children, cross-stitch and chocolate. Chickywiggles debt-free diary

chickywiggle

ok - giving up on 10 NSD's this month............maybe I'll manage 1 (christmas day lol).

I did SO well yesterday - until DH told me as I was leaving work we had no bread or crisps for the boys sandwiches!!!!

Yesterday I wore my new boots to work but my socks kept falling down and ending up under my foot - cue sore ankle, Today I pulled the socks so they tucked over the top of the boots (which worked) but they were so thin they still rubbed the back of my ankle.........cue trip to BHS who have gorgeous snuggle socks on 3 for 2 AND HALF price. so £6 later I own 4 pairs of snuggle socks and 2 pairs of LONGGGGGGGGGGGG socks. my theory - wear a plaster + snuggle socks with long ones over the top - which i can pull over the top of the boots............well tis worth a try .............anyone any proven methods??

knowing I would be spending money on socks I though F*** it and got a brekkie roll. if I hadn't had to get anything then I would have had my special K bar.
Ditto the calender - had i not been spending I would have got it another day.

Tomorrow my food shopping/ some christmas pressies are being delivered from Mr T so thats a spend on for tomorrow.

Fingers crossed for some NSD's next week.

Flat_Eric

I like the sound of the snuggle socks :T

chickywiggle

they are soooooooooooo snuggly warm and soft http://www.bhs.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?beginIndex=0&viewAllFlag=&catalogId=34096&storeId=13077&productId=6233718&langId=-1&categoryId=&searchTerm=snuggle&pageSize=40 (ididn't get this design tho - mine aren't on there)

chickywiggle

Have decided my carrycot for the buggy is doomed.

sold it locally- no show
sold it thro preloved - no further contact from the 'buyer'
sold it tho ebay - didn't buy enough postage, messed me around, ended up refunding and blocking.
another local enquiry offering me HALF the asking price (I'm asking £25, will drop to £20 - it's BRAND NEW with all fixings and accessories never been out the box, woth £90+)
sold AGAIN on ebay - opened a non-paying bidder strike against them last night.

Why do people insist on messing others around???
So angry as can't relist anywhere until the NPB is completed on ebay but as I have not send an invoice, + reminder message + the npb last night I can't see her paying up.

chickywiggle

YEAAAAAAAAAAAA!!! my 2nd batch of felt has arrived (from a different seller). Amazing how my postie can deliver it 1st class but couldn't deliver the exact same thing that was sent 2nd class 2 weeks ago.

Shopping delivered and put away with only 1 substitutions (my 2 xpopping candy and 1xdark choc choccy oranges for normal milk choc)
Last of the christmas pressies are here - just waiting on the Batman game and if i see any stocking fillers.

Oh well - ebay claim filed for the 1st batch of felt. So next project - make my felt tree :j:j piccie to follow.

chickywiggle

don't know why I bother - EVERYTHING I do DS2 trashes it.

made the tree (which I'm not happy with but will do for this year)............ stuck it up .....................3 times so far he has pulled it off the wall (deliberatly)...........taking the paint with it. I've now run out of double sided sticky tape to put it back up and used velcro.

Ds1 (4) thought it was brill and played with it..............for a whole 2 minutes.


The baby-proof christmas tree has about 5 baubles off because DS1 just puts his hands thro the bars and takes them off.

I've had enough - he is refusing to nap the last 2 weeks and instead is mardy, wingy and (more) naughty because he's over tired.
If I tidy up something and put it away he just goes and gets it and tips it every where again (5 times so far I have picked the sticky foam shapes up)
If I try to tell him off (there's only so much that works on a 19m old) then he just laughs and does it again.

I'm convinced DS1 wasn't this bad at his age. Makes me not want to do anything fun with him but then DS1 misses out because we never have any time to do nice fun things

the house is a !!!! hole, but I'm fed up of cleaning and tidying it up.

my firend who keeps saying she is collecting the stuff has text again (2h after she was supposed to have come over) to say shes been busy but will come tomorrow...........yea right. getting fed up of it now.

right must actually do something

chickywiggle

Spends - W/C 8/12


Grocery
staple (meal/ store cupboard) foods - budget £40.......spent: £39.44

Cleaning/ Laundry/ household toiletries/ nappies - budget £20..........spent: £17.90

ONE OFF: Christmas (chicken, edible glitter for youle log, drinks) - budget: £40....spent: £35.29


Slip up - treat - mini cinimin swirl each for me + kids - £1.


Misc Spends

Christmas (8xPresents)-budget: £30.........spent: £23.75

I am also putting aside £20 for any emergency spends this week.



I can forsea needing to buy a couple of pints of whole (due to baby being under 2) and semi-skimmed milk towards the end of the week otherwise not buying food until next Saturday's order.
I also need milk for work on Tuesday but will take that out my own money not grocery money

chickywiggle

arggg I am officially a Christmas Wuss!!!!

Took the boys to a semi-local school tonight where they had a lighting the tree ceremony including a brass band playing carols and an visit from Santa.

Any I had to choke back tears...............WHY WHY???

WHY as soon as Santa turned up did I feel like I wanted to cry??? I can only assume it is something in my brain being excited for my kids??? perhaps it was the community feel??

It was really nice - donations only no stalls, nothing to try and persuade you to part with any money. Your kids could go and talk to Santa (who gave them token sweets - just small haribo for toddlers, older kids got a bag of pic n mix, but they were over the moon) Obviously could take your own photos. Plus they gave every child a free bag of "reindeer food" and told them all about sprinkling it on Christmas Eve (almost brought me to tears again).


So yes - I did spend £3 (all the change I had in my purse.... that's what comes of emptying your purse every night)........but it was purly for this donation!!!!!!!!

chickywiggle

my fav choccy cake recepie. so amazingly easy and chocolaty and moorish.

All-in-one microwave chocolate cake


Serves Technically 8 but more like 6 - Makes one 18cm cak
Prep time 5 minutes mins
Cook time 7 plus 1 minute standing time mins (900w microwave)

Ingredients
175g soft margarine
175g caster sugar
40g cocoa powder
150g self-raising flour (sifted)
1 tsp baking powder
3 tbsp milk
3 medium eggs
1 tsp vanilla essence (I substituted for a dash of cinnamon for christmas)


Handy Hint
If it is cool, split in half and fill with chocolate butter cream icing, then spread some more on top. This cake can be made in a food processor and makes an excellent base for a chocolate trifle.

Method

1. Just like the name, all the ingredients are added at once, so combine all of them in a bowl and mix together using a wooden spoon or electric hand mixer.

2. Spoon into a lightly greased microwave-safe dish and level the top. A china casserole dish, glass dish or a souffl! dish are all ideal, or indeed a microwave cake dish!

3. Microwave on full power for 7 minutes. Allow to stand for 1 minute. Turn out and allow to cool. (900w)

4. Decorate as required. - I never do this step.

chickywiggle

ok I GIVE UP on the calender idea. I have gone thro every magazine I own and only successfully fullfilled 5 months. i will keep a look out and hope for some inspiration for 2014.

So instead I shall be setting myself 13 challenges to complete (I don't for one minute kid myself they will all get done but will be interesting to see what I do manage).

UFO's
1) Mothers Day Bookmark (small free kit)
2) mouseloft cat and christmas tree (tiny - half done)
3) mouseloft - fatal error (tiny - half done)
4) poppy pincushion (quite small - kit)
5) Humphry's Corner - fishing (kit - a handful of stitches done)
6) Dinosaur ABC - 1 and a bit pages of 4 completed.

NEW
7) Noahs Ark (16"x 20")
8) Cut-thru: Toy Shop
9) Dictionary of homes
10) Christmas Angel
11) Margaret Sherry "Easy as ABC"
12) Lucie Heaton Snowglobes - 8 designs
13) Twas the Night Before Christmas



Although I SHOULD be completing a UFO first I'm going to do DO Homes first as my friend has been giving 2 months notice to move out and is heartbroken as she loves her place so I want to stitch it for her when she moves with the tag lines "a home isn't where you live, it's what you make it." (does that sound ok?) the alternative is "a home isn't a building, it's the people who live there".... which do you think??
right off to print it off and see if I have a big enough bit of Aida.