Struggling along

I'm getting very fed up with anything and everything at the moment. The news, social media, my own family and today I even cussed at a packet of microwave popcorn that dared to fall out of my kitchen cupboard on me. I'd of made a sailor blush 🙊.

Hubby suggested I take a little waddle over to Home Bargains for some fresh air. I was pleased to see they had some plants in stock for the first time in a while. These Begonias were only £1.29 so I treated myself.

I've used them to fill the gaps in the dinosaur safari tower. I'd lost a few pansy and a single geranium in the hot weather. There was a single Begonia left so I've popped into a terracotta pot for my bedroom window. 

Over the past few days my husband has been helping to clear his late grandfathers house. He's been very well behaved considering his hoarding tendencies and double checking if I'd like things before arriving home with lots of bits. We've inherited some bits of garden furniture and useful things like planters and hanging baskets.

He also grabbed some flower vases for me to look through. I've kept 3 of the 5 and offered the remaining two on a local freebie facebook page.

We've also inherited a few plants and shrubs. One of which was a large planter of House Leeks. I've split them into single heads and replanted the extra ones to offer tk friends and family. They are one of those lovely succulents that rapidly spread to fill whatever container they are in so there is more than enough to go around. 

We've been trying to get the children out regularly for exercise though it's mostly me slowing everyone down now. I've got just enough waddle power to get us to the local newsagent for a ice cold slushie 😋 Baby bump is dropping now though so those days could be over shortly as things get more uncomfortable. I'm 34weeks and change so hopefully the end is in sight.

X x X

Wednesday's wonders

 I had a pretty uneventful meeting with my consultant, he has decided to not back me for a home birth but wants me in a local birthing unit instead. I'm still planning to attempted a home birth even after his lovely tales of my uterus splitting and my baby suffering from my foolishness. But at least it's over and done with now.
 On our way back from the appointment OH detoured us skillfully into our local Waitrose where it happened to be reduction time. We picked up 2 treacle tarts for 40p, a pack of Pain au Chocolat for 45p and a lovely looking fruit loaf for 39p. So tomorrow I can look forward to a yummy breakfast and some tasty elevenses and afternoon snacks. This baby is finally giving me an appetite and I find myself constantly grazing.

  An earlier visit in the day to the local free book shop found me these beauty's. An old Readers Digest Atlas perfect for some upcoming crafty projects. A vintage book called " The pebbles on the beach by Clarence Ellis", it is all about different types of stones you can find on the seafront and how to find, collect and organise them. It's quite nerdy but fascinating. An old Penguin book about the seashore, it's full of wonderful full page illustrations that are just begging to be used creatively, if I can find the will power to cut it up!!!

 And the forth books is called Super ABC Book. It looks pretty vintage to me and my untrained eye, and is full of wonderful illustrations like the ones in the photo above.

 It has cute little comic strip style storys and counting rhymes that are almost to cute!

I'm really tempted to copy out some of the illustrations, like this piggy, and use them as embroidery patterns on pillows and bedsheets for DD and bumps room.

 My plans this evening are to eat some delicious treacle tart and try some craft ideas out using my new atlas.
 x x x

Funky freebies

 Who doesn't love freebies? I have been lucky enough to receive two recently. First was a crochet kit and pattern from a lady at my knitting club. She subscibes to a monthly knitting and crochet magazine but doesn't actually crochet at all, so often passes them my way. I'm planning to make that cushion cover as soon as I've finished my next pompon scarf.

My second freebie came in the post from the wonderful Carolyn over at Mess, Muddle and Fun. This is my prize for entering her last blog party every week plus a little extra for winning one of the weeks to! I've popped them straight into our pile of goodies to take on holiday. DD is especially excited about the sticker book and pencils. OH has his beady eye on the wordsearchs in the puzzle book. You couldn't have picked better Carolyn!!!
x x x x

Car boot goodies for May

 Firstly I will show you a freebie, almost brand new Timberland boots! My mum picked them up for me the other day and passed them on. A quick peek on the website tells me that someone probably paid around £120 for these and then barely used them.

 Kung Fu Panda stuffy - 50p  Charlie and Lola book - 50p

 DD and I have been watching Kung Fu Panda 2 a lot lately thanks to Sky on demand so I was quite pleased to find this panda toy. He was lovingly cuddled and carried for the duration of the car boot sale.
 The book will be added to our C&L collection. We have 3 books now all thrifted from boot sales and charity shops. I'm always keeping my eyes open for more as they can be pretty expensive to find new.

 Peppa Pig stuffy - 20p Number game - 20p

Peppa pig is DD new love, we are planning to get her a DVD when we next food shop. At the moment she watches episodes on YouTube but they are only 5 minutes long and your constantly having to put on the next one.
 The number game will be a great educational tool to use with our home school lessons.

P

 Arsenal shirt - £1  I'm the boss PJ's - 50p   Peppa pig top - £1

Football shirts in big sizes are our nighties of choice for DD. They are perfect for this hot sticky weather as they are breathable, light and also wash in a jiffy. The PJ's will be put away for the cooler weather as they are quite thick Cotton. The Peppa pig shirt will be worn to death!

 3 cross stitch card kits - £1

 A little something to keep me entertained at nap time and in the evenings. I deliberately went for Xmas designs as I have plans to craft a lot of gifts this year. As I am getting bigger and bigger now (27 weeks yikes) and moving less and less I have plenty of sitting time to fill with useful things.

Selection of Blu Ray movies and DVD's - up to £2 each

We love our movies in TFHMH. So a car boot sale is a great opportunity to pick them up cheap. Once we have watched them we decided if we want to keep them a while and watch them again or put them in our shop for resale. Most of them end up in the shop for sale making it a money neutral hobby.

 I hope you enjoyed looking at what we brought yesterday. I would also like to say a big Hello to my two newest likers!!! and to all of the 189 people who have looked at my blog in the past 2 days. Your all making me feel really popular and motivated.

 x x x

Thursday happenings.

 -9Today has been quite the day for freebies and bargains! First off at my weekly knitting group I was given 2 gorgeous patterns that are just perfect for DD. I'm hoping to start one as soon as I've finished a birthday scarf for my SIL. I just need to decide on which one to do first lol, decisions decisions.
 Freebie 2 was a voucher via email for a Gordon's G&T at a local pub. Being quite pregnant and not really a drinker anyway I have passed it over to my hubby. He was delighted at the idea of free tipple and we are hoping to redeem it on Saturday after we close the shop.

And finally freebie 3, a nice book to read. I received an email for the first time in ages from Bookcrossing and remembered that our local museum has quite a nice crossing corner. I wandered up with DD and had a browse of the dozen or so titles currently up for grabs and picked up one that appealed to me. If your not familiar with book crossing I really recommend you take a peek at their website and see if anywhere near you has joined in.

After all those free goodies it was time to hit a local charity shop. I picked up this huge pile of children's books for a measly £2 and most of them look brand new!!! A few are going to one side for a friend's son's birthday that's coming up and the rest will be going onto DD's bulging bookshelf. She loves an afternoon story or two and I'm trying to get a book into her bedtime routine as well.
 The cuddly toys were in a bargain basket near the door which DD fell upon the moment we entered. It was perfect because she was nicely distracted while I had a little rummage in the book box, but meant a choice of toddler tantrum or a toy purchase. She's been such a treasure lately that I couldn't resist giving her a little treat.

I also picked up a copy of  Iron me on. I don't know if anyone else has noticed but am nearing the 100 posts mark on my little old blog, and to say thank you to all my readers and followers I am planning a giveaway. So watch this space for an announcement soon.

Busy Morning.

  

It's been a busy morning at the Frugal Home. I've  managed to get a load of laundry organised, washed up, had a general tidy and whip up a tray of Banana and chocolate cakes for OH. It isn't even lunchtime so I'm quite impressed with myself.

 

DD loved helping with all the stirring and mashing up the bananas. Not sure there is as much banana as there should be in the final cakes, some of it mysteriously disappeared during baking.I have a suspect but I can't prove it as she is getting more and more sneaky every day lol.

  

Here are the goodies from my mums swap meet. A pair of dark trousers for OH, some lovely blue linen trousers for me, perfect for when we go on holiday soon. They are drawstring as well so I can adjust them during the day according to which way the baby has decided to lay. There is also a top to go with the trousers but DD has hidden it somewhere and I haven't had chance to go hunting. The socks are just so fun!!!

A finally a wonderful soft cardigan, perfect for the cooler evenings and sofa snuggles. DD loves to cuddle into it so I know it's met with her approval. Not sure why hippo and penguin had to be included in the photo but DD insisted they did.  

 My plans for the afternoon are to continue knitting a Christmas present and if possible catch a nap with DD in the afternoon. Tonight is date night so DD is going to spend a few hours with her grandparents while me and daddy have a pub meal and catch a movie. I can't wait.

x x x

Plants and Cats

  Today is a completely miserable and wet Sunday down this way. We needed to pop out to run an errand so we did it first thing to get it out the way. My good friend and ex colleague Alice mentioned on Face Book a few days ago that she was over run with vegetable seedlings and did anyone want some. I asked it could have a sweet pepper plant and a cherry tomato plant for DD, and she kindly said we could if we could pick them up from her work.
 So OH and I had a lovely hot chocolate each this morning and came home with the plants above. For now they are living on my dining table to take full advantage of the sunlight, and keep them away from curious little fingers. I shall keep you posted on their progress.

 Angela from Chasing Rainbows asked about my little brown cat in the corner of one of my photos yesterday. He is actually a carved gourd jewellery box. My parents gave him to me one Christmas a few years ago, and I believe he came from a Tradecraft shop in Shirley. I had a quick look on their website but they only do gourd birdhouses at the moment but several other fair trade websites seem to have them in various designs.

My plans for the rest of the afternoon is to knit my hubby some nice warm socks as he recently destroyed a pair walking home in leaking trainers. They rubbed straight through and he had some horrible sore blisters from having damp feet the whole way. Poor thing.

x x x

Freebie Day

I have decided to name today Freebie Day. So many lovely things have come my way. First I picked up the new John Lewis magazine in Waitrose. It's really good this month and has quite a vintage theme, so make sure you shabby chiqers out there nab one quick.
Next was lots of free samples as I walked through the Tuesday market, olives from the Greek foods stall, a few cubes of brownie and cookie from a new baked goods stall and finally a sample of the new pasta salad in a local cafe/take away place. And there was still more to come.
Then I was given two dozen plums, a massive handful of runner beans and lots of baby carrots.
From a really sweet friend. I took the photo after processing them for the freezer and remembering that I hadn't taken a photo d'oh!

And finally our wedding rings arrived today!! Now these were definitely not free but when I tried mine on next to me engagement ring (top ring) it looked filthy. So the lovely gent in a local jewellers gave it a free clean and polish for me, when I went to pay him the £2 he usually charges he said I could have it free as an early wedding present. Now they look even better together and I'm almost ready now for my big day.
10 freebies in one day, this is definitely a personal record for me.
x x x x

P.S - What freebies came your way today?