There will be trouble ahead...

Hi everyone or anyone who has stuck by me with my lack of posts this month!

I expect a lot of you, like Jane, guessed that something's been going on and none of it pleasant. It's true to say that October has been one of the worst months of my life (and I've had a lot of awful months/years in the past). All down to YKW (thanks Jane, I will use this term from now on) I'm afraid, but I'm not going to dwell on it here. Basically things have taken a huge turn and we have been threatened with the Police for kidnap (our holiday) and tons more grief since, including the Police arriving at our house to check on Daisy. YKW wants her back (to get a council house) and I said no, it has to be done gradually when she has suitable housing. She then told the Police, who came here, they were happy with our situation (she told them a pack of lies too) and left. Now we are threatened with the courts, although I've not heard anything yet.

Our holiday (Daisy's 1st holiday) was ruined by YKW. We came home early because we couldn't enjoy it with the constant bombardment of cruel text messages and threat of North Yorkshire Police looking for us (which they weren't because we had done nothing wrong). I'll try to do a post on our short holiday with a few photos another day.

Health has been another issue for us this month... Daisy had a bad cold that lasted two weeks and prevented her from having the MMR etc, then more teething and finally the jabs were done last week. She's teething again now, but apart from that, she's fine. OH had the cold and now has another one! Obviously we are both extremely stressed and upset by past and future events. I had the cold and have been suffering with my back too.

Blogland is where I go to escape the reality of our situation, so my blog will be the same now. I will try to share thriftiness with you and happier times. Thanks for reading xxx

I will finish with some exciting news...

Daisy is walking!!!

Early days, but she is determined. Looks like we'll be off to Clarks before long.

Mandy x

I made some money!!!

Hi everyone!

I've been away because we are a poorly household. Daisy has been ill for a week now, just a cold, but hard to explain to a 13 month old. On Saturday morning, Charlotte and I set off early to the carboot sale, leaving Grampy to look after Daisy at home (both of them poorly). Charlotte has escaped it so far, but I felt awful! I still went because the next two weekends we are on holiday and the money would come in handy.

I took the most money I have ever taken at a boot sale - £117!!! I know some people take more, but I sell cheaply to get rid of unwanted clutter. There were sales of 10p, 20p, 50p and up to £2 on Daisy's outgrown snowsuits, coats and clothes. One lady bought £15 worth of baby clothes and I thought that was a result, until later... a couple asked how much the babygros, vests etc were in the boxes. The man then asked me how much for the whole six boxes! I then set about adding up roughly what these things would be if sold individually. It was £45 and he offered £30. Charlotte jumped in with "£35" and they took them all. I know I wouldn't have sold every item anyway, so my decluttering head was firmly on! Grampy was really happy that six boxes have now gone from our house, Daisy has some spending money for our holiday and I have some money to buy her new clothes.

We set off with the car seats down and a full boot and returned with the seats up again and empty bags and boxes. We will do one more when I get back from Yorkshire to get some more Christmas money. so this means going through each and every room ruthlessly to clear the clutter and get some cash for Christmas. It really has spurred me on to sort the house and break the cycle of hoarding.

I'm busy this week, nursing a poorly baby and packing for our holiday, so I'll be back with holiday photos soon.

Mandy x