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Thursday 27 November 2014

Health Issues

Hello readers how are you all ? I have been very unwell with my stomach/liver problems. I have made several trips to the doctors over the past few weeks with the most horrific abdominal pain. I have been bed ridden for the last week or two and had to hand over the running of the house and children to Lee who thankfully had some holiday owing that needed to be used up. Today is the first day I have been up and about and feeling more like myself and my ocd kicked in getting the house just how I like it. There really wasn't that much to do as Lee had done an amazing job keeping things ticking over in my absence. I really am very lucky to have him. He didn't have to help like he did after all he doesn't live here and he is not the boys biological father yet he did and what an amazing job he did. If you are reading this my love I am very thankful to have you in my life. So what is the verdict ? Well as it stands I have been put on 4 new medications for my liver. That's on top of my usual MD medications. I'm surprised I don't rattle when I walk lol. I have also been referred to a gastroenterologist as an emergency who will hopefully be able to give me some proper answers as to what on earth is going on in there. It has been a week since the referral was made and I still have not heard anything so I am going to wait till Monday and call the doctors to find out what is happening. Until Monday it's very much a case of wait and see. Anyway better get off sausage hotpot for tea tonight with chocolate Swiss roll and custard for pud yum yum yum.


Much Love
Claire xx xx xx

Saturday 15 November 2014

Pain

Hello readers I'm still in pain here at Tilly Towers so the children in need plan has not gone ahead today either. I won't beat myself up to much as both boys made good donations at school and Brandon and I made a good donation whilst watching it on tv last night. Here is my little pudsey dressed for the occasion.


We got this pudsey onesie from a children's hospice charity shop for just under £5. 


This has been my set up for today. The kindle to read and watch films, my phones so brad could keep in contact on his day out, medications to try and take the edge off the pain, and my beautiful baby who never leaves my side when I am ill.


So what does one get up to when confined to her bed ? I have made 3 of these cute little pandora style charm bracelets to give as Xmas presents.


I finished my granddads scarf and have now moved on to my dad's. I have another 6 to make after this one.

I am thinking of having a stall at Bens school Xmas fete where I will sell my handmade scarves, teacup candles, and Pandora style bracelets. What do you think would be a fair price to ask for each of my products ? I'm a bit rubbish when it comes to pricing I'm often told I don't charge enough. I was thinking £5.99 for the scarves, £4.99 for the teacup candles, and £5.99 for the Pandora style bracelets. What do you think ?

Ok well I have managed to wobble down the stairs to watch a film with Lee whilst doing some more knitting so will bid you all goodnight.


Much Love
Claire xx xx xx

Money, Money, Money


Hello readers I've had an eventful few days here at Tilly Towers. On Monday I was able to make final payment on another one of my debts and make over payments on another two of my debts.
On Tuesday I had a very pleasant surprise when I checked my bank account and there had been a payment of £402 into my account. The company was unknown to me so I did some digging to check it had not been some sort of mistake. After googling the company I learned it was the legal department of a pay day loan company I had used in the past. After ringing the company it transpires that due to a recent court ruling against the payday company I was due some of the interest I had paid back and this is what the £402 pounds was.

NOTE if you are considering taking out a payday loan please reconsider it has taken me a long time and many payments to clear this debt. I realize it seems like a quick fix at the time but long term it can have a real negative effect on your finances. The interest they charge is astronomical and it is the main reason it has taken me so long to clear this debt.

Anyway that cleared up I was £402 better off than I thought I was :)
I treated myself, Lee, and Brandon to lunch out. I picked up a new winter coat for Ben reduced from £45 to £20. I also picked up a few Xmas presents to put away. We made a donation to children in need and the remaining money will be used as over payments towards debt.

On Wednesday we had home education group. Our current topic is animals and this week we were lucky enough to be given a talk on dog safety which both Brandon and I both found very interesting and asked lots of questions. We also did some animal collage pictures.


This is how we do home ed here at Tilly Towers lol. This is Lee working on the 6 times table with Brandon before getting ready for home ed group.


This is Brandons animal collage he did at home ed on Wednesday. The art easel was bought from Lee's cousin for just £5 and has a chalk board on one side and a white board with clips for doing painting on the other. It also has a little shelf in the middle for storing materials. I managed to pick up a set of dry marker pens, and some chalk with a board rubber for just £2 in poundland so just £7 for the entire set up and it will come in real handy for homeschool.


For the past few days my liver has been playing up again and last night and today I have barely been able to walk with the pain so I gave in and agreed to go to the doctors again. I saw a very nice female doctor who could see I was in a LOT of pain (I think the screaming from outside her door and the fact I almost collapsed with the pain kind of gave it away lol). She has given me two new medications for the pain and I have to go back on Tuesday for more blood tests. I then have to see my own gp on the 2nd December to get the results and be referred for the camera down the throat. The current belief is I may have stones in my liver something I've never heard of until today. Today was supposed to be a fun day with Brandon dressed as pudsey and making pudsey cakes to sell to raise money for children in need. The hope is that these tablets will bring enough relief that we can fulfil today's activities tomorrow instead. Anyway off to bed for some much needed sleep.

Much Love
Claire xx xx xx

Tuesday 11 November 2014

Remember

They shall not grow old as we that are left grow old
Age shall not weary them nor the years condem
At the going down of the Sun and in the morning
We will remember them



Much Love
Claire xx xx xx

Monday 10 November 2014

Weekend Happenings

Hello readers sorry I've not been about for a few days but lee had a few days off and then my blooming internet stopped working. We have been internet free for a few days and I thought it would be nice and give us a chance to spend some family time together. Blooming heck how wrong was I ? It's been a war zone constant arguments between the boys and all because they are "bored". I did a little happy dance this morning when I realized we were back online hopefully now they will be less "bored" and stop trying to kill each other lol.

Over the last few days I have managed to get some work done on a few unfinished projects. I finished another snoode style scarf, got some more of Brandons sock monkey done, and have started a Xmas scarf for my granddad. My candle making wax and wicks have arrived so I hope to get on with my teacup candles some time this week.

Here are some pictures of what we have been up to whilst we have been away.....



Brandon bought this teddy out of his homeschool earnings from a charity shop for £2 and has asked if you would all kindly make suggestions on what to name him. He has that many teddies I think he has run out of names lol.


The fun fair at the fireworks display on Friday evening.


They each had £3 which got them 2 rides each.


I bought a family ticket which let 2 adults and 2 children in for £12 and a single adult ticket for Lee for £4. Lee bought food for everyone from the bbq that was there.


It was a stunning display and well worth the price we paid which I felt was very reasonable.






On Friday night I had my God daughter for a girly sleep over. We made yummy cupcakes.


I gave her a manicure complete with flowery nail art.


Put her hair in mini plaits to sleep in.


This is the back. It took ages but was sooooo worth it in the morning.


How pretty did her hair turn out ?


And because he didn't want to feel left out Brandon had his nails done to lol.


All in all we had a very nice weekend :)
Much Love
Claire xx xx xx

Wednesday 5 November 2014

The Frugalista Hits The Shops

Hello readers how are we all today ? Good I hope I have a confession to make ..... I have had a bit of a shopping spree today or at least that's how it feels lol. Don't worry I've not spent hundreds of pounds or anything close but for what I got you would think I had spent a hell of a lot more than I have. Here is what we have been up to today.....




We had lunch out as a treat


Brandon had tea and toast £2.20


I had a mini breakfast (mini by gum I couldn't finish it all) and a can of Pepsi £4.30


We did some art rubbings on our way to the post office


We had to post the custom made scarf I had been working on


A trip to the park to play in the leaves


Now I know I'm biased but is he not the cutest


He loves the sounds they make under his wellies


Kicking piles of leaves is such fun


Woo Hoo look at me mum


We had a look in my favourite charity shop and got a few goodies in their sale. This awesome onesie for my awesome Ben was just 50p.


This lovely warm fleece 50p


Check out the brand


This lovely gillett for Brandon 50p


And a nice warm winter coat 50p. I also got a next t-shirt for Ben and a pair of school trousers again 50p each.


As I was to ill to take the boys trick or treating this year I promised them a little Halloween party this week to make up for it. All these items were reduced the cake toppers were 50p, the haribo cakes 25p, and the kiplings cakes 25p per pack.


I found this lovely crafting material for £1.99 a meter. The plan is to make notebook covers and give some pretty covered notebooks as Xmas gifts. The good quality notebook was £2 and one meter of fabric should do 2 notebooks so it will work out £3 a gift.


As part of Brandons art work and to tie in with Xmas Brandon wants to make some funky pens to give as Xmas gifts. We picked up some pens, feathers, pom poms, and I already had the goggly eyes so total spent £3.75 and will make 5 funky pen gifts so works out 75p a gift.


I got this lovely Teddy cross stitch set that I'm going to make for my God daughter as a Xmas gift. I'm going to add her name and frame it so she can hang it in her room. Cost £1 and I will pick up a frame from poundland.


So as you can see we have had a busy day but how much did we spend.....
Transport £0 we used our legs
Lunch £6.50 for the 2 of us
Clothes £3 charity shop sale
Park and art £0
Halloween supplies £1.25
Notebook making supplies £5.98
Funky pen materials £3.75
Teddy cross stitch £1

Total cost £21.48 Not bad for a major shopping splurge and lunch out for 2 hey ?


Lee is over for a few days tonight so there may or may not be a post tomorrow as I want to spend some quality time with him. On Friday we are all going to a fireworks display at Ben's school and we have invited my best friend and God daughter to come along with us. After the display my God daughter will be coming home with us for a girly night with her second mummy :)

Much Love
Claire xx xx xx

P.s thank you to the lovely Kate for sharing my post about my God daughter collecting the free McDonald's coffee cards to give out to the homeless which can be found here .....
you are very kind xxx





















Tuesday 4 November 2014

Fellow Bloggers I Need Your Help


Hello readers this is my beautiful God daughter whom I love as if she was my own. She came to me today to ask for my help. She is collecting the McDonald's free coffee cards to give out to the homeless so that they can have a hot drink in this horrible cold weather. I think this is a lovely selfless act by a wonderful little girl and I want to help her in any way I can. The way it works is every time you buy a coffee from McDonald's you get a stamp on the card when you have enough stamps you trade the card in for a coffee. Now I'm not asking you all to rush out to McDonald's and buy coffee that would be absurd. What I am asking is if you happen to buy coffee from McDonald's and have a fully stamped card if you would consider sending it to me for my God daughter to give to someone less fortunate than ourselves. For the cost of a second class stamp you can help this little girl to help others. I would also ask my fellow bloggers if they would mind sharing this post on their own blogs so that we can spread the word a little further and really help this little girl with her worthy cause. Thank you so much everyone for taking the time to read this post I really hope it helps her achieve her goal.


Much Love
Claire xx xx xx

When Its Cold Outside

Hello readers brrrrrr its cold here at Tilly Towers but we still have not given in and put the heating on yet. Instead we wrap up well with snuggly nightgowns and thick bed socks with slippers. The electric blankets are back on the beds and our extra duvets are at the ready should we need them. I have a policy in my house no heating on unless there is ice outside lol. If it is really really cold we close the curtains, shut the living room door, put the draught excluder down, and put the little electric fire on for an hour. An hour is all it takes to heat up our front room and providing the door is kept shut the heat lasts us the rest of the evening.

It was back to school today and as suspected Brandon did not take to well to the change. They have been on holiday for almost 2 weeks now and he had settled in to his get up late do as I please routine. The mummy waking you up at 8am and no tv or kindle till after school work is done routine was not greatly appreciated today lol. I anticipated this however and am easing him back into it slowly. I think by the end of the week he will be back in the swing of things. Tomorrow we are visiting with a friend of mine who is an extremely talented artist and photographer. She also has chickens, an albino iguana, and 3 Bengal cats. Kelly will be doing some art work with Brandon on his current topic of animals. He will also get to tend to the animals and collect eggs from the chickens for our lunch. In return I am giving her a newspaper that she needs as she is in the paper and her mum would like a copy and one of my knitted snoode scarfs to keep her nice and snug.

So my tips for when it's cold outside.....


Pop on some fluffy bed socks and slippers


Break out a board game


Grab yourself a homemade malteser cupcake


And enjoy a steaming cup of hot chocolate complete with cream and marshmallows


What do you do when it's cold outside to beat those winter blues ?

Much Love
Claire xx xx xx

Monday 3 November 2014

It's Good To Be Back

Hello all I'm back not just back but back with a vengeance lol. So what have we been up to here at Tilly Towers recently ? Well home school is going fab we are really enjoying it and Brandon is doing incredibly well. Our current topic is animals and we have enjoyed a trip to pets at home where Brandon was able to learn about and handle some of the animals. On Wednesday we are going to a friend of mine for the day who is an extremely talented artist and she is going to give Brandon an art lesson with animals being the subject matter. We are then going to collect eggs from her chickens for lunch and feed her albino iguana and maybe hold him if we are brave enough that is lol.


Not really had much in the way of yellow stickers recently but check out this bad boy that I got from asda last week.....


A Thorntons luxury chocolate and toffee layer cake. It was huge, delicious, did puddings for a week, but best of all was reduced from £20 to £2.90


Brandon turned 7 in October so we had a little party for him to celebrate.



I managed to pull off a little tea party catering for 10 children for just under £30. That was food, dessert, drink, prizes, party bags, and birthday cake.


This is the vanilla haribo birthday cake Brandon asked me to make for him.


I have spent some quality time with my lovely Mr.


I have been busy making snoode style scarfs as Xmas gifts. At £1.33 a scarf a bargain but a lovely handmade gift for someone.


My little mushroom acting as model lol.



I have just finished a custom order for a friends little girl. I hope she likes it.


                                        Mushroom modelling again.




So as you can see we have been keeping busy. It's good to be back :)

Much Love
Claire xx xx xx