You pay for what you get!

Hi everyone and thank you for all the comments you've been leaving me :)

Trish...feel free to email me anytime if you fancy a chat. 

Jane...have a great holiday, sounds like you've planned well for it.

Angela...hello! I'm really looking forward to cooking and baking from my new Delia books.

Myshabbychicvintagefrugallife...I too am a messy cook and baker! I use every pot, pan and utensil available. I'm looking forward to making some delicious things :)

So, as the title says...you pay for what you get. I believe this is true and my hubby has a saying...'buy cheap, buy twice!'

After our holiday we got a few fresh bits of shopping from our local waitrose. Yes it's dearer but it was convenient. We loved the quality so much that this week I shopped online with them. I decided to focus on quality over quantity (as you know I'm a food hoarder) and shopped accordingly...

A few of the fresh things I got. Their cakes are delicious and I treated myself!

It was good!!

I probably won't shop there every week, but the service was so good too. As I change my shopping habits to buying more fresh food, this is an option. I buy way too much of what I don't need so that has to change. It's a bit of an experiment I suppose. We'll see how we go. 

There are cheaper shops with good quality products I'm sure, but online food shopping is convenient for us and makes life easier so I am a little limited. 

I love a challenge!

See you soon,

Mandy x

Carboot sale goodies!

Hi everyone,

This morning we headed off to Finmere carboot sale. There wasn't much there today sadly and too much market stall type stuff. I'm only interested in second hand bargains, particularly vintage bits and bobs. I can normally pick up clothes for the children but there was nothing today. Although a little disappointing, it was worth the journey :)

This lovely robin kit was only £1 and I will really enjoy stitching it.

I'm a big fan of Delia Smith and always have been. I've been looking out for one of her cake books for ages, so was pleased to find this for 50p, along with another for 50p.

If you've been reading my blog for a while you'll know that I mainly read books set in the 1940s. This book by Joan Jonker was 25p. I'm happy with that!

I paid £1.75 for these lovely books for Daisy. 

Finally, this 'tap' game was 10p. Daisy's been busy making shape pictures with Grampy this afternoon. She felt very grown up using the little hammer. 

The only thing I saw for Henry was this sweet little pram blanket. It looks blue in the photo but it's pastel green and lemon. It's a lovely pattern and quite light, so just right for walking to nursery in the morning when it can still be a little chilly first thing. It was only 20p.

The last thing is the windmill that Daisy spotted. I treated her for being such a good girl :) it was £1

After the bootsale we went to an antiques centre...I love it there! Sadly I didn't see anything there today (that I could afford anyway!) it's such a great place to mooch around. 

I did a ploughmans style lunch with fresh bread :)

Saturday is treat night! We were treated to fish and chips by Grampy (not Henry...don't worry!) and Daisy is allowed sweeties. 

It's been a lovely day.

Tomorrow I have to start to tackle the huge mountains of ironing from our holiday and beyond. I normally watch tele that I've recorded while I iron. I have been watching The Royal, but now I'm into Heartbeat. It's on everyday so I've got a few recorded now. I love the old fashioned programmes and I love Yorkshire! It makes the boring chore of ironing much easier. 

A busy day ahead...

Mandy x

So much laundry!

Hi everyone,

One thing I love about going away on holiday is the lack of housework! While we stayed in the caravan I did a little hand washing. Henry's bibs would of gone mouldy if packed away grubby so they were washed every day. 

We took enough clothes so that I had a week off washing and ironing, but it all has to be done at some point and luckily the weather was beautiful here yesterday so I ploughed through it. I only have a little left to do to catch up so I'm pleased with that. I hate having the washing drying in the house so took advantage of the sunshine while we had it. The trouble is that there's a huge pile of ironing to tackle now!

Before we went on holiday I used up all the fresh food in the house (taking a few things like butter and cheeses with us) so when we got back the fridge was bare. Yesterday hubby took Daisy shopping for a few essentials. They also bought me some beautiful flowers (picked out by Daisy) which was a lovely surprise. I know it's extravagant but I love to have fresh flowers in the house. I will do an online shop as soon as I get chance, but first I need to write a meal plan and a proper list with only what we need. No more browsing apart from special offers on meat. There's to be no more snacking either! I will plan a pudding each day instead. Lots of fresh food, quality over quantity and put a stop to my food hoarding. I've had a good think on holiday and changes are being made.

First of all I need to make space in the chest freezer for batch baking. When time is short I'd love to be able to get out cakes already made and just ice and decorate them or even just get out a fruit cake or a few rock cakes. I want to reduce the processed and convenient food to as little as possible. I'd love everything to be home baked but I definitely need to practice my bread making skills! It's time to put my ideas into action. I know we will save a fortune but I've always been short of time before. I've never been very good at managing my time but I am willing to try harder now. 

Yesterday while they were shopping, I dug about in the freezer and found a steak pie for lunch (no roast yesterday) which I served with mash and frozen veg and gravy. For pudding we had chocolate sponge and ice cream, again from the freezer. I've made a little space already and made a meal. Tonight we've got cottage pie for tea which I'll make while Daisy's at nursery. Pudding will be fruit and custard for the children and we will have fruit and angel delight. 

While I had the oven on for the pie and chocolate sponge yesterday, I decided to make some fairy cakes for tea. A tray of plain cakes and a tray of chocolate. Daisy helped me to decorate them...

They had fresh crusty bread and butter and cheese for tea and cake (no icing for Henry) and a carpet picnic! 

I've got a busy day ahead, I hope the sun is shining where you are :)

Mandy X 

A holiday works wonders!

Hi everyone,

Apologies for the lack of posts but I've been concentrating on my little family :)

Yesterday we travelled back from the Isle of Wight, a wonderful first holiday for Henry and Daisy's first caravan holiday (she's only stayed in holiday cottages).

There will be some holiday photos and stories to share once I've caught up with the laundry! 

Our holiday wasn't particularly thrifty but we planned for that. Now we're back and feeling refreshed and motivated. There's lots to do here and some exciting plans ahead. I will be testing out new routines to make life easier and freeing up time for hobbies. While away, I knitted everyday and watched the tennis! It made me realise that I should make time for crafts. I love baking but don't make enough time for it anymore. I need to get back to my old ways and now feel I can. I have loads of lovely new recipes to try. 

I have lots of things to plan for too...Henry's first birthday is fast approaching and Daisy will need entertaining throughout the summer holidays. Ideas need organising!

I'm excited for the future and excited to start blogging again. I will have recipes and meal plans to share and hopefully crafty projects. 

Finally, thank you so much for your comments. I really do appreciate them.

Mandy x

Thank you!

Hi everyone, 

Thank you to Pam, Frugally challenged, Jane, Meg and Susan for your comments. 

Jane, I have to be honest that my money saving has not been brilliant lately. I haven't been carbooting for weeks and the children have needed new clothes so no bargains there! My groceries are still out of control but I have meal planned. I'm getting my act together now! It sounds like you've been working very hard to save money. I think if we can be adaptable and make a meal from what we have it not only stops us from buying more but prevents waste too...well done you x

A special thank you to Susan for your kind words. Also, thank you for letting me know about Tracey's blog, I didn't know that and I loved her blog :) x

Ok, so I'm busy as usual but I'm hoping to have more to share with you soon as I get myself sorted. I need to start baking regularly again and get better routines in place. One thing I am doing more of is knitting...

Daisy asked for another dolly blanket for her dolly's cot. I made it as easy as possible so I can get it done quickly. She has also asked for some clothes for her dolls and I really want to get started on the children's cardigans. I've bought some cream wool for that. I really enjoy knitting.

We are off on holiday soon so I'm busy preparing for that..I write lists! It's Henry's first holiday and Daisy is very excited. We're looking forward to creating memories for them. 

I hope everyone's well,

Mandy x

Comments??

Hi everyone

Just a quick question...when you leave a comment, do you come back and check for a reply? The reason I ask is that I think if you have been kind enough to 'chat' to me then I want to make sure you know I value that and have replied. 

In the past I have replied to comments at the beginning of the next post, but more recently reply as I see them. I think I will go back to the old way of replying within the next post so hopefully you'll see them. I'm rambling on! Just a thought...

Mandy x

A bit of a catch-up!

Hi everyone,

Well I'm pleased to say that the children are much better, although Henry is still rather scabby! He's been a busy boy too...desperately trying to crawl and cut another tooth...that's seven now! 

Daisy is on her half-term holiday from nursery. The weather has been awful here  so there's been more crafting at the kitchen table than playing outside. She's so happy cutting and sticking, painting, colouring, dot-to-dot,play dough, plastercine. Such a creative little girl. She's recently started a scrapbook with all her fun days and adventures in there. We try to do lots of simple old fashioned activities.

There's been lots of sorting and decluttering but still more to do. 

Here's a catch-up of what we've been up to...

I rarely treat myself to brand new books, but picked up a few things online...

Hope and Glory DVD...I love World War Two books and films.

A 1950s Housewife: Marriage and Homemaking in the 1950s.

I adore the Nella Last diaries and am currently reading this one...

Collecting flowers on the walk home from nursery...

Spag Bol...one of Daisy's favourites...

Sticky toffee pudding (not homemade!!!) comfort food was needed.

A quick and easy recipe...thank you Michelle (remembering the old ways) take a look at her blog...it's amazing :)

Daisy's been baking...

Meat from a nearby village butchers. Pricey but so much nicer than supermarket meat...

A Sunday trip to the hills, started with the woodland walk...

Looking for Peter Rabbit...

Jake had fun too!

Kite flying...

Homemade sausage rolls and a picky tea...

A double yolker for breakfast!

A new baby blanket for Henry. It's so soft...

New shoes for Daisy!...

Toad in the hole...

An order of crafty bits and bobs for Daisy...

Another of Michelle's recipes...a wartime potato and cheese pie :)

That's it for now. 

I have lots of planning to do for our holiday on the Isle of Wight! We are so excited! 

Be back soon!

Mandy x