Summertime 2026

C_J

I’m joining you all on this thread feeling exhausted after a busy time gardening today. I am currently feeling positive that I could clear a number of OATS this month if I put my mind to it - we shall see 😁. There is a lot to do in the garden - all work ground to a halt in the last quarter of 2024 when Mister CJ was becoming increasingly unwell, and when he passed away at the end of January 2025 I pretty much gave up on any jobs for most of the year. I did keep the lawns mown, I’m quite proud of myself for that, but not a lot else while I was navigating grief, sad paperwork and probate etc.

However today I have really got to grips with what I grandly call my Perennial Garden (it’s just a flowerbed really, but if Monty can name zones in his garden then why can’t I?!). Last week I chopped out lots of wild brambles and pulled up nettles which had infiltrated it, so it’s now pretty much weed free. I resurrected a pebble fountain water feature which we took out when the driveway was widened a few years back, and I have installed it at the edge of the perennial garden next to the seating area. I asked on our local freecycle group if anyone had any chunky cobbles they no longer wanted, and was thrilled to receive bags and bags of them which have all been installed and they look great.

Last week I bought a tray of low growing perennials from the reduced section of the garden centre. I’ve lost the plant label but it could be mossy saxifrage, and I have spent the day planting those around the perimeter of the pebble fountain. I could do with some more though, so my first OAT is to check the garden centre tomorrow to see if they have any left. I also planted another 20 pots of perennials (all either reduced or from car boot and charity sales). Hardy geraniums, hellebores, skimmia, pieris, hydrangea, rosa rugosa in both red and white, lavender ….. no wonder I am tired and achey now!

It’s going to rain here for most of the week and I have a lot of social stuff planned so I doubt I will get much done in the garden. My OATS are however:

Check garden centre for more reduced price saxifrage
Sand and re-gloss front door frame
Another coat of white emulsion to walls and ceiling in the porch
Take one bin liner of clothes to charity shop
Recycle the tall stack of old magazines from my craft studio. They’re not worth passing on, I don’t think.

Sorry for the essay, it’s a bit of a brain dump - I’ll be more succinct next time 🤣

PennysIntoPounds

Post whatever is helpful to you in smashing those OATs @C_J 🥂

I have made a start on the start of month big flat clean. Yes I know its the 7th 😁

greenbee

Strawberries and peas picked (need to eat them now!). More tomatoes planted (turns out there are more strawberries alive than I realised too, so am having to navigate round those). Forgot about broad beans so will do those tomorrow.

Finally swapped out the last thermal roller blind for the light-filtering one - took seconds once I got the flathead screwdriver to help open up the fixing.

And think I have identified fabric for roman blinds in the sitting room - 10% off today, so I should probably order them and get it over with.

C_J

Check garden centre for more reduced price saxifrage. Done, plus some more reduced plants bought and all of them planted!
Sand and re-gloss front door frame
Another coat of white emulsion to walls and ceiling in the porch
Take one bin liner of clothes to charity shop. Done
Recycle the tall stack of old magazines from my craft studio. They’re not worth passing on, I don’t think Done

PennysIntoPounds

Continued big flat clean.

Ordered door hooks, bins, and a bedding set for build

Cheery_Daff

I've finally repotted my veg, and got to the end of the veg patch weeding (there will be more to do before I plant everything out, but I've made it from one side of the plot to the other so I'm counting that as a success! 😂)

greenbee

Heat pump is up and running. Not that I personally did anything other than nag…

Brie

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82027889#Comment_82027889

it's an essential part of the process I believe.

KajiKita

Chloe is booked in at the vet 9am Friday. She is then booked in at the cattery for later in the morning.

Wrote an email to the chapel chair again about the proposal that the band carry on practicing every week but in a different room that I got ambushed with as I walked into the folk evening on Saturday night … 🙄

I have two French adapters with USB and various other ports on them.

KK

bouicca21

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82027889#Comment_82027889

As I always used to day, if you did it when you were first asked I wouldn’t have to keep repeating it. It’s not nagging, it’s a reminder.

in the meantime I got rid of one of my OATs, took a bag of stuff to the charity shop - not top of the list but satisfying anyway.