Just me and my HappyGirlie Diary...

HappyGirlie

parsniphead wrote: »

What a lovely inspiring diary HappyGirlie.

I'm enjoying reading what you are doing with your little one. It's so easy to get sidetracked with work to miss time with them. My little one hates the kids TV but is obsessed with Pocoyo and videos of people making stuff from play doh on you tube. I have found a timer app so that it shuts down after a set period. I do think the housework can be sidetracked to spend more time having fun.

Nothings as much fun as a walk in the park/woods.

Keep up the good work.




Ali

I agree... space outside is the biggest treat for her. AS soon as we step foot in the fields or woods... she runs and runs, it is like a bird being freed from a cage. And she finds so much to do weather it be crunching over the autumn leaves, collecting nature (acorns, horse chestnuts, pretty stones etc) in her Peppa Pig rucksack, even racing the dog up the hill and her personal fav... splashing in muddy bog like puddles.


Housework is getting easier as I declutter.... the less I have, the happier I feel... it's a little scary at first having less stuff but very freeing.
Yes... housework can wait... We have three year old fun to be getting on with.

HappyGirlie

I came down with a lovely UTI yesterday (I have had quite a few since little one was born, unsure why but ouch do they bloody hurt.) I prefer being in labour to having a UTI as at least you get waves of pain, not a constant gnawing and excruciating burning that your genit als have been attacked with molten lava.
I really dislike taking antibiotics... and some of the UTI ones have horrific side effects. Ciprofloxacin makes my bones and joints ache so much, for weeks afterwards... but the doctor just poo poos me, even though it is well documented on the net. So... I am trying the more natural route of taking the concentrated sugar from cranberries called D-Mannose. As it goes through the bladder the bacteria attaches to it and as the D-Mannose is flushed out, so is the bacteria.
It works slower than antibiotics but you do get relief within 24 hours and it has no side effects.
I have been guzzling water... and I am flushing the little beasts out... but it certainly stopped any progress yesterday on the DFW front. I was too busy sat on the toilet to even surf MSE. :O


Today I have/will:


*Sort through old Xmas gift tags, paper and cards to see what I do and do not have.
*Put my Auntie on OvO (she says I can have any cashback obtained.)
*£bay 5 items
*Walk the dog - stunning weather at the moment.
*Take little one to the library for new books.
*Get in touch with an old friend
*Hoover through
*Take little one out on her bike, she is just getting used to it after conquering her tricycle.
*Have lentil (bottom of the fridge) soup for lunch and left over roast pork and salad for tea.
*Continue drinking lots of water and sloshing as I walk. UTI is a lot better but still niggling a touch.
*Checked banking... still avoiding over-draft. Hopefully I will stay out of it this month and avoid the £6 fee. That is the plan...
*Cancelled an internet order for something that wasn't in my budget. It was only £10 but those £10s add up so quickly... old habits die hard... but I am getting there.


And that's all so far... I hope Monday is fruitful, peaceful and good to you all.


HG xx

HappyGirlie

Morning all you lovely folks in MSE-Land...


A quick list today as I have a job interview and I need to get prepared (fingers crossed.)


*NSD today - no spends required at all, especially if I am stingy with the milk in my coffee.
*Continue drinking lots of water and taking the D-mannose. UTI has gone and I am delighted.... no antibiotic required. I shall take the D-mannose for a couple more days though to be totally sure.
*Free 2015 diary in the post today from the company I used to work for.
*Last night was very cold but we managed with extra layers of clothes rather than putting the heating on. Little one slept with an old cardigan over her pyjamas and had bed socks on, she tends to kick her quilt off during the night.
*Meals from menu plan and from stores; last of lentil and veg soup and bacon for lunch, egg and grilled tomatoes for teatime. A5da Smart Price bacon, £1.04 for a packet of 8 slices... it grills really crispy and has a lot of flavour. It will do two meals for me and LO. Eggs are free range, I couldn't bring myself to buy from caged hens, poor wee mites and they are £2 for 15 - again from A5da.
*x1 wash load to be dried on the washing line.
*Make a shop with the little one, I have collected some old food packets together, a bag of gold chocolate coils, a chunky old calculator as a till and some large cardboard boxes to make the shop front. When we have finished playing she can have a few of the chocolate coins.
*Taking little one and dog for a nice walk through the fields this afternoon. With wellies... we are muddy puddle hunting.
*List a few £bay things tonight.
*Sort menu for tomorrow nights tea. LO's father is coming around for tea and then we are taking her to a local hill to stand on top and watch every one's fireworks for free lol. Talk about MSE... needs must
*Bed early tonight, a couple of nights broken sleep and I am now shattered.


Take care


HG x

Woodster76

Good Luck with the job interview. Hope all goes well.

debtfreeoneday

Hope the interview went well! I totally agree with the space thoughts.. we live in the country and our kids love being outside and likewise will just run run run!

HappyGirlie

A quick round up of this week, it has been a busy one.


* I got the job *yay* I can work from home (writing for an online website) and so no childcare will be involved. It's only for eight hours a week but when I add that to my other small businesses and homecare I am working fifty hours a week.
*UTI total cleared up... drug free!
*I have lost 3lbs this week, thrilled about that.
*Bought a bit of a lousy batch of clothing, probably wasted £25 but lesson learnt... don't buy blind!
*Watched The Great British Sewing Bee on the TV and then got the sewing bug. I ordered a new sewing machine from my catalogue and just as I was about to place the order... I remembered I am a new shopper... not one who spends on a whim and not one that buys on credit.
So if I want the sewing machine, I will have to save up for it... it will take about six weeks. In those six weeks I will probably go off the idea. It's a slow journey but I am starting to change and think differently. So from almost spending £130 today, I had a NSD.
*Used AVG for free scans and laptop clean-up.
*Running off cold water from hot-tap into empty six pint milk bottles. I use the water for cooking, the pet's water bowls, watering plants, rinsing little one's potty, flushing the toilet etc. I wash the pots once a day and 12 pints of water run off before getting warm. Once upon a time the running water went down the sink... now it is used and my water bill will live happily ever after.


Bath time for little one... part two soon...

HappyGirlie

..Part two...this week I have also...


*Made a lamb and rosemary stew in the slow cooker. I bulked it out with plenty of veg, tinned potatoes and lentils. I put in just a touch too much rosemary so the stew tastes a little bit 'perfumed' however I have portioned it into six portions and put it in the freezer. I shall have it once a week over the next six weeks... I don't think I could bear it more than that lol... rosemary is quite a pungent herb.
*I have cut back on my coffee intake and I am drinking more water... cheaper and better for me.
*Found a book of first class stamps on the muddy field whilst doggy walking, it had four first class stamps in it.
*Walked to and from work, twice. That's over four hours of walking... saving petrol and burning calories.
*I have taken little one out every day to various playgrounds, fields, wood walk and the library. Our library is ran by volunteers and I put £5 in the donations box this week. I think it is well worth the odd donation; free books, playgroup, use of computers and very low cost DVDs and Cds... and the volunteers really are lovely.
*Found a packet of pain killers and AAA batteries whilst tidying under my bed. Lol... that doesn't sum up my bedroom activities... the ibuprofen have fallen out of my handbag at some point and the batteries are Christmas batteries for last years toys. It will save buying more batteries this year... I really must look at rechargeable batteries and a charger in the future.
*I was in fixing rather than replacing mode this week which included; fixing my glasses case. It is a case that zips closed and the head of the zip had come off. I replaced this with an old ring from a key-ring fob.
One of my cheap dining chairs keeps shedding screws from beneath the seat. The wood is very cheap and the screws eventually work their way out. I have some uber flexible glue which I filled the holes with and then hammered the screws in place rather than screwed them in. I am not sure how long term effective this will be, however they are holding firm at the moment.
*No more over payments to the credit card at the moment, I need to see what is left in the pot at the end of the month. I am keeping on top of all excess spending and I am within budget with everything but my groceries. I am spending an average of £20 more than budgeted each week - which is over £80 monthly. Impulse buys when I am daily shopping are usually the cause - the odd bag of nuts here and comic there quickly adds up. This daily trip to the shops needs to stop; once a week top up shop only HG... (giving myself a telling off here.)


Time to start lunch... slow cooked belly pork and apple sauce, parsnip mash and broad beans from the freezer which were originally gathered from the garden, yum yum.


Kindest Sunday regards



HG XX

HappyGirlie

After mentioning to a few folks that I nearly bought a sewing machine, two kind people offered to give me theirs as they never used them.
I now have a lovely almost new sewing machine in my spare room. Now I just have to learn to use it.
I bought a second hand 'beginners sewing book' that came with a few patterns and Burda (who do sewing patterns) have a half price sale on at the moment, so I have bought a couple of patterns from them too.


I have a few projects in mind; clothes alterations, making my own clothing from scratch, peg dolls for my little one, a pin cushion, a few crafty gifts for birthdays and Christmas next year, Christmas bunting/Birthday bunting, an apron and a sewing machine protection cover.


I have some old scraps of fabric that I could use for sewing however I would need some proper meters of fabric for clothes.
I was surprised at how expensive a lot of fabric is... so I decided to improvise and bought some bog off king size duvet covers from a local store. I have 8 meters of fabric for ten pounds... which I think is pretty good.




I am very much a novice on a sewing machine... however I shall post photographs as I make. Hopefully... from first effort to super seamstress.

twiggy86

Hi Happy! Can I join you in your happy DFW journey?! I'm new to the DFW malarkey and your positivity is really inspiring!


I will be stealing your tip about using the hot water run off for other things! I too just let it run down the plug hole!

HappyGirlie

Hello Twiggy.


Of course you can my dear... the more lovely DFW delightfuls the better.


Good luck with your journey too. xx