After going through a separation my best friend ended up buying out her ex. She has over a half acre of land and loves gardening. She is working four part time jobs in order to keep the property including running an air bnb with two of her rooms. Lately she has not had much time to garden and things were getting out of control. We offered to help with her garden for a share of her produce. Last night we weeded for an hour and a half and four wheel barrows full of weeds we mostly have got her back on track. We will be helping likely once a week for the rest of the summer. Things grow so well on the island here if you don't stay on top of weeds/black berry bushes they take over quickly. Her chickens were super happy foraging in the newly picked weeds.
We brought home some rhubarb (I'm going to have to likely bake with it), a couple of late season asparagus spears and a gigantic bunch of oregano which is currently drying in the laundry room. She grows a bunch of things that I don't like corn, leeks, radishes and turnips so this should work out well for both of us. She has enough other yard work like mowing to do without needing to weed all the time.
I am kind of dreading the next two days of carpet installation but we shall manage through it. There are still a couple of large items that need to be taken apart/moved, then when the installers are gone we need to put our house and life back together - plus clean everything as we go as I've let the housework slide due to the carpet install. No more posts until after that - nothing a little wine and chocolate won't get me through!
You'll love your new carpet but that sounds like a lot of work getting ready. When we did a renovation last year they wanted us to put all of our furniture in storage and move out until it was complete. We opted not to do the bedrooms and living room because of that. It's nice you can help your friend and get some fresh produce in return. - Margy
ReplyDeleteIt was way more work for us moving 90 % of the furniture ahead of time than when we had laminate installed as with the larger pieces they just did one side of the room and then moved the furniture to the other side - something you can't do with carpet. We paid a small amount to have them help us with the last pieces that were too heavy for us alone, totally worth it.
DeleteGood luck with the carpet installation, I'm sure all the kerfuffle will have been worth it when all is done and said.
ReplyDeleteSharing the work for the produce is a win-win. Your friend is fortunate to have you in her world.
My friend is a good person and does a lot with/for us. It was fun in a scratchy labour intensive way lol.
DeleteSo much excitement... and mess. Great that you’re able to barter with your friend. Wishing her well through the changes in her life.
ReplyDeleteYes mess....but once it's cleaned up I shall collapse and not clean for a while :) I am looking forward to that moment.
Delete...watch a movie (with popcorn) to celebrate! I plan on doing that...once I figure out where the cleanup guys packed our popcorn popper.
DeleteTomorrow I have my son's friend coming over to give me a quote to replace all the heating system. And while it definitely needs replacing I'm NOT looking forward to all that hassle either! Sometimes I think I should just live in a Tiny House!
ReplyDeleteHeating system upgrades are worth it in the end...definitely save you money over time in efficiency, especially in your climate.
DeleteAs one who has been living with furniture in the wrong rooms (though slowly get back to normal) I hear your pain. The final rewards will be worth it. Great plan to help your friend and get produce in the mix.
ReplyDeleteWe still need to pick out new bedroom furniture....so it will be a bit of a smozzle until we get that as we are putting our current furniture in the spare bedroom. But at least we will have our lives back...:) The are installing as I type this
DeleteI have lived like you are currently living and it is no fun until it is over and everything is back in place. It will be so worth it after it is done though.
ReplyDeleteThe carpet do look good, we are working on getting everything back in it's place today. Even more purging happened with this carpet install as we were forced to look at/deal with things we haven't touched since we moved here. More was purged, that is a good thing!
DeleteYour decision to upgrade and not move - and stay in an area with great neighbours was a good one. Lots of work getting the prep for the carpet change - worth the hard work when you have the rooms back to how you want them on your new carpeting. Enjoy your posts as you move forward with your upgrading plans. Nice to have a neighbour you can help and produce they will share.
ReplyDeleteJoy
Thanks Joy! We both keep saying we are so glad we are staying versus moving because as much hassle as this is, moving and making a different home ours would have been much more hassle and much more $$$. We both love our back yard, just need to make a few more adjustments. The carpets are in now - just moving the furniture back today!
DeleteLove the idea of helping your friend out in exchange for free produce. And, hope the carpet install is as easy as possible. We've discussed ripping out the carpet & adding laminate in our vacation house (because, carpets & beach/sand don't mix), but the furniture storage issue is what stops us. It's a giant hassle to think about.
ReplyDeleteI am not going to lie...it was a gigantic hassle. The carpets do look really great though, they ended up doing it all in one day. Today we put the house back together. I guess the hardest part was figuring where each piece of furniture was to go during the install as everything must be removed. Our built in closet organizer thankfully did not have to come apart as we were able to just raise the foot that was on the ground - saved us loads of work. Still, it is about as much fun as moving (hard on the body like that too)
DeleteI quite liked the excitement of living in one room when we were restoring the house - a bit like camping! Hope it's going well.
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely idea to help your hard working friend with her garden. xxx
It might of been better had it been spread out over many days but we moved most of it one day and then all of it back the next!
DeleteWe need to deal with the carpet on our entire second floor. The mess it will make to deconstruct furnishings is what has kept me from doing it. You are brave!
ReplyDeleteI'm not going to sugar coat it - it was a ton of work, but I am so glad we did it. Just buy lots of wine if you decide to get it done :)
DeleteNeed my floors done with laminate and keep postponing it just because of the work involved. May be next year... Enjoy your carpet. It was kind of you to help your neighbor. I looks like she needs all the help she can get. Have fun gardening together!
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