Living it up by the sea

uralmaid

Stop rubbing it in Dizee.  I envy you - both with the log burner and the dog.

Dizee123

Sorry uralmaid

My dog will be 14 in June and we lost his companion at the same age, so he is being a bit spoilt in his old age as we know he won't be around for too much longer.  Dogs and most other pets just don't live long enough , but I wouldn't be without him even although I know we will be devastated at the end.  The plan is to do some travelling and then get one more dog around the age of 65 or we might consider fostering in between holidays.

On a happier note my son's house purchase is moving forwards with exchange of contracts imminent.  I am already looking for some flags and bunting to hang out but don't want to jinx anything so constraining my jubilation at the thought of him moving out! 

uralmaid

I agree with spoiling old doggies. We lost our beloved Border Terrier nearly 2 years ago she was nearly 14. She developed mammary cancer and we let her do whatever she wanted until we could see the time had come to let her go. It broke my heart. I will keep everything crossed for your son's imminent exchange. I think that's the worst bit as you are on tenterhooks imagining something will go wrong. Not sure where you are in the country, but I will be keeping my ears peeled for the shouts of jubilation in the wind.

Humboldt

Morning @uralmaid I hope that you have been able to enjoy time in your beautiful garden over the weekend.  We were lucky enough to have sunshine on Saturday and Sunday, however, woke to rain again today. Given that I have indoor jobs on my 'to do list' today, I am not too bothered. 

@Dizee123 fingers crossed for your son's house purchase going smoothly. I love that you have flags and bunting at the ready.

@bluenose1 any update on the new fire and surround/media unit debate? 

uralmaid

@Humboldt , Thanks. Have been out in the garden. Managed to get quite a bit of weeding and edging done.  Also popped out to get some more cactus compost and have repotted 6 of my cactus plants.  The Geranium seeds I planted are doing really well and can soon be transplanted into larger pots.  We have some friends coming over to stay for a couple of nights in their campervan on Thursday so looking forward to that.  Of course the weather doesn't look too good but we won't notice as we will be too busy chatting.  Hubby is now covid clear and luckily I escaped it this time.  Hope you had a good Easter.

bluenose1

@Humboldt. - the quest continues. Sort of know what I want, false chimney breast, marble fireplace and as realistic as I can get built inelectric fire, for the ambience 
Have a guy out later today to give me a quote and a few other showrooms to visit, I will still be looking this time next year knowing me. I definitely suffer from  Analysis Paralysis.

Glad you managed to escape being ill uralmaid, for some reason my husband and I don’t tend to catch colds etc off each other. I need to summons up some gardening energy, my lazy gene kicks in or I potter around going jobs in the house. Hopefully some sunshine will improve my motivation.
A visit from your friends sounds nice, enjoy.

uralmaid

Good morning everyone. Well not been a bad start to the day so far - apart from the fact that I woke up at 5.30am feeling too hot so got up. First thing I did after making a cup of coffee was check my Premium Bonds. Hurrah!! I won 5 - yes -5 prizes this month. Altogether they only totalled £250 but even so - it's reassuring to know my numbers are definitely in there.  Poor hubby won nothing. That's 2 months in a row where I won and he didn't even though we invested exactly the same amount on the same day.  I have so far had a good return on them since buying them 3 years ago, and also have the excitement of checking each month and then doing a little dance of joy when I win. I always let the money re-invest into more bonds too. Lots to do today in preparation for some friends coming to stay for a couple of nights from tomorrow. @Humboldt you will be pleased to know I have the meal plan worked out. Chilli, rice, sour cream dip, Guacamole dip, and tortilla chips followed by a roulade for afters. Following evening Roast chicken dinner with roasties, pigs in blankets, red cabbage and apple, sprouts au gratin, carrots and stuffing followed by home made plum frangipane tart and custard.  Just looking out of the window the weather is not looking promising - quite breezy and damp with rain forecast for the next couple of days. Fortunately the weather for the weekend looks much better with higher temperatures and sunshine. Hope you have all had a "win" this month.

bluenose1

Congrats on the premium bonds win, never won more than 3 x £25 in one month. 
My husband opted to get our wins sent by post, as he likes the excitement of it dropping through letterbox then takes ages to reveal the numbers, normally for a £25 win….

Very impressed with your meal planning and wish I was your visitor, your menu sounds lovely.

Humboldt

What a way to start the day @uralmaid Congratulations! I can live in hope for a little longer because we will not check ours until DH returns from work later today. The meals that you have planned for your friends visit sound delicious.  I so miss 'afters', especially frangipane tart, which is one of my favourites. Raining here too, but I am still going to walk to S@insbury's in the hope of picking up a couple of Easter reductions.  

@bluenose1 I did smile at your term 'Analysis Paralysis'.  Although I have not yet had an official diagnosis, I feel confident that I too suffer from the same condition. I take ages to choose things and then expect them to last a lifetime. 

uralmaid

I like the fact that I have the app on my phone @Humboldt. It tells what date the next draw is and you can check winnings without the wait. Just popped into Louth to get fresh breadcakes for our visitors.  Can't believe the cost of things though. 4 packs of breadcakes, 1 curd tart and 1 small custard tart £11.07p. At least they are "proper" bakery ones not the doughy ones from the supermarket.   Horrible drizzly weather and chilly too despite what the thermometer says.