When not attending to garden tasks what other things have filled your day?

Rugs are handy. Our house is fully carpeted in a light beige except for the kitchen, bathroom and toilet.
It's a small house and the carpet has been down for over ten years.
To prevent wear, we've four rugs all the same pattern, which we use to cover area which would get a lot of wear.
Like in front of the sofa and my wife's reclining chair in our lounge.



There's also a "stair runner" in a complementary colour in front of the French widows.


This one is under my chair and my music stool in the front room.



There's one either side of the bed in our bedroom.

I fitted this big mat by the front door. It's secured to the floor at the front end by a wide door plate. Stops dirt getting trodden in.

When I'm using the vacuum cleaner, I can lift the near end to vac under it.



So the carpets don't look their age and won't need replacing for a few years yet.

We also have a Vax "push and pull" carpet cleaner, I use twice a year. It only leaves the carpets slightly wet, which dry in a few years.

 

What actually happened, is that first it was just a tool area of the house, (during my very early teen). Just a few hand tools for metal working, and a soldering iron for putting together basic electronics - For most people things usually stay like that. But my hunger grew with both age and abilities.

Concepts of sheds outside is not preferred here. Because we are right at the beach, so the environment is very corrosive - Therefore I myself would rather be outside then leave any tools and equipment exposed to the elements. Really, I'll happily sleep under the stars, (as I have many times), as long as everything inside my version of the Batman's secret bat cave is secure...



And there's a security issue too. So I rather let a burglar have what he thinks is valuable - Instead of my tools and equipment, which is actually far more costly. Plus it took over a lifetime to collect. Many of them are now no longer produced, (because they were made to last, while today everything is made to be disposable). So impossible to replace. While other things I myself modified with great care, as well as created many things from scratch. Therefore it's going to take years of not decades, for me to get back to this same level again.

So that's how the tools corner of my house started out. Which evolved into a workshop. That's now merged into the whole house in such a way - That it's today impossible to distinguish where one starts and another ends. Kind of like how Tony Stark (The Iron Man) lived...



And finally there are now security measures too, (of an extreme type). Which will even put Sylvester Stallone in Rambo 5 Last Blood movie to shame... Because I'm very passionate about protecting this hobby of mine.



Of course, sacrifices too need to be made, in order to achieve what I have - So no carpets...

 

@Oreti When I saw this pic…I thought of your hobby.

 

Love it Pac.

 

The transfer from my old bank to Nationwide, is complete now and they've paid in the "switching offer" of £175 to my account already.

 

That's good news @Doghouse Riley , I bet you're relieved it's all done now.

 

Good afternoon Stewbies . If ya all have a minute this story is disquieting, intriguing and surprising.

Today has turned out to be a highly unusual day well for any time of year. Usually out here in the middle of nowhere anyone comes to the door is usually the delivery guy. Nope…I was informed that he was with the Army National Guard and proceeded to show me his gun and ID. He said he didn’t want to scare me . But… Would you believe that a special division from the army national guard was deployed to blow up old munitions in special explosion units insitsu next door. The explosion devices were found after the owner passed away 2 years ago as he was in the army national guard during the Iran invasion. Evidentially he had hoarded old army munitions equipment that were found on the property . They said they needed to explode all the devices on site because they are very unstable as there is a unexploded ordnance or (UXO) from past wars, especially World War II and the Vietnam War, Iran conflict, that are a continuing danger and can spontaneously explode decades later.

Alrighty then.. I asked if they can honk their horn 3 times to warn me when the clearance of explosives start. No problem was the response. So as I sit here writing this I hear boom , boom, boom , louder than roman candle fireworks , as my dog is shacking in her boots and barking . I wrapped my pup in a blanket and held her tight played loud music til she stopped shaking.

The moral of this story is …” WOW “ …what a legacy left behind for the neighbors to cope, as we all recanted our concerns learning about a seriously addicted hoarder of explosive munitions. This one certainly breaks the law and my heart , as I loved this man and his family , he was so kind , a good neighbor and a big help to us over the years. Miss him…

I have high hopes that the explosions will send all the gophers, moles & ground squirrels in the vicinity packing.

 

Wow, Pac, you surely had an exciting day
The explosions will probably send them over to your house !!
Rags would've barked her head off too, then hid under the bed !!

 

My former bank have just posted me five years of bank statements, I say my bank, but it will have been their computer. What an unnecessary waste of paper.

I've always insisted on paper statements, 'cos you're screwed if you have a computer crash and you want to find something. I must have about ten years of 'em in a folder. A month is only one page, so it's "a slim volume."

 

I spent most of the day scouring through the junk drawers, my storage cabinets, pantry and then the shed looking for things that I unnecessarily saved, thinking I might need them but don't !! It's amazing how much stuff you keep only to find it's no more than clutter !! Then I found quite a few things that I really didn even know I had: two soil tests, a timer, a vegetable mandolin and a whole pack of 24 AA batteries !!

 

Pretty much spending the afternoon cleaning up the 3 car garage . The generator and ATV will be picked up today. So I have to reorganize my garden tools and all that other stuff needed to keep up the property. Chain saws, all types of clippers, way too much to mention. Declutterring is a long process as I’m trying to simplify my space by discarding , selling , recycling or donating . Making my surrounding less crowded and more functional as well as trying to balance utility with sentimental attachments to achieve a lighter more intentional lifestyle. Tricky but possible.

 

Declutterring.....is a job...oh my lordy!!! Doing our parents house in a very short time space and during the peak of the Covid lockdowns......gosh it was a nightmare!!

Trying hard now to convince hubs that it's time for us to move on to the next stage in our lives ....downsizing and maybe to a new area.. Sometimes the idea gets shot down in flames by him.....and sometimes he looks thoughtful and makes no comment...yesterday was one such day.

To be truthful we both love our house and (cut off)
area surrounded by countryside..in the Spring and Summer!! Winters however are becoming harder now and the need to have to walk a fair distance to reach anyway especially in our unlit and unpaved area with shorter and darker days is beginning to take it's toll. Thats not to say we don't like walking and going out ,we will hopefully continue to do so for a long time to come....just not in such circumstances.

But....if we did move......well that brings me back to the subject of decluttering.....We have lived here 42 years and virtually rebuilt the house, more than doubling it's size. Hubs and one builder ( now a good friend) did all the work themselves and it took a good few years as hubs of course had his own full-time job do all work was carried out at weekends only. So although I'm very attached to our house I can fully appreciate how hubs feels too, he not only designed and drew up all the plans but actually laid the bricks too.

A huge decision ahead.....will we , won't we????​

 

At midnight last night, I found when I wanted to rinse some plates before putting them in the dishwasher, that there was no hot water, as the combi boiler wasn't working.
I tried re-setting it, but it still wouldn't work. It's the only form of heating we have.
Major problem!
I went on to the British Gas website, really just for their phone number, so I could ring them first thing this morning, but I found you could book an emergency call out on-line.
I was very amazed to find that I could get an appointment for today!

So by 2.00pm, it was all done and dusted, everything working again!

I gave them 10 out of 10 in the inevitable telephoned survey I completed afterwards.

I could almost forgive them constantly sending me e-mails, pleading with me to have a smart meter. Even giving me £40 compensation, for the annoyance the continual e-mails were causing me, didn't stop them. Though I haven't had one for two weeks now.

I say we have no other form of heating, it's not strictly true.

25 years ago, we had the back boiler behind the gas fire in the lounge junked and a new combi boiler fitted in the kitchen.
My wife "decided" we needed a new gas fire in the lounge, in case the central heating ever broke down.
As we were left with "a hole in the wall," I had a marble fireplace made to her design and it and a new gas fire fitted. It cost, "an arm and a leg."



The fire has never been necessary. So it's never been turned on.

I didn't even turn it on today. I fitted a "balloon"up the chimney to prevent loss of heat, a while ago and it didn't fancy removing it.
I was quite prepared last night, to go out today and buy a couple of cheap fan heaters to see us over Christmas if we couldn't get the boiler fixed.
Fortunately, it wasn't necessary.
We didn't really feel any discomfort during the morning as it was quite a mild day.
The central heating was still working at 11.00pm, last night so as our house is of brick construction, the walls would have retained some heat.

 

DHR so happy your hot water issue was fixed and things are back to normal. What a beautiful fireplace.

 

The ship ' alongside' today was the Balmoral, it played a major role in remembering the tradgedy and the souls lost at sea when Titanic sank.




I like to reserch the history of the ships that come in to dock here in Southampton....some , like the Balmoral, have had an interesting past with fascinating stories to tell.