Con-dem-ned Plebdom - Cheers Marra Dave!

Thursday, 27 December 2012

Decorations are down!

They have been up for 27 days. All down bar the fairy lights which give a little sparkle to welcome in the new year and banish the gloom. We are still feasting however and enjoying family time. Bike ride today. Swimming and book bartering tomorrow. Weather is unpredictable for beach combing but maybe Saturday
We head off to Clackmannanshire on Sunday till the 2nd. I will be walking the Ochil Hills weather permitting on the 31st which is also my big poohey birthday. FORTY.
But we are looking forward to seeing family and feasting some more.
All of my furniture is gifted of freecycled. This is just how it turned out.

Wednesday, 26 December 2012

Part two : Christmas slippers, boots and a pink tutu, a cache of dolls, boxing day outfit and a cat

Christmas day to Boxing day in pictures...part one

Lovelies

food for Santa

Christmas Jamas

Star fished in a king size bed

Santas been!

Morning Mayhem

Boozy gifts!

Dinner table and Pavlova

Ilovely

Monday, 24 December 2012

Merry Christmas!

Finally home and prepped in about three hours. Well 3hrs just for food. Spent time with W & BB and survived an exploding chestnut. unpacked all sorted. Pressies laid out.

I can relax..... W hyper. B also excited. Hee hee me too. Alot of the grinchy ness has buggered off but this is Weeny girls fault lol There are a finite number of Santa years....

Home is a great place to be.

Merry Xmas to everyone however you choose spend it.

Much to do and itching to be on my way home. I want Weeny snuggled up in her own home watching The Grinch and baking biscuits not having to be worried about making a mess or too much noise.

Mummy needs to:
make soup
bake bread
make merangue
peel veg
prep stuffing and pigs in blankets
stuff the bird and gammon joint
roast chestnuts
bit of unpacking and general tidying
bath and ablutions for us both
leave out santa treats

set the scene.

Nice though it has been I want to leave now.

Lord that sounds ungrateful but I like to get organised. Waiting on the last visitor to arrive then we can be on our way.

Sunday, 23 December 2012

What we will be up to over the entire hols !

Currently seeing Yorkshire family.
Xmas at home
The Hobbit on Boxing Day. Weeny has her requested five and a half hour visit with the others. Their choice.
Beach combing for smooth pebbles and subsequent crafting.
Bike ride for Biggles!
Visit to see my Mum in her care home in Ayr.
Hill Walking Ochil hills in Clackmannanshire
New year birthday celebrations with sister and family.
Maybe an additional cinema trip with Weeny. Hobbit is a bit long.

I still need to book Weenys fifth birthday and take the bloody meter reading lol

I probably won't get the time so.....

We are visiting The peoples Republic of South Yorkshire. Nice easy weekend before traveling back xmas eve where upon we will have loads to do. We are all done bar some fresh food. Merry ones to you all. xxxx

Why do I Blog!

Well primarily for me its a cathartic get it off my chest / a means to organise thoughts / to take stock. A journal that in 2012 has an interactive ' Dear diary' that is vast.

I don't write to share wisdom. Have very little of that. I don't claim to have an aspirational lifestyle of any kind. I dont write for it to be read even. If it is and my mad mixed up life interests people, makes them laugh, is a bit of a soap opera, whatever then that's great. Blogging - a bit of an affirmation of real life life choices maybe....

Sometimes my blog brings order and reflection to the real world. Sometimes Blogland folks share pearls of wisdom which is very very cool! :-)

I ve gained a great deal from reading other peoples blogs. Different ways of life are always interesting. I don't get involved in giveaways or stuff like that. I think its lovely though. Am pants at choosing gifts and it would give me no end of nightmares.

I read blogs before I blogged. Some people share so much and through reading I have learnt a great deal.Practical and otherwise.The tips are fantastic for frugal stuff. As are the stories of strangers lives. INSPIRATIONAL and all wonderfully different.

I m a bit of a roller coaster girl up and down. The blog keeps me more train like. Also an outlet for the negative stuff. A bit like wind. And by that I mean the gaseous stuff. BETTER OUT THAN IN. My blog is then a load of old fart.....this amuses me greatly.

Thanks Dave!!!

Once upon a time the end was in sight and financial freedom from my little debt of under 5k was nearly within my grasp! December 2012 if not before with the benefits of frugality however our friend Dave had other plans!!!!

I was made redundant from my job with a pish package I took what I could find till a full time position. Finally taking a 10k salary drop.

In 2009 I invested in property buying my house with a 15% deposit. n 2011 after three years of home owning and negative equity to the tune of 12k I have finally sold and now have jack bloody buggery shite. What smarts is that I gave up time with my small child in favour of seeking security for us. If only I had done the opposite....... rented, claimed top up benefits and saved my hard earned cash .... quality of life for me and weeny girl for three years would have been be better and we would have a cash sum in the bank and no debt.

You play frugal, play independent, watch your consumption, don't do frivalous sofas or new cars, no nights out at the pub type debt just what you have to! After a double whammy from the government - house market slump and Local Authority redundancy compounded by rural living what is a single mum supposed to do???? = Suck it up, Keep smiling, and use a brush instead of a hoover.