January seems like a long time ago right now and I have to be totally honest and say that over the last couple of months my year of thrift has taken a bit of a back seat in my life. There are plenty of thrifty things that I now do without even thinking of them, but the thing that has most put me off track is actually the response we've had whilst trying to save money on our mortgage. In the early part of the year we went to huge lengths to cut down our outgoings. We changed gas and electricity supplier, we changed our mobile phone contracts and we also shopped around loads for groceries to ... read more
Archives for July 2014
Ladybird Tuesday: The Frozen Planet of Azuron
Let's be totally honest about this post upfront. I'm no science fiction fan at all and this is actually the kind of book I normally avoid. But, it is a vintage Ladybird book so when I found it in a charity shop it came home with me and it's certainly part of Ladybird history. The Frozen Planet of Azuron was first published in 1982 as part of series 823. The series contained a total of 4 science fiction titles (The Energy Pirate, The Frozen Planet of Azuron, The Giants of Universal Park and The Planet of Death) and each book contains a short story. The Frozen Planet of Azuron was written ... read more
Planning Paris in a Day
Back in July 2003 Mr C and I celebrated my birthday for the first time as a couple and we headed off to Paris on a Eurostar train for what was then our first holiday together. Since then, before children, we travelled extensively together (at least 20 different countries and going right around the world for our honeymoon) and we loved those trips to foreign cities where we'd explore on foot, stopping for a beer or glass of wine in a bar and people watching when ever we got tired. We both really miss travelling now that we've got kids and often we'll talk about the trips that we've taken in ... read more
What’s on my bookcase – shelfie part 1
I'm super, super excited that later this year St Albans is going to be hosting its first Literary Festival. I'm even more excited as my good friend and fellow blogger Claire from Being a Mummy is actually in charge of the whole thing! With a very small team she's put together a programme with some great speakers for book fans of all types. I've blocked the days out in my diary already and I'm really looking forward to it. In the run up to the festival the other thing I've loved is some of the team sharing shelfie videos in which they talk you through what's on their bookcase. As someone who ... read more
Doing a grand job
Thank you for all your kind words after my outpouring of frustration on here the other day. Things can seem pretty bleak when you're sleep deprived and stuck at home with a poorly one, whilst also having to balance the needs of their sister, plus work obligations. There's no such thing as time off when you're self employed and in the middle of trying to remortgage your house! I'm delighted to say that Master C finally seems to be over the sickness bug that knocked him low for a week. As a result his general mood has improved significantly, making life somewhat easier. Eating is still a ... read more
Ladybird Tuesday: Talkabout going into hospital
When it comes to my Ladybird collection I tend to go for the older books with the matt covers as these are the ones that I remember most clearly from my own childhood. These matt covered seemed to be produced until some time in the 1980s when they instead moved over to the glossy covers that are most commonly found in charity shops today. In an ideal world I'd collect both, but it's fair to say that Mr C already thinks that our house is overrun with books and I don't really fancy divorce right now. Too busy with a million and one other things for a start. Some glossy covered books do sneak ... read more