Obsession.

 I have just discovered "Obsessive Compulsive Cleaners" on 4OD and I am hooked. A friend of mine suggested it after a long reminiscence over How Clean is your house with the wonderful Kim and Aggy. I also quite like the opposite end of the spectrum and enjoy watching and The Hoarder next door.
 If you haven't seen it "OCC" is a simple idea of sending someone obsessed with cleaning to help someone obsessed with hoarding. Two of my favourite things in one show!

I like watching an episode and then jumping up to clean something, nothing like some inspiration to get yourself moving. Does it work for you to? Do you watch it as well? Drop me a comment and let me know what you think?

x x x

Frugal Sunday Picnic

 It's been such a beautiful day today weather wise. It's also been a good day for lots of sleep as we all slept till 8am! So with all this lovely energy to burn we decided to head to Staunton Gardens for an impromptu picnic.
 We packed our lunch of "leftovers" from the fridge and I boiled a few eggs to take with us. We also hooked out the end of our current loaf of bread to share with the ducks. And finally we packed a storybook to read together after our picnic.

 Since our last visit they have installed several large wood carvings such as the giant at the top of this post, and a dragon guarded tower, above.
 We were really brave and knocked on the little door to see if anyone was in but alas they must have popped out somewhere.

 Baby D must have such a crick in her neck this afternoon because she spent the whole visit like this. She sang to birds, trees and clouds floating overhead for a few happy hours. And even when we got her out the buggy for a crawl around on the grass she just rolled onto her back and carried on gurgling to whatever was up there.

 After our picnic we read "We're going on a Bear Hunt" together and played lots of games, mostly involving Daddy being a bear and us all running away and then beating him up with tickles.
 We then had a lovely walk through the woods looking for real bears. We didn't find any sadly but we did hear one! (they sound just like hedge strimmers oddly enough).
 We also found some huge mushrooms/toadstools growing on a tree.

 A whole collection of feathers were lying around the place and DD made a hefty collection by the time we arrived home. She informs me that they are for Grandad to make some wings with.

We also tried to work out the time by blowing several Dandelion clocks, but no two seemed to agree on what the time was. Funny that.

 Sometimes the best things in life really are the free things huh?

x x x

Freebies Friday

Such a pile of free things came my way today I just had to snap them.
First I popped into the free bookshop to drop off some books and succumbed to temptation.  A new book for DD and two NG's for me to read and craft with.
  Next I checked 02 moments and picked up chocolates, pens and a book in WHSMITH and a puncture repair kit from Halfords. OH also nabbed these with his phone.
On the net I found a free printable lapbook and finally when I got home there was the new CK catalogue waiting for me.

How lucky am I today?

X x x

Counting LapBook

  I've been reading a lot about Lapbooks lately, they are something of a homeschooling craze. So I decided to give one a go for DD. I didn't have a file folder so I made something similar using my massive roll of wallpaper liner. We decorated the front for a while with stickers.

 One the first part I glued two envelopes to hold the loose cards, one envelope for numbers cards and one for picture cards.

On the inside I made little pockets from scrap card and wrote the number words on the front from one to ten.The idea is DD puts the right cards in the right pocket, but we made up several little ways to use the book over the afternoon.

 I really enjoyed making this craft and watching DD play with it. This morning she wanted to take it to preschool with her which made me feel rather proud of myself.
 I am already working on a second lapbook to go with the book "We're going a bear hunt" so watch this space.

x x x

Austrian Orange Cake & Recipe

 Here's another recipe from my nana's old cookbook. Austrian Orange Cake is delicious, light and perfect for summer. I like mine with a smidge of Chocolate spread but it also goes nicely with custard.

x x x

More little somethings...

 We have a new goodie bag from my mum. She spoils us all rotten and we are really grateful that she thinks of us when she comes across all these bargains.
 Above is a BNWT Adidas hoody for me, perfect for tucking away for cooler weather, 2 little cardigans for DD. They will be perfect for pre school now its getting a bit to warm for her usual thick jumpers and jackets. Everything comes home filthy from pre school which means she has a great time while there but I need lots of supplies to get her clothed lol.

 This is the best find I think. A supersoft handknitted blanket in pale yellow. The edges are blue and pink crochet. It's actually two plain knitted squares held together by the edging making it super cozy and snuggly.

 It's a great size for both DD and Baby D on the sofa having cuddles. And wool always washes and drys  super fast which is handy.

I especially love the little felt characters dotted around it. Smiley rain clouds and curious llamas. It's inspiring me with some great ideas for this years Summer of Colour. So watch this space.

 x x x

Car Boot Goodies.

  4x Charlie and Lola books - £1  Peppa Pig Book - 20p

 Perfect for adding to DD's little library of books. We are building up quite a good collection of C&L now.

 2x Jodi Picoult books - 10p each  2x Tea towels - 25p each

 More books for bath time, these two are a little big for dragging around on holiday but I'm challenging myself to finish them before we go. I find that Picoults books are quick easy reads so I tend to zoom through them at a rate of knots.
 The tea towels are a great find as many of mine are pretty stained. These two have replaced the two that were in the worst condition. I cut them down into cleaning cloths and have chucked my most tatty cleaning cloths.

 4x That's not my.... - £1

 I love these books and always keep my eyes peeled for them when out and about. DD is finding them a bit babyish and boring but Baby D should start getting into them soon.  If you have tiny people in your family and haven't seen these yet I really recommend checking them out.

Spiderman hat - 50p Tiger toy - £1  George Pig - 20p

 The hat is for our holiday as DD has outgrown her old ones and passed them onto Baby D.
 The little toys were to keep them both occupied as we walked around the stalls and also afterwards when we had a lovely pub lunch with Uncle Derick.

 x x x

P.S I've just noticed I have hit 40,000 views on my blog :) Wow, I didn't realize I was so fascinating!

Last weeks happenings...

 ...DD is doing so well with her potty training. She is now dry at home and only wears pull ups while we are out and about (with very few accidents!). We have finally managed to get to use the toilet at Pre-School as well.

 ...Baby D has moved into a bigger car seat. She seems to be enjoying looking out the window when we are in the car as she giggles away on most journeys. I can't believe how fast she is growing up and it now fast approaching 10 months!

 ... Baby D found the dance mats we are selling in the shop fascinating. She likes to sit on one and bash a the buttons.

 ... DD has been enjoying our summer showers by having huge puddle splashing adventures on the walk home from the shop.

 ... I found a great idea on Pinterest for upcycling an old deodorant roll on into a homemade glue stick. It took minutes to do and has made cutting  and sticking time much tidier.

... And after all that I have finally got around to sewing up my reindeer bag! Its currently waiting to be pressed and then it's all ready to be a Christmas present for someone special.


x x x

Thrifty Thursday Shopping

  Bargains galore today on my mooch around the shops. Firstly I picked up some reduced leeks for our Sunday roast for 45p and then 3 huge ham and pineapple pizzas reduced to 75p each. Even better once they went through the till another £2.00 came off making it an amazing 25p for all three. That's 3 easy dinners in the freezer.

On my mooch round the charity shops it was slim pickings this week. I did spot a huge amount of over priced "labels", according to the price tags on some Atmosphere tops I saw today they are practically designer!
 I did however hunt through a few children's clothes bins as I am collecting little bits together for our holiday by the sea next month. The two tops for DD above were just 50p each and looked and felt brand new.
 The tin plaque will join my hallway display of saucy postcards. I am hoping to add to my hallway collection while we are away for the week.

 I finished up by visiting the free bookshop. I noticed last time I went in that they were appealing for more children's books, so I sorted out a bagful from DD's library of books. They were really grateful to receive them which made me feel nice and fluffy inside. I've promised to pop another bagful in soon as DD loves a new story rather than a repeated one.
 The story time book is to take away with us in DD's backpack. The Recyclopedia is quite fun but not what I was expecting when I picked it up. It is mostly about making games and toys from rubbish. I have picked up a few ideas from it I would like to try though.
 The Maracame book caught my eye because I need a new belt and when I flicked through it in the shop I noticed it had a nice belt pattern in it. So watch this space for a new craft experiment soon.

 x X x

Goody Bag from Nanny.

  My brother kindly passed on a bag of goodies from my mum last night. Lots of lovely little things she's picked up everyone.
 Baby D was given 2 dresses, 3 tops and a cute little pink swimsuit.

I also got a collection of knitting goodies, displayed here by DD. I love the sheep yarn bobbins, they are so cute.
 OH was given a pair of men's sandals which will be perfect for our up coming holiday and DD has a pair of stripey beach shoes to.
  How lucky are we all?

x X x

Baking with DD; Peanut Butter treats

 Step one; Make Baby D nap with her moo cow in the sunshine.

 Step Two; 

 Add to a microwavable bowl -

2 large tablespoons of Butter

2 large tablespoons of Peanut Butter

Handful of Marshmallows (we can add more later if needed so guesstimate)

 Step Three;  Bung it in the Microwave for a 10 second blast and stir like a demon. Repeat this step until your mixture is gooey, sticky and all melted together nicely. If it isn't sticky add in some more marshmallows, ideally it should be tough to stir with a spoon. Stir in your cereal until it is evenly coated and sticking together.

 Step Four;  Spread into a dish to set. If you have any chocolate you can melt a little and drizzle it over the top for extra luxury. Alas we are all out :(

 It should set pretty fast, though you may want to pop it in the fridge for 10 minutes on a sunny day.
I also suggest eating it as fast as possible and getting into a huge sticky mess, but that's just me.

X x X

Today I have.....

 ... been feeding Baby D brownies and catching these gorgeous snaps of results.

 ... working on my knitted soft toy competition entry. So far so good!

... Making a sweet little notebook using the cassette from yesterday and some scrap paper. I have saved the tape inside for another little idea I've had meaning that nothing bar chips of plastic will be wasted. I'm feeling very green.

X x X

Upcycled Genius!

 Flower designs book - 20p Peppa Pig cloth book 

 50p Beautiful South tape - 10p Tigger toy - 50p

Afternoon Everyone. The weather here has been glorious the past few days so we were tempted to do a Boot Sale today as sellers. It was quite a profitable morning, we made more than we thought we would. I also really enjoyed all four of us being together. We kept ourselves amused by playing silly games and wandering around the other stall countless times. I'm really impressed that we bought so little, usually a car boot is just to much temptation for me.
  I am so pleased I found someone selling cassette tapes finally! Want to know why?

I want the case rather than the cassette. If you turn the case right back it makes a perfect mobile phone stand. Perfect for watching videos and propping it up for playing music. And at 10p it's miles cheaper than most phone holders I have seen.
 I'm just waiting for my new Cath Kidston cataloge to arrive so I can make a new cover for it. Just need to find something to do with the cassette now. Any ideas??

x x x

Thrifty Thursday.

 It's Thursday! Which means it's my day to shop and wander the charity shop of dear little Havant.
 First I picked up the newest issue of Gardener's World for the 2for1 card. There are several local attractions I can use the offer with, one of them being a local farm DD loves. By using this card and chatting up a friend to go with me I can split the cost of a £7 entry ticket. Who can argue with a day out for £3.50. Even better the card lasts a whole year!

Next I picked up these yummy goodies in Waitrose. I couldn't make them for these prices! I have frozen the brownies down into daily portions.

 Finally I made it to my favourite charity shop and spotted these two little gems.
 The top is a beautiful shade of blue, and hand knitted. I've popped it in the wash and will try it on tomorrow evening. I've a feeling it will be a bit on the small side but I love love love that wool. If I can't wear it in this guise I will soon turn it into something I can! For a measly 50p who could argue.

 The blue scarf is to replace on of mine that snagged in the wash. I use them daily for corralling my crazy wild hair into order and generally pick which ever suits my mood/outfit that day. I liked the colour, print and texture. I loved the price of 25p so snapped it up.
 I didn't notice the label until I got back home and laid it out for the photo! Some of you might remember the other John Lewis scarf I picked up a while back here. Someone one would appear to be donating them regularly so I will make sure I keep my eyes open for any others.

X x X