Happy New Month! April already...

Can you believe it??? Well, the 1st of April has finally arrived. This is a big day for us, because we handed over our old house today! It's been such a long slog, getting the old house emptied. The thing is, we didn't pack up one house into a big van, then take it to an empty house to unpack. We had one house that was full to the brim, and moved into another house that was full to the brim. It's been 5 long months of sorting, decluttering, taking things away and making space for other stuff. We've never had an empty space for more than a couple of hours, before going back to the old house, coming back and filling it up again! Every single weekend has been taken up with taking carloads of rubbish to the tip, delivering unwanted furniture to friends and trying to tidy up again between times. Whenever we've moved something into this house, it's never been as simple as that, we've had to move something else out of the way first! Basically, we've had to get rid of the entire contents of a three bedroom house. That is a LOT of stuff. Scary, when you think about how many thousands of pounds worth of stuff I've given or thrown away. We all do it, though. We work all these hours and spend years throwing money at stuff to fill our houses with. At the end of the day, it's just stuff. From now on, I'm spending my money on experiences and memories, not things that will clutter up my home and never get used! Well, now that the house is gone, I can finally start concentrating on the home I'm in now! We still need to unpack a few boxes and do a lot of decorating, so the house will be a work in progress for quite some time. Which brings me on nicely to my goals for April! My goals for March didn't quite go to plan, getting the house emptied became my complete focus, so everything else went out of the window! Here's what I'd like to achieve this month... 1) Open a new bank account. Fresh start for my new home! 2) Exercise at least 5 days a week 3) Get everything unpacked and tidy! 4) Sell hubby's car. We don't need 2 cars anymore, I work locally, so I'll be walking or cycling. I think that'll do. What are your goals for April?

The BEST pasta dish ever - fact.

I adore Jamie Oliver. He taught me to cook at the age of 20. I'd just left home and hadn't ever had a lot of interest in cooking, but I bought his first book and after the first dish, I was hooked!
I've got just about every book he's ever done, but my favourite by far is 30 Minute Meals.
This dish is adapted from the book, and it's a huge favourite in my house. Even my fussy son will clear his plate and ask for seconds!
Try it. Honestly, you'll love it. Oh, and buy the book, you'll never regret it!

JOOLS' PASTA

4 spring onions

1 carrot

1 stick of celery

1 fresh red chilli

1 pack of good quality sausages

1 tsp fennel seeeds

1 tsp dried oregano

500g dried penne (about 6 handfuls)

4 cloves garlic

4 tbsps balsamic vinegar

1 tin chopped tomatoes

basil and parmesan for garnish

Using the blade attatchment of a food processor, chop the spring onion, carrot, celery and chilli. Add the sausages, fennel seeds and oregano and pulse again until everything is well combined.

Heat some olive oil in a large frying pan and cook the mixture, keep stirring and breaking it up until well browned. Meanwhile, cook the penne in salted boiling water until tender.

Crush the garlic and add to the sausage mixture, add the balsamic vinegar and allow to bubble. Add the tomatoes and simmer while the pasta is cooking.

Once the pasta is ready, drain (reserving a cupful of cooking water) and add to the meat mixture, along with the reserved water. Stir well, spoon into bowls and top with grated or shaved parmesan, and scatter with torn basil leaves.

Enjoy! It's totally freaking delicious.

buy the book here!

On missing babies...

I miss babies. I'll admit it, I do.



I always wanted 4 children. I grew up in a big family, my parents adopted 3 of us, and fostered many more kids in between. The house was always full of kids, and at weekends we'd all descend on my grandparents, and their house would be full of aunties, uncles and cousins - adults all talking and laughing, kids all running around playing games. I adored it, all the mess, noise and chaos, and I always knew that was the kind of life I wanted.


My husband is a bit more sensible though, and he only ever wanted 2 kids, max. We were delighted when our second child was born, and being a girl, it meant that we had one of each, the perfect "gentleman's family". That was it, we were done.


I'm not really done, but I'm happy with my kids, and have to admit that parenthood isn't all fun and games, it's bloody hard work and my 2 kids keep me plenty busy!


Daisy starts school this August, and that's made me feel quite sad for the past year. I've been at home with a preschooler for almost 9 years now, and even on the toughest days, I've loved every second of it. I adore all the little milestones they reach, I love being the one they run to when they're proud of something, when they want to share a secret or need a cuddle.


I miss the baby stage so much. I miss that baby smell, the way they giggle, their chubby little bums and the way their big eyes get all droopy when they're trying (and failing) to stay awake!


I miss being pregnant, I miss having a baby fall asleep on my chest and I miss seeing their little faces all covered in food.
The trouble is, having another baby now just wouldn't really work. The age gap would be bigger than I'd like and our current circumstances don't really allow for it. We live with my mum now, who is 65 and doesn't keep the best health. She no longer has the energy or patience to live with a baby, even if she wouldn't be looking after it. We have 4 dogs and a cat, as well as the kids, and life is just busy enough without the added stress of a tiny baby.
I like how our life is just now. The kids are of an age where we can be more spontaneous, we can take off to a restaurant or the cinema at a moment's notice, and we don't have to think about running home for nappies, milk or buggies.
We can relax a bit at weekends because the kids play amongst themselves or go outside with their friends. We haven't been able to do that for 9 years, there's always been someone needing 1:1 attention, so that's a big novelty. I'll miss Daisy when she goes to school, but I'll have so much more free time to meet friends, read books or get myself a hobby.

I've come to the conclusion that I'll always miss babies. Even if I did have more babies, they grow up and I'd be back to missing them again! It's a sad thought that my baby days are done, but I've accepted that it's time to move on and embrace the benefits of having older kids. I can always look after other people's babies, anyway!

Please tell me I'm not the only one who get's overwhelmingly broody sometimes!

It's March already - how did that happen???

Happy new month!

So, how did I get on with February's goals? I achieved NONE of them!!!

1) Empty loft OR garage - I got about 75% of my loft emptied, garage hasn't even been touched yet. However, I hand the keys over on 1st April, so both loft and garage WILL be emptied this month, no matter what!

2) Lost 8lbs - I'm still exactly the same weight I was last month. I lost 4lbs, then gained them back again! Must try harder.

3) Go to bed at 10pm at least twice a week - I don't think I got to bed before midnight once in the whole of february - FAIL!

4) Computer free weekends - computer said no.

Never mind! I'm sailing into March with good intentions (although I'm sure the road to Hell is paved with these...), and here are my mad March goals...

1) Get house completely emptied

2) Get below 9st. I'm currently 9st 7lbs.

3) Not buy ANYTHING apart from groceries. Even then, only essential ones.

4) Early nights. I have to do this in March! In bed by 10pm at least two nights a week. I promise!

Oh, and update the blog more often. I'm aware that there's a photobucket thingy floating around and I will remove it as soon as I figure out how!
I also have a long list of subjects I want to blog about, so I will write more often. And add photos, I have loads of photos to add!

I start my new job tomorrow, so will keep y'all updated. Wish me luck!

The Grocery Challenge - February

Oooh, I love a new challenge!

We've been living hand to mouth for way too long now, it's like we just got used to always having a negative bank balance and just spent without really thinking about it.
Now that the house is sold and we will probably have most of our debt cleared, I'd like to start being more careful with our money so we can have actual *gasp* savings!
The plan is to save my entire wage and just live off the hubby's. This is entirely doable, considering I've been a SAHM several times and we've managed to live off of one wage.
Our biggest challenge is to stop wasting so much money on groceries though. I don't even know how much money I spend in supermarkets, but I'd estimate it at around £600 per month.
I know prices have shot up lately, but that's ridiculous!
I'd like to get this figure down to around £300 per month, or even less. I'm a good cook, I can make something out of nothing, so there's no need for constant trips to the supermarket!
My challenge for February is to spend as little as possible on food, and start doing my grocery shopping online.
Here are my goals...

1) Do grocery shopping online, less temptation to stray from the list!
2) Use Tesco instead of Asda, then I get clubcard points!
3) Get meat from local butcher, it's cheaper and better quality
4) Buy all toileteries from Boots, get advantage points!
5) Batch cook and freeze things for lazy days, less temptation to nip out for something
6) STICK TO THE MEAL PLAN!!

Do you spend too much in supermarkets? If so, feel free to join the challenge!

Life's little surprises

We had a bit of a disappointment yesterday. The couple who'd offered on our house were never getting back to us, and I'd spent two whole days staring at my phone, willing it to ring. Isn't it so frustrating waiting for a phonecall? I hate it, I feel so powerless!
I finally caved and asked our solicitor to chase them up and find out what they were doing. It turned out they'd changed their minds and decided not to take it any further.
I was gutted, it was the only offer we'd had in the 8 months since the house went on the market and I really thought it was our big chance to sell.
Well, today was just a case of moving on and trying to forget about it. At 3pm though, we got a call completely out of the blue to say that another couple had made an offer!
Again, it wasn't quite enough of an offer, so we went back and asked for more. They came back and offered what we'd been hoping for, and we accepted!!!!
The house is under offer, yay! I'm absolutely delighted.
I never imagined that I'd be starting February with a new job and my house sold, it's amazing. It still hasn't quite sunk in!
The strangest part is, the couple want the completion date to be 1st April, which was the excact date we moved into the house 6 years ago! How odd that the house became ours on 1st April and will stop being ours on 1st April.
The good thing is, that gives us two whole months to get the loft and garage emptied, although I'll try to get the bulk done in February, I don't want to risk running late with it and being stressed out nearer the time.

Anyway, i just wanted to share that, It's the best possible thing that could have happened today and I wasn't even expecting it. One of life's happy little surprises :-)

Happy New Month! February Goals...

Can you believe it's February already???
It'll be christmas before we know it! *ducks*

Anyhoo, bearing in mind that Feb will be a busy month anyway, what with me starting a new job, here are my goals for the month ahead...

1) Empty either my loft OR my garage at the old house. Unless of course, the house sells, in which case I'll have to empty both...

2) Lose 8lb. I did it last month, no reason why I can't do it this month!

3) Go to bed before 10pm at least 2 nights per week. I WILL do it this month!

4) Computer free weekends. I spend way too much time on the computer, it's always on! For the month of February, I vow to stay away from the computer from friday morning until monday morning. More quality time with the family and less distractions!

I think that'll do, don't you?

What do you hope to achieve in February?