A little bit of baking...

Hi,

Today I decided to do a quick bit of baking while my jacket potatoes were in the oven. I cannot afford to waste electricity so I made a batch of cheese scones, really yummy fresh out of the oven with butter, and a lemon cake. This cake was a new recipe, where you pour dissolved sugar and lemon juice over the warm cake and allow to soak in. When the cake is cool, you ice it with lemon glace icing. I haven't tried it yet, but I think it will be really moist. I forgot to take a photo earlier, so hopefully I will remember tomorrow before it's all gone!

Blogger is still preventing me from leaving comments on my favourite blogs :-(

I'm off to learn some more thrifty tips off fellow money savers on you tube now.

Decluttering of my bedroom planned for tomorrow...

Mandy x

The weekend

Hi,

I'm still annoyed, but the weekend was good.

We did another carboot sale on Saturday and I took £70!!! That's a lot of stuff decluttered because I brought back 6 empty plastic boxes. I sold my stuff for 10p, 20p, 50p or £1. We were swarming with customers and a little hectic at times, but well worth it.

I have decided that I should only keep things that are beautiful or useful. I am a dreadful hoarder and keep things just-in-case they may be needed one day. Every piece of ribbon or buttons are saved, bubble wrap and envelopes, the list is endless, but I have to stop! I am keen to recycle and make things out of recycled materials, but I haven't got the space. My utility room is full of crates for carbooting and ebaying, sewing and crafting. My aim is to sell as much as possible so I can have my utility room back. What's the point in having a beautiful oak worktop (which my husband made) and a lovely belfast sink with smart cupboards and a quarry tiled floor, if I can't see any of it???

I've had a really bad headache today (which began yesterday) so I've pottered about, but I have organised my junk ready to sell again next week.

My daughter has handcrafted some lovely jewellery, but people just aren't interested at boot sales because they want everything for 10p!!! She also hand paints mugs which are beautiful. We want to sell at craft fairs one day, so I have encouraged her to increase her stock. I collect vintage items but want to part with most of it because I need to raise cash for my other daughter for when there will be a big event in September. This is our dream, it's just a question of how to put it into practice.

So I'm happy with the money I made for Alice and also I had my hair cut. Not very exciting to most people, but I haven't had it cut since December and now I actually have a hairstyle!

Tomorrow I plan to have shifted this horrible headache and get selling/crafting.

Mandy x

I'm so annoyed!!!

Hi,

Why oh why won't blogger allow me to leave comments on my favourite blogs???

This has been happening for a while now and I don't know how to fix it :-(

It says that my comment has been published... then it disappears! I don't bother writing long comments now because I am expecting them to disappear again.

Please help.

Mandy x

Car booting tomorrow

Hi,

Tomorrow Charlotte and I are off to do a car boot sale in Finmere. I haven't been able to go for a while , so hopefully it will be busy with lots of buyers. I seriously need to clear the clutter and get rid of things that I really don't need. I'll let you know how we get on...

Mandy x

I don't understand blogger???

I don't understand what's just happened. I just tried to sign into my blogger account and it said my blog had been removed! Well I never removed it. After getting a verification code sent to my mobile, I found my blog again. Also, sometimes my comments on other blogs just don't stick. It tells me it has been published, but then it disappears??? Then I got excited because I have another follower, but guess what... it's me!!! How on Earth did that happen? Now I'm really confused.

Well, nevermind, it's back now.

Today I changed my outlook, I've decided to focus on the positives from now on (easier said than done) and to get myself motivated to make the changes needed in my home. I'll be back when I have something exciting or useful to report.

Today I sorted out my knitting basket in preparation for actually doing some more knitting. My daughter has cast on for me (I can't remember how so something I need to learn) with some beautiful fushia pink wool. I am knitting large squares which I will sew together to make a throw/blanket for one of my sofas. This will be square number 2, so I have quite a long way to go!

I've been so fed up with my recent ill health lately, that I have even lost interest in cooking and baking. My wisdom tooth removal meant that I couldn't eat solid food and it's so disheartening to cook a lovely meal and then have to cook mashed potatoes just for me. Tomorrow morning I am going to do a bit of baking and I'll put the photos up to prove it! I've got some oranges and lemons that need using up, so there will be orange and lemon cakes at least. My tea-loaf turned out well and improved with age, so I may make another one tomorrow. I hope the chickens won't let me down with their supply of eggs.

So tomorrow is baking and knitting - things that I usually enjoy. Sadly all the boring jobs will still be there...ironing :-(

Right, fingers crossed that this post will actually be posted!

Mandy x

Happy Easter!

Hi and Happy Easter!

I've had a lovely day with my family, playing board games all afternoon!

Ashley's girlfriend is spending the weekend with us, which is special because she's been in France, teaching children how to ski since the first week in December. 

I've been away from blogging for a while because I haven't been well. After my back problem was getting better, I got a cancellation appointment to have my upper wisdom teeth removed at the John Radcliffe hospital in Oxford. These teeth prevented me from going to the dentist for 10 years! Silly, I know, but I was petrified of having teeth out. One had developed early decay because I simply couldn't get at them with my toothbrush, so they had to go. It was nearly 3 weeks ago now, but they still haven't healed up completely. I have followed all the rules so haven't had any problems and I am getting there at last. The procedure began with the injections (I'm fine with these) and two of these were into the roof of my mouth. This made my mouth swell up and the roof was touching the back of my tongue. This set off my gag reflex and I was sick 4 times :-(
After that, I had to sit with my head bowed to prevent any further vomiting. The surgeon then removed them with me sat with my head right down and my mouth nearly shut! He was so good and understood my anxiety. The dental nurse and surgeon really looked after me and sat me in a side room to recover (head still bowed until the anaesthetic was wearing off). It was traumatic because I was so scared, but the actual removal of the wisdom teeth was really quick and easy (definitely down to the skill of my surgeon) and I'm so glad they're gone now.

My recovery has been slow because I was living on sloppy mash potato and mousse. I felt so tired, sick, dizzy and weak. I am just beginning to eat more solid food now, but finding chewing some foods difficult.

My lovely daughter Alice has been really ill for some time now. We know part of the reason why she's been so sick, but then she had a water infection that developed into having E-coli in her bladder. Our GP wouldn't admit her to hospital because her immune system is low and the hospital has too many bugs that she would have then caught. We were really worried because she was dehydrated, not even able to keep fluids down. We never worked out if it was the E-coli or the anti-biotics making her sick, but thankfully she has been fine the last couple of days. She eats very little and has lost so much weight. I just hope that her health will improve now, I feel so helpless. I'll say why she's ill another day because it's not for public knowledge at the moment.

Also, my other daughter crashed her car and was very lucky that the car coming the other way was going slow, otherwise it would have hit her and she could of been seriously hurt. She is ok though and bought another car the following day!

Doom and gloom as usual, but hopefully things will start to improve for us soon.

Hope you're having a lovely Easter weekend,

Mandy x

Candle making and the Buckingham Garden Centre

Hi,

Over the past few days I've been pottering about the house, getting my back moving again and catching up with the jobs I couldn't do when my back was painful.

Yesterday I made candles:

I put all my candle scraps in a tin (mine was an old soup tin) and put the tin in a saucepan with a little water. As the water simmered away, the candle wax in the tin melted. I used the same containers that the candles came in when I originally bought them. First I measured and cut a length of string to fit the containers and then tied one end to a pencil. When the wax had melted, I poured it into the container and left it to set overnight. This morning I removed the pencils and tested out my new candles - they were fine with simple household string, just like new candles. I'm really pleased because I didn't have to buy wick, but managed to recycle what I would have normally thrown away. Different cooking smells are making my daughter feel sick at the moment, so we have a scented candle burning most of the day. I'm proud to be a money saver!!!

I also made some little pencil pots:

I used old instant gravy granule containers and covered them with pastel blue paper. I then covered the paper with pretty hearts tissue paper. I hid the edge with thin red ribbon to neaten them up. I have loads of pens and pencils to sell from when I left my job as a Teaching Assistant. When I worked, I was always buying things to make my activities more exciting for the children, and I hadn't realised just how much stuff I had collected in my walk in cupboard. I have no plans to go back to teaching, so I will try to sell all of my stuff at the car boot sale. I have packets of unopened pens which will look nicer in these little pots, so hopefully they will sell, clearing the clutter and getting some much needed cash for my daughter (I'll tell you why another day). The car boot sale starts again on Saturday and we will be getting ready for that this week.

On Sunday we (Steve and I) went to Buckingham Garden Centre. I really love looking round garden centres (especially Burford) and we had never been to this one before. We bought some seeds and seed potatoes for the vegetable plots and some wild flower seeds to try and perk up the back garden. We also bought some little Yankie Candles (for Alice), as they have such a strong scent (but are also really expensive). There was loads of Cath Kidston toiletries, but I was good and didn't buy anything that we didn't need. I love Cath Kidston things, but I don't need them !!!

We bought some lovely primrose plants which I will hopefully plant out tomorrow. I have planned to get out in the garden and begin the big tidy up that it needs. Flo loves to dig, so it could be quite a challenge to keep the garden looking beautiful. The dogs love being outside, so we may have a lovely day with lots of fresh air ahead of us (weather permitting).

Before we left the garden centre we sat outside with a coffee and a bit of cake! Not necessary, I know, but important, because we were spending time together, away from our troubles, just relaxing and enjoying each other's company. This is something we rarely have the time or opportunities for. Steve had carrot cake (because I never make it) and I had millionaires shortbread (because I'm greedy!) I am inspired to make some millionaires shortbread now, something I have never made before.

Hopefully I will have some photos of my 'sunny' garden tomorrow, but it will more than likely rain ;-(

Mandy x