Watty's Awakening

Watty1

The frugal plan for today is to VNM to continue chopping wood. We have had a good look around and are left with two piles to chop that were some small trees that came down and anything PPH left when he took the wood we had jointly bought for the wood burner. PPH left such a mess that I employed someone to clear up as it was just too much to face. The chap did cut up some larger bits and heaped the rest in a pile to be burnt. There is still a lot of useable wood for winter though so we have decided to rescue what we can. We have two ton bags of kindling so far and most of the trailer is full of logs of various sizes.

We have found a couple of bits of wood that will be really useful for repairing some broken fencing and VNM is really pleased with his "saw stand" that he made with scrap timber. It is very sturdy 😀

Once all the scrap wood is gone the place will look so much tidier.

rtandon27

Well done on mind-mapping & moving forward! @Watty1 - sending you all the right vibes for the next few months.

Debsnewbudget

fingers, toes and eyes crossed here xx

Watty1

I bought some solar garden lights last year that did not survive - but - VNM had a hunch the solar panel was still working so after a bit of a fiddle around in the barn he has converted the two solar panels to use on the cameras on the back drive. Awesome money saving and effort saving now as we don't need to remember to recharge them.

More wood chopping is planned for today. Not sure how much of the wood is actually logs now but yesterday we did fill two ton bags of kindling and enough chopped bits of wood to fill the trailer which has now been stocked undercover.

Watty1

Another ton bag of kindling and another trailer full of wood logs. We are nearing the end of the mess and have worked out why the field chap I was delighted and offered a days work once a fortnight just "vanished" Clearly towards the end of his last day here he just used his digger to drag all the dirt and un-chopped wood into a heap, confidently telling me it was a "bonfire". We had agreed he would burn it on his next visit.

He never came back (and I still owe him the last days work but I think he blocked my number!!)

The heap was so big it deserved its own post code and I had never really climbed over it to inspect it.. Over the last few days, we have removed the stuff that can be chopped for logs, removed a lot of kindling and dragged some stuff fit for shredding to one side, and have found a lot of chicken wire in from a project PPH was working on at some point so that needs to go in the tip pile.. This leaves us with a big pile of soil and organic matter and bits of wood to small to retrieve so next week we will see if we can spread it back where it came from, harrow it in and then tip the seeds and hay sweepings on it. That should hopefully return the mess back to field.

Also need to hire a shredder to shred stuff up. Did start chopping for garden waste bin but that was just too time consuming.

KajiKita

That sounds EPIC! And another satisfying clear out of a PPH legacy … 😉

KK

greenbee

I'm still waiting to work out why the handyman who put the blinds up didn't bill me or come back to do the work he said he'd do the following week…

Well done on sorting out all that additional kindling and logs. I really do need to get mine sorted - I have a whole lot of old fence panels to turn into kindling, but need to clear the existing scrap wood pile first. And get some logs in if I can ever get the builders' crap removed so I can access the log store!

Humdinger1

May I say @Watty1 that for PPH's mind to skip to tax fraud so quickly and unjustifiably, an investigation into his affairs looks well and truly justified. Worth tipping off HMRC, as I think I hear there are fees worth 10% of sums collected to those supplying the intel. An elegant solution, combining the improvement of public finances with a staggering dose of karma. Nemesis is depicted as a lame goddess but she catches up with people. Onwards and upwards love Humdinger xx

Watty1

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82150534#Comment_82150534

perhaps he is just sick? Or has had some bad news? Maybe he will reappear? Workmen are an "odd sort" I have concluded there is plenty of work so they can select what they want to do.

Watty1

@Humdinger1 I do sometimes feel I should give the tax office a 'tip off' but I then think I have a lovely life. What he does with his life is on his plate. I feel confident he has charmed others to do his bidding in his quiet unassuming way but eventually he will trip up. I may be struggling with my health a bit at the moment but I am happy. Genuinely happy. Whilst I would never wish unhappiness on anyone - even him - I doubt he can say he is happy in his self.