Help calm me. House buying and selling stress *Part 9*

I meant to say Niagra of course!

I visited the Canadian Falls in November 2016, what a tourist rip off. Was a very long two bus journey from Hamilton where my daughter was staying and we arrived at the bus station faced with a long walk and then a huge queue. Luckily it was not as cold that day. Very expensive tickets and a rubbish thin plastic bag mac issue that blew around nearly suffocating us. Wasn't impressed by the Falls and realised I was expecting the US side. I must find the photos when I unpack - it's a happy memory, really!!

Yogin I'm in Australia.

We visited Victoria Falls in 2014, not a lot of water flowing over but it was still lovely. We then spent a few days in Botswana at Chobe NP which was just amazing. This was part of a 3 week tour of South Africa and surrounds.

The cockatoos are very majestic to look at but so destructive and are often in huge flocks. We see them on one of our neighbours roof, happily munching away on their pool heating panels. Fortunately they leave ours alone. I think at the moment they are hungry.

Hi Razz Love that programme, really reminds me of my time in Africa. We were 2yrs in Victoria Falls & 4yrs in Natal/Transkii boarders. We did lots of travelling including Botswana.

You are a very busy lady Fran do enjoy it all.

Razz time you read this, you will be sitting on your new [or maybe still the old one] settee with your TV set up to watch, how wonderful after all this time and hard work. Think you deserve a little tonight.

It's 13 degrees here and I'm in my long dressing gown, it feels so cold!

Glad to report the curtain lady can come tomorrow, late morning.

Unfortunately my elderly cat has stopped eating, just sniffing it and walking away, so I have a vet's appointment early morning. I have managed to hand feed her a tiny amount of that disgusting turkey ham - why does it smell like that! My dog loves it. If these have been her last weeks, I'm glad they were spent here and not in kennels.

I'm just reading Alistair Mcall Smith's No 1 Detective agency Yogi, based in Botswana. Where were you?

Well done detective Fran glad to hear you had a good evening.

How amazing to have a crested cockatoo in your garden Spice! I'd love to see that. When I lived in Africa I came back to have my first child, it was also my sister's wedding that I should have been chief brides maid to, but on arriving home 7mnths pregnant was told I was too fat! I actually lose weight when I'm pregnant, so it was all baby. Anyway my D came 6 weeks early so my H missed the birth, but he flew in with a big bunch of Proteas, he carried them all the way from Africa to UK. I kept them for many years and through many moves too. Is it Africa or Oz where you live Spice?

ooh razz, nice satisfying plans are coming to fruition at long last and a good sleep awaits tonight

Yes most definitely autumnal feel now, it is grey, drizzly and much cooler here. There will likely still be what horse owners call the autumn flush, when horses can easily get laminitis, when the sun shines and for a short while the grass is rich in sugars. That is when I am hoping that my blueberries and apples grow their berry buds for next year

My energy was back yesterday, so much so that I changed my planned cycle ride from ebike to road bike and I came back satisfyingly sweaty. Thankfully back to normal

I am trying to settle on one good day a week for washing now and trying to remember that my eco 40 cotton wash takes 3 hours. I did yesterday and it was on the rotary line by 7.30. Two small washes followed and all was dried outside. Single person here, loves very large rotary line, means I can do a weeks wash on one day

Nothing too much today, bread is being made, panasonic of course. 1kg of nice very dark chocolate grated by my kenwood for my velvetisier which was a christmas present to myself several years ago. Very much cheaper to grate my own, sachets by that hotel cost a fortune

A kitchen cupboard tidied, some rose dead heading and now a coffee and mainly sock-making today. So normal for me now, energetic activities on one day and quieter on the next day. Definitely was a hedgehog in a past life

So very well done, Razz, you have come through a very stressful period, and - hopefully, it is all the way clear sailing now. I have to admit that tv is a very important part of my life - my main source of entertainment. Of course is the past few weeks I have been able to watch gymnastics from both the Commonwealth Games and European Championships. Am already feeling a little withdrawal symptoms as they are both now finished. I watch very little in real time, record all programmes on my Humax and then watch what I want to watch, as and when I want to see it.

Had a pleasant day yesterday, with a visit from my youngest daughter (one of the twins), with her hubbie and youngest daughter. (Their eldest daughter is attending a 'Hunger Games' camp near Bristol).

All went very well, lunch here, they then went for the walk over the top of Weston Woods to Sand Bay (accompanied by my daughter here and g.son). I went by two buses - and met them and we went to a super tea rooms there. Then back on the bus, them all sitting upstairs (open top), me downstairs. Met up then at in the my daughter's garden where we had a takeway chinese which also included the rest of her family.
Have a busy couple of weeks, eldest daughter and gd visiting fora few days next weekend, then I go away for a weekend, and as soon as I am home I have my sister-in-Law visiting me for a couple of days. Then, I away for a weekend at my son &DiL. By the time I return from that I will need to relax and start battening down for winter.l

Morning all, I woke up to heavy rain, and it's cool today. Supposed to be warmer again later in the week but it definitely feels like autumn to me.

Furniture returns today, I'll be so glad to get my bed back. I woke up in the night down the side of the blow up bed, that was a first! I am going to ask the curtain maker if she'll put my new curtains up, I'm still going to sleep at the front and the streetlight always seems to find the crack in the temporary curtains.

I have scrubbed the walls of all the marks, but now need to decorate both front bedrooms. I've got a big white area in the blue bedroom where the wardrobe was, and orange squares in the other one where the unit had been painted. I'm going to stick with the F&B Borrowed Blue, but for the other one I'm still looking for an 'art deco' green colour I used to have in my kitchen. I hope I've still got the art deco bakelite handle and can go to B&Q to get the Valspar paint colour service to find it. I am going to have the other front bedroom as an office, guest bedroom will be at the back.

I'm looking forward to being able to set my tv up again, I haven't had one since November. Then to buy a sofa to sit on to watch it!

Have a good day everyone

I have read the back posts now. It is so nice to hear about your progress spice. Razz, it took me two years to get the courage to pull down the loft stairs, I thought it would bang down but it comes down to 15 inches and then I pull it the rest of the way. I hope you have a light up there but a head torch works. I hope you find ventilation up there

My slow cooker is on and I have made a veg-rich stew, lovely to have a local butcher for the 1lb of shin. That will be multi ready meals to freeze, I would much rather doing nice positive things than cooking. I deliberately bought the biggest upright fridge and matching freezer as I am always growing and making ready meals for myself, so I can get on with other things, while I am able

I had an e mail today to renew my bb contract, needless to say I did the roundabout route as usual and went via the website. It will be more expensive, what is new. It is actually doubled in price, I cannot avoid fibre any longer

Razzamatazz

How lovely to hear from you Spice, I am glad you are happy with your garden. I'm waiting for someone to come and take the cherry tree out - sadly it's been planted right up against the fence, it's going to grow into a large tree. I looked up your naughty cockatoo expecting a brightly coloured bird and was surprised. My friend rescued one in Norfolk many years ago, I remember him walking sideways on his perch, he bit everyone in his frustration at confinement. Glad yours is wild and free.

Glad you enjoyed your murder mystery night Franbern, and well done for getting the murderer! We went to a few up here, hosted by friends, but the last one wasn't well prepared and they stopped. I'm going to do some batch baking as my salads haven't really worked out, I hadn't bought enough veg protein, lettuce and tomato sandwiches last night! Beetroot had gone mouldy, won't leave it so long next time.

Gearing up for washing the skirting boards ready for Monday, largest room today, two other rooms tomorrow. Men also got black marks on the walls, hope it washes off ready for decorating, that's another job to deal with. Windowsills are black with mould, I'm going to have to leave the tiny windows locked open this winter and have the dehumidifer on, I need to buy one for each room. The trickle vents don't seem to 'trickle' at all, the back bedroom doesn't have any. I'll be getting the positive ventilation unit for the loft when I've saved up for it, hopefully that will work, then I can get the loft properly insulated and boarded. Or the other way round, that's another project. I'm scared to look up there, isn't it silly, I've never pulled the ladder down.

Have a good weekend everyone

Too windy for the beach here today unfortunately,

I had problems with black mould when I first moved into my bungalow, inside wardrobes, around windows and on bedroom wall joining the garage. Having a positive air exchange unit in my hall sorted out the problem very quickly! The company checked that my loft had the correct humidity levels for it to work before they quoted. It runs all the time, no on/off switch, but it barely audible. Highly recommend having one fitted even though they are rather expensive.

I haven`t read the above posts yet. Am recovering from the collywobbles after avoiding a very realistic scam on my phone.

Wrt dealership for car, appointment local on 24th. message from same dealership group but another town with a link with that town dealership number. Alarm bells and I never clicked on phone link. Voicemail, that person said that part is a one off and needs to be paid for in advance, they need cc number. Two `mistakes` ie miss and appointment in that further away town

I only noticed this today as I am not linked to my phone, only really use it for calls and family whatsapp

I did some phoning today, that named person works in that further away town dealership, in service dept. Hence he would not be ordering the part. So I have the evidence and will take my phone on 24 to local dealership and speak to manager. They have been hacked. Son says that many big businesses are hacked but they keep it quiet

Now I need a chill pill

oops pressed enter without checking! We have a big village show on and quite high winds and the odd rain shower. It's always horrible at the beach when the wind lifts the sand.

How lovely to hear from you Spice, I am glad you are happy with your garden. I'm waiting for someone to come and take the cherry tree out - sadly it's been planted right up against the fence, it's going to grow into a large tree. I looked up your naughty cockatoo expecting a brightly coloured bird and was surprised. My friend rescued one in Norfolk many years ago, I remember him walking sideways on his perch, he bit everyone in his frustration at confinement. Glad yours is wild and free.

Glad you enjoyed your murder mystery night Franbern, and well done for getting the murderer! We went to a few up here, hosted by friends, but the last one wasn't well prepared and they stopped. I'm going to do some batch baking as my salads haven't really worked out, I hadn't bought enough veg protein, lettuce and tomato sandwiches last night! Beetroot had gone mouldy, won't leave it so long next time.

Gearing up for washing the skirting boards ready for Monday, largest room today, two other rooms tomorrow. Men also got black marks on the walls, hope it washes off ready for decorating, that's another job to deal with. Windowsills are black with mould, I'm going to have to leave the tiny windows locked open this winter and have the dehumidifer on, I need to buy one for each room. The trickle vents don't seem to 'trickle' at all, the back bedroom doesn't have any. I'll be getting the positive ventilation unit for the loft when I've saved up for it, hopefully that will work, then I can get the loft properly insulated and boarded. Or the other way round, that's another project. I'm scared to look up there, isn't it silly, I've never pulled the ladder down.

Have a good weekend everyone



Too windy for the beach here today unfortunately,

Had a lovely evening yesterday. At these 'Murder' dinners, everyone is so very friendly and, of course, you have to 'chat and discuss' with everyone else on your table. Actually our table was divided on Who Did It - so two of them came in with=me and my daughter and WE GOT IT CORRECT!!! Wow - all those years of reading murder stories and watching Morse, MSM[s etc. etc. finally paying off!!!! Not seen this company before, but, as usual, they all work so hard and do so very brilliantly.

Cooking just for me (most of the time), I never, batch cook now, cannot really see any point in taking up freezer space with pre-prepared meals. Takes me little time to prepare my main meal from scratch - thanks to compact slow cooker, compact air fryer, microwave, etc. etc. On the very few occasions that I do not feel well enough to do this I am quite happy with a quick omelette, or poached egg, or baked beans, or cheese on toast, or a baked potato.

Spice I changed from a lifetime of using gas hobs to a ceramic one when I first moved here. Then, when kitchen was re-fitted to an Induction one. Takes a while really to get used to it, but am loving it now, and it is far safer than the ceramic one.

I have learned, over the years, which repairs I can cope with and which need more of an expert - so would never even dream of touching anything involving electricity, gas or plumbing. These days nothing which involves me needing to climb any sort of high steps or ladder, I still enjoy doing most of my own internal decorating, - although my children do not approve of me doing it (always worried that I will have a fall). My attempts of putting plaster on a wall where there were some large holes (due to taking things off it), are not really very good, Only in spare bedroom - but I do need to decide whether to get in a plasterer or just to cover it up with a heavy lining paper. The 'other small window repair' the technician did whilst the was here, was due to ME trying to sort out the damaged security lock on that window. When I moved in it would not open, only a very small window onto balcony - when I managed to get it open discovered it was this security bolt that was the problem, and my DIY attempts at dealing with this, meant I could not close that window fully - and last winter had to put something all around it and cover it in plastic wrap to try to stop the wind and cold coming in (not really successfully). He has now removed that security bit (does not need it, window far too narrow for anyone to be able to climb through it), so it now now opens and closes fully,.

Just watched a sulphur crested cockatoo in the act of demolishing some of our new plants. They are so destructive. Thankfully it was a solo one and was sent on his way swiftly Hope he does not return with mates.

So glad your floor is done now Razz hopefully it will all be positives for you now. What an awful time you've had since moving.

It is now 18 months since we moved in here and have now done all of the major things we planned in the house and garden - and a few unplanned ones!. Except for the final few pieces of turf to be laid on Tuesday. So pleased with the garden, it cost a lot of money but we have something that we are very pleased with and have had so many positive comments from passers by. It is so different to what was here and there is plenty of colour and interesting plants. One of my favourite plants is a leucadendron which is of the protea family. Unfortunately it will be a while before the plants reach maturity so I'll need to be patient. Looking forward to seeing growth when the weather warms up though.

Still need to buy some furniture but Mr S is reluctant to do that as he says we don't need it. Our GD will likely be needing to find her own place soon so I'll offer her our surplus furniture and then we will need to fill some rooms!

My new induction hob oven is in place and I'm quite happy with it but to be honest not overly so. I think I would have been just as happy with a ceramic hob at half the price. Still, it is far better that the gas one I had.

Our solar panels are up and producing a good amount of power for us. Unfortunately no battery so no storage but we do generate between 60 and 75% of our daily need which given the lack of sunshine is pretty good. CO2 savings are 295kg, 7 air kms, 8 trees or driving 1187 kms. All in 5 weeks

Best wishes to everyone and hope the worst of the heat is over for you and all those in the selling/buying cycle are soon in your new homes.

Fran Hope you enjoyed your murder meal last night, I've been to one and they are good!

Oh dear re wasps nest Razz sounds horrible!

Well done on all your baking & DIY Karmalady I always try to fix things first before calling someone out, although have come unstuck sometimes and wished I'd left alone! I'm still doing a lot of cooking due to my son living with me now, still doing a full Sunday roast dinner as he says how much he really loves it. If I was on my own I wouldn't be doing all this cooking .

Ughhh. razz, I`ll have that in my mind now

Evening everyone, you worrying about things being broken made me look at the wasp's nest which I'd left in here on a piece of kitchen towel, ready to give my friend's teaching assistant daughter

FULL of horrible little black flies, they all came rushing out of it when I touched it like something out of a horror film! It's in the garden now!

I agree too about things not working properly, I have a slightly loose window handle on a small landing window. Next step, if I leave it, is a yank to close it and out it will pop. So another maintenance job for me. I too think it is so important to keep up with maintenance, while we can and while jobs are relatively small and just need a screwdriver

My benches are done and thinking back, we did buy one of those benches together so it is at least 12 years old. In very good condition because of the oiling year on year.

I cleared and dug a 1 x 1m veg bed, got a large bucket of stones out. House is built on a quarry, footings are down to solid rock and 12 feet deep. My neighbour and I are convinced that the rain brings stones up

Made a large pizza to cut and freeze and am baking the vegan lasagne that I had in the freezer, also for smaller portion ready meals. I have a whole empty freezer drawer and it was hard last couple of weeks as there was really nothing quick to eat, apart from salads. I can put that right

I feel like a car ride to the nice supermarket tomorrow, will get the stuff I need for a big slow cooker casserole, which is also destined to portion for ready meals. Probably will buy a treat too as it is the weekend

I so agree with you, Franbern, about worrying over things not working properly. Late DH’s motto was “procrastinate now” which caused real friction and often greater expense in the end, so at least it’s up to me now. Trying to future proof life is sensible and you have really done the job properly. I will need to decide what to do if I downsize because I have a great support system of local friends and want to stay local. In the meantime keeping everything up to a reasonable standard is effort enough.

Yes, Razz, new keys need to be taken back and either sorted or replaced. Reminds me that I need to get some more of our front door security keys cut. These are very special keys, which only the Management Company can get copied. We keep a few in the office to sell on to any flat owner that wants extra ones, but means we can also keep a records of how many of these each flat has.

Everything is going up so much in price and charges for everything are unbelievable.
I always have to control myself in August - as I have a bad habit of worrying too much about the coming winter and not enough time enjoying the end of summer. It is still very mild here, day and night. Still only a single sheet on my bed all night and windows open. On our journey through Devon on Wednesday, it was noticeable that many trees are starting the change to autumn colours. Very early......I really do think we are in for a very harsh winter. Not really worried for myself, my flat is pretty weatherproof. Do think many families are going to struggle in so many ways over the next year.

I am intending to have a very a lazy day - really slept well last night, the worry about the patio door has interfered with my sleep all week. Had a lovely afternoon, after it was repaired, watching the Mens' GB gymnastics team do so very brilliantly in Munich. I rarely go out in evenings, but am off tonight to a 'Murder Meal' with daughter. We booked this several months back, and they are usually extremely enjoyable.
Razz - will be so exciting when you furniture is back in place on your lovely new floors, and you can unpack and really start to move forward. Many congratulations on the way you have managed to cope with all this tremendous upheaval - makes me feel even more guilty about my fuss about a patio door and television - will put it down to my age.

I have just booked myself in for a short course in Introduction to BSL. always wanted to have more understanding of this - do not think I am up to fully learning it (it is like any new language), but just some basics would be good. Anyway, always good to keep my brain active. Does not start until October, will keep you informed as to how it goes.

Hopefully, next week the lift will be properly sorted out. It is working at the moment following an emergency repair, but needs some parts taken away and replaced which is booked for next week. I know that we (the Committee) have done everything we can (including my heartfelt appeal which resulted in that emergency repair), but, it does play on my mind. I hate ANYTHING that is not working as it should be. Never understand how so many people have things in their homes that either do not work at all or only work badly.

Weekend coming up again. Have my youngest daughter (and hubbie) and their youngest (my youngest g.child), visiting on Sunday. Their eldest daughter is going to weekend special camp near Bristol, so the rest of the family are camping near by. We will meet up at my flat on Sunday and go out locally for a few hours. Weather forecast is good.