Juggling, Organising, and Holding it All Together - 2011

Triggles

Bread making went well. I just made 2 loaves (half the batch) to see how they turned out before committing to 4 loaves. It tastes good - is rather dense, but in a good way. Wholewheat without seeds. Very nice. :j The boys were a bit iffy about it, but hopefully we can reach a point where we'll just be making the bread at home without buying it.

Electrician found nothing wrong with the wiring or the light. No sign of damage to the wires at all, fairly new looking wires. So not a clue. Maybe a fluke? We're keeping an eye on it.

It's been a bit of a stressful morning. DS2 has been all over the place, even more than usual. So it was difficult to leave the room for even a minute. Can make things so complicated.

I've browsed a few sites regarding lemon curd. Yes, I really am that sad that I'm looking up lemon curd. :rotfl: I found a few sites that had recipes on how to make it, however, it seems to be cheaper to buy it pre-made. Basics lemon curd is 29p for a jar, and it's quite good. DH is pleased with it. The lemons alone would be more than that, even if I made a couple jars. So I think we'll stick with buying the basics jar from Sainsburys for now.

It's tricky, this balance of "what to buy pre-made and what to make at home" thing. And some things are possibly more expensive but better quality, such as butter for baking versus margarine or meat from the local butcher. Or eggs and chicken, buying battery/caged vs free range. For some it's simply a luxury they can't afford, and to be honest sometimes we can and sometimes we can't. It just depends on what other bills we have going out at any given point. I know I'm not the only one to have to decide whether or not we can afford the conscience at each shop.

Triggles

Whoops. Been a while since I've posted, but things have been busy here.

We've done some reorganising in the kitchen, which looks better now. And cleaner. Same with the dining room. I bought a heavier plastic set of storage drawers for the toys in the living room (on sale for £10), and now the living room is much tidier as the boys can put the toys away easier now.

The stable door is now on the kitchen!! :j It is absolutely lovely! Built to fit our kitchen entryway, and it works perfectly. DS2 (and DS3) can see me and speak to me if I'm in there cooking, but it has a latch inside the kitchen they can't reach (but that we adults can access from either side), so it keeps them safely out of the kitchen! The top half is hooked to the wall, so the boys can't mess with it, but it's there if needed. God bless DS2's OT for getting it sorted for us!! And while they were here, the man who was putting up the door also fixed our bathroom door (we hung it ourselves, and couldn't get the hinges quite right so it didn't shut properly). He fixed it easily, so we were thrilled!! (doesn't take much to make us happy! :rotfl:)

We've been lucky and managed to hit a few sales on expensive items recently - nappies, wipes, a few grocery items. It's always nice to catch a good sale.

I got a coupon for a £12.50 photo mug for 99p at Vistaprint, so DH & I discussed getting MIL a photo mug with a photo on it. She likes those kind of things, so we were quite pleased to get an offer for one that is inexpensive. I think it would be nice to give her for her birthday, and possibly put some nice chocolates in it, and wrap it up nicely.

We got out the laminator and laminated a bunch of things to assist DS2. Lists of things in simple terms as he can read. I'll be making some picture stuff as well, as he is definitely a visual learner. And a couple write-on/wipe-off things as well - such as a weekly planner (one for upstairs and one for downstairs) and a menu planner (two to use alternating weeks) so if we need to change anything, we can just erase it. And uses less paper this way.

We've been careful to stick to our menu this week, although I found we had leftover bacon from tonight's supper, so am substituting cheesy potato soup with bacon for tomorrow night's mushroom chicken, as we have all the ingredients and it will use the bacon up, rather than waste it. And the chicken is still frozen, so just won't take it out to thaw and can use it next week. :j

We will need to pop into Primark within the next week and pick up a couple pairs of jeans for DS2. We got some nice ones for £3 each for DS3 at Asda, but the ones from Primark seem to fit DS2 best, so we'll go there next.

We hopefully have DS2's school sorted out for next autumn. He'll be going to a special school nearby so that means new school jumpers, so I need to figure that into the budget. It also means I'll be driving him to school everyday and picking him up, so the extra petrol will need to be added in as well. I'll also need to then drive DS3 to preschool, as otherwise I won't get him there on time after driving DS2 to school, so extra petrol for that as well. We'll manage it in the budget, I'm sure, but I'll have to be very careful about how frequently we use the car other times, or our petrol bill will be horrendous!! :eek:

Freezing outside lately, so we've had to run the heater more. Not keen on it, but needs must. It's been a warmer winter this year so far compared to last year, so I'm hoping the heating bill won't be so bad. We'll soon see!

The jury is still out on the homemade bread. DH & I liked it, but I think it could be a bit less dense. Rather than kneading it by hand, I'm going to make it again, but use my mixer with the bread hook and see what a difference that makes.

Getting together with some friends for a meal this weekend. They're making a big pot of chili, so I'm baking some cornbread and bringing it along. Yummm!!! It goes quite well with chili and is pretty inexpensive to make. And is easy to heat up as well, so I'll make some extra for at home.

I'd better get moving on some other things as well. I have some recipe reading to do.

brizzledfw

Hi Triggles good to see the newsy post and hear about all the Triggles' household doings!! Very impressed about the bread. Much better than bought..although I do love the sourdough that my local bakers makes

Stable door sounds a great addition. And decluttering..well I can but hope that comes to the Brizzle household before the century is out:rotfl:

Triggles

The only problem I've found with decluttering is that sometimes it seems more like an exercise in redistributing or relocating instead. I take back control of one room to find all the stuff in another room.

We have a few things in place now that will help :

- taking all children's clothing to charity shops as they are finally outgrown by the youngest. We could do ebay or carboot sales, but it's such a horrendous hassle for us that it's more aggravation than it's worth. Secondhand children's clothing isn't selling that well on ebay in the last year or so, and it costs us extra money to get to a post office with it. And carboot sales are difficult as we can't take the children, so it always ends up being me going (as I'm the driver in the household), and DH is still struggling a bit when dealing with both children on his own (although I have noticed a marked improvement in his efforts lately).

- gently used toys also being taken to charity shop when "outgrown" for older toys. Again, no point in hanging on to these.

- children's artwork is kept by photo instead of kept completely. I take a digital photo of the children's art or school work, so I have it to look back at (or for them to look back at when they're older), but it's not taking up room in the house. This is also handy because it shows progression of DS2's skills and what level he is at for handwriting and such, so it gives his OT a much clearer view.

DH put up a second shelf in the bathroom. We can now put a few cleaning items up in there that the children cannot reach. Much better.

Our funny new DIY was organising a decent place for the ironing board. We keep it in the dining room, but DS3 has a tendency to try to pull it over constantly. So I picked up a couple storage hooks in B&Q the other day, and DH bolted them to the wall underneath the wide dining room window. Ironing board turned sideways sits nicely on the hooks, so it's suspended under the window, flat against the wall. :j It works brilliantly!! Out of the way, and you barely even notice it's there. Yes, we have a family dining room - not a formal one. :rotfl: Big farmhouse wooden table (secondhand £25 from reclaim - needed a repair which DH was able to do easily), mismatched wooden chairs, sideboard, and along one wall is our lovely old-fashioned upright piano (another secondhand purchase from reclaim). My craft supplies are on shelves and drawers in the corner. So obviously space is at a premium in that room! :eek: But at least now the ironing board is out of the way, yet easily accessible, and DS3 cannot pull it over onto his head. :j

Our first week back at mealplanning went very well. We stuck to it all week, with one exception. On Saturday, we had chili and cornbread planned, however, we had bacon left over from eggs and bacon the other day and cornbread left over from Friday night. So we used what supplies we already had in the house - potatoes, cheese, half an onion, butter, garlic, milk, leftover bacon - and ate cheesy potato soup with cornbread. Yummmmmm

The kitchen reorganisation seems to be working well. I tried to keep things used more often in easily accessible areas, and tuck away things used less frequently. With all my baking things more centralised, baking is less hassle as well. Next step will be to try making bread again, using the mixer and bread hook. Also want to use the Remoska and slow cooker more often, as they are cheaper to run than the oven. Must find some good recipes to try.

Unfortunately, petrol usage has climbed this week. We've had to do a lot more driving for various things, but it was unavoidable. Hopefully we can be better during the rest of the month to keep it within budget.

brizzledfw

Good ideas here Triggles..will come back and make a note of these..have also wondered about a Remoska but they are pricey and it's another gadget..but have you found it good?
Toys..after watching Toy Story 3:eek: my kids find decluttering toys very stressful..oh how I wishPixar had chosen a different story line :rotfl:

Have a great weekend..cold at yours?

Triggles

Brizzled - actually we do use the Remoska for a fair few things. I make scones, muffins, roast meals, lasagna, curry, almost any meal with baked on/in sauce, meatloaf. But I have the suspicion I could be using it more often, so I'm going to make an effort. We have the largest size, as it's easy to make a smaller portion by putting a container inside and cooking it in that, but some things (like lasagna) we like to use the whole pan, so that we have leftover to freeze.

DS2 is still obsessed with Toy Story - he has most of the regular toys in some version or other (a product of Christmas and birthdays from us and family members). We have a separate box in his room that he puts them all in. Mustn't mix them with the "regular" toys.:rotfl:

It's definitely cold here - snowed last night, but gone this morning. We did have to turn up the heat, as the boys' radiators are not working properly. We have someone coming out to look at them on Tuesday, but DH has checked them, bled them, and cannot get them working properly. So the heater is up, as their rooms went down to 16 and falling, and now they are up to 18. Thank goodness!

Hope you are having a nice warm weekend!

Triggles

Thank goodness the cold snap has abated somewhat, and DH was able to turn the heater down again yesterday. I shudder to think what our heating bill will be! :eek: I'm hoping that as it has been fairly mild this winter, and we've had numerous days where the heater has been off, it will balance out. Fingers crossed!

I'm still in the "cheaper or better quality?" mode lately. For example:

- doritos/tortilla crisps. We buy the brand name on this, but only when on sale. The basics ones are actually quite good, but coarser which is no problem as far as taste, but seems to aggravate my digestive system. So the brand name get bought. We actually use these as a substitute for popadoms (sp?) when we have curry and for making taco salad (as well as for the occasional snack ).

- meat from butcher. Other than mince (basics), we have been buying more and more meat from the local butcher. It's actually not working out to be that much more expensive, and often we end up with a very good deal. Our weekly roasts are certainly cheaper and better quality.

- fruit and veg. We're also buying more from the local fruit and veg market. It's often cheaper, but even when it's not, it's always good quality. We also like that we're supporting local businesses.

- coffee. We have been using the basics brand, but DH has decided that he does prefer the Sainsburys brand coffee. It's only one level up from the basics, and at least we know that if money ever becomes very very tight, he will drink the basics coffee if need be.

- vanilla extract. I buy a larger bottle from Lakeland for approximately £5-6. It's very good - smells lovely! I hate the fussy little bottles in the supermarket, and they don't taste or smell nearly as good.

- butter. We've started buying real butter instead of margarine. It works better for baking IMO (although some spreads do work fairly well) and is easy to buy a few blocks and toss into the freezer so you always have some on hand. It is more expensive (or at least it seems to be - I'm guilty to not sitting down to do the absolute maths on this one) but I'm willing to cut back in other areas of the grocery bill to have this.

We've experimented recently with having UHT milk on hand at all times, for when we're running low on regular milk, to avoid an extra trip to the supermarket. It's been working pretty well. None of us has really noticed a difference in the taste, and if it keeps us out of the supermarket then it's worth its weight in gold! :rotfl: So we'll be continuing with that practice!

Triggles

Oh my. Two posts in one day! (makes up for the days I have missed, I suppose)

DH & I watch that show scrimpsavers (or whatever it's called ) on ch4. Some interesting tips on there - some we knew, some we didn't. We really enjoyed seeing the couple that redecorated their room for under £50. As we're still mid-DIY on our house, it was something we were definitely interested in. I'm going to see what "in-house" decorating we can do without spending very much money. I can already think of a few things just out of stuff we already have around the house. Our house really needs those personal touches of decoration - the soft furnishings, the things that make it more personal. I have a sewing machine - I can do some basic sewing - so between that and my craft stuff, I want to see how much we can do ourselves. It's a big order, as we don't get a huge amount of free time, but I'm willing to carve some out for this. I'd like our house to look "finished" as opposed to always a "work in progress." :rotfl:

On a further note, last week's tip about the radiators that weren't working (after having been bled and checked, it was the valve stuck that just needed to be loosened), it turns out that was what was wrong with the radiators in both boys' bedrooms! :rotfl: All better now - fully functional! Which means we can lower the heat again as we're not trying to make up heat in their rooms by superheating the rest of the house! :cool:

Triggles

This is me today. :eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:

Why? Because there is a flat head screw happily imbedded in the tyre of my car. Snugly stuck in the tread, causing a lovely amount of damage that cannot be plugged, so my tyre must be replaced. Not only that, but we've been advised that all FOUR tyres must be replaced as they are badly worn and will not pass MOT (which is in 2 weeks). Again I say :eek::eek::eek:

So what, you may ask, is the quote for the replacement of four tyres?? Well, midrange tyres are over £450 (as the car also needs a new alignment, which I will admit I rather suspected) and budget tyres are about £250, including the re-alignment. As one might guess, we don't have over £450 sitting about luxuriating in our account. :rotfl: We can, however, scrape together £250 (unfortunately going a little into the overdraft which I hate to do, but I also cannot drive without tyres :mad:) so as soon as DH is home from work, I need to go over it all with him, and then arrange to have the tyres put on tomorrow. Obviously badly worn tyres are a safety issue, so we are keen to sort this out. The MOT is scheduled for just before we get paid again, so I can't really even just wait for the repair (and not use the car) until we get paid.

It's been a dreadful morning anyway, so I suppose this was bound to happen. :rotfl: Both boys in a strop and fussing repeatedly over everything. DS3 has JUST had a snack and is still standing in front of me wailing that he is hungry and wants lunch. He's not thrilled about having to wait until noon, but if I give him another snack, then he won't eat his lunch, then want snacks later in the afternoon and won't eat his tea tonight. So better the small fuss now and keep to the schedule somewhat than mess up the entire day's schedule!

Oh goodness, dog barking... must go see what he's upset over.

Triggles

Just mulling over what adjustments will need to be made for this money for the tyres. It means I will have to put partial payments on both the water and electric/gas bills when they come in at the end of the month and pay the balance in 30 days. Any time we've had to do that (which hasn't happened often, but here and there when hit by something unexpected), they have been very reasonable and willing to put together an affordable payment schedule (one immediate payment and usually the balance in 30-45 days). Most companies, I have found, ARE quite reasonable if you call them right away and say "look, we want to pay this, but need to work out some type of arrangement." Then, of course, it's important you stick to that arrangement, or they won't be so willing to work with you I suspect.

The water bill covers a 6 month period, the electricity/gas covers a 3 month period. I'm more willing to break up the water bill into more payments than the electricity/gas, as I don't want to still be paying this bill when the next one comes in. Just makes more sense to me.

The house is, by the way, back to normal as far as heating is concerned, now that the 2 bedroom radiators are working again. So we've turned it down some more, as the upstairs bedroom radiators are working very well, keeping the upstairs warm, and the downstairs is cooler again. That's basically the way I like it. I think a lot of people keep their bedrooms cooler (the logic being that they are under the covers at night), but DS2 & DS3 just don't stay under the covers, and will lay there and shiver endlessly at night. DS2 has difficulties in recognising temperature changes, so could be very cold and still wouldn't tell us (if he even recognised it as cold). Downstairs, however, they are running around playing, the oven is going sometimes in the evening (although yes, I need to use my Remoska more!), and they can always put on a jumper.