Deliveries, Shopping & In trouble with the HOA already! 

Love your vlogs you are living my dream ❤

Hi Katie, most HOA's are a nightmare, not all... some more than others. You should have been given the HOA BY LAWS at your Closing or the HOA website with their "Rules" if you follow those then you should stay off their radar and not get any Violations. If your HOA "allows" you may be able to get a small area away from street view and get it fenced around the bins, so you can keep the garbage outside of the garage. Btw, before they begin construction next door on that vacant lot I saw on the vlog..cover your new lanai patio set as it will get full of dust. It happened to me back in 2004 when I had new build next door. Let me know if you guys need any info. on anything regarding Florida living or living in the States. Lots of little things that are good to know with HOA's, healthcare, insurance, etc. I love sharing information with new folks in the area. I see you met Theme Park Bazza and Max, wonderful couple. Deliveries are left outside and it depends on the driver if they ring the bell. Only two Gideon's locations..East End Market in Orlando near Winter Park or Disney Springs, none in Winter Garden. The Orlando metro area has way too many towns with "Winter" in it so it is very confusing. I live in Winter Springs..you see, lol. Great vlog 👍Excited to see your UK ones!

Nice to see you've met the Lodge Guys, hope you enjoyed your breakfast. Love the Denby stuff my favourites. 😊

Welcome to Orlando and we've been enjoying your vlogs! My wife and I have the Peloton Tread, Row, and Bike. You all will love the Tread, but having my weight lifting equipment in the garage, a great tip is to be sure to have plenty of fans to help cool you all down with the heat here.

Another great vlog showing insight into life in all of ours "Happy Place". Delighted to see you have now passed 2k subs (and happy to say I was here at No. 52! Can't wait to see further growth over time!

Hi Katie , well just have to say really enjoyed this blog so brill to see places not been to it was so pretty - plus the Sams Club shop to love it , thank you for sharing it with us . Looking forward to the next one x

Gideon’s other location is downtown in the East End Market on Corinne Dr. Try Salty Donut also a few doors down from the market.

Another great blog Katie. It’s the highlight of our weekend now, checking in how you are getting on, I put it on the tv and David and I watch it together, it’s really interesting. You had me all emotional when you spoke of missing your friends in Qatar, I know of 3 young ladies in particular who miss you very much ❤ xx

That is such a relief that you got your daughter into a school. I saw the bins inside Bazza’s garage on one of his vlog and wondered about that 🤢. I noticed a comment and your reply about garbage disposal use. Run cold water (never hot as it may cause the unit to overheat and auto shut off) then turn on the disposal and gradually feed the food items in. You will hear the change in sound as it pulverizes it then once it is clear…keep the water running. Hard to say how much to put down as it depends on the horse power of the unit. Some things, like raw broccoli thick stems will take longer than say cooked broccoli florets. I don’t put down raw meat products. Raw chicken is the worse for stinking out bins in the heat. Macy’s carry Denby (great sales at Macys, more so if you get a Macy’s card). If you need single pieces there is a company called Replacements. Based in North Carolina they have a great website. I got pieces for my Wedgewood dinner service. Have a wonderful trip back to the UK.

Another great Vlog Katie ……CONGRATULATIONS 🥳🥳🥳 on over 2K Subcribers ….. your channel is growing so quickly 🎉 🎉🎉🎉

In the U.S. we have Federal holidays and other holidays that may or may not be observed by local governments. So you need to check with your local community to see which holidays effect trash pickup. My local waste management sends out a printed calendar every year to show which holidays delay pickup, and also marked for which alternating week recycling is picked up. Where I live ours is only affected by big holidays that just about everyone has off (Christmas, Thanksgiving, Memorial Day, New Year's Day, Fourth of July). Sounds like whoever handles your trash pickup doesn't alter for Memorial Day, so you need to find out what dates do. We don't refer to holidays as bank holidays here because banks don't necessarily close for every holiday. They used to follow every observed Federal holiday, but not required to. They can be open and do transactions, but since the Federal Reserve Bank follows Federal holidays, some things aren't processed until after the holiday. Electronic processing makes it so much faster now that you barely notice any delay for holidays.

Love your vlogs, we visit a lot and have the discussion of what would life be like if we lived there. Bugs is always part of that discussion. I lived in US for 2 yrs and when there they couldn’t believe in Scotland we don’t really get bugs, no screens, doors and windows wide open in summer. It’s a big deal to have that as a daily part of life. When I moved it was the small day to day considerations that were different that felt at times that life was harder. Just finding people to do work needed in the house, dealing with officialdom. Over the 2 yrs I was there I think I let all the day to day stuff get to me and life in Scotland just seemed easier. You have done amazingly well since going and the hiccups like the school year are part of it. Will get fixed next year hopefully. Enjoy the best bits and just remember the sad little life these HOA people must have to be so ana**y retentive. I’m still in shock at cupboard handles, crazy 😀

Hi Katie, enjoyed the vlog again. Your HOA is ridiculous, we found with ours that they are a blessing and a 🤬. Bug wise, the red fire ants were the biggest nuisance and really give a nasty bite.

Loving your videos!! Can’t wait for the next 🥰 xx

Katie we got done by the HOA for the exact same thing, twice haha I had the bins at the side of the house as Ash was crafting in the garage and I got a letter but it was sent to the tenant before me so I didn't open, and then I got an email from the renting company with the letter attached...pointed out that I don't open other peoples mail and been here 6 months so why wasn't that updated LOL I was basically ignored and told to rectify the situation or get fined. Great vlog. Glad you met up with the Lodge Guys they are amazing. The school situation is so stressful. Have a great week xo

Hi Katie loving your vlogs keep up the good work ❤

Loving the vlogs ❤

Welcome to Orlando, I'm an Orlando girl too!

HOA are a nightmare - during time I had my house at Southern Dunes had a number of ‘Violations’ only to prove they got various ones wrong, from being different house, to them not advising about correct postbox, to stains on driveway 🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️ Am sure they have nothing else to do with their lives !

I too live in a HOA neighborhood and we got a violation for leaving supposedly “ our trash cans out all day “ because we were at work all day. Come to find out, they weren’t our trash cans, it was the neighbors. The trash guys must of sat it near our driveway since they are kinda close to one another. We’ve gotten violations for knock down palm trees etc, landscaping because people complained that the leafs were sticking out in the side walk while walking and not having fresh enough mulch. Ridiculous. Can’t wait to move to the country non-HOA soon.

Hello!!!! I love watching your vlogs. Even though I have lived in Florida for 11 years, I feel I am discovering new places through you. I looked forward to your vlogs in the UK. Have you ever looked into an outdoor shade for your lanai? They provide privacy and can help keep the sun out on hot summer days. Many people here in Florida have screen doors around their garage door opening to allow airflow without bugs. It might be worth looking into an indoor air curtain wall fan from a Home Depot or Lowe’s. BJ’s is another store like Sam’s and Costco here in FL. They have signup deals as well. They do a lot of coupon deals and can sometimes be cheaper on some things.

Hey there. I’m so excited to move down later this year, but definitely nervous about meeting new friends etc. Excited to vlog my journey and incorporate that into my content, so I have been loving this series. Thanks 💜

Gideon’s is at east end market Orlando

Welcome to living here in the U.S. Regarding the HOA's, they can be a God send or a pain in the ass, depends on where you want to navigate. I hated HOA's at first and have had 25 years of letters and violations with them really never doing much with the fine threats. I moved into a very nice neighborhood here in Houston where the amenities were great such as the pool, club house, landscaping, ponds and we even had a gym. My next door neighbor was an absolute slob and would never cut his grass, left truck tires on the side of the house, parked trailers for weeks on end and even caught this guy on my security camera walking over to my trash can and throwing his shit in my bin, needless to say the HOA kicked his butt out of the subdivision and I now have absolutely wonderful neighbors. HOA's are the proverbial mothers that spank your ass for being lazy. I'm soon moving to the Kenai of Alaska where we have none of this lower 48 nonsense lol. Love your videos.

I live up in PA and I have never heard of public school district that could refused to accept a resident because the school was full, that seems so crazy .

In Texas, they don’t turn children away at any school. I’ve never heard of that, and I used to be a public school teacher here.

Hi fellow Orlando Brit!!!! I live close ish to Polk county (I’m in lake county) if you ever need any advice about schools etc I can help. There are ways to get in easier. Apply for school choice if you can now. I’ve not seen gideons in winter garden but if you are out that way again try 4 rivers BBQ !! The weekend farmers market is huge and has a lot of fresh veggies. HOA is a nuisance. Ours luckily aren’t bad but when we first moved into one I had the same violation with trash cans. I live next door to our HOA board president. lol.

Hi Katie was a great vlog you will soon get used to all the rules and coming from Qatar you must be used to sticking to them even if we don't like them. You are doing a great job vlogging so interesting, maybe a few ups and downs with the move but your a good strong girl you will get there 😊

You’ll find that Gideon’s in Winter Park- close but not Winter Garden. ❤

I just heard on the news that FLs HOAs are changing! They will no longer be able to fine you for leaving your trash cans out! A few other rules are changing too. Something to look into!

Glad you got to meet the lodge guys.😊. Hope you get to catch up with Viki and Emma too. They’re very sweet. They were meeting up with Leigh and Nick in Orlando.

Hi Katie would you do a cost of living for us as moving to Orlando in October and it would be super helpful x

Will you be getting a pool added ? Loving the vlogs by the way .

Finding these vlogs really interesting, how did they know about your bins , did someone dob you in or are there people going around the estate looking for things that aren't allowed?

Hi Katie , have you got a waste disposal ? We put all food that will rot down there to avoid smells.

I will never live in an HOA community! I can’t imagine having my garbage cans in the garage. It was 117 here a couple of days ago in South Texas, there’s no way you can keep them in the garage! 🤢

You could offer me a free house in an HOA neighborhood and I wouldn't take it. There's no one that can tell me how to upkeep my house that I purchased.

Loving the vlogs 😊 did u not want to homeschool your daughter?

Hi Katie, if you don't mind me asking, how much was the Denby set? I'm just interested in comparing prices. Thanks x

Does your area have charter schools? They are free, at least in Arizona they are, to my knowledge. I thought the HOA violation was going to be the string lights you put up; my HOA doesn’t allow them

Katie I don’t think you will have any regrets about sending your daughter to the private school.

Laura Branscombe