Summer holidays part 1

 

It's been a busy first week of Summer. 

We've started taking our puppy out on his first adventures. He's still very nervous of everything but hopefully his big brother will lend him some confidence. 

We've enjoyed a trip to our favourite Ice cream parlour, Carlos. They do fresh flavours each day and we managed to catch a while they had Mint Choc chip in stock. 

We foraged some elderberries locally which we then made into syrup and froze as ice cubes to battle coughs and colds in the winter. 

I'm hoping to find more elsewhere as the patch we discovered wasn't very large and I didn't want to deplete it. 

French Apple Cake was our first bake of Summer. We made two large cakes to enjoy as desserts and snacks. 

I've started a new book, a new knitting project (winter socks) and been munching on as many fresh cherries as I can get my fingers on. 

We've been to the library to enjoy some free crafts and do their always popular scavenger trail around the shelves. 

And We've been to the local park almost every day to play and stretch and let of steam. Mostly we have been going in the late afternoons when the weather cools off a little. It also helps tire small bodies out ready for bedtime nicely. 

I can't wait to see what week 2 holds for us.

X x x

A little peace and quiet

The children officially finish school tomorrow afternoon. Although the eldest finished a few weeks ago after completing her GCSE exams. 

I'm taking the time to enjoy the peace and quiet.

I recently started a new hobby where you make 3d scenes using stickers. I saw someone doing them on TikTok and it caught my eye. 

The idea is that you follow a guide picture and layer the stickers carefully over a plain background to copy it. Quite often the layers interact or overlap so it's not always as easy at it seems.

The kits to make them cost just a few pounds on Amazon so they make for some cheap and cute entertainment. 

 There's something about building the scene and arranging all the contents that scratches an itch in my brain. 

 Have you seen them before? Have you ever tried completing one?

 

Plastic pegs everywhere

 

 It's been such a long time since I posted! So much has happened I don't even know where to start 🤣

  So I'm going to start with a complaint about pegs. With all the beautiful and hot weather we've been having I've been washing anything I think will fit in my washing machine. I'd probably rip up the carpets and put them on a daily wash if I thought I'd get away with it. 🤣

  I did notice however my pegs were severely depleted and I needed more. That was even after I made new pegs from the graveyard of peg parts at the bottom of the peg bag. That's the great thing about wooden pegs. They are a standard size and shape so you can frankenstein spare pieces together to make new pegs. 

  It is really difficult to buy wooden pegs any more. I tried numerous local shops that I thought would carry clothes pegs only to find them all sold plastic ones 😡

 Plastic pegs are rubbish. They go brittle in the heat and cold. They snap in ways you can't repair. They are all slightly different shapes and styles so repair is even harder.  Give me a simple wooden peg any day! 

 That's not to mention the carbon footprint they must have from production, plus they don't breakdown like wooden ones do. I throw snapped wooden pieces into the compost bin. 

 

  Not having much success I even looked on Amazon for wooden pegs and found plenty but only at extortionate prices. Eventually I found some in a chemist. £1 for a packet of 36 pegs. Perfect. I bought 5 packets. 2 will be topping up the peg bag and 3 will be stored in the pantry for later. 

 Has anyone else noticed wooden pegs slowly disappearing from the shops? Next time you go have a peek and let me know if you find any.

X x X

Monday 2nd February

 January ended with the black dog finding me again. I lost myself for a while under a sea of endless bad news headlines and wet grey weather. I'm determined to make Febuary a little bit happier. 

 Today's cleaning job was to deep clean the stairs and hallways ready for the gas man to visit on Wednesday. I used my spot cleaner for any marks on the carpet. I need to go over the whole lot as the water came up quite black with dirt. When I cleaned the laminate floors before Christmas they actually changed colour ! So I'm not surprised the carpets are in a similar state. 

 

 Today's bakes are simple shortbread style biscuits. Miss C requested some biscuits to decorate this morning so she can decorate the stars with as many mini marshmallows and sprinkles as she likes. Dinner is a nice and easy macaroni cheese with a pizza for Miss D who can't stand the sight of pasta currently. 

 This month's knitting challenge for N.H.A.P are devestatingly tiny hats and booties for angel babies. I can knit a set up very quickly so I should have plenty to post later in the month. Annoyingly I've lost my yarn needle so I'm leaving the sewing up for now. I might regret that if I leave it to long 😬.

 If I can find a sneaky half hour somewhere I want to start a new book. I didn't really read much in January and I think it's one of those things that really help my mental health so I'm going to push myself to make more time for it. 

X x X 

Thursday 15th January

 

 I seem to be in something of a hermit era at the moment. With all this relentless rain and bad weather I just haven't been going anywhere other than the school runs or the local supermarket. So there really hasn't been anything much to blog about or share with you. 

I have been watching reruns of Call the Midwife to catch up with the storyline and history for the new series that's just started. I've also been knitting a lot as I like to keep my hands busy. 

This month the charity I knit for NHAP has asked for bunny ear hats so I've knitted 5 of them along with a few other little bits they always seem to need. I posted them yesterday so hopefully they arrive shortly and won't get soggy in transit. 

 Last night we went Miller and Carter for date night. My parents kindly gifted us a voucher for a meal out at Christmas and an evenings babysitting so we could use it. 

 We had a lovely time. DH had a lovely ribeye steak that he said was very good. I had the half chicken with a delicious bourbon sauce. 

 I'm really hoping that this weather clears up soon and I have more exciting things to share with you. Our poor dog is desperate for a lovely long walk somewhere like the lakes or the woods instead of a quick soggy trot around the block. Being so small and low to the ground the poor love just gets to soggy and cold at the moment.  I think we are all longing for some spring sunshine.

X x x 

Wednesday 8th January

 

We enjoyed a cheeky Wetherspoons breakfast this morning as a little January treat. Some of the deals and offers are great value. A breakfast muffin and an unlimited hot drink is just £2.99 so I had a nice breakfast, 2 cups of tea and got to sit by a roaring open fireplace for less than £3. That's a bargain in my book. 

 After breakfast we had to pop to the Job Centre Plus. We assumed we were called in for a review of our universal credits but that wasn't the case. Imagine our suprise when they offered us help to find a new job 🤣

It turned out to be a misunderstanding thanks to the pay department logging his wages later that usual due to Christmas. So on paper he looked like he hadn't been paid so they assumed he was unemployed.

Apparently this is a common problem for people paid on the last working day on the month. You'd have thought someone would have done something about it but that would involve being logical and having common sense. 

So our income is going to be fluctuating each month by a fair margin, however now we know about it we can plan ahead and cope with it. Its a lot of faff though for something that seems easy enough to fix.

X x x

Monday 5th january

 

 Usually the first day back to school is a bit of  hard graft. Everyone is slow to wake up and get ready for the return to the daily mundane. However with a bit of snow added, I couldn't get them ready and outside fast enough. 

 We only had a small dusting of snow but it was enough to entertain everyone for the morning. 

I also picked up some tasty looking sponge puddings on the afternoon school run. I've found 2.30pm is about the right time to get some reduced goodies in co op. Lately I've been buying the girls a reduced price sandwich to share on the way home for 60p or so. 

Maybe with the cold weather keeping everyone indoors I'll find a few more bargains over the course of the week. 

I hope you are all keeping warm today.

X x x

Saturday 3rd January

 

 I had a parcel to sent this morning so I was up bright and early. The town centre was very quiet so it was quite peaceful to run my errands. A random sudden gust of wind blew me into one of the charity shops though...how bizarre! Most of the local charity shops are desperately trying to get rid of the last of the Christmas stock, with some of them even putting boxes of decorations and gift bags outside for free. I picked up a reduced board game set for 50p. I checked before I bought it and all the pieces are there. My plan is to stash it for a rainy day or should I say snowy day in the future. 

 Mr S is off to watch the football this afternoon with his Dad. I've given him a "mummy talk" about putting some blankets, drinks and snacks in the car. He won't be back till late and it's quite a long drive home so I'm worried about the cold weather being a problem. 

Miss A (eldest daughter) is off for a sewing day at Nanny's house. Miss A picked up a lovely bag of fabric scraps just before Christmas with the plan to make a few tote bags in the New Year. My mum is always looking for a good excuse to do some sewing and crafting so it will be a lovely time for both of them.

 The rest of the children are all happy chilling out at home watching movies, reading books and playing with various toys. They will soon be back at school and I can start my big spring clean a thon. 

 Have a happy weekend everyone 

X x x

Happy New Year

 

Happy New Year everyone.

This year is going to be a good one. The past 6 months have seen a lot of changes and upheaval for us as a family. 

In October we moved house away from a very difficult living environment. The past three months have been spent setting up our new home and getting into new routines. 

We are all happier, healthier and better for it though it has taken a lot of our rainy day funds and energy to do it. It was completely worth it.

I'm looking forward to having the head space and time to do the things I love to do again. Like blogging, knitting, gardening, crafts and homemaking.  

Here's to a better year that the last one!

X x X

Sunny Sunday

 

Good evening everyone. Its been a rather nice weekend weather wise which has been great for getting through all the laundry that needed doing.  I've even washed and dries a few winter things and packed them away for later in the year.

This weekend we have been focusing hard on a mammoth declutter. DH took a full car load of rubbish bags to the local tip in the afternoon.

One of this we tackled was the incredible pile of shoes we seem to have amassed over the past few years. One of my hoarding issues is saying "it'll fit someone else eventually".

And while that's usually true with shoes all of my children have quite different likes and dislikes so it wasn't really working.

I tipped every shoe I could find in the house into a huge pile on the living room rug and gathered the family around it for a mammoth trying on session. 

A good 80% of shoes have either been donated or thrown away.

Not a bad use of a Sunday I think.

X x X

Thrifty Thursday

 

 Good Morning to you all.

Yesterday surprisingly went without a hitch and Miss D now is restocked on her medication. Fingers crossed we don't have the same problem next time we order it in. I will make sure we order it in good time though just in case.

I mentioned our dog in the last post and realised afterwards that I didn't pay the dog tax by adding a photo of him. Optimus Ween is 5 months old and a miniature dachsund (who thinks he's a Rottweiler!)

Today everyone has been popped into school and I've run some errands in town. I've been a big fan of the Poundland Perks app lately, some of the offers have been rather good. Today they has Skinny rice crispy bars for 75p (usually £1). The children all love them and they are a safe food for Mr G so I picked up 4 boxes. I will probably get another 4 in the next few days before the offer finishes. I also grabbed a reduced prawn pasta salad for just 50p which will make for a very tasty lunch. 

Today's homeschooling is our next episode of Victoria and at Miss D's requested she wants to learn more about what happens in order to elect a new Pope. I will be watching the funeral on Saturday with any of the children who wish to join me. It's quite a big event that should only happen very rarely during their lifetimes so I hope they take a moment to watch a little bit. 

Will any of my lovely readers be watching too? 

X x X 

Hello Strangers

 

 Hello old friends.

The world is a mile a minute at the moment and I find myself enjoying being part of it less and less each day.

Looking at my posts I haven't posted since last September! If you'd of asked me I'd of said a month or two had passed by, but I'd never of guessed a good 7 months had almost passed me by. Utter lunacy.

Lots has changed in that time for us a family. I can't remember what I've written about and what I haven't so I guess this is me starting over. 

Today 4 of the 5 children returned to school after the Easter half term. Miss D, aged 12 is now officially home educated so she stays home with me. It wasn't out original plan but it's the way things have progressed so we are making the best of it.

Once the school children were all dropped off, Miss D and I walked the dog to the pharmacy to collect Miss D's medication or as she likes to tell everyone "We're going to buy some drugs today!" 

I put the prescription in on the NHS app over half term and had a text telling me the it was ready to collect on Thursday. They was no rush to get it and I didn't want to play the game of 'when are you open over Easter' so I left it till today.  When we arrived it was of course not there. "Did you get a text?" I was asked by a very harassed pharmacy worker. I said yes and showed her the text on my phone. She humphed and went to check their system. There's no record of the prescription being requested and they don't have any stock of what Miss D needed. The all knowing system says there is a production issue with that particular medication and it might not be available with any reliability at the moment. The pharmacy has however tried to order it anyway and I'm to check back tomorrow to see if it arrived. If the medication doesn't arrive tomorrow then we have to go back to the Dr and ask them to change Miss Ds prescription to an alternative that the pharmacy can get in. I have a horrible feeling I know where this is going, don't you?

I asked the pharmacist if she had a list of similar medicines that are currently avaliable to help the dr make a choice but they don't offer that for some reason or another. I have a feeling I know where that information is also going to lead 🙈.

To cheer ourselves up after all this news we had a sneaky peek in the charity shop beside the pharmacy. I found a book by the Yorkshire Sheperdess I hadn't read yet. As it was only £2 I treated myself. 

Once home we completed Miss D's lessons for the day. She has chosen to learn about Queen Victoria so we are watching an episode of Victoria on Netflix each day and then picking things out of the episode to look into deeper. Today we learned about Ada Lovelace, which in turn led to a small delve into her father Byron and then some of his most famous poems.  

One of things I've most enjoyed about home education is being able to let Miss D lead our studies according to her interests. It's led us to some interesting conversations and research.

After the lessons, Miss D read aloud to me from our current reading book for a chapter, then completed today's tasks on her Dulingo app. This has brought us up to lunch time and I'm blogging while my instant noodles cool off. 

This afternoons plans will be sort out dinner plans for this evening and read a little of my  new book.  Hopefully everyone will be having a good first day back at school.

X x X

Mondays adventures

Today has been spent quietly getting on with things. The weather is grey and drizzly so I don't feel like having adventures outdoors today.

After the school run I popped to the community pantry. I was pretty happy with my little shop there and it wasn't to heavy to carry home either.  

I will try and show how I used the bits and pieces up over the week. 

 

I've also started a new knitting project. A friend of mine sadly lost her mother late last year, she has been sorting out the family home and several crafty things have kindly past my way.

One of them is this box of tapestry yarns. Each skein is approx 15 feet of yarn and the colours are a lovely autumnal feeling mixture. I've cast on 130 stitches on some size 10 needles and I'm attempted a very simple stripy hat. Each skein lasts about 2 and a bit rows of the hat so I think it should make quite a nice effect once it's finished. 

My only concern is whether who it will fit once it's finished 🤣 with 7 differently sized heads in the household I'm sure it will fit someone though!

X X x

 

Recovery Monday

 

Sorry I've been AWOL. The first bug of the school year hit me hard. Most of the weekend has been spend sitting under blankets and feeling sorry for myself.

Today however I am feeling much better!

On Saturday we celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary by watching a film together on the TV and sharing a chocolate orange. We know how to live eh?

Today's grey and wet weather has made me think of winter and the obviously looming Christmas. I found the cutest patten for little knitted stockings HERE. 

I'm planning to fill each one with a chocolate lolly and a candy cane each. I think the children would like them as a stocking stuffer. 

It's a nice activity to do on a soggy afternoon if nothing else.

X X X 

Wednesday wanderings

 

Yesterday ended up running away with me. I was planning for a quiet day because I seem to have a bit of a cold starting. It's not a bad one by any stretch, more of a nuscience than anything.

I'm the morning I did the school run with out much excitement to report. On the way home I popped into Home Bargains as usual to grab some Fairy liquid as they have bottles for £1 again. I like to keep one by the sink and at least 1 in the cupboard ready to replace it. I use a squirm of Fairy and a squirm of bleach to clean almost everything these days. 

I was very happy to find the pumpkin spice coffee I absolutely love was finally in stock. I will try and stock up on a box each visit for a while. They are my little me time treat once I've put the little ones to bed and I've finally stopped mumming for the evening.

In the afternoon I had a message from my Dad inviting me out for a coffee. My mum is away at the moment for a few days at a quilting retreat. I think he wanted a little company. While we were in town I picked up 2 bunches of Gladioli reduced to 70p each in Tesco. Both had barely a single flower out so reducing them seemed a very silly idea to me. I've just looked at them this morning and 4 or 5 flowers have started to bloom overnight. I've mixed the two colours and put half in the living room. The other half I gave to DD1 to put in the girls bedroom room. 

We had a lovely coffee and tea cake in town. Dad's treat which was very kind of him. 

Look at the size of those tea cakes! I'm glad I skipped lunch.

After our coffee treat it was time to collect the children from school. My dad joined me so he knew where each of the children's class rooms are this year. My parents are always willing to walk the children home from school if I'm having an emergency or a schedule clash. 

The children were of course thrilled to see Grandad waiting in the playground and I don't think a single one of them spoke me for most the way home 🤣

X X X 

Lots in Lidls

 

 I know people are complaining about the cost of food for a while but why is no one complaining about the weight of food! 🤣

Honestly my arms are so weak after the years of buggies and trikes that I've quite forgotten how to carry shopping bags any more!

I quite like Lidls because their app often gives me a free bakery item when I shop there. Today I picked a nice chocolate brownie to be my lunch.

I was planning on making hot dogs with half the sausages but the burger rolls were reduced cheaper than finger rolls so we are now having sausage and egg baps. 

Tomorrow will be cheese burgers and Thursday will be toad in the hole. 

I'm hoping to avoid more trips into town until next week and just use the local shop for milk and bread top ups as needed. I can't spend money in the shops if I'm not near them. 

This afternoon I need to try and work out why the dishwasher is beeping angrily at me and possibly doing lots of washing up if ifs broken.

Wish me luck 🤞

X X X 

A New Season of Life

 

You find me at a very odd time in my life. At least that's how it feels. Our dear sweet Baby C is officially a school girl! 

Coupled with DH's shiny new job, I now find myself home alone for the majority of weekdays suddenly. 

Today is my first day alone so I thought it would be a nice idea to dust off this old blog and record some of my adventures. If anyone is still here to read it. 

I started out by popping into the town centre after the morning school run. I needed some breadsticks for a little after school activity and a few things for dinner from Iceland. A random and unpredictable gust of wind just happened to blow me into one of my favourite charity shops and I found a beautiful handmade cable knit cardigan for just £2. It's going to be lovely on the colder mornings and evenings of autumn so I'm quite pleased with my find. 

Once home I sorted the shopping away and hung out the laundry waiting into the machine. It's turned into a warm bright day considering this mornings grey dreary start.

I decided that the garden was the place to be so I set about clearing out this messy corner of the patio. 

I threw away all the rubbish and popped the random weeds into the compost. My compost bin is almost full to the brim with dark healthy compost ready to use so I've taken the chance on some garlic. 

I've had these bulbs of garlic for quite some time and they were looking past their best and starting to show a few shoots. I've planted 32 cloves on the oblong tub. It's not costing me anything to give it a go so if I even get one clove to grow successfully I'll be onto a winner. If lots of them do well I well repot them later to give them proper room to grow. I don't want to waste to much room on something that probably won't work 🤣

While I was moving compost from the bin into my new garlic pot I discovered what I thought was my long dead banana tree! I threw it's remains into the compost bin an absolute age ago thinking it had give up the ghost. Yet here it was looking a little pale from lack of light but standing strong.  I quickly popped him into a pot to see how he does over the next few weeks. I might bring him indoors for the winter just to give him an extra helping hand. 

I also found 2 mystery bulbs that were sprouting deep in the compost bin while I was giving everything a good mix. I popped them both into pots to see what they do over the next few weeks. I wonder what they will turn out to be.

Once I'd finished my gardening session I looked at my newly organised patch of garden and couldn't help wonder if the banana and mystery bulbs were little gifts of encouragement from God. That He was giving me little things to look forward to and to keep me distracted. 

X X X

Let's play in the Carden

 

It's been getting a little bit to warm in the afternoons for the garden, so instead we made our own indoor vegetable carden. We used random cardboard from the junk modelling stash.

First we made our soil using a cardboard tray and some strips of cereal box. We added detail with marker pens.

You can have plants with out seeds! So we then made a little packet of cardboard seeds using teeny cardboard scraps and a toilet tube. The peg holds it securely shut to keep the seeds safe.

Next we made some vegetables for our carden. We chose leeks, carrots, kale and pumpkins. All cut from cereal boxes.

From there our imaginations just went wild. We ended up with a watering can with yarn water attached to the spout, a trowel and fork, a very naughty pink caterpillar who tried to eat our plants and some bug spray to chase him off with 🤣

We still have lots of scrap card laying around so it will interesting to see what else gets added over the next few days.

We have had so much fun making these.

X x X

A little Friday trip out

 

This morning we all got up and headed into the town centre for the day.

We started with a visit to the Library where we read and drew together. The library have recently started making blank birthday cards for  children to decorate and fill out for people in local care homes. The cards are given to people who might not otherwise receive anything on their birthdays which I think is a very sad thought. 

After the library my plan was to treat the children to a Happy Meal in macdonalds. I had not realised however that they now cost £4.39p each!  Instead went into Poundland and looked at their £3 meal deals. I fed all 6 of us happily with 4 x £3 meals and added an extra drink for £1 and some biscuits and crepes for dessert (£1 each)

The whole lot came to just £15 which I think it's pretty darn good for 6 people. 

We are our food in the park with some friends and family before heading over the mobile farm that was set up in the main precinct.

I felt the farm was a little disappointing with just 2 goats and 2 sheep to look at. All 4 animals were looking a bit pestered and fed up with the attention of the crowd around them. Still it entertained the children for 5 minutes until they went to play in the giant sandpit that's been set up for the summer holidays. 

After a good half an hour of sandcastles and burying each other the smallest members of the family were beginning to get hot and tired so we headed home for a quiet afternoon of video games and netflix. 

That's another day of summer in the bag.

So far so good 

X x X

Cheap holiday entertainment

 

 Day 2 of the holidays and more frugal crafting.

We made suprise tubes using toilet rolls, tissue paper and thread. Again a fairly self explanatory craft I think. I hid a little packet of fruit heart gummies in each tube.

Everything we needed was on hand apart from the treats which cost 89p for a packet of 7 in Home Bargains.

I quite like the idea of making these as place cards for Christmas Dinner or perhaps a party 🤔 

X x X