Food Banks And MD

Hello readers sorry there was no post yesterday but my MD decided to rear her ugly head. I was fine first thing so headed off to Morrison's to do my weekly shop. I only needed a few bits and bobs as we are eating down what we have at home and I am doing a lot of baking to save money on treats. I am an avid reader of Frugal Queen and was inspired by her to do something I am ashamed to say I have not done before. You can read Froogs post here  http://www.frugalqueen.co.uk/2014/07/this-week-bargain-shopping.html

My weekly shop came to a little under £15 and I usually budget £50 a week to feed the 4 of us (sometimes 5 depending if the Mr is over for a few days). So I had £35 at my disposal. I decided to take a leaf out of Froogs book and spend £20 on food for the local food bank and save the other £15 to treat the Mr to lunch today. I myself have benefitted from a food parcel from the local food bank in the past when things have been very tight here at Tilly Towers so it was only right I give something back to them. There is no food collection point at Morrison's but I know there is one in the market place information centre which is a 10 minute walk. Being a bit wobbly at the moment and knowing there would be to much to carry with my walking stick I decided I needed to borrow one of the supermarket trollies to get it up there. I spoke to the lady in charge at the supermarket and explained what I wanted to do and she was happy to lend me a trolley as long as I brought it back when I had finished. I think the fact that she lives on the same street as me assured her I was not going to pinch the trolley lol. I managed to get the following items.....

4x Tins of beans and sausages
4x Jars of jam
4x Tins of ravioli
4x Tins of meatballs
4x Jars of ham and beef sandwich paste
4x Jars of chicken sandwich paste
4x Tinkerbelle shaped spaghetti (reduced with a use by of 2015)
4x Boxes of 4 vegetable cup a soups
4x Packs of chicken noodles
4x Packs of curry noodles
4x Bags of toffees
4x Packs of custard creams
4x Bars of chocolate
4x Boxes of cornflakes
4x UHT skimmed milk

All of the items were value brands as I wanted to get as much food as I could for my money. Lets face it when you are hungry and have no money for food you don't really care what brand you are eating your just happy to be eating something. All of this came to a little under £19 and there was loads. When I got to the food bank and told the ladies it was all for them the ladies were a little taken aback and asked me if I was sure I wanted to donate all of it. They explained to me that they are just a collection point and that the food gets sent to the actual food bank over in Warminster and is then distributed to families in need in the form of 3 day food parcels. They offered me a drink and said how grateful they were but I declined as I could feel a migraine starting and did not have my hearing aids in so would have found an in depth conversation very difficult to follow. I am so pleased I was in a position to help 4 families eat for a few days and will definitely be making this a monthly thing. Next time I will make sure I wear my hearing aids so that I can stop for a drink and a chat and learn some more about the running of the food banks.

By the time I got home I was in a lot of pain with my MD I had a migraine, raging tinnitus, head pressure, ear pressure, and could barely hear a thing. I took some paracetomol and went to sleep. I woke up briefly at 2pm to find the Mr had arrived for a few days which was a relief. He took one look at me and told me to go back to sleep he would collect Brandon from school and keep an eye on the kids. I didn't need telling twice and that was me out for the count till this morning.

I woke up this morning feeling very woozy so went back to sleep again. I woke up about 11am and told the Mr I wanted to take him for lunch despite being ill. I attempted to walk with my stick but it just was not possible as I was all over the place (my balance is shot today) so the Mr insisted I go in the wheelchair. We took a walk into town and I returned a DVD I had borrowed from the library and took a few more out. We then popped into the air ambulance charity shop (my favourite charity shop ever). They had a sale on 2x kids clothing for £1 and any item of ladies clothing (except the ball gowns) £1. I got 12 t-shirts for the 3 boys all brand names such as Next, Hollister, and O'Neil and I got myself 2 pairs of shorts £1 each and 2 dresses £1 each one is from Monsoon and one is from Evans. We then went to our favourite place in Westbury for lunch. It is a locally owned business and the prices are very good. The couple who run it are lovely and always have a chat with you. The couple are fond of my 3 boys and whenever we have them with us they often give them a free biscuit for afters :)
We had a large tuna baguette each and a can of fizzy pop each and it came to £7 for the 2 of us. By the time we got home I was completely whipped out again so went back to sleep and have only just surfaced. It is so much easier having the Mr here when I am ill I can flake out without having to worry the children are not being looked after. Anyway I'm still feeling quite unwell so I'm going to sign off for the night.

This week when you do your shopping why not see if they have a food bank collection point and donate something even if you only donate a value box of cornflakes 32p, or a value pack of noodles 20p it will make all the difference to a family in need. Thank you Froogs for your post as it inspired me to do the same.

Much Love
Claire xx xx xx

Baking, A Party, And Yellow Stickers

Hello readers wow what a busy weekend we have had here at Tilly Towers. It may have been busy but it has been thoroughly enjoyable here's what we have been up to.........

Saturday

I started my morning with the usual medications and housework. I then got Ben ready for his reward trip with young carers. He did archery and rifle shooting although he said he did not like the shooting (don't blame him I hate guns) he said he really enjoyed the archery and had a great day. Whilst Ben was off out for the day and Brad was at respite for the weekend Brandon and I decided to do some baking. We had no eggs and I needed some cat litter so we took a walk to Morrison's. On the way back we got a cone of chips to share for our lunch and ate them in the park (only £1 for a cone of chips). After our chips Brandon wanted to play for a little while so I gave him 10 minutes to have a play. There were 2 older boys playing football in the park and they could see Brandon wanted to join in so one of them kicked the ball to him and let him join in their game. I thought this was a lovely thing for them to do and it really warmed my heart watching him join in. When he had finished playing we went home to get on with the baking. I made 3 chocolate cakes and a triple batch of chewy cookies. 2 Of the chocolate cakes are just chocolate sponge with icing sugar sprinkled on top the other has chocolate butter cream icing and chocolate sprinkles on top. That should keep us going for the week.

Cheeky assistant check

Ingredients check

Brandon mixing the cookie dough

Cookies ready to go in the oven

Yummy chewy cookies

Slightly under cooked on the bottoms. No matter scrap that bit off no one will no the difference lol

Chocolate sponge with a sugar dusting

I love chocolate butter cream one of my guilty pleasures

For dinner we had a beef casserole with mashed potatoes yellow sticker beef, value mushrooms, value gravy, value mash. It was delicious cost £1.91 and made 4 servings so just under 50p a plate.

We were invited to a friend's 40th birthday party at a function hall not to far from us on Saturday evening. As I was feeling well we decided to go just for a few hours. The theme was come in the decade you were born. As I had nothing that remotely resembled 70`s clothing I decided to go for my favourite decade instead the 1950`s. Lee and the boys often joke that that is the year I should have been born the thing is I completely agree with them lol. We had a fab time lots of dancing on the boys parts, nibbles, and the chance to catch up with an old friend. The total cost of the evening was as follows.........

Transport..... free my friend K gave us a lift there and we walked the 30 minutes home

Food..... free nibbles were laid on

Drink..... £3.20 a glass of coke for me and Ben each and a glass of tap water for Brandon and we made this last us (I am tee total and Brandon does not like fizzy drinks)

Entertainment.... free there was a disco and a play area laid on (it was all very child friendly)

Card..... free I made it myself from supplies I already had

Present...... £2 for a fabulous 40 wine glass (charity shop), a spa toiletries set which was an unwanted gift so free

So in total our evening out cost me £ 5.20 for the 3 of us :)

What do you think did I look like a 50`s chick ?

A silly one of the munchkins

And a much nicer one

Sunday

Today I have been yellow sticker shopping and I got some fab deals. Here's what I got.....

6x one litre of chocolate soya milk 9p a litre

6x potatoes with herb butter 9p a box

4x tubs of potato slices 15p a box

1 pack of pork rind 5p

1 bag of fresh peas and carrots 9p

2x pineapple snack packs 9p each

4x medium cheese and tomato pizzas 9p each

1 small pack of topside roast beef 19p

8x all butter croissants 10p each

1 pack of cooked stuffing 9p

1 pack of cooked meatloaf 19p

1 cooked extra tasty chicken £1·99

1 bag of fresh spinach

This came to £5.47 as I got a few extra pennies off due to a fruit snack promotion. I gave the spinach, 1 pineapple snack pack, 2 potatoes with herb butter to my friend K. We are all finding it tough during this economic climate and as a carer for her 90 year old mum K does not have a great income. K helps me out from time to time dropping me off places, taking me to appointments, or watching the kids for a bit if an appointment is running late and I'm not going to be home in time for school and in return I get her a few yellow sticker items when I see something I think she may like. I put one bottle of the chocolate milk in the fridge for drinking now, I turned 2 bottles of the chocolate milk into 18 ice lollies and 4 small tubs of ice cream, I put the other 3 bottles in the freezer to defrost and drink at a later date. I shredded the chicken and got 5 good sized portions from it. I used 3 portions for tea tonight as it was just me and the 2 little ones and the other 2 portions have been bagged up and put in the fridge for mine and Lee's lunch tomorrow.

So like I said busy but good. What have you been up to over the weekend ? Was the weather good where you are ?

Much Love

Claire xx xx xx

A Clothes Clear Out And A Summer Fete

Hello readers I have been a busy bee today. I started my day as normal the obligatory medications and housework. I then had somebody come to the house to look at my ball gown and she bought it there and then for £20. So that is now £63 I have made on the side this week by getting rid of unwanted items :)

I have had a major sort out of the boys clothes today. I have noticed they have all had a growth spurt recently and a lot of their clothes no longer fitted. I started with Brad I went through all his clothes checking sizes. Anything that no longer fits him but is in good condition got put into storage for Ben in a few years time. Anything that was in bad condition and beyond repair has been recycled. I then did Ben`s clothes in exactly the same way and the clothes that went into storage will go to Brandon in a few years. I then did Brandons but instead of storing the good items I will be selling them on the Facebook selling pages. Brandon is my last child and I won't be having anymore children so I may as well make a few pounds from them. I then pulled out my clothes storage box and went through all the clothes I have been storing that will now fit the boys. I put it all away in their wardrobes and refilled the box will all the new storage clothes. I could have sold all of the clothes but I find that using the boys clothes as hand me downs is another way that I save a lot of money on clothes so I prefer to do this.

Here is my new clothes storage stash

And here are the clothes I am going to sell

When I picked Brandon up from school I had a chat with his teacher about how he is getting on at school. She is a lovely lady who used to teach Ben and I used to work as a trainee teaching assistant with her husband so she knows us well as a family. Although Brandon is making good progress she has noticed Brandons autistic traits seem to be much more noticeable. She has asked the head to reassess Brandons needs and look at getting him a one to one worker. I know Brandon is a very demanding and headstrong little boy and he has been lucky to have Mrs R this year who has the patience of a saint. I just hope he is as lucky next year as he has been this one. After chatting with Mrs R we went over to Ben's school fete it was great fun. Brandon and Ben both went on the bouncy slide and won a prize each on the lucky dip. Brandon went on the bouncy castle and Ben performed some songs with his drama group. It was awesome watching him up there singing in front of people as he is usually quite shy when it comes to things like that. I had £2 on the tombola and won the following a heart bath bomb, a moshi monsters bath set, a tin of macaroni cheese, a pack of digestive biscuits, and a large bag of haribo sweets. I was very lucky with the amount of prizes I won. In total I spent a little over £20 but that also included a cheese burger each a hot dog each and an ice cream each plus we shared a drink between us.

If you look closely you can see Ben on the right hand side of the picture wearing a black suit and trillby hat.

We are back home now and are all very tired so an early night is beckoning me thinks.

What are you all getting up to this weekend ? Whatever it is have fun.

Much Love
Claire xx xx xx

Quiet Contemplation And Making Money On The Side

Hello readers today has been a hard day for me. Today would have been my brother Danny`s 25th birthday. Danny passed away when he was 5 and a half months old from meningitis. Back then little was known about the condition and there were no immunizations against it. He was a cheeky little chap always happy and always smiling. He had one of those bouncy chairs and he worked out that if he threw himself backwards and forwards he could move the chair from one end of the room to the other and found it very funny giggling as he went. He scratched up all my mum's kitchen floor by doing this and for many years she refused to replace the kitchen floor as the scratches reminded her of Danny and would make her smile. He has been with me today I have felt his presence whenever I have felt down almost like his giving me a kick up the bum and telling me to cheer up his ok up there.

 

Happy Birthday Dan Dan's xxx

I have managed to make a bit of money this last week which has really helped as things are pretty tight here at Tilly Towers at the moment. I sold a bag full of my old clothes for £13, an old hedge trimmer for £15, and 2 broken bikes as spares or repairs for £15. So total made this week £43 for junk I no longer needed. I have a ball gown, a jacket, and will soon have some boys clothes bundles to sell also so fingers crossed a few more pounds coming my way soon. I sell my items on local facebook selling pages as its much easier than ebay. People come and collect the item which saves faffing about with postage and trips to the post office and the money is straight in your purse sometimes within just a few hours of posting the items on the page.

What do you do to make a little money on the side ?

Much Love
Claire xx xx xx

Start The Day With A Smile

Hello readers I have just seen the cutest video that had me smiling from ear to ear. I just have to share it with you and I bet by the end of it you will be smiling to. What a great way to start my day.

Much Love
Claire xx xx xx

Poor Brad

Hello readers just a quick one tonight as I have a poorly boy to attend to. Brad has come home from school under the weather. He has a headache is shaky and burning up. I have given him paracetamol and told him to go to sleep in the hope that may help. I think he may have a migraine as I get them and so does my dad and I know it can be hereditary. Fingers crossed he will be back to his old self again tomorrow but as a precaution he will be sleeping in with me tonight so I can keep a close eye on him.

This morning I completed my usual morning routine of a million and one medications and housework. We then popped to the post office to post the necklace won by Toni on my Celebration Giveaway post. I hope it finds it way to you safely and you enjoy it as much as I did making it. On the way home we popped into the ironmongers remember the gas bbq I cleaned up and saved from the skip. Well the gas bottle flitting turned out to be broken. I was a little worried that all my hard work had been for nothing but decided to take the part into the shop to see if a new part could be ordered as I really did not fancy spending £100 on a new bbq. Thankfully they had the part I needed in stock so I handed over the £9.95 for the part and saved myself a little over £90. We bought a pannini each from the bakers and sat in the park to eat our lunch under a nice cool tree and just chatted. When we got home I hung some more washing on the line to dry and saw to the animals. I had a good old catch up on some of my favourite blogs I follow and am now doing a spot of knitting whilst Bradley is asleep next to me.

I will be doing tea in a minute something quick and simple tonight beans on toast. There is nothing quite like beans on toast when you are feeling under the weather it's not to heavy on the stomach but is just enough to keep the hunger at bay.

What's your favourite food when you are poorly ?

Much Love
Claire xx xx xx

Cats, Food, And Knitting

Hello readers today has been a busy but lovely day. This is what I woke up to first thing this morning.

Isn't that just the loveliest cheeky chappy smile. Baby was sat on Ben's back padding and refused to move which both Ben and I found super funny she is such a little cutie when she wants to be. Once we managed to peel Baby from Ben's back I got the children ready and off to school. Once the house was quiet I got on with my usual routine. I took my million and one medications, then tidied up top to bottom, then saw to the animals, got 3 lots of washing done dried and put away. After all that was done I had just enough time to have a quick shower before heading off to Ben's sports day.

Ben was in 3 races he came 2nd in the relay race, 2nd in the long jump, and 5th in the flat race well done son very proud mumma here :)
Imagine my dismay when I turned to the Mr and asked for his phone to take some pictures for the blog and he told me he had left it at home grrrrrrr moment which was quickly forgotten at the sight of clotted cream scones lol. Readers these scones were delicious they were clotted cream and came with butter, jam, and cream. We had one scone each and a can of drink each which cost the grand sum of £3 that was mine and the Mr's lunch today and very nice it was. Here's Ben showing off one of his 2nd rosette's (he lost the other two lol).

Once the boys got home from school we popped to the library to return some DVD's and books and the boys choose a new book each and asked about the summer reading challenge. We have to go back on the 12th of July when they can sign up to take part in this years challenge.

 

 

We then popped to Morrison's where I got a few yellow sticker goodies not much going today but still did ok. I got 250g of mild cheddar, 8 soft bread rolls, and 8 croissants for £2.09. We then popped in the local greengrocers to see if they had any reduced price fruit and veg. We got 9 kiwis, 4 punnets of blackberries, and 14 apples for £2.40.

Ben needed to get a pad of plain paper to complete a piece of Victorian homework but we had just missed them as they had already closed up. The lovely lady in the greengrocers heard Ben telling me this and went and knocked on the door as she knows the lady who runs the shop and explained he needed to buy it for his homework so the lovely lady let him in and sold him the pad even though they were closed how nice is that :)

On the way home we ran into the lady who owns the local hairdressers just as she was closing up. She has been cutting the boys hair for years now and we know her well. Brandon was a little upset as Ben had a pad of paper and he wanted one of his own so he began to tell M how upset he was that he did not have a pad of his own. M told him to come with her and a few minutes later he emerged with a huge smile, a pad of paper, a lollypop, and a lollypop for each of his brothers. Again how nice is that we didn't even get any haircuts just stopped to say hello on our way home.

I love where I live everyone is so friendly and polite. We live in a small rural town and have a small high street where the shops are still closed on a Monday and a Sunday and half day on a Saturday and Wednesday and I love it. We have a butcher, a fishmonger, a bakers, a newsagents, a greengrocers, an iron mongers, a couple of chemists, a few charity shops, an old fashioned sweet shop, as well as a few other little shops and cafes. I lived in London until I was 18 and no way would I ever dream of taking my children back there to live. I think I was a country girl trapped in a big city and now I am living my dream in the countryside with my children.

Once home I did a little knitting before making tea and after this post I will be settling down for the night with a free film from the library and a bit more knitting I may even treat myself to one of my 4.5p frozen crème caramels they are delicious.

 

Goodnight from the motley crew here at Tilly Towers lol

 

 

Much Love
Claire xx xx xx