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

My first day of cave routine today. Insulator blinds down and shutters shut on the east side and I will follow the sun and do the same on the west just before the sun hits the house on that side. I do the reverse when the sun leaves each side. Friday is going to be a belter, just one day but dangerous heat. Any outdoor chores need to be done by tomorrow

Pottering today, basic housework at a slow pace

Thanks for the heads up karmalady, I'm east west too, I'll keep my curtains closed on Friday. It's 60 here at last, makes such a difference not having to wear my huge coat. I'm not watching the news as I haven't got tv, only my laptop, but I saw severe floods in Turkey. The climate is changing so rapidly we might end up having a barbecue on the beach at Christmas.

I've just realised when I'm camped in the other room, my modem will be stuck here in the front room. Hopefully nothing will happen and I won't have to do some mad joist hopping to get to it.

Not feeling great this week with hayfever symptoms which is odd, the oil seed rape fields have gone over now.

Have a good day everyone

I saw a climate and sea level map earlier, my house will be a few miles from the sea one day. My back garden is such a sun trap, it affects the warmth in my house. Good in winter, not so much in hot summers

Sitting now with a tea with lemon, it is nice too. More cooling than water

I saw what was eating my strawberries overnight, went outside at 8.15, a very cheeky blackbird, pecking on the red side of each strawberry. I am collecting them in too early every day, when just a blush of red but they ripen nicely indoors in one or two days. I am getting at least a bowl every day. Anyone growing berry fruit like strawberries and blueberries, tomato fertiliser once a week

Button sorting this afternoon and bagging into different sizes. Most of my buttons are vintage, I have hundreds. Not much else going on, washing is all done and dried fabrics are put away. Floors lightly washed, a bit of skirting dusting. Cloakroom cleaned. Its a very easy house to keep clean. Oh yes the biggest ever spider, sitting in the unused bath. I used to have a spider catcher thing but couldn`t even think of using the glass and cardboard technique as it gave me such a shock. Ok I had to vac it but at least it has a fighting chance in my dustbag

shandy, hayfever is a bad thing for so many. Oilseed rape pollen does not travel far as it is heavy, the rapeseed perfume can affect people with allergies. General pollen, rises up in the morning and comes down at dusk. It is not good to dry clothing, bedding and towels outside during pollen season. I see that pollen is high in NE and VH down south. Pity help the sufferers, it is nasty.

I have air filters in my house, were very expensive and I bought my first filters when my husband was suffering, he developed asthma when about 40. I have bought some for my children, the filters alone cost loads. The one in my lounge has readings and colours. Particulate reading is excellent and voc reading is good. I have the fan speed setting on auto. Quietly and efficiently working away. I have one on all night in my bedroom too. It was money well spent

Morning all, a scorcher today. I got up at 7.30 am which is early for me! to walk my sheltie, he does suffer with his thick coat. I'm taking him to the beach at 7 pm tonight, I went yesterday afternoon and it was too hot.

My bungalow is by the fields of oilseed rape, I can't avoid them unfortunately, I'm really suffering again today! Your air filter system sounds great karmalady.

A widow on Mumsnet is having the most dreadful time with her buyer, and has now deleted her thread. Her buyer waited to have his survey and is now 'negotiating' for money off, I do feel for her. I hope everyone in the process is doing OK. I do feel grateful that this bungalow will be an easy sale once I've had the work done, it is such a great location.

Stay cool everyone - and don't forget your pets

so sorry about being close to oilseed rape shandy, it was not something we thought about when we moved to the last village. Fortunately for us, that field sideways to us was for winter wheat, unfortunately for nature, year after year. They planted rape the year after my husband died. He had a lucky escape

Shandy, did I detect a tone of restlessness in your post? Perhaps not being there for the long term. I understand that. Its a learning process, we never stop learning anyway. There is the pretty location and the practical location. I must say that I have never, in my eight house moves (mostly for work!), felt that tearful emotion that you see sometimes on escape to the country. I have never been wedded to a house.

I am still button sorting, have a huge amount, vintage mostly. Sets into individual little packages and into zip locks labelled with the rough size. Its quite a nice job on such a hot day. I am now drinking hot coffee as that will cool me down better than a cold drink.

Its going to be hell on the roads here next week, glasto and no trains. I must see about making sure I have in what I need and get any driving over and done with on monday

It has been a lovely positive day. Linen/viscose kaftan is so cool and makes me walk more slowly. I have finished the button sorting, realised that I have never thrown buttons away and still have the ones on my outfit from when I was carrrying my first born at his christening. The buttons date back beyond that date, which was 1971. Several of them are identical on etsy and that has made me realise that my giagantic button stash is worth a lot of money. I must tell the children about their value, otherwise they might be `just buttons`

I picked a few more lb of gooseberries, they are now ready to freeze whole. I changed into jeans and long sleeved thin t shirt for that prickly job and that was too warm, compared to my roomy kaftan, makes me appreciate linen all the more

I did an hour of sewing, finished the sleeves, sewn them on and put on one cuff, which was enough for today. Now I feel like a tonic, without the gin. I have some small fevertree cans in the fridge. It is a treat

Tea was yummy, I felt like simple food so had a couple of boiled eggs and some toast from hm granary. Also strawberries and yoghurt. Strawberries are providing so well, a bowlful every day. I felt like marmite and put salt on my egg, my body must have needed some salt

Happy birthday Fran [cupcakes]

Yes very kind of you * Bean*

Morning all

Going to be a really hot one today, 30` they say.

Karmalady It's bad luck to kill a spider in your house & they will eat all the flies & mosi, so they do us a good job. [sure you know that] I just let them run around, only seen a couple here. When I was hoovering last week, one kept darting in and out of below a unit, quite amusing. Having said all that, years back I did suck a spider up the hoover and like you Karmalady thought it would survive, I took the bag outside, but on tipping it all out the spider was died .

Shandy will you go with your aunt to view? If so maybe, you can point out the grass is always greener & how expensive and exhausting it is to move, the distance doesn't make a deference.

I am one who dislikes cutting out the sun - find it makes rooms very stuffy. I prefer to welcome it, but keep every window open and fans on. Some windows )eg( bedroom) are opened in April and usually left slightly open until about October .

As my flat is at one end of our block, I have some windows facing South West ( my large patio doors and my bedroom) and the others (kitchen, dining area, 2nd bedroom facing East. It means that sunshine floods in from early morning throughout the day - wonderful. Type of windows mean that they can nearly all open pretty wide. All are now open, including patio door (balcony at present in shadow), . There is a little breeze (I can see tree tops on main road moving), and the whole flat feels bright and cool.

I have a good tower fan in my living room and a small one in the bedroom. Not going out today (have a cttee meeting here this afternoon), both fans will be in use then and I will have a jug of iced water with lemon for the three people attending.

I love the summer - detest the winter and the dark. No way would I plunge my living area into darkness. I do have a couple of parasols that I use on the balcony that help shade the windows from the afternoon sun - but that is all.

From what I see on tv - people are on the beach now, letting small children play in the sand, before it all gets too hot - very sensible. Of course, it will not last long - by tomorrow temperatures will be back down again!!!

I am feeling very lazy at present - no plans for any projects. I do find myself actually walking about my flat admiring it. It is also so very easy to keep clean, takes me very little time to run the vacuum over the carpet in my bedroom and the hard flooring everywhere else. A little bit of dusting occasionally, and bathroom and en-suite and kitchen floor mopped over (Vileda spray and mop), every few days. Toilet in my en-suite cleaned each day as I am getting dressed and all is done. Seem to spend more time with (at present) daily watering of plant pots on balcony, and my indoor potted plants.

I sometimes wonder how people in work can chase things up. Yesterday afternoon I spent more than hours on phone calls to TWO organisations trying to sort out problems. One to my credit card company - finally successful after one hour phone call on Monday, a letter sent to them, and nearly two hours on the phone to them yesterday. The second to my local council, not such a successful outcome!!! I had the time and could just leave my smartphone close to me whilst the eternal muzak was being played and I got on with other things.

This morning, a purchaser is supposed to be coming to get my larder fridge. This is a lovely machine, three years old, frost free and in perfect condition. I am offering it at £45 which is a total bargain - new, the same model is about three hundred quid. Someone actually replied to my advert asking if I would accept £25!!!! I told them that if it did not sell at bargain price of £45, then I will just donate it to a charity. Those people who make those sort of offers are not usually in need of these items, they just chance their arm in buying them at total knock down price, and then sell them on a far higher price.

Apologies for just meandering on. Hope everyone is well, and sellers and buyers are getting good results. That anguish and stress (which I had between 2015 and 2019) has really worked out so well for me. Hope everyone else has similar success.

Morning all, dull and overcast, but still warm.

I'm envious of your buttons karmalady, I gave my Mum's button box away during my decluttering, I wish I'd kept it. I paid a lot of money on ebay for my aunt's buttons last Christmas, she was going to make a waistcoat. I've just found out she gave the pattern and fabric to the church appeal, unfortunately her friend's sewing machine broke and she didn't want to hand sew it

And you are right about the restlessness, this was a good buy investment wise, and I am 'safe' here as I know a lot of people, but I'm bored stiff. When my dog dies, I think I will be moving to somewhere with more life.

Have a good day everyone and be careful if it's hot, no heat stroke please! My daughter's friend suffered terribly in Cambodia, even in the shade.

We crossed posts Franbern. I spoke to my aunt yesterday and encouraged her to look at the local Abbeyfield, rather than the flat, with a view to 'future proofing'. I had already given her the information in 2020 but she couldn't remember. She does have a friend that lives there already. She said about 'my inheritance' and I said to forget about that and do what is best for her.

She said she only wanted to look at the flat for 'interest' - I said without being on the market, with the new Covid rules, I didn't think that would be allowed. I think I need to go down and visit her, and get her to activate her LPOA, as soon as the floors are done I'll get organised.

shandy, yes I agree with you, otherwise it will be like sitting in a corner, waiting to get old. That happens to a lot of people. Try the youtube walks through any area that you might fancy. You may reject some places because of the ambience in the central area, betting shops, tacky shops, unkempt people just hanging around etc You can actually get that ambience via the walk and you would also pass shops, theatres, signs etc to give a real flavour

I love my flexible system, here my solar shading, to bounce the solar waves back out for a while. My room remains light and airy, as I have windows on 3 aspects of my kitchen/dining and living room. I just follow the sun wrt solar shading as needed

I am never depressed, not even in the depths of winter and I am always ready for each change of season. I have two good fans tucked away in a cupboard but am not needing them at present.In- house temperature is nice

I did some plant replacement in two large tall containers this morning, that is how my day always evolves, I never planned it. Got rid of two small azaleas that didn`t do anything for me. Replaced the compost with a very gritty substrate and popped two baby dwarf lavenders in. I have disturbed blackbirds in my blueberry bushes this morning, so here I go, picking any turning blue each evening, they will ripen indoors. The blackbirds will get fed up and go and pick someone else`s berries, I hope

Shandy, it is rather useful, having a neighbour selling. Gives you a good idea of actual value and a base for your plans

Do you both need to activate LPOA via a solicitor shandy?

Thanks karmalady, I will try the on-line walks. I remember sitting at a bus stop in Exmouth and feeling quite nervous, it was grotty where I was waiting. Most of the shops were shut, and there was rubbish blowing everywhere. I think I told you I offered to look after a man's dog when he tied it up next to me to go into the big Iceland, a really bouncy springer. Was awful because he was really bouncy and he suddenly found a dummy in the leaves and I couldn't get it off him! Was glad when the owner returned

Not sure about the LPOA being activated, I'll have to find out, but I don't think my aunt is coping well with life's problems. The phone incident at Christmas was an easily solved problem, but it was turned into a huge drama by her friend. As it turned out my aunt's upstairs neighbour is a BT engineer, and he fixed the problem on the pole outside. I can't go down until the floors are fixed, hopefully nothing will happen in the next six weeks.

My aunt has just phoned - her neighbour is with her, helping her with the mobile phone. Planning my trip down to see her now, hopefully I'll be able to arrange for her to see the assisted living place while I'm there.

Cooler weather all next week, phew, suits me as it will still be warm enough to sit out. Flaming june is not so this year, it was the volcanic eruptions, we always get a cooler summer the following couple of years

I spent a couple of hours in the kitchen from about 5 pm yesterday, made a large vegan/keto lasagne to freeze, as I have family vegans coming in a few weeks. I do feel easier now that I have some home made vegan food in my freezer. It involved a lot of aubergine and courgette frying in oil and the resulting mess around the hob

Off to the local shops at 9, the small shops shut at 1 as saturday is quiet in town. I don`t need much, if anything, but may well get a mini watermelon as well as anything that takes my fancy from the greengrocer and delis. I need to consult my shopping list on alexa. The little wholefood/deli always has lots of surplus produce outside, from a community allotment and from local people, it is a random choice

It is a worry about your aunt shandy, she obviously values your input. I hope she likes assisted living. I have met some people from assisted living accommodations, they all liked it, the help being on hand and the freedom to lock up and go on holiday but it was oh so pricey. My niece came to visit the other day, her mum had to go and live in a care home. she was very reluctant but likes it now. She told me the cost, £6000 a month. I think my hair stood on end.

Back just in time to grab my washing off the line as the rain started dribbling down. Drying now in the dining area

Food has most definitely gone up, I bought a bunch of beetroot with leaves, must have been grown abroad or in polytunnels. It worked out as 70p a beetroot. They are pressure cooking for 15 minutes now and will last 5 days. I am glad I planted out far more beetroots than normal. They will cook and freeze if necessary, I don`t have space for an old style storage system outside. These with leaves will be much more tender than last years old beetroots

Impulse buy, double cream when I saw very thick yeo yoghurt. Both in the fridge and I will make proper ice cream later, lightly whipping the cream, mix with the yoghurt and add some top notch fruit conserve. To do that I have done some heavy lifting. My `must be vintage` ice cream maker, gaggia gelato, was plonked on a lower kitchen shelf under a butchers trolley and I don`t think I could face lifting it out for two years. Brainwave, it is now permanently on the utility room worktop and I have done some jiggling, moving other stuff but it is all working for me. Still tweaking and re-positioning after moving here over 3 years ago

It is relatively dark today, just heavy-looking clouds. No wind

Morning all, cooler here today.

I know what you mean about the weight of your ice cream machine karmalady, I have a KitchenAid and it's like moving an anvil! I'm gifting it to my daughter as I don't cook, the microwave and scissors are my kitchen limits

shandy, I do see what you mean

I am reluctant to give anything else away, sometimes tempted, like my sourdough equipment but then I go into another sourdough phase. I am happy that I managed to stow everything quite neatly and accessible

What a storm last night!

I used to make sourdough bread Karmalady so quick & easy, but I know buy it from Tesco as it's ready cut and has multi seeds, very tasty.

I kept my mum's sewing box, so along with my own have quite a collection of buttons too.

Morning all, cooler this morning. I can't remember which coast you are on Yogi, I'm on the east coast with the North Sea, and it was humid last night. My dog was distressed, I had to pull the curtains so he got a breeze from the top window. I'm nervous to sleep with the bigger one open, even locked, and the fan is too noisy to keep on overnight.

Father's Day at last, always a sad day for my kids. I expect the beach will be busy today, I'm going late tonight as it's not getting dark until about 10.

I am trying not to think of fathers day and times past, at least those happy times are locked up in good memories. I don`t remember any fathers day when I was a child, I think it was dreamt up by the card companies. It just used to me mothers day and a child with a little posy of flowers

I made the ice cream, the easiest ever and could very easily be quickly made by hand, to freeze in a box. Delicious, I only licked the utensils after it was in the freezer. I have washed everything, need a small bottle of milton which I will buy tomorrow, to make sure everything is properly sterilised

I am sewing today, with frequent breaks, it is a warm winter sweatshirt with kangaroo pockets and a cowl neck, I shall be able to wear layers with this.

I had a popup email just now and (whisper) I have just bought my present to myself advent calendar, all sewing goodies and will be much better for me than the lakrids calendar I bought last year, which was so delicious that I became addicted and have had to wean myself off chocolate coated licquorice eve since

We had a lot of driving rain last night. The water butts will be full

Shandy re you being nervous with the window open even when locked, that has to be on your wants list for your next property, it is obviously important to you for your security. Either house or an upstairs apartment. I never leave any downstairs open when I am not downstairs, not even on the slightly open locked setting and all my downstairs are always locked or insurance would be invalidated

Yes, another US celebration we've adopted, but my husband did enjoy being spoilt for the day. He ate a lot of half baked cakes/raw biscuits the kids made him!

ha ha karmalady, I remember being on WW once many moons ago, and everyone else was having ice cream. I licked the scoop and my tongue got stuck, I remember feeling terrified for a minute until I thought to put my tongue and the scoop under the tap! Enjoy your sewing, I spoke to my aunt this morning and the IOW is most unJune like too.

Yes, I was annoyed the seller didn't leave any keys for the windows and did contact her to ask where they were - she said she'd not been given them. She was obviously much braver than me. My friend lived in a ground floor flat on a rough council estate in Acton, and her bed was under the window. She was woken up one night by a man stepping on her stomach getting in through the window, luckily her screams frightened him off. I've never forgotten it. We were also burgled when I was 11, never forgotten that either. I will get an alarm when my dear old dog passes.

I've cut the grass back and front, and pruned the big tree that stops the rotary washing line going round. Now to have a pleasant read!