When things don't go according to plan...

Hi everyone!

Well things have definitely not gone to plan...

We had trouble over the weekend and this meant that I was stressed and pre-occupied, so I didn't meal plan for our fortnightly shop :-(

There was no list :-(

I had to think hard and remember what I had in the cupboards, fridge and freezer...

I didn't forget anything important but we spent more than we wanted to.

On the plus side... we are lucky...

my husband is self-employed and has work and is well enough to work

we have enough money to spend on groceries

we have food in the cupboards, fridge and freezer

we have afforded to buy Daisy-May some lovely presents, cards and wrapping paper for her 1st birthday

NO MORE NEGATIVE THOUGHTS...

WE MOVE ON AND TRY TO DO BETTER NEXT TIME

Daisy is lactose intolerant and her food is more expensive. We buy lactofree soft cheese which is £1.74 a pack and alpro yoghurts which are £1.50 for four. I have bought other dairy free products in the past but they are slowly disappearing off the shelves. I have to really think about what she eats so I am quite good at remembering her shopping list.

Blogger is now allowing me to reply to comments in the comments section! So from now on, if you leave me a comment, I will reply there rather than posting my replies within a blog post.

More positive news - I have changed Daisy's room around and got rid of the bed in there. She has room for her cot (but not yet because she is too restless in the night and we want her settled first before this big change) and I made her a lovely book corner with mats, blankets, cushions, teddies and her book basket. She loves it because she is able to select books and enjoy them independently. She can crawl around safely too. I just have one area to sort out for the loft.

I have started to sort out my utility room and have lots of papers to get through (a chore that I do a bit each day). I completely cleared my ironing, although I have a small pile now because obviously I have done more washing since.

The living room has been decluttered so that some of Daisy's things are in her room now and she can access her toy boxes independently and safely now too.

The carboot pile is growing! Everything there has been labelled and boxed ready to go when we decide to do one. As I tidy each room, I seriously consider whether I need things or not and the house is beginning to look better for it.

I have several scrapbooks, where I stick in cuttings of craft projects or ideas that I would like to recreate. I had a flick through yesterday and found loads of things that I am capable of making and have the right materials for. This is my motivation to get sorted so I can have my sewing room/spare bedroom. I have loads of ideas to make it pretty and would love to have my jobs done in the morning so Daisy and I can have free time in the afternoons to have fun! That's my aim!!! This also means less time spent on the computer, so I will need to be more organised in preparing blog posts that are useful. I want to share what I do to be thrifty and also my homemade achievements. For me, it is mainly new recipes that I have developed to be cheap, quick to prepare and easy. In time, hopefully I will have some sewing to share with you too!

I won't put too much pressure on myself though because like my title says, sometimes 'things don't go according to plan' and my priority will always be Daisy-May.

I will post up our weekly menus from next week (what we've eaten this week) and eventually get around to my menu planning post. I want to write it properly, instead of rambling on. I have found these posts so useful so would love to pass on how I save money now. Please feel free to share what helps you save money as we go. I would love to hear from you!

I'm off now but all being well, I will be back soon...

Mandy x

Harvesting the strawberries!

Hi everyone!

I am not a natural gardener, but my OH has had success in the past. In our last house, most of the garden was dug up for vegetable growing, but in this house we have lacked motivation to grow. When you think how much money can be saved by growing your own, this sounds silly, but the ground here is bad. We have two raised beds/plots for growing and they are finally doing well. We also grow in containers on the patio. Last year I tried to get into growing my own, but lots of things failed (especially my beans and new potatoes) and this disheartened me. This year we were a little late planting, but we have veg growing in the garden now! I took Sue's (our new life in the country) advice and bought and planted out the 'living' lettuces. These have down really well and we are enjoying them, thanks Sue!

One thing that has done really well this year is our strawberries. Daisy loves them! She went out with Grampy after tea and picked a huge tub full. She has them whizzed in her blender and drizzled over her soya ice-cream for pudding. 

My coriander is doing well on the kitchen window. I love cooking with coriander and fresh is so much better.

Loo - it certainly feels good to get rid of stuff doesn't it? We are normally at a carboot sale buying rather than selling though! I'll do one more I think for now.

Sue - you always do really well at carboot sales! You're the one who has inspired me to take one area at a time and declutter. I was worried that I'd miss things, but it really clears the mind. One area that I'm still struggling with is books. I've sorted and sold quite a few, but we still have lots! We love books here and read every day but I will never have the time to get through all that fiction!

You're right, the cash is handy and it has gone into our savings tins.

Frugal in Bucks - I will be posting our meals up, but not the food stocks audit updates. I too get bored of the same meals and it has put me off cooking in the past. Frugal Queen made me believe it was worth continuing my blog, as I never received much interest in the past (I know you've been here for a while Loo). Since that post, I have page views, comments and followers! She will always be an inspiration to a lot of people I'm sure. I have popped over to your blog and I'm a follower! I will be having a good read later!

The nutty squares recipe is coming up...

Thank you to everyone who has read or left a comment xxx

Mandy x  

I've been really busy!

Hi everyone!

I usually write my blog in the morning, when Daisy has a nap after breakfast. Today I've got so much to do that I have had to wait until her afternoon nap. I haven't got time to do my Monday updates for the use-up challenge, but I will quickly reply to comments left:

Taaleedee - I used to be really bad with food waste, particularly with salad and veg. We have got three chickens and would love some ducks. You are right, the jam buns don't need an egg, they are a different texture to a cake.

Grammyscraps - You didn't offend me Lynn, I was just annoyed that I had to change it all! You weren't the only one who couldn't read the pink and I didn't realise it would be a problem for some readers. My eyesight is perfect and I didn't consider others - I'm really sorry about the rest of my blog, I don't know how to change previous posts (apart from individually editing them) but I have changed all posts to black from now on. I hope that helps for the moment, but if there are any particular posts that you wanted to read and couldn't, please let me know and I will change those for you straight away. I hope you will continue to read my blog.

Sanny - The cup was a proper 'cup' as part of a measuring set I've got. I think they use this way of measuring ingredients in America (I've certainly since this on tv). The recipe is from the '70s (old like me!) I tested it and 1 cup of SR flour is equal to 4oz of SR flour.

I absolutely love cheese and onion pie! I have been trying for years to create the same pie that I used to eat in primary school, but have not achieved it yet.

We had a great weekend, thanks x

Shelly - Don't worry, you certainly didn't offend me! I had to be on benefit a long time ago as a single mum and it was awful! They seem to get given a lot more money now than I did back then and Alice is very bad at sharing. This is a sore point for us because she gets money but doesn't support Daisy. She buys her presents, but doesn't pay us back for all the boring but necessary things like nappies. We have been financially responsible for Daisy since she was in the womb! We bought everything for the pregnancy and everything for the new baby. Her mummy has paid for her shopping a couple of times and that's it. Since Daisy was born, I have looked after all the practical side of her care, while her mummy was able to cuddle and feed her. I washed and sterilised bottles, did her laundry, changed her moses basket bedding, cleaned and tidied her room and looked after her while mummy was in the shower etc. I also looked after Alice when she was pregnant, she had severe morning sickness then bad urine infections, then a problem with her hips that restricted her mobility and finally severe pre-eclampsia that came close to taking her life. She was really ill after having Daisy, so still needed looking after when discharged from hospital. She was on a huge amount of medication to keep her blood pressure down. Her dad, sister and brother all took her to hospital tobe monitored because Daisy would stop moving. Daisy was very slow growing and there were numerous scans and consultant appointments to attend. I don't drive, so it was left to the rest of the family to take her and stay with her for whole days at a time. Sadly she forgets all that we have done. The latest is that Alice hasn't moved into her new house yet, so Daisy stays with us for now. She will only go when she has a stable environment to offer. At the moment she stays with friends.

I'm glad you are enjoying my blog and really pleased that you take the time to comment x

That's it for now because Daisy is awake, but hopefully I'll be more organised for tomorrow.

Mandy x

Thank you xxx

Hi everyone!

Thank you so much for all the lovely comments - Loo, Jane, Taaleedee, Trsh (Trish?), Lors and Sara. I didn't expect that reaction! Just to clarify though - Daisy' mummy did live with us until Christmas, for the first four months of Daisy's life. She does visit us and we have taken Daisy to visit her. She has wanted Daisy to live with her for the past couple of months but has not had suitable living conditions for a baby. We said no and it caused a huge amount of upset. She gets the keys to her new house on Friday and Daisy will move in gradually (when she is happy to) when the house is ready for a baby. We will look after Daisy at the weekends even then. It's going to be hard letting go and I will worry about her constantly, but it has to happen at some point.

Thank you for your words of kindness and support, you have repeated what we expect will happen, but she needs to find that out for herself. We all know just how hard it is bringing up children and the sacrifices that need to be made. She's young and thinks she knows it all!

Sara - I hope you don't get too bored reading from the start! I will be back on track on Monday posting up my meals and recipes (I don't normally switch on my laptop over the weekend).

Thursday's tea was cheese salad and new potatoes. I used lettuce from my 'living' lettuce planted out in the garden.

Friday's tea was jacket potatoes, cheese and beans.

Tonight I had chicken kiev and a few wedges, hubby had an omelette and Daisy had pasta. It's so tempting to get a takeaway, but that certainly wouldn't fit in with the challenge! Tomorrow is a roast.

This morning Daisy, Charlotte and I went carbooting, as we do most Saturday mornings now. I will post what I got later. Charlotte has a you tube channel and does haul videos of what we get, so the stuff is in her room where she films videos and I'm sat in bed!

Thank you for reading,

Mandy x

My 100th post...reply to lovely comments.

Hi everyone!

This post is number 100 and because of the wonderful Frugal Queen, there are readers now! I am so grateful to her because it has inspired me to write more and think about my money saving ways. I hope to be able to share with you what I have learnt so far and how I save money where possible. My blog posts will need a bit of planning first now!

I have had quite a few comments over the past couple of days and I thought it would be easier to reply to them all in one go (while Daisy is having a nap) in a post.

• Rainbowchild - I have been saving things just-in-case too for far too long! If I had somewhere to store it all out of the way, then I would continue, but our house is full of baby stuff so it had to happen. Old habits are hard to break though.
• Sunnybec - I will have a look at your blog and the post on your handmade handbag. Thank you for sharing that with me.
• lifeathollycottage - Thank you Nikki!
• Tania @ Out Back - Thank you! Good luck to you too x
• Taaleedee - Glad you enjoyed reading. I recognise you from comments on Shirley's blog! There are some really good grandma's out there.
• Anonymous - You did a great thing too for your family. Thank you for your kind words x
• Welsh Poppy - Thank you for your kind words x I hope you can learn something from me!
• A Cheshire Girl In Yorkshire - I've got books and books of recipes I have written down over the years. I am happy to share them with you, let me know what type you would like to see (sweet, savoury, meals or baking???)
• J x - My hobbies have taken a back seat since Christmas when I started looking after Daisy 24 hours a day. If you start a blog - I will follow!!!
• Jane - I did get your comments! It seems that we have a lot in common. Our daughter has caused us heartache and worry since she was about 12. She moved out when she was just 16 and came home pregnant! She stayed with us throughout the pregnancy (very ill with morning sickness then pre-eclampsia) because she was ill. We bought everything for her difficult pregnancy and everything for the baby. We spent all of our savings (from when I worked) and my husband worked every Saturday to save up for her Silver Cross pram and car seat etc. All of her boyfriends have been bad and she started seeing someone in November. By Christmas, she was spending most of her time with him and left Daisy with us. Daisy is 10 months old on Monday and now she has decided she wants her back! She is renting a house and has everything paid for her in benefits (she has never given us any money for Daisy, although she has bought her a few bits and bobs) and hopes to move in next week. Daisy's little life with us here is about to be turned upside down...

I'm 42 and my husband is 37. I had my first baby at 19, then 20, then 24. I had hyperemesis (severe morning sickness) and spent so much time in hospital, it wasn't fair to have anymore children, so I thought I'd finished! It's actually the youngest that has given us a grandchild and so it all started again. I'm older now and the sleepless nights are harder! Daisy is very small. She didn't grow very well in the womb and was born a month early. Her growth is steady for her, but she is tiny (wearing 3-6 month clothes) and has a tiny tummy, so needs feeding several times a day (even with solids). Last night I fed her at 10.30 then 3.30 and she was up at 7am. This was a good night! It has been every 2 hours last week.

I love looking after her and my life will be incomplete without her now. However, we did have plans which have been put on hold for now.

END OF COMMENTS!

Thank you to all of my readers, commenters and followers xxx

I have done my freezer audit which is a bit boring, so I'll post it up on it's own.

Mandy xxx

Welcome to my new followers and a big THANK YOU for reading!

Hi everyone!!!

I have been writing my little old blog for a while now, with a few followers, a few readers and the odd comment here and there.

Since the lovely Froogs put a link on her blog post yesterday, I have more followers, I have a lot more readers and I had comments from lovely people.

I am also extremely happy that Foster Mummy is following me! Foster Mummy I read your blog everyday.

I am off to look at my new followers' blogs too.

I am feeling pretty low at the moment and this has been a huge boost to me as I turned on my laptop this morning. I can now begin my day on a positive note - THANK YOU xxx

I've talked about lacking motivation - well now I am motivated to write because someone is interested and is reading.

THANK YOU ALL

THANK YOU FROOGS

Mandy xxx