Last year in my 40's eek!

Well, it's here, my last year in my 40's. To be honest it doesn't bother me I'll be 50 next year. I definitely don't feel it and I've been told I don't look it so I'm not going to worry about it. I woke at 7.30 this morning and could hear the dog moaning. I got dressed and went into the kitchen to get the dog lead and there in the middle of the kitchen floor were two huge piles of vomit!!! I complained to the dog and walked down the passage to let him out the back door where I was confronted by two smaller piles of vomit!!! Dog was pushed into the garden with a few savoury words and I went to hunt out some disposable gloves to tackle the nasty job of vomit cleaning.

Dog was walked and I returned and put the kettle on for a cuppa. Hubby walked into the kitchen and wished me happy birthday. I looked at him in surprise because I had honesty forgotten when I woke this morning that it was my birthday. What with Sherlock's lovely present he left me this morning it never entered my head. I waited for the girls to get up before I opened my cards and presents. I got lovely gifts of a cook book, wine, gold earrings, perfume, a photo in a lovely frame, candles and a candle holder and some money.

Hubby asked if I wanted a birthday cake. He said our youngest daughter said I wouldn't want one because I'm on a diet but he wanted to check. No I said. I want to be good this week so no cake please but thanks for thinking about me having one. I have been naughty and made chocolate fondant which are sat in the fridge ready for tea tonight. I have made only four. These are for daughters, daughters boyfriend and Hubby. I will just watch them eat lol. They were a request from Daughter No3 last week so I had the ingredients in so decided a bank holiday and my birthday was a good a time as any to make them.

I'll just show you my charity shop buy I got Thursday last week.

I did actually buy 6 of these dessert dishes but only pictured 3 of them. As soon as I saw them I thought they would be great for chocolate mousse desserts or any dessert really. They have a good sold base so should not get knocked over easily. I got them for £3.00.

Think it's time to celebrate my birthday with a glass or two of wine and catch the last of the evening sun.

Bye for now x

My bargains & not such a bargain

Just a quick post as I've so much to do before me and Hubby go out for the evening. Yesterday I did my voluntary job and got a couple of bargains. I love little jugs and couldn't resist this little one. I like to pour milk into a small jug from the great big cartons we buy because we always seem to pour too much milk into our drinks when handling the big cartons. I then just leave the jug in the fridge to use for cups of tea throughout the day.

 My little jug cost me £1.20. I also go a watch for myself at a cost of £1.50. I just fell in love with it as soon as I saw it because of the colour. Purple/plum is my favourite colour so I had to have it.

Today I went to pick up my months meat order from the local butcher. This was not such a bargain at £90 !! This is the 3rd order I've had and the quality is superb. I would rather pay more for good quality, locally sourced meat

This has been all portioned up and frozen for the coming month.
I'll be back soon. Must dash, just seen the time x

What a bargain!!!!

This is my bargain of the year. So far anyway. I saw this breadmaker in the back of the charity shop I volunteer in this morning. As soon as I saw it I thought, I want that.

It was in perfect condition and I plugged it into a socket to check it was working. I bet it's only been used a couple of times it's like new.

It also came with it's instruction booklet and measuring scoops. I asked the manager how much she wanted for it and she said a couple of quid cos we can't sell electricals. Well, that was so cheap I put £5.00 in the till for it.

So at the moment it is on and I'm test driving it. So far it is work good. I do own a breadmaker already and it was only last weekend when I was making a loaf that I thought, I hope my breadmaker doesn't breakdown because it will cos a lot to replace it. So seeing this this morning I am prepared for when mine dies and will have a replacement machine already in the house.

Daughter No 3 said I was all giddy and excited at trying out my new breadmaker hehe. The simple things in life I can get excited about. And just to let you know. No, the breadmaker would not have been binned with us not selling electricals. We have a man who calls once a month to collect all electrical stuff and it's taken elsewhere to sell. Off to have a peek at my bread lol

Getting organised

Dropped into Boots today and had a look around for a present I could give to Daughter No2's boyfriend for his birthday. Did not have a clue what to get him. Then I saw the half price shelf of Christmas stuff and spotted this.

The set included socks, body spray and a pair of underpants. Was originally £18.00 but I got it for £9.00 so pleased I found him something which was a bargain. Could have bought more things to put away for next Christmas or for birthdays  but I'm trying to stick to a month of not spending, only on necessities. His card and wrapping paper were bought from The Card Factory and only cost me just over a pound so pleased I got it all for £10.00.

Finally 10 days into the new year I have my A4 desk diary. I searched all over to find one of these this year but could not find one only in WHSmiths for a rediculous price. Normally I pay a few pounds for one from places like B&M bargain but they had none when i was looking a day or two into the new year. Finally had to order one off Amazon at a cost of £3.50 with free delivery which was not much more than I would have paid for it in the bargain shop.

Tonight I shall sit and fill in all birthdays and highlight then. Date nights with Hubby will be written in. Each day I shall write down what I eat to keep track on my healthy eating. When I've worked out my menu plan each week I shall write at the top of the page what we are having each day. I shall write a TO DO list on each page of jobs and stuff I may need out of the freezer for the next days meal. So I should be super organised from now on.....we shall see ; )

A nice little project

My youngest daughters bedroom was decorated early summer and was done in a French boudoir theme. She still needs a few bits, like a picture and a mirror to finish it off it's just trying to find the right pieces at a cheap price. Well I found a mirror in the charity shop I volunteer in at a great price of..... £1.00

They were going to throw it in the bin because bits of mirror have been scratched off on the reverse but I think it justs adds to the character of it. The paint I bought to do it up cost more than the mirror. £11.99 for a tin of black gloss paint. Still £12.99 for the mirror is still cheap. I took the mirror out of the frame this afternoon and sanded the frame and gave it a good clean. I've undercoated the front and back and tomorrow will give it a first coat of gloss. Daughter loved it when I showed her it and wanted to know when it would be finished. She wants it in her room quick. Will update you with the finished piece over the weekend.

Menu Monday 15/10/12

MONDAY - Leftover chicken in gravy, stuffing, Yorkshire puds & steamed veg

TUESDAY - Fragrant pork & rice one pot with homemade bread

WEDNESDAY - Bolognese sauce and pasta with homemade garlic bread

THURSDAY - Cottage pie, peas and carrots

FRIDAY - Sausage, onion gravy, mash, Yorkshire puds, carrots, broccoli & cabbage

SATURDAY - Fishcakes, chips and mushy peas

SUNDAY - Slow cooker chicken casserole with roasted potatoes

I'm going to try stretching my 500g mince beef this week to cover two meals. I shall cook it in the slow cooker with lots of onions, grated carrots and a grated courgette and maybe a hand full of red lentils. This will be split in two and turned into a bolognese sauce and a filling for cottage pie and lets see what the gang make of it.
Pleased with my shop this week, only spent £45.29 and have everything for the week except a box of cereal the girls like which I shall have to call into Aldi for one day this week. Hate it when the shelf is bare of a product I want and have to return to get it. Called into Tesco for a few bits and was really pleased with my bargains.

They were clearing out a lot of frozen stock (probably to fit in xmas stock) and I could not resist clearing the shelf of the last 3 boxes of Linda McCartney veggie BBQ selection for 62p a box. Each box contains two sausages, 2 large burgers and two fillets. That will keep me stocked up on veggie quick food for a while. Love it when I get a bargain : )

Menu Monday 08/10/12

MONDAY - Pork loin steaks, Yorkshire puds, roast potatoes, carrots, cabbage, green beans

TUESDAY - Fry up

WEDNESDAY - Roast chicken, stuffing, Yorkshire puds, mash, broccoli, cabbage, carrots & peas

THURSDAY - Mascarpone & tuna sauce on pasta with homemade garlic bread

FRIDAY - Creamy beef & potato layer with carrots & peas

SATURDAY - Homemade lamb burgers, homemade fries and homemade coleslaw

SUNDAY - Leftover chicken made into a sauce with mushrooms on vegetable rice

Well here we are again, back round  to menu Monday. Up early and off to the shops to do the weekly shop this morning and quite happy with my spending. Hubby and I were talking over the weekend about ways to reduce the grocery bill further and he said we should cut back on our meat consumption as it's getting expensive, along with everything else! Now I don't eat meat, only seafood so all the meat I buy is consumed by Hubby, the girls and daughters boyfriend when he's here. I'd already planned my menu for this week, and did not really have time to sit and work out a new plan. So this shall be done over this week.

Last Friday I took daughter No3 to the local town so she could buy her friend a birthday gift. We were wondering around Wilkinsons when we spotted a  couple of great offers they had on.

The bars of Galaxy were 50p each! they were limited to 6 per person and I think there were 4 different flavours to choose from. The bottle of Robinsons juice was also 50p a bottle. I don't know if this offer is nationwide but it's worth a look in your local Wilkinsons. I will call in again tomorrow when passing to get some bars to put away for my Daughter No3 for Christmas. Galaxy is the only chocolate she will eat. I shall get a couple more bottles of squash to put away as this is the only squash they like.

No rest for the wicked, off to walk the dog now then get on with some ironing. Enjoy the sun if your as lucky as me to have a sunny day again x

Glorious morning

What a glorious mornings drive I had home from work this morning. The sun was dazzling me as I drove (which I hate) but it was such a lovely morning. I then spotted them. Hot air balloons which looked like they were heading towards my village. I arrived home and grabbed the dog and my camera and hurried out to take the dog for his walk in the open fields hoping to get a glimpse of the balloons. Just as I got to the field I heard a loud noise and just saw one of the balloons land behind a row of trees. To be honest , I think they had abandoned the flight and landed because they were very near an electric pylon and I don't think they were high enough to fly over it. Two other balloons continued with their flights.

It was lovely watching them fly by. We go to the Bristol Balloon Festival whenever we have an holiday down south because we really like hot air balloons. On of my life ambitions is to fly in an hot air balloon.

The other day I didn't have time to tell you about my buys in the charity shop on Thursday. This week I got Nigellas Christmas book  for £2.00. Now I have wanted this book for years and I have borrowed it from the library in the past and even added it to my Christmas list for this year. Can take it off my Christmas list now and add another book instead.

I also bought the loose bottom baking tin for 99p I'm increasing my baking tin collection due to getting more interested in baking with watching The Great British Bake Off.

Off to chill out in a warm cosy living room with a glass of red on this chilly autumn evening. Have a lovely weekend x 

Menu Plan 07/05/12

MONDAY - Braising steak & onions, vegetables, mashed potatoes & Yorkshire puddings

TUESDAY - Creamy beef & potato layer, peas & carrots

WEDNESDAY - Chicken fried rice

THURSDAY - Roast chicken, vegetables, roast potatoes and Yorkshire puddings

FRIDAY - Creamy tomato sauce on pasta with homemade garlic bread

SATURDAY - Chicken/tofu fajitas

SUNDAY - Not decided yet

Had a visit to the local towns market this morning. I bought more threads and some ribbon at the craft stall. I bought bananas and cherry tomatoes at the market stall. The cherry tomatoes were £1.00 for a bag of them.

They were large cherry tomatoes and I weighed them when I returned home. They weighed 1.2kg
Really pleased with my tomato buy. I plan to make a roasted tomato soup with most of them and whatever's left shall be used roasted with a meal or with a sandwich for lunches.

I called into Morrisons as we were walking round the market to buy some braising steak for dinner tonight ( usually buy meat from family butcher but forgot they would be closed today with it being Bank Holiday) Just as I walked in they had a table set out with breadcakes. 6 large breadcakes for 40p. I grabbed 2 packs of these and made my way to the meat section bought my meat then left before I got tempted with anymore offers.

Walked around a boot sale which was held because it was a Bank Holiday weekend but did not find anything of interest then went to the Abbey where a local craft fair was being held. I did buy a small gift of a handmade cracker filled with chocolate in it's own box with a gift tag for my Dad for Fathers Day.

It was only £3.50 which I thought was very reasonable for a very one off gift. I got some good ideas for things I can sew for gifts for the family. My daughter whispered whilst stood at a stall that I should make things to sell because mine were better than what the stall holder was selling. I must admit, when I went to a Christmas fair last year i had in the back of my mind building up a stock and applying to have a stall this year but to be honest I really need to invest in a sewing machine if I were to contemplate doing something like selling my work. I do all the seems on the cushions I have made by hand which takes a while. If I had a sewing machine this would make the process a whole lot quicker so I may invest later in the year in a sewing machine and try my hand at selling but maybe next year so I can build up a large amount of stock. We shall see : )   

Bargain time & frustrating time

Got a couple of bargains in the charity shop yesterday. Firstly I got this lovely cute new bone china jug.

I went on the designers webpage and it's in her range for sale at £10.00. I got this for £1.50. I also bought this handmade purse.

Again, brand new with the label on. I bought it for £1.50. I Checked out the wedsite for this family business in Yorkshire and it costs.......£18.00!  Flamin lot for a purse. So I am pleased with my bargains this week.

Now the frustrating time I have been having today. This morning I thought I'd do some cooking. Started with some leek & potato soup,then had a pan of carrots for the dog cooking. Half way through making a chickpea & roasted veg tagine I heard a pop. Thought nothing of it until I noticed nothing was bubbling in the pans. My hob seems to have decided it's had enough and died on me. Rang Hubby to let him know and he looked on his computer at work and found details of when we bought it and we have 2 days left on the warranty! So hopefully all should be sorted eventually with a new one or a repair. Being without a hob I have had to dig out the camping stove again. No gas in canister so a trip to the gas suppliers and a new bottle of gas bought. Back to cooking on my camping stove.

Then after flushing the toilet this afternoon I went into my bedroom and after a good 5 minutes I could still hear the cistern making a hissing noise. I went to investigate and tried to flush the loo but there is no water in the cistern. Luckily we have 2 loos so can use the other whilst this gets sorted.

Then we had an overflow of water in the garage from the machine that pumps water from the utility room to the drains! This will require Hubby to strip the machine down to clean the tubes in it as they must be blocked. Well I hope that's our 3 disaster for the day. Don't think I can cope with anymore.

Hope you've had a better day than me : )

Freebies

Hi there : )

Passing time away on my laptop whilst at work. Yes I get paid to mess on my laptop whilst working, honest. Tonight is a very quiet night with my patient who is no trouble at all and to compare it with last Friday night at work it is a total opposite. Last Friday I cried all the way home from work then cried again when Hubby asked how work had gone. It was such a mentally intense and draining situation I  was in last week that I would not want to repeat it again in a hurry. It was the longest nine hour shift I had ever done. Don't get me wrong. I am not a softy who gets weepy about my job, when I blubbed all the way home last week that was the first time in years I have done anything like that. So it's a relief to have a shift that is simple and uncomplicated.

So to pass the time away whilst I sit next to my patient I have been looking on Martins moneysavingexpert site at this http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/deals/free-photo-prints I have sorted a card for my son-in-laws birthday and got it totally free!  You don't have to buy a valentine card as the title suggests. If you scroll further down the page you can get a card from Bonusprint for 60p which I intend to do. I'm also going to take advantage of one of the other offers on the page for 50 free prints. I want to have printed pictures of my daughters wedding party from last May and make a little paper gift with them for their first wedding anniversary. Can't beat free stuff.

I worked in the charity shop I volunteer at this morning. I finished at 12.30 and started to walk to the back of the shop and I don't know how I did it but I somehow slid and broke the heel of my shoe! My lovely shoes are now in the bin. My daughter was disappointed when I told her over tea as she wore them many a time to go out in. Thankfully I had my work shoes in the car so wore those to get home. Guess what I'll be looking out for in the charity shop next week?

Off to catch up on some blogs now,
Bye for now x

Bargain finds

I work voluntarily in a charity shop one morning a week and it's a great place to find anything I need. When I needed a large pudding basin to make a Christmas pud I found one at our shop. When I needed some new ramekin dishes due to mine having cracks and getting broken, again some were found at the charity shop. I seem to find, if I'm patient, anything I require. Last week I really wanted some towels for the dog. Nearly every day he has to have his legs and belly sprayed under the shower after our walks. When I went to the shop to do my voluntary work Friday I mentioned to the girls if they came across any old towels that were going into rag because they are too tatty, to save them for my dog. I also mentioned I would like an old quilt to make a new bed for him if they came across one.

On finishing my shift I was presented with a double size M&S quilt and two worn out towels. I didn't have to pay anything for the towels as they were no good to sell and were going in the rags and I had to pay £2.00 for the quilt. Sherlock is very happy with his new comfy bed and I have a couple of towels to dry him off after walks, result.

I found a couple of smoked mackerel fillets stashed in a corner of the freezer which were dated months ago.

I whizzed these up with half a tub of cream cheese left over from a pate I made last week. I added a good grating of black pepper and the juice of half a lemon. Lunch for a few days there I think.

 I am determined to clear the freezer of all the bits and pieces I throw in there to save them going off. Wonder what I will pull out next week : )


WEIGHT LOSS

Breakfast - Medium bowl of branflakes and skimmed milk

Lunch - Homemade spicy sweet potato soup (out of freezer) 2 rice cakes with mackerel pate, orange

Dinner - Fragrant quorn rice one pot and a small slice of homemade bread

Packup for nightshift - Mackerel pate & salad sandwich, cup-a-soup and an apple