Just an average Tuesday...

Hi again,

So last time I blogged I was about to go to the dentist! I went...was sedated - and I'm very relieved to say that the sedation worked a treat! No memory of any treatment - just a filling was needed! However...that was 6 days ago and my mouth is so sore!! Been having salt water mouth washes today...

Friday evening Lissa arrived! We jumped straight into party mode - playing pool and having a laugh - for some reason I remained sober but Lissa and Andy were quite drunk!! I was glad I'd not drank too much Saturday morning - but those two were suffering a bit!

Me and Lissa then went off to the Spa - I'd left it too late to add a treatment in - so we just had access to the jacuzzi, steam room and sauna - which was actually perfect because we flitted from one to the other and had lots of opportunity to catch up!  This ended with a cream tea (or coffee) which was very nice!  Saturday evening we took it easy and chilled whilst watching a film - and Sunday we barely moved off the couch!

I'm hoping to book something else for me and Lissa - maybe close to her so I'll make the journey this time. 

Today I joined Weight Watchers online (for £1) so....lets see if for the first time in AGES I can manage to stick to a diet! I'm currently 12 stone!!! ouch!! That might not be too bad if I was 6'4" but unfortunately I am 5'3" - I really want to give it a good go - we are approaching summer and I have lots of nice clothes I cannot fit into - I don't have unrealistic goals - I'm aiming for 10 1/2 stone.  I need to get into the gym again - although I still cant run as I have planter fasciitis in my foot.  I am going into the gym soon - just a bit of exercise bike and I am going to start a 30 day yoga thingy Lissa suggested.

Lissa is very good to chat to about diet and exercise! She's the only person I know who gets as obsessed as me - although she is barely 8 stone! Maybe she is the person I should take advice off! lol.  I'm proud she does so well, because I think I was the person that got her into fitness and exercise in the first place - I just didn't keep it up!!

So - the airbnb - we got a BRILLIANT review from our first guest! She went to so much effort it looks like we paid her or wrote it ourselves! lol  We have had 6 bookings now...so it seems to be working!

Okay - I'm off to browse for a spa me and Lissa can go to and then I'll drag my lard-arse into the gym!
xx

stuff....airbnb...dentist

Hi,

So our first guest left early - but only because her husband was discharged from hospital early - she sent me a lovely message though; "I'm sorry to leave the annex. Its a brilliant place to stay and has made a difficult time much easier than it might have been.  Thanks so much for opening it up early for me"

That made me feel good!!  Its not just about making money - I want people to come and enjoy it! I want people to enjoy the house (like we do) and find it comfortable and enjoy all the little extras we put in!  We put in - toiletries, and face wipes, and wine and bread and milk - couple of eggs etc. We found when we were airbnb'ing the little extras - like salt and pepper, oil etc. go a long way to making life easier.

Was a little weird though - not having access to the part of the house I've spent so much time working on recently! and worrying - I was worried when our guest didn't come back till late (because her husband was in hospital), and worrying that everything is working, its warm enough etc. I expect that will lessen over time however....

I am trying to educate myself on twitter, instagram etc. to try and promote the airbnb - Andy has just tried to explain to me how some people use these things - I have a basic understanding and have used these platforms a few times - but I really want to get more involved and try and keep up with everything - so thats my task today until.....

Dentist later and I'm phobic - so have to have sedation otherwise I can't go through with it - I've tried and ended up sobbing in the dentist - with a very unsympathetic dentist too - so I walked out even though I was in agony!  Later I'm having a filling, possibly a root filling, possibly the tooth will come out.  Either way - not happy and just wanna get it over with! Once its over....

Lissa is visiting this weekend! She'll be here tomorrow night - then Saturday we have a spa thingy - so that will be awesome - give us time to chill and chat and catch up and just spend time with each other which I love because I managed to make a lovely person! I take all the credit for the amazing person she turned out to be lol....and Adam and Connor of course - but their not girls!

Okay - I'm to tweet lol

Annex/Airbnb is up and running!

Hi!

Well....we did it! Our first guest arrived yesterday! I had to work solidly to get it finished - including weekends with Andy helping!  It didn't seem like we had much to finish but we did! lol.

Jane is our first guest and her husband is quite ill at the local hospital, so I hope he's going to be okay!  So the things that went not so well....I had just finished showing her around and we walked back to her car and some bloke cycled into the driveway - looking very dodgy and nervous when he saw us standing there.  He looked quite like a bloke we saw before (and nick-named Kev, after he looked like a dodgy bloke selling phones etc.)....so I am hoping that didn't make her feel unsafe.  Then I remembered that we had borrowed all the coat hangers when Bev stayed last week....then this morning I remembered we had also borrowed the clothes rack...and to top it off she messaged me this morning saying that the loo seat had broken!

She is aware that she is our first guest so hopefully she will cut us some slack and give us a good review!

Its a milestone getting the annex finished! We have bits and bobs to improve on - we want to sort out a different entrance to the annex - sort out the garden....paint a few more things...but we'll get there and then hopefully it wont be too much work maintaining it.

I actually hired a cleaner!  She works hard and moves all our stuff about lol....but it makes my life easier - I just can't cope working on the house and cleaning it all...

Here is a link to our airbnb....

https://www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/27195442?

The living room has been changed a little since the pictures were taken - the TV is now on the wall and there is a wall fire too....

So, my plan was to have a day off today and rest my very painful foot - but now I need to go buy a loo seat and fix it!

So in the last few weeks we have had Joanne and family visit, and bev & Tony visited too (not all at the same time).  It was the first time Bev has visited and we haven't been as close as we once were for a while too, so it was awesome that she made the effort to come and visit.

Anyway - better go and buy a loo seat!

Been busy....

Hi,

So it is now April! Wow how fast time goes....  I thought rather than try and catch up with stuff - I'd just jump in with where I am now

I have been working on the annex - so many things needed doing! I have now finished the bathroom fully - having had to take the bath apart and fix and leak (overflow - was overflowing right through the light fixings in the gym below)...

The living room and dining room are done - I have a list of things to get finished - today I'm painting the downstairs hallway, now that I've removed the firebell, trunking and cabling and other random stuff that was attached to the walls.  Only smaller finishing off jobs are left now...it feels never ending however...

The place is now up on airbnb and our first guest is coming on 22nd April for 4 days - and we have somebody booked in for 2 nights at the end of May.  Very nervous about this - because I want everything to be perfect! Jobs I have left - are things like - make sure all kitchen utensils are there - and relevant, sort out bedding, buy a new mattress etc.  The budget money has run out (£400 left) so, we are having to cut back on all spending so that we can build some money up from our monthly income.  The income from the annex is going to be low to start with - they offer ppl 20% off on the first 3 bookings.  We NEED excellent reviews from these bookings!!! eeekkkkkk......

I am wondering just how much work the annex will end up being if it ends up fairly busy....I don't want to get anything wrong!

In other news, my friend Yvonne has had a gastric bypass operation - so it is going to be fun and exciting seeing her transformation!

I need a filling, and had to find a new dentist that does sedation...having the sedation during the time our very first guest is going to be here!! BAD timing.....

The kids surprised me for mothers day and turned up - which was awesome! we got good weather and spent the day playing Smite in the garden - as well as two party nights - was knackered once they had gone home! lol.

anyway - cats are making it difficult for me to type now as they want to walk on keyboard....and I have the awful sound of a bird slowly struggling for life in my chimney breast...its awful - we cant get to it and had to listen to it all night last night - thought it would be dead now but the poor thing still struggling.....

sorry should not end on a bad note....errr......I'm off to paint......