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

Life's hard but we pick ourselves up and keep going.

Hi everyone!

Thank you for the comments left on my last post.

Alex - thank you for your kind words.

Every one of us in this family has been through a lot in our lives, even Daisy. She fought on to survive in the womb, growing very slowly, but growing, so she got to stay there a bit longer! We were so pleased to get past each week of her pregnancy, so her lungs would be able to cope a bit better. We were so excited to get to 23 weeks and each week after that until she was born naturally a month early. She was very closely monitored by our wonderful maternity unit in Banbury and came through ok in the end. She inherited lactose intolerance from her mummy. She hasn't got a daddy and her mummy lives elsewhere. Mummy contacted me last night after a week of not hearing from her, not even when I informed her of Daisy's allergic reaction!

Daisy's problems I can 'talk' about here, but not much else... horrific crimes took place, that's all I'm saying...and that we are all survivors!

I know that every family deals with stuff day in day out and don't want to sound selfish...I no longer wallow in my own self-pity because life is too short and we need to make it good for our children and grandaughter.

Loo - Thank you for your kind words.

I don't think it matters what the item is, if it holds sentimental value to you then it is important. The photos in this house are the only thing (apart from Daisy's room) that are properly organised! I think we need to keep on supporting each other in this quest for a tidy and uncluttered home! I think that I am changing slowly though, because I see things around the house that are beginning to annoy me now and they need to go!

Taaleedee - I had a back injury six years ago that flares up my muscles every now and then and I am disabled until I recover fully which can take weeks. I would be devastated if that happened now because I am in a mess and my family would not find anything! My lovely husband is currently suffering from screeding a floor - he has a bad back and is off work (must be bad because he rarely takes time off, he's self-employed). I am really careful not to do heavy lifting when decluttering and sorting.

Lors - I tried Flylady, but you get so many emails! I save so much stuff to preserve the memories because I compensate for what I haven't got. My children are old enough to decide for themselves what is and isn't kept, but I would check a pile for the bin, just-in-case there was something I wanted to keep! We don't want Daisy to grow up thinking that her mummy (and daddy) didn't care, so we are doing our best to create visual memories that she can look at later even though she won't actually remember them.

***************************************************************

Daisy's waking up now so I'll have to go, but I'll be back with what we ate last week and my carboot treasures (all justified and needed!)

Thanks for reading

Mandy x

How do you get rid of unwanted stuff?

Hi everyone!

As you know, I am trying to declutter my home at the moment. Last weekend we did a carboot sale and in the past I have sold things on ebay. When a charity bag comes through the door, I will fill it. The best one is the air ambulance because they take anything, which is good for books because I still have loads. So how do you get rid of your unwanted items?...

I use charity shops, but it is difficult because I have to rely on my daughter to drop stuff off for me when she's at work in town (we live in a village and I don't drive).

I use charity bags that come through the door, but this doesn't happen very often and half the time they are bogus made-up charities, although that hasn't happened recently.

I sell at the carboot sale, but this costs us £10 pitch, so you have to make that back before you start to profit. It's an early start because we travel to Finmere in Buckinghamshire which is a large one. This is still the best way for us though.

I used to do a lot of ebaying (buying and selling) but like Frugal in Bucks, I've had many bad dealings. First there's the time to photograph and list items, then there's the fees to pay, it has to be packaged and taken to the post office, you get a certificate of posting, but there will always be people who try and get stuff for free and say it hasn't arrived when I bet it has. These people are straight on to you, sending messages and threatening action. I just refund them because it's easier than losing 100% feedback. I just find it a hassle for 99p!

For now, I will stick to carbooting!

Thank you for your comment Frugal in Bucks. I am often interested in other people's lives because you pick up ideas to use yourself and also it entertains me because my life is quite dull, busy but dull! Daisy doesn't allow me time to wallow in my own self pity, but we have been through a hell of a lot in the past few years, and sometimes I dwell on it. Daisy has helped us through by giving us a positive focus, she brings joy to our lives every single day. She makes us grateful for what we have too. It does wonders for my sel-esteem that people out there are reading and are coming back to read again! It amazes me when you see the amount of comments that some bloggers receive on a single post, but I read some blogs every day and comment with the rest. I suppose it's what interests us and I'm more likely to spend any spare time I have reading blogs rather than watching tele now! When I hurt my back, I read Frugal Queen's blog from the start and took loads of notes. Some of her advice is part of our lives now and how we run our home - there's still so much to learn!!!

I probably won't blog over the weekend, so see you Monday...

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  

Finding the time to blog in May...

I thought I'd better make time to blog before May is over!

I'm always busy (like everyone else is), but May seems to be flying by. Daisy is teething with teeth numbers 5 and 6 and struggling with them this time. 1-4 just popped out of her gums with no fuss, but she is suffering at the moment and needs lots of cuddles and something hard to bite!

We've seen the Health Visitor and Daisy is growing! She weighs 15lb 3oz and still under the 9th centile (which is small), but consistent, so everything is fine, thank God. Weaning is progressing and she had her first taste of scrambled egg for tea yesterday. She wasn't sure about the texture, so next time I will serve it with some blitzed tomatoes to make it more exciting for her. She now has weetabix for breakfast too. We are managing more and more family food and she will have an adjusted version with no salty gravy or dairy. She loves her soya yogurt and cream and has even got soya vanilla ice-cream!

We've been to a couple of carboot sales (will blog about all my purchases later) and we celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary. I've managed to get on top of the housework now and have an ever growing pile of things, stuff to get rid of. Most of these will be taken to a carboot (when I've got time) as I haven't bothered ebaying for a while. Having less stuff around the house has made it easier to clean, so when I do buy something, I think about it more - I don't want to fill the house up again! My daughter sold at a carboot this month, so I have four more things to add to my declutter challenge:

46.   green jacket

47.   book

48.   top

49.   child's book

There is still a lot of work to be done here and I'm waiting for a charity bag to come through the door, hopefully from the air ambulance because they take everything including bric-a-brac.

I've been keeping up with my home cooking a lot better (which is good news for Daisy), using my meat stash in the chest freezer. This is what I've used so far:

• chicken - curry and Chinese (none left)
• mince - spag bol x 3, cottage pie and lasagne (5 left)
• sausages - with new potatoes, bangers and mash and a fry up (none left)
• pork - not used yet (2 left)
• beef - casserole (3 left)
• lamb - not used yet (2 left)
• bacon - fry up, quiche, pasta, sandwiches x 3 (2 left)

Other meals have been meat-free or made using meat that was already in the freezer and not part of my challenge. So far, I have made 16 meals from my meat stash and there are plenty more to come.

An area where I felt I was failing was my cake tins. I love having them full and on display (they are Emma Bridgewater hearts), but lately they've been tucked away in the cupboard. On Sunday Grampy took Daisy for a walk in her pram around the village and I managed to bake (I love it) some cakes. I made chocolate chip brownies, chocolate chip cookies, oat cookies, a victoria sandwich and two dozen fairy cakes. We have lacked in the homemade cake variety so much, that we have already made quite a dent in them! They are taken in packed lunches and I have some with my lunch. We also had chocolate brownies and ice-cream for pudding on Sunday.

That's it for now, hopefully be back soon...???

Mandy x

A failed challenge...

Hi everyone,

I've been away from my blog for a while because I'm so busy with baby Daisy and I'm so tired. She doesn't sleep very well and we've been trying to work out why. Daisy was born early with a dinky birthweight. We were told that her little tummy was smaller than a marble at birth and it doesn't seem to have grown much more now! She can only tolerate 4oz milk and she is 7 months old. She is on solids, but prefers to be fed little and often. We have established a routine and the solids have increased, but she just can't take a larger feed before bed. She is lactose intolerant and has Wysoy milk so I can't even give her the milk designed for hungry babies without the liquid volume. All day I am planning ahead to the next meal. It is time consuming, but she is growing! She has just gone into 3-6 months clothing and she was 7 months old last Monday. She will probably always be petite, but very cute with it!!!

We've only just bought her cot for her because she has only just outgrown her moses basket. She twists and turns in her cot all night long, so we've had to do away with the blankets and buy her a sleeping bag. I don't like them, but she will turn her head right round so she ends up upside down and I'm worried she will get her head under the blanket. She kicks about in the sleeping bag because she has always hated having covers or bulky clothing (she's not a huge fan of wearing tights) and feels restricted. Eventually she will settle with her lullaby light show, but will wake again several times during the night. Maybe she's just gonna be a baby who doesn't sleep well???

She rolled over for the first time yesterday (very late but she hates being on her tummy) and she can sit up in her pram. She is happy and bubbly and knows exactly what she wants. She has brought so much joy to our lives (it's just a shame her mummy can't share our enthusiasm), but I am 42 and not 19 like I was when I had my first baby and it is hard to keep on top of the housework etc. We now care for her full-time and her mummy visits from time to time. I have no time for the hobbies I had started to enjoy and I rarely bake a cake now. If I wasn't so tired all the time I could probably do better!

I have managed to throw a few bits and bobs out and I have sold a book on ebay. I intend to start sending stuff off to the charity shop (which my daughter will kindly do for me in her lunch hour). Less clutter will help with the tidying and cleaning.

45.   Cookery book sold on ebay.

So I failed my challenge for 100 items by Easter (not quite half way yet) but life took over as usual and I can continue without setting myself unrealistic goals. So my new challenge is to get to 100 whenever!

As fast as I declutter, I am buying new stuff for Daisy! So I am looking at it that everything in my house has to be useful and serve a purpose and that's how I will declutter from now on - where I only need one thing, the others can go. I have had my own home since I was 18 and have collected a lot of things over the years that are not needed anymore. Yes, our house has been overtaken by baby stuff, but it's stuff she needs and uses, so that's not the issue here. If things that I thought would come in handy have not as yet, then maybe it's time for them to go. I keep hold of stuff just-in-case. What I actually want is a clean and tidy managable home - simple!

From now on, I will continue to chart my decluttering success, but I intend on focussing on which areas of my home I have sorted once and for all. I'd better make a start! Charlotte - if you are reading this, you'll have to remind me that I have to actually get on with it now :)

A new beginning ...

Mandy x

A little bit of time for me.

Hi

This morning I have just a little bit of time for me. I have been catching up with some computer stuff, along with the boring chores. My two daughters and Daisy-May have gone to Coventry for the morning. Charlotte's mini is getting a new gearbox and the girls are shopping while they wait. The house is quiet (just me and the dogs) and it's nice to have a bit of peace!

A little update on my ebay sales:

41.  Non-fiction book

42.  Blonde wig (bought for fancy dress but unused)

43.  A travel shoe bag

44.  A travel toiletries bag

I don't think I will make it to 100 items by Easter because I won't be able to fit a carboot in before then and I have slowed down on my ebay sales now. What I need is to fill a charity bag or two!!!

Mother's day was lovely. My husband gave me a day off from chores and cooked tea too. He bought me some gorgeous tulips from Daisy-May as a special grandma treat. All of my children were here too. Alice bothered to come home, which was nice as it was her first Mothering Sunday and she spent some time with Daisy-May. She hasn't been back to her boyfriend's since then, so we've had a bit of a break and a bit more sleep!

Charlotte's dog is still recovering from being spayed a week ago. She has been suffering, but picking up well now and hopefully the stitches will be out soon.

Right, back to my jobs before the girls return - homemade quiche and mini baked potatoes to prepare for tea.

Thanks for reading.

Mandy x

The declutter continues... very slowly!

Hi

I said in a previous post that I'd record my decluttering and challenged myself to get rid of 100 items by Easter. Well I'm not up to 100 yet because decluttering has taken a backseat once again. I now look after my baby grandaughter 24 hours a day and I'm so tired! I have been able to list a few things on ebay though and have sold a couple of bits:

34.  Fiction book

35.  Fiction book

36.  Turquoise tunic top

37.  Navy polo shirt

38.  Stripe work shirt

39.  Vintage tupperware containers

40. Newborn baby outfit

I may have to wait for the carboot season to start again and get rid of piles of stuff I've sorted to sell.

I'm concentrating on Daisy's care and providing a 'proper' home cooked meal everyday first, followed by the laundry (babies create a lot) and housework. Not much time left for hobbies or sorting out!!!

I hope to be back soon

Mandy x

Happy Birthday Ashley!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ASHLEY!!!

My son is 23 today and so is his girlfriend, so they celebrate together.

A busy week for celebrations: Shrove Tuesday, two birthdays today and Valentine's Day tomorrow.

I haven't had much time to blog lately because I've been looking after my beautiful grandaughter Daisy. She's 5 months old now and needs a lot of attention. She hasn't been sleeping well at night and finally today -

SHE HAS GOT HER 1st TOOTH!!!

My daughter is rarely home now, so I have taken over her care until she decides to return. Nobody said it would be easy having a baby at 17 - thank God she's got me and her dad to take over. You want the best for your children, and the same goes for your grandchildren. Daisy is very precious to us and we're lucky to have her after such a difficult pregnancy and traumatic birth. So we'll keep on doing what we have to do for them both, even if others disagree.

Daisy is a gorgeous, well-behaved baby, full of smiles that keep me going. She has learnt to blow raspberries this week too (we've encountered a lot of dribble lately!)

As a result of Daisy being my priority, the housework has slipped, the meals have not always been the best and I'm so tired, but I have got her into a routine - I just need to do the same for myself!

The decluttering has taken a back seat, but I have 10 items on ebay and about to list some more. I will get there...

Snowing again, but Daisy and I are cosy inside, just watching out of the window!

Hopefully back soon with some news of ebay sales...

Mandy x

Keeping a record of my decluttering.

The decluttering continues...

I have decided that to keep me on track and enthusiastic about decluttering my home, I need to record my success. It's alright me saying that I sorted out 8 books that I never wish to read (I did that), but they haven't actually left the house yet. They are with the huge stash of things that I have decided to get rid of, but they are still causing unecessary clutter!

So, from now on, I will record here on my blog, what has actually left the house. I will number the items so I can try to achieve a goal. I am starting at 100 items by Easter. I think I can do this! This bit is going to be a bit boring, but I need to do it.

1. book - charity collection
2. book - charity collection
3. book - charity collection
4. book - charity collection
5. book - charity collection
6. book - charity collection
7. book - charity collection
8. book - charity collection
9. book - charity collection
10. book - charity collection
11. book - charity collection
12. book - charity collection
13. book - charity collection
14. book - charity collection
15. book - charity collection
16. book - charity collection
17. exercise video - charity collection
18. exercise video - charity collection
19. fishing video - charity collection
20. maths GCSE CD ROM - charity collection
21. fish slice - charity collection
22. egg cup and cosy - charity collection
23. school rugby top - charity collection
24. school rugby top - charity collection
25. 20 newborn size nappies - charity collection
26. cuddly monkey - charity collection
27. cuddly monkey - given to the dog and now chewed up and in the bin!
28. cuddly gorilla - given to the dog and now chewed up and in the bin!
29. cuddly gorilla - charity collection
30. cardy - charity collection
31. baby cardy - charity collection
32. biscuit tin - given to my son's girlfriend to store her baking in
33. 'Style at Home' magazine'  - given to my son's girlfriend

Well that's 33 items, so I will probably reach my target before Easter!

I am also concentrating on recycling within the home and upcycling, making use of what we already have and not being so wasteful.

Our recent gas and electric bills were HUGE so that is one area needing instant attention.

I made a quick tea of corned beef hash yesterday:

• peel and chop up some potatoes into cubes then parboil
• finely slice an onion and fry
• add sliced corned beef
• add a tin of beans
• drain the potatoes and add to the pan
• keep an eye on it so it doesn't stick to the pan
• you could add worcester sauce (I've run out!)

It doesn't look that nice, but it tastes lovely!

Mandy x

A day of sewing and decluttering.

Today I've been busy...

I've made 2 dog beds with a spare cover for each. I actually used my new sewing machine too! I was going to show you photos, but I can't seem to upload them :(

I have also been decluttering, this is what I've sorted:

• old duvet made into dog beds
• old sheet made into dog beds
• old blanket made into dog bed covers
• old duvet cover made into dog bed cover
• another old duvet made into dog bed cover
• 16 books boxed up for the Air Ambulance charity bag (bag came through the door today and is collected on Tuesday)
• 3 videos boxed up for the Air Ambulance charity
• fish slice (charity) I have 3 already
• maths GCSE CD ROM (charity) my children have left school!
• blue egg cup and cosy (charity) my son is nearly 23 so has outgrown it
• 2 x school rugby tops (charity) as above!
• 4 cuddly toys (charity)
• 2 x baby cardies (charity) unliked by my daughter
• 20 newborn size huggies nappies (charity) as above
• home magazine (given to my son's girlfriend)
• biscuit tin from Christmas (given to my son's girlfriend to store baking)

I also sorted my small freezer. I have meals in there where I did batch cooking, but I haven't labelled them! Tea tomorrow is either pot luck, or sausage and bacon pasta. I want to use up all the odds and ends and discover what batch cooking is lurking in there. I freeze these and leftovers in marg tubs.

A very productive day!

Something I brought into the house was a jar of homemade piccalilli, which I love with cheese. This was passed on via my son's girlfriend. Her nan gave us some lovely pickles at Christmas too - red cabbage, onions and plum and ginger chutney. She has also knitted loads of cute little things for Daisy-May - a kind and thoughtful lady.

Tomorrow I plan to continue with the big declutter and do some baking.

Mandy x



Clearing the clutter...

At long last, I have started the battle against my clutter!

My aim is to record what I have got rid of on my blog to keep me motivated to do more. My utility room is full of boxes and bags where I have sorted out all of my unwanted and not needed items. I have quite an issue with hoarding - I always think that things will come in handy one day! Sadly, it's just mess really.

For quite some time now, I have been collecting bits and bobs of ribbon, buttons, fabric etc, but haven't got round to using any of it. I never throw clothes or bedding away - the clothes get cut up into fabric pieces ( I want to start patchworking) and the buttons are removed and saved. The bedding has been saved because I want to teach myself how to quilt and these will come in handy (here I go again) for backing quilts.

I can easily convince myself that things are useful and therefore necessary clutter, so if I want to keep stuff, then I have to justify it. So, today I have started to make a dog bed. Both of the dogs in our house need new beds. Charlotte's dog Flo is very big now and it would cost her a fair bit to buy one. Jake's bed is old and tatty and he needs to be more comfortable in his old age. So far, I have made the inside of Jake's new bed. This afternoon, I will make the cover for it and Jake's will be finished. Hopefully I can start on Flo's bed tomorrow. A positive start to my declutter/use up what I have collected and stashed away. I will post photos when the beds are finished.

Before I start sewing again, I am going to list 10 books on ebay. Before Christmas, I sold quite a few bits on ebay, so now I need to really crack on with it to make space in my utility room. Eventually, I hope to use this room as my craft room too, but more space is needed. when I have more space, the house will be easier to clean and tidy.

Ebaying is also a big plan of mine because i want to build up my paypal account. Usually I use this to make ebay purchases for Daisy-May, but she now has far too many clothes and loads to grow in to. I can concentrate on other things, like stocking up the cupboards. Approved food accepts paypal, so I plan to sell my clutter to buy food!!! Food prices rising constantly is hard to bear, so my next challenge is to create a proper store (like I used have when I was working) of tins and packets. I won't just buy for the sake of it, but buy what I normally would (at a reduced price) when I see it available (and lots of it).

This year has not started well for us, but now's the time to get active and make things better.

Has anyone else started the big declutter???

Mandy x

Look what I found in my loft... fantastic 80s albums!

Hi

I've been sorting through the endless boxes of stuff stored in my loft over the past few days and I found my beloved 80s albums!

Wham 'Fantastic'! I absolutely loved wham and this album is very precious to me because it was a present from my grandmother. Shirlie Kemp has a beautiful blog which is well worth reading - I love her style. This album is my favourite.

A-Ha were another band I loved. 

Next is the Housemartins. I loved this band and went on to love The Beautiful South too.

I love Madonna's music, but only the older stuff - my ipod is full of it!

Scritti Politti weren't one of my original favourites, but I did love their music and still do.

No one could understand me liking Bronski Beat, but I went on to love The Communards. I saw them at the Oxford Apollo in 1987.

These are just a small snippet of my singles collection:

*Tina Turner*

*Band Aid*

*Bananarama*

*Thompson Twins* (reminds me of babysitting)

*Whitney Houston*

*Tears for Fears* (my friend bought me this for my 14th birthday)

*Frankie Goes to Hollywood*

*A-HA* (I played this song over and over again!)

*Wham*

The first single I ever owned was by Dollar 'Shooting Star' - sadly I have no idea what happened to my copy. It was a birthday present when I was about 6 or 7.

The first single that I bought with my own money was Nick Heyward 'Blue Hat for a Blue Day' I can actually remember going to buy this in High Wycombe.

The first album I owned is pictured above; Wham 'Fantastic'

The first album I bought myself was the a-ha one.

Sadly I don't have a record player :-(

So I store my records in the loft and look at them every now and then. They hold positive memories for me. Music has been and always will be very important to me.

What was your first single or album

Thanks for reading!

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Baking for the freezer, decluttering the loft and baby Daisy.

Hi

Just lately I've been doing a bit of baking. The problem is that everything seems to get eaten too quickly and then I have nothing left for the family pack-ups. So now I try to batch bake and put some bits aside to freeze. This has worked quite well and I've found that fruit cake freezes really well (I hate fruit cake!)

Today I have been really busy sorting out our loft, so it was handy being able to get a fruit cake out of the freezer for the others as I haven't had time to bake. I have found some really interesting things from my childhood - I am a dreadful hoarder! However, I have recently been inspired by reading other people's blogs to declutter properly. I obviously can't throw away items from my childhood because I have kept them this many years (I'm 41), but I have reduced the amount of birthday cards etc. I have been keeping them since I was 17 in 1988!!! Sadly there have been a lot of bad people in my life and I have felt so good to rid myself of them completely by throwing away those cards. These are people who only pretended to love and care about me and my family and now I have erased as much as I can. It may sound strange that I have thrown away my 18th birthday cards at this late stage, but the family I had then turned out to be pure evil (a strong word but a necessary description) and don't deserve to take up space in my loft or my memories, I still have numerous cards from my children and my husband, but that's about it. The loft sorting continues tomorrow...

On a happier note - my lovely daughter is having a baby and 2 days ago I felt her kick!!! We could see little flickers and feel tiny little kicks. She only weighs 2lb 10oz at the moment and has been predicted to weigh 5lb at most at birth. There have been many health problems along the way for Alice and the baby, but she is still growing and can stay cosy in her mummy's tummy for a while longer. Alice is being monitored every week by the hospital now and having growth scans fortnightly to check the weight gain and blood flow through the cord. We don't expect her to go full-term, but every week we get to is a bonus for the baby to be born healthy. I have bought some premature clothes ready and tiny little nappies for her. I'm so excited, it's just what my family needs, some happy news!

I had a bit of a 'use-up' from the freezer for tonight's tea:

Fish Pie

I took 3 portions of cod in butter,

(bought for Alice but she threw up one and now won't touch them again!)

and put them in a shallow oven dish.

Next I made up a packet of parsley sauce (approved food)

and poured over the fish (adding a little milk).

I sprinkled on some frozen peas and then

I boiled and mashed a large pan of potatoes and spread over the fish.

I made a pretty pattern with a fork and put it in the oven for 45 mins (180 oC)

I served it with carrots and broccoli.

(Alice had a chicken breast instead!)

My husband said it was really nice which I wasn't expecting because I was just using stuff up before it went out of date. I have a huge struggle trying to get my children to eat fish. No time to make pudding today, but this is what we had the other day:

A strawberry victoria sponge cake with fresh cream!!!

Thank you for reading and please follow me ;-)

Mandy xxx