Today's vintage find...

I love these bins, they're so good for storage and look amazing too! This one has been filled with balls if wool..,

I have three of these now. One in my bedroom to store books and the pink one in Daisys room where she keeps all of her dolly clothes and accessories. 

Fingers crossed this posts xx

Planning ahead

Well  I'm not a very organised person and this week has been very tough. Daisy was poorly first and then me and now little Henry :(

I haven't felt so ill in a long time. It's a really nasty virus and has totally wiped us out. It also made me realise just how unprepared I am for me being out of action. I had no choice but to muddle through, so in the future I'd like to have a few things in place to make life a lot easier...

We have plenty of food and ingredients in the house, but nothing that's quick to grab for tea. To be honest, none of us poorly ones have had an appetite and when you do eat, everything tastes strange! However, I did still need to make meals and found that exhausting. In future I need some quick back up meals for times like this.

Baking went right out of the window and I still haven't baked. There's slices of Christmas cake in the freezer but no other baked goods. So what I need to do is have a baking morning and have a section in the freezer for cakes for emergencies. Even if I freeze plain sponge cakes, I can add jam, icing or decorations when they're needed. So I will be experimenting to see which cakes freeze well. Any tips on that will be gratefully received!

I normally get my shopping delivered on a Friday, but I didn't feel like shopping until today so it's coming in the morning. In that delivery are some freezer fillers and ingredients for easy meals for the week ahead. 

I've got a lot to catch up on now I'm better and hopefully get organised.

Xxx

Given up

Blogger will not publish a post with photos and I feel far too poorly to keep trying.

Yesterday was my birthday and I was ill. 

I'll be back when I'm better xx

Testing

My post from yesterday will not publish so this is a test post.

So much to do!

If you've followed me for a while you'll know of my ongoing battle with the clutter. I always seem to be decluttering (then buying cheap bargains) then decluttering! I've now accepted that I'm a hoarder and understand the reasons why, but I can fight it. I like to have things around me and I always think that things will come in handy one day. What I really need to do is prioritise...

I've begun in my utility room because that's a dumping ground. Only items that belong in that room are staying and everything else is either being recycled, sent to the charity shop or moved to another room where they should be. When I've finished I'll show you just how organised I can be :)

I have a beautiful utility room with a sink, cupboards and work top my husband built years ago now. The floor is full of boxes because I store toys in there. I do toy rotation and this suits us, but I haven't got any proper storage yet so they're just stacked up. 

That room has also become a holding bay for things that need to be dealt with, put away or found a new home in the house. It's out of control now so I thought it was a good place to start. This week I've tackled a bit each day and made progress. I won't just simply send stuff off to landfill by putting it in the bin, so some bits are in a pile outside waiting to go to the tip to be recycled and everything else has been dealt with. 

The work tops and cupboards are finished, just the paperwork drawer to tackle, but that won't take long. I have a little corner for admin work where I keep the printer and stationery bits. 

The coat pegs are tidy too. There's just an accumulation of stuff that doesn't belong there left to sort out. I was hoping to have that room finished this week but I'm only able to do little bits at a time.  There's never enough hours in the day!

I'm still looking around for toy storage solutions, but the rest of it will be done next week. It's a good feeling to be getting things done, even though it's frustrating that there isn't more time to get it finished quickly. 

Back with a photo soon!

Mandy x

We've been baking!

Daisy is having a packed lunch at school tomorrow so I did a little baking with Henry this afternoon...

Lactose free chocolate chip cakes

Jam buns

Very cheap and very quick and easy to make. Henry loves baking with grandma now and it's getting less messy every time!

A lovely bundle of vintage children's clothes...

Vintage mothercare is my absolute favourite.

It's been a very productive day but tomorrow will be even better.

Mandy x

Change is good!

I'm not someone who deals with change well, but it's normally for the best and just takes time getting used to. I've been thinking a lot about making changes in many areas of my life. I've done this before and always failed, but you have to keep trying. 

One thing I have considered for a while but haven't actually started to achieve is becoming more eco friendly. It's very important to me so I'm getting on with it now. There's far too much waste and the environmental issues really upset me. Sending things to landfill is something I'm fully aware of and being a hoarder makes this easier, but there is so much more I can do. I'm already making changes and I'll be sharing those with you soon, but if anyone has any tips or good ideas, then please leave a comment :)

I can remember as a child only having one little dustbin. Surely it can be achieved as long as we don't buy packaged goods. Maybe looking back to years gone by will help me. I think I've got some learning ahead of me...

Mandy x

Reminiscing!

Hello and thank you for reading and leaving comments. It's lovely to see those familiar names again.

I've just had a look back on my blog to my first posts of each year. Interesting...

...there's definitely a pattern there! I have the same hopes for the new year and same plans. Well I don't think I tried hard enough before so this time I will. 

So many things are ongoing and I should be an expert by now but I lose interest and slip back into my old ways.

I crave a very simple life. 

I have many interests that I need to make time for.

I need more hours in the day.

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I can make changes so we live a simple life, I can make time for my interests when I'm more organised and then we won't be needing more hours in the day.

I'm confident that in a couple of weeks I will be sorted. I love a challenge! No messing about this time. I'm ready. 

We have a busy weekend ahead, but hopefully really productive too. Saturday is now baking day. The children love to help. We will look through my vintage recipes and decide on some delicious treats for teatime. 

I'll be back with photos and a recipe later tomorrow.

Mandy x

Moving forward...

Back again and hopefully to stay this time! I miss blogging but just haven't felt like I have anything much to say. 

It's a new year and that always means a fresh outlook for me. I have plans for this year and a lot of hard work ahead. Writing my blog keeps me motivated so it seems a good starting point to putting my plans into action. Small changes can become habits so I'll do what's manageable and not put too much pressure on myself. It's all achievable. 

I will continue with both blogs, depending on what I want to write about. I think a chatty style is the way forward for me, so feel free to join in :)

It's good to be back

Mandy x

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

I plan to be back soon :)

Mandy x