A Successful Weekend at Our Welsh Flat

An original photo taken by me of the seafront at Llandudno.  

August 2015

 We had a very successful weekend at the Welsh flat, sorting out the things that we really needed to sort out, cleaning, hoovering and mowing for all we were worth and generally getting it on it's way to being able to be used.

How about a few before and afters:

The kitchen before ... note the first things to be unpacked were tea, coffee and the new kettle, I have my priorities right!!  😄

And here it is again just before we left for home.  

The fridge freezer and washing machine are now both in place and working perfectly, there is some food in the cupboards as well as the cutlery and crockery to be able to eat at the flat.

The living room.

Alan had just assembled our chairs and unwrapped the television ... supervised very well by Suky.

Sunday morning just before we left and the curtains are up and looking lovely, everywhere is clean and tidy and our temporary 'toaster box coffee table' is still in use.

And it would appear that Suky is still supervising goings on!

The main bedroom when we arrived, with it's freshly painted walls and new carpet being shown off beautifully in this photo.

And two days later with an actual bed, the curtains hung and a new lampshade.

The second bedroom.

We used this as a 'holding' room  for everything that we had brought with us while we worked on the other rooms, so it stayed messy right up until we were ready to leave.  First it held all the new purchases and things brought from home waiting to go into cupboards etc., and then it held all the wrappings and rubbish waiting for us to load the car and take away with us.

At the moment it just contains the lawnmower, some cushions ready for when we find a sofa, and a new cat litter tray for Ginger, who will be travelling with us whenever we go for more than one night.

And talking of lawnmowers ... once the batteries on our new lawnmower had charged Alan cut the grass, watched over intently by Mavis.  The dogs had obviously decided between them that Suky was to supervise the inside jobs and Mavis the outside ones.

And for those of you who like to see actual footage I did a Before and After in video format too, just two very short little clips of live action.

https://youtu.be/7TI45zSK1BE

https://youtu.be/yCIyJlQCqWw

So it was a very successful weekend, the drive home was a bit of an experience with all the heavy rain and standing water on the motorway, but we managed it safely and now we will be seeing if we can source some more of the things we need for the flat from Facebook Marketplace and perhaps charity shops.  We aren't buying much just the basics to make it comfortable and easy to use for us and my sons.

If you have any questions I will answer them in the comments of this post.

Sue xx

Flowers, Good Deeds, Books, Seeds and Deliveries

I was gifted a lovely bunch of pink carnations three weeks ago as a thank you for a little good deed I did via our town Facebook group.  They were unexpected and lovely, and have just lasted and lasted.  No doubt they will be going over in the next few days but while they were here they added an unusual splash of pink to my living room shelf.

The shelf is looking a lot more cluttered than usual at the moment, with my overflow of books having taken up residence since our holiday.  But do you know what I really like it.  There is just enough colour co-ordination to keep it looking organised and not over-crowded.

Well that's my opinion.  😁

A close up of the books for all of you lovely book addicts.  💖

My August edition of Kitchen Garden arrived this week with it's free seeds, which reminded me ...

... I have not yet read the July edition, or sown the red lettuce seeds that I meant to.  I must remedy that over the weekend, and I definintely want to get some cabbage seeds sown in pots ready to fill gaps that will start to appear in the wooden beds soon.

Although it will be a while for gaps to appear if I keep picking my spring onions one at a time. 😄

 I love being able to pick exactly what I need from the garden and not having to buy a whole bunch of something and having to find a use for it all.  Just one of the many perks of growing my own even in a much smaller space than I used to have.

We are off to the Welsh flat tomorrow to start kitting it out ready for use.  Fingers crossed that the first delivery arrives on schedule, it's the bed ... without it we will be sleeping on the floor!!

If you would like to see the flat, I will try and make a small film, or at the very least take lots of photos of it before we put things in.  And then maybe again afterwards, I guess I wouldn't be a true blogger if I didn't now would I.  😀

Sue xx

An Expensive Weekend

 

We seem to have spent the weekend and this morning giving all our money away, well that what it feels like.  Paying for the repainting and re-carpeting of the flat, then equipping it with the basics has not been cheap, but it is all worthwhile.

While we are using it we will have all the things that we need there for a comfortable time, and when we do come to sell it in the future it will be ready for showing.

We have ordered the bed and the fridge/freezer and they are on standby ready to be delivered.   Alan decided to buy himself a new television, so we will take his old one to the flat when we go, along with my old Freeview box and the spare DVD player we have.

We weren't going to buy a washing machine, but after a weekend with a poorly Pug* and lots of doggy bedding to wash, we thought it might be a good idea ... and it will fill the void that is in the kitchen next to the sink.

We went to Dunelm first thing yesterday to purchase bedding, curtains, lightshades and all the other things that you suddenly realise that you need.  Luckily between us we have managed to equip the cutlery and crockery parts of the kitchen and towels for the bathroom, so that is at least a bit of money saved.

But it's a lot of money spent!! 

 Oh well, thankfully it's almost all done now and I can stop gritting my teeth just long enough for my annual visit to the dentist.  Wish me luck.

Sue xx

*  Suky is much better now, it seems to have been a 24hr bug type thing, or perhaps something she picked up ... she's a sneaky, greedy little girl.

**  We are not really buying a set of bunkbeds!!  😄

Fluffy, Noisy Neighbours, Partying Bed Springs ... and It's Good to Be Home

Our neighbours at the caravan park.

I have never seen fluffy baby seagulls before, lots of speckled adolescents chasing round after chip stealing parents, but never the very young version.  They were lovely little things ... even if Mum was a bit vocal for a good part of the day.

After a visit to the flat and then on to our letting agents to discuss us not selling it, and a talk about how they had mistakenly given the go ahead for the redecoration and re-carpeting of the flat we drove into Llandudno.

The dogs both enjoyed the return visit to their favourite old stomping ground, and loved walking along the grass near the Little Orme.  The tide was right in and the beach that's usually there was well hidden, there was just a lone fisherman at the waters edge braving the grey skies and winds.

Moody skies but lovely fresh air.

Later after an evening playing bingo and having a drink in the club we enjoyed fish and chips in the caravan.  Then the next day we did a return visit to the flat to measure up for curtains and plan a few things for it's future.

The caravan was advertised a a 'Comfort' version ... it was nothing of the sort, and after two sore nights lying on a mattress with every spring having a party with it's neighbour we decided to call it a day and come home a day early to sort out some things that needed sorting.

 It's good to be home.

  

You only realise just how good home is when you leave it for a while!!

Sue xx

Weekend Shopping ... and Admitting I Gave You Clues to a Puzzle You Would Never Be Able to Solve

 

While I'm still doing the Food Cupboard challenge and trying to eat down the contents of the cupboard I've not really needed to go 'proper' shopping for a long time, but I do like to have a few treats in for the weekend and this morning while I was running some other errands I decided to call into Booths for this weeks shopping.

As you can clearly see it's virtually all treaty bits ... but hey, I deserve a treat.  And YAY Ten Acre crisps are back in Booths. 😁

Dangerously for me our Booths now has a 'donated book' bookcase, raising money for local charities.  I found these two on it this morning. 

I loved the television series of 'This is Going to Hurt' so it will be interesting to see if the book is as good, or perhaps even better, and the other one well that's right up my street isn't it.  Alan thought I already had it but he was thinking of Hovel in the Hills ... which is a real favourite of mine.

October 2017

Now after much searching on both of my blogs I have to hold my hands up and admit that I think I have given you a teaser that you would never be able to solve on your own.  I was sure, in fact I was absolutely positive that I had blogged all about us buying our Welsh flat ... it would seem I didn't.  I must have done it all on Facebook!!

I'm sorry ... well at least a bit sorry. 😏

November 2017

In early 2017 when we were living in North Wales, we received a sum of money that we wanted to use in a sensible way for our future, so we decided to use it to buy a flat near Llandudno.  We had by this time already paid off the mortgage on our Welsh house, so we just re-mortgaged that to make up the rest of the money that we needed for a cash purchase.  

Our idea was that once we were too old to be able to manage on the smallholding, we would sell the Welsh house, move into the flat and use the money from the sale as our pension top up money.  In the meantime we would rent out the flat so that we could repay the mortgage as quickly as possible and not have any debt.

11th December 2017

We bought off plan, choose all our fixtures and fittings and the garden surfaces etc, and then on our way through to Llandudno to walk the dogs each week we would visit 'our flat' to check on progress.

27th December 2017

It grew quickly, and it was brilliant watching the progress and chatting to the workmen each time we visited.

11th February 2018

The day we got there and found that the scaffolding had come down and they had started on the pavements and roads was a good one.

11th March 2018

And on our next visit we could walk on the road and pavements and have a peek through the windows ...

... and even check on our 'garden'. 

9th April 2018

And just a month later the tree was getting it's leaves and the soil had been covered in grass.

So that was the birth of our flat.  Within a month of it being completed we had tenants in, a lovely young family who stayed for just over a year. Then they had a windfall and bought a place of their own, our next tenant was a nice young man who had a 'temporary' work contract in the area.  He has literally just given his notice in this month and will be moving on.  While he needed the flat and was happily paying his rent each month it seemed wrong to sell it so we held onto it.  Our mortgage had been paid off after just over two years so it has been completely ours since 2020.

Our plan was to sell it as soon as he moved out, once we had repainted and re-carpeted it, but then I had a brainwave and we had a change of heart.  With the property market being on a bit of a downer at the moment and sales slowing, we have decided to hold onto it for a while and use it ourselves as a sort of holiday base near the seaside.  Which cuts out any need for me to buy a caravan!!

We will be revisiting the flat next week and deciding what it needs before we start to furnish it very minimally so that we and the animals can use it on a regular basis.  After a while once the market picks up we hope to sell it on to a local couple or family as a starter home.

So it wasn't a cottage, or a narrowboat, a motorhome or a caravan ... it was a flat.  And one that you knew nothing about it would seem!!

Oops!! 😎

Hope you have a great weekend.

Sue xx

Shedding the Fluff ... and How Could You Have Known!!

 

We tried to get the dogs into the groomers on Monday, they weren't answering the phone so as we were across the road at the vets with Suky later in the day we called in person.  The girl there said they were fully booked and had no appointments until mid August ... so we made an appointment for then.

Feeling sorry for them we gave both dogs an extra good brushing when we got home.  Suky has a double coat and it takes a LOT of brushing to keep it under control at this time of year.  Mavis was just looking scruffy, extra scruffy even though Alan had trimmed her beard for her last week.

Then this morning the owner of the grooming salon phoned me and said they had had a dog not  turn up and did we want to bring both dogs into the shop in half an hour.  When we got there she apologised for the other girl and said that she would always find a spot for two of her little favourites.

And doesn't Mavis look smart with her skin freckles all showing through and her super neat fur all over.  We only have her trimmed this way once a year as she is supposed to look a bit scruffy as she's really a Parson Russell Terrier and that's their look.

But it's nice to see her all sleek, and looking cool after her bath and titivation. 

Of course that scruffy face and winky eye is still there, and she's still loved to bits with fur or without it, but I bet she's feeling rather lovely at the moment.

Suky looks much sleeker too and the groomer said she got a lot of fur and fluff off her, but I didn't have time to nab a photo of her because as soon as she got home Suky took up her usual midweek position under her Dad's desk, where no doubt titbits are regularly forthcoming.  Unlike under Mum's desk where all you might get offered is a cup of coffee.

Me - 19th December 2017

I enjoyed all your guesses on the last post, I am a tease aren't I.  😁

Nope, it's not a caravan, a narrowboat or a cottage ... although I would live quite happily in all of those.  I think I thought you all knew more about what it is than you could possibly have even known.  I had assumed that a good percentage of my longer term readers would know about this, but looking at my old blog there seems to have been a gap in proceedings when I didn't keep anyone up to date on something we did ... oops!!  It flew entirely under the radar between my old blog and this one.

So I will have to apologise and let you know sooner rather than later.

Sue xx