Ah - bliss! The sun is out today, and everything seems so much more 'do-able' as a result! The first load of washing is out (a second load is in the machine) and I have finally planted the runner beans in the garden! I am so far behind on the gardening this year - April was a write off after my dad dying and sorting out his flat and all the sheer exhaustion from dealing with it. I am going to pot on some tomatoes and peppers in a moment, after making a cup of tea to take out with me, earth up potatoes, plant courgettes in the garden and see what else I need to do (may as well get it done whilst the weather is here and I have the inclination)
It's half term here this week, so I have all 4 children at home. Mr G is working, so we have no majorly exciting plans, much the their disgust! I have pointed out that there is nothing to stop them contacting their friends to see if they want to go out/ come round etc, but that's not good enough!
Tuesday, 31 May 2011
Monday, 30 May 2011
Bank Holiday Blues..
Whit Bank Holiday Monday today, and it has rained from 6am - 4pm here. I put all my canes in on Saturday for my beans (having first had to clear the area of weeds, canes, toys, rubbish and stones) and wanted to get them planted today, but it was not to be. Still, the garden has received a much needed watering. I shall plant them tomorrow instead - the rest of the week is meant to be much nicer.
Yesterday we went to a family barbecue - lots of food, great company - we had a really good time. Met lots of really nice people :)
Am hoping to be reasonably productive this week - shall try and post regularly on here to keep a note of my progress!
Yesterday we went to a family barbecue - lots of food, great company - we had a really good time. Met lots of really nice people :)
Am hoping to be reasonably productive this week - shall try and post regularly on here to keep a note of my progress!
Wednesday, 25 May 2011
Another Week has Flown By!
Well, time is still whizzing past! Last week I went to Edinburgh for a couple of days and met up with a friend and had a great time. Edinburgh is a beautiful city - Mr G and I went there with the 4 DC last year. This time I was child-free and with a native Edinburgh-er (?) - so had some of the sights pointed out to me and history told as we walked around.
Saturday was DS3's 2nd birthday! He is such a sweetie and was spoilt rotten by everyone! We only got him a couple of toys because a- he's too young to know any different b- he has lots of hand me down toys from the bigger ones c- we knew he'd get lots of stuff from everyone else! I do now need to have a cull of toys though.. another job for the list! It was also my mum's birthday - we gave her a Radley purse and keyring (cost £14 groupon voucher and £3 - goods worth £43), a huge candle decorated with flowers (M&S Outlet reduced to £8 from £15) and a bodyshop gift box (£12.50 from £25 in the sale) Bargains!
I've decided to start following flylady again so have been working in our bedroom this week. I got everything out from under the bed (it's where I keep the Xmas and birthday present stashes and paper/ cards) and had a good sort out and vacuum. My drawers have been sorted and tidied (a few items put to one side for a charity bag) and mirrors and woodwork/ units polished. This leaves me the bathroom to give a good clean to and the landing/ dressing area to tidy and clean (and my wardrobe to sort) (We have our bedroom in a loft conversion - we have the whole floor to us - bedroom, massive bathroom and a landing/ dressing area between the two) So far it's going well - when I follow flylady (modified) it works - but I have to be 'up' to follow it, and recently I've been very down, so the house and garden need a good overhaul, as I've just not bothered :(
A good note from this week though is that I won £25 on premium savings bonds (we only have £600 in them). I paid this off the mortgage, along with some coins from the mortgage money box and rounded it up to make an overpayment to bring the mortage balance down to exactly £85000. I'm really pleased with this - we took a £130k mortgage when we moved here in Oct 2005 and a further £30k advance in Dec 2008 for the loft - so we've repaid £75k of capital in 5 1/2 years!! Our mortgage end date is officially Oct or Nov 2025, but I want to pay it all off by July 2016... eeek!!
Saturday was DS3's 2nd birthday! He is such a sweetie and was spoilt rotten by everyone! We only got him a couple of toys because a- he's too young to know any different b- he has lots of hand me down toys from the bigger ones c- we knew he'd get lots of stuff from everyone else! I do now need to have a cull of toys though.. another job for the list! It was also my mum's birthday - we gave her a Radley purse and keyring (cost £14 groupon voucher and £3 - goods worth £43), a huge candle decorated with flowers (M&S Outlet reduced to £8 from £15) and a bodyshop gift box (£12.50 from £25 in the sale) Bargains!
I've decided to start following flylady again so have been working in our bedroom this week. I got everything out from under the bed (it's where I keep the Xmas and birthday present stashes and paper/ cards) and had a good sort out and vacuum. My drawers have been sorted and tidied (a few items put to one side for a charity bag) and mirrors and woodwork/ units polished. This leaves me the bathroom to give a good clean to and the landing/ dressing area to tidy and clean (and my wardrobe to sort) (We have our bedroom in a loft conversion - we have the whole floor to us - bedroom, massive bathroom and a landing/ dressing area between the two) So far it's going well - when I follow flylady (modified) it works - but I have to be 'up' to follow it, and recently I've been very down, so the house and garden need a good overhaul, as I've just not bothered :(
A good note from this week though is that I won £25 on premium savings bonds (we only have £600 in them). I paid this off the mortgage, along with some coins from the mortgage money box and rounded it up to make an overpayment to bring the mortage balance down to exactly £85000. I'm really pleased with this - we took a £130k mortgage when we moved here in Oct 2005 and a further £30k advance in Dec 2008 for the loft - so we've repaid £75k of capital in 5 1/2 years!! Our mortgage end date is officially Oct or Nov 2025, but I want to pay it all off by July 2016... eeek!!
Monday, 16 May 2011
Wow - time flies by!
Well, I haven't posted in over a week - have been really busy, so I'll try and do a quick catch up now.
Thursday 5th May - DS1 & DS2 home from school as their school is used as a polling station (grrr!) We have postal votes and they went back mid April, so that was ok. Spent the day trying to get things done and made harduphester's banana loaf - I've lost the link but shall try and find it and post it another time. I had made it just for us to use up frozen over ripe bananas (my freezer is over full) but then remembered that DS1 needed to take a cake to Scout camp with him, so assigned it to that instead!
Friday 6th - my dad's funeral. Gorgeously sunny day. My dad died in March, but due to several factors we were unable to have the funeral until now. Beautiful service, which we held topsy-turvily - we did the committal at the crematorium first and then went to the church for a remeberance/ celebration of life. Although the service was held by a Baptist minister (my uncle) it wasn't religious in the main - one hymn and just a couple of readings - as my dad wasn't exactly a religious man. Was lovely and very, very moving. My dad wasn't an easy man - full of his own demons, which made life around him difficult. However, without him I would not be here (and therefore neither would my children)
There was a small wake at the church afterwards, which was nice and an opportunity to talk to people. Someone played a guitar and danced, which was also nice to see. After we left the church hall, myself, my husband, my sister & her partner all retired to the nearest pub for a swift drink and then went to a cafe to catch up with the rest of the family, where we stayed all afternoon in the sun. We only left when we had to go in order to take DS1 to scout camp (none of our children attended the service - they didn't relly know him - as I said, he was full of his own demons and it made life hard :( )
Saturday 6th - Mr G & I went out for a lovely meal with my sister & her partner. She's younger than me and we don't have the same mum. I've always known about her, but our lives were such that we've never had real contact until now. We made facebook contact a few years ago, but both of us were too nervous to take it further - we had no time for nerves to kick in after we were thrown together after our dad's death! We seem to get on well, though - which is fantastic!
We got in at just before midnight - to the news that DS1 was ill and being brought home from camp :( Thankfully he'd only been vomiting - something he sometimes does with a combination of too much food/ running around and sun, so he was fine again in the morning.
Last week DS1 had his Y6 SATs at school. Thankfully he seems to be fairly chilled out about them.
I made these: http://onelifeand3kids.blogspot.com/2011/05/bero-cornflake-flapjacks.html - flapjacks with cornflakes in from another blog - very yummy!!
DD had fixed braces fitted to her teeth on Wednesday. She previously had some removeables. Her teeth aren't quite bad enough for NHS braces - but are bad enough that braces are recommended (?? - go figure!), so the treatment has cost us £1700! EEK! She is in a bit of pain, but has been very stoical and has eaten lots of soup and ice cream!
Thursday 5th May - DS1 & DS2 home from school as their school is used as a polling station (grrr!) We have postal votes and they went back mid April, so that was ok. Spent the day trying to get things done and made harduphester's banana loaf - I've lost the link but shall try and find it and post it another time. I had made it just for us to use up frozen over ripe bananas (my freezer is over full) but then remembered that DS1 needed to take a cake to Scout camp with him, so assigned it to that instead!
Friday 6th - my dad's funeral. Gorgeously sunny day. My dad died in March, but due to several factors we were unable to have the funeral until now. Beautiful service, which we held topsy-turvily - we did the committal at the crematorium first and then went to the church for a remeberance/ celebration of life. Although the service was held by a Baptist minister (my uncle) it wasn't religious in the main - one hymn and just a couple of readings - as my dad wasn't exactly a religious man. Was lovely and very, very moving. My dad wasn't an easy man - full of his own demons, which made life around him difficult. However, without him I would not be here (and therefore neither would my children)
There was a small wake at the church afterwards, which was nice and an opportunity to talk to people. Someone played a guitar and danced, which was also nice to see. After we left the church hall, myself, my husband, my sister & her partner all retired to the nearest pub for a swift drink and then went to a cafe to catch up with the rest of the family, where we stayed all afternoon in the sun. We only left when we had to go in order to take DS1 to scout camp (none of our children attended the service - they didn't relly know him - as I said, he was full of his own demons and it made life hard :( )
Saturday 6th - Mr G & I went out for a lovely meal with my sister & her partner. She's younger than me and we don't have the same mum. I've always known about her, but our lives were such that we've never had real contact until now. We made facebook contact a few years ago, but both of us were too nervous to take it further - we had no time for nerves to kick in after we were thrown together after our dad's death! We seem to get on well, though - which is fantastic!
We got in at just before midnight - to the news that DS1 was ill and being brought home from camp :( Thankfully he'd only been vomiting - something he sometimes does with a combination of too much food/ running around and sun, so he was fine again in the morning.
Last week DS1 had his Y6 SATs at school. Thankfully he seems to be fairly chilled out about them.
I made these: http://onelifeand3kids.blogspot.com/2011/05/bero-cornflake-flapjacks.html - flapjacks with cornflakes in from another blog - very yummy!!
DD had fixed braces fitted to her teeth on Wednesday. She previously had some removeables. Her teeth aren't quite bad enough for NHS braces - but are bad enough that braces are recommended (?? - go figure!), so the treatment has cost us £1700! EEK! She is in a bit of pain, but has been very stoical and has eaten lots of soup and ice cream!
Wednesday, 4 May 2011
Busy Doing Nothing!
At least, that's what it must be! I haven't posted for several days and I don't think I/ we've done much - but neither have we been sat around - so we've been busy doing nothing! :)
Today I'm busy doing things - or, at least, I plan to be! So far I've done 1 load of washing & hung it out, made 3 packed lunches, put the dishwasher on and gone to Aldi on the way back from the school run. Their jars of pasta sauce are on offer at 18p instead of 34p, so I bought 12. I don't like it, but DS1 and DS3 do and it's a quick option if we're eating different things or they need something quick (such as on Scouts night) - I usually throw some chopped bacon bits, meatballs, chopped chicken in or a dollop of bolognaise sauce to zip it up. I also bought some sweet potatoes (I'll mash these and freeze for cottage pie topping), 2 bags of apples (part of their super 6), chillis, shallots, mushrooms, a cucumber (cheaper than Stresco), a pack of Tortilla wraps, 3 packs of pain au choclate (weekend breakfasts), 12 bottles (small) of still water (I know - not frugal, but we get through a pack every 2-3 months at most, so I don't begrudge it) and 2 packs of hanging basket plants reduced to £1.50 each. These are a little droopy, but nothing that a good soak in water shouldn't be able to fix. Oh, and 2 packs of biscuits! :)
DS3 has just fallen asleep for his nap, so I shall leave the trip out until later and get on with some of the other things now instead.
Today I'm busy doing things - or, at least, I plan to be! So far I've done 1 load of washing & hung it out, made 3 packed lunches, put the dishwasher on and gone to Aldi on the way back from the school run. Their jars of pasta sauce are on offer at 18p instead of 34p, so I bought 12. I don't like it, but DS1 and DS3 do and it's a quick option if we're eating different things or they need something quick (such as on Scouts night) - I usually throw some chopped bacon bits, meatballs, chopped chicken in or a dollop of bolognaise sauce to zip it up. I also bought some sweet potatoes (I'll mash these and freeze for cottage pie topping), 2 bags of apples (part of their super 6), chillis, shallots, mushrooms, a cucumber (cheaper than Stresco), a pack of Tortilla wraps, 3 packs of pain au choclate (weekend breakfasts), 12 bottles (small) of still water (I know - not frugal, but we get through a pack every 2-3 months at most, so I don't begrudge it) and 2 packs of hanging basket plants reduced to £1.50 each. These are a little droopy, but nothing that a good soak in water shouldn't be able to fix. Oh, and 2 packs of biscuits! :)
I still need to go to Tesco for some other things - some cheaper than in Aldi, some not stocked. I have a list and do not plan on deviating from it 
unless there are any good whoopsies (reduced items) - very unlikely in my local store! I shall combine the trip there with going to a funeral directors the other side of town to drop clothes off for my dad - it's his funeral on Friday. I'm taking some funky reddy-pink boots and a stripey waistcoat. He's not being dressed due to the circumstances of his death, so there was little point in a full set being taken. However, these 2 items are very 'him', so they will be placed in the coffin alongside him.
unless there are any good whoopsies (reduced items) - very unlikely in my local store! I shall combine the trip there with going to a funeral directors the other side of town to drop clothes off for my dad - it's his funeral on Friday. I'm taking some funky reddy-pink boots and a stripey waistcoat. He's not being dressed due to the circumstances of his death, so there was little point in a full set being taken. However, these 2 items are very 'him', so they will be placed in the coffin alongside him.Other things I need/ would like to do today include: planting more potatoes, tomatoes and onions before it really is too late!, booking the chunnel crossing for our trip in October, sorting out some items I need to return to various shops (not returning them today though), sweeping the patio, taking out breakdown/ recovery membership, several bits of online banking, some paperwork for Mr G's business and general housework, including some ironing. I also have a committee meeting for WI to go to tonight!
DS3 has just fallen asleep for his nap, so I shall leave the trip out until later and get on with some of the other things now instead.
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