Whoops, I done it again, twice

I have had my M&S red jacket for over 10 years, probably nearer to 20 years, it looks OK, until you get up close, hubby moans every time I wear it, but I have never found a wool jacket I like, and I have looked every year. So with the sales on again, I looked and found this coat, reduced from £116 to £43, in Oasis sale. I love the collar style, it's a bit longer than I wanted, but it will replace the red jacket. 

I have wanted a duffle coat for years, sadly they are very expensive, this popped up in my search, British made and reduced from £300 to £150, still alot of money, my M&S duffle coat purchased in the sale a couple of years ago is already scruffy. Hubby was delighted to see this as he has a good duffle coat, which he wears often, and encouraged me to get it. I now have 9 different coats, most of them are worn in different seasons, but I think 3 can now go to the clothes recycling bins. 

It's been a very quiet week again, sign group was good, but I only stayed an hour, I drove to daughters to chat together and I got Will from school, mummy went to parents evening later and came home with a huge smile on her face, well done Will. I enjoyed my Thursday Pilates class, the rest of the time was at home, the wind outside is bitter, we have blue skies and it's bloody cold. Today we are having the fence panels replaced, I just hope next door is quiet until the men have finished, I am a bit nervous.

An expensive start to March, but this cold snap is lingering, and getting colder next week, as I often say March is a winter month, it's come in like a Lion, hope it goes out like a lamb. I do make my clothes last years, coats even longer, so the quality of these purchases should last years. I don't give myself a budget for clothing, I do try not to purchase too much. 

We did watch the film A man called Otto, with Tom Hanks, what a brilliant film, I did not want it to end, hubby enjoyed it as well, I've not read the book yet. 

Thank you all for your kind comments about George, he is like all our grandchildren, the love of our lives, But he is a special little boy, his personality is shining through, he is helpful and caring, But don't you dare move anything around, he likes everything in it's place, just like his Nana. Molly has now caught George up in development, she is talking more than him, hopefully she will help him use words, she is starting to overtake him, which does not matter to us. We are supporting daughter much more as I can see she is starting to struggle with the fact George is not on the same development scale as Molly and Will, this was always going to be a pinch point, up to now George was just a little boy, growing up much more slowly, now his disabilities are showing. 

February round up

On craft and garden it's another low spend month, other than the yarn for hubby's lap blanket, I've been using my own stash, in truth I've spent most of my time on the blanket. Hubby purchased plants for his front garden, I don't add his purchases to my stash list, I got only 1 small house plant and 3 bulbs in bloom.

I did get some exercise leggings, which are much nicer to wear to Pilates and a jumper, no reason for it, other than I loved the design.

It is always expensive in Feb, the car needs Tax, insurance and MOT, and this year a service, can't be helped, but we do save for it throughout the year. Our insurance was only £6 more than last year, the service and MOT was less than we had saved, and tax is only £30, so whilst expensive, not too horrendous. 

Again no food waste, with portions sizes worked out, and being able to purchase only what we need for veg and meat, hubby now produces a menu each week, so everything to working well. We are using the butchers more, he is more expensive, but we purchase only the amount we need, he cut us some lamb chunks, and trimmed most of the fat off, so paying for only what we eat, the supermarket lamb has far too much fat, which we pay for and them remove. We do portion all our supermarket meats into 'our' size packs, even trimming chicken breast, giving us another meal from the pack. 

Steps were about the same as last month, the weight still clings, I am not really trying very hard at this time, not enough excise, I should be walking twice a day, but instead I sit and craft. Pilates is making me feel better, I am starting to do a home session on a Monday, I spoke to our tutor and she suggested I do our 1st routine. Hubby has expanded his bread and cake recipes, none are bad for us, but they do add to the calories, much better than the manufactured ones, at least I am not putting any weight on. 

Life as I see it

We have not had George for a sleepover in ages, Will loves to come, but last night we had him, I picked him up early so we could play and have fun together, Purdy our cat loves him, so they play for a while, he slept in our spare bedroom as he does wake up often most nights, with both doors open we could hear him, hubby is a very light sleeper. Later today mummy is bringing Will and Molly over, we are having a family lunch, another neighbour has passed on some games and toys, George loved this keyboard.

Again these beautiful blooms, they brighten up our sitting room and make me smile every time I see them. Even Will comments on their big flowers. I do have a passion for white blooms, in the corner is my real Orchid with silk blooms, hopefully it will bloom again. 

My 3rd and final bulb has growth, 2 lovely buds, this is going to be a riot of colour, for a nice change, watching these bulbs grow so tall and bloom is a pure joy. These are super easy to grow, pop them in a pot, don't bury the bulb and let them grow, our sitting room is a cool darker room at this time of year, but they don't mind, only thing I do is as they grow towards the light, I turn them regularly so the stem stays upright. 

I asked my friend Shelia if she would make me a few small chicks to use on our Easter egg search, her crochet skills are brilliant, exactly 1 week later she gave me these, she has filled each chick with eggs and there are a couple extra in the bottom of the basket. Firstly her chicks are beautifully made, each one is safe for the children to play with, and her generosity is as always wonderful. I can't wait until I can use these, George and Molly are going to love them, we have other things for Will.

I have been working on my 2020 book, I am now into July and feeling better about the process, re-reading my words at the time with so many fears and worries, was not easy. 

I have not picked up a book this month to read, working on my blanket with such dark colours in the daytime, leaves my eyes tired at night, normally I would only work on something so dark for a couple of hours, but it's pointless finishing it in April, when the warmer weather arrives. We have noticed again how much warmer the house is, both our front windows are huge, the old ones were blown and not keeping the cold out. We always used to shut both room doors at night, now we can leave them open longer and get any daylight through the house. 

I am sorry for my moan in my last post, I am feeling better, the fence panels are booked to be replaced this Friday, fingers crossed it goes well. I have not seen my neighbour across the road, I will drive myself to sign group this Tuesday, as I will go to my daughters in the afternoon and pick Will up from school, daughter will attend a parents evening  a bit later. I am letting go of the nasty comments, there is nothing else I can do, I won't argue with anyone if I can help it. 

Spring, almost

I moved these 2 pots from the side of the garage, we could not see them, they have started their 1st blooms, sadly the frost has damaged the left hand pot, the bottom is broken, after the bulbs have all finished we will pop the pot on the garden and use it as a raised pot for as long as I can.

I love different pots on this table, I have blooms in various pots for most seasons. In these pots I have forgotten what I have planted, so it's a lovely surprise to see what grows. I did click on the tab bulbs on my blog and scrolled back to see what I had purchased. 

I put bulbs everywhere,

 these are under my triple acers. 

This raised bed by our back door has loads of hyacinths growing along the front and mixed bulbs everywhere. I transplanted a pink peony in the centre, but I can't see any growth, if I have lost it, I will purchase another. There is a fuchsia at each end, so the bed should fill with colour until next autumn. 

Buds on an important plant is our garden, mum's peony, I love to see it's shoots every year, it loves this spot in the garden, all I ever do is mulch it each October, to protect it from any harsh winter weather. This is in the middle of my side bed, between 2 yellow rose bushes. 

Not the best photo, look closely and there are loads of buds on our Magnolia tree, and in a few cases you can see pink. This tree for me is the start of the growing season, the bloom grow before the leaves, so soon we will have a beautiful pink tree. 

Our Olive tree has survived the winter so far, I say so far, as March can be a cold horrible month, we have had snow many times in March, it has thrived in this spot, I do feed it every year. 

Our weather is very mixed again, we have had lovely sunny days and now the days are grey with a bit of rain (not enough), all I can do outside is tidy the space, I did cut back some plants by half so we can see the emerging bulbs. I only have one simple job to do this spring, I want to move the 2 arches from behind the raspberries to the back of the garden, so I am not as yet itching to get outside. My greenhouse is full, I have a few pots which look dead, I will wait and hope, most plants can be replaced, but I have a geranium with variegated leaves,  which looks gone, I will be really sad if I have lost it.

It's a nothing week, I have helped daughter babysit, her hubby is away working for a couple of weeks, it's always a joy to do the bath and bedtime routine, loads of stories before hugs and kisses and sleep. 

I am getting very frustrated with a neighbour across the road, we go to sign group together and share driving, within two weeks she has been moaning about our solar light on the front of our house, it illuminates the house number, we have had it there for 3 years, now it irritates her, she lives in the back of her house, so only see's it when going up the stairs, she does not have curtains in that window. The lights are bright, but not bright enough to shine across the road and into her house, I've been out after dark to check, 4 times she has had a huge moan, and also commenting on Pauline's lights next door to us. This Tuesday she has a loud huge moan regarding some old decking planks we gave to her neighbour years ago for burning, she can see them in their garden and it's an eyesore. I have been friendly to her for years, she can be very harsh with words against other people in our sign group, which makes me very uncomfortable, I do see less of her, and this could be the problem, as others in the group don't call to see her that often. Then someone's harsh comments have hurt me, I don't even think they realise how I feel, we are also looking to get the fence replaced, so I am feeling a bit down. I will bounce back, I always do, but so many people now think it's OK to speak their minds harshly, I am a soft touch, I always see the best in everyone, giving second chances all the time,