I am such a bad blogger!

It has taken Sharon adding a comment to an old post for me to realise how long it has been since I last posted!
When I get over this cold/chest infection, I promise I will try to do better!

The battle of the squirrel

I’m too mean to pay out for insecticides on my allotment, and would rather encourage the wildlife to do their job properly, so every day I put out fresh food for the birds to get them used to coming to my plot.

Now I was aware that after I left the plot a squirrel would take the fat balls I put out for the birds, which is why I always put them out when I first arrive, to give the birds a chance to eat before I leave.

But the day before yesterday I was collecting some manure the council delivers, and as I walked back to my plot, there was a squirrel running towards me carrying a fat ball in its mouth!

I was incensed that the little thief hadn’t even had the courtesy to wait until I had finished for the day! So I dropped the wheelbarrow and gave chase, shouting at the top of my lungs “You drop that you little Bug**r!”.

Picture it, a fifty plus little old woman, chasing a small squirrel with a fat ball in its mouth that was bigger than its head!

I didn’t give up though, and eventually the squirrel dropped the ball, and I returned in time to meet my Husband as he arrived, proudly holding the ball up high, unable to contain the grin of victory! Hubby of course thought I was being silly, but then he hadn't seen the whole thing had he?

Now you would think the Squirrel would have learned its lesson, ‘wait until the old Witch has gone’, but did it like!

Yesterday I was working in the greenhouse, looked out, and there was the same Squirrel, at the top of the up ended sycamore tree I use as a feeding station, just about to climb down in to the hanging basket I put the bird balls in.

Well I wasn’t having that! So I charged out of the greenhouse, yelling at the top of my lungs again, and the Squirrel took flight, but only six feet away from the feeding station, it stopped and looked at me as if to say, “Now go back to the greenhouse, Woman.”

No way! I chased it completely off the plot before I went back to the greenhouse.

Not five minutes later I looked up, and guess what! The little blighter was back AGAIN!

So the chase was on again, but I do have to give the little critter full marks for tenacity.

Thankfully I think it got the message after that, because it didn’t come back until after I had locked the gates to leave. It must have been waiting in the holly tree watching, because it appeared as I snapped the padlock shut. But I don’t mind that, because the Squirrel has to eat too, I just want him to give the birds a chance as well.

Things have gotten a little busy around here!

After my Father in Laws death, there was a sudden calm in things that could be done to fill our time around here.

The freezing weather meant that there was little or no work that could be done on the allotment, and once the Christmas rush was out of the way I took a breather from crafting presents (though I have started on next Christmas’s lot now!). I didn’t feel inspired to make anything special for me, and as for writing… well the best I can say is that I kinda dried up for a while there.

Then last week the weather warmed up and I ordered a whole heap of wildlife plants for the pond I am creating on the allotment, and they started arriving this week, so every day a new plant arrives and I’m down the allotment with my hands in freezing water!

My Father in Laws probate has finally gone through, so now we are clearing out his house, sorting through his belongings and deciding where they are all to go, which means my work is cut out for me to keep my Husband cheerful and not dwelling on darker things. Not a pleasant job. My Husband wasn’t in the Will so he gets the job as executor and he is taking the job very seriously indeed.

My lovely kitty, KitKat wasn’t well for a while, so didn’t want anything to do with anything, but now she is back and demanding to play every time she see’s me move a muscle, making up for lost time I think!

And last but not least, Forest from FrugalZeitGeist has asked me to write some more articles for him, which I am really looking forward to!

And now for the embarrassing bit of my week; we have a very large chest freezer, and I am not a tall woman, so the edge of the freezer comes up above my waist. Well I was reaching in to get some meat out for dinner, my feet slipped and in I went, head first!

Now the funny image that comes to mind is me falling in completely and the lid closing, cartoon style, but that didn’t quite happen, thank heavens. Instead I banged the top of my head on the back edge of the freezer, hard enough to see a flash of light, but no stars. Though thinking about it, I could have hit the light in the freezer, making the light flicker, I don’t know.

Anyways, since then, (coming up for a week now) I have had a real hum-dinger of a headache, but sadly it didn’t knock any sense in to me, as I was back in there yesterday looking for dinner again!

Removing tea/coffee stains the easy way

Now my Husband is a tea-o-holic, and I am equally as bad with both tea and coffee.

For years the stains that were left on the cups and tea pot used to drive me crazy and I’d spend many an hour scrubbing away only to see them re-appear within a matter of days.

Then one day I got a tip, it was so long ago I can’t now remember if I read it online or if someone actually told me about it, but once tried, I have never looked back!

The reason I hadn’t thought of this trick before is because I don’t have, and never have had a dishwasher, so it just didn’t occur to me to try it. This tip isn't a money saver, as it costs a few pennies more than just plain scrubbing, but what it costs is, in my mind, counter balanced by the time it saves me!

Anyway on with the tip;

• Put the dirty crockery that you need cleaned into a large bowl, or the sink, making sure the receptacle is big enough to cover all the crockery with water.
• Place one cheap dishwasher tablet in the bottom of the bowl, and fill the bowl with very hot water.
• Go away for half an hour and put your feet up.
• Rinse crockery thoroughly and dry in your usual manner.

Even the hardest flakiest stains come off with this method, and it has been a real boon to my hands and nails, not to mention my poor over used teapot!

Enjoy!

I’ve won an award!

Yep, this blog has won a creative award! Can you believe it?

Now it really surprised me, as I don’t think of this blog as creative at all. All I do is write about the things I know. I don’t design anything, I don’t share the pictures I draw, I don’t even show the things I have made from other people’s patterns, but Angela, in her wisdom, has decided to bestow this award on me despite all of that, and who am I to argue?

But it has set me thinking. Perhaps I should start working a little harder to make this blog a little more, er you know, creative!

Now for me that is going to be a bit of a challenge, as I don’t think of myself as being very creative except when it comes to my story writing, which I don’t share here, (I think it would confuse things, mixing fact and fiction). In fact I don’t share my writing on anything more than a one to one basis, people ask to see what I write and I send them a whole story, which can be a bit of a whammy as my story’s are normally in the form of a whole book as I witter on too much to write that many short stories! Lol

Now here comes the sticky bit, I think I am supposed to pass on this award to other blogs, but I really don’t know how to do this, so I’m hoping Angela will take pity on me and send me a detailed list of instructions! (Hint hint!)

And in the mean time I think I’ll write a post about getting tea stains off crockery, the easy way!

Life goes on

The death of my Father in Law has hit my Husband a lot harder than he is willing to admit, and home life is not very rosy at the moment, which has impacted on my willingness to write, as I prefer to write positively here.

But on the bright side, it means I have been escaping to the allotment a lot recently, and have virtually finished setting up the wildlife pond! Only two lilies have to go in and it is ready for the frog spawn to be introduced next month!

All my onions and garlic sets are in, the potatoes are chitting, all the seeds are bought, and a diary of when they have to be planted has been made up! As you can see, I have not been idle in my absence.

I am sorry to have to report that my poor dragon fruit plant died on the day of the funeral, which was the coldest day this winter, and was when the heater in the greenhouse decided to run out of paraffin. But I have discovered that the plant is easily propagated from the seeds of shop bought fruit, so there is hope for future dragon fruit!

On the crafting side of things, I have finished a shawl for a friend of a friend who has been suffering with the cold weather, a Doctor Who scarf has been knitted (and that really was a labour of love!) as a late Christmas present for my friends son, and I am now spoilt for choice as to what to make next as I have saved a lot of patterns for things I want to make while I have been away…

Right I am going to love you and leave you, and go and load a CD of Hot Chocolate on to my mp3, so I can listen to some romance while I’m digging the Brussels bed tomorrow.

Take care everyone!

Sorry for not being around recently...

My Father in Law died just before Christmas, the funeral is on Tuesday, hopefully I'll be able to get back in to the swing of things after that.

Week six of Duct Tape versus the Wart.

I took the tape off yesterday for what should have been the last time, but as I suspected, the two weeks where I couldn’t get the duct tape to seal properly around the wart have left the wart hanging on, by a thread, but it is still there, very small now, but still alive and kicking.

Two weeks ago I found a fantastic plaster/bandaid in the pound shop, which acts very similar to cling film with a sticky side, and that finally enabled me to seal the duct tape down over the knuckle, and the resultant shrinkage is amazing. So although I should be finishing now, I have decided to carry on for another week or two, just to get rid of the thing by Christmas, for once and for all!

So watch this space for further up dates. Either I am right, and the failure to seal the air from the wart has allowed it to hang on, or in another two weeks time it will be gone. I know which one I am hoping for!

When life gets in the way.

I had every intention of posting at least two to three times a week, but as the old saying goes, the path to hell is paved with good intentions.

My poor Father in Law is back in hospital, and is very ill, and my husband isn’t taking it well. I am having server issues which have been preventing me from getting online as much as I would like, and health issues yet again that have meant my whole day feels as if I’m wading through treacle and can only get a tenth done of what I could normally. Not that I’m moaning, just making excuses really.

The poor allotment has been sorely neglected since the clocks went back to daylight saving, as my day runs out of light long before I have a chance to think about gardening. My plans of making many Christmas presents have had to be greatly reduced just because of my time constrictions and lack of energy.

So for anyone who has been reading my blog and thinking “How does she do it all?” you now know the sad truth of the matter; I am not the Martha Stewart you all thought I was! I’m just as human as the next woman, even if I do hate to admit it myself.

I really need to sit down and re-arrange my daily schedule, so I can get down to the allotment before 4pm when it gets dark, and still get online before the kids come home from school and slow down my internet connection until gone midnight.

So what got me thinking like this? Well I watched a program on telly tonight where a couple were looking for a new home, it’s called ‘Relocate, Relocate’ and the experts show the couple how to set up a shopping list for the sort of new home they are looking for, and then help them find it within their budget. I was watching it with only half an eye as I prepared dinner (boy do I hate having to do that every day! Life would be so much easier if hubby took turns with me at that!). Anyway, the couple that were featured today were ‘Do everything by the numbers’ people. You know the sort of people I’m talking about; they actually had a life plan! 1. Move to London, get good jobs, and earn lots of money. 2. Move back to the sticks and have children. 3. Send kids to college, move to a smaller home and get old, and all that sort of thing.

They were at the second stage for this program. But it got me thinking, I don’t have a life plan, I don’t have a yearly plan or even a daily plan some days. Maybe that is where I’m going wrong with my life!

I just bumble along, grab at opportunities (or husbands ;-) ) when they amble my way, and try, in general, to go with the flow. Now don’t get me wrong, I think being laid back is a wonderful way to be, but I don’t want to be so laid back I’m virtually comatose, which is what I am feeling like at the moment!

I am at that couple’s third life stage, my kids have left home with college under their belts, but somewhere along the line I skipped the first stage, I live in London, but I’ve never earned a reasonable wage, let alone bucket loads of money to enable me to move to the sticks to raise my kids and grow old gracefully! And I suspect that is the case for the majority of people, and I got to wondering why that is?

In my case I think it was because, as a child I chose to be a writer when I grew up, and was told that I would never make a living at it and would be better off learning to type. Hmmm, not quite the thing to tell a five year old I think. At the grand old age of eight I came up with the idea of being a medicinal botanist, (David Bellamy and Florence Nightingale are to blame for that one I think!) I even knew which exams I had to take at 16 to get in to college to start on that career! (See! I had a life plan forming there!) Again I was told to concentrate on learning my three ‘R’s and typing, as they would make a woman employable.

I still hadn’t forgotten wanting to be a writer though, and at 13 I had a short story published in a fantasy magazine. I thought I had made a break through with my family, and they would let me follow the writer’s career, but no, the money I earned went towards my new school uniform, and I was forced to take typing and short hand in school. My parent’s life plan for me was finally revealed; I was to work in a typing pool until I found a nice young man, then settle down to have children. I didn’t need an expensive education, and any fanciful thoughts of writing in a garret were to be forgotten right away. I rebelled quite violently, but eventually I settled down to the life that had been mapped out so carefully for me.

So I fell at the first stumbling block. I allowed others to take away my ambition, and without ambition there is no call for a life plan, and I suspect that is what happens to a lot of people.

After the children left home, I tried again. I entered two short stories in a competition, and won first and third prizes! Whoo Hoo! Ambition was restored, and I set to with a will and wrote a book and sent it off to a publisher, only to be rejected. My Husband seemed to loose interest and I lost the will to pursue it further. Oh well, stumbling block number two.

As you get older, ambition seems to get in short supply as well. How can you have ambition when you’re trying to put food on the table, and cloths on the kid’s backs? I know that is an ambition in its own right, but it is not a life ambition, is it? Boy I hope not!

So I have been distracted for way too long, and now I’m looking into the sunset of my life, with a long path of regrets behind me, and very little time to right those regrets. Can you make a life plan at my age? I don’t know, but I think I’m going to try.

Week 4 of duct tape versus wart

The tape came off yesterday to give the wart its 24 hours of freedom. I had got the taping right this week, and the wart had been deprived of fresh air, though it was difficult getting it in the proper position as the wart is on my right index finger, and if you have ever tried cutting duct tape to a specific size, I’m sure you can imagine how hard it is to do left handed to boot, add to that how hard it is to put a plaster on a knuckle that will stay there without cutting off the circulation, and I think you will get the idea! LOL

The wart is softer, and the centre seems to be smaller, and over the 24 hours of freedom it didn’t regain its original hardness, so I am hoping that this is working, but as they say in the films, “Its early days yet”, as I have at least another two weeks of this, if not four because the first two weeks I didn’t manage to get a proper seal on it.

Front Loader versus Top Loader Washing Machines

I'm having one of 'those' days

I really am going to have to write all my favourite recipes down properly, and then keep them all in one place! I was going to post that curry sauce recipe I promised tonight, but guess what, I have hunted high and low for it, and I cannot, for the life of me, find it. My Grandmother used to say to me; “Look in the first place you looked, but look properly this time!” Well Grandma, I’ve looked in the first place three times now, and have worked my way down the list each time before repeating, and still I can’t find it!
I know what will happen, when I finally give up and stop looking for it, I will find it when I start looking for something else! It always works that way with me! Have I mentioned before I’m a ‘scatter-brain’?

Anyway, on to the Front Loader versus the Top Loader debate I promised.

As I have had one of each I feel qualified to highlight the pro’s and cons’s for both of them, but keep in mind that it is only my point of view. The fact I haven’t had a top loader for many years now, and they must have had some technological advancements in that time, also has to be remembered. I live in the UK where front loading machines are a lot more popular, and so there is a larger selection here, I am aware that in the US the top loading machines are more popular so there is a larger selection of them there.

First up I should explain that I make my own washing powder and use vinegar as a fabric conditioner, whether that makes a difference to the performance of the machine I don’t know, I do know my machines last longer than anyone I know.

So here goes;

Top Loader Pro’s;

• You have more control over the amount of washing your clothing gets. You can choose when enough is enough.
• They don’t need to be plumbed in anywhere, you can put pipes into your sink or water butt if you so wish, without there being a problem.
• I haven’t seen any graphs or anything, but I should imagine a top loader could be more economical on the electric, as long as you don’t use it to heat the water, then this would turn in to a con.

Top Loader Con’s;
• They are very labour intensive. I’m a lazy woman, so I didn’t appreciate this. With the machine I had, you had to pull the soaking wet clothes out of the wash drum and dump them in to the spinner drum. It did nothing for my back I can tell you, as the machine was the wrong height for little old me!
• I’m also a messy puppy and I was always landing up with as much water on the floor as was in the machine.
• Remembering not to overload the machine can a problem and I often landed up with a bucket full of wet clothes that had to be pulled out after the wash had started.
• Top Loaders use a lot more water, so if you are on a meter, then they can work out very expensive, and if you then use the machine to heat the water – well you get the drift.
• Hoses can, (and frequently did for me), come away from their designated positions, often causing small floods, but the floods were kept to a minimum because I was standing over the machine, though it often made me go and get changed into some dry clothes!

Front Loader Pro’s;
• You can put your washing in and walk away; the machine will wash, rinse, add conditioner and spin the clothes without your supervision.
• There is no heavy lifting of soaking wet clothes; they come out spun and ready to hang.
• New machines are economical to run and can do half loads, cool washes etc.
• There are no hoses to contend with, they get plumbed in and then you forget about them! The only time you will have a flood is when the machine breaks down, and that has not happened to me with the three front loaders I have owned.


Front Loader Con’s;
• There is little control over the wash, once the door is shut and the machine turned on, the machine is in control, so you can’t spot a stain, pull the garment out and give it an extra rub.
• Pre-soaking is difficult, unless you use a separate bucket for the job.
• Learning the different controls can be confusing.
• Remembering not to overload the machine can a problem, I just try to think about how heavy the clothes will be once wet.

So to sum up;
If you like to be in control of the wash from start to finish, and have the time to hover over the machine, then a top loader may be the one for you.
If, on the other hand, you are like me, short in stature and short of time, then a front loader may be just what you are looking for.

You guys HAVE to go and watch this

Watch this video all the way through and let me know what you think, and then I'll tell you what I thought when I first saw it! You have to watch it to the end though, no cheating!

Wooo-Hooo!

My first post at Frugal Zeitgeist has been published, and reading it now it feels bitty and all over the place. Perhaps I shouldn’t have tried to fit so much into a 500 word piece?

Well whats done is done, I can’t do anything about it now, except learn from my mistakes and use my new knowledge in future posts.

I’m now thinking about future posts and wondering what to write about, I thought I might do a bit on the pro’s and con’s of front loading and top loading washing machines, seeing as I’ve had both, and I was also thinking about a piece about cutting your grocery bill and still eating healthily. What do you guys think? Do you have any suggestions? Either for posts here or over at Frugal Zeitgeist?

After a conversation with my friend I thought I’d better look up Zeitgeist as we both were a little bit cloudy on the meaning; so for those of you who are also a little bemused…

Zeitgeist; the meaning of the age –German origin

I am so excited!

Three days ago I got a post from a newsletter I receive from frugal zeitgeist asking for people to contribute to the blog, and very impulsively I replied straight away asking to be considered. Imagine my shock when I opened my emails the next day to discover I had been accepted! Yes, ‘little old me’ is going to be adding my quirky touch to all things frugal!

Okay, it is still early days, and we have to see how well Forest likes my writing on a regular basis, but this is a real boost for me, and I am very enthusiastic about getting ‘stuck in’!

The down side is this comes at a time when I am already struggling fitting everything in, but hey, we make our own priorities, and this is very high on my list, so it will get done, even if poor Hubby has to make his own dinners!

Of course, cuddling the cat, working the allotment, making my own winter clothes and presents, and finding new frugal/green/self-sufficient-ish ways are still high on my list of priorities, so have no fear!

Which reminds me, keep your eyes open for a hot/cold Christmas Curry Sauce recipe I’ll be posting in the next few days, it is cheap, delicious, AND dead easy to make! It sounds too good to be true, but trust me, it really does live up to the build-up I'm giving it!

It has been brought to my attention…

That I have been sorely neglecting my allotment as of late, I have still been going down there, but not as often as I should, and the plants are still growing happily without my attention, including the weeds, despite the frosts we have had!

One of the reasons for my neglect has been my Father in Law, three weeks ago he was admitted back in to hospital, suffering from dehydration and (dare I say it?) starvation, despite the fact he has FOUR carers visit him a day!

I know they can’t force him to eat or drink if he doesn’t want to, but they don’t even try! They just walk in, asks him if he wants anything, and when he says no, they go away again! Surely it is common sense to put the food in front of him, and possibly help him eat it (as he has had two strokes, feeding himself is difficult).

Even in the hospital he is lucky if a nurse has time to feed him, there are so many other patients who are more vocal in their needs, and so few nurses to go around. I just hope, if I am ever in that situation, I will still have the power of my voice, and still have the desire to use it.

The drawing in of the days is also causing a problem, as I didn’t even think to re-arrange my daily schedule to take the shortage of daylight hours in to consideration, so often by the time I have my chores done, it is already getting dark, and so the allotment has to have a miss. What doesn’t help is the fact I am very definitely not a morning person, and much prefer to have a few hours pottering around the house before venturing out in to the wet autumn weather. But all that has to change! There are things that need to be done, and nobody is going to do them if I don’t get around to them!

So a new leaf has to be turned in my attitude to winter living, and the only person who can do that, is me!

Another free sock pattern

I have just found another free sock pattern, and I think I am going to have to try this one. My initial intention is to make them in just one colour, but I have always had a secret yearning for a red and white striped 'Wicked Witch of the West' pair, so that may well happen too if the pattern works out for me!

Crochet socks update

My crochet socks endeavours, (which are really slipper socks), are so successful I am now ploughing ahead and making a pair for each day of the week!

The slipper sock pattern, which I posted a link to previously, is perfect for the job, and the only adjustment I make is to the length of the leg, which in the pattern is an increase of 11 stitches, and I do 31 to get them that little bit longer in the leg.

Even time wise they are great, as one sock can be made in a couple of hours while watching TV!

The socks are ultra warm, really comfortable, and use up those spare balls of wool you always land up with, so are ultra cheap to make too! (Though I do have to admit to buying four balls of wool from the hospital charity shop yesterday while visiting my Father in Law, but only because they were a price I couldn’t resist!) And last but not least, they wash well with no shrinkage! What more can a girl ask of a sock pattern?

Update on wart versus duct tape

I have just taken the duct tape off the wart for the third week of the six weeks cure and I thought I’d give you all an update.

The first week I tried it, I put a smallish piece of duct tape over the wart and then covered that with a plaster the next day as it started falling off. Unfortunately the position of the wart is right above the second joint, on the palm side of my index finger, and duct tape and plaster rolled back, allowing air to the wart without me realising it, and I suspect that the week’s coverage was ineffective, though the wart did seem a little smaller on the day I left the covering off.

The second week I tried a smaller piece of duct tape, covered by a larger piece of plaster. Again the plaster and tape seemed to roll back, and I could see no visible change in the wart on its day of freedom.

The third week, I covered the whole finger from just below first joint to just above knuckle with duct tape. Because the tape was over lapping itself I didn’t need to cover it with a plaster, and I really did think I had the problem solved. But when I took the tape off this evening to give the wart its day of freedom, I discovered that although a lot of my finger was that horrible dead white you get when you have had a plaster on for too long, the wart and its surrounding area appeared to have had enough freedom from the bending of the knuckle to not be effected! I am beginning to feel as if I am loosing the battle here, but I will persevere, for the next three weeks, and may be a bit longer if I can figure out a way to solve this problem.

When life gets on top of you.

I like to think I am not the only person in this world who sometimes feels as if they can’t cope with everything happening in their life, and that is where I am at the moment.

My poor Father in Law has been in hospital for the last four weeks, and I have wanted desperately to visit him a lot more often than I have, but there is just so much to do at the moment.
On Monday the hospital phoned to say he would be coming home on Thursday, so I arranged my week around that, and the need to go to his house to warm it up for him, and do his shopping etc. Yesterday they phoned to say he wouldn’t be home until next Tuesday! So what’s happened? Well I again have to postpone the things I had planned to do while doing Father in Laws shopping, (the area he lives in has some handy shops, and my bank is there too!)

The allotment, I had hoped, would have scaled down a bit by now, seeing as we have had our first frosts of the year, but I still have peas, carrots, kale, cabbages, onions, garlic, leeks and potatoes going strong! And that’s not including what is growing in the greenhouse and shed! (Mushrooms in the shed, melons, aubergines, coriander, basil, and lettuce and cat grass in the greenhouse!). On top of all that, we are still less than half way to getting the beds made for next years planting, and we still have to choose and order the seeds….and I’m not even going to mention the building plans we have! The wildlife area still needs a lot of work, and the ponds need regular clearing of dead leaves, and a new leaf compost has just been built and needs to be filled, and there sure isn’t a shortage of leaves to do it with, it is just so time consuming crawling around the beds gathering the things!

Winter is coming and I am desperately trying to make myself some nice comfy clothing, from socks to jumpers and everything in between, but the shop I buy my yarn from is where my Father in Law lives, (see above), besides I’m finding it hard to find the time to make them.

Christmas is also coming, (faster than ever this year!) and I usually make a lot of my own cards and presents. This year I am so behind on all of that, because I have spent my time learning and doing the allotment, and learning how to make butter, cheese and jam, none of which I am good enough at yet to present as presents!

Then there are my health problems, which have over the last four or five weeks raised their ugly heads again. Five weeks ago I had a giddy spell down the allotment and walked into a piece of angle iron which my husband was using as a boundary marker. It cut and bruised my leg quite badly, and the last of the scab is only just coming off now. Then four days ago I had another giddy spell, which made me slip and fall on my butt with a bit of a thump, so you can just guess where the bruise is, but I also hurt my right shoulder and wrist and left elbow, effectively putting both arms on restricted movement.

Three weeks ago my doctor said he suspected my thyroid meds weren’t at the right level again and asked me to have my bloods checked, but I have difficulty getting to the hospital on my own, so have to wait for a time when hubby fit it around his work, and I’m still waiting, so I’m still struggling with being just that little bit slower, both mentally and physically.

They say time is money, and it’s true. This Christmas is going to cost a bit more this year, just because I don’t have the time to do everything I normally do!

Have a head cold? Try this....

If you have the blocked nose, sneezing and sinus congestion of a winter bug, try sucking on a hard coated chewing gum tablet. You know the ones, they come in a little packet with about eight tabs in them, that ARE NOT medicated!

The mint/menthol in the flavouring will blast that mucus into submission, working like a decongestant, and you will be able to get on with your life. You don't even have to chew the gum to get the effect, though personally, once that hard coating has gone, I can't resist a little chew. I now keep those gums in the medicine cabinet because they are so effective.

Why pay more when the sweetie type will do the trick?