New beginnings

 

So after much thought, I've decided to close this blog.  I'll keep it up but will close comments by the end of the week.  I'll now be blogging at Ali Lives Well on Less.

This is my 4th blog in 17 years but definitely the longest running one.  And it's a record of everything I've done and been through in the last 14 years.  It has a lot of personal details so those of you who have been here since the early days know how I got to where I am now!

It was thanks to you guys and my DIL that I picked up my phone and started making videos for YouTube.  It was thanks to you guys that my wee channel got it's first 500 subscribers which alerted the algorithm that promoted it.  And then the rest is history!  Current subscribers number is 6,846 and the total views is almost half a million!!! 😮 I've also been approached to review some products!! 😮😮

I'll still be blogging about all the same things on the new blog but there will be less personal details. And it will be mostly linked to the videos  Huge thanks to all of you who checked ways of finding this blog, I've tried to remove all photos and details that could identify my family to a wider audience.  

Comment moderation will be turned on as judging by some of the comments I get on YT, there are some weird people out there!!  There are also some genuinely lovely people out there who have been through some tough times so I hope that we can help each other.  A few folk have commented that despite retiring I'm still teaching!  And I kinda like that description although I do try very hard not to use my 'teacher's voice' 😂

So, huge big mega THANK YOU to you all for supporting me on the journey!!  I do hope you'll continue to stay with me as you all have a wealth of knowledge and experience too that's worth sharing.

Much love to you all 💕💕💕

Ali xxx

New blog?

 

I'm finding that the YouTube channel is taking up a lot of time but I still want to keep blogging too.  I don't want to link this blog to it as it has a lot more personal details here that I don't want shared to a wider audience.  That's why I don't mention this blog there.

I had an idea to set up a new blog which is connected to the channel.  I'll still write about similar things and maybe post more info on it like recipes/food stuff.  Can I ask for your help wise ones?

If you click on the link to the new blog, can you tell me if you see anything that links back to here?  I've removed my photo and profile so I don't think anyone would be able to find this blog from them.  I've posted a test post with a photo.  I've also turned on comment moderation so if you could try leaving a comment on it and letting me know what you see.

Ali Lives Well on Less

Beds and pears

 

Now that I've decided to give up the allotment, I've been gradually bringing things home.  I brought 3 more raised beds and put 2 in the front garden.  My Lovely Mum visited yesterday and despite the light rain, we tidied up the front, put 2 of the beds in the opposite corner and filled one (corner top left) with compost.  

I planted it up with snowdrop bulbs (rescued from a relative's garden) plus the 39p pansies and violas.  It wasn't my best effort but at least the plants are in.  It's not the best time to either buy compost/top soil or even get it free from my recycling centre so I suspect not much more will be done until Spring.  At least it looks like it's been cared for now!!

2 weeks after picking these pears off my mum's tree they were still hard!  So I poached them in pear cider with a little sugar and sliced lemons.

The kitchen smelled delicious!! 😋

I got 6 generous portions.  4 for the freezer, 1 for me and 1 for my son and DIL to eat.  I've now got quite a variety of fruit in the freezer for the upcoming Winter months.

When I reviewed my September spending (it's on YouTube HERE) I came in at £70 under budget!  I was really pleased with that.  I'll use some of that £70 to add some storecupboard items to my shopping this week and the rest I'll put into my savings/emergency funds.

My wee channel is growing fast, I now have over 6K subscribers and lots of folk are watching the ads.  The predicted revenue is very healthy so I'll definitely be able to make a lovely donation to a wee local charity before Christmas 😍

Letting go

Last week when I was at the plot I pulled up 4 of the raised beds and brought them home.  These are the B&Q ones.  Even if I was keeping the plot I knew I didn't want to do raised beds any more.  The weather had been unseasonably warm so I let them dry out a bit and then yesterday moved them around to see if it would be possible to put some in my wee front garden.

The view from above!!

I think I still have at least 3 or maybe 4 salvageable beds that I could put along the fence and into the corner, making a U shape.  Plus all the containers/pots in the pic.  I could grow a lot of herbs and botanicals plus it's South facing so lovely and sunny all day!! 🌞

I put these 2 in the back garden against the decking, just to see if they looked ok.  I think they will work!  Maybe beans/sweet peas that could climb up the railings?  I could throw netting over them to stop Miss Luna jumping in them!!  The back garden doesn't get as much sun but I did observe the sun's movement throughout the Summer and this bit does get a lot of light during the day and catches the late afternoon/evening sun.

Of course I had help!!🙄🤣

Thanks for all the comments on yesterday's post.  They helped me finally decide I'm letting the allotment go and will create something in my own gardens instead.  I also have a Community Garden within walking distance of the house where I could rent a large raised bed if I need more space in the future.

What shall I do with my plot?

 

If you've seen my allotment video from last week, you'll know that my poor plot has been really badly neglected this year.  Obviously moving house at the point where it needed work wasn't great timing.  But I've also not been going because Luna is a nightmare on the plot, eating everything and trying to get out over the gate.  To be fair Emma used to eat everything too but at least she didn't try to escape!!!

I keep asking myself if I should just give it up as it needs a lot of hard physical work or just try to start over and rethink what/how I grow.  I could move over to growing more perennials and more botanicals (like calendula/roses/lavender/herbs) that I could use in making lotions/potions and herbal teas.

Or I could move my stuff on the plot (like the raised beds and plastic compost bins) to my back (and front) garden and turn them into allotment gardens.  They're certainly big enough but I'd still have the Luna issue!!

I have around £150 left on my Dobbies gift voucher that I need to use in the next 6 months so I could get the plants and seeds I'd need but I'd have to commit to either plot or garden.

Any thoughts, wise ones??

Plants!

 

I popped out to Dobbies today to get ericaceous compost (to replant a blueberry bush into a bigger pot) and saw they were clearing out a ton of plants.  I saw these cute dwarf Sansevierias (Snake plant) in wee ceramic pots.  Reduced from £9.99 to £1.99!!! I got one for myself and one for my DIL who loves indoor plants.  They were definitely clearing space to put out new seasonal stuff.  If anyone is looking to get inexpensive gifts ahead of 🎄there were loads of different ones to suit all tastes.  Plus fancy plant pots and containers, propagators etc all half price or less.  Maybe check out any garden centres in your area if you don't have a Dobbies.  

I got £84.93 worth of plants for £15.23!!!  2 echinacea plants, a salvia, pansies and violas (they were each 39p a tray!!) to put in my front garden.  Although technically they were all free as I'm still using the amazing gift card my colleagues gave me when I retired! 

EDITED: Jury duty!!

 

Edited cos I'm an idiot! See photo at end.  I've always been terrible at matching days with dates.  Apparently I do it with months as well!!! 🙄🙄🙄

I got a letter on Saturday telling me I've been called for jury duty, starting on Wednesday this week!!  That's not much notice!  I've had to book Luna into daycare for the extra days just in case I'm selected and I'm pretty sure doggy daycare costs aren't refunded in expenses.  And it's not a valid excuse for excusal!

You phone a recorded message the night before to see if you're still needed.  Fingers crossed then! 🤞

I'm so annoyed as I had nice plans this week with my mum and aunt that are now hanging in the balance.  But if I get selected that will be my civic duty done for the next 10 years!! 

Well done Octopus!

 

Well done Octopus! 🐙 My issue was resolved in 4 days and my account sorted out.  Plus I got a very nice apology email for their error.  Makes a big difference from Scottish Power who dragged it out for months, threatened me with court action for debt collection only to re credit my account AND refund my son the whole amount after their error in the end.

I just need to get the Smart meter thingy connected to my new meters and linked to my account now and I can 'forget' about my energy bills as they're all set up automatically 😊

Foodie Friday!

 

I got another decent Lidl box this week and was also early enough to get 2 chicken breasts for 90p!  I'm getting more useable coupons on the app now so had a 25% off for unsalted butter.  It's already a good price at £1.69 for British made butter so I was happy with the discount.  I had 3 free bakery items to claim as well but didn't realise the croissant one hadn't activated.  The wee focaccia with cheese and tomatoes and the pretzel are now in the freezer to test how well they freeze!

I made kiwi compote with the perfectly ripe kiwis 🥝 I'm not making jam this year (jars and equipment are somewhere still packed in a box) but compote freezes well and I've plenty of freezer space now.  Plus compotes use less sugar than jam!!

I also made apricot compote.  It was more fiddly as I had to skin them first.  So I now have 6 pots of compote, each one probably has about 2 to 3 servings depending on how greedy I am!

I also made strawberry top syrup!  I saw this on Pinterest and have been saving the tops all Summer in the freezer.  It's so easy.  Put in a pan with water, bring to the boil, add sugar and simmer until syrupy! Strain and bottle.

It's not going to last long in the fridge as I didn't sterilise anything  for long term storage so it's now frozen in wee tubs in the freezer!  It's absolutely delicious considering it's made from the bit you'd normally compost! 🍓

I did put all this in a video for Foodie Friday on YouTube but despite 3 attempts to upload it won't let me.  All I get is a corrupted file message 🙄 I haven't done anything different so suspect it's a ploy to get me to upgrade to the paid version of Clip Champ.  We'll see if it uploads the next one.

I'm realising now how much of a commitment having a 'popular' channel needs. Even when I'm not on the laptop I'm getting notifications/comments on my phone all day and all night.  I haven't figured out how to stop them yet!  I'd say about 90% of the comments are lovely/respectful/genuine.  The rest are people who clearly don't watch the whole thing and jump right in with questions (I'm STILL getting the how old are you/why are you not getting your State pension!!!) Some are saying I shouldn't have a dog if I'm poor (eh, where did I say I was poor??)  I've deleted a few personal ones that commented on my lack of make up (WTF?) and hair.  And banned one guy who was demanding a lot of personal details about my kids, grandchildren(???) and went on a rant about single women, the declining population and immigrants.

Someone said YouTube is like the Wild West!  Yup!!! 🤠

Help needed!!!

 

I've opened Pandora's box with this Youtube nonsense.  I actually couldn't sleep last night and woke up with a dread feeling.  Yesterday's video has had over 13K views in 24 hours.  This tells me that there's both interest in what I'm doing and a need to talk about what happens when you retire and have very little money.

In amongst the comments about how I'm doing it wrong, how I'm paying too much for xyz or that I'm secretly living on my mega savings (def not!!) there were some genuine comments from some people who are surviving on very little money while paying rent.  There were some good discussions lost in the forest of comments.

But I've lost count of how many times people asked the same things over and over especially where it's clear they didn't watch the whole video until the end.  Why am I not getting my state pension?  Why haven't I applied for pension credit? Why am I paying life/pet/house insurance?  What are you going to do if xyz breaks down?  Why aren't you using the rental income from the flat?  At least those people had looked at my other videos!

I put Luna into daycare yesterday so I could get some more unpacking and sorting out done.  Instead I spent the day and evening answering all these questions as politely as I could (an old people pleaser habit!)  I got up this morning and there were a whole load more 😭😭😭

Oh wise ones, what is your opinion on all this?  I've only been doing it for 3 weeks and it's quickly become serious.  All I wanted to do was make wee videos saying here's a Lidl box and look how I've used it to save me money!!

Me and an energy company (again!)

 

According to Octopus between 10th July and 5th August I used £2110.03 worth of electricity.  WTAF?? On a prepayment top up meter.  On the 6th August I got a Smart meter installed.  Surely there has been a glitch in the matrix when the switchover happened.  You can see on either side of that graph my normal usage.

Octopus are 'looking into it' and will get back to me.  Meanwhile while my brand new account says I'm in debt over £2000.

Me and energy companies just don't seem to have smooth transitions! 🙄

Filling up the freezers

I made my final car payment this week!  My wee 4yo car is now all mine 🚗 So that frees up a nice wee amount each month which I will be adding to my savings from next month.  But to celebrate I bought another freezer!!  Same silver colour as my fridge freezer and it fits nicely into the corner on the other side of the table.  It's not plugged in yet in this photo, it's just been dumped for the gases to settle!   I chose this Indesit one as it's able to keep food frozen for 12 hours if the power goes out.  

I popped into Lidl on Monday and got lucky again.  I knew I'd be able to use up everything and put it in my new freezer 😊  From the above,  I chopped and froze the melon (it was perfect!!) and peaches (had to skin them first.)  I made a sort of tomato relish by chopping up the really ripe tomatoes and cooking them with some sugar and vinegar.  Delicious!!  I've used some of the peppers in a sweet and sour sauce today.  I squeezed the oranges and froze the juice in ice cubes.  And Luna has been eating the cucumber with me as a snack! 🥒

Then last night my DIL gifted me some of her 10p fruit bargains from her Sainsbury's Local.  The plums and apricots have been poached and put in the freezer.  The kale was just sorted into a freezer bag and half of  the pineapple was used in the sweet and sour sauce.  Guess where the other half is??  Yep, the freezer!! 😂

I made a short video of the sweet and sour sauce as I just can't edit in a lot of clips and photos to a longer video within a reasonable time.  I've got other stuff to do!  It took 3 hours to upload a 15 min chat for editing.  So I think creating shorts of me cooking works better then I can just do a one take chat to camera for the other stuff with a wee bit of editing.  Thanks to Mean Queen for that idea!  What do you think?  Opinions welcome!

Luna doesn't like it!

Luna is a bit bemused that I have a table in the kitchen now!! The side eye is ridiculous when I'm eating!😂She had developed a bad habit of sitting right beside me on the sofa when I was eating and tried to lick my plate. So, yeah she's not happy.  To use a Scottish phrase "she's pure raging!" 😂😂

She sits and glares at me from the other side too!  But it's so good to have a space to eat and work at again.  And Miss Luna will just have to get used it!

Today I got my notepad out and sat with a coffee to try and work out some things regarding the YouTube stuff.  I now have an astonishing 1161 subscribers and that £1.76 video has had over 17K views!!  😱 I only re started the channel 2 weeks ago!

Thanks for all the input on how I should go forward with it all. I've decided I'm going to post 2 videos a week on Mondays and Fridays.  The Monday one will be a general frugal chat about what I do and the Friday one will be food related.  I know the Friday one will be more popular based on the analytics! I'll keep them to around 15 mins max and I'll try to do one take to the camera and then add in things when I edit it.  It's editing that takes up all the time due to the slowness of Clip Champ.  But as it's free I'm not complaining.

I'm still keeping my blog going as usual.  I enjoy writing too much.  I'm not linking them and I'm not mentioning this blog so they're completely separate things.  You'll still get to read the rubbish on my weekly doings!! 😂😂

Trip to IKEA and YouTube commenters!

 

I had a lovely day with my DIL, my eldest son's wife visiting IKEA in Glasgow.  I had a list and I stuck to it!!  I knew exactly what I wanted to see and what I wanted to buy.  I got a table and chairs for my kitchen.  It's Pinntorp, a gateleg folding table.  It fitted the space I had perfectly!

My DIL helped me build it.  We're both pretty handy with DIY so table and chairs were built in a couple of lazy hours.  It extends easily to seat at least 4 maybe more at a pinch.  I don't do big family dinners any more so I don't need a big table.

Ignore the 'mess' on the left hand side as I quickly moved stuff to set the table up.  But I'm thrilled with it especially as it leaves me room to fit in a second freezer!! 🎉 I make my last car payment this month so there will be some extra cash in the budget next month!!  I really miss having a big freezer so 2 wee ones will have to do.  More space to store bargains 😊

Thanks for all your lovely comments on my YouTube adventures.  As of tonight I now have 871 subscribers!  And the £1.76 video has had an astonishing 11K views!!! On the whole the commenters have been really supportive but I actually laughed and even put a 😂 in my reply to the woman who said she hoped my food was rotten.  Someone else commented on my £400 mixer (I'm assuming she thought I had a brand new Kitchen Aid and not a knackered 18 yo Kenwood!!)  And someone thought if I can afford to shop in M&S I shouldn't be using the food waste shop.  It's as if they didn't even watch the video!!! 😂😂😂 

Well that escalated quickly!

Oh my goodness!  I have 587 subscribers and my last video had 4.1K views in a day!!!!!  😱 It's rather overwhelming and very unexpected.  It seems to have appealed to a lot of people.

As much as I really love watching American frugal channels, I always feel we don't get the same level of deals and coupons here in the UK.  I also watch a lot of shopping and batch cooking videos but their target audience is feeding your family on a budget.  And since I retired I've watched retirement videos too.

There aren't many UK channels about older women living on their own, on a budget (by choice) and enjoying it!!  I think I've found a gap in the market!  Mean Queen springs to mind and I've found a couple more but haven't watched many of their videos yet.

I have a new found respect for YouTubers.  It clearly takes A LOT of time to put together their videos.  Yesterday I tried to photograph and film some of the prepping and cooking of the veg box contents.  I have tons of footage and photos and that took the best part of a day.  But I quickly came to realise that even a 5 min video clip takes up to an hour to upload on Clip Champ.  It's the free editing software on my laptop.  It has a paid upgrade option which I suspect is much quicker but I really don't want to pay (atm) to make videos.  And I don't want to be tied to my laptop all day either!

Roast butternut squash and apple soup 

I thought it would be a good idea to show everything I made from the £1.76 shopping trip (and a few folk thought so too) but it's going to take me hours and hours of uploading and editing.  So I've come up with a quicker video idea of a week's meal plan showing what 'could' be made with the contents plus a few storecupboard essentials. I'm hoping that with editing in a few photos (they upload really quickly) it will still be a useful video.  What do you think?

Huge big thank you to everyone who has subscribed and commented on my videos.  I haven't promoted them or even told my friends and family about them yet.  So it's all down to you guys kickstarting the process that seems to be getting them noticed!  I never thought much would come of it so wasn't prepared.  I really need to work out a way that I can keep blogging (not giving up on the blog!!) and making videos that are useful and still getting on with my life of doing up this house and garden on a teeny budget!! 😊

Jackpot!

 

Oh my goodness, I hit the jackpot today!  I think I got my best ever Lidl veg box plus a good amount of healthy food from the community food waste shop and M&S.  Everything in the above photo cost me £1.76!!  Honest!

I did a lot of walking too so I'm feeling blessed and virtuous and a bit sore tonight!!  I've frozen what needed to be frozen but I now need to work out some meals and recipes to make the best use of everything I got.  If you've got any suggestions let me know! 😋

New handles

 

It's been bugging me since I moved in that the 3 doors in my small living room all had different coloured and shaped handles.  One was even on upside down and the tubular latch had been removed.  No idea why!

So today I replaced the latch (don't look closely if you're a joiner!!) 😂

And I fitted new handles to the door that leads into the hallway and stairs.  This means I can close this door properly when I have to answer the front door and keep Luna safely in the living room.  The handles are just from B&Q (Breage is the design) and costs £25 for a pair.  The design is very ergonomic and actually feels nice when you hold it.  It'll cost another £50 to do the other 2 doors so hopefully I can get them done soon.  In the past when I've tried to match light sockets and switches throughout the house they stopped making the design I used.  So I don't want to wait too long, just in case!

I made another video while Luna was at daycare.  I was practising my editing skills on this one.  I can't believe the response I've had on the first video and I've got an amazing 343 subscribers! 😮 Apart from one narky comment, everyone has been so lovely!

My DIL asked me if I had ideas for more videos.  I've got a few but if there's anything you think I should cover let me know! 😊

Pushing myself out my comfort zone

 

I made some tomato sauce with some of the veg in the Lidl box.  I thought I'd film it since Luna was still at daycare.  Oh my goodness, seeing and hearing myself is way out my comfort zone!!

I did invest in a tripod ages ago but I'm just using my android phone to film and Clipchamp for editing which is the free software on my laptop.  Already I've learned about unflattering camera angles 😱 and sound quality when you're cooking.  I know a microphone would fix the sound issues but it's not in this month's budget so I'll just have to speak louder!  I can add photos and text so I'm definitely making my brain work hard!

As I've now been officially retired for a year 🎉 and I've moved house as planned, I need to start building my 'retired life.'  Teaching myself to make videos is just one thing.  What else could I do to push myself out my comfort zone?  Any suggestions?

I finally did it!!

 

I finally got round to changing my YouTube channel name and made my first video on living well on less!  Eeek!  Be kind, I'll get better! 😁

The Welsh dresser

 

Thanks for all the comments on my Welsh dresser/sideboard.  Don't worry I am NOT painting it, I just said I had thought about it in the past.  It's currently 'staged' with a plant and my Odin and Frigga statues.  

I don't know if it's Welsh (as in made in Wales) it's just always been called that in the family.  But it came from my maternal grandpa's side of the family where there are Welsh relatives.  He was from Rochdale in Lancashire and never really lost his accent despite living in Scotland most of his adult life.  According to my mum it was originally my great gran's dresser which was then passed down to my great aunt who lived in Wales.  It's not what you'd typically think a 'Welsh dresser' looks like especially as it had a huge mirror and spindles in the middle section.  The wee bit I have with the oval mirror would have sat on top of that section.  I suspect it was a parlour dresser and not a kitchen one.

The top two drawers have these part flower carvings.  These drawer fronts are solid wood whereas the lower four have veneer fronts which have a few bubbles.  They're a different colour which is why I'd considered painting them in the past.

The top piece is also solid wood and has leafy carvings.

You can see how bashed about it is close up.  It came to me like this.

Although I suspect this bit was scraped in the move!

The handles are rather pretty too!

I kinda like it exactly as it is scraped and bashed up a bit.  It can hold a lot of stuff!  The bottom two drawers are currently full of yarn and knitting stuff!

Long time readers may remember this photo from lockdown.  I saw it in my memory app this morning and thought I might try putting my rainbow of gin bottles on the sideboard.  Then I also saw in this photo one of the lamps and my Frigga statue!!  Lol! 😊

More playing around with colours!

 

I finally cleared and tidied my sideboard.  It's been a dumping area for 'stuff' since I moved in. It's old and been in the family (my Welsh side) for many years but isn't valuable at all.  In my old house I didn't have the top bit on it.  There was actually a middle piece too with shelves and a mirror but it was really badly damaged.  I didn't know if it would fit in my wee living room but brought it with me just in case.  I've toyed with painting it many times as it's very battered and scratched.  But now I love it just as it is and it holds it's own amongst all the colour!  However, it was proving difficult to find artwork to go above it.

After many different combinations of pictures, mirrors and lamps ( I kept sending photos to my DIL for her input!) I finally settled on the above.  I moved the painting from above the radiator (got a different plan for that wall now although the radiator will still be colourful!) and it all fell into place.  The lamps had different shades so I changed them to 2 orange ones (more stuff I brought with me 'just in case')  All 3 prints are by the same artist Gerry Baptist.  I just love his use of bright bold colours.  They came with the showhouse we (ex husband and I) bought in 2003 so they've moved with me in 3 house moves now.  The one on the left is called Olive Grove Orange and the middle one is called Le Chateau.  I haven't tracked down the one on the right yet. It has a beautiful blue and pink sky which matches my pink sofa and ties all the colours in the room together!

I unpacked the box that contained my rainbow of gin bottles.  They're all empty except for the orange one.  They're sitting on top of the yellow corner unit I bought on impulse during lockdown at hugely discounted price.  The brown wall will be painted Natural Calico next week so the colours will pop a bit more (I hope!)

Thanks for all the suggestions on what to put on my Harry Potter shelf.  At some point I'll indulge in something a bit unique.  For now I've put a special bottle of gin up there as I thought the shape was perfect and it has a wax seal.  It's a limited edition 2021 Stirling gin called OlypmiGIN, info HERE.  It has gold flakes in it.  My youngest son gifted me it when he moved out.  It's still unopened.  Not sure if I'll ever open it now.  The Niffler looks like he's trying to get the gold which if you know about Nifflers is very appropriate!!! 😂

It's starting to look colourful!

 

While Luna was at daycare today, I finished painting the first wall and some of the woodwork.  I haven't painted the door yet as I was undecided on the colour and it needs a new handle.  You can see how dingy and grubby it is compared to the white surrounding woodwork!  I had a thought about painting the door the same Natural Calico colour as the walls.  I did a quick research and was delighted to discover that paint colour actually comes in Satinwood!  Hooray!!  So I did a wee click and collect order from B&Q on the way to collect Luna.  I'll paint the door next time.

My books are back in the bookcase, the orange is peeking through nicely. This chair will be reupholstered when I've saved up.  I'm thinking green velvet or similar.

My Harry Potter items are back on top but feels like something is missing.  It needs something else on the left hand side to balance the height of the books.  I'll have a think about that.

I'm planning on painting the radiator red to pick up the red roofs in the painting above.  I had ordered some samples of radiator paint from B&Q and they came today.

They come in sets of 6 in the same colour family.  This is the red set.  Costs £5 and was free postage.  I'll test them in situ before deciding which one although I'm leaning towards bottom right one.

This wee stool was painted in Annie Sloan's Emperor's Silk a few weeks ago and waxed.  I gathered up Luna's toys into a basket to keep them tidy but she keeps emptying it! 😂

I took the chance to give everything a deep clean and hoover while I had uninterrupted peace (Luna barks at the hoover!!)  It felt good to get that done.  My living room is starting to come to life with colour! 💖🧡💛💚💙💜