Milann’s mutterings through retirement

Dakota_Rose

The rubbish parts will all soon be a distant memory and it sounds like you’re really happy in your new home and area so hold on to that feeling for now 😊.

For what it’s worth, our moving day was a disaster too. Mr Ds car broke down the night before so we had to leave that behind, when we arrived the lady we were buying from still hadn’t moved out so we reversed quickly back off the driveway onto some cobblestones, ripping the exhaust off my car.! I had a toddler and very anxious dog in the car plus two removal vans stuck on the main road waiting to get in. To top it off, I had to drive that night to collect the kids from Mum’s sounding like I was driving a tractor 🙈 😂.

milann

Oh Dakota Rose that sounds a nightmare. At least there are only the 2 of us and we managed to stay with ds near our old house than at dds once we were down here.

We’ve just had a lovely bunch of flowers sent from a relative. We’ve been very lucky with many cards and this is my 3rd lot of flowers. Spoilt rotten 😂 me thinks

I hired a carpet cleaner today for 48 hours. I’m shattered. I’ve been cleaning the mattress that the removal firm delivered whilst we were out 🤬 2 hours I was cleaning it with the hand attachment……and it’s still stained. I also used the big machine to clean the hall and living room. The colour of the water was 🤢 although to be honest the carpet didn’t look too bad. Tomorrow I’m going to give the mattress another go and then try to get the muddy marks on the mattress from the bed settee we had ruined in the move. We’ve ordered some fixings from the Swedish furniture store,,,,,I’m hoping they’ll be here quickly and they haven’t changed the design since we bought ours. Once they arrive ds will have somewhere to sleep if he gets a job down here whilst he’s waiting for his house to be sorted. It’s so annoying that we paid for his bed to be picked up en route and they’ve lost the headboard which forms part of the bed frame - sent him a manky mattress and have lost the fixings of our sofa bed and the mattress from that is full off muddy drips….meaning atm we don’t have any sort of spare bed. I was going to get them to pick the mattress up but ds said at least we have one and he isn’t taking it to his new place….its one he’s had a long time and will hopefully replace when he moves in.
The outside bins were disgusting. I’ve usually got a fairly strong disposition but gagged at the smell of one of the bins….i dread to think what was in it and had no intention of investigating further. They’ve all been emptied now and Dh has been taking our rubbish to the tip. I put a job request on one of the websites I’ve used previously asking for a 1 off clean of 3 domestic bins. We only had 1 reply for £100……I was expecting £50ish but they can whistle for £100. It wouldn’t take long for a company to do them with a pressure cleaner. I couldn’t get our pressure cleaner or hosepipe out as there is a hosepipe ban here, but a business can still use them. Anyway I held my nose and used an old mop I’d found outside and mopped bleach around them and left them overnight. This morning I used my kettle to rinse it all off. It took me a while and I had to get Dh to tip the water out. But I now have 3 beautifully clean, fragrant dustbins……and saved £100. I was impressed how little water I’d used….previously I’d used a hosepipe doing this job 👍

We’ve had some re thinks about the work we want doing on the bungalow. We want to make a storage/ hobby area up in the loft area and have decided we want the stairs in a different place than our original idea. It might change again before we actually get around to getting it down.

milann

I did a big shop yesterday so just short of £100 spent. We went to a Sainsbobs about 5pm. There wasn’t 1 person on the tills so I had to go through a self service checkout. I won’t be going there at that time again. I much prefer to go through a check out with a real person…it took ages 🤬 We did get a bargain though. A water filter jug on offer for £10….half price 👍 The hard water around here is taking a bit of getting used to. 😂😂 Dh keeps complaining about the scummy tea.
Dd and family have been around for brunch today and we’ve been for a walk to the seafront. I was lovely and what the move is all about.
We’ve been out and about exploring the area in between lots of cleaning. I hired a carpet cleaner with attachments and cleaned all the soft furnishings including a mattress that Dh says isn’t the one they picked up from his house and sofa bed mattress that the removal people managed to drip mud all over. I was glad when I’d finished…..my arm let me know I’d done too much.

I’ve been pottering in the garden deadheading some roses. The garden is a bit of a blank canvas so I’m quite excited about doing it up next year. Lots of lovely pots and ornaments have been left, although some of the plants in the pots definitely look past their sell by date. They haven’t coped with the hot weather and hosepipe ban. I’m leaving them until spring though just in case they decide to revive.
I want to collect some pots I’d left at dds house with the railway buildings as I have lots of bulbs to replant.

milann

It was lovely at weekend.Dd and family came round for brunch, we went for a walk by the sea before they took dgd to a birthday party. It was so nice to be able to able to see them for a short time without a 6 hour journey 😃7 minutes in the car is much appreciated by everyone. The only fault with the house atm is it’s quite dark. My old place had big bay windows at the front and a patio door at the back of the room. The living room is at the back of the house, hopefully when we make the alterations we can inject some more daylight. More cleaning has been done. We keep rethinking the alterations we want to do to the kitchen and staircase going into the loft. I feel as if my bedroom is a train warehouse atm 😳😂 It will be great once dhs trains are in the loft area and Dh has a hobby room.

We went to a little cafe Dh had seen advertised yesterday…..over an hours drive but it was quite quaint. The food was ok….but the main feature was the food was served to you by a little train…the same type of trains Dh has. There were lots of toddlers in there loving the service. There were some big kids too 😂😂 From there we went for an out and visited Rye, a place I’ve never been to before. We made use of our NT cards and visited a house that an author had lived in…..unfortunately I’d never heard of said author but it was a nice property…..and an unexpected bonus. We saved some cash and came home for tea.

Today we’re waiting for a delivery of new fixings from the Swedish furniture shop. The cowboy removal company lost the originals 🤬We’re hoping the design hasn’t been changes since we bought ours. Ive also got to nip to the GP surgery as the way I order my stoma supplies is totally different to the old GP. Different area have different ways I suppose.
Ds is coming at weekend and we’re all heading out for a meal at weekend. I’m looking forward to it. It’s only a couple of weeks but seems a long time since I’ve seen him.

beanielou

Hope the fixtures were ok.

milann

Beanie some of the fixtures arrived but we’re still waiting for some others to turn up.
Ds came on Saturday for my birthday weekend. We had a lovely time. He stayed here and had to sleep on a mattress on the floor since the removal men lost his bed frame and lost the fittings of my sofa bed 😡On Saturday we treated the kids and grandkids to a meal for all the help they’d given us with the move when we were both totally stressed with all the shenanigans that happened. Then we had a bbq at dds with some of her friends that I haven’t seen for a long, long time, on Sunday. Yesterday, my actual birthday Dd took us out - we visited a seaside place he hadn’t been to before - the sun shone and we had a lovely walk along the boardwalk which went along the sand….something ds can rarely do as he can’t wheel across the actual sand. He wanted to take me for a meal for my birthda, but as he’s not actually working since he was made redundant and has a lot of builders bills to pay on his house renovation- I chose ‘spoons. It’s one he hasn’t been to before and when it was built was the biggest in the country, it’s right by the beach and has a big balcony. We had lots of small plates between us and I enjoyed it as much as any fancy restaurant. Dh actually paid for my trike for my birthday…..and they coincidentally phoned to let us know it’ll be ready next week 😁 I got a couple of lovely jumpers and some bulbs for my garden too.

Dh has seen a big shed he wants which is on offer at c@stco…..he’s had his eye on one for a good while and since they’re on offer we might as well get it - reduced by £500. We need a base making and have decided to make it a bigger base and go right across the bottom of the garden and make a seating area in the opposite corner too. We had someone come to quote, they seemed to know what they were talking about. It’s more expensive than I expected but it should be nice. We’ve got another couple of people giving us quotes before weekend. So this afternoon I’ve thoroughly enjoyed myself with a pair of secateurs pruning the bushes back to clear where the base is going. I did the thin branches and Dh the tough ones. It looks a lot bigger now. I want to move some iris plants ( I think that’s what they are 😂) before they come to do the work. At least we’ll have somewhere to put some of the contents of the house when the work inside commences. I should sleep tonight 😃

I need to get my MSE head into gear as the things we want doing to this new place are escalating as we’ve lived in it. Can’t believe we’ve been here a month now……where has time gone. We’ve decided to move the site of the staircase we want and create a hall rather than having it in a bedroom, which in turn will need the doors moving to 3 of the 4 rooms that come off the hallway. Moving the door will make a bigger bathroom so it should give us room for a shower that is accessible (I’m future proofing) as well as a bath - I’m thinking about those with an opening door that can be stepped into……but not sure if I trust them not to leak (Dh will probably Pooh-Pooh this idea) as well as the usual loo and sink. So it’s back to real MSE practices for me…..some of the things we now want weren’t even a thought when we bought the place.
So MSE plans

-I’ll take some ‘fun’ money out each month but once it’s gone it’s gone…..no using my cc for extra treats out as I do now. I’ll also save any left over as I do now 😃
- Back to meal planning and using my slow cooker so foods ready on our return if we’re out - rather than eating out or calling at the delicious chippy at the corner on our way home.
-We have a lot of stone as ground cover in parts of the garden - I’m going to gather, store and reuse it when we get around to making the garden railway.
-There’s a massive car boot sale 3 times a week just along the lane - weather permitting . I think they might stop over winter. So I’m going to save items for next Spring and have a pitch. I already have a couple of pairs of curtains which were up in the house and just let too much light in for me.
- I’m going to finish revamping the egg chair I inherited from my neighbour but had to stop when I broke my arm. I did do a little more last week but I need to continue.
- we’ll continue to explore the area using our bus passes, although Dh had an electric car charger put in last week so it doesn’t cost too much to go out in the car.
-use my washing machine when we get the cheaper rate electricity Whilst the car is charging.
I think that’s about it for now….sorry for the ramble 👍

in_need_of_direction

not a ramble more a peek into your life post move. It seems like you’ve a good plan in place but I would factor in a monthly trip to the chippy to avoid feeling deprived

beanielou

A month already!

amber03

Agree with INOD, it’s our monthly treat a chippy tea, but more importantly it’s the only night in the month I have off from cooking tea, as everybody in the house is hopeless.

milann

I will use my treat money for chippy treats. 😂😂😂There are a lot of coffee shops and chip shops in town and I suspect the majority of my treat stash will consumed there.

Dh went to a U3A group yesterday so I got him to drop me partway into town. I had a lovely relaxing walk along the coast into town, on my own with my thoughts. I thought I was seeing things as the paddle steamer Ds took us on earlier this year was sailing into the harbour - it was lovely. I used some of my treat money for a coffee and flapjack in the harbour side cafe. It’s the first time in a long time I’ve eaten a cake by myself ( I usually go halves with whoever is with me) and I found it too sweet….shows how tastes can change. Dh met me later and we went to a singings session together…..there is no charge as it’s a charity that run it 👍I will crochet some items for the little stall they have. I miss the people from my old singings group but I’ll give this one a fair chance.
We’ve had 3 lots of people out re the shed base and the prices vary so much. Got 1 more coming tomorrow but we think we’ve decided who to go with.

I put some money on the Iceland Christmas savings scheme yesterday. If I put £100 on before November there is a £15 bonus which I thought was quite good.