I’m not sure if I mentioned previously but we’ve been having some long awaited work done at home, and it’s almost coming to an end after what feels like a very long time.
It’s been difficult, especially over the past few months whilst we’ve at been home and unable to escape, the whole house has been turned upside down and nothing seems to be where it should. We wasn’t able to use the garden for over a year, but That’s sorted now which makes a big difference.
It just doesn’t feel like home, I don’t really like being there, it’s not the sanctuary that it should be and that’s quite sad I think.
I’ve struggled mostly with the mess and the dust, and also there always seems to be someone in the house carrying out a job.
Anyway it looks like we can finally see the end and will hopefully have our home back soonish, the clean up job will be immense and I’ll probably need to take a week off to try and tackle it.
So that’s some good news that’s come from a very stressful time I guess, to be honest I’m not quite sure how I feel about the house right now, it’s been a rocky road and far from straightforward and sometimes that taints how you feel about something doesn’t it? The excitement of everything has worn thin and the reality of living on a building site for over a year has well and truly made its mark.
I apologise if this post comes across as feeling sorry for myself.
It’s hard to take a good look at yourself, but sometimes it’s what you need.
I know I can be very difficult, quite miserable and short tempered, I know I need to let these things go, I need to detach myself from ‘stuff’ and buying to make myself feel better, this is something I do quite a lot and I’m concerned that I’m passing it onto my daughters (in particular- the boys have no interest in buying anything unless it’s food).
Anyway - that was a bit deep!
Chicken Talk
On a happier note, the chicks are doing well, two are very big now and most of them are starting to fly which is funny, the dog just can’t work out what’s happening!
They all sleep together in a little huddle and seem to have paired off as they can usually be found in twos.
I’m keen to find out how many hens we have, one of them has really fluffy feet and is like a little puffball.
I really wanted to give them all Pretty old lady names like Marjorie, Rosemary and Winifred, or even maybe Henrietta 🤗 but the tiniest one has inadvertently been named Chickadee.
Daily Life and Chit Chat 💭
Friday is payday and I won’t be having a spending spree, I will hopefully be making my first (of many) mortgage overpayment. I’m strangely excited about it.
In the past payday would have equalled a takeaway, meal out or date night, a shopping trip plus a few internet orders of some description.
The eating out and takeaways are the ones I’m most pleased to have given up, since March we’ve had one take away which was Fish and Chips, when our kitchen had been ripped out and we had no way of cooking. I’m proud of the fact I’m still resisting the lure of fast food too. Long may it continue.
The ‘diet’ is still going well, we all know that at first you lose loads of weight and they it starts to slow down, I’m a bit of a nightmare for weighing myself too often and then feeling rubbish when the scales don’t show what I’d hoped.
Over the weekend I wasn’t feeling great, I had a bad migraine and it knocked the stuffing right out of me for most of it. I ate what I could manage and then instantly regretted it because my weight is always at the forefront of my mind, and I know that losing it once and having a binge can easily lead to falling off the wagon long term.
We were supposed to be going on holiday at the end of August, it’s now looking like this won’t be happening as the FCO travel advice has changed, however the company we booked with back in January seem to think it’s fine and that the trip can still go ahead. I don’t want to lose my deposit obviously, but equally I’m not happy to travel against the advice of the FCO, especially as our insurance would then become invalid.
This leaves me in a very difficult situation and also probably means that we won’t get to go on holiday again this year, last year we didn’t go away, well we did take a trip to see my Grandma but to be honest that was a very difficult and sad visit.
Nothing’s ever simple is it?
I’ve got two long days at work tomorrow and Thursday, followed by Friday off, so it’s not all bad!
Here’s a photo I took on my way to work, I pass this everyday and it’s a nice spot to stop for a minute in the mornings.
Chickadee is adorable. Renovations are taxing at the best of times, then add Covid etc into the mix and it's enough to drive anyone crackers.i totally understand how the house feels tainted hopefully once its ship shape you'll fall in love with it. I would highly encourage overpaying your mortgage if you can afford to, it pays dividends. One of my followers during my living on my pension savings period who was a nurse used to bank all savings on a daily basis. If she didnt have a coffee and a sandwich at the canteen the £6 went off her mortgage. SHe took in a lodger and eventually cleared it. Then she saved for early retirement. She was going to Greece to look after turtles. I was well impressed by her steadfastness. If the FCO say it's not safe to travel you are entitled to a refund. I think it's going to be a long while before travel will be straightforward. I cancelled my holiday at the end of August and list my deposit but I'm asthmatic and hubby is type one diabetic of 40 years so it wouldn't be advisable.
ReplyDeleteMy plan is to try and make an overpayment every month by direct debit, so it just becomes part of the ‘bills’ so to speak and hopefully after a while we won’t miss that money! I believe I can set up a recurring payment to be taken on a set day every month. I love it when I read other peoples stories because it makes it achievable, and I can see that it’s not out of our reach.
DeleteIf it’s not there then I can’t spent it, well that’s the way I’m going at it.
How amazing to be spending the days in Greece looking after the turtles, I’ve seen them on the beach and they lay their eggs in the sand then volunteers come along and check on them during the night.
I’ve regretted the home improvements more than once and I’d never dream of doing it again, it’s aged me about 10 years, my poor husband has high blood pressure anyway, after all this it’s almost through the roof.
Thank you! I’m ok now, it’s good to get it all written down and then you kind of give it up, it’s like the old saying a problem shared is a problem halved 🙂
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