Another day of bargains

This morning after the school runs Gman and I attended the first of several Macmillon coffee mornings. A lot of places seem to be splitting them over today, tomorrow and Saturday this year. 

Sadly this first one wasn't well attended but every little helps as they say and Gman was gifted a free balloon.

£1 for two homemade cakes and a cup of tea is definitely a bargain.

A quick visit into Waitrose found tomorrow's bargain breakfast. 6 chocolate pastries will make for a delicious easy breakfast.

75p! Another bargain!

And last but not least a trip into Wilko discovered a shelf of heavily reduced dental products.  These toothpastes were only 37p each. So I picked up 6 for home (an estimated years worth) and 6 to donate to the local food bank. At that price they were to good not to share. 

What a great day!

X x X

Prepping for the next apocolypse

According to the Daily Mail and a few other newspapers we are all keeling over from Australian flu this winter. Something to look forward to eh?

While I don't buy into the whole flu pandemic idea, it is a timely reminder that cold and flu season will soon be upon us.

This afternoon I took 15 minutes to pull out the contents of the first aid and medicines shelf.

The first aid box was in pretty good order, I just need to add a new tube of antiseptic cream and some antibac hand gel.

The medicine box was eye opening. Many many out of date products!

I've popped them into a local pharmacy that offers a free disposal service. 

 Tomorrow I'm hoping to pop into town and restock a few things, mostly Lemsip and decongestants. I also need a fresh jar of local honey and a stock of tissues. 

Hopefully we won't need to use them to much 

X x X

Hubbys new toy

We decided to treat ourselves to a tasty Wetherspoons breakfast this morning. We had an hour to kill between the school run and Tuesday morning rhyme time at the library.

Gman loves his mini fry up just as much as giant clone enjoys his full sized one.

With a few minutes left to spare we popped into Wilko to see what was in the clearance section. It's the time of year when the Christmas stocks begins to arrive so there is plenty to be found. 

Hubby was very pleased to pick up this Christmas light projector. We saw several people using them last year to decorate their homes, and Hubby was really impressed by them. 

You can probably guess what he's playing with in the garden right now lol.

X x X

Little bargains

I popped into Waitrose at just the right time today. I usually pop in on the school run for cheap breakfast pastries. They seem to reduce them about 2pm in the bakery section. 

Today however there was a big trolley of fruits and vegetables to look through as well.

I snaffled;

2x 4 packs of burger bun  80p - reduced to 35p each

Vegetable pack  - £1 - reduced to 35p

Mandarins - £3.50 - reduced to £1.25

Tomorrow I will be making some vegetable soup for lunch, the rolls were eaten tonight with sausages and the mandarins will be popped into lunch boxes and after school snack packs.

I also spotted these sweet little stationary sets in Poundland. (I'm still avoiding poundworld) they are just perfect for popping into the children's stockings. I've popped them into the present cupboard for now but I need to start a notebook to keep track of bits.

X x X 

Shining my sink

Sigh*  I just don't feel like I'm making a dent in the household chores at the moment. Although I'm aware my current energy levels are not really helping matters. 

So I'm turning to an old friend for support and getting life back on track the flylady way.

It's gentle enough to do step by step and build up day by day, yet at the same time big enough to see improvement each day.

And we all know were flylady starts. The kitchen sink.

It is now clutter free with fresh smelling drains and a shiny surface.  It really has lifted my spirits Every time I've entered the  kitchen. 

Tomorrow I will be dressing to shoes and tackling some clutter in the current flyzone.  Watch out world, this mummy is getting back in control.

X x X

Conker Folk Art

We spent a happy grey afternoon crafting. Using conkers, yarn and bamboo skewers we made some lovely hanging art work to display. 

Both of the girls enjoyed winding the wool round and round the spokes. Sadly I have no photos of DD2 crafting as she decided it was an activity best completed in the nude, lol. 

Gman was happiest rolling conkers and balls of yarn around on the floor so I left him to it. 

I think they'd look quite pleasing displayed together in a window but we shall see what the little ladies have planned for their masterpieces

X x X

Feeling rotten

Today has sucked.

I've spent the morning kneeling by the loo and the afternoon  sleeping.

11am to 4.40pm! 

Hubby has been an absolute Angel and taken care of the kids and the house. 

This evening isn't going much better sadly. 

All I can do is remind myself there is good reason for it. (Shhhhhh to those super intuition types)

X x x

Collecting Conkers

Yesterday we popped to the park after school. We had half an hour to kill before Hubby finished work and we could travel home together.

We spent the time collecting conkers. Our local park has several enormous trees all of them dripping with conkers.  

The girls particularly enjoyed stamping on the freshly fallen husks to break them open. Gman had the important job of putting them in the collecting bag. 

This morning Gman has enjoyed sorting them into an empty sweet box. He also enjoyed pouring them from one box to another and back again.

Our after school activities are going to have a distinct theme for a while!

X x X

Poundworld rant

I love poundshops. They are a constant source of inspiration and cheap entertainment.

But I don't like them when they lie or trick their customers.

I'm looking at you Poundworld!

Your own shop signage declares "everything a £1"  but that isn't true is It? I could forgive the manager special bins by the till. Speakers and feather pillows for £5 etc. It was always very obvious.

But now randomly priced things are appearing on regular selves, often with no hint of pricing. Until you get to the till and end up paying 2 or 3 times at much as you originally believed. 

The stamp set above cost £2, I picked it up along with a few other items thinking it would be priced at £1. I know your sneaky tricks so I checked the shelve edge in front of them, the box they were displayed in (another sneaky tactic) and asked your own staff if they were only £1. They checked the shelf and box, and assured me that yes they were £1.

If your own staff can't tell the prices of things, how on earth are your customers supposed to?

I think I will just avoid Poundworld in future.

There are much more honest poundshops to visit.

X x x

Popping and Bopping

Clever hubby has done it again! Another huge box appeared overnight. The children were delighted to discover it was filled with balloons!

It made for a very fun, if a little loud, morning.

In the early afternoon though we had a casulty. My poor lampshade was punched by my husband. To be fair he was being attacked by a giant brown moth that had just been disturbed by rearranging the curtains, so I can't be to cross. 

I've carefully cut away the cracked plastic and fabric to leave the rings ready for reuse. I will have a little look on Pinterest for some ideas and inspiration. 

 It can be my next project after the baby knitting is finished. I've just got a second sleeve and the band's to do, so it's almost there.

X x x

Frugal fun at home

We woke up this morning to discover that DH had thoughtfully brought home some empty cardboard boxes from work. 

The children spent a very happy morning colouring, sticking and decorating their boxes.

DD1 went to town with the stash of washi tape. DD2 opted for stickers and waving lines of marker pen. Gman was happiest poking holes in his box with a pencil. 

After lunchtime I was struggling to wash up. Gman has a big fascination with water at the moment. So I set up a little paddling pool and a range of containers and kitchen utensils.

He was a very happy soul for a few hours.

And finally when DD1 brushed her teeth for bedtime, another tooth popped out! I'm slightly worried she's pulling them out deliberately to stay up past bedtime lol.

X x X

T.G.I.F!

We have survived the first week of school. Hurrah! 

DD2 was awarded a star of the week sticker by her teacher. Today was accident free but filled with bumps and trips. Her teacher let her sit on a beanbag to work most of the day, which seemed to do the trick as her concentration was up from yesterday. 

Tomorrow will be a day of relaxing on the sofa and watching movies.

I noticed that the poundshops have started getting in their Halloween stock.  I got rather excited looking through all the gory bits and pieces.  

I picked up a bag of squishy plastic rats. I think they would make great counters if I numbered them. I also grabbed a bag of mixed items. I'm pretty sure it's a mixture of all the things that didn't sell last year. 

As you can see it has a great selection of things. A skeleton, finger puppets, spider, bat and about 20 spider rings.  I'm sure we can come up with a whole host of ideas to do with them.

My first thoughts are sensory boxes and making prints in playdough and paint.

Ohhh I'm feeling all creative and excited now.

X x X

Updates

DD1 called down the stairs last night at about 9pm. "Muuuuummmm! There's blood everywhere!" 

Her poor tooth was literally hanging on by a thread and making a fine mess. It took us about 15 minutes to pop it out. The adult tooth was already underneath it so she shouldn't be gappy for long.

DD2 managed another good day at school on Wednesday but you can see at what cost in the photo above.  The poor lamb was fast asleep by 6pm. 

Today she's had a few toilet accidents and poor levels of concentration. Her teacher observed several trips and stumbles throughout the day and widely added her to the school lunch time club rather than let her loose in the playground.

Lunch time club is an indoor group for children who are best out of playground. There's usually a kid with a cast, and anyone who is having issues with bullies, confidence etc. Activities are fun and gentle usually a simple craft or a jigsaw. Perfect for my tired little lady.

Gman has been enjoying our 1:1 time. Yesterday we took a nature walk and found some fascinating sticks and pinecones.

Today we had a sneaky toasted teacake and shared a glass of milk. 

He charmed the pants of the little old dears sitting at the table opposite. It's a lovely cafe to sit in as you see the occasional bus go past. Gman  loves buses and happily announced in the loudest voice possible whenever one came past "anudder bus!" It was so cute!

X x X

P.s - Huge thank you my hubby for fixing my photo issue for me. I have no idea what was wrong but he did much important clicking. 

X

Picture problems

 I can't seem to add photos to my blogger posts. I skipped blogging yesterday to see if it was an issue at their end but I still can't upload this morning.
 I shall investigate and get back to you all shirt
X

Back to School.

DD1 was very wobbly about her first day at Junior school this morning. However she was very brave and there were no tears in the playground. 

She came home full of smiles and enthusiasm, but also with raging pencilcase envy. 

DD2 had a good first day back. There were no incidents and she charmed the pants off her new teacher. She reports that they "did writtin' all day and dinnertime was chicken gloogongs".

Gman has enjoyed a day of peace at home, which included a nice long afternoon nap. 

Our after school activity today was water play. The girls covered dinosaur eggs with water using pipettes, Gman also enjoyed filling and pouring from various containers. 

Everyone was kept amused just long enough for me to cook dinner.

A sucessful day all round!

X x X