March 2012 Update

Broad Beans are still not sprouting but I'll leave them for another week and then dig about in 1 of the pots to see if anything is happening

Potatoes were planted

Tomatoes didn't sprout so I planted some more - less watering is needed for these

Everything else has started to sprout

Hot sunny weather for the last 2 weeks but now its turned cold again and temperatures are due to fall alot and possibly hard frosts - even possibility of snow

Need to set up the plastic greenhouse at home to start off some seeds as its warmer than the greenhouse at the Lottie

H x

Knitting, Ebay and other bits

Hi
Mum at Mums Simply Living Blog is organising a Crochet/Knit a Blanket for people in need - pop over and have a look, the more the merrier as they say. It also gets me back into Knitting as I've neglected it lately.
Ebay - I've confused myself with how much I need to make so to make it simple I need to raise £150 by June and £150 by August. Yesterday I had raised £250 but and its a big but, I now only have £50 as I had to transfer £200 to our account as we both failed our MOT's this week and both cars need welding and tyres, I also had to tax my car - £115 so without any work doing the cost was running at £199 - money we don't have so thank goodness for the Ebay account. Now I need to push for sales again - I really need a Free Listing Weekend but as we've just had two on the run I doubt we'll get another one for a while.

Easter School Hols are here, money is non existent so we're doing everything on the cheap. C is going to stay at Nana J's for 2 nights from tomorrow and D will stay at Nanna's on Wednesday night giving K and I a child free night - the whole night!!  Although funds are zilch we are going to the pictures to see The Woman In Black. K and I hardly ever go out anywhere that costs money, we don't eat out or go to fancy places that cost money just to get in so for once we are making the most of our 1 child free evening so there lol.

One trip out will be to Edgewick Farm and we'll feed the pig and walk through the woods, another trip out will be to Stockgrove Park [providing the weather holds]

C came back on Friday from her trip to France with the school. The cost of the trip was £335 and her Dad paid for it, it was well worth the money as they went to some fantastic places and had a great time.

Well that's it for now - must update the Lottie page now

Please leave a comment if you happen to visit
H x

Ebay again.

I listed about 80 items last weekend so they are all finishing today and tomorrow. I've made about £70 which brings my total raised so far to £154 which I am so very, very pleased with. I needed to raise £150 by June and then another £150 by August so to be way ahead of my target date is encouraging and pleasing. All the items that haven't sold have been relisted immediately - pays to relist as something I'd relisted 3 times sold this week lol.

Now I need to parcel the items up and post them - this is the bit I don't like doing hehe

H x

Ebay

Ebaying is going along nicely - I want to raise a total of £435, so far I've raised £175. I've used some of the raised money to pay for our holiday in June to Bude, Cornwall and I've bought some bits that were needed, so I still need to raise £260. I've 81 items listed to finish this coming weekend, 6 days to go and I've bids of £11 but lots of watchers on quite a few things so hopefully more bids nearer the end.
Even if I just manage to raise £150 by June, that will be enough as the rest of the money is needed for August when we go to Bacton with Mum.

H x

Birthday, Friendships, School Trips, Lottie

Wow 12 days since my last post - bad woman!! Lots of things happening here. K had his 50th birthday on the 12th. It was a low key affair as being 50 is not good lol. The children wanted to make something of it so we invited Mum around and had a buffet tea. K liked his pressies so much - they are still sat on his desk in the bedroom!  C has her birthday on 21st so I've been getting ready for that - actually no I haven't as I bought everything in the Jan sales and for her main pressie she's having money, just need to wrap it all tomorrow.
D is going to Overstrand with his school for 3 days as of Wednesday, he's very excited, he's decided that his blank needs to stay at home though, he's growing up.
C is going to France with her school next Monday for 5 days,she has just had a big fall out with her friend and is very upset, she's also worried that it might make her trip a difficult one, these are the times when I wish I could give her 1/10th of my confidence - she has none - then she could just tell the nasty madam to go away once and for all and then stand up to the ones that are mean to her, I don't remember having any problems at school with my friends, we all got on together and played nicely, nowadays they do nothing but compete for attention from each other and try and beat each other in the fashion/boyfriend/who's done what stakes. C gets really upset about it all and feels very inferior, she has just over 1 year left before moving onto secondary school - home ed seems more and more likely!
Housework has fallen by the wayside so today I've spent all my time clearing, cleaning, hoovering blah, blah, blah
The Lottie is coming along nicely as we've been over there alot, Lettuce's are sprouting away and lots of seeds have been planted along with Onions, Garlic and Shallots - I love these next few months at the Lottie, I love to see everything growing and the wait for the produce is almost orgasmic.

Photos of the Lottie next time

H x

Allotment

K and I spent yesterday at the Lottie. K had planned to go fishing but decided not to as it was too cold and the fish would be laying down [do I sound like I know what I'm talking about!!] K dropped me off at the lottie at 10ish and he went off to visit an old work place [on the hunt for another job] I started by clearing all the "things" that had found themselves a home in the greenhouse, out they all came, cleaned up and put back where they belonged. K came along with sarnies and a message from C's school that she needed collecting as she had an upset tummy! Off he went to get her and I carried on tidying the greenhouse. K came back to the Lottie with C - there wasn't much wrong with her - an over reaction from the school as usual. She had to sit in the greenhouse and wait for us to finish as the weather was lovely and she was well wrapped up and had a book to read. K started to dig over the beds, oh what lovely soil we now have, he added home made compost to each bed and then dug that in, the soil is soooo good, its rich in colour and getting quite fine. Its been worth doing the compost over the last year as its turned out to be really good stuff. I took C home at about 2 and K stayed on until 4. We have talked the lottie to death with regards as to what we are planting and where. Tomorrow I start planting seeds into their pots ready to be transplanted when big enough - I can't wait as I love doing this.

I've ordered C new school shoes and D will be getting some tomorrow. C has been getting mardy because she wants a new suitcase to go on her French Trip with but we have perfectly good ones here. Nana has lent her a large holdall and she is happy with that but I can't say that I am. I was trying to get her to realise that spending nearly £30 on a suitcase was a complete waste of money when we had one here that would do the job perfectly, she just doesn't get my reasoning, she is at the stage where mates [who have well off parents] get certain things and she wants the same. She isn't prepared to accept that not only do we not have that kind of money we don't have that kind of attitude either, we believe that make do and mend is just as good as buying new and we'll do that or freecycle or Ebay etc before we buy new if we can. D "gets" it completely and if he wants to spend his money on something ie a game then he will wait for it to go down in price and he'll scour the internet [with me] to see where the cheapest place is to buy it and he's quite happy to buy 2nd class - no snobbery with him

Have to go now as C wants time on the comp

H x

Allotment

Today K and I went to the lottie for an hour, absolute bliss

I weeded half the Strawberry bed and K dug over a bed and mixed in some home grown compost, the soil is now the best!!



H x