Being Mrs C

Featured post: Am I the only one with a kitchen like this?

I think everyone now accepts that every kitchen has a man drawer. A place where all those things like shoelaces, spare light bulbs and radiator keys live. Michael McIntyre even has a whole sketch about the role of the man drawer in family life.

 

The thing is that I think my whole kitchen is turning into a bit of a man drawer space. The counter seems to get covered in "things" and these "things" are multiplying at speed. Every time I try to clear it up I just tend to find that it's mainly useful stuff that needs keeping though. A pile of vouchers for money off at the supermarket, half an easter egg which will get eaten, a family size box of plasters that needs a home and some leaflets that I picked up from nursery that I ought to read before recycling. A box of used stamps that may be of use to a charity somewhere, random assorted small toys that I have removed from Master C's reach at some point, but that Little Miss C will still want and a form to renew a driving licence for the woman that used to live in this house before us. Maybe that last one isn't so useful after all.

And then there's all the things that keep coming through the front door. Mr C refers to it as the "recycling that gets delivered" and I fear he may be right with some of it. But some of it is of use. The magazine subscription that I really hope to sit and read when I get a chance. The adverts  for local events that I would like to go to if I remember they're on.

What I think I need in my life is a bit more order. Make a place for everything and to put everything in its place. Once again I've been looking on Pinterest for ideas and inspiration and I've created a fantastic board of things that I'd love to include in our home. It's quite telling that 90% of them are storage solutions of some kind or another. Some of them are really quite innovative and not necessarily all that expensive to implement. Many are stunningly gorgeous and actually make me feel slightly excited about getting things into that sort of order - maybe this is just a sign of old age?

Another thing that I really need to do is find somewhere that sells Kitchen Blinds and replace the one over our little window. Yet another part of the room that needs some order and I think starting with a big thing like the look of the window would help immensely. Below it is currently a dumping ground for gardening odds and sods and useful things like the pump for the buggy tyres. Again a clever storage solution is required. Imagine all the time I'll save once I don't have to tidy up - I might even have time to read all these magazines I've been hanging on it. That's all assuming that everything always goes back to where it lives...

Please tell me that I'm not alone like this though. Is everyone else's kitchen like the ones you see in magazines where nothing is out of place and the bowl on the side contains perfect looking fruit rather than the manky bananas that are in mine right now? What does everyone else do with all this stuff that seems to congregate in kitchens and what amazing storage tips do you all have?

Spring's definitely in the air so time for me to clear up once and for all!

Disclaimer: This is a featured post in association with Kitchen Blinds.

Three hours

I'm sure I can't be the only person who gets to the end of the day and wonders what I've actually acheived that day. When you're at home with little ones it can be quite easy to just concentrate on "surviving" and it can be easy to lose track of what has kept you busy all day. Realistically though, stay at home parents usually acheive loads, but they simply don't have the time to step back and take stock of just what they have done.

This morning Mr C went out to a first aid course so I thought I'd keep track of just what I got up to in that time - admitedly, partly to make myself feel like I could justify the bar of dairy milk that went with my morning cuppa, and the glass of wine that I'm planning to have tonight.

The morning didn't start well with the Ocado man arriving at the door full of apologies about the jar of curry sauce that had exploded all over half my shopping order. Unfortunately that curry sauce was supposed to form part of tonight's dinner plans, so back to the drawing board for today's meal plans. Several other things had been so covered in sauce that they couldn't be rescued either. I swapped a few things around, googled some recipes and my new job became putting together a beef and mushroom stroganoff that could go into the slow cooker for the rest of the day. Small pat on the back for getting things back on track.

Little Miss C has been a bit tough to entertain lately - especially since she missed nursery last week due to a fever and hence I think she's just sick of the sight of me - so it was necessary to make a real effort to do things with her rather than just letting her play whilst I got on with jobs. We started off doing some sewing together. I picked up these great lacing cards in Wilkos for just 50p when they were selling off their old craft range before bringing out a new one earlier in the year. With shoelace type threads LMC had a great time threading them through the cards and she was very proud to be "sewing like Mummy does". Parenting bonus point number one.

By the time we'd done this Master C was ready for a feed - something it seems he's ready for every hour some days! - so that was combined with a quick phone call to my mum and LMC watching a spot of TV. Inspired by I Can Cook we then set about baking a batch of biscuits for Daddy's return. My late Gran's Ginger Biscuit recipe is very simple and quick and it's hard to get it wrong, even with a toddler helping. After all the clearing up that was required before we could start baking and the baking itself it was time for Master C to have yet another feed by the time they went into the oven. After a quick ten minutes of feeding the buzzer signalled time to get the biscuits out of the oven and luckily Master C went down for a nap at the same time. By this point I was awarding myself parenting bonus point number two, putting the kettle on and imagining sitting down with a cuppa and a biscuit and even wondering if I might be able to get five minutes with a magazine.

That wasn't going to be the case though as LMC very loudly reminded me that it was nearly lunchtime. A raid of the freezer found a cooked mince portion so whilst that defrosted in the microwave I peeled some potatoes and put them on to boil. Fifteen minutes later she was sat in her highchair with a portion of mine and mash in front of her - cunningly called shepherd's pie in an attempt to get her to eat it. This is where I started losing parenting points though as after a few enthusiastic first spoonfulls she declared that she didn't want any more and wanted yoghurt and chocolate instead. Meal times have been a bit of a battle of late and today was no different. Cue 30 minutes of screaming about how she didn't like her lunch, didn't want to eat it and how she wanted something else instead. Even promises of a biscuit if she ate some more seemed to fall on deaf ears.

Master C wasn't deaf though and all this screaming about food woke him up and reminded him that a whole 55 minutes had passed since his last feed so it must be time for yet more milk. Mummy the milk producer was in demand again. Sat down with my now cold cuppa I proceeded to feed Master C whilst still trying to calm down LMC and convince her to eat some more of her lunch - all whilst attempting to hide the fact that I was eating the bar of fruit and nut that I'd sneaked out of the fridge! Parenting points into negative numbers by this point I'm sure.

Fit in round the above an explosive nappy change requiring a change of clothes for Master C, one load of laundry through the machine and three lots of washing up and I think I now understand how I didn't have time to be bored this morning. By the time Mr C returned (now fully knowledgeable as to how to save a life) I was shattered and very ready to have five minutes peace and quiet - once I'd cooked our lunch of course.

Forget one glass of wine this evening. Re-reading the above I think I deserve a whole bottle. If I can stay awake!

Taking a step back

This week was supposed to be a nice little "holiday" between Mr C leaving one job and starting a new one. We acknowledged that there were likely to be some little jobs left to finish off in our new loft conversion, but the reality is that we've actually been running round like headless chickens all week trying to make decisions, but things and get everything sorted.

Today we've made quite an effort to make the day a bit calmer and fun. A spot of baking - mainly prompted by the need to use up some bananas that were going very brown in the fruit bowl - a pub lunch and a wander round the gardens of a local National Trust property. Much more like what a holiday should be.

Tomorrow - back to the to do list, but hopefully with recharged batteries!

There!

After posting hopefully last week I'm delighted to say that we're there! The last couple of nights have been spent in our new bedroom, sleeping in our bed, not surrounded by boxes and boxes of stuff. OK so the curtains aren't yet up and there were a few problems like our chest of drawers not actually fitting up the stairs, but the fantastic news is that our new room was ready to move into before Baby C arrived - a miracle.

If it's possible things seem to have got even more manic since the builders finished as we're now able to do all the jobs that we'd had to put off until now. Things like sorting out towel rails, hooks and toilet roll holders in the bathroom and finding all the things that have been displaced for the last few months. Nice jobs like choosing the new bedding that we'd been promising ourselves for ages and finding some new curtains that don't clash with our wall colour seems to be taking much longer than we'd anticipated they would. There have also been a few curved balls, like the curtains for Little Miss C's new room not being the same length despite coming from the same packet! Luckily John Lewis have sorted this one out, but having to go back and forth to various shops just takes time and is somewhat exhausting at 37 weeks pregnant. The heat over the weekend also didn't help matters.

So the big question now is can we get everything done in the remaining few days that Mr C has off work? And will Baby C hang on until we're totally finished or make an early appearance to make sure that we're kept on our toes? This may not be quite the cliff-hanger ending that soap operas have, but it's still got me on tender-hooks (or should that be tenterhooks?)!

Featured Post: Sorting out the household finances

I'm not sure what's prompted it, but my twitter stream has recently been full of people asking for advice on how to sort out their household finances. People looking for tips on how to reduce their car insurance, contents insurance and utility bills and also how to keep track of what they're actually spending each month.

I can't pretend to be a complete expert here, but several years of balancing our household books (and a previous paid job running project budgets) means that I have picked up some ways of doing things that others seem to find useful so I'm happy to share them here.

How much are you spending and what is it going on

It may sound like a lot of homework, but before you can reduce your outgoings it helps to actually understand how much you are spending and what you're spending it on.

Some outgoings will be monthly (utility bills, mortgage or rent payments, childcare costs) whilst others may only be annual costs (insurance policies for instance) and it therefore helps if you can look back over a 12 month period to see what you're really spending. Get together all your bank statements, credit card bills and other bills and try to note down what your outgoings are on a month by month basis. If you have access to Excel or another spreadsheet application then this will make the job simpler. As a checklist you should expect to have the following items in your list:

• Mortgage/rent
• Gas
• Electricity
• Water
• Landline/Broadband
• Mobile phone
• Council Tax
• TV licence
• Car insurance
• Car tax
• Buildings / Contents insurance
• Credit card bills
• Loan repayments
• Subscriptions / memberships

Also worth doing is working out how much you are spending each month in the supermarket. Break down your credit card bill or keep your receipts to see how much you are spending on food and on other things like toiletries, cleaning products and clothes. Keep track also of those small purchases that you make day to day - coffees and magazines can add up to a surprising amount over a month.

How to reduce what you're spending

Once you know what you're spending you can start to try to reduce things. Look at your last utility bills to see how much you are spending in terms of energy usage and shop around to see if you can get the same for less elsewhere. If you're not already paying by Direct Debit then it's worth seeing if you can as many utility companies give you a discount for doing so. Opting for online billing rather than paper bills also earns you a discount with some companies too.

The next time your annual insurance policies come up for renewal don't just automatically go back to the same company and accept your renewal quote. Phone them up and ask if that's the best price they can do. Also look at what other companies can offer you for identical cover. More money could be saved by looking into whether you actually need everything that your policy cover gives you. If possible increasing the excess on your policy is another way of reducing the cost of your policy. It does mean that you would have to pay more in the event of having to make a claim on your policy, but if you don't have to claim for five years you could make a saving even if you then have to make a claim and pay that higher excess.

Set yourself challenges for how much you want to save on your grocery shopping. Are there cheaper alternatives to things that you buy regularly. Do you end up putting food in the bin at the end of each week - if so stop buying it in the first place. Can you plan meals around what is on special offer in the supermarket that week? Try to buy toiletries in bulk whilst they are on special offer. Toothpaste, shower gel and nappies don't go off, so take advantage of three for two deals or similar when you see them rather than waiting until you run out.

Keep track of what you're spending

If you've set up a spreadsheet to track what you have been spending then just extend it going forwards to keep track of what you're spending now and this will help you to see where you're making savings. Look to balance the books at the end of each month as that will help ensure that you're keeping track of all your spending. Include your incomings in the same spreadsheet and you can see either how much extra you have left over each month, or how much more you need to cut your outgoings by to remain in the black.

Plan ahead

Once you've reduced your outgoings the job's not over - planning ahead will hopefully help you keep on top of things. Think about those additional costs that come up from time to time. The need to replace your washing machine or fridge, urgent car repairs if it fails its MOT, the cat needing a trip to the vet and some money to go towards a family holiday. Look at how much these events might cost you if they happened and think about how often they might happen. If you think that once a year you have to pay £500 on average for car repairs then try to plan so that you have enough left over every month so to meet this annual bill - in otherwords £42 a month. That means that if that bill comes in you'll hopefully have enough set aside to be able to pay it without taking too much of a hit elsewhere.

What else can you do?

After reducing your outgoings then next obvious thing is to try to increase your incomings too and there's enough to say on that subject for a whole separate blog post!

I'm no financial expert, but if you found these hints and tips useful then please share this post. If there's anything that you think I've got wrong or missed out then please leave a comment and let me know!

seven days

A weekly photograph capturing one of the magic moments of the last seven days.

Carla Daly Children's Wall Art

Decorating a young child's bedroom can be tricky. You want something that's bright and colourful for them to look at, with some educational value, and also doesn't look too, well, childish. I was delighted therefore when I was emailed by Carla Daly and asked to review some of her Children's Wall Art.

We were sent a Kid's map of the United Kingdom and I was delighted to unwrap it when we arrived back from holiday. The map is in a simple style and clearly shows the countries that make up the UK, along with some of the major cities. Overlaid are a variety of animals (all labelled) which I think are all native to the UK.

Little Miss C is nearly 16 months old now and was delighted as soon as we put this up in her room. She loves animals (and birds) and most of the words that she has so far are animal related. After getting up this morning she spent nearly five minutes stood in front of the picture shouting "fish!" and pointing at the whales, dolphins, salmon and tuna shown in the waters around the UK.

If you have a look at Carla's website there are several other maps - ideal if part of the family is not from the UK and you want to teach your child more about that country - various art pieces and some lovely height charts, which are a particular favourite of mine.

The map was incredibly easy to attach to the wall - some might say so easy a child could do it - and it arrived packaged really well, so much so that even our holiday cover postman didn't manage to damage it at all (remarkable!) If you're looking to buy a gift for a new baby, or to celebrate a child's birthday (or that December event that's fast approaching!) then definitely think about some art like this.

I was sent a copy of the Kid's map of the United Kingdom to review by Carla Daly. This map usually retails at £24 and is available from Carla's website - www.carladaly.co.uk

A studio update

There's been a lot of work going on down the bottom of the garden recently. Not of a gardening nature, but instead in my studio down there and it's looking very different to how things were a couple of months ago. Gone are all the old paint pots that used to sit on the shelves next to my sewing machine. Also, gone is the pile of old carpet that was in the corner until we found somewhere else to use it. Instead I have clear space, a second table and two bookcases to build.

As of this afternoon I also have a vast quantity of yarn, machine cotton thread, buttons, zips, knitting needles and other haberdashery items all of which have come from a woman selling off things after retiring from running a sewing shop. There are some things I want, but the rest I will be looking to either sell off to people I know, or via eBay or similar. Some may also be turned into other things that I am planning to make and hopefully sell. Watch this space for more news of that just as soon as time allows.

My studio

I've been wanting to use those words since we moved into this house nearly two years ago, but finally last night I had a permanent place to keep my sewing machine. (Mr C - if you're reading I'm claiming squatters rights now so if you want the space back then tough!)

This cabin at the bottom of the garden was where the previous owner of the house used to teach music therapy to autistic children. When we looked round I instantly knew what I wanted to use the space for, but once we moved in other jobs took priority and then Little Miss C came along and it went to the bottom of the to do list.

Finally I decided that enough was enough and off I went with a dustpan and brush and some soapy water and just an hour later I was up and running. In less than 24 hours I have already manage to finish the dress I was making for Jemima (she's going to be a first birthday present for LMC - so photos will come soon) and also mend a pair of pyjama bottoms that have had a hole in them for months.

Things aren't perfect though...

There's still a lot of work to do and homes to find for things, but I'll get there. I've got great plans for this new studio space of mine, but as with most things it will take some time to get there.

I'm hoping that this new crafty home will bring me back some of my craft-mojo that has been awol of late. When the mojo goes the blogging also drops off, mainly as I have very little to blog about. However, I did have a lovely visit from the Fairy Hobmother (aka Ian) from Appliances Online. It was a complete pleasure to start off my Friday with something like this as no one normally gives me gifts for no real reason, and Ian has offered to visit one of my readers too. All you have to do is leave a comment in response to this post and cross your fingers and you never know you too may soon receive a visit from the Fairy Hobmother!

Have a lovely weekend everyone! x

Paintbrush in hand

That how I feel I've been for the last week or so. Paintbrush firmly in my hand - I was even dreaming about painting skirting boards the other night. The good news is that all the front room is now decorated, the new carpet is down and Mr C's dad has just arrived to help him return the sofa to where it should be! I'm looking forward to it no longer being on end n my kitchen!

Funny how decorating just one room can disrupt things for a while. Normal service will be resumed very soon I hope.