Summertime 2026

greenbee

Six pictures put up in the bathroom. I've been putting this off for months, as I hate all the measuring and maths. So I decided that I wanted to get them all marked up today, and started with the 'single' picture. I could only find two picture hooks, so decided to do one more that was in it's own space. Then measured the rest… and then spent longer locating the rest of the picture hooks than it actually took me to do the rest of the job. But they're up.

So next job is to put the screws back into my bedroom curtain poles, and fit the curtain wire. After that there will be two more lots of curtain wire to do, and then I can measure for curtains, order the fabric, and procrastinate over making the muslin curtains until the next heatwave!

Brie

We have milk dispensing machines scattered about the county and I love the delicious milk I can get from them - only £1.20 a litre and the money goes to the farmer so they get more than if they sell to Tescos or wherever. Problem was that a couple of weeks back I paid for a litre, positioned my bottle and pressed the start button whereupon it burped a few drops and then said "empty". So no milk for me. I texted the farmer to let him know but there's been no reply. Texted again yesterday but still nothing. And I've checked my bank statement and yes the £1.20 transaction went through.

Now my first thought was to get the bank to claim the money back. And then I thought "should I bother when it's "only" £1.20?" (I hate "only" with money as it's all relative). Losing £1.20 isn't going to dent my spending habits, I've been back to the machine and bought more milk which reminds me of how lush it is (full fat stuff, the best this side of high alps milk in Austria). So I wonder if I should bother. I think I might consider it a small donation to dairy farming which I keep hearing is a struggling industry.

greenbee

And I've moved the crap out of the plant room (there's a door which really should have been moved into the workshop, plus some bits of skirting - ditto, the door seal - which should be back on the door now the plaster is dry, and some electrical back boxes which will be used shortly), picked up all the stuff that no one bothered to clear up after the installation, hoovered it, and washed the floor. So it's all ready for plastering.

And am trying to persuade Stinky to stay indoors, without much success.

greenbee

And I've managed to tape a mylar sheet over half of one window. One sheet looks like it'll do two windows. I expect I'll get them all done by the end of the heatwave. Also, as I'm trying to avoid tape on the paintwork, I'm pretty sure they'll tear off if we have much wind (depending on the direction). I'll start with upstairs (seeing as the one I've done is in the bathroom) and work my way round.

PennysIntoPounds

You are all smashing it and @greenbee you are massively shaming me, well done on all that productivity!

Really should start packing since we're moving in a few weeks

greenbee

I need to pack up as the electricians are here on 16th/17th.

Using red parcel tape for the mylar sheets on the black aluminium windows wasn't such a good idea - I've replaced it with masking tape, but they're going to be messy when it comes off. I really do need to get shading sorted for the west-facing windows - the stupid black aluminium frames get ridiculously hot at the moment (and very cold in winter - and it's a huge expanse of glass getting late afternoon/evening sun. I think the decorator may be able to spray them the same colour as the wooden windows, which hopefully would absorb less heat.

So I need to replace the tape on the ensuite window (at least the red will be fairly easy to get off the glass), and do the bathroom window, as that's the only west-facing window upstairs and the blind needs adjusting to keep the light out.

I'm debating covering the big west-facing window, but should probably focus on packing up the office and utility room.

PennysIntoPounds

Took down the shelves in the loo so we can take them with us to the build this weekend

Have started making a pile of little boxes of delicate preciousessss to take them too so I'm not fretting about them going broken in move

Brie

@PennysIntoPounds put your precioussess in those banana boxes that the supermarkets use. The big flat cardboard ones with handles. I found they were great for packing all sorts of things like glassware and china as well as cds/dvds and books. They are solid, easy to carry and stackable.

PennysIntoPounds

Will keep an eye out, thanks @Brie

Rhyddid2026

I second the banana boxes. My grandfather swore by them and I've still got a couple (yet to sort out, it never ends) that were packed probably in the 90s and have been moved to at least 3 houses. Other boxes packed around the same time have fallen apart.