Hello dear readers (if there are any).
Well bad news out of the way first. I failed the exam that I took on Friday. I needed 700 and got 609. I'm lucky enough to be able to resit it and in my own time frame so I'm going to do that around September mark which leaves me 5 months after holidays which should be enough time. I know what to expect now.
In excellent news though, my lovely parents have bought us (well me) a new bread maker for Easter. It's a Panasonic which was reviewed to be the best by MSE users.
I've got a huge list ready for the great big spring clean and will try to transfer it over to the website tonight if I get time.
GH has taken up a fantastic new addition to his love of wood hobby. More to come with pictures soon.
Tomorrow and Thursday are work days for me then I'm off from Friday so I've got a few things to pack into work before I finish then I can concentrate on the great big spring clean. I can't wait!
Tuesday, 31 March 2015
Sunday, 29 March 2015
4 more sleeps until The Great Big Spring Clean and 10 days off work
We're on the countdown to the Great Big Spring clean!! To me, that's 10 precious days off work with my family and animals.
Lots of cleaning, cooking, baking, time out, family time, organising, taking stock, selling, walking, riding, mucking out, hacking out and anything else we feel like adding.
A quick update as I need to go and menu plan. My bread maker has given up the ghost so I'm gutted and I also didn't pass my exam, double gutted. The third thing was I handed my notice in for the second job as I just can't keep it up. They were fantastic about it and I'm sad to leave but glad I did.
Today made up for it though, we had a lovely family lunch courtesy of moi, slow cooker beef and all the trimmings followed by crumble and custard. Seriously yum. Then horses fed and dog walked and now we're both flaked out and the kids are in bed. Losing an hour last night played havoc with them and they have been very short tempered all day but we did enjoy the lighter night whilst we had it.
Happy Sunday and have a lovely week ahead.
Lots of cleaning, cooking, baking, time out, family time, organising, taking stock, selling, walking, riding, mucking out, hacking out and anything else we feel like adding.
A quick update as I need to go and menu plan. My bread maker has given up the ghost so I'm gutted and I also didn't pass my exam, double gutted. The third thing was I handed my notice in for the second job as I just can't keep it up. They were fantastic about it and I'm sad to leave but glad I did.
Today made up for it though, we had a lovely family lunch courtesy of moi, slow cooker beef and all the trimmings followed by crumble and custard. Seriously yum. Then horses fed and dog walked and now we're both flaked out and the kids are in bed. Losing an hour last night played havoc with them and they have been very short tempered all day but we did enjoy the lighter night whilst we had it.
Happy Sunday and have a lovely week ahead.
Tuesday, 24 March 2015
Gorgeous husbands shenanigans!
It seems that our pace of life is super sonic at the moment. The days are just whizzing by. As we speak GH is busy cooking veg for the coming days lunches that he takes to work, as he is starting his health kick / training again. Grace, our daughter is in there too making herself busy by talking a lot. My son is sound asleep in bed and I'm about to start another hour of study for the exam I have coming up on Friday (which I am dreading and feel thoroughly unprepared for).
Catching up on the last couple of weeks, GH has made a wine rack for the kitchen. It's only supposed to be a design/draft piece but I told him it was that good, that he should put it up in the kitchen whilst he worked on the "proper" one. I think it's fabulous.
The chicken shed project is now finished and included a re-spraying of the 2 sheds and the fence in between them. We decided to keep the old shed instead of buying a new one and just repair it. Total cost was £15 instead of £350 (minimum) that it would have cost us. All money that is better in our pockets than the shops!
GH has had a week off work recovering from his operation and made good use of himself (his choice!) by redesigning the big cupboard too. This was it before and after.
He also bought himself a new toy - £2 - cheaper than a new computer ;o)
I have my great spring clean week coming up soon so once my exam is over I will be preparing for that and keeping regular posts along the way. It won't be just cleaning but preparing, cooking, baking and pondering too. Bliss.
Catching up on the last couple of weeks, GH has made a wine rack for the kitchen. It's only supposed to be a design/draft piece but I told him it was that good, that he should put it up in the kitchen whilst he worked on the "proper" one. I think it's fabulous.
GH has had a week off work recovering from his operation and made good use of himself (his choice!) by redesigning the big cupboard too. This was it before and after.
He also bought himself a new toy - £2 - cheaper than a new computer ;o)
Monday, 16 March 2015
Halfway through March already!
Happy Monday :)
What a lot of activity has been packed into the last couple of weeks.
Project chicken shed is complete. GH has relocated them from the shed on the right, to the shed on the left - that's how we know it anyway. The shed on the right turned out to be rotting and have mice, possibly rats, so it had to go. We had a nice newish shed which GH built a few years back and with some new roof felt and some changes inside, it's a brand, spanking new chicken home for our 7 girls.
The first night they weren't sure what to do as they kept wandering over to their old place, despite having been shown the new place. Understandable as ideally we should have had it ready for first thing on a morning and locked them in for a couple of hours to get used to it. That's what our local farmer says anyway. So after much chasing and slipping, we managed to catch them and out them in their new home. A week or two on and they figured it out and now roost where they are supposed to and to top it off we have started seeing the first eggs of 2015 from them.
In the process of doing this we decided to get rid of the trampoline as it was huge and took over the bottom end of the garden. It looks a lot bigger without it and when we come to sell the house, it's one less thing to tackle for us and a huge benefit for the buyers/ sale photos point of view.
I also took the time to start the big declutter - I listed one of the kid's toys on ebay and got £16 for it so rather pleased with that too.
Then came the busy week! I had to travel to Belgium for work meaning chaos ensued at home. The kids have to sleep out when I do given GH is out far too early and they need someone to take them to school etc. Also the horses, dog and chickens need thinking about and taking care as required. So we set the wheels in motion and it ran smoothly.
Then came the weekend away - only thing was that GH had an operation on the same day we were to go away - talk about bad luck of timing. He managed to come away with us still, given that we were not going too far.
Before we know it, here we are at Monday again. I've started my healthy eating again today, so porridge for breakfast, soup for lunch then chicken and rice for tea. This benefits me twice over, all frugal and cheap, easy to make plus the added benefit of healthy.
I did this the year before last and lost 1.5 stone so I hope to do the same again - well I have 1 stone 11lb's to lose to get to the weight I'd like to be.
More on that next time as I will maybe have some progress to report.
In the mean time, I'll continue to overpay the loan and live our lives to the full. Have a great week if you're reading this :)
What a lot of activity has been packed into the last couple of weeks.
Project chicken shed is complete. GH has relocated them from the shed on the right, to the shed on the left - that's how we know it anyway. The shed on the right turned out to be rotting and have mice, possibly rats, so it had to go. We had a nice newish shed which GH built a few years back and with some new roof felt and some changes inside, it's a brand, spanking new chicken home for our 7 girls.
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| The shed on the right and the shed on the left and the reamains of the trampoline! |
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| The new pully system to open the hatch and save me getting filthy when I let them out on a morning in my work clothes. |
In the process of doing this we decided to get rid of the trampoline as it was huge and took over the bottom end of the garden. It looks a lot bigger without it and when we come to sell the house, it's one less thing to tackle for us and a huge benefit for the buyers/ sale photos point of view.
I also took the time to start the big declutter - I listed one of the kid's toys on ebay and got £16 for it so rather pleased with that too.
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| The finally got it. |
Then came the weekend away - only thing was that GH had an operation on the same day we were to go away - talk about bad luck of timing. He managed to come away with us still, given that we were not going too far.
Before we know it, here we are at Monday again. I've started my healthy eating again today, so porridge for breakfast, soup for lunch then chicken and rice for tea. This benefits me twice over, all frugal and cheap, easy to make plus the added benefit of healthy.
I did this the year before last and lost 1.5 stone so I hope to do the same again - well I have 1 stone 11lb's to lose to get to the weight I'd like to be.
More on that next time as I will maybe have some progress to report.
In the mean time, I'll continue to overpay the loan and live our lives to the full. Have a great week if you're reading this :)
Monday, 2 March 2015
A frosty start to March
There was a coating of frost everywhere this morning, with some local reports of snow but I didn't see any. Now I do love snow at Christmas time but once January and February are done, I'm looking forward to Spring. New shoot, new grass and a healthier glow.
Today my son is off school poorly so I'm working from home in between looking after him. We are going to have the home made bread rolls for lunch which I must say look fabulous. The test will be in the taste later today so I shall report back. For now this is what they looked like when being made then after baking.
Not bad for a first attempt?
The cookies are going a bit too quickly so I've stashed them away - if they are not on display then they should last the expected 3 days. Flapjacks are the same too.
Shopping came to £35 on Saturday from Aldi and that should last us for the week. Tonight is chicken and pasta and tomorrow chicken in the slow cooker. I have a budget of £150 for the month which allows me to make overpayments to the loan and keep the date planned to make the last payment.
I have decided to do a huge Spring clean when I am off work over Easter. This is going to be a mini project and will be update regularly on the blog. There are two reasons for this Spring clean, one because it's desperately needed as the house is grubby from the winter and two to de-clutter in preparation for the big move. There will be another round of de-cluttering too but this is the big push. So plans are a foot for the great spring clean.
GH has been partaking in a project at the bottom of the garden too, for the same reason of being ready to sell. We have chickens and their shed has seen better days so we are getting rid of it and moving them into the other shed we have. We'll have a little move around and get it looking better for when the time comes. We need to turf and things so I shall post before and after shots in the coming days/weeks.
Happy Monday :)
Today my son is off school poorly so I'm working from home in between looking after him. We are going to have the home made bread rolls for lunch which I must say look fabulous. The test will be in the taste later today so I shall report back. For now this is what they looked like when being made then after baking.
Not bad for a first attempt?
The cookies are going a bit too quickly so I've stashed them away - if they are not on display then they should last the expected 3 days. Flapjacks are the same too.
Shopping came to £35 on Saturday from Aldi and that should last us for the week. Tonight is chicken and pasta and tomorrow chicken in the slow cooker. I have a budget of £150 for the month which allows me to make overpayments to the loan and keep the date planned to make the last payment.
I have decided to do a huge Spring clean when I am off work over Easter. This is going to be a mini project and will be update regularly on the blog. There are two reasons for this Spring clean, one because it's desperately needed as the house is grubby from the winter and two to de-clutter in preparation for the big move. There will be another round of de-cluttering too but this is the big push. So plans are a foot for the great spring clean.
GH has been partaking in a project at the bottom of the garden too, for the same reason of being ready to sell. We have chickens and their shed has seen better days so we are getting rid of it and moving them into the other shed we have. We'll have a little move around and get it looking better for when the time comes. We need to turf and things so I shall post before and after shots in the coming days/weeks.
Happy Monday :)
Sunday, 1 March 2015
Goodbye February, Hello March
Spring is definitely in the air and it's lovely to feel.
Today I have been to the stables with my daughter and enjoyed seeing her ride her pony and a friend's pony too. Following this we all went to the father in laws for a lovely Sunday lunch. This afternoon has seen me take inspiration from notjustgreenfingers' blog and whip up some chocolate chip cookies, flapjacks and currently in the bread-maker is a dough to make rolls. Following her advice I will slice them and freeze ready to make up for the packed lunches. Great idea!
I've been making bread in the BM weekly now when we run out of shop bought. At the moment, we rely on shop bought to see us through the beginning of the week and I top up with homemade. Eventually I may get to homemade 100% of the time but for now I'm happy with the balance.
It struck me the other day how far we've come since our journey had it's initial, dim spark. I say dim as it's taken me a long time to start living a more frugal lifestyle but the fact is, we've come so far. We don't buy things that we don't need, we make do and mend, make the most of free activities and generally live a happy yet frugal lifestyle.
So this coming week I have my meal plan done, shopped yesterday to get everything I need for it and have the treats made to fill up the lunch boxes and after tea requests. I'm going to make some rice pudding later in the week. I think I will use the slow cooker as I've never done rice pudding in the slow cooker before. That will be or Friday's soup and pudding night.
Two years time we will have our house up for sale and the farm will be in our sights.
Today I have been to the stables with my daughter and enjoyed seeing her ride her pony and a friend's pony too. Following this we all went to the father in laws for a lovely Sunday lunch. This afternoon has seen me take inspiration from notjustgreenfingers' blog and whip up some chocolate chip cookies, flapjacks and currently in the bread-maker is a dough to make rolls. Following her advice I will slice them and freeze ready to make up for the packed lunches. Great idea!
I've been making bread in the BM weekly now when we run out of shop bought. At the moment, we rely on shop bought to see us through the beginning of the week and I top up with homemade. Eventually I may get to homemade 100% of the time but for now I'm happy with the balance.
It struck me the other day how far we've come since our journey had it's initial, dim spark. I say dim as it's taken me a long time to start living a more frugal lifestyle but the fact is, we've come so far. We don't buy things that we don't need, we make do and mend, make the most of free activities and generally live a happy yet frugal lifestyle.
So this coming week I have my meal plan done, shopped yesterday to get everything I need for it and have the treats made to fill up the lunch boxes and after tea requests. I'm going to make some rice pudding later in the week. I think I will use the slow cooker as I've never done rice pudding in the slow cooker before. That will be or Friday's soup and pudding night.
Two years time we will have our house up for sale and the farm will be in our sights.
Monday, 26 January 2015
Dusting off the January blues and looking forward to Frugal February
Happy Monday :)
Well pay day finally arrived. I've been sitting, waiting for it to arrive and although it took its time, it did. A welcome one indeed.
So we have made it through Christmas and most of January and are now ready to bring on Frugal February. The idea is to spend as little as possible on groceries and get back on an even keel after the Christmas spends.
Life is good at the moment. Yesterday saw the family gather together for a Sunday lunch cooked by yours truly and I must say, it was thoroughly enjoyed. We followed it with a lovely walk with the dog and by the time we came back, the children were worn out. An early night was had by all, most welcome too!
We went to view a little property on Saturday. We're not looking to buy yet but whilst we were over that neck of the woods we called in. It was lovely and plenty of inspiration to keep plodding along and get into a position to be truly looking.
In the coming weeks I will be planting some potatoes after they have chitted and I'm on the look out for something else to plant. I don't have a lot of room, it's a small veg patch, not bags/borders etc so watch this space!
Speaking of potatoes, we have a lovely butternut squash and sweet potato soup for lunch today. I made it last night. It has a bit of chilli in it to keep us warm on these colder days. Although, having said that, it's becoming increasingly spring like today.
So, now we're starting Frugal February, I'm reinforcing we are still determined and looking more than ever to the end goal. 2 years to go!
I might even start planning a little......let's start with pigs......
Well pay day finally arrived. I've been sitting, waiting for it to arrive and although it took its time, it did. A welcome one indeed.
So we have made it through Christmas and most of January and are now ready to bring on Frugal February. The idea is to spend as little as possible on groceries and get back on an even keel after the Christmas spends.
Life is good at the moment. Yesterday saw the family gather together for a Sunday lunch cooked by yours truly and I must say, it was thoroughly enjoyed. We followed it with a lovely walk with the dog and by the time we came back, the children were worn out. An early night was had by all, most welcome too!
We went to view a little property on Saturday. We're not looking to buy yet but whilst we were over that neck of the woods we called in. It was lovely and plenty of inspiration to keep plodding along and get into a position to be truly looking.
In the coming weeks I will be planting some potatoes after they have chitted and I'm on the look out for something else to plant. I don't have a lot of room, it's a small veg patch, not bags/borders etc so watch this space!
Speaking of potatoes, we have a lovely butternut squash and sweet potato soup for lunch today. I made it last night. It has a bit of chilli in it to keep us warm on these colder days. Although, having said that, it's becoming increasingly spring like today.
So, now we're starting Frugal February, I'm reinforcing we are still determined and looking more than ever to the end goal. 2 years to go!
I might even start planning a little......let's start with pigs......
Monday, 29 December 2014
A belated, but Merry Christmas!
Happy December!
How time flies when you are having fun.
I am currently cooking a joint of ham in the slow cooker, simmering a pan of pudding rice on the hob and listening to the sound of my bread maker, which is busily competing with the washing machine. Right now, I am sat in my cosy chair, with a glass of red wine, thinking what 2014 has given us and what I would like from 2015 whilst perusing the forums that I follow online.
I've taken on a second job in October and it has proved a great thing so far. I won't lie, it's hard work managing that on top of a normal full time job, husband & children, horses , dog and a house. However the thought of owing our own piece of heaven (or a bit of countryside in the North East of England as it's also known) is worth the hard work and more. Some nights have seen me working until 2:30am and getting up at 6:30am but I am coping and dare I say it, enjoying it! A couple of hundred extra a month is very welcome :)
2015 is going to be the best year yet. It will see us making great strides into paying off the loan meaning we're ready to start looking for our farm. It will be the year of make do and mend and really getting back to basics.
Starting off with repairing a pair of jodhpurs that have seen better days and were destined for the bin.
I am off work until Friday and even then it's just from home for a couple of hours. I am just settling down and enjoying my time off and it's lovely.
How time flies when you are having fun.
I am currently cooking a joint of ham in the slow cooker, simmering a pan of pudding rice on the hob and listening to the sound of my bread maker, which is busily competing with the washing machine. Right now, I am sat in my cosy chair, with a glass of red wine, thinking what 2014 has given us and what I would like from 2015 whilst perusing the forums that I follow online.
I've taken on a second job in October and it has proved a great thing so far. I won't lie, it's hard work managing that on top of a normal full time job, husband & children, horses , dog and a house. However the thought of owing our own piece of heaven (or a bit of countryside in the North East of England as it's also known) is worth the hard work and more. Some nights have seen me working until 2:30am and getting up at 6:30am but I am coping and dare I say it, enjoying it! A couple of hundred extra a month is very welcome :)
2015 is going to be the best year yet. It will see us making great strides into paying off the loan meaning we're ready to start looking for our farm. It will be the year of make do and mend and really getting back to basics.
Starting off with repairing a pair of jodhpurs that have seen better days and were destined for the bin.
I am off work until Friday and even then it's just from home for a couple of hours. I am just settling down and enjoying my time off and it's lovely.
Tuesday, 4 November 2014
Happy November!
I'm back :) We've been extremely busy with one thing and another, so I thought it was time to dust the blog off and provide an update!
The out-house as it was once known, in my last post, is now fondly referred to as the downstairs loo! GH has done a fabulous job on turning the cold, damp and down-right awful outhouse into a sleek, practical and tidy downstairs loo room. A huge pat on the back for him!
GH has also taken up learning to play the guitar so this has now taken up residence in our living room. It actually adds a warmth to the room. We've had the log burner on regularly now the nights are colder (despite the days being mild here in the North East) and I feel we're on the turn to Winter now as the temperature this morning had dropped dramatically compared to previous nights. This means tonight will see us digging out the scarf and glove sets for the kids to put in their school bags.
I've taken on a second job which so far is proving fabulous. I work from home a couple of times a week typing up documents for a company and they pay me. The wage isn't great but I don't care. Every penny will go towards overpaying the car loan which I took out March last year. It was over 5 years and the idea is to over pay it and get this down to 2017 (or sooner?) so we can get on with buying the farm! GH bought a car last year too and he will pay his (family) loan off at the same time. That will leave us loan free to purchase our dream.
My mind is turning to Christmas now. I've already bought quite a few gifts and I need to sort through them - a weekend job. I'm planning on making a few homemade gifts and putting them in as the stocking fillers this year. A hamper of 2 for the kids and my parents, a few personalised items from the internet for those who don't appreciate homemade and hopefully we're done.
I love getting organised!
The out-house as it was once known, in my last post, is now fondly referred to as the downstairs loo! GH has done a fabulous job on turning the cold, damp and down-right awful outhouse into a sleek, practical and tidy downstairs loo room. A huge pat on the back for him!
GH has also taken up learning to play the guitar so this has now taken up residence in our living room. It actually adds a warmth to the room. We've had the log burner on regularly now the nights are colder (despite the days being mild here in the North East) and I feel we're on the turn to Winter now as the temperature this morning had dropped dramatically compared to previous nights. This means tonight will see us digging out the scarf and glove sets for the kids to put in their school bags.
I've taken on a second job which so far is proving fabulous. I work from home a couple of times a week typing up documents for a company and they pay me. The wage isn't great but I don't care. Every penny will go towards overpaying the car loan which I took out March last year. It was over 5 years and the idea is to over pay it and get this down to 2017 (or sooner?) so we can get on with buying the farm! GH bought a car last year too and he will pay his (family) loan off at the same time. That will leave us loan free to purchase our dream.
My mind is turning to Christmas now. I've already bought quite a few gifts and I need to sort through them - a weekend job. I'm planning on making a few homemade gifts and putting them in as the stocking fillers this year. A hamper of 2 for the kids and my parents, a few personalised items from the internet for those who don't appreciate homemade and hopefully we're done.
I love getting organised!
Sunday, 14 September 2014
Decorating the outhouse!
This weekend has been a doing weekend. I like those type!
We've started decorating the downstairs toilet. Granted, we were forced into it because of a leak, however we grasped it with both hands and thought about the best way to get this done so that we won't have to do anything (other than routine clean of course!!) before we put it up for sale in 3.5 years time.
It's more of an semi outhouse as it's at the back of our utility and has no heating. The kids use it when playing in the garden, wellies and all, and it we have posh guests they can go upstairs!
Here's what it looked like in 2007 on the day we moved in:
It's seen a few iterations since then however this will be its final with us. We're tiling the whole thing and putting a new suite in it. Then I can just spray it down and wash it as I need to.
GH has been working hard on it today - he's ripped out the old suite which was put in never to come out again! The floor's been levelled and the tiles for the floor have gone down. Sounds easy? Harder than it sounds :)
More updates and current pics tomorrow.
We've started decorating the downstairs toilet. Granted, we were forced into it because of a leak, however we grasped it with both hands and thought about the best way to get this done so that we won't have to do anything (other than routine clean of course!!) before we put it up for sale in 3.5 years time.
It's more of an semi outhouse as it's at the back of our utility and has no heating. The kids use it when playing in the garden, wellies and all, and it we have posh guests they can go upstairs!
Here's what it looked like in 2007 on the day we moved in:
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| Previous owner kindly left all you see ?!?! |
GH has been working hard on it today - he's ripped out the old suite which was put in never to come out again! The floor's been levelled and the tiles for the floor have gone down. Sounds easy? Harder than it sounds :)
More updates and current pics tomorrow.
Saturday, 13 September 2014
Frugal home cooking and knowing what you eat
In an attempt to continue to save the pennies and keep September as a low spend month, I've plunged into home cooking and baking again. The kids are well into it too so it's been a family effort (GH does the taste test).
So far we have the plum jam as pictured previously, which is going down a treat and in an effort to know what we eat I've been using the bread maker for home made bread. It is gorgeous! Tonight I have taken a recipe from Frugal Queen's blog and adapted it with what I had in. It was the fish and rice one and it was lovely. Thanks to her for that.
We've also done some jam tarts, ice lollies and crumbles. It is so rewarding to use foraged fruits and pantry items to produce lovely meals.
Friday we went to a garden party / festival and it was quite fun - I've never been to one before and won't hurry back, but it was nice enough.
I am also finding that as soon as I'm getting organised, things start unravelling just as quickly! So this weekend has so far been spent trying to get outstanding jobs done and organising as much as possible for next week and then the aim is to stay organised!!!
Happy Saturday everyone
So far we have the plum jam as pictured previously, which is going down a treat and in an effort to know what we eat I've been using the bread maker for home made bread. It is gorgeous! Tonight I have taken a recipe from Frugal Queen's blog and adapted it with what I had in. It was the fish and rice one and it was lovely. Thanks to her for that.
We've also done some jam tarts, ice lollies and crumbles. It is so rewarding to use foraged fruits and pantry items to produce lovely meals.
Friday we went to a garden party / festival and it was quite fun - I've never been to one before and won't hurry back, but it was nice enough.
I am also finding that as soon as I'm getting organised, things start unravelling just as quickly! So this weekend has so far been spent trying to get outstanding jobs done and organising as much as possible for next week and then the aim is to stay organised!!!
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| Our jam tarts with home made plum jam |
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| Grace chilling with the chicken Jess (Jess is moulting a lot at the moment) |
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| Shot from our festival |
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