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......

The Patton's - Family Crest

I know that the Patton family lived in our house for about 70 years - it could have been longer, as we don't know anything prior to 1819 (200 years ago this year!)


I have read mention of members of the family in Bishops Hull prior to 1819 but I don't know if that was in this house or just in the area.


Andy bought me a metal detector and I found a button in the garden believed to be from a servants coat - and it shows the family crest - but you can hardly see the image.  It looked like an eagle - similar to the one that used to be on top of our front porch but was moved to next door - when the house was built and called Eagle House (not by the Pattons, but by the next family: The Waterfields)


So - I found the family crest!


 Patton Family Crest


This came from - https://coadb.com/surnames/patton-arms.html


There were 4 different Patton crests - but the one above said - Stoke Court/Bishops Hall Crest.  As the pattons that lived here also owned Stoke court - I am 100% convinced this is correct.  On the same website I found the following info (which I haven't checked against the family tree I have but it all sounds about right!)


Patton of Clayton Priory

General Walter Douglas Phillipps of Clayton Priory county Sussex was born in 1821 and he was Colonel of the 74th Highlanders, a Knight of Medjidie, and a Brigadier-General in Burmah. He was succeeded his father in 1876 and in 1855, he married Julia, daughter of Sir Howard Elphinstone and five children with her: Walter Denman Elphinstone (1859), Herbert Bethune (born 1860, 2nd Lieutenant 3rd Hussars), Douglas Elphinstone Bethune, Julia Elphinstone, and Anne Florence Louisa Mary Bethune. Burke traces the lineage of Patton genealogy to Colonel Henry Patton of the 6th Royal Regiment of Clatto in county Fide, the eldest surviving son of Andrew Patton, Esquire of Springfield in Donegal (the family gained lands there generations prior for displaying valour in battle). In 1747, he married Mary, daughter and heiress of Henry Bethune of Clatto and Nydie, and he had issue with her. His son was James Susannau Patton, Esq. of Clatto in county Fife and of Priory, Lichfield who was Justice of the Peace and Deputy Lieutenant who was born in 1753. He was Major in the 93rd Highlanders and Colonel Staffordshire Volunteers who, in 1780, married Merrial, daughter of Thomas Docksey of Snetsone, and had the following issue with her: Henry (born 1780, Lieutenant 1st Royals), Peter (born 1783, Captain Royal Engineers), James (born 1791, served in Royal Navy), Thomas (of Bishop’s Hall), Richard (married Hannah Cullen), John (born 1793, member of Royal Navy), Maria Elizabeth, Susan, Mary (married Lieutenant-Colonel Elliott), Merrial (married a member of the Dodson family), Emma (married Reverend Richard Winsloe), Charlotte (married Sir William Palmer). He died in 1812 and was succeeded by his son Thomas Patton of Bishop’s Hull and Stoke Court, Somerset, who was born in 1792 and became a Commander in the British Royal Navy. In 1819, he married Matilda, daughter of Reverend Richard Winsloe, and had nine children with her: Walter Douglas Phillipps, Herbert Winsloe (born 1823, Captain in the British Royal Army, married Mary, daughter of Charles Gifford), Henry Bethune (born 1834, married Clara Fripp, was Justice of the Peace, Captain of 27th Inniskillings), Lionel Thomas (born 1839, Captain in the 2nd Somerset Militia, married Annette Isaac), Aubrey de Lisle (born 1841, Captain 14thRegiment, married Agnes, daughter of William Corbett, Esq.), Emma Matilda (married Lieutenant Colonel Rawlins), Clara Agnes, Matilda Winsloe (married Cranstoun Adams), and Isabella (married Theobald Walsh). The Patton Coat of Arms (erroneously referred to as the Patton Family Crest) was blazoned in heraldry as follows: Azure, a sword argent hilted or, between three crescents of the second. Crest: A hawk argent.

Jan 5th 2019

Hi

It is Saturday morning - I woke up at 9.15am - but I still feel really tired.  I am sat in my PJ's in the kitchen with my laptop - with a gingerbread latte, and tissues as I still have the cold that caused us to cancel going to Helen and Pauls and New Years Eve.  We were supposed to go to their house last night instead - but Helen had a migraine...so we should be going tonight.  We always have a good time but atm I am not looking forward to it because it is effort! That's just me being really lazy however and I know I will be glad I went.

I know this blog in the past has been full of my obsession with my weight and fitness - but I need to go on about it again!  I am soooo heavy - I look terrible in all my clothes - coupled with getting older I am looking like an old frump.  What happened to my motivation? why isn't the mirror motivation enough?  Why I am such a glutton? It needs to stop....but I tell myself this everyday and then no doubt that evening I will sabotage any efforts I have made during the day.  I know I can do it if I put my mind to it - as well as get fit - start running again....

This morning - I did 10 x crunches, squats and push-ups.  I intend to increase this by 1 each day - this does not require the gym - I can do it next to my bed.  Its nothing and took minutes but if I can continue that I know I will be pleased when I get to 30 or something. 

RIGHT - I am gonna get this weekend over with (H&P's tonight and Stuart coming round tomorrow night for the football - and I'm making macaroni cheese!) and THEN I am going to remind myself how disciplined I can be!!  I am going to stay within my calories, get exercise, not drink alcohol during the week. I need to find recipes and healthy nice things to eat because this is mostly where I fall down.  I need to get rid of the crap in the house so I can't eat it - and if I can I need to try and influence Andy to do it with me!

I think I should find some exercise classes to go to - but last time I looked around here they were so expensive - like £7 a class.  Maybe it has just been so long since I had to pay for a class that this is just normal.....it'd be great to have classes to go to that I enjoy and become routine....I'm going to have a look now...

Okay - just spent about an hour having a looksy - and I can see that there are the kind of classes I would like at Blackbrook Leisure Centre - about 15 minutes away.  I have booked myself in for a Step Aerobics class on Monday at 18.40pm - £6.50!

I have also found another gym - uses the same log-in details - and it is closer - less classes but still the kinda stuff I'd like to do....called Wellsprings leisure centre.  Full Membership is £58 a month - which I cannot afford and do not want - this would cover 9 classes a month, and I don't think I'd ever do more than 2 a week so it is not worth it - especially as I have a gym of my own - although I don't have a swimming pool....yet lol.

It is now 11.23am - Andy is still in bed lol...I am still in my PJ's...but I feel better that I have booked a class - I am hoping that this is the begining of me getting my act together.

2019!!

Happy New year - 2019....one day I'll read back and think - ohhh wish it was still only 2019! lol

Resolutions? As usual...lose weight, get fit....

House resolutions........by this time next year - we have a finished and working holiday annex/airbnb...and a decorated front hallway, a decorated guest bedroom, a finished living room, finished games room.  I'd love to do the downstairs loo and the upstairs one which is so bad everybody calls it the workmans toilet.  If I could do all that and maybe the upstairs hallway too....I'll be very happy!!

There would still be a whole conversion of a front car park to a front garden, and the whole of the attic.....so still more than we can do in the next year.  If we had lots of money I'd have no doubt we could get everything done!

Anyway - we had all the kids here over Christmas - mostly from 23rd to 27th Dec.  Was nice having everybody about - everybody and their partners, who have all been around a while now so its a comfortable, nice family feel.  Most of the time lol. Adam and Erika felt a bit left out by the twins and their partners, and I can see what they mean - Lissa and Connor and their partners seem very like-minded...drunken, loud, fun-loving and reckless! Adam and Erika are a little more reserved, like to have fun, but not so loud and reckless!

Christmas Eve we all went to the local Constitutional club and played skittles - Connor won lol - I came 2nd....but I may have cheated on the score board! lol we had a good laugh as usual...

So....christmas morning - we got up and exchanged gifts - which is always loads of fun!!  Gifts of note - new GoPro, GHD hair curlers and fitbit off Andy - plus tons more stuff as usual lol....a light up Jaguars jumper, Game of Thrones book, coffee, a game....can't remember! I got a pool cue off Adam and Erika! An awesome Freddie mercury canvas pic off Lissa and Antony - and an awesome light up neon sign for the games room off Connor and Emily - plus other stuff!!  After opening pressies, we got tidied up and as is tradition - we did fancy dress on Christmas day.  This year we mixed it up a bit and chose each others outfits.  I knew who Andy had got (Antony) and that I had Lissa, but I had no idea who else had got who until xmas day.  

We left the room with our parcel one at a time - and came back to the group dressed up.  It was so funny seeing ppl coming back with their outfits on!!  I ended up last and thought mine wasn't as funny as everybody else's - but not according to the reaction I got!  I had no idea who I was supposed to be until i put the wig on!! Then I was like - ooohhhh....I'm Donald trump!! hahah

Here are the first pics taken of ppl as they get changed.....

First - Adam:

Then Connor.....

Then Lissa - this is the outfit I chose for her - only somebody like Lissa could carry this off!!

Then Antony - his outfit chosen by Andy!

Erika - outfit chosen by Lissa

Andy's outfit - chosen by Erika - who apparently consulted with helen (thank god - because I believe lycra was mentioned at some point!)

Then my horrendous outfit! Chosen by Connor!!  If I had known Connor was getting mine I'd have been a lot more worried than I was!

Emily spent the day with her family - but when she arrived - she promptly got changed in to her outfit - chosen by Lissa.....

HHmmm I seem to have credited Lissa with 2 - and missed ppl out - I cant remember who got who!!

What I do know is that I was secretly hoping for something where I could still do my hair and make-up and try and look nice.  NO....I ended up looking THIS BAD:

At least this has given me more incentive to lose weight!!

So, once the excitement of all that was over with - we started on Christmas dinner - Connor did the roast potatoes and yorkshire puds, which helped as he did them in his kitchen - then it was chaos trying to get the food out as there was so much of it.  It wasn't bad - not the best and I didn't like the turkey cos it tasted like garlic! (cooked over onion and garlic)....but it was fun sitting down with everybody.

After dinner ppl went off and did their own thing for a while - me, Lissa and Erika had a play with my hair curlers - those two looked awesome - but my hair is thicker and older! lol.  Lissa curled my fringe and it just went at a right angle and into my eye! We could not stop laughing for quite some time!!

Eventually we all re-grouped and played a game that Connor and Emily invented - and then made up properly and gave it to Lissa and Antony as a pressie.  It was surprisingly good - well not that much of a surprise as we have seen them play it before and have a great time!

It ended up a good, late night!!!

Business reception, to games room - then dining room!

So, when we bought the house, we bought it off a company called Southwest Learning.  They held conferences and seminars etc, and Barnados rented the offices in the top floor.   When it was up for sale it looked, and was very much a business, but it was so easy to see past all that and just imagine how awesome it could be! We knew we wanted it as soon as we pulled up into the driveway and then walking in and seeing a house full of offices, meeting rooms, stationery cupboards, disabled toilets and urinals, meeting rooms, fire extinguishers, office lighting.....didn't put us off one bit!! haha

At the end of our tour of the house, we ended up in what was a Reception Room, we sat down in with the estate agent and put an offer in on this house - a low...low offer.  An offer, we truly hoped would be accepted, it wasn't! But they came back with a counter offer we were very happy with!!

Anyway I digress....the pic below was the reception room............





Andy and the estate agent sat in the above 2 chairs....I sat across the room.  We were excited because not only had we known we wanted it when we drove up - we both knew each other were thinking the same thing - this could be so perfect!!

AGES AND A TON OF STRESS LATER....

When we moved in - this room looked awful.  The carpet was yuck - it had a bright patch where the reception desk had sat - showing how discoloured the carpet was in the rest of the room.  There were - as with every other room - hundreds of cables, run in trunking across the top and coming down into the room for phone lines and internet, and there were about 20 plug sockets on the surface of the walls (not sunk in).

Initially we used this as a games room - and it worked sooo well....

These pictures are from Xmas 2017, but we have had MANY good nights in that room!

HOWEVER.....a couple of months ago - I decided to move the games room into the living room - move the living room into the bottom of the kitchen (where the dining table was) and move the dining table into the games room!!

The new games room looks like this:

So....happy with the new games room, I went to work changing the old one into a dining room.  There were only a few weeks before Christmas, when family would descended and we would make use of the dining table!

The walls are pretty bad underneath the paper - and it is a definite candidate for a new plaster make-over.  However, this room comes low on the list of priorities (in terms of needs doing v financial cost), so - it got painted over the existing wallpaper, which is just lining paper-like, one wall got papered (its been years since I have done it, and they are very high ceilings - so I'm quite pleased I managed it so well on my own!), all the wood work got a new paint-job, and it got a new floor - ply board first, then laminate - which I swore I'd never buy - but it does seem much better quality now!

So - not as perfect as I'd like it................ One day I'll get to properly concentrate on this room, have more time and hopefully more money!

So it took about 3 weeks to do this room, I must have spent a large proportion of that time filling soooo many holes in the wall.........

Actually really like the new laminate (not as cheap as I thought) floor!

Christmas dinner!

So in the last 18 months, this room has been a Reception (business), Games room and now a dining room!

Been Even Longer....

Hi

So, I am sat at my laptop in the kitchen with sausages slowly cooking.  Lissa is visiting for the weekend and has gone out for a run.  Connor and Emily have gone out to take somebody else's dog for a walk? and Andy is still in bed!  I am feeling a little delicate after an awesome night last night.  We all had a few drinks and then went to the local constitutional club to play skittles!!  We tried it with helen and paul last weekend for Paul's birthday - and had such fun we decided to go back.  It was awesome lol.  You end up in a big long room on your own - so it is like a private party!

We left there and headed home last night - to discover music and a DJ in the pub next door so we drunkenly piled in there - and danced for a while - then came back home!  Fun and pizza was had - and I think we crashed about 1.30am.

Andy just got up....

I plan on eating a lot of food very soon - then think we are just gonna chill out for the day.  I thought I would just catch up on a here a little and put pictures of the latest house progress - I finally finished the annex bathroom and bedroom!!

I got it finished just in time for my folks visit - but my dad opened the window and when he closed it the window frame fell apart!!  My folks stayed for the week - because my dad was fitting a new door in the annex living room - a door he got built for me.  Me and Dad opened up the wall where a window was and my dad put the door in - it was a job that took all week.  It looks awesome and was a major piece of work needed for the annex.  Then yesterday we had a builder in who put a hole in the wall between the annex living room and dining room.  So the annex is really coming on now! Still looks like a building site at the moment though....

Anyway - I am gonna do a new post for the before and after pics for the annex bath/bedroom...soon it'll be living room and dining room!! exciting!!

It's been ages!!

HI

Well - I haven't updated this for ages and the honest reason - I completely forgot all about my blog!  It wasn't until Andy's Mum mentioned having read it that I thought - wow - how could have I forgotten all about it!!

So - I'm just going to write about the bits and bobs I can remember!!

The annex bathroom is what I have been working on and it went wrong in a lot of ways - but no so wrong that it will be a disaster (I hope).  The bathroom was fitted - all but the shower as I had to tile first.  The floor was fitted and is very uneven (I wrongly assumed that the guy would try and straighten it out but he didn't at all).  So everything in there has gaps or is propped up in one way or another.  Today I finished putting the tiles on all around the bath - but I have to grout etc.  I have put skirting boards in too - and the bath panel was so bendy and crap that I made wooden bath panels which I will tile after the shower has been put in.

The only other work I have done in the house is put a handle and lock on the door downstairs that will separate the annex from our house, fix the front door handle and the inner front door handle and errr.....there must be other stuff but I can't remember right now!!

I tried to catch up with my running challenge - I ran about 30km and then stopped again - might try to do some later today but I am very behind now!!

I have been putting weight on again - so I've only lost 9lb since xmas which sucks.

We went on a boat party with Helen and Paul - it was a work thing with Helen's colleagues - it was fun - we then went to the Spinny and back to Helen's.  I over indulged too much and ended up going to bed feeling very ill!!

It was Andy's birthday the Tuesday after that weekend and I did the same thing on the evening of his birthday and ended up in bed really early - so I feel like I ruined that for him!!

We went to Manchester on the Wednesday - Andy was working so I visited family.  Had a rare visit to Bev's at her new house.  Rare because she has not wanted me to visit when I have offered in the past and she can be difficult to get on with as she has been in a bad place.  It was great to actually meet up with her though and catch up - saw Tony, George and Megan too s that was nice.  I stayed over on the Wednesday night at Bev's - then went to see Joanne during the day - again that was really nice to sit and chat and catch up! Andrew and Lorna came over whilst I was there to say Hi - she is 30 weeks pregnant - and will be having a girl in November.  Probably the last baby of that generation as we are all too old now!!

I then went to my mum n dads, got showered and we went out fr a meal.  Anthony and Candice - and her 2 kids met us there - again - it was great to catch up with everybody!  So - I managed to see all my siblings during this short visit (apart from Helen who lives in my neck of the woods).

Friday - I went into Manchester town centre and walked around for a while waiting for Andy to finish work.  Was weird being in manchester city centre after so many years - so much I did not recognise!!  I met Andy and his colleague Chris for lunch - then I carried on hanging out around Manchester before meeting Andy again to make the long journey back home!

Andy's folks, John and Sylvia - also made the long journey to our house on the Friday and were there a few hours before we were - so I was stressing on the way back and we hit loads of traffic.  Finally got back and got to catch up with them - so it was definitely a good few days for family catch ups!

John and Sylv hadn't been to out house in almost a year and I was a bit disappointed that there was not loads of progress to show them - although I don't really remember what had and had not been done a year ago.  I wish I had been more prepared for their visit - and been able to make a nice meal and stuff (although I always mess up the most basic recipes when I do it for guests!).

We didn't go out or do anything special during their visit but we did go to our local pub (which we never do for some reason!), we played pool and darts, and just spent time together so that was really nice.

Andy had the Monday and Tuesday off - which Andy mostly spent not knowing what to do with himself lol.  He came to the tip with me and we went around the re-use shop and I bought a cool coffee table which has two table that come out and open up underneath it - somebody had started sanding it down and given up - so I got it for £10! Bargain!!  then we went to Wellington and looked around a place called Fuller Stuff!  Which funnily enough was absolutely full of stuff - from house clearances! Not as cheap as the shop at the tip - but fun to look around!

Today - Andy is working in London and is staying over tonight.  I spent the morning finishing putting the tiles up around the bath - and I'm now sat here doing this debating mixing up some grout and grouting the tiles over the sink....

I'm up to date!! lol