Buying a little piece of Middle England; Manifesting my way to mortgage free.

debtfreewannabe321

Morning all,
Beautiful day here. DP got out in the garden bright and early and started dismantling the shed. We thought it might be too noisy so we were going to leave it for a bit but the dogs next door were already barking 🙄 loudly(!) so we got on with it. It is unbelievable how much mess we've made from carefully dismantling a small shed 😯.

I came in to make some tea/ coffee and then decided to put some soup on whilst we were working but the soup maker once again tripped the electric about four times before I said nope it's going in the bin now. So I'm sat indoors instead of being in the sun watching the soup cook on the hob so it doesn't stick to the pan 🙄 (hurry up soup!) ...will budget for a new soup maker because it really did get it's use, and the one we had was super old and gifted to us so I didn't feel bad chucking it to be honest. It was a nightmare to clean.

Tonight I will make a leftover curry from whatever I can find left - already used some veg in the soup, and I will use all the salad bits left for a side dish and then go shopping tomorrow (I've volunteered DP for that as I've nearly fainted twice now out and about in the shops recently and don't want to feel like it again on my own) my friend is coming for a quick catch up tomorrow anyway so he can go then. Fridge should be suitably empty by then though.

Probably need to do a tip run and we've found a lovely sunny spot for our greenhouse. Different to where it was going to go before and a smaller spot but it also means we may be able to get a cheap second hand one now as it's not a huge space or awkward shape. Where I wanted it before is right in the wind tunnel part of the garden and the new spot is sunnier and sheltered by a fence. 

Right soup is bubbling away I will go finish it off and make sure we've got it ready and blended for when we want it. 

pennywisepoundstupid

Morning dfw. I make my soup in a slow cooker, much easier than a pan as it can just be left and can also be left on low once cooked to stay warm if people are eating at different times in the evening.

~FlowerPot~

Hope the soup was tasty. I always make it on the hob. Never takes very long and I haven't had a problem with it sticking. But soup makers seem to be very popular, so maybe I'm missing something!,
I how toy had a good day weather wise. It's been really lovely down here and I've been in the garden weeding and sorting out the beds. 

dawnybabes

I used to bob my soup maker on as I left to take the dog for a walk and then come home to lovely hot blended soup, I too miss my SM - think I will get one for Mother’s Day. 

debtfreewannabe321

Penny that's a thought perhaps I will think about getting that instead although cooking mostly vegan I got rid of my SC before as 1- didn't have space in my tiny old old kitchen but also 2- I didn't use it as much. I always used to use it for meat so will see if it's worthwhile getting that instead.
FP it's the pan....I need to replace lots. See I wanted the kids to be independent... however they've ruined lots of my pans 🙄🤣.
Dawny yes! Ours took 20 minutes. I'd go get on with jobs after Chucking a tonne of ingredients in and come back to yummy ready blended soup. Yum.

We did two tips runs 1hour each!!!!! Omg!!!! It's a five minute drive away...and the queue was horrendous both times but it was dry and we wanted to get rid of it whilst it was dry/ clean. The shed fell apart in most places easily as it was rotted through. We've a nice space left now on the side where the sun hits all day long. Even if I don't get a greenhouse this summer I will be using that space now for pots and suchlike! 

I'm exhausted and can barely move but it was a worthwhile day and very productive. Tomorrow I'm not doing anything as I'm meeting my friend but also purposely not doing the garden as I need a rest day. 

Not a NSD in anyway.. we worked till late then realised DS was supposed to be meeting his friend in half hour so 4x mcd's. Also some gloves and rubble sacks and some scissors ✂️ were bought. 

KajiKita

Sounds like a really good day 😊 I know what you mean about needing a rest day after a hard day in the garden. I was lucky as I was able to pace myself a bit yesterday so I am hoping although I am a bit stiff and weak this morning, I still have something in the tank for working out there today … 🤞

That new space in the sun sounds lovely ☺️ Maybe you could put a chair and a table there, to sit in the sun until the greenhouse arrives … 😉🤔🌞

KK

debtfreewannabe321

We've not any outdoor seating left KK! The bench is broken and we didn't bring table and chairs from old house as they were ready for scrap too. Need to get a cheap set this year really so we can enjoy it 😁.

It's all foggy here today, can't even see to the end of the garden 😶‍🌫️. Yesterday was lovely to catch up with my friend and she paid for lunch even though I was insisting it was my turn, because it had been my birthday she went and paid whilst she went to the toilet half way through! So NSD for me. I made a 'use up the cupboard and fridge ' curry so nothing went to waste before the new shopping went in... DP went and did it for me as I've felt really faint and dizzy the last two times I went. He spent way less than I do usually but we will see how long it lasts as it turns out he forgot a few things. I found out last night when I went to get some olives 😆.
If he's not forgotten that much I may send him every week in future lol. Although to be fair to me I had to stick freezer and cupboards and cleaning stuff as well as rice the week before hence why it was so high 🙈.

Today is a late start, I will do my meditation and some gentle stretching before work. Shoulder and neck is still hurting. It feels muscular rather than my rotar cuff though so it will go soon enough I'm sure. 

We've had so many discussions and plans out for the house this last week/weekend. Warning brain dump -
DS is coming to stay obviously in a year / year and a half and we need somewhere available for him. I do not want to sink my entire Isa into a garage conversion though. Especially as he's said he will probably only stay a year. So we've been discussing where else we can put him instead. And I think we've come to an agreement that we both love the idea of, an extension to the main house - way smaller than originally planned but big enough to put a large enough room (6x4m) for the dining room/secondary living space and when DS is here it will be room for him to sleep in. We need to negotiate on the price though. I don't want to be adding 40k to loan debt. So we need to see what we can do on that. But with an extension to the main house it means I get to move the kitchen, put a downstairs loo/ shower room/ utility area in and have that extra space for living that we need. It will balance out the upstairs space nicely too. It's much smaller than we originally planned on so hopefully doable. And we are still going to renovate the garage but it will be to a much lower spec,.done on the cheap so we can use it as a games room/ summer house/ whatever we want it for space and we can do that whenever. With basic boarding insulation etc. it's quite exciting.... Every time we've spoken about spending the money I've had a knot in my stomach as if I knew it wasn't right, but when we discussed these plans it felt right because it would add value and sort out the mess of the layout it currently has and add space that's needed. DS will effectively have a shower room/ kitchen/ bedroom area all in close proximity so it should work. We will have to share the space but it means we get the benefit of it once he's gone and we haven't got to add the extension at any point after having already sunk a lot of money into a garage reno. We've had enough of diy to be honest but we have decided we can fit a shower room, kitchen and do the internal shifting. Just needing trades to do the moving of gas/ water/ drainage etc properly. That will keep costs down and we can do it as we go. We will use maintenance to pay for some of it monthly as well as DS money when he comes to stay. We are also contemplating doing a consolidation loan to put the car loan into to make the rate better but only have one loan payment coming out.....

Right anyway I'm going to get going with some exercise and get ready for work. Hopefully a NSD again I need to catch up 🤞🏻😁

debtfreewannabe321

Lunch time...I'm hiding out away from people...well hiding as sat on my own but in a busy noisy place. I'm doing that mum survival thing of zoning out of all the noise and hustle and bustle 🤣. I'm exhausted already. I really hope I can get something to help me sleep and for this lack of energy from doc. 

I've got parents evening tonight too so straight from work I have to walk to school and meet DD and traipse around trying to find teachers for five minutes with each. Thankfully with A levels there is only three teachers tops! Hoping she's booked them in close together so we're not waiting around all afternoon /evening.

Really struggling to keep eyes open might have to go for a walk in the fresh air and wake up a bit. 😴  It should be a nsd I've avoided buying anything for lunch...but I might need to order DD a new toothbrush for her brace being fitted in Weds....and a water flosser? Whatever one of those is...

LadyWithAPlan

The home reconstruction plans sound good 

I always made soup on the stove but now use my pressure cooker to make the stock , drain it then make the soup in it as well 

debtfreewannabe321

I'm exhausted early night I think for me. We managed to get round parents evening quickly and it was all going so well until the last teacher. Do you ever come across someone who is just so angry at themselves, the world and then everyone else because of this...well that was this teacher. Sheesh she spent around ten minutes moaning loudly at my DD with not a single constructive criticism but absolutely digging her out because she was revising all wrong. She's new to psychology and was struggling with what to revise and yet has been spending all her Saturdays with her friends at the library, the teacher basically used every word dancing around the 'you're stupid' phrasebook. Which she's not. I'm super upset for her. At the end teacher looked at me for the first time in around ten minutes and said anything you'd like to ask (or to that effect) and I said well yes, is there anything she does right? Because it seems not? teacher then went bright red, tried to backtrack and make out I'd heard her all wrong (I had not). I couldn't wait to get away from there. I am not a naturally rude person but I couldn't even bring myself to say thank you or goodbye..I got up shell shocked at the grilling and just walked off 🤣 needless to say I shan't be returning to see her ever again. I came away feeling so stressed, I had a twitch in my eye and a knot in my stomach and felt sick. I feel utterly sorry for every student who has this woman. It was clear she is not a happy woman and felt the need to make everyone around her as miserable as she was. Sheesh. 

It was a NSD so some good news. And I guess I should concentrate on the other subject tutors who said DD was doing well. She's on track for Cs at the moment so I don't see any problem with that considering she was at an awful school before and is basically playing catch up. Perhaps I ought to see if I can find tutors though 🤔.

Anyway. DP had made dinner.
He had also popped to conservatory showroom and asked what they could shave off the price - they will get back to us. He saw an extension in the showroom slightly smaller than the one we were looking at getting and he said it looked huge (they'd dressed it as a living room) which is good because we want to put two rooms in it not just one and need a space that can be flexible. I think it is the best solution for DS, DDIL and DP and myself and the kids already at home. Overall it will basically double our current living space that we have downstairs (which isn't much considering upstairs feels so much bigger 🤔). 

So I suppose the next step is looking at financing options. We've drawn the plans ourselves to scale so we're ready to go ahead. I guess the best thing about hiring someone to do it all from start to finish is we can carry on working and not have to deal with the stress. We've knocked walls down in the past, built new walls, plastered, tiled, built kitchens, bathrooms and built in cupboards/ wardrobes all from our own designs before and although it's fun designing and dressing at the end I'm sick of the mess and dust and time it takes us DIY'ers compared to the professionals. I think this time it's worth paying the extra to get the professionals in. We did All this before around jobs. And I'm done, I'm so tired and I think DP is. We've worked bloody hard to jump up the property ladder from a teeny ex council in a few years but the thought of even picking up a paint brush lately is making me feel depressed. 🙈 And the thought of converting the garage ourselves made me want to cry 😆 so yes feeling way better about this solution 😊.

Oh and DD brace fitting on Weds was cancelled!!
Then it was uncancelled. All within twenty minutes...I've had a frazzled kinda day. 

Right off to read my book for a bit and try and chill before bed / sleep, if it comes to me this evening...!🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻