'supporting each other through really tough times'

mcculloch29

HH, the outlook for little ones diagnosed with leukaemia has improved so much in recent years. May the stats be with her.

My daughter has a massive reaction to bites/stings, inherited from her aunt. I've begged her never to drink from cans as a sting in the mouth/throat would possibly kill her.

A few inches of snow here, not impressed as I was gearing up to spend some more pennies which was a cheery prospect.
Having fiscally fasted for months, I fancied a mini-blowout, funded by no council tax to pay this or next month.

Angel_Jenny

Have seen some old magazines on eBay that I really really want!! Going to count up my change jars ....

The magazines are heavy so postage from America would be pretty high but they are issues that I have been searching for!!

VJsmum

fuddle wrote: »

World book day coming up. Hate it with a passion as it means two new costumes (because they outgrow last years!) and costumes are flaming expensive. So this year I fancy getting them to decorate some plain t-shirts with pictures of their favourite characters. Only problem will be if all their friends are in character. Tesc0/Asd* normally have some lower priced stuff so even if I get little dd a costume, eldest might go for her good jeans, basket ball boots and a world book day designed t-shirt.

I've done Mickey mouse as the sorcerors apprentice, harry potter, sleeping beauty, mary poppins and - my best one - Dorothy from the wizard of oz, all out of scraps and the odd charity shop purchase (red shoes for ruby slippers). I'll never forgive those dinner ladies for not giving DD the first prize for my Dorothy but gave it to DDs friend who wore her summer school blue checked dress and sparkly red dancing shoes WHO ALSO WENT AS DOROTHY :mad: I don't mind her not winning to but to lose to a minimum effort Dorothy was rubbing my nose in it :rotfl:

Teenagers still here - they are all watching the original series of Star Trek - what the??? I heard them still up at 3 this morning, the cupboards are relatively cleared, but they are nice kids. It's so good that they were playing singstar, and Buzz and watching Mean Girls and not getting bladdered on alco-pops like other 17 year olds would do. I rather like that my little girl (scoff - she is bigger than me) is taking her time to grow up.

I am trying this 5:2 diet, my last fast day was Thursday and it was fine, yesterday I ate normally. Today? I AM STARVING. What's that all about?

I might make the teenagers some cake

kidcat

Oh my Apologies as I am bound to have forgotten something I should comment on.
SQ - thank you for asking, my cold has got worse and has started to head into my chest - I am hoping I can prevent it heading into pneumonia again.

Fuddle - I loathe world book day with a passion, the amount of money people spend on costumes is ridiculous, and the point of WBD is to encourage reading and book buying not useless costume buying.
Its always hard for me as DS8 hates dressing up so always looks out of place among the elaborate costumes. He will do his usual costume of jeans, T-shirt, and take his little scooby doo in, and be shaggy from scooby doo!
DD6 will want the pinkest, fanciest most elaborate costume ever to compete with her classmates.


ETA - Pooky re cashback have a look at T0pcashb@ck as well as £co, they often have better rates and no yearly fee so it may work out better for you. I rarely use £co any more for that reason. I also like that I can have my cashback as soon as it becomes available, no waiting for a set date and I can have it in amazon vouchers with 5% bonus,

GreyQueen

By heck, to we have a shivering smilie? It's siberial out there. I've been whizzing around town on my pushbike.

Went to the lottie to dump the rotables and then sort-of fell thru the door of a nearby c.s. (as you do ) and was leaving empty-handed when I spotted a very good quality German brand brown leather briefcase in immaculate kick. The only slight fly in the ointment is that its shoulderstrap is missing but spending £2 on something which sells new for nearly 300 Euro....well, I think I can cope. Looks like it was never used.

:T I've always wanted a really good briefcase, as in for about 30 years wanted. Happy day.

Then went c.s. shopping and got a J Lewis bag brand new with tags for 50p, and spent another 50p each on several items of clothing (all very nice condition and good makes) and a duvet cover (single) which I brought for the fabric. It says Keep Calm and Go To Sleep on it.......if some of you will recall my original avatar, you could see why that had to come home with me.:p

Going to be good and turn an equal number of under-appreciated items out for the c.s. so I won't have perpetrated clutter.

The Magic Greengrocer has done me proud for £1; 3 huge sweet potatoes, a cauli, 3 bananas, 2 courgettes, a cauli, 5 tomatoes and 7 large carrots and a few other bits and bobs.

Have decided that as the weather would make gardening a punishment duty, I shall go get some more bits from town and then do batch cooking. My new duds and duvet are whizzing around the washer as we speak. Going to be making a pasta-ish thingy and a big pot of chilli con carne. I shall go to my independant butcher for the beef mince. He had neigh-ver let me down.

Gonna chill for a few more mins then it'll be hitting the library and the market and seeing if I can get my seed spuds. Think Jiffy trolley will have to have her 2nd outing this week.

This middle-aged invisibility is great, I can do whatever I want and no one bats an eyelid.:rotfl:

GQ, modelling a fun fur trapper hat, boots, anorak and shopping trolley somewhere sarf of Watford. If you think you see me, you can come up and declare You are GQ and I claim my free tin of tomatoes!

And if it's some other woman, think how bemused she'll be. As in, wondering about that for years.

Keep warm, preferably keep indoors. It's a good day to eat cake, I reckon.

kidcat

GQ - Am so jealous, our CS are so expensive I cant afford them, I can buy stuff for the kids so much cheaper in MrA and MrT, its sad.

Its snowing here and am really hoping it stops soon, OH is working today and has the little car with him, it hates snow and he is likely to wrap it round a tree on the way home if the snow sticks.

GreyQueen

It's very hit and miss here, too. There are some c.s. that routinely charge more for Primarche and supermarket brand clothes 2nd hand than they cost new. I don't go there. And they seriously-overcharge for the bric-a-brac.

The 50p bonanza was at a c.s. which is the last stop on a chain of c.s. and takes the stuff the others don't sell and brings it into one of the poorest neighbourhoods of the city. It's kinda like a permanant jumble sale......

You'd think it'd be dross with that kind of remit but it's amazing what you can find. One of those places you can visit a few times on the trot and get nothing, whereas on other visits like today, you can make out like a bandit.

I got a Hawkshead fleece waistcoat, an M & S top, a nightshirt which looks like it was never worn and a cosy longsleeved brushed cotton shirt - can't recall the brand (it's in the washer) *Knickerbox* as well as the handbag and the duvet cover with pillowslip which I wanted for the cloth.

Great places to get fabric, the charity shops. Have you been in a fabric store lately?! I nearly had heart failure. At those kind of prices, even for plain old cottons, it makes clothes-making an expensive hobby.

I shall de-pimp the shirt. It has a frill on it. I'm genetically-programmed to dislike frills, plus they're a fiddle to iron. Once it's dry I shall get the stitch-ripper out and soon sort that out.

If I'm going to be somewhere during shopping hours, as in somewhere not known to me, I check the internet beforehand for charity shops. Once must keep up to speed.

Aha, washer is done. Onto the rack. Wanders off singing I'm a secondhand rose wearing secondhand clothes.....

mcculloch29

I've stopped buying from many CS's, though we have a Barnardo's 'everything's 99p' one here. I know Pops is a regular.
I don't need clothes at the moment, but when I do, Primarni and the NE/Cumbria/Yorkshire's X Catalogue Shops will be my destination.

GQ, I have a beautiful leather briefcase, bought for me by a BF.
I can tell you exactly why yours wasn't used - even when empty, they are incredibly heavy.

If you can hack that and don't have to carry it any distance, it's a brilliant buy.

kidcat

I have a briefcase that was an expensive gift when I turned 18, I have rarely used it though - I never remember where I have stuffed it!!

fuddle

Thank you for the crochet rug advice. Yes, the pup would be horrendously annoying troweling it up. Not going to work, never mind.

NUTTY I don't know we suffered with ill decision making regarding too high mortgage, that with the northern r*ck innovative 125% loan meant we went under that way rather than high street banks and credit card debt so I really wouldn't wan to say. I know what you mean about not rocking the boat re: credit file and honestly, if your rid of the hole damn thing and your 6 years is over in Oct, I would hold back. x

It doesn't bother me now nutty, it used to, crikey not a day would go by where I would feel the shame, its where the depression came from but the only credit I would want again is a mortgage (I do learn honestly!) and we're no where near in a position to buy in the correct way so I just forget about it now. But, to have a clean credit file where it comes to renting would take a load off... But I passed agents checks once, I might again

DD is designing her world book day t-shirt and youngest wants to be Winnie the Witches car thank you for that! I do love teddy ears picnic idea though, I'm going to do that next year for youngest DD for sure! Scrap all that, she wants to go as teddy bears picnic! Oh such fun, thank you!

Chicken stock bubbling as these fat fingers type. Making chicken leftover soup when done for tomorrow. It's amazing how much meat you can get off the underside of a chicken.

Still off tea! Drinking coffee, 'tis not the same as a lovely cup if tea though, plus I have to be careful as more than 2 gives me a headache.

I didn't manage to get any strawberries at aldi but I did find some roots for £2.99 in the garden centre. BOULT, anyone? Would bare roots be ok?

Hmm shopping. Did it in aldi then topped up what they didn't have in Morrisons. I saved £3 in total but I have portioned my meat to an extent that my grandma would be proud I should safe in the next few weeks.

Sent DH off to the freezers with my list. Stupidly I wrote pastry, meaning make sure i have ingredients in for pie. He puts £2.50 frozen ju-r0ll in. I don't like making pastry but I'd rather save my £2.50 and use flour and fats.

So many people filling trollies without lists. I don't know where their money comes from. I get a shock at the tills each and every time, even though I know roughly what it's going to cost.

To be able to buy food without much thought is a luxury isn't it? I was envious till I gave my head a shake. We're eating what we like to eat anyway, its not like we're missing out. All I can think of is that it's the snacking element we don't have, like pork pies and choice of cheeses and good hams, or nuts and crisps for all to enjoy. Still, I'd only be fatter