Cute Builds

[Kayleigh Telega]

Ileft home early this morning and have a couple of connecting flights, with the main leg between Brisbane and Tokyo taking around eight hours. And around that there are a couple of connecting flights.

I picked up a copy of the Cute Pug 30542 at the supermarket late last week. Now I have bemoaned the general availability of polybags in Australia in the past. However this year, I noticed some of the polybags surfacing in the incredibly small toy section at our local supermarket. (Fun fact: in Australia, LEGO polybag sets can now occasionally be found in your local supermarket). Not feeling inclined to add to my City, friends or Ninjago collection this week (whoops: left my ninja minifigures at home though!) I selected the creator set. I dropped it into my cabin bag with a ziplock bag and waited until I was somewhere between Port Moresby and Tokyo and unpacked it onto a serviette on my tray table.

As a polybag, this is a small set, it does however contain an interesting range of elements including tan bows, some black inverse bows, two tan 11 modified bricks with studs on adjacent sides and four round stud with bar.

The major challenge to building a small set on the tray table is than small parts have a tendency to fall off the edge. And when the final model is 4x 6.5 studs in size, you can imagine that a significant number of pieces will be small. Ultimately we get a small and, as advertised, cute pug!

For fun I photoshopped this rendition of the shed with some bright colors on it in our yard. (Note: The windows, cupola and weathervane were options that must be purchased separately. Also, for your needs, the shed kit can be purchased with wood joist flooring system or no flooring if you are building it on top of a concrete pad.)

Because the shed was supposed to be a cute GARDEN shed, I built two rot-resistant raised planter beds in front of the shed site. (If you have an eagle eye, you can see the gravel pad behind the planter beds.)

Call 811, your local utilities marking service to have all your utilities marked. Check with your city or county Building and Development office to find out what the requirements are for accessory structures on your property. Find out what your setback is and if you need a permit (in our area, the set back is 10 feet and a permit is required for structures over 144 sq. feet.) Level your site and add drainage rock to create a firm base that will not allow water to pool under your shed.

After the plywood flooring is completely installed. Build your roof trusses. Follow the instructions. To build the trusses identically, use shipping blocks to create a template to use for each truss assembly.

Have a second pair of hands help you erect the walls one at a time. Brace the walls after checking for plumb. Then secure the walls to the flooring by nailing or driving fasteners through the bottom of the wall.

@MzMelonz Hi! I just checked in my game. When I filter by "Cute" I see that most of the items are from Growing Together and the Pastel Pop kit. There is one item from the Bathroom Clutter kit and one from Horse Ranch. I don't have the Bust the Dust, Grunge Revival, or Book Nook kits, so I don't know if there are any "Cute" items in those.

@MzMelonz and @JonaO703 , I have all the packs and kits and my game is the same as @JonaO703 "s with only one cute item in Bathroom Clutter, one in Horse Ranch, and the rest in Pastel Pop and Growing Together.

This makes me think that this is a new category they made for Pastel Pop, and while they have added to it since then, they did not go back and see what other items from other packs or the base game would fit in this category! ? If they had done so, then we would have had items in the Cute category from packs like Toddler SP, Kid's Room SP, Backyard SP, Seasons EP, Pets EP, My First Pets Stuff SP, Discover University EP, Parenthood GP, Cottage Living EP, and Lil' Campers Kit, to name a few , plus some items from the base game!

I didn't even realize that this category was added, so thank you for that information! ?

I didn't know this Cute Decor category was added until suddenly, quite randomly one of my Sims started complaining she hated "cute decor". I had no idea what she meant, plus I never use decor "likes". But I'd used a lot of Pastel Pop in her living room. I always forget you can search by decor style. But I went into CAS anyway and got rid of the random "dislike" that she'd somehow got. It's never happened again with furniture but I'm watching out for it anyway.

With this farm you dont just get chicken you can choose to keep the eggs or switch to cooked chicken and feathers with just a flick of the lever

It is created in 2 parts so if you just want the redstone follow the first section but if you want to also create a super cute chicken coop around the redstone keep following into part 2

Just daydreaming really. Live in a London. In a few years my plan is to move to Yorkshire.

I've been looking at some beautiful cottages for sale online including one in Staithes with stunning views.

As with all my daydreams I have ruined it by worrying about insulation, cost to heat, maintain etc.

So what do you think? Approaching 60 would you go for the cute cottage or something modern, well insulated?

Top of budget would be 400k, preferably less.

I am from Yorkshire and know it's a big county by the way

Do some research on the maintenance and insulation - the estate agent should be able to tell you these details. Then you'll know what is affordable. Old cottages frequently have very think walls and open fireplaces so insulation isn't such a big problem as modern builds. If you're looking at cottages in the countryside it's just as important to check which way the wind blows in the winter!

Had a look at some of the "cute cottages" up there and my god it seems like an EPC horror story.

I guess if you are arriving from London you might have money to burn - literally.

I guess there is the dream which is probably the cute cottage with the great views and the reality, retirement in a freezing cold shoebox in a damp foggy climate.

In my experience well modernised very old buildings are no harder to keep warm and dry than say a house built in the 1960s or 70s. I've lived in an icy 70s bungalow with appalling condensation and a cosy Victorian house...a lot depends on the house.

Have to say that I've moved a lot (15 times) and have found the EPC is often a load of rubbish. Estimates of loft insulation (without lifting a hatch) and high weighting given to light bulbs (which you can cheaply and instantly change) make them next to useless.

Something else to consider (sorry!) is light level. Some old properties have small, deep set windows, perhaps not on all sides of the house. If you are retired you tend to be at home more during the day and it's amazing the difference poor light levels can make to your well being and mood. A north facing room with a small window might be cool and lovely in June but will be permanent gloom from October to April.

I'm like you OP)) in the morning when my current Victorian house is cold and miserable I dream about an insulated new build. By midday once the sun is shining again I start thinking about period character properties. Total 50/50

I have doubts about some of the rest of the stuff you have posted here, but the stuff about light bulbs is definitely not correct.

Replacing normal for low energy gets you 1-2 points out of 100. In no way can that be considered "high weighting".

"In the domestic home, low energy lighting only raises the EPC rating a small amount.

So for example to go from no low energy lights to 100% low energy lights only raises the EPC rating by 2 points."

-to-tell-if-a-light-bulb-is-energy-efficient/

In the future, I think the cute cottage will only be the domain of the very cash rich.

People getting turned down for mortgages on homes with poor energy efficiency is already happening, and due to the costs of rebuilding rising so much, the insurance is eye watering - I was quoted 1340 in May.

I am in an old homes Facebook group and I am increasingly seeing people being turned down for insurance for a myriad of reasons actually. I guess it's a combination of horrible building/fixing costs and insurers becoming more risk adverse the more it looks like a recession is looming.

I think it's possible to keep them warm under the right circumstances. For example a terraced cottage somewhere that gets the sun and is not surrounded by tall trees and isn't massive and has double glazing will be easier to heat than a five bedroom detached on a hill surrounded by woodlands.

I definitely wouldn't buy one in Staithes where the winds are likely to be brutal!

It's hard to tell whether they'll end up being a liability or asset to sell on in the future. Theoretically they should maintain prices because there's a finite stock, but in practical terms, at least right now, buying an energy money pit is a worry. It's something I would have to give a lot of consideration to if I had kids.

Perhaps, in future, if we sort our own energy supply out, it will be much less of a concern.

It is the dream though. One I still haven't been able to completely give up on yet.

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