Teetering on the brink

EatingBeans

For today’s garden adventure I decided to tackle the pond.

I can’t recall if I mentioned previously but a while ago I finally came across my pond liner that I had bought forever ago, put somewhere safe, then lost - and had a bash at installing it. Most of the hole for the pond had already been dug, as I had been using a giant pot as a makeshift pond liner for a while but I had managed to drop a big block of concrete in it and cracked the bottom. I was so pleased to get the liner in as managing to line the pond was a big achievement for me given the fatigue I had been feeling, but little dog took no time at all in kicking another block of concrete edging into it before I had even finished hiding the liner. Back then I was too tired to keep going on it so I just drained the pond again and that is how it stayed until today. 

So, knowing how utterly exhausting it is to keep getting in and out of the pond, I started by gathering all the edging stones/broken pavers I had previous collected from around the garden for this purpose, and brought them to within arms reach. Armed with my trusty scissors, I clambered in, evicted the huge block of concrete (praying it hadn’t pierced the liner), and set about cutting back the edge of the liner and then using the broken pavers to make an edge. Then I got creative, mixed in a few bigger rocks, and along with a bit of tubing attached to my tiny solar powered pump, I made a water feature! It took a lot of faffing to create just the right edge to give it a nice trickling sound, but I think it was time well spent. Many hours later, I finally scrambled back out of the pond for the final time, added in a huge bit of bogwood that I had held on to from my days breeding tropical fish, threw some whole pavers down along the front edge where it meets the path to give the dog somewhere more appropriate to drink from this time (hopefully that will stop her kicking the edging rocks in so much), and voila, a pond was born! 😁

Yes, in an ideal world the next step would be to add plants, but that costs money so that will have to wait. Currently, my gardening is all about using what I already have and just creating something better with it. I am sure I could have spent money buying very expensive rocks and bedded them in with concrete to make it look even better and be more durable etc, but I like it just the way it is. My garden is full of rocks, rubble and broken pavers from the previous occupiers and it would cost a huge amount to get rid of it all, so I just have it sorted into piles of similar types and when I can I recycle a pile into something else. It’s not perfect, but it pleases me no end when I can take a pile of what would otherwise be classed as rubbish and turn it into something pretty. Today, I feel i did just that. 😁

Oh, and I was very pleased to see that little dog has stopped even trying to jump up at her old favourite spot along the fence. The bamboo, privet and wisteria all seem to be doing their job. 🎉

northAthenian

@EatingBeans ...quick note to say topcash back are doing a £3 bonus on £10 purchase, (in case u r buying supermarket giftcards)

EatingBeans

Thanks @northAthenian I will definitely check out that Topcashback bonus. I must admit I had got out of the habit of looking so thanks for the nudge!

EatingBeans

Today was less of a gardening day and more of a resting day as I already ached so much after yesterday. I did do a bit of levelling and more dry laying of pavers and adding some gravel to the edge of the pond to finish it off. I tried (and failed) to get a good photo of it but the light was really not helpful and it is a bit difficult to see, but here it is…

The crocosmia is a bit all over the place because little dog had helpfully sat on it but since it dies back and regrows nice and straight again, I am looking past that. She also sat on the blue carpet conifer to the right of the pond but I am not so convinced that will recover (it’s 90% dead looking sticks at this point). You never know though so I will give it a bit of time to see if it recovers. 

The rest of the day was mainly spent doing washing and generally chilling out with dd2, although we did have to venture to Aldi for a bit of food shopping. Just over £20 was spent on dd2 food, and I spent less than £10 for me (that included washing liquid and fabric conditioner). I’m actually pleased that dd2 filled her basket with so much food as the more we have in the house that she will eat, the less she asks me for something nice. I am a lot less fussy and will eat really random collections of foods if I have to to save money - I have a lot lower tolerance level for my children going without, or asking them to eat something they don’t like.

All in all, not a bad day. 🙂 

Cherryfudge

That's a lovely area, @EatingBeans: I am sure the crocosmia will perk up and hopefully so will the blue conifer. I would love a pond so I look at other people's with interest and always seem to home in on any plants that bend over the water... perhaps I need something long and narrow to accommodate all the ones I will inevitably want once I have some water around which to plant them! We still have a hollowed out area around some new paving, so a moat comes to mind...

Feeding teenagers is more or less a job in itself so it's good your daughter has chosen things she'll eat!

EatingBeans

Well, they finally announced the names of those who got the promotion. The permanent role went to someone I’ve never even heard of (who was apparently seconded into our team very recently), and the secondment went to someone who has been working under someone else who has also been given a secondment - making it is clear they had people in mind and the interviews were a tick box exercise for HR. I really hoped this new lot of managers would be different and it would start being fair but it is clear that it is just more of the same. I know I should leave but I know that if I do and want to come back I wont be able to as I would never be given a higher role as an external candidate, so I have to just suck it up and trudge on. I guess I just need to decide if I want to keep pushing or accept that I will never reach the band above. 

If I can clear the debt then the wage I am on is enough for me and it is lower stress, but clearing the debt is made harder without it. Urgh!

badmemory

My exH, who unlike me, used to understand company politics always said that if you were any good at your job then the only way to get on was to leave because they are never going to promote from that job because you are too good at it.

Sun_Addict

Your pond is beautiful, so tranquil. 

I hate it when organisations already have someone earmarked for a role and the interviews are just to tick a box and make it appear to be 'fair and open competition'. Hopefully something else will come your way in the not too distant future. 

EatingBeans

After going out this morning to sit and admire my pond and realising little dog has been messing with it and has knocked parts of it flying already (and squished the plants more), I decided to take a break from the garden. 

Feeling frustrated, and not able to forgive little dog immediately, I decided to just take big dog on an hour long walk with dd2 instead. The idea wasn’t to punish little dog, I just knew she was going to be a handful and my frustration would probably be evident in my tone, but she obviously wouldn’t know what she had done wrong so that wouldn’t be fair on her. That way, big dog got to sniff all the sniffs, I got a less stressful walk, and came back feeling better. Then big dog got put away to have a nap and little dog got one-on-one attention - she is always calmer and more responsive when her brother isn’t around and that way I could give her a fuss and forgive her for earlier destructive puppy ways. I know she is just young and still learning, and in the grand scheme of things she is actually a very good puppy, but I was so happy to have my pond finally sorted and it lasted less than 24hours, again! 

The only other thing I have really done today is reconcile all my accounts and look at my budget for next month. It is really grim reading. I have more 0% rate deals coming to an end, and more bills going up. This month has me just about breaking even thanks to some unforeseen expenses such as suit buying (😡), but I’ve also just had the first letter from NatWest about persistent debt, so somehow I have to find a way to pay down debt significantly faster. Honestly, am beginning to wonder if it is even possible at this point. 😔 

Cherryfudge

I've had a look back at some of your early posts and noticed you'd completely got rid of the high interest rate overdraft (good move) although obviously things have moved on since January so the figures aren't the same. You did mention freelance book keeping, though you said that usually requires some weekday availability. It may still be worth trying to get some work on your terms, though.

Is there any possibility of increasing the amount of time you work from home, even just a little, as it would cut travel costs?

Back in those early days, there were lots of things like doing surveys and using Olio that you hadn't been aware of. I wonder if we could come up with some more?