Liebster Blog Award

Big thanks to Karen from My Frugal Life who has awarded me the Liebster Blog Award. I was really chuffed when I saw Karen's comment yesterday. Yesterday coincidentally was my blogs two month anniversary and also passed the 1000 view marker. Thanks again to Karen and everyone else who takes time to read and comment on my snippets !!
Rules of the Liebster say that I must nominate another blogger with less than 100 followers and the results of my nomination go to......Frugal Down Under. This is a blog that I really enjoy and I hope you will too if you haven't seen it already .

Why I hate shopping.

Today I went off on the search for black trousers, armed with time, money and positivity. Straight into the local Marks and Spencer's which was nice and quiet as it is Sunday. Was able to walk around the displays without the crowds , looking at the goods at my own pace without being pushed and shoved. Despite my best efforts I could not find any suitable trousers. The main problem being lack of sizes on the shelf. I want to try them on in store and buy them there and then. I don't want to order and pay online to have the problem of waiting for the postman, the package arriving when I'm not home and having to make a special trip into town to collect them from the main Post Office, then to get them home and they don't fit....grrrrrrrrrrr.....I speak from experience!! What I will have to do is go to a larger store and see if I have any luck there. This is why I hate clothes shopping. Whilst in M&S I bumped into a friend and she asked if I have time for a coffee. I did have time but found the coffee shop a tad on the expensive side. My husband asked if I wanted a cake with my drink, I had already noticed that the cakes started at £2 per slice so I declined. As I am a bit of cake monster , I would love a slice of cake with my drink but its just too expensive. They had a Victoria sponge at £2.50 per slice and having a quick peak there was at least 10 slices. My mom bakes and an equivalent sized cake that she makes cost less than £1.50 per cake. It just goes to show how much money they make. My tea was £1.60 and to be honest it wasn't that nice. Its easy to see how you can squander your money, tea & cake there would have been at least £3.60 per person. It was however good to see our friend and have a nice chat over a cup of tea.

Trouser Shopping

I am being forced to go clothes shopping this weekend for black trousers. I really don't like clothes shopping. I tend to have items that I wear to death and that is the reason why I have to go shopping. I noticed yesterday that my faithful black trousers have gone threadbare just by the seat. I can't risk wearing them to work anymore as I don't want to subject the public to the horror of a view of my bottom. I'm not at all adventurous with clothes and tend to play it safe , hence the compulsory black trousers. My last pair was from Marks and Spencer's so that is where I will start, if I am lucky I could be in and out within 20 minutes.
In addition to the trouser situation, the heel also went on my faithful black boots. I've  had my boots for about 2 years and wear them all the time. I get them resoled and heeled when I need but looking at the heel it has split vertically and I'm not sure they are repairable. I will have to take them into the cobblers shop and see what he says. Luckily I have a pair in reserve. The boots were so comfortable that when I saw another pair on sale I bought them to keep for a later date.

Another school project - on a budget

My daughter is learning about the Greeks at school and sure enough school send a letter home to advise they need to come dressed as a Greek Goddess for Greek Day at school. When I was at school we always made our own costumes and that was all part of the fun but nowadays parents tend to just order everything off the Internet and subsequently all the kids look the same. So I told my daughter we would make our own! I started the costume by 'stealing' a skirt that my mom had put in the charity shop bag. It was a brand new ( with tags!) white linen skirt from Marks and Spencers. I cut off the waist band and diagonally cut the skirt to make arms and a neckline. I then sewed it at the top to make wide shoulder straps. I don't have a sewing machine and I didn't want to pay a seamstress to do it , so I sewed it a few times to reinforce it. Once on ,it was the perfect length although a little bit see through so my daughter wore some white leggings underneath and last years summer sandals , that still fit. I needed some bits and pieces to adorn the outfit. I initially thought about gold ribbon for a belt, none in stock so off we went to a local fabric shop. Inside they had a bargain bin of oddments so we had a mooch through. Curtain tiebacks were in there for £1.50 a pair. I found the perfect gold tieback which was originally £31.99! When I got to the till we were charged 75p ! I cut the regal tassel off the tie back ( it was too big and heavy to keep on) and there was a good length of rope to go around her waist and shoulders. From a local Oxfam shop I found the gold brooch and the bangle at £1 each. So here is the finished costume, cost £2.75..... what do you think?

More Food Bargains

I have been to Sainsburys this evening and picked up some reductions. The freezer is now full to the brim but this should last us a good while. I have tried to capture everything as best as I could on the photograph. Here's what I bought;
Cooked Chicken Breast - reduced from £2 to 59p - bought for sandwiches
Cooked Ham with garlic and sage - reduced from £1.99 to 59p - bought for sandwiches
3 tubs of pasta sauces; three cheese and carbonara - reduced from £1.40 each to 49p
Spaghetti Bolognese - reduced from £1.78 to 59p
6 Pork Sausages - reduced from £2.59 to 79p
Coq Au Vin - reduced from £6.00 to £1.49 ( serves 2)
Puff Pastry -reduced from £1.20 to 39p
2 packs of kippers - reduced from 89p each to 39p
Mashed Potato - reduced from £1 to 39p
Garlic Baguette -reduced from 90p to 30p
Pizza Express Vitabella Pizza - reduced from £3.99 to £1.39
Ham Pizza -reduced from £1.65 to 79p
Tomato & Garlic Pizza Bread - reduced from £1.69 to 79p
Lamb Neck Fillets - reduced from £13.67 to £4.86

Some of it is for quick meals and accompaniments. The pastry I want to have a little dabble at making things. The lamb neck fillets is something I have read/heard about before but I have always found it to be expensive so I thought I would buy it on offer and give it a go. Need to look up some recipes but a fellow shopper said the neck is very nice and has a sweet taste. The Coq Au Vin looks delicious, it has 4 chicken breasts in so probably would serve more than 2 and you couldn't buy the breasts for £1.49. My husband likes Pizza Express but if you eat in , it is very costly. I hope to stay away now from the supermarket for a while and just eat whats in stock.

Back to Work Blues

Today was my first day back at work. With the Easter break, shift patterns and a bit of annual leave I have been away for two weeks. I have to be honest had a good break , the weather has been good, have relaxed and the time has passed by at an acceptable pace not too fast like some holidays. Nevertheless today was complete pants. It sounds ridiculous but whenever I have time off I always feel weird when I go back in. I kind of have the feeling that you used to get if you were called to the headmasters office. I know its ridiculous to feel like that but I have never been able to shake it off. As I walk in through the main door , I wonder '' what has happened in my absence?''. Well the answer was not much. We have been short staffed so my work really hasn't been done so I spent today catching up. I also checked my emails to find an email addressed to me about a problem that someone at senior level had spotted. On our system it leaves a trail so you can see who has done something and when. Looking at the system it took me all of two seconds to see that the problem was not caused by me. Then I took five to take my heart out of my mouth ! Something like that sticks with me for the rest of the day and I am then paranoid, checking all my work. That aside it was nice to see my colleagues and have a bit of Royal Wedding chat. Back home for a nice cup of tea before I start making dinner. See you soon.

School Project

My daughter starts a new school project when she starts back at school tomorrow ' Recycling and Sustainability'. Over the school holidays their homework was to make a Garden Buddy which will be hung in the schools vegetable garden to ward away the birds. The Buddy had to be made with items that would have been otherwise thrown away so over the last three weeks we have been saving things to use. We made the Buddy today, although sunny today it was also very windy so we had to keep retrieving things that had blown around the garden. The Buddy is actually a girl and and she has been accorded some lovely red lips! Here's how we made the Buddy ;
Head - Tomato tin, Blue Hat - lid from washing detergent bottle, Body - Large squash bottle, Arms - Wire coat hanger, Arm decorations- Made from silver wrappings, my daughter based the tassel design on one of Elvis Presley's stage costumes!, Legs - String and Milk Bottle tops, Feet - Yogurt pots.

I'm looking forward to what she learns on this project and what she can teach me !!