Hi all, I’ve been away for a bit. No time 😭. But lovely to see Collie back 👋🏻 (I’ve been around for ages, used to have a festive name). I also remember the lists, they were amazing. I remember when you and Girlie bought your homes!
I also loved the detectorists. So subtle but wonderful.
I’m having an even harder time with work than usual - my staff have been dropping like flies so
I’m covering a lot of ground and I have some big deadlines. There have been lots of 3am finishes, I am the most tired I’ve ever been! Another long evening ahead, but after my deadline tomorrow I’m hoping for some breathing space for a day or two.
The renovation work continues, with its highs and lows. Right now my house is propped up with those acrow prop things, and my ‘kitchen’ is a pile of rubble. I think the steels were going in on Friday so we should be past the peak of demolition etc and it should start to take shape from now. We move home in 8 weeks (probably without a finished kitchen but nearly there) so it better had do!
So far the budget is under pressure, of course…. There’s always something to add, but not much to take out. It will save us thousands if we paint the new bits ourselves but that does complicate matters with second fix and flooring etc, so I’m not sure what we’ll do about that. We don’t have £10k for decorating but nor do I have time to do it - that much decorating, in my ‘spare’ time, will take me a year, especially as I have to do the kids’ bedrooms too.
Anyway, the frugal challenges continue outside of the build work, which is in A Whole Nother Category (of finances and of brain!). Bit of spend this week on swimwear for the Dc, who have outgrown their stuff from last year, and on nice beach towels for us all, worth the investment as they are very lightweight and dry so quickly (we had one between us all before and I was impressed, but hoping we all get in the water a lot this summer so will need one each). Other than that, and building work, spends have been minimal. Except for food. I have lost control of that completely. Partly because I’m buying more convenience foods (ready meals for DH etc) due to time pressures, and partly because I’m shopping much more often because the fridge in this flat is tiny and also not cold enough - the top shelf is over 10C. Somehow shopping at least twice weekly, and top ups, makes a huge difference! (And Dh still doesn’t ‘do’ meat free meals 😬). Only 3 more weeks here then off to PILs and then on hols, I will be glad to see the back of this place honestly! That fridge is the bane of my life right now.
If I’m honest, I’m also eating a lot of chocolate and snacks. It’s all GOT TO STOP. Need to make some big changes when we get back home.