My name is Sarah and...

...I am a hot drink addict. Weirdly, I would never describe myself as a hot drink drinker, yet the evidence points other wise!

I like to drink a 'posh' coffee after the school run and in the evening once the children have settled but I wouldn't call that excessive.

My hot drinks cupboard was looking ridiculous though having reached the crucial stage of playing jenga with the boxes to select the my chosen drink of the day.

I picked up two grey storage baskets in poundland that fit my sachets and teabags perfectly. Once I'd chucked all the space wasting boxes and tipped the almost empty hot chocolate powder into the newly opened pot, I had a lot more room in the cupboard. I've also added a reminder to my phones shopping list NOT to purchase any more tea and coffee drinks until I've used up most of this lot first.

X x X

It's been hectic!

It's been a crazy few days at Spurrier house. 

DD1 was hugging a friend in the playground, they did that horrible thing where they stand up under your chin, DD1 took a hefty bite to the tongue. Poor thing was pretty miserable for 48 hours.  However yesterday she managed to eat a gigantic carvery dinner without complaint so its definitely on the mend.

DD2 spent most of Wednesday night in the bathroom with a tummy bug. She had Thursday and Friday off school which threw a few plans off but she's been okay this weekend. She's back at school with her bestie today.

Gman has been the best of the bunch. This morning there was a reading cafe session at school. Gman enjoyed reading with Daddy and eating a scary amount of biscuits.

Baby W is teething. It's one of the nasty ones at the back, so there's a lot of dribbling going on. She's also suffering from a really sore nappy rash which isn't making life feel any better for her.

And finally Hubby and I have just found out some news that might mean some big changes coming our way in 2020. We can't say too much yet but watch this space. 😁

Phew! I think i need a cuppa or maybe some Gin?

X x X

Proud Mummy moment

I woke up this morning to discover DD2 in the kitchen. Not only had she gotten herself dressed ready for school, but she'd toasted a whole loaf of bread, buttered it and topped it with chocolate spread ready for the family breakfast.

I was so proud of her and we all gave her lots of praise for being so thoughtful and helping out.

I  wonder if this will become a regular thing? 

X x X

Tuesday freebies

Sat in Nero with my free hot chocolate, reading my free book and looking over my free sticker book. Today is a good day thanks to 02 priority.

X x x

Decluttering and bargain hunting

We dropped two large bags of 'stuff' into the charity shop by DH's work this afternoon. It's the beginning of the pre-Christmas clear out.

Of course I couldn't resist a browse while I was there.

3 flower canvases - £1

Body Shop lip butter, body scrub and lotion - 20p each

3 x books - 5p each

And a delightfully saucy statue for 5p. As soon as I spotted it in the bargain bin I just knew it needed rescuing. It'll look just the thing and a little shelf below my saucy seaside postcards.

I think the poor shop assistant was glad to be rid of it 😂

X x X

Lazy Sunday

 Nothing says lazy relaxing Sunday like pancakes for breakfast. 

 It's been a while since I made them, but every time I do I think that I should make them more often.

 They are cheap, quick and tasty.

 Today will spent lounging in pajamas, sewing beads onto a project I've been asked to make and hunting down missing school uniform ready for tomorrow. 

 Have a great Sunday everyone

 X x X 

Cheap and tasty dinner

Not to outdone by my bargain finding yesterday DH arrived home with a 10p loaf of bread and 3 bags of spuds for 5p each! 

I had planned to make a garlic mushroom pasta type dish but changed it to bread pizza and peri-peri potatoes. 

The tempeture is already dropping this evening so pizza is good comfort food.

I used half a punnet of mushrooms, 1/2 tin of pineapple rings and ham for the topping.

The leftover mushrooms have been chopped up and frozen in one of the recycled fishcake trays. 

I've made jelly to set over night to eat with the leftover pineapples rings.

Tomorrows dinner will need to use more mushrooms and potatoes up.

I spent the afternoon making origami decorations from a wallpaper samples book. I'm thinking of making some into garlands and leaving some as individual hanging decorations. Hopefully they will prove popular at an up coming christmas stall we're hosting soon. Fingers crossed.

X x X

Yellow stickers galore

I had great timing today at the local Co-op. Just as I arrived two of the staff had started putting the reduced stickers on things. 

I trailed along behind them and enjoyed a nice conversation with them both as i filled my basket with goodies.

 3x 2 pack of melting middle fishcakes

2x boxes of clementines

2x mushroom punnet

2x mixed grape punnet

1x 6 seeded burger buns

Total; £5.03p

So a nice cheap dinner tonight of fishcake burgers, with clementines and grapes to follow. Plus lots of fruit left over for snacking and lunch boxes.

The whole lot should have cost just over £20.

X x X

Bin Gate!

Around Easter we started to notice a big change in one of our next door neighbours. The lady that lived there isn't overly known as being a jolly friendly type. It started with tutting noises over the fence when my children were playing in the garden and escalated over time to her slamming her rear door shut with loud mutters of "for gawds sake!" Every time my children entered our back garden. 

There have been incidences over the summer when my little herd of children had a water fight and her windows were getting splashed over the fence 😱 and accusing us of throwing half eaten food over our back fence into the alley way behind our homes. (The idea of leftover food with 4 hungry children is hilarious!) It turned out to be a fox taking food there to eat but only after they set up hidden cameras to catch us in the act.

 Now the Bible tells us to love thy neighbour, so that's what I did. Every Monday when i return from the school run I put her wheely bins, food waste bin and glass bin neatly back in her garden. Occasionally she is home first and puts it away herself but 9 times out of 10 its me. Several times I've spotted her watching me do it from the window. I've done this now for about 5 or 6 months. 

On Halloween we were both in our front gardens decorating for trick or treaters. Her husband nudged her and looked pointedly at me.

"Oh, i meant to say thank you for bringing our bins in. I wondered who was doing it all this time," she muttered before scurrying back indoors. 

It felt like a victory!

Today I've come home from a shopping trip to find my bin has been shoved through my gate into the centre of the garden path. It wasn't  neat or done properly but it's a start.

 I think that's a second victory to me. 

My mum always taught me to kill with kindness.

Wha ha ha ha!

X x X

Last day of half term

The oldest three are back to school tomorrow. Despite the wet soggy weather I feel like we've made the best of the time together.

We've managed several trips out to free activities such as the library and local museum.

We also took advantage of our season tickets to the zoo and were gifted tickets to a local theme park. 

I attended a Bring and Take event where I picked a River Cottage book I needed for my collection and two large bags of clothing for myself and the children.

We were gifted 2 large bags of girls clothes for Baby W from a family friend.

 I also saved money by making caramel apples rather than buying them from the supermarket.

Tomorrow I'm looking forward to getting everyone out of the house so I  can give it a good clean and organizing without interruptions or children under my feet.

 It's amazing what one woman can achieve when she isn't interrupted for drinks and snacks constantly 😂

X x X 

A tale about a cupboard

One of DH's closest friends is shortly moving house and is selling off spare furniture etc before the move. One thing he was selling was a lovely pine set of drawers for £30. Gman has needed a new set of drawers in his bedroom for a while so we decided to buy.

Hubby went over this afternoon to pick it up.

But...

When he came home he looked decidedly sheepish. 

Me; What have you done?

Him; Well... they had two matching bedside tables they said we could have for free. I thought it would be nice to have matching furniture, so I said yes.

Me; Okay, fair enough. Great idea.

Him; And then...

Him; ...my friends fiance asked if we'd like this canvas picture she was throwing out. I thought the girls might like it.

Me; It's very pretty, I'm sure they'd love it in their bedroom. 

Him; And then...

Him; ...they offered me a tactical vest. I thought Gman might like it for Halloween and dressing up.

Me; Um... a bit odd but okay...

Him; And then...

Him; ...they asked if I wanted their fish tank.

Me; A fish tank?

Him; Yeah, it's got all the accessories and pumps with it too!

Me; ...Great(!)

That man is never leaving the house unescorted ever again! 

🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️

X X 

Day one of half term

We woke up early today, still running on school routine time. The weather looked its usual grey and miserable self. This Autumn has just been such a damp and soggy season for us in the UK.

We decided to brave the rain and head into town anyway. It was only light pathetic drizzle when we left so not to bad.

We went to the library for free halloween crafts first. They also had a lego table set up so we spent a few happy hours building and creating. Todays crafts were spider hats, paper pumpkin and colouring sheets. 

When we started feeling peckish we went to Tesco for a packet of sausage rolls and a free piece of fruit for the children. I noticed all four of them eyeing up the candy apples which are an eye watering £1.50 each. Tonights job will be looking for tips on Pinterest on how to make my own!

  After eating we walked past the toy shop who were holding a demonstration day. The shop was packed to the rafters so we didn't visit. 

 We did kill ten minutes in the local museum trying their free Halloween trail, the children each won a lollipop for completing it together. 

 Sadly our walk home wasn't very pleasant thanks to the worsening weather and we weren't in the best of moods when we finally squelched indoors.

  Still i get points for trying right?

 X x X

Organised frugalling

I've gotten into the habit of checking our local Co-op on the school run each afternoon. They tend to mark down their clearance items just before I pass by, especially on the fruit and veg.

Today was a good day for cheap fruit with lots of punnets for £1 or less. I picked up 2 punnets of mixed grapes. One for lunch boxes and one for after school snacking.

For a while now I've been keeping a small stash of lidded pots in my handbag. The cheap poundshop type that stack inside one another. They take up very little room and weigh almost nothing, but they are invaluable. 

Especially when i need to split a bargain punnet of grapes on the go! Trying to get four children to share fairly on the walk home is almost impossible. Not even worth trying.

4 tiny pots are a complete lifesaver.

X x X

Frugal Halloween treats

 I popped into town after the school run. I wanted to look for brown wool in Poundland to knit some chocolate orange covers. Sadly they didnt have anything suitable, but on the way out I discovered 2 packets of Cadbury mini rolls reduced to 50p each. Both packets had a short use by date but they won't hang around long in my house.
 A quick look on Pinterest turned up a idea of putting mini rolls on straws and decorating them as monsters. I grabbed a few supplies from my baking cupboard and got to work.
  They took just moments to make and look pretty spooky and tasty to me.
  Hopefully the children will enjoy them as an after school treat.

 X

Family update

Hello Strangers.

I'm sorry it's been so long again. Life is hectic for 4 children and Husband to organise. 

 Everyone here is doing well at the moment. Having big sisters seems to have given Gman a strong immune system to the bugs that have taken out half of year R already. 

DD1 and DD2 both seem to be happy at school and getting on okay. Tonight we have parents evening so we'll get to hear what they've all been up to. Hopefully they haven't been staging any coups or taking hostages lol.

Baby W is growing like a weed. She has most of her top set of teeth now but seems to have forgotten to grow the bottom set apart from the front two. Hopefully they will appear soon.

Hubby has had his working hours reduced slightly which has really effected us. We've got some strategies to cope if anymore hours start to disappear. Luckily the betting business isnt one that is struggling to badly at the moment, although it's not without its own issues I'm sure. 

And finally, me. I'm feeling pretty good at the moment. The black dog that follows me has been keeping a respectable distance and I've been busying myself with setting up an upcycling business with my mum. 

It's all been quite busy really. 

X x X 

Cheap dates

 DH suprised me today with a romantic picnic for 2 at the zoo. We still had Baby W with us but she very kindly decided to sleep soundly in her buggy for most of our visit.

We spend a long time watching the antics of the binturong. It's the first time I've even seen one and they are wonderful creatures.

• We took a little picnic and plenty of drinks with us from home. The weather was beautiful so we ate outside watching the otters playing from our picnic bench.

It was a quiet day with only a few small school groups visiting. We avoided the more popular animals like the tigers and giraffes. It meant that we had almost a private audience with the animals we were watching.

We walked around almost the entire park and returned home just in time for a quick cuppa before the school run.

X x X

Busy Thursday

It was G man's first day at school, I can't believe it's come round quite so quick! 

Clever hubby had arranged to work an evening shift so he could spend the morning ddistracting me.

First we visited Poundland, one if my favourite shops to visit. I picked up these poo dig kits to pop in the childrens Christmas stockings. I think they are hilarious and they should keep everyone amused for a little while over the festive period.

After Poundland and a nice breakfast in Weatherspoons, we took a stroll around the little midweek car boot sale. 

There wasn't a lot to interest me but may be I wasn't really in the right mood for it. One at at stall had a little box of vintage books that I enjoyed looking through.

For 50p I purchased this wonderful copy of Leaves of Gold from 1948.

Its a book filled with quotes, poems, prayers and scripture on different topics. Topics include bereavement, forgiveness, encouragement etc. I'm really going to enjoy pouring over the contents for a while. 

I'm already tempted to write out some of the quotes for a small set of frames I picked up recently. 

X x X

Miserable monday

It's been dark and drizzly outside today. It almost feels as if the sun decided to take the day off. I kept myself amused by working on my current mural. I'm feeling quite happy with it. 

I also recieved a mysterious bag 'stuff. I'm rapidly gaining a reputation of being able to use almost anything in a new a wonderful way.

This bag arrived with the challenge of 

"Let's see what you can make of this lot then"

It was a bag full of pieces of old china. Mostly little milk jugs and sugar bowls in matching pairs. Though there was some very pretty miniatures and a beautiful teacup and plate that I think will become my bedtime cocoa cup. 

I think I'm going to use some of them to grow cacti and succulents. Possibly some airplants too. 

Watch this space.

I'm feeling creative

X x X

Voile I never

 I attending my first Swap meet yesterday with my lovely mummy, and it was AMAZING!

I picked up so many bits and pieces all for the price of my £2 entrance fee.

 One of my favourite finds were these 4 voile panels with bright and beautiful butterflies on them.

Obviously not knowing their history everything I picked up yesterday is being washed before use.

But...one panel has been utterly destroyed by my washing machine. The other 3 are perfectly fine. I don't understand quite how its happened.  All the panels were in the same load, nothing else in with them. 

I wonder how i did it 🤔

At least my new-to-me crazy slippers are doing grand job of keeping my toes warm. I grabbed them without trying them on which was a risk but I did hold them against my feet first for a rough size check. 

I'll share the rest of my finds with you as I wash them and put them in their new places in our home. 

X x X

Back into routine

Hello readers! I've spend the past week arguing with Blogger over who I am. For some reason I was locked out of my account and had to prove I was me. It's all sorted now finally though i have a feeling they will be watching me secretly for a while just in case. Lol.

The two eldest went back to school yesterday. Gman starts next week for a few half days. There's going to be tears I'm terrible for first day parent emotions.

DD1 had her Topic launch day, which meant coming to school in red, white and blue. She is learning about America this term. Today they learnt about Native American culture, popular sports like baseball and basketball and watched American news bulletins.

I think it sounds like a great topic.

X x X

Old housewife trick

I found this dress today in a local charity shop. I think it should be the right size for DD2 but so far she's not in the mood to try it. 

It was laying on top of a rummage bin of 50p clothes. I thought it might have been accidently put in there as surely it should be on a hanger somewhere with a bigger price tag.

"It's got a mark on it, that's why it's only 50p. We thought someone might want it for the fabric." Said the shop assistant.

Sure enough there was a small bright red mark right on the dip of the neckline. A closer look led me to think it might be lipstick or possibly lip gloss. 

"I'll risk 50p and see if I can get it out," I told the assistant cheekily. She looked doubtful but rang our shopping up dutifully.

And voila! It most likely was a lipstick mark because a few drops of white rum shifted the mark a treat. Spirits are a very popular stain remover in my old housekeeping books. You just have to use a little extra care to use a clear spirit on white fabrics.

Well worth 50p! On closer inspection I now think the dress is handmade which makes me love it even more. Someone somewhere has spent hours creating this dress, I wonder what it's history is 🤔

X X X

The Watercress Line; Day Out with Thomas

We have spent a wonderful day out at the Watercress Line. Gman was gifted a family ticket for his birthday so we'd planned the visit for a little while. 

The children all recieved Thomas themed tattoos though Baby W found hers most confusing.

Riding from station to station in different types of  steam trains and carriages took up most of the day. Each station has little activity tables to discover and scavenger hunts to complete.

We popped in to see Sir Topham Hatt himself to get our certificates signed and take a few photos. 

One of the stations were handing out some books on train safety which I thought was a wonderful idea. The children each came home with a sticker book and a storybook to enjoy.

 It was a wonderful day out as a family and I'd recommended a visit to any young family.

X x X