Hello Everyone,
What a glorious day it is today in sunny South Wales!!!!!!!!!!!!! I hope the sunshine is shining down on you today!! Raising your spirit, drying your washing and generally ensuring you have a lovely Tuesday!! Work at 1.30 today so I will do a "proper post" later!!!!
Have gud un!!!
Later
NatalieXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Tuesday, 19 April 2011
Friday, 15 April 2011
What a chuffing week Ive had!!
Hello all,
I've just managed to get off the hamster wheel of mummy, wife, working woman life and having a breather before jumping back on!!!
I compiled a 4 week meal plan and went shopping and spent £200 and will only have to buy fresh fruit and veg and a few bits and bobs!!
Since last Friday I have had a cough and a cold which is still managing to linger and hang on in there today...It is snot central still and to top it off I was awoken by an upset tummy 5.23 this morning!!!(You always remember the time when you are woken early!! - Thank God for Imodium ;o)))
I haven't been to the gym or swimming this week because of the above and my gorgeous dad has given me and my mischevious dog a dog run that I would live in!!! THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have triesd to explain how amazing it is to the kids that my dad had an idea in his head and made into reality and built it with his own hands and that this was a gift and a brilliant thing!!! I couldn't do it!!!(Photos to follow!)
I can now plan my garden safe in the knowledge that JJ will not immediately pull it out and shake it to death so a busy few weeks ahead me thinks.
I have had a whirlwind of school stuff, parties and usual after school stuff which I let get me down...Its that time of the month when the littlest thing has had me balling my eyes out! Oh and to top my week off I had a bump in my car :O(...it is being sorted and there was nobody injured so I am very lucky. I have a replacement car so I am able to carry on with day to day life!!
Anyhow, this was only a quicky and I will attempt to write a bit more regularly and have some creative and happy posts for all you lovely followers out there
Have a lush weekend
xx
I've just managed to get off the hamster wheel of mummy, wife, working woman life and having a breather before jumping back on!!!
I compiled a 4 week meal plan and went shopping and spent £200 and will only have to buy fresh fruit and veg and a few bits and bobs!!
Since last Friday I have had a cough and a cold which is still managing to linger and hang on in there today...It is snot central still and to top it off I was awoken by an upset tummy 5.23 this morning!!!(You always remember the time when you are woken early!! - Thank God for Imodium ;o)))
I haven't been to the gym or swimming this week because of the above and my gorgeous dad has given me and my mischevious dog a dog run that I would live in!!! THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have triesd to explain how amazing it is to the kids that my dad had an idea in his head and made into reality and built it with his own hands and that this was a gift and a brilliant thing!!! I couldn't do it!!!(Photos to follow!)
I can now plan my garden safe in the knowledge that JJ will not immediately pull it out and shake it to death so a busy few weeks ahead me thinks.
I have had a whirlwind of school stuff, parties and usual after school stuff which I let get me down...Its that time of the month when the littlest thing has had me balling my eyes out! Oh and to top my week off I had a bump in my car :O(...it is being sorted and there was nobody injured so I am very lucky. I have a replacement car so I am able to carry on with day to day life!!
Anyhow, this was only a quicky and I will attempt to write a bit more regularly and have some creative and happy posts for all you lovely followers out there
Have a lush weekend
xx
Tuesday, 5 April 2011
The ***** is back!!!!(you fill in the blank with what you see fit!)
Hello everyone,
Sorry for my little break from blogging....I just let stupid stuff that I have no control over and won't do me any physical harm get to me!!! All better now!
I lost my way with my craft, gardening & frugalising but I am truly focussed now....but after reading my my frugal life and the frugal queen's blogs I am still an amatuer at the frugalising lark! They have inspired me to step it up a notch and use up some of my store cupboard stuff that seemed a good idea at the time.
I have also decided to go back to doing my shopping monthly along with a menu and just buy fresh stuff as an when as I found I was spending £20 here, £15 there, £30 here and that mean't I was losing track a bit. What I intend to do is do a big shop at the beginning of every month which will consist of all I need for my main meals and then buy fruit, veg and yogurts etc as and when. I will keep you posted on how it goes.
I have also bought, raspberries, Rhubarb and Asparegus(?spelling) so I will be planting them once my dad has built my dog run so JJ doesn't come along and pull up everything like he did last year!!! Oh, and I haven't forgotten my mushroom kit which I will be sorting soon......
Crafting is a bit slow but I'm sure my mojo will return soon....
I hope all the mothers out there had a wonderful Mothering Sunday and were spoiled rotten...I had lovely cards, money, flowers and a t-shirt(for the gym :o)) and my eldest daughter bought me an owl(you know what I am like about owls!) and a necklace from a Charity shop...I was so touched and impressed with her choices and she is definitelu a chip off the old block!
Have a lovely week ahead
XX
Sorry for my little break from blogging....I just let stupid stuff that I have no control over and won't do me any physical harm get to me!!! All better now!
I lost my way with my craft, gardening & frugalising but I am truly focussed now....but after reading my my frugal life and the frugal queen's blogs I am still an amatuer at the frugalising lark! They have inspired me to step it up a notch and use up some of my store cupboard stuff that seemed a good idea at the time.
I have also decided to go back to doing my shopping monthly along with a menu and just buy fresh stuff as an when as I found I was spending £20 here, £15 there, £30 here and that mean't I was losing track a bit. What I intend to do is do a big shop at the beginning of every month which will consist of all I need for my main meals and then buy fruit, veg and yogurts etc as and when. I will keep you posted on how it goes.
I have also bought, raspberries, Rhubarb and Asparegus(?spelling) so I will be planting them once my dad has built my dog run so JJ doesn't come along and pull up everything like he did last year!!! Oh, and I haven't forgotten my mushroom kit which I will be sorting soon......
Crafting is a bit slow but I'm sure my mojo will return soon....
I hope all the mothers out there had a wonderful Mothering Sunday and were spoiled rotten...I had lovely cards, money, flowers and a t-shirt(for the gym :o)) and my eldest daughter bought me an owl(you know what I am like about owls!) and a necklace from a Charity shop...I was so touched and impressed with her choices and she is definitelu a chip off the old block!
Have a lovely week ahead
XX
Sunday, 27 March 2011
Sorry....
I've been a very bad blogger and haven't posted for a week or two!!! I feel really bad!! I have been very busy, lost my way on my frugalizing and simple living and my craft mojo has stumbled a bit too..
Normal service will be resumed very soon and you will have a super doopa post very soon!!
Just completed the Census for 5 of us so I'm all computered out!
Have a lovely week ahead all
Love n Hugs
Natalie xx
Normal service will be resumed very soon and you will have a super doopa post very soon!!
Just completed the Census for 5 of us so I'm all computered out!
Have a lovely week ahead all
Love n Hugs
Natalie xx
Sunday, 13 March 2011
What Natalie Did......
This week has been another busy(ish week)
Monday I joined the local gym....I would like to point out that I thought long and hard and realised that a 1/2hour walk with the dog ain't gonna shift the pounds!!! I paid £310 in advance which meant that I had 12 months for the price of 10 saving myself £62 and I can use all the facilities in my local leaisure centre and three others in the area too so I was quite happy with that! I have been to the gym 3 times this week and went swimming today and Tuesday so I am going to make damn sure I get more than my moneys worth!!
Tuesday was Pancake Day which I love and I made pancakes for my family and my mum and dad came over...they were gluten free as my mum is a coeliac but the were delicious anyway...no one could taste the difference! The toppings available were the old school lemon and sugar, then there was golden syrup, choocolate spread, marshmallows and lemon curd. My youngest daughter went for the chocolate spread and marshmallow combo which looked delicious but I was old school as was my mum and dad!!! It was fun and lovely to have us all together!! It was also my monthly "Open Mic" night with my dad, it was an interesting night with a lady asking us to get involved in digital storytelling and then we all read poems we had written or admired....lush night spent with my lush dad!!
Wednesday was busy but not to bad, started Lent which entails giving up nice food and Facebook and following a daily Bible reading diary....;o)
Thursday my son was singing in a Schools Choral festival so I was running around a bit but it was lovely to here the choir sing!
Friday brought the devestating news of what was happening in Japan and made me realise what a lucky lucky person I am to be where I am, with a healthy family, a house that is still standing and all the creature comforts that we take for granted!!!! My thoughts and prayers are with them all!!!!
Saturday was Karate day(for the 3rd day this week for darling eldest and son) I will take them to the ends of the earth if it means they are getting some physical exercise!!!!) I then tidied my greenhouse and garden which brought some extra colour to my already red face and got a line of washing out whille there was a hint of blue sky!
And finally today was a delightfully, delicious, sunny Sunday!!! What more could you ask for?
I was up and out at 9.30 to go to the second writing workshop with my dad and it was once again a brilliant 3 hours, the poet who is taking the workshop was impressed with the work I had done and that has only stoked up my enthusiasm even more and the creative juices are overflowing at last...there has been a bit of a drought in recent times so I am sooooo glad ;o)))) and this afternoon the five of us went swimming...it was a family fun time with balls, floats, toys, lights and music....the kids loved it and it was very nice to do something together as a family!
Although my heart is heavy for the people of Japan, and New Zealand still...I wish all my bloggy friends wherever you are a lovely week ahead.....XxXxXxXxXxX
Monday I joined the local gym....I would like to point out that I thought long and hard and realised that a 1/2hour walk with the dog ain't gonna shift the pounds!!! I paid £310 in advance which meant that I had 12 months for the price of 10 saving myself £62 and I can use all the facilities in my local leaisure centre and three others in the area too so I was quite happy with that! I have been to the gym 3 times this week and went swimming today and Tuesday so I am going to make damn sure I get more than my moneys worth!!
Tuesday was Pancake Day which I love and I made pancakes for my family and my mum and dad came over...they were gluten free as my mum is a coeliac but the were delicious anyway...no one could taste the difference! The toppings available were the old school lemon and sugar, then there was golden syrup, choocolate spread, marshmallows and lemon curd. My youngest daughter went for the chocolate spread and marshmallow combo which looked delicious but I was old school as was my mum and dad!!! It was fun and lovely to have us all together!! It was also my monthly "Open Mic" night with my dad, it was an interesting night with a lady asking us to get involved in digital storytelling and then we all read poems we had written or admired....lush night spent with my lush dad!!
Wednesday was busy but not to bad, started Lent which entails giving up nice food and Facebook and following a daily Bible reading diary....;o)
Thursday my son was singing in a Schools Choral festival so I was running around a bit but it was lovely to here the choir sing!
Friday brought the devestating news of what was happening in Japan and made me realise what a lucky lucky person I am to be where I am, with a healthy family, a house that is still standing and all the creature comforts that we take for granted!!!! My thoughts and prayers are with them all!!!!
Saturday was Karate day(for the 3rd day this week for darling eldest and son) I will take them to the ends of the earth if it means they are getting some physical exercise!!!!) I then tidied my greenhouse and garden which brought some extra colour to my already red face and got a line of washing out whille there was a hint of blue sky!
And finally today was a delightfully, delicious, sunny Sunday!!! What more could you ask for?
I was up and out at 9.30 to go to the second writing workshop with my dad and it was once again a brilliant 3 hours, the poet who is taking the workshop was impressed with the work I had done and that has only stoked up my enthusiasm even more and the creative juices are overflowing at last...there has been a bit of a drought in recent times so I am sooooo glad ;o)))) and this afternoon the five of us went swimming...it was a family fun time with balls, floats, toys, lights and music....the kids loved it and it was very nice to do something together as a family!
Although my heart is heavy for the people of Japan, and New Zealand still...I wish all my bloggy friends wherever you are a lovely week ahead.....XxXxXxXxXxX
Sunday, 6 March 2011
One Weird Week!!!
I have had quite a busy week again this week but it has been enjoyable....
My two younger children went back to school on Monday but my eldest was off so she stayed with Nanna and Grandad, she went to town and had her hair cut in a "Jessie J" style bob and she looks absolutely gorgeous but about 3 years older than she is ;oO. It is amazing how a cut and blow dry can give someone a bit of confidence, so it was worth the money just for that.
Tuesday was St David's Day so my two younger children went to school in their welsh costumes and I did a Wales inspired singalong in work...so I had a wonderful day...once that was out the way it was time to think of what to wear for World Book Day!!! To add to it the primary school wanted it to be a character from a book that they had read in school...easy you might think but my children go to a Welsh Medium School!!! Luckily they have read Harry Potter in Welsh so that was my son sorted and to my delight my youngest daughter wanted to go as a character I cant spell but it turned out they were a black cat!! Marvellous!!! Ears on a headband, eyeliner on the face and a tail made out of strips of leather I had-Phew!!
In between all of this I had volunteered to deliver "Yes for Wales" leaflets before the referendum(500 to be exact) that kept me fit!! Thursday was the actual referendum day and Friday the count...I was asked to be a counting agent by one of the councillors in the area I live...I didn't know what to expect and it was very interesting....the Yes vote went through at about 65-35% in favour ...only time will tell what difference it will make to my life...I don't pay for prescriptions which is marvellous and as I type University and college fees will remain cheaper for students studying here or in England because they will be subsidised.
And today I went to a creative writing workshop with my father and my daughter. It was amazing and I feel like it was the little shove I needed to start getting into writing poetry on a regular basis! I feel like I have my creative writing "Mojo" back...there are another 3 workshops so I will keep you posted!
I didn't stick rigidly to my meal plan last week as the children wanted chicken curry instead of fajitas and pasta yesterday instead of pizza. I was fine with this as I had things in the cupboards so didn;t have to shell out for more food.
Anyhow here is this weeks menu:-
MONDAY: BEEFBURGERS AND CHIPS(ALL OVEN COOKED)
TUESDAY: TURKEY MINCE AND SWEET POTATO SHEPHERDS PIE AND PANCAKES
WEDNESDAY: MOTHER IN LAWS FOR TEA(YAY!!)
THURSDAY: BEEF CASSEROLE, POTATOES AND VEGETABLES
FRIDAY; CHICKEN FAJITAS
SATURDAY; PAELLA
SUNDAY: LAMB ROAST DINNER
All I should need to get for next week is the lamb and some chicken for the end of the week...so it's all good!!
I am hoping to be doing some planting next week too!
I start Lent on Wednesday which entails me giving up cakes, crisps, sweets, etc as well as not going on FACEBOOK.. I am also going to be limiting my time on here to 30 mins a day!!! Talk about cold(ish) turkey!!! :o)))))
I hope you all have a wonderful week ahead.
xx
My two younger children went back to school on Monday but my eldest was off so she stayed with Nanna and Grandad, she went to town and had her hair cut in a "Jessie J" style bob and she looks absolutely gorgeous but about 3 years older than she is ;oO. It is amazing how a cut and blow dry can give someone a bit of confidence, so it was worth the money just for that.
Tuesday was St David's Day so my two younger children went to school in their welsh costumes and I did a Wales inspired singalong in work...so I had a wonderful day...once that was out the way it was time to think of what to wear for World Book Day!!! To add to it the primary school wanted it to be a character from a book that they had read in school...easy you might think but my children go to a Welsh Medium School!!! Luckily they have read Harry Potter in Welsh so that was my son sorted and to my delight my youngest daughter wanted to go as a character I cant spell but it turned out they were a black cat!! Marvellous!!! Ears on a headband, eyeliner on the face and a tail made out of strips of leather I had-Phew!!
In between all of this I had volunteered to deliver "Yes for Wales" leaflets before the referendum(500 to be exact) that kept me fit!! Thursday was the actual referendum day and Friday the count...I was asked to be a counting agent by one of the councillors in the area I live...I didn't know what to expect and it was very interesting....the Yes vote went through at about 65-35% in favour ...only time will tell what difference it will make to my life...I don't pay for prescriptions which is marvellous and as I type University and college fees will remain cheaper for students studying here or in England because they will be subsidised.
And today I went to a creative writing workshop with my father and my daughter. It was amazing and I feel like it was the little shove I needed to start getting into writing poetry on a regular basis! I feel like I have my creative writing "Mojo" back...there are another 3 workshops so I will keep you posted!
I didn't stick rigidly to my meal plan last week as the children wanted chicken curry instead of fajitas and pasta yesterday instead of pizza. I was fine with this as I had things in the cupboards so didn;t have to shell out for more food.
Anyhow here is this weeks menu:-
MONDAY: BEEFBURGERS AND CHIPS(ALL OVEN COOKED)
TUESDAY: TURKEY MINCE AND SWEET POTATO SHEPHERDS PIE AND PANCAKES
WEDNESDAY: MOTHER IN LAWS FOR TEA(YAY!!)
THURSDAY: BEEF CASSEROLE, POTATOES AND VEGETABLES
FRIDAY; CHICKEN FAJITAS
SATURDAY; PAELLA
SUNDAY: LAMB ROAST DINNER
All I should need to get for next week is the lamb and some chicken for the end of the week...so it's all good!!
I am hoping to be doing some planting next week too!
I start Lent on Wednesday which entails me giving up cakes, crisps, sweets, etc as well as not going on FACEBOOK.. I am also going to be limiting my time on here to 30 mins a day!!! Talk about cold(ish) turkey!!! :o)))))
I hope you all have a wonderful week ahead.
xx
Tuesday, 1 March 2011
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