Phew what a start to the birthdays..

 Hello everyone , how are you all?

Well the year kicked off with just 1 Birthday in January and then bang i have 4 in February all with in a week. And an Anniversary.  I bought a big box of Birthday cards last year for all the ones we have. Having a large family entails lots of birthdays, anniversaries, christmas, easter celebrations. Costs a small fortune in cards and gifts. I headed off the cards by buying a box of 50 and also lots of cheap christmas cards in the sales..just anniversary cards which if you shop around can be found quite cheaply...after all its the the thought that counts not the price.

We have decided to give homemade gifts for everyone. My husband has been wood turning and making gorgeous tea light holders and is now starting to make Resin pens and key rings. They are gorgeous and i will pop up a picture of all that he has made and its for sale as well

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I did bake a lovely Victoria sponge for my sons birthday and it was delicious. Yes it came from a packet but an Asda Essentials mix..i just added a little oil, baking powder and holy moly it was huge and well risen. I used some of my stash of Vanilla Buttercream to cover it. Delicious.

I did a little Plant rescue this week and i wish i had more money with me as i really would have bought all of them. They look so sad and neglected. I bought a tiny little Succulent and gave it some love and a nice pot and a place in the sun and now it looks so good and healthy. Long may it live.

I think our frugal ways are definitely rubbing off on our girls. Fern bought herself a lovely top and some Summer PJ's in the sale and paid for it all with the change in her purse and not her bank card. It was all in £1 coins and some 20p's. Bless her. That's the way to do it if you can. 

I baked last week..i made a Carrot cake and Peanut Butter Brownies plus Sticky Flapjack( thats what i call it coz it was very sticky). 

I had my washing out on the line to dry. Hubby and son plus the one and only Iris have been busy at the Allotments this week. It has been rotovated and the bonus was they were given free mulch. The Raspberries all benefitted from that. Our glass green house now has some staging in it all free and hubby spent a day making it. Our neighbour was giving away free wood and we got some to make the staging. Hubby has also built some home made cloches from off cuts of wood that were destined to be burnt and some plastic he had left over. The greenhouse now has a wellie shelf. He was fed up of wellies all over the place so now they are all in one spot..off the floor and can dry  in the sun.

The little seedlings are doing very well and they all look good. We did order some seeds from Kings seeds and they arrived pretty quickly apart from the Butternut Squash..i was a little disappointed but nevermind worse things can happen.

I went to the Library and returned the books i borrowed. I spotted one that i have been wanting to read for ages and so its now mine for the next 3 weeks and i am totally enjoying it. I see they have a lot of Self Sufficiency books and to be honest looking through them they are all basically the same just different pictures so i didn't bother. I have my own at home. I know lots of folks are now realising the potential of their own back gardens for growing their own food. Good on them i say. Go for it and enjoy the rewards of your work.

We are now Council Tax free for 2 months..just waiting for the Water Rates bill to arrive and see what they want us to pay.

I rearranged all my houseplants so they are all getting the right amount of sunshine each. Some looked a little pale and stringy.

I have been positively inspired by a few posts on Facebook called Bohemian Living. O the pictures are amazing and i am determined to do something similar in my home.

Obviously not as grand as this but you get the picture.

We have stripped the bathroom and bought all the new bits and bobs for it , now i have to find paint. This is not easy as no one seems to do the colour i want. I know i know but i have an image in my head and i cannot find it at all. I have time to find .

It is half term and Fern has been helping me prep the Bathroom whilst Iris works at the Allotments. Both are good workers.

Anyway time to go now. 

You all take care.

FTM🌼