Word of the Week- Cars

 

This week has been dominated by car maintenance. We all drive and have our own cars and this week everything just seemed to come at once with regards to maintenance.

On Monday, Emma’s car was in for a service and MOT. Thankfully it passed without any issues. The mechanic who does the service checked it out before taking it for the MOT. I also noticed that one of my running lights was out and on the opposite side the main light is out. They have now been sorted.

Craig took his car to get some roof bars fitted on Thursday so he can have the roof top box on his car when we go camping so we can get everything in. At the moment my car has roof top bars as we used to use it when we went away to put the cases and other stuff in as we were renting cottages.

On Saturday, my car and Craig’s car are going in to have the air con re-gassed and cleaned. I have noticed that mine hasn’t been as efficient this year and Craig is getting his done for piece of mind. I don’t think his needs doing as it does get quite chilly. He got this service through a special offer on Groupon.

It was only a month ago that we sorted out the insurances on the cars. We got a good deal through a multi-car policy which knocked £80 off my renewal, £250 of Emma’s and half the price that Craig was quoted for his new car compared to his original insurer.

Hopefully that will be it now for a few months. The next thing due is the service on my car which is due towards the end of the year depending on how much mileage I do in the meantime.

Having a car is essential for Craig and I as we both work some distance away from home. Where I work especially is difficult to get to any other way than a car so I would have to use Emma’s at the moment if anything happened to my car. In my old job I could walk so it would not have been an issue, and I know my boss would arranged for me to borrow a ‘pool’ car, but that is not an option where I am now as there are no company vehicles.

Half Yearly review of the intentions I have made

 

We are now just over half way through the year and I thought it would be a good time to review the things I intend to achieve this year and see if I am on track.

Going Well

Spending time as a family- we have had a number of days out since we have been able to. There is also the family camping trip coming up soon. Thanks to being Marvel fans we have been watching Wandavision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and Loki altogether. We have always eaten evening meals as a family and this hasn’t really changed over the years. It was a tradition I grew up with and one I wanted to keep for my family.

Not getting involved in drama- Changing jobs has got rid of the main cause of that. There has been a bit of drama with Craig’s family but there always has been and I don’t think that will ever change. Craig is also taking a step back this year from getting involved and that has been better for him.

Weekly project life scrapbook pages – Although I do sometimes have to do a few weeks at a time I am up to date. Some weeks there has been very little going on and I have struggled to see the highlight and other weeks there has been so much I could mention there hasn’t been the room.

Going OK.

Create a blog – I am managing to do a couple of posts most weeks. Working full time is limiting time I can work on posts and create content. I have regular post themes which has helped to keep me posting which has been a life saver. I would like to be able to come up with more individual content but there is not really a lot to write about as most things happen at the weekend.

Buy a lot less and use up what I have-

My toiletry stock pile has been dramatically reduced and I am know at the point of buying shampoo and shower gel again. I still have a number of hand creams to use up and I don’t think they will all be gone at the end of the year but I wasn’t expecting them to be. I am on my last body lotion so will have to start buying that again by the end of the month. I still have a couple of face masks and under eye masks to use up but they will certainly be gone by the end of the year.

Craft Supplies- I have been good and only bought what I have needed for a new project which has been wool and needles for my knitting and fabric, thread and zips for the two sewing projects I want to work on this summer. Working on existing projects has kept me out of the craft shops. Also not having as much time as I did last summer has helped.

Clothing- I have got rid of more than I have bought this year. A lot of my clothes hadn’t really been worn a lot as I used to wear a uniform for work so only wore my own clothes at weekend. I have had to buy a few things for camping as I prefer dresses and skirts which aren’t really camping compatible. I have also bought a couple of dresses which I could not resist but they have replaced dresses I have given away or disposed of.

Get rid of 1000 items- I have recently been doing this on a bit of ad-hoc basis whereas at the beginning of the year I was writing everything down. I am probably slightly behind where I should be at this point, but the charity shops near where I live are still only currently accepting donations during the week and I can only go at weekend.

Saving money- I have increased the standing order to my savings account each month. The last couple of months though I have had to transfer the money back due to buying new camping equipment and things needed on the cars. Hopefully things will get back to normal at the end of the summer.

Decorating and updating the kids bedrooms. -Emma’s has been done and I would like to do Matthew’s in August. He isn’t as fussy but we will have to get a new bed for him.

Continue to knit and sew to improve skill- I have only really worked on one project knitting wise and I am a bit bored with it. I am casting on to make a shawl and a knitted tee as a break. I have made a top this year and would like to make a long sleeved dress and a full skirt as well. Ideally I would like to have made an item of clothing a month but I think I was being a bit too ambitious with everything else I wanted to do.

Not going well

The quilt project has come to a halt. Once the quilting club is able to meet again I will work on it but that will only be about 4 hours a month so progress will continue to be slow, as it is all hand sewn.

Photography skills- Trying but lacking time and opportunity. Lighting is my main issue and I may have to ask Emma what I can do to improve, especially in the house.

Does anyone else do a review of their resolutions /intentions/goals at the mid point or have you given up on them by now.

Menu Planning Monday 12th July 2021

 

How disappointing that England lost on penalties but they should still be proud of themselves for getting to the final. It is awful that the young footballers are having being subjected to such racial abuse because they missed the penalty. If they had won, those players would have been lauded as being the greatest team England has produced since 1966 by the same people who are abusing them. Football fans always have blame someone when a loss is suffered. Why can’t they be like fans of other sports and accept the loss gracefully.

The Weather

I suppose the weather today is reflecting the mood of the football fans. At least it is brightening up later this week.

Looking around the house

After being able to catch up with the housework on Saturday the house is looking generally ok. I do need to get Craig to help me move the sofas so I can vacuum underneath, and I need to do under my bed but that isn’t as difficult. The floors also need steam cleaning. Although the wooden floors are more practical with having the dog, when the weather is bad I feel that I am constantly having to clean them. I do have mats at the entrance doors, but Penny hasn’t learnt to wipe her paws when she comes in haha.

Menu plan

We actually stuck to the menu plan this week. I did the right thing not planning anything for Sunday as we went to see Black Widow at the cinema and ate in the food court after. Craig later on had a carvery meal which we got using the Too Good to Go app.

This week I am hoping that we have;

Monday- Jacket potato with toppings of choice

Tuesday- Pizza pasta bake

Wednesday -Tuscan Chicken

Thursday- Mushroom risotto

Friday- Steak and chips

Saturday-Toasties

Sunday- Chicken pot pie crumble

In my craft basket

I am a bit bored with the Courthouse steps blanket. I have done 12 out of the 20 squares but need a change. I have cast on Easy goes it shawl by Finicky Creations and have Temperature Tee ready to cast on when I go away. I still have not cut out any fabric for the dress or skirt I want to make. I think I will have to wait until we get back from camping to do those now. I also haven’t touched the quilt or Disney Sampler. The quilt I will just work on when I go back to the quilting club and maybe when I have finished the shawl and the tee I might feel more inclined to work on the Disney sampler. I like quick results and with both of these projects they don’t show results fast enough for the time I put in. I know I just need patience and perseverance and at some point they will get done.

On my to do list

I need to go through Matthew’s wardrobe and get him to try on clothes to see what still fits him. He is growing so fast and because we weren’t able to go out much last summer I didn’t really buy much for him as he tended to just stay in his pyjamas. I have two problems when it comes to clothes shopping with him. One is that he is tall and skinny with long legs so trying to find jeans and trousers to fit is horrendous. When he was still in the children’s section a lot of trousers and jeans had adjustable waists but not in the men's section. My second issue is that he hates clothes shopping but is so fussy I don’t want to buy anything unless he gives approval. I have wasted so much money on clothes that I have bought and he has never worn. If he could, he would just live in his pj’s.

I will also start compiling a list of the things we will need to take camping with us, well two lists. One will be a checklist of everything we need to set up camp which I will print out and once it goes into the car then I will tick it off. The second one will be the clothes and other things I will need. I am not planning to take any electronic devices apart from my phone but I will need to make sure I have got a book and my knitting. Everyone else is responsible for packing their own things now they are old enough.

Looking for inspirations from the people joining in with Sandra over at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom and Katy

Word of the Week -Dull

 

Dictionary definition- lacking interest or excitement

I feel all I have done this week is get up, go to work, come home, do housework, watch a bit of TV and go to bed. Apart from one week in February it feels like this has to be the dullest week of my year so far. The first full week of the month is always quiet for me at work so that is a reason why it feels like this. The dull weather hasn’t helped either. It just all feels a bit Groundhog Day. I thought I would try and get into the habit of taking a photo a day so that next year I could do the Project 365 next year, but I have not found anything that I thought would be photo worthy on a number of days. When the highlight of your week is finding out that the ‘Real Housewives of Cheshire’ started several weeks ago and you could binge watch to catch up makes life seem a little sad. I know it is only a temporary blip and normal service will hopefully resume soon.

 There are a lot of people who would disagree with me because of the football, but I have absolutely zero interest in watching the matches. I appreciate that it has raised the spirits for a lot of people and it just the type of good news we need to hear at the moment (apologies to any non England supporters). I do want the team to win but I will probably watch a film whilst the game is on. We cannot let Italy win Eurovision AND football.

I take to heart this quote because it is so true. I would not want to live a life of extreme highs and lows. Times like this week give you a chance to recoup and make plans.

Life Is amazing. And then it is awful.

And then it is amazing again.

And in between the amazing and the awful it’s

Ordinary and mundane and routine.

Breathe in the amazing, hold on through the awful,

And relax and exhale during the ordinary.

That’s just living, heartbreaking, soul-healing,

Amazing, awful, ordinary life.

And it’s breathtakingly beautiful.

L.R. Knost

#WOTW with  Anne at Raisie Bay

Menu planning Monday 5th July 2021

 

As we have booked a camping trip we thought we had better check out the tent and other equipment we have got to see what we need to replace or buy. It has been about 4 years since we last went camping (I am not a fan) so everything has just been in storage in the garage or shed since then. I also needed to convince Craig that the tent we have is good enough and that it doesn’t take ages to put up. He is after an Airbeam tent but I refuse to pay for one as we do not go camping enough to justify paying £1000+.

We got the tent up in ½ hour though it did take 4 of us to do it. It could have been done with 2 in the same amount of time but we decided to get Emma and Sam to help so if they want to borrow it then they know how to put it up. Penny decided to christen the main sleeping area by peeing in it. We didn’t realise until Craig took it down and it went over the fabric. It ended up in the bath being cleaned and then left draped over the drying frame in to dry off. Unfortunately, it started to rain as we were taking the tent down so it couldn’t be packed away and the inners and ground sheets ended up in the garage and the outer ended up just shoved in the shed. We didn’t really get a chance to dry it outside so on Sunday we put it in the garage, spread out as much as possible and let the warm air from the tumble dryer dry it out before packing it away.

Around the house

Because of having all the camping equipment out most of the weekend the floors are a disgrace and need a good clean. There are also a few marks on the walls that need cleaning where Penny has shook herself when coming in wet after a walk.

On the menu

Due to the football the family Chinese takeaway has been postponed until this Saturday.

Monday – YOYO (You're on your own)

Tuesday- Liver and Onions

Wednesday- Peri Peri chicken with spicy rice and corn on the cob

Thursday – Lasagne and salad

Friday – Soup and Crusty bread ( Craig’s choice)

Saturday – Chinese Takeaway

Sunday – Nothing planned as not sure what we will be doing. It will either be eating out of freezer diving.

Looking forward to

Having the family around and casting on a new knitting project. I am also going to do a good catch up with a friend on the phone. She lives near Oxford so I also want to see if she is around when we go camping so we can visit.

On the TV

Craig is obsessed with watching Youtube videos on Van Life and travelling around Europe or looking at villas in Spain. I will watch a few and I do have a couple of favourites but I prefer watching craft/knitting podcasts. It is so easy to fall down the Youtube rabbit hole and then nothing gets done. Apart from that we are watching Loki on Disney+ and I am still watching The Bold Type on Netflix. We only have the one TV as a family, Emma has one in her room and Matthew like me is not bothered, I have other things that need to be done or that I want to do instead. I do have a tablet so I can watch things if I choose.

In my crafting pile

I am still working on the Courthouse Steps blanket but I am getting a bit bored with it so I have two projects that I want to start. I am going to cast on a shawl pattern and then wait until we go camping to cast on the knitted tee. I still have not cut out the fabric for the circle skirt and I have done nothing with the quilt or my Disney sampler. I miss not having all day to craft as I did when I was furloughed last year.

 Linking up with Sandra and Katy

Hope you all have a great week.

 

Word of the Week- Bookings

 

Because of Covid-19 you now need to book most activities that you want to do. It seems that the days of just turning up seem to be long gone.

I have had a busy week of booking different things for this week and over the coming months.

We have managed to book a campsite in the Cotswolds after Emma doing many hours of searching on the internet. We wanted a dog friendly site with an electric hook up and despite having a search area of 100 miles the availability was extremely limited.

Once I knew where we were going to stay I then looked at what we could do. I already had a good idea as I we have visited the Cotswolds before many years ago. I wanted to go to the Cotswold Wildlife Park and Waddesdon Manor (not in the Cotswolds but near some friends we are hoping to visit who live near Oxford) and Cotswold Lavender. Waddesdon Manor was the only one  I was able to book this week as you don’t need to book for Cotswold Lavender and the Cotswold Wildlife Park have not released dates for the summer holidays yet.

I rescheduled my hair and eyebrow appointments from last week when I was ill and I feel better for having them done. I have also booked my next appointments as I am more likely to keep up the routine by booking in advance.

Penny needing some flea and worming treatments so I had to book to pick those up 48 hours before I picked them up. She did not have to come with me so I called in on my way home from work to collect them. Owners are still not allowed in with their pets for the appointments still but hopefully by the time Penny’s boosters are due in September I will be able to go in with her.

I also need to book the cinema for ‘Black Widow’. I am not sure we will go next week when it is released as it is bound to be busy.

At the moment you have to book to visit the gym as they are limiting numbers. Again, I like this as it makes me go. Before I would have every intention then at the last minute come up with some excuse. I have to pay when I book so I don’t want to waste the money.

Looking forward to the rest of the year we have got bookings for 3 musicals at the theatre (2 changed from last year). I would like to book to go to the Harry Potter Studio tour and Chester Zoo to see the Red Pandas that the kids took out a sponsorship in my name for my birthday last year.

By having to book it means that at least we have plans to look forward to. Craig prefers to decide on the day where he wants to go which is frustrating for me as I prefer to plan ahead so I can work out when I need to do things. A lot of the time we could not decide where to go and often ending up not going anywhere so booking means we know where we are going and when we have to get there.

Linking up with Anne at Raisie Bay

What I have been reading -June 2021

 

It was a good month for reading with 3 books read this month and a variety of genre. It helped that I really enjoyed reading 2 of them. One had been on my list for a few months, the other I discovered when I was looking at something else.

Chicken Soup for the Soul-Readers Choices

This was the book I discovered on an app called Scribd. I had signed up for a 30 day free trial to do some extra reading in preparation for an exam I was taking and out of curiosity I looked to see what else was on there. Scribd has all sorts of books, magazines, sheet music and audiobooks. I had heard about and seen the Chicken Soup for the Soul books but I had never read one. I chose this one because it was first one the list. It is stories of people who have read the other Chicken Soup for the Soul books and have been inspired by them. The book tells their story and then the story that inspired them.

This book is perfect when you are feeling a bit down or fed up and don’t know what to do with your life. I wouldn’t say it was life changing for me but it made me appreciate my life and what I have. I also found that in some cases the readers story was more inspiring than the original.

 

The Yorkshire Shepherdess

The Blurb- Courtesy of Amazon

Amanda Owen has been seen by millions on ITV's The Dales and Channel 5's Our Yorkshire Farm, living a life that has almost gone in today's modern world, a life ruled by the seasons and her animals. She is a farmer's wife and shepherdess, living alongside her husband Clive and seven children at Ravenseat, a 2000 acre sheep hill farm at the head of Swaledale in North Yorkshire. It's a challenging life but one she loves.

In The Yorkshire Shepherdess she describes how the rebellious girl from Huddersfield, who always wanted to be a shepherdess, achieved her dreams. Full of amusing anecdotes and unforgettable characters, the book takes us from fitting in with the locals to fitting in motherhood, from the demands of the livestock to the demands of raising a large family in such a rural backwater. Amanda also evokes the peace of winter, when they can be cut off by snow without electricity or running water, the happiness of spring and the lambing season, and the backbreaking tasks of summertime – haymaking and sheepshearing – inspiring us all to look at the countryside and those who work there with new appreciation.

I have loved Our Yorkshire Farm on TV and so admire Amanda and Clive and the way they live and how they have brought their kids up. This book tells the story of Amanda growing up and how she met Clive right up until the birth of Annas. Because it covers the years before the family became famous you learn about the early years of the older children and how some of their births were not exactly ideal or straightforward, though I wish I had experienced labour the way Amanda did.

I devoured this book in a weekend and will definitely be buying the other 3 she has written.

20^th Victim -Women’s Murder Club

The Blurb- Courtesy of Amazon

Three Cities, three bullets, three victims.

Simultaneous murders hit LA, Chicago and San Francisco. SFPD Sergeant Lindsay Boxer is tasked with uncovering what links these precise and calculated killings.

Lindsay discovers that the victims all excel in lucrative, criminal activity. As the casualty list expands, fear and fascination with this shocking spree provoke debate across the country.

Are the killers villains or heroes? And who will be next?

This was the book club choice and my least favourite book of this year. I found the chapters were very short and there was a lot going on. I think because this was the 20^th book in the series the characters were already established. There were also several sub-stories that until I had finished the book and thought about them I wondered why they were in there. Then I realised the book was Victim, the 20 being book 20 in the series and that the characters in these stories were Victims as well just in a different sense to the main story. I found that thinks became clearer when I was able to spend a good length of time reading the story rather than just ½ an hour a day.