Freebie Friday

This week I received five Koko Dairy Free milk coupons. I rather cheekily emailed this company as Mr T is lactose intolerant but loves dairy. Go figure. He recently tried the Rice Dream milk alternative as I had coupons for it and wasn't too impressed. I had a sip and have to say it tasted very watery. Like watered down skimmed milk, with a smidgen of coconut. It also left a iccky after taste.I think he liked the sound of Koko as it comes in chocolate flavour (lover of anything sweet is Mr T) Anyway, the lady who replied to my email sounded lovely and said she would post out the coupons the very same day. I was shocked to find them on my mat the next morning! It's rare that a companies customer service bowls me over but Koko's did.

So Koko is made from coconuts and is lactose, cow's milk protein and gluten free. It has the same calcium  content to semi-skimmed milk and I have to say it tastes very similar to milk. It's not as watery as the rice milk and is something that even a milk guzzler like me would happily drink. Particularly the chocolate flavour!

Koko also does not curdle in tea and coffee which is a bonus for Mr T - who wants lumpy coffee first thing in the morning!

Manuka Doctor sample kit. I thought this was a crazy bargain as it was advertised as three free samples, worth £12.99, for.....well free. Because of the price I thought they would at least be travel size samples, but heh just shows how much I spend on my face care!  As my skin has started to age (Sssshhhh! They are not wrinkles but laughter lines) I don't really know what to do with it. I've always had combination (or pain in the butt) skin, dry in some places spotty in others. Now it just feels dry and less bouncy, if you know what I mean. So I am on the look out for something to at least hydrate it without breaking me out in pimples. Or a small miracle and my 20 year old bounce back ;)

I was obviously more interested in the price than the product though as I was horrified when this came and it said Purified Bee Venom on the box. Poor bee's! I thought it was just some sort of honey. So I googled and found out that this is the 'thing' at the minute. Apparently Kate Middleton uses Bee Venom beauty products and no bee's are harmed in the extraction of the venom. I hope. I'm still a little reluctant to use it though. It is meant to 'trick' your skin into thinking it has been stung and rush blood to it, or something along those lines. Sounds a little extreme to me, so if any of you want to give this a go - let me know and I will pop them in the post for you.

Money Saving!

One of the huge things that have changed in my life in the past two years is the arrival of my little bundle of joy, Emily. At 7 months old now she brings a lot of joy into our little household. We are embarking on many adventures that I had thought were long over and done with. New teeth, new foods, new experiences. I absolutely love being a mum in so many ways.

However babies are expensive! With me being at home full time and Mr T working as much as he can, I feel as though I need to contribute somehow.

Enter couponing.

Yes, yes, I know. Couponing has had a bad press in many ways. Either glamorized by shows such as extreme couponing or frowned upon by fellow shoppers and shop assistants alike for being time consuming. However I have had some good savings with coupons. Not on a massive scale but every little helps!

Believe me 10 years ago I would have laughed if someone told me I would be scanning papers, magazines and web sites for coupons or even contacting companies (ick!) but with the economy being as it is, I feel as though I have to do something to help our money stretch that little bit further....and this suits me. Plus, my dirty little secret is, I enjoy it. It's like a game.

I would like to keep track of my savings and current coupons here (and will be writing a post with all of the current UK coupons I have found). The idea is that you use your coupons where and when there is a deal on a particular item - therefore giving you bigger savings.

For example, I recently got my hands on quite a few Weight Watchers Love Fibre cereal £1.00 off coupons (now expired). When Tesco put this cereal on offer for £1.50 (normal price £2.69) I was able to bag four boxes for the price of one normal priced box. Lucky me and my kids like these cereals!


I have also become quite accustomed to freebie-ing. Same reason really, if I can try out different products for free, I don't want to waste money finding out whether I like something. I also now really look forward to my post! Samples make a change from bills ;)

Yesterday the goodies I received were...

His and Hers perfume samples from Boss. I was a little disappointed that these were the peel off sticker samples. However the mens sample smells great and I may consider it as a birthday pressie for Mr T. Not so keen on the womens but my daughter likes it - guess it's down to personal taste.

 Bepanthen Nappy ointment. I have to tell you I haven't paid for nappy cream since I had Little Em. With the freebies you get in the New Baby Bounty packs and with free samples through the post, we've been covered. I particularly like Bepanthen though, with the first sign of redness, a smidgen of this calms it very quickly. It's also great for tattoos I believe!

I also received two coupons from Hipp Organic baby food. I signed up to this company about a month or so ago and have received quite a bit from them. I liked the sound of this company as everything is organic (darrrrling) and although I try and cook Little Em's food from scratch as much as I can, these pouches are really useful to have for when we are out and about (or munching on pizza!). You don't even need a bowl if you are out, just squeeze the food out onto a spoon. They also send you weaning spoons when you join. The price varies quite a bit on these pouches mind you, the cheapest I have found them is in Tesco for 45p. Making them free with the 50p coupon ;)

Now my biggest advice for this kind of thing is set up an email account especially for coupons and freebies. Most of the time you have to sign up to some sort of news letter. Most of which I don't mind and will have a read. However if you don't like a product, you don't want to keep getting updates in your main inbox. I also recommend you don't rush to the shops as soon as a coupon hits your inbox/letterbox. Wait as long as you can if there are no current deals on the product. Mysupermarket is a great way of checking current prices in different supermarkets before you shop.

Right I am off to brace the April showers! I did have a thought though, I have actually finished two blankets that I haven't blogged about yet (shock!) so if it brightens up later I will take some pics to show you. One I luuuuurrrrrrrvvvvvvvveeeeee. All rainbowy and happy :)

Have a great day x

Two Years....

Two years.

Over two years in fact.

Where did the time go? I never really intended on my hiatus from blogging. I've always had my little haven snuggled up in the back of my mind. But life just took off on me I guess!

So ....over the past year I have...

Met some super amazing lovely friends.

Acquired a job.

Left said job.

Explored.

Had fun.

Crocheted a little.

Worked out A LOT.

Lost a mahausive 6 stone.

Baked.

Gained most of that 6 stone back ;)

Fell in love.

Somehow. Some way. After being told that I COULD NOT have any more. Fell pregnant.

It's not all been dancing under rainbows happy and stress free. But it has all been busy! And ever so slightly transformative.

One of the reasons I stopped blogging was due to the fact I really don't get that much time to crochet anymore. I now have four children and a Mr and a busy house to run! I remember when I started blogging I read somewhere that you should pick a subject and stick to it. I find that very hard, my brain flits from one thing to another all.the.time. So that coupled with the fact that my wips may take years to finish, I thought this blog was kind of redundant.

However.

A little thought came to me whilst I was elbow deep in washing up. I started this blog as a 'sorta diary' more for myself than anyone else. Don't get me wrong, I love the blogging, crafting and mummy communities online. But I also enjoy writing, I enjoy sharing and I enjoy reading back on snippets of my life. For me.

I want to keep this little part of the internet. For me. So whether I write about crochet, or adventures in knitting, or walks, or mummy stuff, or (a huge deal for me at the moment) money saving, or cooking (trying to), or things I'm loving right now or...... You get the picture. I shall be breaking the only rule of blogging I ever remembered. I shall not stick to a subject. Although, perhaps I will. Its called life.

A Ripple Update

What diet?

The last week has been spent trying to keep warm. The kettle has been on constantly, making hot chocolate and tea, filling hot water bottles and then refilling. I've been piling blankets on to the kids beds and falling ever so slightly out of love with my skylight which not only lets out lots of heat, it drips condensation when it's cold.

Being splatted with big fat cold drips on the way to the loo in the morning and all blurry eyed is not fun.

However the 'Deep Freeze' as they call it, will not last forever and it does feel very homely being wrapped up and making that extra effort to make sure everyone is warm.

I am slightly peeved that we have to endure the cold without being rewarded with the snow though!

Snuggling up also means I have had plenty of time to ripple. I've just run out of the navy blue and I'm coming close with quite a few of the other colours so I thought it was time for an update.

This is my favourite blanket yet. It reminds me of the sea and it's very soothing to work on....... up mountains, down valley's all in soothing shades of blue and green. I likey very much. 

I hope you are all staying snug and warm if you're in the UK (or anywhere else cold!) and if you're not, enjoy! xxx

January

From top left to bottom right:

• January was the month the Christmas decorations were taken down and stashed away for another year. Which meant the duster had to come back out ;) 

• January was the month we bought an 'electric ball' light in the sale and had plenty of fun taking snaps and watching the electric 'snakes' follow our fingers.

• January was the month we watched a local fire dancer. We have seen him a few times now and he is always very entertaining. 

• January was the month I bought Gerberas  (I think?!) just because. 

• January was the month we spent time on the beach, laughing at shadows, skipping stones and trying to persuade my son that it's just.too.cold to swim just yet. 

• January was the month I finished the stash buster which one of the little people has been wrapped in ever since.

• January was the month I actually knitted a whole scarf....and realised I would have to buy a new coat to match it...

• January was the month I continued to admire the children's artwork (pics 8 and 9) and loved the way one likes to shade tonal colours and the other has the all colour in approach. 

• January was the month I started to ripple and loved it.

• January was the month I bought the first bunch of daffodils of the year (£1 = Asda). I love daffodils! 

• The last day of January I sat and rippled in the surprisingly warm sun when the rest of the flat was freezing! 

I really, truly hope your January was everything it should be and here's to lovely cosy February! 

xxxxx 

Ripple Inspiration

1. Rainbow ripple finished 05.12.11, 2. Ripple, 3. Ripple ♥, 4. Chevron Baby blanket, 5. Sweet Melody Ripple Blanket Completed 2, 6. Sofia's blanket, 7. Ripple in action, 8. Rainbow ripple blanket, 9. Bølgetæppe nr 2

As you are well aware, I do have a slight problem with startitus. The stash busting hex was the first crochet blanket I have actually finished - although I have started many others! I get inspired, I dig out the yarn, I concentrate furiously for a little while and then....something else inspires me and off I go.

However one thing that did keep me motivated through 5 months of hexing was Flickr and Pinterest. The more hex blankets I saw, the more I just wanted to have mine finished. And so I stayed at it. So now I am rippling ( I can't say that word without thinking of Chunk from the Goonies!) here are a few of my ripple favourites, taken from my pinterest board.

Enjoy! x

Lazy Saturday

Sitting in striped pyjamas, the smell of stew wafting in from the kitchen and rip-rippling away.  

Perfect.

The yarn is Stylecraft Special Dk in colours 

Midnight

Meadow

Aspen

Aster

Teal 

(shown) 

and I have silver and cloud blue to go in as well. 

The recipient will be my son - hence the no pink or purple! 

The pattern is Lucy's Neat Ripple Pattern and I've obviously gone with the 'interlocking' ripple thing that has been showing up recently. 

The best thing about rippling? No Dreaded Joining! After the Hex I am all.joined.out for now.

How's your Saturday been?

xxxxx


(Let me know what you think of the new layout. Too boring? Better? A pain in the backside? Easier to view? I'm in two minds.)

Finally Finished! :: Stash Busting Hex

 I finally have a FO to show you! The Stash Busting Hex is finally finally finished!

Started in Coventry and finished in Bournemouth. It took 5 months to complete, what seemed like a gazillion balls of white yarn and the need for me to drop my perfectionism and just go with it. (Ssssh I got the pattern completely wrong!)

However it's done and I love it. I wanted the colours to kind of radiate out from the yellow in the middle. I'm not sure I really got that effect because of the multi coloured centres. But it did use up all of my little pesky balls of stash though - which was the whole object of the stash buster! 

I must admit it's huge. Waaay bigger than I ever intended it to be. But with winter in full force here, it's coming in handy. Along with this....

I know! Another FO?! What's gotten into me! This is a garter knit scarf. Yes I've gone back to basics with the old knitting. I may have been a little over confident jumping straight in with DPN's and Noro. But this yarn is gorgeous - I believe it's called Twisted by King Cole (although I've lost the label) and it's kind of rainbow jewel tones twisted with brown. Which made the old garter stitch a little more interesting. Lovely.

Anyway I hope your January has been lovely so far - I can't believe we're almost into Feb already! I don't feel like I've recovered from Christmas yet!

xxxxxx

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Source Jason Combs

I just wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas! I know that I am a day late but this is the first quiet moment I have had in days. We had a lovely family day here and our first Christmas Day walk on the beach! I hope that your day was wonderful, cosy and filled with Christmas cheer.


As it is unlikely I will be back before New Year (I have a birthday to plan for New Years Eve next!) I will wish you all a very

HaPpY NeW YeAr!! 

See you in a brand spanking new 2012!

xxxxxxxxxxx

Flickr Favourites

I was really hoping that I would have a finished stash buster for you this week but after a nasty ear infection which  resulted in a numbing of the face, lots of making a grown woman cry and a wee visit to hospital, I have to say I have made not a single hex in the past seven days. In fact I really haven't done much. Housework, Christmas prep and even getting dressed just seem like too much hard work! But life stands still for no one so it's time to get re-motivated and inspired to face a bright new day tomorrow. Because that's what us mum's do isn't it? Get on with it.

So how about a rather festive Flickr Favourites? I haven't done one for a while and browsing my favourites always inspires me.....

1. Christmas crochet bunting, 2. Merry Christmas Flickr Friends!, 3. Crochet stockings, 4. It's beginning to look a lot like..., 5. Crocheted Snowflake Ornaments 1, 6. My Christmas Tree, 7. One ornament down..., 8. is it too early for this?, 9. I Love You and I'll Miss You

I love all of the crafty decorations around the web, particularly the stockings and baubles popping up this year. I suspect that I won't get round to making any now but I do plan on going snowflake crazy after watching  Elf  this evening!

OTT? Yes. Oh so very yes. But  oh so pretty all the same!

I'm thinking that with three kids I could have a whole production line thing going on ;)

Crikey! How is it that one hour on the internet is two hours real time? I'm off to bed.

Have a lovely week  xxxxx

A week of smiles...

• Only 30 hex's to make and join before the border on the stash buster. 30 sounds a lot but I've been making these for months. 30 now seems like a doddle believe me.

• Discovering Just Me. This girl is crafty and witty. A winning combination in my book.

• Free kindle books. Now that it's dark before 5pm I'm stocking up on my reading material. The fact that I can get whole books for free never ceases to amaze me. And it makes my purse smile. 

• Shreddies and warm milk. I know. Not sophisticated at all. But I live off this stuff when it's cold and love it. 

• Brocantehome and Positively Present. Reminding me that life is too short to live in the past or save up happiness for the future. 

• Pinterest. How can something so simple be so addictive? 

• Coming to terms with the fact that there simply isn't enough money to have the kind of Christmas that we are used to here and being fine with it. Because Christmas isn't about the mountains of plastic tat that my children have become accustomed to is it?

• Taking a break from both Facebook and the news and feeling better for it. I'm starting to wonder if I really need to be constantly updated on what the world is doing.

• Stumbling upon PeonyAndParakeet on Etsy. I LOVE the texture and colour in her art. After Christmas I shall be treating myself to a wee postcard =]

Wishing you a cosy and festive week m'dears because it really isn't long until the big day now is it!

xxxxxxxxx

Out and About...

I love Heathers 'On my camera' posts and I hope she won't mind if I steal her idea! There are so many things that I would like to share but don't warrant a big post individually. So here are a few snippets of my month in picture form.....

 I love old style phone boxes and Bournemouth has them everywhere. 

The carousel is in town! I loved these as a kid but haven't been on this one. My daughter has though!

I LOVE Bournemouth's beach huts. They start off as yellow and go all the way through the rainbow. 

One day I will get a camera that will allow me to nail this kind of shot. Shadow jumping.

The Christmas lights were turned on in town tonight. Of course my rubbish camera phone will not pick the lights up properly. But I love them anyway. 

Watching waves today. There's nothing better.

XXXX

Queen of the Castle

 

First of all I would like to say thank you for the birthday messages!

As it was my birthday and I could decide exactly where to drag the family, we trotted off to Corfe Castle yesterday. I'm sure I've mentioned before, I do love a good castle. My mum also jokes that I have 'Queen of the castle syndrome' because I LOVE being up high. For those who haven't come across it, there is a rhyme we used to say as kids when we were up high....

I'm the Queen of the castle and you're the dirty rascals!

When we started out the sun was shining and the Autumn colours were amazing. The castle is on top of a natural mound  and looking up I had high hopes for spectacular views from the top.

We were greeted by this dashing fellow at the bottom ...

.....and set off into the castle. Now Corfe Castle is a ruin but it's still a lot of fun. The kids found hidey holes everywhere and had fun playing hide and seek while us adults looked out on the view..

As you can tell, the blue sky had vanished the minute we hit the entrance and the mist? Fog? Had started to roll in. For me it made the view very atmospheric but I would like to see it on a clear day too. We did find a good spot to watch the steam train go by....

And have a good view of the village of Corfe...

Where we stopped for sweets in a cute little sweet shop, I was quite taken by the window decorations (and the fact that I could buy fizzy cola bottles!)

We took a little stroll around the village and came across this Wishing Chair..

Which I think is related to Enid Blyton's first novel The Adventures of the Wishing Chair. Although I've yet to look it up, apparently Enid was evacuated to Corfe during the war and her Famous Five books (which I LOVED as a child) were inspired by Corfe Castle. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong though!

Anyway, all in all it was a glorious day (even with the mist!) and I suspect we shall be visiting Corfe again in the future. Thanks for sitting through my photo's with me!

xxxx

ETA I forgot to ask, does anyone know how I reply to comments directly in blogger? Quite often I get direct messages from blog owners in my email. I would love to do the same!