Top Ender Giggles - When she is right, she's right!

Last Sunday the car was covered in salt and sand from our trip to the seaside to see Nanny B, so Top Ender and Daddy went for a quick car wash whilst Baby Boy and I stayed at home.

Top Ender was sitting in the front seat whilst they were in the car wash and was looking out of the passenger window.

"We're moving Daddy" said Top Ender
"No it is just the brushes making it look like we are moving" answered Daddy knowingly
"No we really are moving" said Top Ender
"No Top Ender it is just the brushes, it is making an optical illusion" Daddy said trying to dust the dashboard
"We really are!" exclaimed Top Ender
"Top Ender! Daddy pleaded
"I swear we are moving!" muttered Top Ender

A few minutes later as Daddy started the car to drive out of the car wash he realised that the handbrake wasn't on.

"Oh erm you know what Top Ender? We probably were moving." he admitted
"I knew it!"

New Dinner Ideas for under £1 per person

Some of the most common search terms for my blog is to do with food, new dinner ideas, frugal meals etc. Well instead of people coming here and being disappointed I decided to post some new dinner ideas that come in at under £1 per person. It's also good timing as this coming month I have told Daddy that we are going to be eating cheaply... very cheaply.

First things first if you want to (or need to) cut your food budget there are several things that you can do that will save you a small amount each week depending on what you shopping budget was to start with!

1. Eat meat free one or two nights a week. Even if someone in your family feels that a meal isn't complete with out meat and two veg, if they know that the food budget needs to be cut they should understand. There are some meals that they might not even notice the lack of meat in listed below!
2. Portion control. Think about how much you serve everyone at meal times, it might be too much. Try reducing everything slightly and this should help.
3. Reduced produce. If you can buy the food at a reduced price then it will reflect in the budget!
4. Plan your meals. If you know that Wednesday nights is always really busy then plan something that is quick and easy for dinner, or something that can be cooked in the slow cooker.
5. Stop Eating out. Stop having takeaways or going to restaurants, if you do number 4, then you won't have to anyway.
6. Take lunch to work, don't wait for the Sandwich van to come round. Take some with you and save a fortune!
7. Save your leftovers. Buy some plastic pots (Tupperware!) and either freeze the leftover meal or save it for lunch the next day. If you do freeze the leftovers make sure you label the meal AND list it on a freezer inventory!
   
   
8. Stretch your meals. Rubber chicken for example is a favourite in our house (although it was Rubber duck last week!) and it is so cheap!
9. Make double and freeze it. Sometimes it is cheaper to make more than you need. No really. A good example of this is Curry. I like to buy premixed curry spices from eBay and then make a huge batch of curry which I then freeze in family sized portions.
10. Shift down a brand. If you normally buy named brands then go down to Store brand, if you don't like something then don't buy it again. Just don't buy the cheapest of the cheap or value brands for some items unless you read the ingredients first!

And now for the list of dinner ideas, if you need recipes feel free to ask but most of them are things that should be in any good cookery book or search engine!

Beans on toast (with an egg on top)
Casserole
Cauliflower cheese
Cheesy Bean pie
Cheesy mash and beans
Cheesy pasta (have pasta add cheese)
Chilli
Chilli Pasta
Corned beef hash
Corned Beef Hotpot
Cottage pie
Cowboy Casserole
Egg and Chips
Eggy Bready and beans
Fishfingers in tomato sauce
Fish pie
Fishfinger pie
Home Made fish cakes
Home Made Pizza
Jacket Potato and a whole variety of toppings!
Lamb Stew
Lasagne
Lentil Soup
Liver and onions (although not for pregnant women)
Meatloaf
Omlette (with or without additional items)
Pasta Bake
Pasta in Tomato sauce
Pasta with Bacon
Poor Mans Pasta (pasta with no additions other than butter)
Potato and Bacon Hotpot
Potato and Cheese Bake
Quiche or flans
Risotto
Sausages and mash
Scrambled egg, beans and bacon
Sheppard's pie
Spaghetti Bolognese
Spanish Omlette
Spicy Wedges and coleslaw
Toad in the hole
Toasted Sandwiches
Tuna and Pasta (with a little mayo)
Tuna rice salad
Veggie Stir Fry
Vegetable Rice Salad

I am thinking of doing a post next week about what to do with Leftovers, so let me know if you are interested!

And one last tried and tested idea, try to get invited to other peoples houses for dinner as often as possible!

Fish Finger Pie

Peel some potatoes, cube them and boil them to make Mash

Grill a pack of fish fingers on both sides so they are cooked.

When the fish fingers are cooked put them in a dish suitable for the oven and pour a can of baked beans over the top of them.

If you want to you can add hidden vegetables in at this point, I like to puree them so that nobody knows they are there, but my Mum used to add sweetcorn.

Cover the bean and fish finger mixture with your mash potato.

Sprinkle the top of the potato with grated cheese and put the dish in the over for 10 minutes so the cheese melts and the potato goes crispy.

Serve and enjoy.

Whats in my handbag?

I apologise for being useless, but I'm not feeling too hot this morning and I can't find who linked to me in this post.... so I shall make up for it at the weekend but I wanted to get the video up!

In the mean time if you would like this meme please feel free to take it and I shall add you to the list at the weekend!

Christmas Club - February!

This time last month you all thought I was mad. Well this time yesterday you thought I was mad, but this time last month I posted Christmas Club - January and in it detailed a few things that you could do in January to get ready for Christmas.

This month I am going to start getting a little more serious about putting money aside for Christmas. I have already said to Daddy that I want to put 10% of my wages to one side each month, not just for Christmas I hasten to add but for Birthdays and general rainy days!

Daddy and I saved a £1 a week last year with the Tesco Bonus club. Lots of Supermarkets run schemes like this where you save a certain amount and if the card is cashed in at a certain time you get a bonus. It can vary from Supermarket to Supermarket, but some of the deals are very good;

Wilkinsons will give you £1 for every £19 you spend,
Iceland is £1 for £29 and a further £1 if you carry on to £49 on the same card you get a further £1,
Morrisons gives £1 for £49 saved and a further £2 at the £98 mark but you have to cash in December to get this,
and Tesco gives £1 for £49 if cashed in during December.

Of course if the Supermarket goes bankrupt your money is lost and the rate of interest (between 2% and 5%) could be better in a Savings Account where your money would be safer but for us it works.

This year we are buying stamps at the rate of 2 or 3 a week. We don't notice this small amount each week, but when Christmas comes round we will hopefully have saved £150. Along with our Clubcard vouchers (yes we know if we cashed them in for deals we would double or even quadruple our vouchers) we won't have to pay for any food shopping in December including all our extras and we will probably buy several gifts too... ssh don't tell!

I have started to keep note of small items that I am buying in sales, that will end up in Top Ender and Baby Boys stockings... or mine and Daddy's. That way I shouldn't buy too much for the stockings to handle! There are a few sale items from Valentines Day in some stores that might make fun gifts or even make an ordinary evening in a little more special!
Now of course there are several celebrations next month that we are hoping to celebrate with a special meal and just in case you want to join in there is;

St Davids Day
St Patricks day
Greek Independence Day

to name just three. If you want a full list of everything going on in March then just look at this Wikipedia page of General observances! Just remember to make a note of what you get up to for the letter at the end of the year if you do one!

And don't forget that we will also have the start of British Summer Time (where we have to spend an hour putting all our clocks forward and so actually lose two hours, but do get lighter evenings) and there is the First Day of Spring to look forward to and Mothers Day!

I will also be planning some Easter break activities (such as an egg hunt and a treasure hunt and a break to Nanny B's and another sleepover for Top Ender at Granny's) so if you want to be prepared for the Easter Holidays and for Christmas then why not join in with me this month?

Wordless Wednesday - What I want again

This is a little reminder for me of what I want my Dining table to look like.

Not this.

Baby Boy Giggles - Anything of yours is mine!

It was Big Cousins third birthday so Top Ender, Baby Boy and I went to see her and Baby Cousin and to have a special tea together.

Big Cousin was most pleased about this and allowed Top Ender and Baby Boy to play with her new Peppa Pig House. The four of them had a great time, although I am not sure that Baby Boy and Baby Cousin understood much of what was going on, but they did appreciate being given tasks to do.

When it was time to go Baby Boy was first to get his coat on, despite normally being the last. Nobody thought it suspicious. It wasn't until we saw Baby Boy walking to the front door clutching the new Peppa Pig House that we realised just why he was so eager to go home!

Might have to get Top Enders Peppa Pig set out for Baby Boy to have a play with again!

Probably best if you come back tomorrow

There's nothing happening here today, so feel free to move along and not to read this. Everything that I want to say is coming out wrong and I would rather that it didn't. I am such a happy person to everyone that sees me, but really I am very dark on the inside. I beat myself up a lot over things that I probably couldn't control even if I tried, but even though the rational me knows this I can't stop it.

I worry that I am not the kind of parent that Top Ender and Baby Boy need. I want to hug them more, hold them close and take away all the problems that they could ever face but I can't do that. They won't let me. And I wouldn't take away all the problems. They need to make some mistakes to learn right?

I worry that I am not the kind of wife that Daddy deserves. I love him as much as I can, but he deserves better. And he at least deserves one that doesn't fall asleep half way through a conversation.

I worry that I am not the kind of daughter that my Mum deserves or the sister that my sister deserves. I should thank them more for being the Mum that I want and need and the sister that sends me rude jokes.

I worry about the future, I fret on the past. Just for a change on Wednesdays I fret about the future and worry about the past.

I worry that one day I will be alone. I worry that one day I won't be alone.

I worry that one day I will stop thinking any thoughts. I worry that I won't ever stop thinking.

With all this worry I am surprised I don't have more lines on my brow. Great now I am worried about lines on my brow.

I'm going to bed before I start worrying about something else.

A quick post

The weekend at my Nans went exactly as expected... apart from it didn't rain whilst we were at Cromer and because I was wearing make up she thought I had lost weight rather than her normal comment of have you put weight on?

She also seemed to totally understand what Twitter and Blogging was!

Mummy Giggles - The talent stops here

Whilst we were at lunch the other day Baby Boy decided to throw his cup off the highchair. Daddy lunged across the table for it, but my lightening reflexes caught the cup between my thigh and the high chair.

"Wow that was good!" remarked Daddy
"I have magic thighs!" I replied

Unfortunately along with my stomach that is where the magic seems to stop and gather.

Top Ender Giggles - Look at that!

Top Ender was sitting in the front of the car whilst we were driving home. We were all chatting together about various things when Top Ender suddenly shouted out

"Look at that!" and started pointing to the sky, just above the rear view mirror.

Wondering what was happening both Daddy and I bent to look out the window and it was lucky that we were at a junction or Daddy might of crashed the car.

"That is the biggest rain drop I have ever seen!" Top Ender explained "Well apart from that one just above it.."

Top Ender Giggles - Thats my girl!

As it is half term Top Ender has been allowed to stay up late to watch films and spend time with us before going to bed. Tonight she and Daddy were watching The Golden Compass whilst I worked.

At one point Daddy was a little lost with what was going on and asked

"What is in the bag?"
"Well Daddy if you weren't busy playing on your phone you wouldn't of missed it would you!"

Wordless Wednesday - Lent has started...

The most disgusting thing I have ever done...

I read a post earlier this week on Notes from Lapland asking for stories as entries to a competition with the theme What's The Most Revolting Thing You've Ever Done?

I couldn't think of a single thing. I mean sure there was a dodgy meal in France when I was ten or eleven that I think was horse casserole and there was the film Van Wilder: Party Liaison with that scene with the dog and the eclairs and left me never wanting to eat popcorn in a cinema again. If you don't know what scene I mean then here is a link to it on YouTube. Just do me a favour and don't eat for an hour before or after watching the clip okay?

Anyway today I did something that really and truthfully is the most revolting thing ever. I don't care about giant roasted ants, slugs in the sink or even eating whole snails, this is all of those and some.

This is not the post about finding Baby Boy with smeared poop from his nappy everywhere, and then finding it in his mouth too and thinking its true what Little Boys are made of.

This is not the post about Little Cousin who was sick in my mouth, or the time that Auntie found the dog eating the contents of Little Cousins nappy.

This is the post where I tell you about how a dog came to put its tongue in my mouth...

Yeah. This is that post.

Bella the dog is a cute little thing. Well for a dog anyway. She gets excited whenever there are visitors in the house and will jump up to give them a little Doggy lick or two. She had done that and was being told to get down when she decided to just go in for one more lick of my cheek.

As I opened my mouth to tell her to "Get Down!" she jumped up and well lets just say our tongues touched...

A sort of sneak preview.

I haven't blogged today. I normally blog the night before but I didn't have a chance with Top Ender going to stay with Granny and Daddy and I spending time with Baby Boy and each other.

I didn't want to not post, because then I would feel that I had let the side down, so here is a photo for you all to enjoy that will feature in a blog post this week...

Oh and in this photo I was eight months pregnant.

Daddy Giggles - Isn't that a Pip!

Whilst watching In The Night Garden with Baby Boy this evening Daddy was pondering.

"Is there someone in that?" he asked gesturing at Makka Pakka.
"Well yes..." I answered baffled at his confusion
"Yes, but is it an Adult?" he furthered
"Well I doubt it's a child" I replied wondering what the signs for dementia were and with only a touch of sarcasm
"Or a Midget" he suggested definitively (but quite quietly)
"Midgets are counted as Adults" I answered slowly (for my benefit more than his)

Makka Pakka Originally uploaded by TechStyle

Baby Boy Giggles - In the Middle of the Night

It has become the arrangement that if Baby Boy wakes up earlier than Daddy or I want to get up (After 5am but before 6am) he can come into our bed and have his morning milk whilst we all doze together. The other morning it happened and we all dozed off together after a few minutes.

Top Ender came into our room just after 7am to announce she was awake, but after a quick cuddle with me decided to go downstairs to listen to her ipod without her brother hassling her for a listen. Daddy decided that he would go downstairs to use the toilet and to just check that Top Ender was okay a few minutes later and as he left the room Baby Boy rolled away from me into the space that Daddy had just left.

He opened one eye and looked towards the door and Daddy

"Ssh!" he hissed at his Daddy's retreating back.

A few minutes later Daddy reappeared and gently edged into the bed. Baby Boy rolled over to me and cuddling in to me whispered whilst snuggling into me.

"Ssh Dad-Dad!"

I'm so proud ;)

I can't wait to be a Grandparent.

Then I can buy Easter eggs for a January birthday. I can complain loudly that I don't see my Grandchildren enough. I can spoil the Grandkids rotten. I can tell my children that they were just the same at that age. Or I could take round huge tigers for the Grandchildren to play with.

Of course the giant Tiger will breed if it is allowed to roam freely. The grandparents forgot to mention that when they brought it round.

That Baby Tiger Cub there looks a little tamer than the other two though doesn't it?

And because its Friday and Friday means a video of me here is one I prepared earlier. I'm not quite sure how I got involved in a Twitter Dance off... but I think that my team won.

 

Daddy Giggles - Mars ain't the kind of place to raise your kids

Baby Boy had insisted that Daddy sit down on the child sized bench at the toy piano and play for him. Baby Boy had then picked up some spoons in order to play the air drums as Daddy launched into singing Rocket Man in his best Elton John impression to date (he also does a pretty good Barry from the Bee Gees impression, a very good Yellow Wiggle and once a very good impression of Otis the Aardvark. His impression of Hagrid isn't that good however!).

Top Ender was sitting on the sofa and suddenly jumped up and rushed to the bathroom squealing as she went;

"I have a little bit of sick in my mouth!"
"I didn't think I was that bad!" sassed Daddy




Top Ender was completely unharmed in the making of this Blog Post and the subtitle is a line from Rocket Man!

Wordless Wednesday - Top Ender seduced by Valentines Day cakes

(Top Ender was seduced by the plastic glittery bling on the top of the cakes. She also thought they tasted good too!)

Fireman Sam saved my life... well sort of.

I never knew that watching Kids TV Programmes would be so beneficial. I mean I knew that my kids learnt from them, but I didn't realise other than the five minutes of peace that it gives me that *I* would learn from them.

It all started last week when Baby Boy and I decided to give the new Fireman Sam a try. We had seen a fire engine earlier that morning and spent the rest of the morning nee nawing around the living room. Anyway the episode was about how air feeds fires and the annoying kid Norman somehow managed to learn this at the Fireman training session.

Fast forward to Sunday and the idea that instead of any other form of potatoes we have deep fried chips with our oven baked Salmon and vegetables. Daddy, Baby Boy and Top Ender were all in the living room whilst I was serving up in the Kitchen. It was just time for the first lot of chips to be taken from the fryer and as I lifted the basket out my eye was caught by a pretty orange colour under the oil.

At first I thought that it must of been a chip that had been lost through the holes in the basket, when I suddenly realised that chips in bubbling oil don't turn bright orange. At this moment time slowed down. I remember calling out "Chip Pan Fire" in a matter of fact manner and Daddy appearing at the Kitchen gate.

It was at this point that I remembered the Fireman Sam episode so I knocked the lid of the chip fryer shut as I reached round to unplug it from the socket and wonder why the plastic dial at the front was glowing so orange. Surely if the oil was on fire then it would be contained in the metal pan?

The whole chip pan was on fire!

Having shut the lid however, there wasn't any air for the fire to feed on and it soon put itself out. A look this morning shows that the bottom of the metal liner has a small hole, which was the start of the fire I think. We really were lucky to have not had any damage to the kitchen, (or me!) and I think that it was all thanks to Fireman Sam and the annoying kid Neville.

And just because I haven't been able to stop singing this since Sunday here is a YouTube video of the old Fireman Sam theme tune (you know where he seems like a pyromaniac as "He's always on the scene!")

Top Ender Giggles - Ultimate in bad service

Going past this sign (yes I did make Daddy drive that way the next day so I could take a photo!) Top Ender was practising her reading skills and stated that the new McDonalds in the area wasn't very good.

"Whys that Top Ender?" we asked

"They only serve two meals every 24 hours" explained Top Ender

The Yummy Mummy with No Tummy Challenge - Week Twenty-Five

Last week in the comments I was challenged by Michelle at Mummy from the Heart to drink a glass of water before every meal. I did this and I found that it helped a lot... not with not eating as much, but with my headaches! I am normally really good with drinking water and drink several glasses a day, but nothing near as much as I use to drink when I worked in an office. This week I found that I was drinking more at the level I use to drink at and my headaches were gone! I have modified my routine again so that I am now drinking three bottles of water during the day and a further bottle in an evening.

I would just like to add that yes, I do drink more than the UK government recommendation of 1.2litres of water a day but this isn't something I would recommend to people unless they check with their Doctor like I did!

Weight wise this week I haven't put anything on and I haven't lost anything. Staying the same weight is annoying, but I would rather that than having put on a lb or two.

This week I am going to carry on drinking a glass of water before each meal, continue eating healthy snacks AND try to fit in an extra thirty minute walk everyday.

A Mothers Ramblings take on the Shiny Happy People Meme!

I have been tagged in the Shiny Happy People Meme by New Mummy over at New Mummy Tips and I was actually very pleased that I got this one as I had been waiting for it!

So this is the Shiny Happy People Meme and the rules are;

1. Name a song that makes you happy - a song you would listen to if you needed a sudden injection of happiness. And
2. Post an image that makes you smile. It can be anything - a silly photo, an image taken from the Internet, It just has to make you smile.

So here is my song. Yup Ghostbusters. I stick by my choice!!!!

And here is my image. Okay so there are two here, but I couldn't decide!

These were the first two pictures that were taken of me Top Ender and Baby Boy. I just love how in the first picture I am looking at the camera and Top Ender is looking lovingly at Baby Boy and in the second photo Top Ender is looking at the camera and I am looking lovingly at Top Ender and Baby Boy.

And now I tag;

Bare Naked Mummy

Kathryn at Crystal Jigsaw

How big is yours?

Yes yes yes. I know I said no more food. But really this is a skill that I am sure you will want to see.

A Mothers Ramblings take on 99 Things!

I stole this from American Mom in England its just for fun. Here's a list of 99 things. Bold the ones you have done and post on your blog!

1. Started your own blog (Your reading it!)
2. Slept under the stars (Camping counts right?)
3. Played in a band (I was lead Vocals)
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower (Twice!)
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland (Paris counts right?!)
8. Climbed a mountain (Snowden twice and two others in the Alps but technically it was by cable car.)

9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo (See number 3. And lots more times too)
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris (With the Lovely Daddy)
13. Watched a lightening storm (My favourite thing to do!)
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch (Knitting and I am sure I did something else)
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning (Re-cooked Rice Valentines Day 2008)
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty (In 1995)
18. Grown your own vegetables (Potatoes and Tomatoes which are technically a fruit but...)

19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France (Its bigger than they say)
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight (With girls and a camera...)
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill (Sssh)
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb (a real live one, not one that's frozen!)
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice (Well a Vaporetto and Traghetto which is the same thing IMHO!)

29. Seen a total eclipse (Yes to the Sun and the Moon!)
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset (And had to sneak back in the house because of one!)
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors (A small village in Scotland)
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language (Italian, but I need to improve)

37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied (Always satisfied with my wonderful life)
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing (On the Telly and everything!)
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke (And won at least twice)
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant (It was so sweet!)
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight (Lots and lots and lots of times)
46. Been transported in an ambulance (After this!)

47. Had your portrait painted (Very well although I don't have it now as it was a GCSE piece)
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris (Technically)
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater (Last year!)

55. Been in a movie (Do home movies count?)
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business (Working for myself counts right?)
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason (A very nice man brought them for me)
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check (Ssssh)
68. Flown in a helicopter (Yay!)

69. Saved a favorite childhood toy (Bambi and my Sindy House!)
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial (Although he didn't talk to me)
71. Eaten Caviar (It was alright, nothing special)
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square (But no photo)
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job (Hurumph)
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London

77. Broken a bone (Does crushed count?)
78. Been a passenger on a motorcycle (Do Mopeds count?)
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper (Lots and lots of times!)
85. Kissed a stranger at midnight on New Year’s Eve
86. Visited the White House (Yes and got lost)
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox (Yes)
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous (Who do you want to know about?)
92. Joined a book club (You can join here)
93. Got a tattoo (Temporary ones from Bubble Gum counts right?)
94. Had a baby (Last time I checked I had two can you guess which is which?)

95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit (After the image in #46)
98. Owned a cell phone (I still do)
99. Been stung by a bee
 
And I've done 58 of them which is more than half!  Oh and there are some really cool stories (well I think cool) behind some of them so look out for them in future blog posts!)

Wordless Wednesday - Window patterns by Mr J.Frost

Top Ender Giggles - At least it wasn't in Tescos

I need to have a word with Mrs Wise Owl.

Top Ender was playing with Daisy and Daniel (her rabbits) and had just put them to bed.

She then announced that they had been having sex and they had filmed it on their mobile phones for them.

A quick discussion about what sex actually was (in broad terms) and she told Daddy and I that it was okay because her Rabbits look the same naked and so it was just like having sex with a mirror.

It was at this point Daddy nearly wet himself laughing and had to duck out of sight.

As I was saying I think I might need to have a word with Mrs Wise Owl.

Recycling and A Mothers Ramblings Week Five

Having been doing this for a month now, I can see where we have made huge improvements and where we need to improve still. We have doubled the amount of recycling that we have each week and have educated ourselves on just how much can be recycled (Cadbury Creme egg wrappers for example!) and how easy it is. In fact we even looked back at a trip to Wales where we went to the Centre for Alternative Technology (where I took the photo below) and discovered about recycling across the world and what we could be doing at home to reduce our carbon footprint!

Daddy even admitted that my idea in Week Two of bringing the recycling bin in from the garden could be adapted so that we use our main bin in the kitchen as a recycling bin and buy a second smaller bin for other waste as we now have more recycling than we do general rubbish.

We are really lucky in this area as we have some great recycling facilities and the weekly pickup includes recyclable materials. I know that I generalised before but it really is a good system that allows a lot to be recycled without any effort;

There are pink sacks which we can put the following in;

Paper
Cardboard
Envelopes
Aerosol cans
Aluminium and steel food and drinks cans
Plastic bottles
Plastic food packaging
Aluminium foil and packaging
Tetrapak and waxed cardboard cartons

There are Green Bins which we can put the following in;

Food waste including:
All Meat, Poultry and Fish, cooked and uncooked
All Dairy Products
All Fruit and Vegetables
Bread and Pastries
Tea Bags, loose tea and coffee grounds
Paper and card packaging soiled with food
Garden waste including the following:
Grass Cuttings
Branches - under 15 cm or 6 inches in diameter
Plants and Weeds and Leaves
Bark, Straw and Hay

There are blue boxes which we can put the following in;

Glass jars without lids
Glass bottles

The one thing that I seem to have a never ending supply of is Clothes Hangers, but I have discovered that my council don't accept these. A little search on this later and I found out that Tesco (of all places!) have a national campaign to recycle them and you may see a bin in your local store... I'm going to have to check in the three stores local to me to see if they have one!

But the big thing for us is that we have realised that we have now been using canvas bags every week for our weekly shopping for two years! And so in celebration of this here is the wonderful (and handsome and mine if he ever decides that he will give away his wife because someone has proved religion or psychic abilities to him) Tim Minchin singing Canvas Bags;

And I know that I have a couple of Australian Readers and so as the lovely Mr Minchin is technically yours (being Australian and all, but he lives over here) and is on tour this month in Australia go and buy a ticket to watch him perform!