Not long now

Another week nearer to my holiday, can't wait!!! Am feeling shattered this weekend though, probably because the end is in sight.

Various money saving this week has been:

Charging phone at work
Free papers to read on the train and kept for the fire
Lunches from stores most days
Got Wed's lunch from office meeting leftovers....nom
Posted Ebay sale - now at 34% of my clothes challenge amount.
Pear's for snacks from office meeting leftovers.

I finished one of my Jewel Blankets for a friend at work, I'm happy to say she was very pleased with it :D



She particularly liked the story behind it - whilst convalescing from having 2 wisdom teeth removed I saw a blanket in a magazine and had an “I can make that” moment. I had a black bin liner of odd balls of wool from my Nan and so started knitting. It's like a memory blanket for me. I have added to my wool stash from other people's odd balls of wool and charity shops since my first blanket but I still have a lot of my Nan's wool left.

The blanket I knitted for my friend also had buttons from my Nan's vintage button collection to tie the backing to the blanket – her exclamation was – “I have a bit of your Nan on my sofa and I love that” and I LOVE that she loves that!! :)

I also did a little charity shop shopping as I felt I needed a little spend-up, I got all this for £1.50!!!! Bargin or what!



Jobs completed today:

1st load of Washing on & drying indoors - DONE
2 x litter trays cleaned – DONE
Order cat litter – DONE
Zeus to vet – DONE
Washing up - DONE

Another week done

Wow, where did that week go?? Luckily it all went well with no major drama's.

Various money saving has been:

Charging phone at work
Free papers to read on the train and kept for the fire
Lunches from stores
Got lunch for 2 days from the office meeting leftovers....nom
MS for Friday's dinner – Report now done.

Jobs completed today:

1st load of Washing on – hanging on line - DONE
Washing up – DONE
Clear and clean kitchen worktops – DONE
2nd load of Washing on – hanging in conservatory/airers – DONE
Hoovered and mopped floors – DONE
Wipe kitchen cupboard doors/drawers/kickboards – DONE
Clean extractor filter – DONE
Water plants – DONE
Re-home odd items in lounge – DONE
Register for my AA gold member key fob (free as I have been an AA member for 15 years - DONE
Call Aunt to ask if she can look after Zeus when we go on holiday - DONE - and thankfully she has agreed, hope she doesn't change her mind.

Made this for dinner as I had all ingredients in store. I had quorn escalope instead of sausages, OH had the sausages ;).

I adapted it from a Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall recipe, it was lovely! Pudding was apple and ginger crumble as Mum gave me some apples from their tree last weekend, it was all very tasty even if I do say so myself.

Roasted sausages, parsnips and onions
Serves two
4-6 small parsnips, peeled
2 small onions (red, white or a mixture)
6 salad potaoes
1 tbsp olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
5 sausages
100g unsalted butter
1 tsp fresh thyme leaves

Heat the oven to 200C/400F/gas mark 6. Quarter the parsnips from root to tip. If they have very coarse, woody cores, trim them out. Peel the onions, leaving the root end intact and, depending on size, cut into quarters or eighths from root to tip. Cut potatoes into small wedges. Put the parsnips, potatoes and onions in a roasting tin, trickle with oil and season well. Cover tightly with foil and roast for 30 minutes, or until the onions are tender.
Remove the foil, add the sausages to the tray, dot around the butter and sprinkle over the thyme. Return to the oven and roast for 20 minutes more, until the sausages are cooked and everything is golden and starting to caramelise.

Reunited

I received some sad sad news yesterday, a lovely lady I used to work with and was very close to for a number of years lost her battle with the dreaded big C. I was hoping to be able to get a chance to say my goodbyes but it wasn't to be.....I like to think she's now reunited with her lost love. RIP my friend xxxxx

I have been madly working this week, my counterpart at work is on a well deserved holiday so it's just been me....arghhh. No major drama's so far...another week to go so fingers crossed it stays that way!

Various money saving has been:

Charging phone at work
Free papers to read on the train and kept for the fire
Lunches from stores
Got given a cupcake, choc muffin, pasta salad and prawn sarnie from the office meeting leftovers....nom
Aluminium cans (from parents and work)
Got given a lovely green nail varnish by a work colleague – his wife was throwing it out (she works for Avon) several people have commented on the lovely colour :)

Made a delish Mushroom Risotto for dinner, this was a “use what I have” meal so I don't have an actual recipe but this is what I did:

Ingredients

Spring onions
Butter
Mushrooms (I had oyster and button mushrooms)
Garlic
Risotto Rice
Chicken Stock (home made)
Parmesan
Creme Fraiche

Fried the bunch of spring onions in butter, added the risotto rice and stirred it through until glossy. Added the sliced mushroom, garlic and half the chicken stock, cook for 20-25 minutes stirring occasionally. Towards the end add more stock and stir as needed until rice is cooked. Add grated parmesan and a tablespoon of crème fraiche. Serve :)

I froze the left overs for lunches at work.

Today is supposed to be a housework day but I'm not really in the mood, still lets try!

1st load of Washing on and hanging on airers - DONE
Book haircut - DONE
Washing up – DONE x 2
Clean microwave – DONE
Clear kitchen worktops – DONE
Haircut – DONE (only had to have ½” cut off, not bad after nearly 2 years without a haircut!!)
Clean kitchen worktops – DONE
Wipe hob – DONE
Declutter living room – DONE
Sort T-shirts – DONE
Remove marks from walls/door handles/light switches – DONE
Clean lampshades – DONE
De-web – DONE
Dust – DONE
Wipe dining table – DONE

Right off to OH's for take-away goodness :)

It's a cat's life

When I got up this morning I felt full of energy and get up and go even though it was dull, drab and rainy......fast forward the hour commute and I felt tired, disheartened and MEH!!!

mmmm food for thought.....work nearer home or move the home nearer to work?????

Oh to have the life of my kitties!!

Out in the garden

My Mum and my Bro came to visit today, they helped me to weed-killer and then cover the back garden in black plastic. Hopefully over Winter that will all die down and in the Spring we can rotavate it and then sow with grass seed....that's the plan anyway's....... :)



I made a Lemon, Almond and Yogurt cake to say thanks........there was none left when they went :)

Other jobs done:

Finish de-cluttering living room – DONE
Washing – 1st load on, now hanging on airers - DONE
Washing up – DONE & 2nd lot - DONE
De-clutter hall - DONE
Hoover and mop all floors – HAVE HOOVERED
Empty all bins - DONE

The weekend is here!!

And I will mostly be doing housework :)

Managed a lovely long lie-in until 8.50am followed by a leisurely bath and a cooked breakfast with fresh coffee....yum!

Now onto the list:

Washing – 1st lot in, now hanging outside on the line :) - DONE
Litter trays - DONE
Washing up – DONE & a second lot - DONE
Washing – 2nd lot in (bedding), now drying on airers - DONE
Clean bathroom – DONE
MS - DONE
Clean fridge - DONE
De-clutter living room – MADE A REALLY GOOD START

Still to do

Finish de-cluttering living room
Clear and clean kitchen worktops
Dust
De-clutter hall
Hoover and mop all floors

Over the hump

The car cost another £186...gulp! Let's hope that's it for a while!

Yay, Friday tomorrow :) That's all I can say about this week, lol.



Money saving over the past few days:

Charged phone at work
Aluminium can x 1
Packed lunches for work
Clicks
1 sale cancelled on Ebay :(, but got fee returned :)
Free paper on train (kept for fire)

Racing for the weekend

Off for a weekend with friends, we went to Market Rasen Races on Saturday. I've never been to the races before, was good fun but a tad chilly - and I only bet £5 :) Needless to say I didn't win anything :(



Today I took my car in to get the sump replaced, when I went to pick it up it wasn't finished!! Luckily they lent me a courtesy car! Fingers crossed it's not too expensive!!

Other money saving over the last few days:

Charged phone at work
Aluminium can x 3
Packed lunch for work
Yay, £40 tracked for swapping parents utilities :)
Clicks
4 items sold on Ebay