Well, you must have wondered where I disappeared to all this time! Nearly a year later I re-read my blog and decided to start posting again. I stopped writing because the anaemia made me feel so tired and ill. Most of my spare time was spent in bed in the afternoons trying to rest and recover, as well as all the iron pills that I was consuming. The business has continued to do well and the family keep me busy too, as any Mum of teenagers and little ones will identify with. My youngest is 5 years old and the eldest is now 19 years living at home again while working in the next town and courting a lovely young man. Sadly I am still battling with the anaemia, it just goes around in a viscious circle. Everytime I get back to full bloodcount I get taken off the iron pills then go downhill again. My Dr is seriously thinking of keeping me on one pill a day this time after I get back to normal levels, I would be very grateful if that happened as all this tiredness is robbing me of quality of life.

Health Change

For several months I have been feeling very weary, just dragging myself around and pushing myself to work. Finally I gave in and went to the Dr where I found that my blood cell count is down to 9.5 when it should be around 12.5! Have been prescribed iron tablets so my strength should slowly come back again sometime soon. Am looking forward so much to being able to match the children's energy again!

Making Good Choices

Another change in my life is that I am trying to break any bad habits that I am aware of and consciously trying to make good choices. Whether it is eating, exercising, getting fresh air, going to bed, getting up early, taking rest or whatever that is my new motto: make good choices! This should start to make a difference in my life if I keep doing this. I will post any significant changes as a result of this.

Missing Child

One change that we have had is that our eldest child has recently flown the nest as she has gone to live in another county many, many miles away! We haven't seen her since the beginning of September now. It is so strange to have your child missing from the family home but she has grown up now and it was inevitable. She is happy where she has gone though so we are at peace about it. We are blessed to have skype, text, email, royal mail and facebook for communication and we trust that God is looking after her.

Changes, Changes...

Life is full of changes and we have had plenty here lately. One big change for me is that I have gone back to putting in more hours into our business. Therefore I have to choose carefully what I do with my spare time. I am still having frugal fun and will get around to sharing some of that with you soon I hope. I am glad I have learnt to budget better but now that I am so busy earning I have to juggle working at home to save money against working at work to make money! Still keeping the financial head screwed on though. :-)

Blogger's Holiday

For the past few weeks I have taken a blogger's holiday as there have been several changes going on in our lives. Back to earth now and back on track I hope! Like all holidays some things have slipped and the eating / exercise effort needs to be re-started again. Am looking forward to sharing with you all again, as and when I get some free time. :-)

Hubby Wears Smart Suit for Date at Home

This week's date night was at home but it was special to me as my Husband surprised me by making a special effort to look smart for me by dressing up into his suit complete with a shirt and tie. I love seeing him in a suit but we haven't been to any formal events for a while now, so I haven't seen him in it for ages. I am pleased that he was free enough to take the time to dress up just for me at home and not for other people's benefit at a party etc. I wore last week's purchase, my new red and white flippy skirt.

For our meal we both had a salad, I had hot new potatoes with pepper and melted extra strength British grated cheese, it sounds so simple but it really was gorgeous. My Husband had a hot cheese individual pizza (50p) with his salad along with some of the hot cheesey new potatoes that I had. My Husband said he couldn't believe he was actually eating all these salad items now that he used to hate and now enjoys! For drink I drank iced water with my meal while my Husband had a can of Bacardi and Cola. For dessert he had a Cadbury Dairy Chocolate ice cream (50p) and I had an apricot yoghurt. So our meal ticked the box for frugal.

For entertainment my Husband suggested a game of cards with new rules, it was interesting. We enjoyed our evening together and had a couple of Bailey's and ice while we were playing. We both like Bailey's so buy it in litre bottles, expensive initially but the cheapest way of buying it in bulk. The cost per glass isn't too bad and the bottle will last us several months as we are only light drinkers. Bailey's is one of our much enjoyed special treats.

Baking & Tick Tock Timer

My brain has really connected it now, if the electric oven is on I feel that a cake should be baking at the same time to share the cooking fuel. I put on the meat for dinner and immediately thought 'cake', it is a strange feeling but real. So out came my mixing bowl, recipe book and ingredients even though I hadn't even considered making a cake before I started cooking the meal.

I made my cake, then thought I would make a second one to be even more frugal! The first cake was a fruit one containing marmalade and baked in a round cake tin while the second one was also fruity but cooked in a large oblong shaped tray tin. As the ingredients were similar I didn't even need to wash the mixing bowl inbetween and warned the children that they couldn't lick the spoons etc until I had made the second cake! They waited patiently, they definately love the tasting bit best.

My first cake took the longest to cook as it was in a deep cake tin and I was concerned that I would forget about it in the oven, not that I have ever done this before... actually I have burnt cakes in the past. As I had left the kitchen and was now on my computer I decided to use an online timer that had been recommended to me the other day. The Tick Tock Timer was set for 15 minutes then I just forgot about it and browsed while I waited for it to go off. The next thing I knew there was a loud 'dong, dong, dong'. The children and I thought it was funny andI got up and saved my cake. If you would like to use Tick Tock Timer it is a free tool and can be found at http://ticktocktimer.com/

My Husband got served a piece of hot cake with his coffee and declared it yummy. You can't beat home baking as it is satisfying to make, delicous to eat and you know exactly what is in it. Much cheaper than the bakery and better quality than the pre-packaged variety, so if you compare it by quality it is also good value for money.

Dawlish Air Show

Yesterday was the Dawlish Air Show. It was great fun and a real family day out. We took a picnic and enjoyed munching our tasty Cornish pasties. The weather was kind to us, a bit windy as we were up on a hill beside the coast but we had brought our warm coats so it didn't bother us. We were well armed with technology, this was our first air show and we didn't want to miss a thing! We took our portable but powerful binoculars, the video camera and both my Husband and I took a camera each. We weren't disappointed and came away with fantastic coverage of our day out.

These are a few of the things that we saw:

• Hawk T.1 - 19(R) Sqn/4 FTS
• The Breitling Wingwalkers - Aerosuperbatics
• Jet Provost
• Dash 8-300
• The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight
• Lancaster and Spitfire
• Sea King HU.5 SAR helicopter
• The Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team - The Red Arrows
• Tornado GR.4 Role Demo - XV(R) Sqn

We enjoyed watching all the planes strutting their stuff. The Wingwalker ladies were so daring doing their acrobatic moves on the planes in the sky (sorry, but you won't catch me doing that). The Lancaster bomber plane from World War Two is the last one 'flying' in the world which is amazing, we were so honoured to see it. The helicopter did a rescue from a motor boat then re-deposited the person back into the boat again from the air on a rope, as part of the routine.

However, the most memorable and fantastic display we saw at the air show was of course The Red Arrows. They were just amazingly fabulous and showed off continously for about a quarter of an hour non-stop! The sky was full of planes dashing about everywhere but all coming together at the right time in perfect sequence. You can't doubt the pilots skill and precision when you have watched them in action. The sky was full of beautiful colours of red, white and blue for the british flag. (Don't tell my four year old Daughter that it was red though as she thinks it was pink, her favourite colour! Lol).

It was also a frugal day out as when we got to the park which was in a field we had the choice of paying £10 a vehicle to park and ride the bus to town for shopping or 50p a vehicle to park in the next field and watch from the field, use the onsite loos and facilities and attend the car boot sale after the show ended. Obviously, we chose the latter! So apart from the diesel to get there, about an hour's drive and a picnic it cost us just 50p, amazing!

At the car boot I was very good and didn't buy anything but my Husband wanted to treat the children to some heavy duty golf clubs that he found, we got three for two pounds. Also he bought a bag of candy floss which we all shared followed by freshly made hot doughnuts for early tea before we left for home. We ate again when we got home but we skipped afters as we had already eaten the doughnuts. We couldn't believe how much sugar they put in the doughnut bag, my Husband saved it and put some in his hot drinks saving our sugar pot, I am impressed as that is very frugal of him!

On the way home there were traffic jams but as we were beside the coastal railway, famously designed by Isambard Brunel, that had trains passing every couple of minutes my Husband told the children that we were train spotting and they enjoyed watching for trains instead of being stressed out about all the waiting around. We also liked watching lots of geese and several pairs of swans swimming around at Cockwood and the boats at Starcross.

OXO Cubes Stock Pile

I have just found a highstreet shop where I can get oxo cubes for my Winter stews and casseroles in large boxes of 24 for £1! Each cube cost 4p at this price which actually still sounds quite a lot but gives me a saving of 51p per box compared to my usual supermarket prices as they only sell them in smaller boxes of 12 or 18. I decided to buy a stash of them for my pantry as they have a long date, 2012.

Double Lock Canal Walk

Today was a sunny day so we had a picnic outside after Church and drove to Exeter Quay to walk about two and a half miles in total along the Double Lock Canal. We walked at the pace of the youngest child who is a fit four year old but it still took a lot longer than it could have done. It was nice and we got to see the bridge opened for the boat to go through. The worst bit was after I got home and realised I had sunburnt my nose! Lol.

Freecycle Computer Games

The children picked up a few computer games in this week's freecycle. One Son picked up a wallet, empty of course! I found a couple of cds and books, think I should have a listen and a quick read then return them for someone else to enjoy before I get too attached to them as I have too many here already! For disposable items I must treat it more like a lending library.

Picnic Date Night

Our date night this week was a picnic in the car. I simply packed a healthy salad and a can of fiery ginger beer which we shared. We drove to a picturesque location which was about half an hour away. We went on a short walk and watched several squirrels scampering up and down the trees. I had purchased a new short flippy red and white skirt as my Husband had wanted me to buy one. I wore it with a white t-shirt and my white crochet cardigan.

This week's date cost us the fuel for the car, 1 hours drive, £3 for the skirt and 17p for the can of ginger beer. All the food was already in my pantry and not bought special for the date. Our car is very economical on fuel as it is just a little runabout and we got 5p off per litre when I last refuelled due to petrol vouchers we were given at the store. The flippy skirt will be reworn for other dates and was purchased at our local charity shop, so the charity benefited from that purchase. Yet another successful reasonable cost date with emphasis on togetherness rather than expense.

Ten Loaves of Bread for £1!

At the weekend I went to the Supermarket and found reduced bread, I was so pleased to be able to purchase 10 loaves of bread for just £1!! I still can't believe it. We have eaten some and the rest is in the freezer. It is such as huge saving on my weekly bill as I would normally pay about £5 for that many loaves and these were Hovis which are a lot more expensive than my usual store branded loaves.

Saturweigh

Last week I did lots and lots of walking as well as eating mainly fruit, salad, meat and vegetables. Even though I knew I had worked hard and was desperate for a good weigh in reading today I still wasn't prepared for what I read; I weighed in at 11:09!! The last weigh in was 11:12 so that means that I have lost three pounds in one week, awesome. I am so thrilled with this result.

On Saturday 10th July I set myself the challenge of losing 21 pounds in 21 weeks, ending on Saturday 4th December. My starting weight was 12 stone, today's reading was 11:09, I am so pleased that I have now lost the total of 5 pounds in 5 weeks. This means that I am back on track and in line with my challenge, that is absolutely amazing and the best results I have had for ages. Here's hoping that I can keep up the good work over the next week.

350 Paper Bun Cases for £1!

Today while shopping in my nearest town I was really pleased to find that I could purchase 350 paper bun cases in a plastic storage pot for just £1! At that price it works out that I get three and a half bun cases for each penny, wow! I am going to try them out first to make sure they are up to the job but if they are good then I am planning to dash back to the shop and get a few more packs. Perfect for baking chocolate chip buns or iced cup cakes.

Redeeming Loyalty Points

Trying to think of ways that I could cut back on my saving reminded me that I had loyalty points for 'Boots' our local chemist which I hadn't redeemed for ages. We were running out of nail varnish remover and cotton wool again, there are several teenage girls here :-)

I took my card to the store and walked out with my items without having to pay for them out of my account, that felt good! I have been informed that I still have several pounds left on my card which is good to know. I will keep these for other necessities as and when needed. It is so easy to just keep paying at the till and never think about cashing in the points due to you, I guess that's exactly what the stores want you to do.

Walking for Books

My young Son is seven years old and has learnt to read well. He has been reading whole books happily and so I decided he was ready for a trip to the library. We drove to the nearest village then parked up and walked on a safe path to the library in the next town. There he chose six books and joined the Summer reading scheme called 'Space Hop' where he will get rewarded with a certificate if he reads, records and judges all the books he has read. Then we walked back to our car. Our walk totalled 3 miles, not bad for a seven year old, he didn't even complain once!

Reducing Fuel Costs when Cooking

Usually I don't have to economise with cooking fuel as we normally have our Aga range on all the time but as it is Summer we let it out to save on oil costs. Yesterday I fancied cooking the family a roast but didn't want to put on the electric oven just to cook a chicken. So, I cooked two chickens and a large cake all at the same time! We ate our lovely hot roast for dinner last night and a cold chicken salad tonight with chocolate cake and custard for desert. There will be another meal of chocolate cake tomorrow so I am happy with the return on the cooking fuel.

Did I Really Start Running?

Today has been a sunny day with wind, perfect for drying the washing. Three lines full and an airer too, saving the dryer bill again.

Had to laugh this morning when my Son put down on his schoolwork that his Mum was an example of someone that was thrifty! I had to agree, it's been obvious to all the family lately, they can't miss it.

My Husband did something really frugal today. He has always been known to be good at fixing things but today my 16 year old Daughter brought her deodorant aerosol can to him to be fixed as it still had a lot left inside (she's thrifty too like her Mum). Off he went to his workshop, a few minutes later he was back and it was fixed again. How many people would have just tossed it in the bin. Anyway our Daughter was happy as she didn't want to have to buy another one.

I only did 200 steps on the LTT today as I am still feeling the effects on my muscles from yesterday. I served up a nice fresh healthy salad for dinner tonight and nobody complained which was good. There was plenty of different foods to choose from so everyone was happy.

This evening my Husband and I went for a quiet country walk, about two miles in total. I even did a spot of running, a miracle for me, even my Husband was surprised how far I ran without complaining afterwards - amazing! Lol.