking through these items with your handyman (well done on finding him right away too!)

savingholmes

Thanks Jwil, Dancing, Leigh, KK and Skint

I have taken it easier from Friday onwards - I had to as I was totally spent. That said - I've moved a lot of long term boxes of stuff, spare bedding, pillows etc into the wardrobes left by the sellers. I've started unpacking my clothes into drawers as it's silly to wait 2 weeks for the handyman to move things around before starting. It also gives me chance to check whether I really do want to move the wardrobes or if there are other higher priorities to spend the handyman's time and related spends on.

I've planted some primroses, spring bulbs, and flowering hellebores into pots. I've moved some extra pots around the front to soften the view of the house. I considered buying an apple tree today but it wasn't on dwarf stock which I'd prefer. I need to find a proper garden centre but slightly nervous of the related cost! I can be like KK when I go...

I did a little stock check of the plants I'd brought with me from the last place. Strawberries, blackcurrant bushes, rosemary, lavender, thyme, a white flowering plant, a rhododendron, phototinia red robin, fatsia japonica, hellebores, hydrangeas, variegated euonymus, lupin, geraniums, sedum, hopefully a peony, some muscari (grape hyacinth), primroses, Alchemilla mollis, butterfly bush... possibly others.

Already here the plants include grasses which I'm not keen on and will probably ask the handyman to remove, bamboo - it seems the small slow growing type but would want to check. Fatsia which I love. Some wooden boxes lining the back wall of the house with various herbs such as rosemary, thyme, lavender etc. There's a broom (yellow flowers). Some ferns. Some kind of rock plant. Other than that - not totally sure yet...   

savingholmes

I spent some time this evening setting up my work from home space up properly - moved a rug up there that I'd bought earlier in the week for possible use downstairs. It wouldn't work where I originally planned but should be great for making my feet feel a bit warmer in my upstairs office and it looks nice too. It's a blue and yellow stripe one on a grey background from the R*ng3.

I moved my plug, cables, screen upstairs. Got my printer all set up. Unboxed a lava lamp that I'd had for years and never used. It's working!! My last one didn't work and this one was from the same batch so I hadn't even tried it. I found it at the back of my wardrobe when I was packing. Then I started looking around for where I'd put my work laptop. After 2 hours of panicking as I searched through everywhere I could think of - I found it in my 'safe' place - the kitchen drawer with spare keys etc... A relief but also super irritating.

I've had to order some static cling type coloured film for the wet room glass as I keep walking into it at night especially  as I don't tend to put lights on on night-time bathroom trips. It should arrive tomorrow - I'm hoping it will help. TBH I'm not mad keen on the blingtastic creamy white tiles the sellers used in the bathroom. Hopefully the coloured film I bought will dilute that a bit as I don't fancy the cost of getting it retiled. 

This is definitely starting to feel like home. I didn't have any pangs on seeing my old house yesterday. It's so beautiful outside and I can see the views from inside. It's beautifully quiet. The neighbours seem lovely. The journey back to work / family / friends where I used to live before seems okay so far. It's nice to have a project to put my stamp on too like the garden and the house. I'm going to try and live with the floor a while before making a decision. The sellers did leave some carpet that matches the stairs which could be enough to do the part at the bottom of the stairs where the floors is missing. I may then be able to get the handyman to use that laminate to fix the missing laminate in the lounge. 

I think I need to get costs for the guttering, sofits, fascias and possible asbestos removal (outside) before committing to any other big spends. I've written it here as a reminder to myself. I also need to know if the handyman can fix my patio doors - as if he can - and if that then saves me a substantial amount of £ then it will be easier to find money for the flooring without undermining my desire for a 1 year EF.

Right - I'd best toddle up to bed given I'm due to be working tomorrow. 

KajiKita

Well done on all the progress so far! 😊
I”m not sure if I am flattered or worried for you that you are the same as me when it comes to being spendy in garden centres! 😂😂😂😂😉 What I am trying really hard to do this year is to not even go looking, UNTIL I have a gap! So either something has come out or I have ALREADY weeded / cleared the space I want to put something nice in …. Then at least, everything I buy has a much greater chance of getting in the ground and surviving! 😉

KK 

jwil

It sounds like you are really settling in well.  I'm so pleased for you

lucielle

Glad you’re making progress but also pacing yourself. 

L

TallGirl

Really please to read you are pacing yourself and trying not to do everything at once. Plants do have a way to cheer you up as well as make you feel good when you see them in the garden. You do know they say not to make any changes to a garden for at least a year so you see the full season and can decide what you want to change. I was also not a fan of grasses but my garden has loads at the back and now that I have seen them change over a year they are actually really pretty, creates shadows, movement, colour and not least interest in Winter. You might also find the plants from your old garden does not like your new ones so not a bad idea to grow in pots first to see how you get on. If it is a really small bamboo I doubt it is invasive, Google might be able to tell you the type if you do the picture thing on it. 

Hope getting back to work this week is not too bad at least you can enjoy those views as you work.