I Think We Might Be Working

I bought my flat “The Towers” 10 years ago. When I first moved in, a friend moved in with me and took up the spare room.

Things really did not work out. She could not fathom my innate obsession with cleanliness and I found her ability to make mess 30 seconds after arriving home irritating. She met someone pretty quickly and moved out after only 3 months. I gladly helped her pack her bags and waved her off pleased that she had met someone and happy that we still remained friends (as we do to this day).

Then for 10 years I lived there all alone and perfectly content. I never felt lonely and I liked having my place perfectly organised to suit my needs. Boyfriends came and went. One actually moved in for 6 weeks whilst he bought a house, but I never seriously contemplated giving up my place.

Long time readers will know I moved in with The Chap over Christmas. If I am honest I packed my bags and rented my flat with a lot of trepidation. I knew TC was one for me, but I was concerned. I have left an immaculate flat, and moved into a bombsite with a kitchen that has been a "Work In Progress" since December and a bathroom in which you cannot use the bath (it leaks). All the internal doors need changing as they do not close and the carpet needs replacing everywhere (think tangerine / poop brown dreadlocked shagpile).

I expected to be stressed by the move, and I have been. I am getting used to having to cook everyday proper food for TC (no more evenings for me on the sofa with a bowl of cereal or a couple of pieces of toast and some sandwich spread).

After 3 months of moving in, we have found a rhythm and everything is going well. We are both happy.

I have been away on average one weekend per month since I moved in. To visit my sister and friends.

This week, roles have been reversed TC has flown out to Sweden with work for a few days. He left late on Monday evening and is due back late on Thursday evening, then Friday is his birthday.

I got home yesterday and sat down. The Cats came and said hello. I had dinner, the sort of food he would hate and then did a pile of washing, and cleaned the kitchen. I watched tv in command of the remote control.

I lay in the middle of the bed and wrapped myself in the duvet. I left the door open to the bathroom whilst I used it, and just dumped the rubbish outside the back door until this evening when it will be lighter to properly dispose of it.

And the whole time, every minute of my evening I missed My Chap, a lot.

Frugally yours

Abigail

x

A Bit Of A Scrubber

First of all allow me to apologise for the radio silence for a week. I am still alive and everything is ok. Time just got away with me.

I only worked a 3 day week last week and had Friday off again. I went to Durham very early Saturday morning for an overnight at my friends for her 40^th and we all went for a very posh meal at Durham Castle with a murder mystery thrown in. It was such good fun and lovely to catch up with “the girls” and get all frocked out for a night out, without having to worry about shoes hurting as we would be sitting down all evening.

I got back Sunday after the journey from hell thanks to British Rail. They cancelled the earlier train and everyone piled onto our train, so I had to stand up from Durham to Tamworth a total of 3 and a half hours squashed like sardines and BR staff shouting at us at every station to move in further. If I had been Spiderman then I would have hung off the rafters, but that was not possible. Around Sheffield I am ashamed to say I lost it and shouted back at them and got a round of applause back from the carriage. I then missed my connecting train home and so had to wait for an hour at Tamworth and ended up getting home an hour and a half later than planned. I did pick up a complaint form at Tamworth and filled it in whilst I waited and then posted it as I walked home. I do not expect much but I was furious and my ankles were so swollen from the standing it took until yesterday to get them down again. £87 for a return ticket to be squashed in like sardines, is not on at all.

Friday I spent the morning with my Mummy as it The Chap’s birthday on Friday, we went shopping she picked up some items for him. We then popped to Tesco together and picked up some bits and pieces. I like going shopping with my Mum. We wander around look at everything and generally catch up. She, with my sister are my best friends. I am so lucky to have such a lovely family and they all like The Chap.

Friday afternoon I spent trying to clean upstairs before I went away. The bathroom is my nemesis. I clean the sink everyday and swish the loo a couple of times a week I hoover and wash the floor every weekend, but the Shower is just awful and whatever I do rarely looks clean. The mastick needs replacing, but with TC so focussed on completing the kitchen I just cannot ask him to do it yet. We plan to replace the bathroom next anyway.

 

So Friday afternoon I got out the big guns.

 

Chemicals are all well and good, but sometimes brute force and elbow grease is required. A scrubbing brush costs less than a pound and is so useful is these situations. I filled up the sink with hotwater and a cap full of my go to cleaner Tesco Every Day Value All Purpose Cleaner. 25p for 750 ml. You can use it neat on work tops and diluted on floors and tiles.

 

Just brilliant!

20 minutes of scrubbing the floor, the tiles and grouting got it all sparkly clean. I then used neat viakal on the glass doors rubbed it around left it for 5 minutes and then rinsed it off with a lot of hot water. I am not sure hot much the Viakal cost as the bottle is years old. You do not need much. Some glass cleaner to polish everything up at the end and it looked so much better. Shower spray helps keep everything down, but do not listen to the hype you do still need to clean a shower. I finished up by pouring a kettle full of boiling water down the drain after a good splurge of cheap vinegar and bicarbonate of soda.

Please please do not get caught up buying fancy cleaners that costs pounds. My shower looks so much better, and it cost pennies. Infact it looks better than when I have cleaned it with expensive branded products.

Until I can afford a cleaner or maid 3 hours a day Monday – Friday then I guess I have a future that involves scrubbing for the foreseeable future.

Frugally yours

Abigail

x

Huff.

Firstly, Hello & Welcome to my new follower – Judy. Thanks so much for visiting – x.

***

It may well be interesting for those of you in a relationship out there to note the following:-

If walking out of the house in a huff.

Remember your car keys.

Marching over the threshold head held high in moral indignation, looses its punch if you then have to then sneak back in to pick up the car keys.

Also best not to pick an early hour on a bank holiday morning which then leaves you walking around your local supermarket waiting for the café to open.

I can highly recommend watching “Oz the Great and Powerful” 10.30am. No-one else around, and O2 were giving away a free large popcorn at my local Odeon. Of course it may also be worth noting the following equation

1 large sweet popcorn (think bucket sized) + a medium coke + moral outrage = being heartily sick at the end of the movie in the ladies.

Everything would have been worth it if only The Chap had noticed.

I drove home at 2pm-ish and he just smiled and said

“You were out early. Have a nice morning?”

I gave up at that point on being in a mood. I am obviously no good at it, and really it was such a minor thing I was pissed at. Does this happen to anyone else, complete obliviousness? And is obliviousness a word?

Anyhoo, the long weekend was lovely. I caught up on loads of jobs. Cleaned the car inside and out. Cleaned everywhere in the house and then emptied the washing basket. Who knew it had a bottom? I thought it was a never ending heap of soiled laundry stuck in a time loop.  I did the 4 hours of ironing whilst watching Labyrinth by Kate Mosse which I had recorded.

I then started on the planting. I have no green thumb and have never successfully grown anything. But, still worth having a go I think.

I planted up the potatoes and tomatoes. Then planted the seeds for my hanging basket and geranium borders later this year.

I have some seeds for lettuce and beans but I think it is too early. I enjoyed it so much, lunchtime today I popped out and picked up some red onions, spring onions and peppers plus a 75p kit for growing chillies. Time will tell if I make a success of it. Watch this space..

And finally Twinkle is definitely in season. The poor thing is crying and miaowing, and constantly offering herself to anything that moves. It reminds me of some girls I knew in my University days it really is such a shame to see.

If I am honest, I think TC would have liked some kittens, but he realises that it just is not going to happen on my watch and he does agree with the ethics of not bringing more kittens into this world. TC paid for our cats, but I feed and water them, pick up poo, and disinfect the litter tray. So, I am guessing who would end up looking after them too.. Muggins..

I am too young to be a Grandma!

Result? They are both booked in for the operation to be spayed in about a weeks time.

TC booked the appointment after finding Belle trying to mount her sister on the spare bed….

An eventful weekend I would say.

Frugally yours

Abigail

x

A Few Chores.

Today has been a day of doing chores. What a way to spend your days off.

 

I used some vouchers and discount codes to get a few luxuries.

 

I was up and out early on Easter Friday. I think the Chap was pretty perplexed, but I didn't want to spend the morning lounging around. I wanted to get sorted.

 

First things first, after being away last weekend and I am away again next weekend. So, I am behind with the washing. I was wearing some pretty strange outfits to work this week!

 

As we do not have a drier, and the weather is just pants in Staffordshire, I decided for once to throw some money at the problem and took two huge bags of our washing to the local laundrette. For £13 they washed, dried and folded the lot for me. Not the best way to spend my hard earned cash. But with the weather freezing, and our only way of drying is the clothes airer, then this was a small price to pay for some soft towels for a change and no mould in our spare room.

 

I then toddled off to the local town centre and did a bit of shopping. First a stop at Halfords as O2 were giving away 1litre free screen wash for O2 customers. I do not really need it now, but I will do in a few weeks. So, happy to store it until then. RRP £2.49. Thank you very much.

 

I then went to The Body Shop and treated myself to some more moisturiser as again O2 were offering £10 off a £20 spend so I picked up some dead posh shampoo too that normally cost £4.50 per bottle. Umm may be hiding that from the TC.. is that bad??

RRP £16
 

Then a stop at the outdoor market where I picked up 6 huge potatoes suitable to baking, mashing etc for 89p. Much better value than the supermarket.

 

I also popped to Wilkinson as this weekend I am planning to get planting. I want to get the potatoes in and start off the geraniums and our hanging basket. I also picked up some tomatoes seeds. 3 for 2 at 60p each. I do not know is that cheap?

 

I cam home full of good intentions and made lunch for TC and I, then made  a fatal mistake.. I sat down. 2 hours later I woke up. Sleeping during the day is the laziest thing you can do. But um, Goodness! I felt so much better. It was wonderful and not a feeling of guilt at all. TC was really laughing!

 

Really enjoying the long weekend, and I hope you have some nice plans.

 

Frugally yours

Abigail

x

Huh Oh!

Just stopping by, we woke to a flooded kitchen this morning.

The Chap at 6.30am was prising his beautifully laid tiles off the wall to get at the leak. (He only finished on Sunday!)

The garage is damp now too.

We are not happy bunnies here at 'Southfork'.

Got to go mopping & cleaning to do.

Frugally yours
Abigail
X

A Few Of My Favourite Things

I am, as we speak, running towards this long Easter weekend as if it is was a long lost lover. I am that excited about 4 days off work!

In our family we rarely give Easter eggs and normally exchange a little present instead to save our waistlines.

I thought you might be interested in a few of my current favourite buys instead of as well as indulging in Chocolate.

The Brrrrr Ice Tray

See it looks like a polar bear!!

Black & Blum have been my favourite design company since I stumbled across them about 18months ago in a shop whilst on the Isle of Wight. I bought their classic lunch box (box appétit), and now have increased my range to their lunch pot to take soup and fruit into work. Their product line exude quality with clean lines and practicality assured.Their new product is the brrrrr

It is an ice tray! You turn it 90 degrees and fill it with water until it reaches the overspill & screw the top on, then bring it back down to horizontal and put it into the freezer. The lid stops the nasty smells from getting in and you just have to give it a sharp tap to release the ice cubes. Perfect for those with limited freezer space. Now lets be honest who has had a gin and tonic only to bring it to your lips and see the odd stray pea floating on the top? I cannot believe no-one has thought of this before

At £9.99 it’s a perfect new home present or thanks for having me gift.

The Hair Turban

The Blonde Bombshell kindly gave me this on Saturday. It is a hair turban.

 

Such a great idea after a bath, you simply put the larger end at the back of your head and scoop your hair into the narrower part. Twist the microfiber fabric and then secure the narrow end at the nape of your neck using the loop and huge diamante button. Ready in seconds to answer the door or put on make up before a big night out. Mine was from Primark, but Boots are selling something similar here

The 100 Year Old Man Who Climbed Out The Window And Disappeared, by Jonas Jonasson

Another Scandinavian book, and it is just brilliant for a holiday or long weekend read. I picked it up when it was on special offer for the Kindle at 20p. It has now gone back up to £3.08. It features Allan Karlsson who is 100 years old and in the first few pages flees from his nursing home on his 100 birthday with a stolen suitcase. He meets an odd assortment of merry men as he makes a sedate escape across the country involving a hot dog vendor, organised crime and an ex circus animal, pursed by the police and media. In-between each chapter set in the present we flash back to Allan’s life leading to this point, and realise he was present at every major historical turning point of the 20^th century.

It was such good fun to read, I couldn’t put it down!

Tiptree Tomato Sauce

Who buys tomato sauce as a present? Weirdo Abigail!

But this sauce transforms the ordinary bacon butty into culinary heaven. At £1.99 for 310G it is not exactly cheap, but it will have you coming back again and again and again.

Alessi Big Heart Love Expresso Spoons

At £19 for 4 they are not cheap. But I bought some for my sister a few years ago after I invested in a couple of boxes. They are a design classic. So posh, I always feel like I should not be using them with own brand coffee!

Buying an Easter Egg is nice for youngsters, but only if you can afford it. For the grown ups why not spend the same amount of money as you would on chocolate on a little treat that your loved one will retain much longer?

Frugally yours

Abigail

x

P.S. I received no money or incentive for writing this list. It is my own opinion and if you do not like it then go and write your own blog.

A Fantastic Weekend

This weekend was aMAZing.

I had such a great time with my friend "The Blonde Bombshell" (lets see what she makes of that title!).

I got there at about 9ish despite the snow in Staffordshire, and had the largest rum and cola you have ever seen. Followed by a delicious pizza. We exchanged news and hugged and gossiped and generally had a good catch up.

In bed by just after midnight and up at eight for freshly baked croissants and my new favourite Apricot Jam. I have to buy some! We then toddled off to Covent Garden for a mooch dressed for the dreadful sleet and snow. Thankfully none of it stuck


My friend, with an eye to my limited budget, had booked us into Bistro 1, 2 courses for £7.95. I had bacon and potato salad, with fish cakes for main. So yummy!

Then off to the matinee performance of Spamalot. So funny especially as I am Monty Python fan.

We always then round off our day out with Lychee Martini at 1 Aldwych Place which is a short walk away. Don't look at the prices, it will just upset you.

Back to hers for homecooked seabass, and more rum. Then Bed.

Up early again and she did bacon and mushroom sandwiches for breakfast. We watched the Grand Pix then it was time to go home.

But I went home in style Folks, I walked to the bus stop behind Chris Martin (from ColdPlay) and his daughter! They were not catching a bus..

I had accidently booked a 1st class ticket for the way home for an extra £6. That little bit of luxury on the way home was fantastic!

What I liked about the weekend was that I spread the cost. I paid for the theatre tickets in January about £35. Then booked the train tickets in Feb and organised an Oyster Card to use public transport cheaply in London - Cost £36. (£26 For staffs to london train tickets and £10 on the Oyster card).

So this weekend I went with £50 and came home with change.

But seeing one of my best friends? Priceless!

Frugally yours
Abigail
x