Checkmarks ✅

I tried: offloading the last of the nappies to the baby bank, but they just can't give them away. Into the charity bin they go.

Unexpected: I thought I owed work 4min 48s of overpaid leave, and was waiting for them to request their pound back. But £13.54 arrived in my account instead, so I guess I miscalculated and they owed some leave to me instead. Good employer is good.

I've been continuing with the walls and stripping the wallpaper around the windows. It's gross work, there's mould and grime and, just, how do windows get so yucky? In my ebay basket: net curtains and wall attachments. I am waiting until the windows are almost ready. I will also need to visit a hardware shop for the rods. I should have bought them years ago so that I could open the drapes in nice weather and still have privacy. But for selling, drapes open is a necessity (I have a water view!).

Well done me: I finally cleaned up J's fridge ready to sell. 

High Ceilings: Boooo.

I don't recommend these, for reasons of painting and extra heating bills, but primarily for my current trial of hanging wallpaper. At 2pm on Tuesday I decided there was plenty of time to hang one length before nursery pick-up time at 3. Gentle Reader, I was wrong. 😂

I'm currently irritable because said nursery is breaking up 2 days before the end of term, meaning she only gets 2 more sessions. I have 7 lengths of papering to do (circa 4-5 hours) plus the stripping and prepping around the windows, which is a horrendous job. If I manage those two things, it's the best I can expect. I will have to do all painting with kiddo in the flat. I did most of the first coat at night, but good daylight really would have been better for painting. 🤷🏻‍♀️

With each task and tidy out I move another piece of furniture. Things are almost in logical places, which is a first in several years. My flat almost looks like a normal flat, planned and arranged with purpose, instead of a "space where you shove things wherever they fit".

Just as I'm feeling ready to sell it, it feels like a home. 😂

Win: I went to German Supermarket and spent £25 to get my free £5 voucher. 👏 I also got a free savoury rice packet and a free big bag of cheese curl crisps that Little X likes. I also... ahem... bought two Monstera plants for £6 each (Swiss Cheese plants) which don't yet have their characteristic leaf holes but do still look lovely. 😍

Plus: £50 has been credited to my council tax account as expected. 👍 They also finally processed my application for general support and are sending £100 - no idea when. 👍

Wallpapering Like A Boss

Or something. 

My first length of paper, I managed to tear one corner. I'm calling it a learning experience, firstly that my cutting knife was ridiculously blunt and secondly that pasted wallpaper is more fragile than expected. I managed to cut, paste, rest, fix and trim five panels. It's only the section below the chair rail but I am absolutely chuffed at how it looks so far. The wall is in horrendous condition so it's quite the miracle result. 

Now that I have more space, this is a project I can actually complete with Little X at home. The top part will be a leafy pattern, the idea being a sort of verandah or fence looking out onto a garden. Even if I don't pull off the effect, I'll be happy so long as it doesn't clash. 

Here is the top design, which I've just found on the manufacturer's website:

I don't expect my flat to look this professional 😂 but it's reassuring to see this background work on top of white. 

Spendy McSpenderson: the £70 worth of wallpaper equipment (including a few bits for the rest of the painting). 

A Pressie, Of Sorts

I got a letter from Personal Loan Bank which was a strange surprise. They say they won't be taking legal action and that the Notice of Default they sent last week, warning of possible legal action, was only sent to me because they had to, by law. No other bank has sent such a "no need to panic" - type letter like this. 🤔  It's the only bank I owe five figures to, so this was nice to read.

I haven't caught up with my money podcasts for months (or the weekly money-saving emails) and I kept thinking I must get around to them all. But truth be told, I haven't found anything in them that I need in a long time. I've been poverty-level hesitant to spend for years, but now it's more that I just don't want any more stuff coming into my home. Not a bad thing! 😂 

Another set of shelves given away today too. 👍

Spent half an hour with a British Gas idiot. No thanks I don't need to change my home circumstances on your register, please just reissue my bill because with the updated meter read I supplied a week ago, and my missed smart meter installation credit of £40, I should be in credit. That painful explanation convo took 15 minutes of text. .. I'm now £20 in credit so at least they'll stop sending bill renunders. But he still forgot the £40 that I specifically asked him to do. Then when I asked how long those £40 credits normally take to show up, he asked if it was an appointment for installing a boiler. No mate, a smart meter, like I told you. I don't usually give a poor rating for CSAs but I'm afraid that asking for my bank statement (yes, he asked for my bank statement, wtf) helped Dhruv score a 3/10.

Quietly confident that Little X's digestion is recovered. Another few rounds of toast, dry cereal and crackers, just to make sure. 

I ♥️ Red Tape

Where's my sarcasm font? After trawling websites, emailing, phoning and slaving over stupidly long application processes... I have learned that getting Little X's citizenship sorted is going to be excruciatingly slow. The current estimate is circa 10-12 months. I am quite unimpressed. Hopefully we'll manage to get professional passport photos done this week (professional, because they are very strict on photo requirements). We might as well start now.

Speaking of Little X, she's still not over her tummy bug - she's improving, but it's a waiting game. 

Happy dance: small bedside table £5 from charity shop is now a freezer stand in my kitchen. 🎉 The cleaning and tidying to make it happen is a definite feelgood too. I'm going to see if I can sell J's mini fridge for a tenner once I finish cleaning that as well, I don't use it and it just collects dust. I should have done it years ago, but again with the keeping things "just in case". 

I've painted part of wall #1. Going slowly, at night, to limit paint smell, and opening doors and windows while the weather is good. 

Drinks tonight with Neighbours #8 and #2a. 🎉