Hey friends,

The 'not-fun' thing we had to go through is now over and done with and life is good again 🎉. I'll spare you the details and just say that we owe the NHS big time. I pledge not to complain about taxes this year ✋.

Anyway, what a difference a couple of weeks makes. I really love this time of year. Fresh foliage, the sun is strong yet the air's still cool and all of summer lies in front of us. Perhaps the brush with mortality has made me sentimental...

I've not made any progress on the bathroom whatsoever though I have been furiously shopping, ordering all sorts of things that are due to arrive this week. The whole bathroom suite came to just over £3k so pretty much bang on with the consensus of the poll we did a few weeks back. Very helpful, thank you. However within that, we spent over £600 on one luxury item which I'll tell you all about when I get to installation (no, it's not the bath).

Instead I've been getting on with a couple of jobs I'd been avoiding - because they involve painting.

Much improved. This was pretty simple but for one area which had rotted away. I started by scraping away all the loose and wet material with a knife and stiff brush:

Next I drilled some small holes to allow the wet rot hardener to seep in as much as possible. I applied it liberally with an old brush I could throw away afterwards as it's very difficult to clean off.

Once dried I embedded some screws to give the filler a better key.

Then I used Ronseal 2-part wood filler. It was one of those rare occasions in DIY where I had exactly the quantity required for the job. This product can be filled to any depth but because it was vertical I had to build it up in layers. Fortunately it only needs half an hour to set. After the fifth application (the limit of my patience) and some sanding, it was looking decent again.

For paint I went with a multi-surface type which doesn't require a primer as less painting = good. I then went on to use it to freshen up the swing set that came with the house.

I actually started this before with a black spray paint but after running out after just one leg, I realised I'd need about 7 cans to finish the job so I brushed/rollered on the tin of paint instead. Perhaps I should have tried out my sprayer on this job.

Swings are on order. One for the baby, one for me 😀.

Steve then called me up requesting a hand lifting his oak planters into place. I'm definitely going to do something similar in future though I'm undecided between sleepers and brick. I like sleepers but as you can see next to his steps they will turn grey in a few years.

Then today I came across a dog in our road with no owner in sight. I kept him safe in the garden until they were found in a frantic panic a couple of hours later. We're not ready for the commitment of owning a dog yet but it was lovely to play fetch for a while.

And here's a shark in a roof we saw on our travels. Of all the questions one could ask, my biggest wonderment was how do they not get leaks? 🤔

👋

It seems that cancelling Netflix is the on-trend thing right now. However if you're looking for a reason to stay, Better Call Saul is back with a new season. It's a prequel to Breaking Bad that some find a bit too slow but I actually prefer.

Hit "reply" if you've got any comments on this week's newsletter – otherwise I'll see you next time. Have an epic week :)

P.s. If you think a friend will enjoy this newsletter, feel free to send them this link where they can sign up.

P.p.s. You can find all previous newsletters here.