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

Happy 21st Birthday Charlotte xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

My lovely daughter is 21 today!!!

She loves zebra print!

I hope you've had a great day - shopping in Birmingham with your sister :)

Love you lots

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x



1000 page views!

1000 page views!!!

This may not seem like much, but at least I know I am not just talking to myself!

I have 6 followers, so I know that others read, but do not want to follow me. I am unable to comment on my favourite blogs and cannot work out why, so I'm unlikely to gain any further followers. I'm stuck :(

Thank you for reading this, it really makes me happy.

Mandy xxx

Back Pain Again!!!

Hi, sadly my back pain has returned!

This time I simply picked up a bottle of bleach, that was all then the pain and lack of mobility had returned. This happened a week ago and now I am at the stage where I can sit up on the sofa and walk around slowly. I was advised when I injured my back 5 years ago that recovery is quicker when you're active. I have learnt that actually I recover quicker by giving in and resting my back. I take ibuprofen and use my tens machine to ease the muscle pain and wait...

It is so annoying because I have loads to do and I have to rely on my daughter to do all my chores while I get to cuddle my grandaughter ;)

Hopefully things will be back to normal soon.

Some good news... the boiler man is coming round on Wednesday and hopefully the boiler will be fixed??? The boiler broke down at the beginning of the year and finally we can have the choice of putting the heating on. We have got by with oil radiators and the electric fire in the living room, but now we have to keep the rest of the house warm because we have an 8 week old baby here and mould is beginning to appear around the windows. Daisy-May has a heater in her room to keep her cosy. The rest of us wrap up warm and keep busy (apart from me with my bad back!), we have hot drinks and soup, blankets on our knees in the evening and hot water bottles.

I hope you are all keeping warm :)

Mandy x

Thrifty shopping and stocking-up the cupboards...Approved food

Approved Food Order

Hi, I have not had any time to blog lately because of our new arrival in the family. Little Daisy-May has turned our lives upside down (in a good way) and left no time for stuff like blogging. She is 6 weeks old now and absolutely perfect! Alice's pre-eclampsia has finally gone and she is feeling much better. I had forgotten just how much time is taken up looking after a new baby, but we are trying to get into a routine now. I did manage to make an Approved Food order last week...

There are all kinds of cupboard fillers here. I particularly stocked up on tins and packets for easy quick meals when I need extra time. I normally spend quite some time in the morning preparing the evening meal ready to be cooked later in the day, as I think it's important to cook from scratch.

Some items are to help me fill my chest freezer. I bought chocolate cake mix (even though I am quite capable of baking a cake) because cocoa is so expensive. This sack retailed at £14.99 and I bought it for £4.99. To me this is a bargain because my children loved the chocolate muffin mix we had before and I can fill the freezer really cheaply with cake for packed lunches and ready for pudding - chocolate pudding and chocolate custard : )

This is a good way of shopping for standby meals and so cheap. I only ever buy items in date which does prevent me from getting some fantastic bargains, bit it's an area I can't be frugal on.

I made 6 chocolate sponges earlier today, so I'll let you know how they taste!

Have you ever bought goods from Approved Food???

Hopefully I'll be back soon,

Mandy x



I'm a Grandma!!!

I've got a beautiful little grandaughter!!!

She arrived this morning at 2.55, safe and well.

Her mummy is not so good :(

Alice has pre-eclampsia, made a lot better by delivering her baby, but still poorly.

Yesterday was full of stress and worry, today is joy and relief!

She weighed in at 6lb which was excellent as her predicted birthweight was 5lb (and she was delivered early). She has been through a lot of struggles when she wasn't growing properly, but she came through at a healthy 6lb - our special little miracle!

Today is a happy day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mandy x