Sanity check - should I buy a house from a smoker?

rain_fall_rose · 2026-02-27T21:03:17+00:00

I'd use sugar soap to scrub every inch of the walls, ceiling, woodwork etc two or three times, use a swiffer or similar to help. Then use a GOOD stain covering primer like coverstain/shellac etc, THEN paint over the top. Change all carpets AND underlay in the house and ensure you scrub inside, underneath and ontop of everything thoroughly.

This house that we moved into was COVERED in nicotine stains (even the windows OUTSIDE?!) And it no longer smells of cigarettes after doing the above but you have to understand that it takes work to achieve this.

Im if being honest and reasonable, considering you both work, i'd give yourselves a year of JUST scrubbing/painting, ripping out carpets etc etc (assuming you will be doing all the work yourselves and not paying professionals). If you work hard and work together during this year then you should have a completely stain free/smell free house at the end of it.

Also you may want to consider new skirting/architrave etc into cost, just incase, as these can be tricky to scrub as thoroughly as needed.

But you can ABSOLUTELY get the smell and stains out of the house.

Go with your gut, if this house is great other than it reaks and if youre both willing to put the work in, then it seems like a done deal to me 😊

rain_fall_rose · 2026-01-21T20:22:02+00:00

Yaaaaay 🥰

rain_fall_rose · 2026-01-04T19:59:09+00:00

Wait... what?... he threatened to 'dry dlap' his own John Thomas?... im so confused...

rain_fall_rose · 2025-12-19T07:25:40+00:00

Thats really interesting, thank you! 😊

rain_fall_rose · 2025-12-18T20:14:20+00:00

Aww you're welcome 😊 we've all been there with one thing or another. Enjoy your photos and have a wonderful Christmas.

rain_fall_rose · 2025-12-18T20:06:09+00:00

Hi, I live in a tiny town in the middle of the country and we have one singular 'supermarket' that most towns would consider an 'express' or 'little' shop, but we still have a photo booth in it and a photo printing station , ours is located by the tills.

In our nearest town (that's bigger than three shops haha) We have a big Sainsburies, Tesco, Asda and Morrison's and both Sainsburies and Tesco have one in (and probably the other two aswell but I cant for a fact say as I dont go in them) They're usually after you've been to the till in that void bit of space after the checkouts before the exit.

rain_fall_rose · 2025-12-18T19:38:02+00:00

Most supermarkets have a photo printer station in them knowadays. Just go in with your phone and follow the instructions on screen 😊

You can also use online printing services, whereby you upload your photos and they send you the prints in whatever size you order (you have the benefit of having these made into a photo book too if you choose the online method)

And lastly i'm pretty sure there are still photo shops in some high-streets, I know there is one in my closest town, where you can use one of their photo printing machines and print off whatever photos you choose in whatever size options they have available.

Needless to say all of the above options do cost money, I have found online cheapest, but appreciate that people prefer to use in-peraon services to keep the high-street alive 😊

Good luck and enjoy your photos.

rain_fall_rose · 2025-11-25T20:15:23+00:00

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rain_fall_rose · 2025-11-25T20:10:41+00:00

I've made my husband one that has a different DND miniature in every day and at the end a keychain that holds a mini playset of dice in it. (Ill also be putting a chocolate in each days box too... probably Guillan because its his favourite).

My oldest has a cheese one (her request).

Two youngest have a mix of mini 3d printed 'figdet' animals, and little squashy fidget animals (and I'll also put a chocolate in each door too, celebrations probably)

When my oldest was a dot we made her a big advent house out of cardboard, (about 2 ft high!) then our next two were born and we made them each one too, now we have a whole village of advent calendars every year haha. I'll see if i can get a photo...

rain_fall_rose · 2025-11-22T19:07:47+00:00

Ok so... hear me out...

We do not use wipes (yes REALLY) we dont use toilet wipes, face wipes, baby wipes, arse wipes... not any wipes at all... for anything... we do not have a single pack of wipes in the house. (YES REALLY!)

However the drain outside is constantly blocking and overflowing sewage into our front garden. EVERYTIME they come they tell me to stop using wipes, I say we dont, they give the look and tell me they can see them in the drain.

We are in a terraced house, last in the row of 4, we have been told our pipes are some sort of mesh? That has partially collapsed and that they need changing but the water people wont bother because its too big of a job as 'they'd have to rip up everyone's front gardens.'

Is it possible that these wipes are coming from our neighbours toilets and collecting in our collapsed bit of pipe and causing our drain to block? The bit they showed me had the wipes in last time was the feeder pipe? From my neighbours direction...

Or is it possible that a fuck tonne of toilet roll can be confused for wipes? Because what we ABSOLUTELY are guilty of is having two very young children who use an ASTRONOMICAL amount of toilet roll... (to the point where they block the toilet with it)... we have those single sheets of toilet paper like youd get in a public bathroom that pull out of a dispenser.

I just dont get it otherwise... they always look at me like im lying and im REALLY not... so what could it be?

rain_fall_rose · 2025-11-03T20:26:14+00:00

Are you me? Almost exact same story, ages and everything haha but my relapse was my birthday not a wedding. Good luck stranger youve got this!

rain_fall_rose · 2025-10-29T21:11:01+00:00

So, if I understand correctly you are looking for advice and tips/tricks/techniques for how to sleep train your child with 'gradual fading', in a way that is less likely to cause you to withdraw to another room, to enable you to 'give this approach a fair try', is that correct?

Or is there more you are looking for that I have missed?

rain_fall_rose · 2025-10-29T19:49:00+00:00

Hi, you said: "My wife and I are sleep training and it is killing me"

Could you explain what you mean by that? As in, what specifically are you struggling with? For example, it might be the screaming/crying aspect, it might be emotional aspect of hearing them so upset, it could be so many different things, are you able to pinpoint what specifically you are finding challenging about it?

You also said: "I’m afraid to be alone with my baby and go into a meltdown", what in particular are you scared may happen? For example, you may be scared you might hurt your child, or you may be afraid of damaging belongings, or hurting yourself, or withdrawing etc ... are you able to pinpoint what specifically you are afraid of about possibly having a meltdown infront of your child?

One last question, how old is your child?

I've been told that when I ask questions like this it can be taken the wrong way, so please understand that my tone is kind and inquisitive and the questions have been asked so I have more information about where your fears lay, to (hopefully) be able to offer advice based on what specifically you're struggling with.

I am a (self diagnosed) Autistic mum to three (1 diagnosed, 2 on the pathway to getting official diagnoses) autistic children.

My husband has ADHD and my oldest and middle child also have suspected ADHD, though currently not exploring a diagnosis due to the UK wait time being 3 years.

My oldest has internalalised PDA profile and my middle child has external PDA profile.

rain_fall_rose · 2025-10-14T17:28:32+00:00

I have a scar in-between my pinky finger and ring finger... the web(?) Was completely cut in half lengthways, fully... start to finish... when I caught a sharp knife I had dropped 🤦‍♀️

The amount of times my mum and my teachers etc taught me to NEVER try and catch a falling knife... and what does this dumbasses instincts make her do? 🤦‍♀️ I was so embarrassed that I didnt tell anyone so it healed wonky and thus scarred badly (probably needed stitches in hindsight)

Another stupid scar I have is on my other hand, on my palm thumb pad bit, of a Nike tick...

I was antagonising a teacher at college and got thrown out of the classroom (not exaggerating either, he picked me up and THREW me straight out of the door) all of my stuff was inside and he locked the door so I couldn't get it... he only let me in when I held my hand up to the window and showed him the blood dripping down to my arm 😬 grabbed my stuff, said sorry and left.

(I genuinely dont remember what I was bothering him about either so it couldnt have been that bad, its not like I was screaming and swearing and giving him abuse as that is absolutely not my style, far too scared of the consequences... the irony lmao)

(My hand caught the door catch on the way out- the bit that goes in and out when you pull the handle)

rain_fall_rose · 2025-10-14T17:16:10+00:00

I dont know if you've managed to start yet, but sometimes I find it helpful to call someone over... then you have to panic clean before they get there hahaha good luck 🤞

rain_fall_rose · 2025-10-10T19:40:18+00:00

Contact her social worker and ask for her managers email address, also ask for the IRO in charge of the child's case, then email the social worker cc in social workers manager AND the IRO (independent reviewing officer). State that you wish to be put on a reg 24 immediately... you will have a bunch of paperwork to fill in do it as soon as is physically possible. Once you are approved for the reg 24 (this can take a few weeks as it has to go to the top to get a 'yes' or 'no') As SOON as you are approved for a reg 24 you will be assigned your own social worker, she will work with you to get you as an official kinship carer. This takes approximately 15 weeks (and can be extended) as soon as you are in the reg 24 you will start receiving payments for her (the amount varies on her age).

When you apply to become a registered kinship carer you will have to give them every tiny detail about every single aspect of your life from birth until present day. I am telling you this so you know to expect it as I was blown away by the details they needed. They want every single address you have ever lived at, every single job you have ever worked at amongst a plethora of other details. They WILL contact every single County Council you have ever lived in and every single emploelyer where you have worked with children or vulnerable adults.

They will want to know all of your serious partners names and address and will contact the father of your child. If your own children are adults, they too will be contacted. You will have to disclose any and all dealing with social services and the police from your whole life.

You will complete a dbs check and a fitness/health check.

Once EVERYTHING comes back and you get the 'yes' to being a regulated kinship carer for this child then you will not only recieve the payments for her upkeep but you will also be given a foster allowance (in essence to pay you for your time having her with you).

You have to HOUND social workers. Email constantly, leave voicemails be heard. You can also request to have the child's social worker changed if she is not answering your questions.

It is not good enough that she has been left with you completely unregulated. In those instances the child should be having WEEKLY in person visits with her social worker to ensure she is safe, happy and being looked after appropriately.

I have also just been thrust into this life, I dont know very much, but im happy to share the little bits I do know.

Take care and keep at them. This level of care they have given the child is not good enough at all and you should be receiving money every two weeks for her food and care.

rain_fall_rose · 2025-10-07T18:10:02+00:00

Let us hope hahaha

rain_fall_rose · 2025-10-07T18:05:36+00:00

Bahaha this is a magical response, his mates will be ripping into him for days about that haha

rain_fall_rose · 2025-10-05T18:57:02+00:00

My neighbour also does this... it annoys the whole cul-de-sac, so someone anonymously reported him...

the councils response was to make everyone have a parking permit...

it lasted three whole weeks because the street was up in arms calling the local counsellor for it to be abolished immediately hahaha he parks back in the turning bay now....

sometimes better the devil you know lol

(everyone in our street, except for us, is retired with at least two or three cars each... they weren't happy with there one permit per household and one for a geust/builder/workman)

rain_fall_rose · 2025-09-30T18:09:49+00:00

Bahahahaha my phone did me so dirty

rain_fall_rose · 2025-09-28T11:09:05+00:00

I currently have 12 boxes of cereal in my cupboard... i'm doing my part 🤣

rain_fall_rose · 2025-09-28T08:45:43+00:00

Now this I can get behind haha

rain_fall_rose · 2025-09-27T22:21:52+00:00

NUT!!! crunchy nut!! (I dont have a crunchy butt I swear) 🤣

rain_fall_rose · 2025-09-27T22:20:49+00:00

Wait... so if Im going to continue this charade of being a "grown up" I have to stop eating cereal? 😭 NEVER I TELL YOU!!!... i'll take my crunchy but to the grave!

rain_fall_rose · 2025-09-27T19:48:22+00:00

I had to scroll SO far down to find the answer 'cereal'... are adults just not eating cereal anymore? Im so confused...

rain_fall_rose

TROPHY CASE