The summer holidays are nearly over :-(

Hi,

These holiday weeks have been difficult and traumatic for me and my family. My daughter has thankfully seen sense and moved back in, but we face more sad times ahead. We are trying to deal with a horrendous situation (hence my lack of blogging) and I just haven't felt like posting. I've had nothing to say that anyone would want to read really.

My favourite blogs have provided me with an escape and I have carried on reading them.

Well, I am back to work on Monday, so here are a few photos of what I've been up to...

I went out for a farewell meal with my friends (a colleague has moved on to pastures new), and ate a homemade kentucky fried chicken style main course...

A scrummy cheesecake for pudding.

We visited the National Herb Centre...



We went on a well deserved and much needed holiday to North Yorkshire ...

We stayed in this caravan for a wonderful week.

The inside was really lovely considering how little it cost...

Steve relaxing after a long drive

The dining area

The kitchen

Our bedroom

Alice's room

The bathroom

Jake making himself at home!

On Saturday we settled in and went for a walk to explore...

On Sunday we went to Ripon Country Show...



On Monday we visited Brinham Rocks...

On Tuesday we visited Aysgarth Falls...



On Wednesday we visited Eden Camp (a World War II museum) ...

On Thursday we went for a really long walk ...

On Friday we went to Reeth and for a long drive across the dales...

On Saturday we travelled home again :-(

We love Yorkshire!!!

I hope I will have something exciting to write about soon,

until then...

Mandy xxx





I have another follower!!!

Hooray! I now have 4 followers :-)  Thank you Loo from Jumbles and Pompoms xxx

I always think that I'm talking to myself here and that nobody could possibly be interested in what I have to say. I absolutely love reading other people's blogs and that's how I relax in the evenings. I have gained so much in the way of ideas for my home, frugal living and recipes.

So, an update on my thrifty homemade challenge:

• I have been looking on the MSE website (old style) for ideas on how to save money.
• I have been reading blogs for ideas (particularly frugal queen)
• Today we had chicken salad for tea, where the lettuce, spring onions, red onions and new potatoes were all from Steve's vegetable plot.
• I have been doing a little decluttering at a time (I find this more manageable and successful) and am currently tackling my recipe books (I have far too many).
• Charlotte gutted her room today and has thrown out loads of stuff. I will help her to ebay, carboot or recycle it over the next couple of weeks.
• A carboot sale is in the pipeline. I have never done one before, but I have a garage full of stuff to sell.

I will plod on and soon I will be able to start my new hobby - learning to sew! I will try to post more often, to motivate me into keeping up with my challenge.

Thank you for reading,

Mandy x

Dentist Disaster!

Last Saturday (11th) I had to go to the dentists to have a filling. I am quite scared, even to have a check-up! The problem I have with fillings is that my mouth never completely numbs. I have an extra set of nerves on my bottom left side which means that any work done there has pain attached, and guess where the filling was!!! I try to be brave, but because I feel the drilling, I am constantly on edge and flinch when I feel it. I have to have numerous injections and adrenalin, but still I can't completely numb in that area. On Saturday, the usual happened and when the dentist had finished I sat up and was talking to her. She asked me to blink, and then blink again. I couldn't blink because my left hand didn't move. I could only wink with my right eye! She said that the injection fluid must have seeped to an optical nerve and I would have to wear an eye patch until my blink reflex returned. My eye was stuck open which was a very strange feeling. With a sore mouth and a dodgy eye, I went home feeling very sorry for myself.


Feeling really sorry for myself :-(


My dental saga continues as I now have to have root canal treatment on a tooth that has died (it was filled deeply and the nerve died as a result) and it's on the bottom left :-(   this will cost approx £520. I also have a cavity in my top wisdom tooth which she is not going to fill, but want to pull it out, along with the other one. My biggest fear of the dentist is having a tooth out and this prevented me from going for 10 years!

All I can think about at the moment is my teeth :-(     :-(     :-(     :-(     :-(     :-(     :-(

Today I have spent mostly in the kitchen. I have cooked my lovely husband roast beef and yorkshire pudding (Steve normally cooks the Sunday roast, but it's father's day), baked white rolls, a madeira cake and a cherry and coconut cake, and three loaves of soda bread - which doesn't look very appetising:

I also boiled up some baby beetroot for our salad tomorrow. Steve is growing new potatoes, carrots, onions, beetroot, spring onions, beans and lettuces in our garden.

A busy day in the kitchen which I enjoy, followed by an early evening walk over the fields with Steve and our scruffy dog Jake.

Mandy x

Since my last post...

Alice turned 16.

We went walking through a special meadow,

and round the reservoir.

Enjoyed a picnic lunch ...

by a beautiful pond.

Alice left school (dressed here ready for her Leaver's Mass.

I also went to the dentist and found out that I have to have my wisdom teeth out and a filling - not happy :-(     It has been half-term, so I have had a week off work!!! I have been really busy sorting out my house. The car boot pile is growing bigger in the garage and my ebaying pile is ready to be listed. I really lack storage space, but I am making the best of it. The whole house is clean and tidy and I am ready to batch cook, bake for my freezer (had to buy a new fridge freezer cos the other one broke) and go back to work.

Until next week ...

Mandy x

Catch up

I read blogs all the time, but haven't been bothering to post on my own. I think - what's the point because no one is reading this! I am doing this as a diary, to motivate myself, but I would love some more followers.

Since my last post, we have celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary.

 We went out for a lovely meal and made a new friend.

Since then, our meals have been homemade and I have continued with the decluttering. I have sold 7 things on ebay and made £28. I will be listing more this weekend and have relisted the other 5 items that didn't sell. My weight loss is going badly, but I'm bored of it! I have planted out my little tomato, lettuce and cucumber plants - I hope they grow now!

I continue to plod on ...

Mandy x

It's been a while!

Its been a while because I have been so busy (apart from on Friday when I sat all day watching the beautiful wedding!)

It's a special day tomorrow because it's our 10th wedding anniversary. I'm really excited because I'm being taken out to dinner. My husband really spoils me!!!

We started celebrating on Saturday when I was taken out to lunch here:

Then we had an Indian takeaway in the evening, I put on 1/2 lb this week :-(

I have been working really hard trying to clear the clutter and I plan to start putting some more stuff on ebay soon. I really want to go on holiday this year, so I have to make some money.

Meals have mostly been homemade (I always forget to take photos) and tonight we had lasagne and salad, followed by treacle sponge with custard. All homemade, apart from the custard which I got from approved foods - this was instant and out-of-date! Once again, I have managed to eat food past it's sell by date. I could never eat past it's use by date though. I am getting much more better at not wasting and throwing away food - small life changes that add up to making a difference.

Mandy x