March Forward Into Spring 2026

PennysIntoPounds

Hurrah, it's spring! (Okay it's the start of March but we need the spring enthusiasm after that long grey soggy winter)

Welcome old and new faces to the Getting OATs (outstanding annoying tasks) Done thread. For spring! 😁

For me, my partner and I are building a modest house and it is a constant source of stress, so my spring aims are to 1) try to do and not put off the extremely boring research and ordering jobs this entails and 2) to be on it with listing things to make any money towards build

Looking forward to hearing all your spring aims, and if you've read along on previous threads but not joined in, please do so- even if the OATs aren't impressive or the tasks are preventing OATs, this is the place to motivate yourself and the rest of us by just bothering to push that little bit more to improve our lives 😊

KajiKita

Thank you for the new thread @PennysIntoPounds 😊

I think my primary aims this spring are:

~ Keep on with the training I am doing with workouts every other day, an eye on general activity (at least 8K steps per day) and being sensible with the eating whilst keeping my protein up. I haven’t lost any weight on the scales yet, if anything I have increased, but I managed to wear some jeans last night that had become unwearable due to the waist band rolling down under my muffin top! 😳 No rolling last night 😊💪❤️👏🤩

~ Keep on with getting the garden in order. The veggie patch is almost, almost there … Just one last bed to clear and mulch and then hopefully it will be maintenance and I can move onto the ornamental beds.

~ Speaking of ornamentals I want to do a bit more seed sowing this year - not veggies as they are mostly too finicky for me! But ornamentals especially scented ones 😊

~ Catch up with friends during my week off before Easter and some friends of Mr KK’s the weekend after 😊

~ More crafting!

KK

beanielou

Thanks @PenniesIntoPounds for our shiny new thread. I’m just going to keep plodding.

joedenise

Finally got round to making some red onion chutney which I run out of a few weeks ago. Bought the onions about 3-4 weeks ago and decided I must get it made as don't want to be faced with it when we come back from ou holiday when there will be the washing mountain to contend with.

Wednesday2000

This year is moving so fast. I am away next week for my (50th) birthday and I decided just to go to Brighton for a couple of days and then to Bournemouth.

I have a long to do list when I get back so I will list it on here then. I don't want to think about it too much now as I want a proper break.

I have a new class today and I might go out for lunch afterwards on a solo date.🙂 I am meeting my friend tomorrow for a film.

Rhyddid2026

I have the week off to rest and tackle very oaty tasks. I will also try to do some nice things.

Things that need to be done in the next week or so are;

• Progress the shipping of boxes (can't believe this is still outstanding)
• Sort out the old business tax self assessment stuff (ditto)
• Either reduce a piece of writing to a suitable word count or give up completely because it's been on my mind for over a year.

I'd also like to do some of the things that are always on the list - do a tip run or three, clean some parts of the house, declutter, list stuff on vntd.

Today's fascinating news is that I finally finished the last of the Christmas cheap cabbage! The chooks can have the tiny bit that's left. I still have potatoes 😂

badmemory

Two weeks from today is a special day by which time I hope to have achieved an awful lot of OATs & I am fairly sure DS agreed this morning to assist - a major breakthrough. Yes it will be Mother's day but it is also the Ides of March & also the anniversary of Julius Caesar's assassination. This is also the month my mother considered to be the most expensive of the year & when I said we were thinking of having a child said DON'T HAVE IT IN MARCH, Thankfully I obliged.

PennysIntoPounds

Have taken down the winter foliage and changed my phone screensaver to mark the new season

Done a vinted listing and started the monthly big clean

Brie

@Wednesday2000 - when you hit Bournemouth the best chazzas are in Ferndown. That's where I got my Gucci scarf. But Poole and Christchurch have a nice selection too. Don't ask me how I know!!

So 1st March is actually the start of meteorological spring which I'm happy to celebrate! But I've got a few things to get done as well.

Financial

• need to ensure OH has sorted out his "marriage allowance" for his taxes. Likely this will mean me standing by his desk and coaching him through this.
• annual travel policy needs to be renewed as of 3 March. No pressure.
• need to also submit info to get an annuity quote sorted - it's related to the travel policy as there's health info required for both so hopefully the momentum of the travel policy will last long enough for me to sort the rest.
• need to update my spreadsheet with pension increases so I know how much we have each month and whether money needs to be jiggled about.
• need to talk to my bro3 to confirm if he wants my diamond from mom's ring as that will cover most of what I owe for farm expenses (not that my brothers are talking to me much anymore)

Practical

• print info for our holiday at the end of March (Ireland)
• print art photos so I can keep on top of my group assignments (printing means a trip to the library)
• find out what the fluff the doctor's are doing about OH's meds that we need early for going on holiday (2 weeks and no reply to anything)
• see if I can sort out a gardener as the place is beginning to look truly dreadful
• find out what's happened to the guy that was going to quote on the garden carpentry that needs doing.
• plant bulbs that should have been done by the gardener when she didn't show up in November.
• hearing test tomorrow afternoon. note to self - do not go to the art shop right beside the hearing place.
• find out what OH may have done about more holidays as it's impossible to keep track.
• sort scarves and see how many I actually need. Not 130+ definitely.

Fun

• meet up with ex work colleague Tuesday noon. need to check how she's doing following redundancy. Buy her wine. And chips. And flowers.
• see if the Cretan restaurant needs reservations and sort out an evening to go.
• if the Cretan place doesn't entice OH see if he wants to go to the pub that keeps sending us 30% off vouchers - note to self - latest one expires this week.
• finish crocheting bird houses.

Potentially lethal

• push OH to go back to camera shop for a tutorial on how to use camera and potentially to join the local camera club.

(near) Impossible dreams

• get a cat
• find that ring I'm looking for that no one seems to sell except from dodgy websites. (hammered silver band with a variety of gems embedded in it)
• do everything on my list.

KajiKita

@Brie there seem to be a couple of rings of the type you want on Wolf and badger and 3tsy?

I’m sorry your brothers are being unfriendly …

That is one heck of a list! I’m in awe … 😊

KK

greenbee

@Brie - according to the rescue I got my two from, kitten season has started early this year. I don't think you'll have an issue getting a cat :)

I did finally get my building notice sorted out last month, so now need to get builders moving with a project plan and dates.

I now have to sort out Karcher, who have apparently send one replacement pump which DHL have lost, and can't tell me what has happened to the replacement replacement (my bet is not sent as they don't have a DHL tracking number to blame for it).

And also need to sort out Dunhelm who sent a made to measure blind, and not the curtains - it took over a month to establish that not only had they run out of fabric (which they then told me would be back in stock early Feb and they'd make them then) but the workshop had cancelled the order (but not told me or refunded me) and are now out of stock of fabric again… however customer service couldn't reorder and have refunded me. They apologised and gave me a discount code - but the fabric is out of stock. I explained that the blind is no use without the curtains so I wanted to return it for a refund, but they won't as it was made to measure… they claim that the fabric will be back in at the end of this month and I can reorder then. What I want to ask them is to either refund for the blind OR bypass their systems and pre-order the curtains for me so I'm guaranteed to get it… and I'll pay when they send it out, as they've already sat on my money for two months once. I don't think I'll get anywhere, and I'm not sure I'll be able to get the same fabric elsewhere, so may have to just keep annoying them and place the order my self and make them keep me updated when I do actually do it.

I've also raised a fault ticket on Stripey cat's feeder - the fault is intermittent so I suspect that will also end up being dismissed. If they aren't helpful and I have to replace it, I'll be looking for a different brand.

AND I had a heat pump survey/design done. I'm not entirely happy with it, but it's a start.

Some pictures have been moved around, so there are only four to hang (and a couple to go to the framer). A couple may not be hung yet, as I may change my mind about where they go when the building work is finished.

I planted 250 snowdrops along my mum's drive today and cut up 2 venison carcasses to freeze for the animals (to go with the two-and-a-bit already in the freezer). Two lasts us about 20 days, so I'll need more around Easter. I also have lots of venison for people in the freezer.

Tomorrow I need to bring in logs (well, sticks, as I'm using up the small stuff now), plant my 250 snowdrops, and arrange to talk to a neighbour about the heat pump design and see whether he thinks we can tweak it to do what I want and still meet the criteria for the boiler upgrade scheme grant.

I also need to decide on roses before bare root season finishes. I may need to move one or all of the three I've planted by the patio now I'm changing from obelisks to post and wire (I'll need four there in total as I'm extending the space for climbers), and I need two to go on the trellis with the winter honeysuckle/honeysuckle outside what will be my office, as well as four to climb up the obelisks which are being moved.