Playing with my processor

So today I have been experimenting with my new food processor.

I did before hand however decided that cleaning the new blades would be a good idea because they'd been in a box and almost amputated the top of my middle finger - ouch (or a more deserving expletive)

I decided I usually use the basic recipe for a sponge of 225g flour, 225g butter, 225g sugar and 3 eggs. So today I decided I would try a new recipe as I find this usually ends up a bit flat and pathetic looking. So today I turned to my trusty Maw Broons Cookbook that my Mother In Law Sandy brought me for my birthday a few years back. Its fab.

This is Maw Broon;s Cookbook. Inside as you can see it looks like a well used family cookbook and the way it is written makes me laugh if you can decypher it well enough but having a half scottish family I think its the best thing Ive read with old style scottish recipes. Id definitely recommend it. Anyway I went for the basic recipe in this book. 100g butter, 125g sugar, 4 eggs and 200g flour. 

Below is the finished split cake. I need to work on my halving skills but the recipe made a very dense dry Old Style cake. It was tasty but proper old style! 

This is whats left after I added the cream! 

Should also say the British Double Cream I had from work, I again did the waste last night and my boss let me bring a whole carrier bag of mini Gem lettuces home for my rabbits. 3 tubs of 600ml double cream and 2 French sticks.....all for free. So today I have put them to good use.

Right off to meal plan a bit

x Sammy x

Putting plans into action.........

I figured today I need to start making my way towards my new years resolutions otherwise I'm not likely to stick to them.

I have somewhat changed mine though.
Mine are now

1. Enjoy my children. - Holly starts preschool this year in September and I plan to spend as much time with
    her as possible because babies don't keep (and yes i regularly wish I could keep her this little!). With
    Benjie because hes in school our days together when hes off school I want to enjoy and make more
    memories with him
2. Exercise more  
3. Plan - whether its money, food, days out etc - planning in advance saves time, money and effort.
4. Be myself - enjoy what I like and don't let others opinions bother me as long as me and mine are happy
5. .Eat properly (I rarely eat at the minute - living on whatever is easiest and pretty much toast) this is not
     healthy and is affecting me health wise now so three meals a day is my aim.
6. Craft and Hobbies ~ get some and enjoy them (this includes me competitions!)

So today I decided to put number 3 and 5 into action and planned my tea for tomorrow already. This is my beloved Stovies. Its easy. It pretty much consists of onion, mince, gravy and potatoes. All bunged in a pot and left to cook

Sweat some onions in a pan with a little bit of butter

 Then add in the mince (this mince was actually free, it was in the reduced trolley and when it came time to waste it my supervisor let me have it for free)

Then add enough gravy to cover. At this point you can peel and cut up potatoes and put them in this pan as well then leave it all to simmer for 30 minutes (making sure it doesn't burn) so you basically cook the potatoes in the Gravy, then serve it up with a side of veg.

I however have changed this, I made this stovies mixture up earlier. Then put it into a ceramic dish and covered it and put it in the oven to store it, then peeled potatoes, prepared sprouts and carrot and have them in the steamer ready for tomorrows lunch. So happy that's minimal cooking needed now.

Haven't done much else today really, my evening tonight involves cwtching on the sofa and chilling out watching TV, I'm not doing anything majorly exciting and I may just see in the new year before heading to my bed.

Good night all and Happy New Year. I look forward to learning and talking to you all more in 2013

Love

Sammy x x x x

Rain and Pantry talk

Well it is torrential rain today which has been hammering the windows all night.

Now I know there are jokes about Welsh weather but this is ridiculous. The River that runs through our village from the mountains is very high at the minute - thankfully we live on top of a mountain so it does affect us too much but our village is somewhat prone to weather damage.

It is in a valley with 3 available exit points. One road has a very steep hill to access it, over the river, and some may remember a few years back a couple had their Christmas ruined because a mudslide came through the back of their house? Yes that was from this road. It is subsiding rather badly despite our councils best attempts to re-inforce it.
The second exit way is the shortest to town but the road is prone to flooding and the valley wall is weak so there are regularly mudslides with too much rain - it is currently half closed at the minute.
The third is prone to mudslides but means you have a 40 minutes detour to get somewhere that usually takes 10 minutes.

That said I love my little welsh valley.

This is the view from my back door. We regularly see paragliders over the mountain and horses playing.

This is the same mountain but you can see somewhat further down the valley and my garden

My village by dusk when Im out walking Muttley.


Also I spent most my shift thinking about extra food storage yesterday - Im still stumped with the cupboard but was thinking about maybe boxes that I can store elsewhere in the house as sort of a mobile pantry - my nan use to have a little cupboard under the stairs that she'd use.
Sadly the only other available space I have like that is in our bedroom and its literally a box cupboard - its about 3ft square but full height which I could convert but it is also apparently a portal way to Narnia and I'm scared that if I go in to clear it out I may never be seen again.
So anyway whilst I was in work last night I found these boxes

and Im thinking I can fill them with cans/packets/non perishables and store them elsewhere in the house. We also have lots of the empty fruit and veg crates - little and large - that are stackable which I think might be a handy store system too - its just finding space now.

This sounds ridiculous too but our bed is broken. Its been broken since we moved to this house (2 years in May!) otherwise the larger crates would have been able to live under the bed with no problem at all and there boxes could have had little covers made and used as small bedside tables. I think that may be my first thing to try and save some money for or to try and find on freecycle - a new bed frame.

The one we have is lovely but my partner Ow is not very DIY savvy and would much rather go to his shed and play with his motorcross bike or sit playing on the computer than do any kind of work round the house. Hence the reason its been broken for 2 years and I have no idea how to fix it, although I can reuse the wood from it to hopefully make myself a veg planter and the slats if I save them will be turned into shelves. I think maybe I will make that my goal this year - to learn how to complete small DIY projects..........could do with a few shelves putting up

Right I had better get on and feed the kiddiwinks

x Sammy x

Torrential Rain, More Competitions...........and not looking forward to the walk to work

Well I havent actually gotten off the computer yet!

I have completed all todays competitions and decided to move on to tomorrows - imaginve my horror when I discovered nearly 74 pages of competitions. So I have sat here determined and have entered 58 pages worth of competitions..........I think I have easily entered close to 200 competitions today.

Thoroughly shattered now and I still have 16 pages to finish tomorrow and then more on to the 1st January ones

Poor Benjie isnt very well either - he has had cold/flu symptoms lately and hasn't been eating very much. He woke up Christmas Day and Boxing Day with a raging temperature, a horrid cough and no appetite.
Today is the first day he has really eaten anything very substantial - 2 slices of toast with Jam on, and now he's complaining that his belly is feeling 'gurgley'........have given him some cough medicine and hes cwtched on the sofa watching 'Agatha Christies Marple'.............think that needs changing!

Anyway best be off and do some dishes before I have to start getting ready for work. At least I can test run  the waterproofs that Owen brought me for Christmas!!!!!!!

x Sammy x

De-stressing with the de-clutter........

Well I have to say this morning is the first day I haven't walked in the living room and felt majorly stressed.

Between the 3 kids toys, mine and Ow's things - walking in every morning was driving me mad. I could barely see the floor if I hadn't already fallen over one toy or another....

and why is it when your in the dark you always manage to step on the stray bit of Lego?

I had a peaceful night last night reading and finding new blogs, then re evaluating my New Years Resolutions. Im thinking that between the few I have I should actually be able to cope pretty well with them and somehow achieve them all if not at least part of them!

I also made a promise to myself that I would keep at the competitions. I love to do competitions on-line and it has been a life saver to us on more than a few occasions. This is something I need to manage a bit better though and try and get myself ahead with if I can. This morning though I have managed to do all the ones for this morning (I don't tend to do ones for Holidays or Body Care/ Perfume stuff as I have sensitive skin and am allergic to a fair bit of it!) and in total completed 32 competitions, that was from one site though so now on to the second site and to do the twitter.

I do occasionally win things I have forgotten about or they are another part of a competition I've entered so may not use or need. (I once entered a competition for concert tickets to see Adele ~ I had previously won a set to see Olly Murs - who was fab live! - but I didn't win the Adele tickets, I did however win the adjoining competition which was two tickets to see Dolly Parton!) Personally she's not my taste so I gave them to a friend of Ows...........who then kindly paid £40 into our water account which meant I had a month off paying it which was nice of him.

So I may run a few competitions for a few bits and pieces later on if anyone is interested.

Jobs for this morning are

1. to finish the competitions and get myself a bit ahead. The end of the month there are always lots ending
    and I have been known to be sat at the computer for 9+ hours before on one day because there was over
    800+ competitions ending. Its one of the things I do that Ow supports especially when we have had a
    good return in the past from it.

2. Make my stovies! (Fingers crossed the mince has defrosted now!)

3. See how much Im likely to get on Magpie for the bag of DVDs I have upstairs. I figure they will end up in
    the charity shop anyway so I may as well see if I can get a few pennies for them. I do also have a bag full
    of Video tapes to try and donate as well so no one will lose out.

4. I need to look into my compost bin and see how it is going. I have been putting in the rabbits waste but
    not sure I have enough kitchen waste or balance in it at the minute.

Then I have my 7 hour shift in work which should be nice and relatively peaceful today. Cant believe it is New Years Eve already tomorrow. This last year has gone so fast. Which has also reminded me of a number 5 for my to do list.

5. Make my sealed pot. I have found a suitable container - now just need to tape the top shut.

Right better get going. I need to start getting ready for work at 1.30 and all this stuff wont do itself !

Take Care All and have a peaceful and productive day

Love

Sammy x x x

Windy in Wales.....and some thoughts for the day.

Wow its windy here in Wales tonight.....

Apparently its 6 degrees C and 24 mph winds..........which ordinarily I wouldn't mind but I live on top of the mountains so it sounds like its easily 50 and my full wheelie bin is walking itself round the garden.

I am hoping my poor bunnies are OK and not too cold. Just happy they all have plenty of bedding in their beds to keep them warm - I think I over compensated with it being Christmas but I have made sure they all have nice full tummies to see them through and I'm sure the coop will provide them with plenty of veggies tomorrow.

Kids are finally in bed, I did manage to get the dishes done and clear and rearrange Minnie's bedroom so she should be much snugglier now and happy all her Mi-Mi's (that's dolls to me and you) are now in her bedroom for her to play with. Now just to take the side off her cot,.....but I'm not that brave yet!

I do now however have a bag of DVDs, a bag of videos and a video player, 3 bags of toys from Benjie, 3 bags of toys from Minnie and a bag of old bedding etc that I can freecycle etc although I have realised that Ben has nearly every complete set of power rangers figures etc so I may be able to sell them as a small bundle on EBay to make a few pennies.

On more home based notes, I've decided to tackle my kitchen cupboards tomorrow. I have seven in total. That is it. Only two are wall mounted so my glasses/plates etc live in there. The one under it has all my tins, it is a double sized cupboard but only has one door and almost bends round the other cabinet if that makes sense. See the diagram below for a better explanation

 I need to try and work out some sort of storage technique for this cupboard. I'm only using about half of it because its all I can see! The double cupboard next to it is under the sink stuff. This again could do with a good restocking and getting a few bits and pieces in it. I don't tend to use many cleaners - only dettol spray, bicarb of soda, washing up liquid, comfort, and Flash multi purpose.
I then have two single cupboards which have two shelves, one has extra plates and a few Christmas bits in it, the other has pans, casserole dishes, ceramic bowls etc in it and a few bathroom extras I've picked up like girls products.
I'm thinking if I moved a few bits round or had a clear out I would be able to make one of these an extra storage cupboard - OK so not quite a pantry but it will help.


I'm also thinking I will join the local library. I do actually think I belong to the library but I had an overdue fee so I never went back, I think that needs rectifying. I quite like reading autobiographies, true stories, life stories etc but I will admit I don't think I have read some of the better known classics.....other than being in school.

So I suppose I have two musings for any followers who happen to read tonight..........Does anyone have any ideas on how I can maximise usage of the funny cupboard? and can they recommend me a book to add to my reading list?

Until then I will make sure to talk to you all tomorrow morning before I start with tackling the kitchen, Ow is off so he can watch the kiddiwinks and then I have a lovely 7 hour shift starting at 3pm which I'm hoping will be fairly peaceful and full of bargains.

I hope you all have a pleasant evening.

Sammy x x x

Rain, rain, go away.................or not apparently

Apparently someone has ordered 40 days and 40 nights of rain................and gales.

I made the very wrong mistake of putting the boxes from the kids Christmas toys outside next to the bin so now they are scattered and soggy across the little front yard/garden that we have which will make for a delightful job when the weather dries up for a bit, or at very best stops raining.

Found out yesterday that the second hand rabbit hutch we got apparently is not rabbit proof. There is a brief back story here so I will try and shorten it into a manageable chunk.

Last May Ben asked me for a pet of his own that he could cwtch and handle etc. (note we already had a dog and 2 terrapins), I told him he could get one if he kept his room tidy to which he agreed. I figured this would last maybe a few days at best, well 6 months later its now Christmas and his room is still immaculate. So I managed to talk him into a small pet, so we go to a well known pet store to pick up dog food for Bruno

 (Here is Bruno, after a long wet walk. He is our rescue dog, he is 11 at present and we adopted him when he was 4 years old. He has a few psychological issues especially with cold weather thanks to previous owners neglect and abuse. He loses a lot of weight with stress in the cold so we put him on IAMS senior to keep him stable otherwise his weight literally drops off him and he looks like skin and bones. He also has problems with chronic licking despite me or Ow always being home with him, a healthy diet and plenty of exercise and cuddles) 

Anyway my boyfriend Ow decides to point out the rabbits to Ben whilst we are in PAH. Now Ben gets his heart set on a rabbit, so we go to RSPCA and there are none there that he likes, but they tell us of a man desperate to sell his rabbits as he can no longer afford them and they are unwanted animals his daughter dumped on him. So we contact him. He has two Old English rabbits left which Ben has looked on Google and likes the look of. He wants £10 each or they are destined for the pot. So we drive 40 minutes to pick them up and I take £30 in case he has spare hay/food etc. We meet the guy with our cardboard box, Ow goes in and collects them and comes out with a suspicious smirk on his face, only for me to loo in the box and find 3 rabbits. 2 Old English and One Black Rex. He said the black one he just couldn't sell, no one wanted it so Ow took pity on it and re-homed it. Welcome to our home Splodge, Stripe and Bungle.

This is Stripe with the black stripe (Old English)

 Ben with his bunny Stripe.

This is Bungle (Black Rex) named by Owen and who is now Owen's Bunny. He seems to have taken to sitting on the back of the chair for hours on end.

This is Splodge with the um.......splodge. (Old English) and he is now Holly's Bunny.

Anyway get them home to discover they are all boys and within a week they are all fighting and since they are only 11 weeks old no vet will touch them for another 13 weeks. So we had one big hutch, which we had to divide for the 2 Old English's (although one side is considerably smaller, but they are all safe) and the Rex is in the old portable play pen. Then we brought a second hutch, now all bunnies have a hutch space, lastly we got a second hand hutch and all bunnies have a nice spacious home of their own.

Which leads us to now............

Yesterday I looked out the window to my horror to see Stripe who was in the second hand hutch sitting on top of Bungles hutch with a huge hole he had chewed in the old ones wall where it had obviously rotten.

Thankfully my friend had a barely used hutch in his garage though which I have swapped with him. In return for the hutch (which looks practically brand new) I gave him a bag of veg from the freezer, a bag of ready to roast potatoes, and two packs of Cumberland sausages - all of which were either brought with coupons or were brought home as waste from work.

So now all bunnies are safe and accounted for again.

I also yesterday listed Ben's old bike on Gum Tree. It is sat not doing much now as it was too small and he got a new bike for Christmas as his main present so we don't need it. I got it for £119 a few years ago and we lived in a flat so there was no where really for him to ride it, he only just learnt to ride it and therefore has really used it for a week before the weather turned nasty and he has outgrown it. So I'm asking £30 for it but open to offers - any money will be helpful but Id like to see it go to a home that it will be used

Plans for today though are,

• get the baby down for a nap. 
• Make a batch of stovies.
• Get some competitions done.
• Dishes
• and move Bens toys upstairs

That about sums it up for my jobs today. Thinking I might even use some of the left over sprouts up and put them as a side to the stovies to mop up some of the gravy.

Also does anyone have a good pizza base recipe? I want to get using my food processor and my two boys love pizza so I'm hoping to save a few quid by being able to make a base myself. 

Many Thanks all

x Sammy x 

Thank crumbs thats over..........

Well Ive had an eventful few days

First the baby (she's 2 years old) had the Norovirus

Second, Benjie came down with some horrid flu bug which meant 3am wake up calls with him absolutely boiling and hallucinating. Not sure what was scarier though the fact he was so hot or the hallucinations he was coming out with!

So now I am getting five to sit and go over my income for January in preperation for my new year and new start.
I really must find a spreadsheet making app or something so I can display them better rather than list form

(quick snoop round the Internet and computer and I have managed it)

Now the above picture is just my basic outgoings for the household bills and does not include any of my debt repayment, no birthdays/Christmas/clothing/school trips/pets etc. The only things I am in receipt of are tax credits and child benefit. We don't receive any housing or council tax benefit, no free school dinners etc.......

I work part time - 12 hrs is currently all I can do because my partner works full time, and the hours I have means that I work around his shifts so I am home to have our two children, which then saves us on childcare. 

Our other outgoings in the house look like this

So I have about £100.00 that is left over each month - which is basically our top up shop money, money that my partner may need to borrow to get himself to his next pay day, if the kids need new clothes/shoes etc and any birthday/anniversary spending etc also comes from this money.........

So I have decided to be very strict with myself this coming month.

As you can see I already have set myself a basic food budget of £100 - I'm not entirely sure if I will shop monthly or weekly with the food shop but I'm determined to stick to this budget as I really cant afford to be going over it so a fair bit of our shop will be downgraded to value items and I will start shopping about a bit more. 

We do have access to a Tesco and Iceland in our town, there is a Lidls and an Aldi outside of town which would mean an extra few pennies on my bus ticket but I'm wondering if it would be worth it for the cheaper products. Failing that we buy a fair bit as store own brands as it is, with a few value things added in but I'm thinking its time to downgrade again.

The baby is currently potty training so only really has nappies now if we are going out and for bedtime which is saving us money and she is a good eater.

We don't have a bath, only an electric shower so that saves on heating water etc. We aren't on a water meter either, we pay a basic rate to the council and that is it. 

So for today I am off to sit and have a look over my shopping list, see where I can cut corners and look into what the correct portions sizes are and work out what a servings costs.

Then I might make an inventory of whats in the cupboards and a meal plan between rehoming some of the kids toys from christmas to their bedrooms! 

Wish me luck, its about to be a busy day!

Sammy x x x

New Year

Right,
I have decided this need more of an effort on my part. There's no excuse basically why I cant make more posts on here other than I am very easily distracted and that just wont cut the mustard anymore.

We have had a lovely Christmas - the kids got everything they wanted. My favourite present was a video game and my beloved new food processor and I can honestly tell you I'm not sure which one I'm happier about! I cant wait to get cooking with it.

I have been busily sat thinking of goals and resolutions for the coming New Year. I would like to set myself 3 personal resolutions I think and then maybe one for Ben and One for Holly which is more goals I would like to achieve for them as they are both 8 and 2 at present.

I think my 3 are going to be to

1. save money.
I am currently skint, as in I have enough in my bank to cover my bills and then I may possibly have £10 to last me until my next pay day.........which is the 15th of January!  So Id like to save money and actually have some savings so that in case of a rainy day I have money on hand to help myself out, treat the kids etc......and just in general not have to worry about it!

2. Lose Weight
This I guess goes hand in hand with eating properly too and exercising - I think this year I have pretty much lived on rubbish food and toast. That's not healthy but I also think I have a few pounds........OK stone that it wouldn't hurt to shift and I'm pretty much about 13st I think now so Id like to get down to 11st and then Ill be happy, as for exercise I walk the school run 4 times a day, about 3 times a week as my  neighbour sometimes offers to take Ben and I have been lazy and agreed and I work part time so I am on my feet the whole shift (one is 5hrs long and the other is 7hrs long) either way I need to fit more in!

3. Get more sleep!
I think I am literally surviving on about 4 hrs a night. I mean tonight I went to bed at 10.30pm and was back up at 3am but my son Ben was ill but most other days I don't go to bed until midnight if not later and I'm usually up by 4am, so come about 12 lunchtime I am usually ready for a nap and by 8pm I am falling asleep in the chair. I think I need to set a bedtime and stick to it. I think seeing as my Sunday shift doesn't end until 10pm that maybe I should make my bedtime 10.30 at the latest from now on, if not earlier.

These aren't finalised yet but just my latest musings. I will finalise them before new year though! x

x Sammy x

What to adopt?

I am thinking of adopting an animal in a zoo for my son Benjamin 

My thinking is it will give him something to look forward to seeing when we visit family as we regularly visit Marwell Zoo and Chester Zoo if we visit either my grandparents or father so I'm thinking something in one of these would be nice

Plus it would give him something to research - ie what the animal is, eats, lives etc

Also he would know he is helping not only the zoo but helping towards that animals care and upkeep

So now the question is

What do I adopt for him? and this is where I need help with opinions.

~~~~~

At Chester Zoo he can adopt one of the following for £50 a year and he adopts the species not a specific animal - so I could choose one of

• Red Pandas
• Giraffes, 
• Elephants, 
• Orangutans, 
• Tigers, 
• Meerkats, 
• Penguins
• Chimpanzees

and he will get 

• Two Admission Tickets that can be used at any time during the year of adoption (each ticket is valid for one adult or two seniors/children)

• A Cuddly toy

• Your name displayed on a 'Thank You' plaque near your adopted species (by 20th of following month)

• One complimentary copy of our Z magazine, packed with conservation news and zoo updates

• Thank you letter

• Thank you card

• Animal stickers

• Image of your adopted animal species

• Personal adoption certificate

• A fact sheet full of amazing facts about your chosen animal

• A puzzle sheet

(part of me is wondering though if these are their main animals or conservation projects and therefore need the most funding or they are child favourites - ie penguins)

For £55 a year there is more of a range but they don't get additional information or the teddy/stickers which I think ben would enjoy) Plus all these animals bar the panda he will see and not have to try and spot in an enclosure

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At Marwell he can adopt one of the following for £25 a year he can adopt a specific named animal and he gets 

Go Wild Scheme

For children. £25

• Adoption Certificate
• Recognition at your adopted animal's enclosure
• 1 FREE child ticket
• Photo + animal fact sheet
• Car sticker
• Online Adopters Zone

(with one of the animals named Below)

Isabella the Giraffe

Chico the Meerkat

Eva the Penguin

Wendy the Pygmy Hippo

Indeever the Snow Leopard

Kaia the Amur Leopard

But for £50 a month he can adopt any animal of 20 different species and the only added extra he gets is a subscription to the zoo's magazine 

Im thinking I could adopt him two animals in Marwell that he could specifically go looking for. What do you think? 

Pets (eventually) for christmas.......but after......

Right, I'll get straight to it

Ben wants a pet of his own. We have a rescue dog called Bruno who is 11 years old and two terrapins but he wants a pet to live in his bedroom - his own pet but he wants something he can play with etc.

Anyway this has been going on since March this year and he is desperate to be a zoo keeper.

For his birthday in May he asked again for a hamster, but with a Jack Russell terrier we werent sure this was the best idea - Bruno stays downstairs in our house - its only the bedrooms upstairs but still I didnt want to risk an escaped hamster. So we brought him a wormery, which he loved and he has been looking after them well but wasnt satisfied with that.

Well he lulled for a bit with the asking and since the beginning of August, hes been at it again asking for another pet. So I made him a deal that if he kept his bedroom clean and tidy we would see about a goldfish in his room, but he had to keep it tidy otherwise it was a no. He asked why he couldn't have a hamster and I told him if he was responsible enough to clean, feed and care for a goldfish then maybe Id consider a hamster at a later date.

Anyway I should have given my son more credit because I presumed after a day or two of trying he'd give up and his room would return to its usual bomb site


        


It is now six weeks on, his room has been immaculate every morning with his bed made and him fully dressed before he leaves his room.

Now I know you shouldn't get pets for Christmas as presents but Im thinking of getting him his tank/filter/gravel etc and setting it up as presents and then after Christmas taking him to pick a fish or two.

Do you think thats an acceptable gift?

I should also add that Benjamin does help with the other pets. He is responsible for washing Bruno's bowls in the morning before he's fed and helps walk him every evening after school. He also helps me clean up the garden too.

Terrapin wise he helps prepare their food and feed them but since they aren't really hands on pets - one of them is rather vicious - he has minimal contact with them.
Plus the fish wont be there on Christmas morning as I have read that a tank is better set up about a week before hand of getting fish so I want to make sure I do things correctly with it. 

A bit of good news for once

In all the heartbreak that September 11th brings I have had two small glimmers of good news.

Firstly, my heart felt best wishes to all those poor souls who lost their lives in September 11, 2001. My thoughts and prayers are with their loved ones at this time of remembrance and to all the 343 firefighters, police officers and medical staff who gave their all to help them - I hope god blesses you and your lives. Lest We Forget. R.I.P

Secondly, my workmates after a rather traumatic pregnancy and long labour that ended in an emergency C Section has given birth to a healthy baby Boy called Ryan yesterday who weighed 7lb 11ozs. Congratulations honey!

Thirdly, my grandmother had undergone her last lot of chemotherapy today and is OFFICIALLY in remission after a very long and hard 3 year battle with Non-Hodkin Lymphoma. Not once has she moaned, whined or complained but simply got on with it but she is an Irish ex matron edlerly nurse/ Battle Axe so I expected nothing less, but still congratulations Nan, I love you

Hope everyone else is having a good day

Funny how things seem so trivial sometimes x

Financial updates and possible solutions

Ok, so I have had a somewhat financial overhaul this week

I have been through my bills, most of which I can't not pay as I only really have basics!
So
Rent - £360 - my partner pays this
Council tax - £107
Water - £40
Gas - £49 (direct debit)
Electric - £40
NTL - £55 for tv, Internet, phone (Internet is needed as I have a child in middle school and a child in comp for their homeworks)
Debt - £40
Dentist - £32 (this is myself, partner and kids and they have taken on my step son too, there are only two NHS dentists in our area now and we are in a benefit claiming main town do I pay for te dentist as we are guaranteed  to be seen quickly and our dentist is lovely)
Food Shopping - £200

The last few months I have also had to find money for school uniform and catch up on my debt bills so I have neglected to pay my Tv license which I know is now at £97 and passed to a collection agency, as well as owing £49.50 on our old flat which again I haven't paid

My income is £300 wages from my work ( I do 2 nights a week at 12hrs a week so I'm
Home to care for my daughter in the day and whilst my son is in school, I have no family around me - and all the lcal childminders are full because we are in a small village, so I can't work any extra hours)
I get child benefit of £130 but this is for my children and divided between their bank accounts incase they need anything.
Tax Credits, I and my partner get £300 to top up our income.

Our outgoings are £563 so from the £600 I am left with £37.

I am so fed up of this situation I can't begin to tell you. There is no work local to me and I don't drive so getting anywhere is really very hard. I'm even wondering if I can start to do something from home as I have textile A levels etc so maybe I could make something to sell.

I've also sold off most of my possessions to make ends meet.

So I've been looking at some solutions.

I've managed to haggle my NtL down to the £55 - it was originally on £65 so at least that's a £10 saving.
Also my food shopping - thanks to some of Froogs meal plans and ideas - I'm pretty sure I can get that down too. Each year my wok gives us shares of the profits and we got £150 last year so I brought a chest freezer with it when we moved home as we are in an inaccessible area now when the weather is bad, so it was multipurpose but I'm hoping I can fill it with Tesco Value vegetables and meat as well as discounted or reduced products and that it will help me stretch our shopping budget.

Im on the cheapest I can get our as and electric but I will be researching ways to heat proof the house this winter so we don't have to rely on the central Heating and gas so much. We only have an electric shower (no bath) so the only gas we use is for heating water so if I can minimise that then it will be good. I think that may be my next plan of action with a room by room list of what I can improve.

Right I'm off to put the kids to bed and ponder just that.

Night all
Xxxxx

Financial Hardship and Time Of Reflection

Recently myself and my partner have had a few financially tough months. 

Last month we literally made it to my pay day with pence in my pocket, and by then we had run out of bread, milk and butter and I was utterly miserable and to the point I was having to bake to make sure my son had a lunch box full. I don't want to be like that again any time soon but sadly its not the first time and I have just about sold everything in my house I had, that I could sell to make ends meet.

We were meant to go on a camping holiday for our 10 year anniversary, but after we'd brought the tent and sleeping bags we couldn't afford to go away any longer so we decided to leave it and we'd go away another time. 

Today presently, after money check ups etc I now have £22 in my Wages bank account and in my Benefits account I think I have nothing - I will double check this tomorrow morning though as my bank are utterly useless on the phones after 6pm. Should also reiterate that by benefits account I mean the account my tax credits and child benefit are paid into - this is money for my children and their well being etc.

I cant pick up any extra hours in work as I cant fit the shifts around my children. 

The two shifts I am able to do are Thursday 5 - 10pm and a Sunday 3 - 10pm. My partner works what hes told which is 8.30am - 6pm (Mon to sat) and 10am - 4pm (Sunday)  but he works 5 days a week but he is on a rota and not set days off. So if he is working the days I have my shifts then my mother in law has the kids for the hour that we cross over.  

The rest of the time I am at home with the children - my daughter is only 2 years old and not in education yet and her childcare would take up any wages I did mange to earn.

My son is in full time school from 9am until 3.20pm. 

I am wondering if there is any work I can do from home that means I can be here for my children but I can still boost my income

May have to look into varying sources of income. 

 

Its time to 'Ber'......

Right,

The 'BER' months (SeptemBER, OctoBER, NovemBER, DecemBER ~ see what happened there? ) so I have and will officially get started. That means my household kicks up a gear to get ready for winter and subsequently Christmas.

The house needs heat proofing and after a winter in the house last year I have somewhat figured out where the cold spots are and what needs to be tackled.

The hallway is a main one. You come in the front door and are immediately met by the stairs, through the door to the right is my living room, then up the first half of the stairs is a small landing with a window, then up the second part are the three doors to the bedrooms. There is no heating in the hallway which basically means on a cold morning you have to walk out into a fridge which is not pleasant. I need to find some way to warm this room.

Last year I put a curtain over the front door and there is a blind on the small window, but apart from that I'm somewhat confused. There are two plug sockets at the bottom of the stairs though which means I could plug in a small heater to let the heat rise if I could find a plug timer for the mornings.

Also our central heating is VERY noisy. It makes one hell of a racket so if I can not turn this on in the night then that would be good. We have just brought the kids sleeping bags for camping but Im thinking these might be worth using in winter to keep them warm. Our double sleeping bag can be unzipped and put over our duvet, plus my partner who tends to hog the duvet means I would actually get a blanket. Ben's is more a cocoon style bag which he is loving sleeping in , and Holly's can be unzipped to a big blanket as well.

Other cold spots are the bathroom and back door, which similar to the front door in that the back door opens and directly in front is the bathroom. Thus making this very cold and unpleasant so that needs a door curtain too I think.

Other than that I need to find or make the dog a new bed.

Then make a stock list for the freezer, because we live on top of a hill and its is horrid, absolutely horrid walking to the nearest shop which is a 15 minute downhill walk away, and then about 20 minutes back up depending on what you are carrying! So needless to say with an 8 year old and a 2 year old in cold weather it can get very unpleasant indeed and my partner is not home until 6pm so in those hours Id need to be prepared.

I think I need to get list making.

Righto Im off to do just that

Let the nightmare commence.....

Morning all

Well I woke up Tuesday with a dental abscess hence the lack of posting - thankfully it has given me no pain as apparently its draining (I bet you really wanted to know that)  and still hasn't but they have told me I will need the tooth removing and a dose of antibiotics. 

Now for any normal person this is fine, but when you are straight edge, medication phobic and have severe anxiety this can be an absolute nightmare of immense proportions! I have been psyching myself up for the last few days to take them and was all ready to yesterday when my partner got delayed at work so I couldn't and as a result I ended up making myself sick with worry and dread.

So this morning after reading horror stories of dental abscess' I had to do it. I broke out in a hot flushes, dry mouth, shakes and this was before I even had the pill out of the packet - and yes it is one 250mg pill I have to take - hardly a horse tranquilliser. As soon as I took it I promptly burst into tears and had to remove myself to the garden for fear of the kids seeing me in such a state. 

I bizarrely too have this weird thing about 5 minutes....... so I'll tell you the story. My mum (should reiterate the reason I never mention her is we haven't spoken in 9 months) anyway.........she is exactly the same as me - hates taking pills or medication in any form and I clearly remember my dad when they were together having to force her to take medication, to the point of having to pin her down - it was obviously something she absolutely needed to take because my dad isn't a bully or a forceful person etc. - but I think mentally that has scarred me and worsened my own phobia.

Anyway I remember her telling me that if anything was going to happen, like a severe allergic reaction - you'd know within 5 minutes.....or there would be tell tale signs something wasn't right. So I take myself away for 5 minutes.....strange but it works for me.....I sit and focus on my breathing to bring myself out of a panic attack etc too.

Although in fairness I have been put on Amoxycillin, and it really doesn't help that my younger sister is allergic to penicillin and amoxycillin so my worry isn't completely unacceptable!

Anyway so since I seem to be ok - I took it at 9.33 and here I still am at 11.27 - my time before work today will mostly be taken up with reading this fab new blog that I have found 

http://frugalincornwall.blogspot.co.uk

It has already given me loads of ideas and is exactly the type of blog I like to read so I hope some of you will stop in and have a read too. 

                                                                                 x

An Olympian In The Midst....

I am so proud of my friend Helen. 

I have known her since school and the last few years I have done nothing but support her efforts in the Triathlon and now I sit proudly here writing this as she is about to compete in the Olympics as part of Team GB. 

Good Luck Helen! I will be watching for you on August 4th

x x x 

SUMMER HOLIDAYS! .................. Oh No!

Hi guys

As anyone else in the UK knows summer holidays are upon us and the welsh schools have mostly all broken up so I was just wondering if anyone has any ideas of things to do with small children, I have a considerable age gap between my two children - my son Benjamin is 8 years old and my daughter Holly is 2. Most of the holidays will be me with them by myself so I am looking for ideas to keep them amused.

If anyone has any then please feel free to add them in the messages below, there are no stupid suggestions.......

many thanks in advance and I will make sure to keep you up to date with anything we have planned as well as including pictures

x

Fly Lady ~ Day Four

Right,

so far this morning I have 

• gotten up at 5.30am (I suffer from insomnia I am not Sunday morning sadistic!) 
• Washed
• Wiped over bathroom 
• Wiped over the kitchen
• Read Emails
• Had Breakfast
• Made A plan of action for Ben's bedroom tomorrow
• Listed 5 things on Ebay (one already has a watcher! yey!)
• updated my blog

So now that Owen is awake I will be able to go and get on with the rest of the morning. Its currently 9.20 as I write that line so I can go and make all the beds soon and then finish Holly's Bedroom which I got distracted from yesterday (by cleaning my own)

This is what awaits me...............................yey  :-S

although in fairness her room is only small so it shouldn't take me too long to sort through.

 I'm also going to put a load of washing in before I make a start on this which I think will be all of Owen's work shirts so I can hang them outside on the airers to dry being that its such a nice day today

I also want to get all the bags of rubbish outside too so that they are not in the house or likely to be reopened whilst me or anyone else goes looking for things in the,

I have also set myself the time limit today of finishing at 12, because I work today (yes I know on a Sunday - someone has to I guess!) from 3 - 10pm so I think if I finish at 12, then it gives me plenty of time to chill out and get showered etc before I have to leave at 2.30 to go and start my shift. 

Right better crack on otherwise I will never get started............

Enjoy your day

x

FlyLady ~ Day Three

So yesterday I basically spent the day going through this lot ^^^

This is a pile of clothes that had been put in my daughters bedroom in kind of a stop gap but were never put away, ironed etc so I needed to get them sorted 

I spent most of yesterday sorting clothes into piles with the following names

- Bee's pile

- Washing Lights

- Washing Darks

- Donates

- Ben

- Holly

- Owen

- Me

- Other

Now I think Ben, Holly, Owen, Me and Other are pretty explanatory as well as the washing piles, but my sister Bee (her name is actually Abigail and none of us know how she came to be called Bee) is currently 7 months pregnant with a baby girl so anything that was for the first year went into a pile of things to rewash or pass on to her. 

Also I have ended up with three bags of clothes to donate and I still have my sons bedroom to go through and I know for a fact he has a pile to go through as well - although nowhere near as bad as this!

The other room to get sorted yesterday was my bedroom which now looks a million times better and I have found several things to ebay, freecycle, gumtree, donate or give away. 

So I have been listing today on Ebay being that it is a free listing day...................

unfortunately I didn't take any photos of the before and after shot in my bedroom though but I may post a photo of all the bagged up stuff later

Take Care 

x