For selling fab stuff !!!

With this nasty wet weather and four people's worth of washing to do including a set of cloth nappies, I have been struggling to dry washing on the outside line. The couple of old maidens I have are literally falling to pieces and can't cope with the amount and weight of washing we now do. I have both maidens permanently full and I still have a growing washing mountain in my kitchen.

Enter Ikea and the Antonius clothes dryer.


It is massive, taller than me tall with bags of hanging space. I have been washing all evening and have hung up just under three loads already on the airer and it will definately take the next one currently in the washing machine. It is 'just under' three loads as I am hanging the very heavy jeans and pants on a seperate maiden, as I don't think the new airer would take very heavy stuff. It also folds up very neatly, remaining the same height but becoming very narrow and fairly easy to carry. Eventually it will be located under the spare bed when not in use in that room, but it is currently up in our dining room, whilst I play catch up with the laundry.

If I have beams in the right place, I hope to get this Antonius ceiling dryer for heavy jeans, bath towels etc, to hang upstairs over the landing.


I am confident that the washing mountain will soon be flattened, onward and upward towards the island of ironing

My mobile phone and I parted company several weeks ago now.

I did try ringing it and I heard the ringtone from the living room but as I can't hear directions I couldn't find it. By the time Deckchair got home the mobile (which only had a low charge at the time of being lost) had stopped ringing and was going straight to the answerphone. Despite looking everywhere for weeks it was nowhere to be found. I assumed our bright active toddler Babychair had something to do with the disappearance and I was hopeing the phone would turn up again, like a set of house keys had done some months before.

At first I wasn't bothered, to be honest it was a bit of a relief. Mobiles can be a hassle, remembering to keep them charged, carrying them around all the time and feeling obliged to answer them when they ring. I much prefer email, when you can answer in your own time.

But as days turned into weeks, I started missing the damm thing. I started finding myself saying, I'll just ring Deckchair, my mum, check the opening times for the children's music group and of course no mobile meant I would have to wait until I got back home.

On top of finally missing my mobile, there was the concern from my parents and husband at being out in the world with two young children and no way of calling for help, if say my dodgy car broke down when I was away from home, so I decided it was time to do something about it.

I rang our mobile company Virgin Mobile (Virgin Mobile Website) and spoke to a lovely lady in their customer service department. She was polite, friendly and ever so helpful, because I had an account with them for a few years and as I was willing to have a 'new to me' rather than a brand new phone and didn't need (nor want) the latest model, she found me a wonderful deal. So I end up with a 'new to me' pink mobile and my orginal number back for just over £12 !!! What a bargain. Plus she reordered a new sim card with my original mobile number on it, free of charge !!!

So Virgin Mobile is on my very short list of companies with an excellent customer service department.

Roll on the end of the week and my new(ish) phone arrival and I'll be contactable whilst out and about again

Deckchair disappeared into the kitchen, I thought to make a cup of tea but he returned with a cup of tea AND a lovely 'bitsa' breakfast for me, him and DD.

His fab 'Bitsa' meals are bits of different food which don't necessarily normally go together on one plate but always taste lovely.

This one has nice crackers, cucumber, lovely smoked cheese, grapes, strawberries and branston pickle.

Mmmm, Just what I need after a broken nights sleep due to newborn and a cold.

Thanks to my wonderful parents

My parents have been tidying up the garden with my limited (6.5 month pregnant) help and they have done a fantastic job. We have decided to move the cat poo hut (outside shelter with litter trays) to the bottom of the garden next to the biodiesel shed and fence off that section.

My father with my mothers help, has built 2/3 of the fence structure out of the spare wood we had hanging around and will be back next week to do some more (bless him)

I am planning on repainting the fence and wooden outside furniture with help from DH and/or parents and in the next month or so replace the patched cat fence netting with a stronger net but that might have to wait for a couple of paydays yet.

Hopefully once the above stuff have been done, we can actually relax a bit in the garden rather than keep running after Babychair who is trying to play/eat/spill unsuitable things and the cats get a third of the garden to themselves.

Long term planes include eventually moving the cat poo hut to around the back of the biodiesel shed and I hope to build some kind of cat friendly scratching post, sunbathing platform thing next to the shed. Maybe have a couple of raised beds for a few flowers/herbs. But we have plenty of stuff to do in the meantime

I have started a new hobby making chain maille jewelery.

These I made with pre-cut jump rings
Twist Chain
Japanese Chain
Copper Rosettee Chain

These two I made out of wire. I wrapped and cut my own jump rings before I started.

Byzantine copper bracelet with Amber coloured beads
Half finished silver plated Byzantine bracelet, maybe with beads to be added later

I am trying to save up so I can buy some posh wire, either sterling silver or gold filled. Though it is very enjoyable making these chains, it is also very fiddly and time consuming

....Brother in law to be

My sister's partner proposed on one knee (aww how romantic) and she has accepted.

My sister says we have to plan loads of shopping trips to plan the wedding for next year...I can't wait

Welcome to the family BIL, your are such a wonderful man for taking my sister off our hands

Starting Weight
Date January 2005
Weight 260 lbs (18 Stone 8lbs)
Dress Size 28/30
BMI 44%
Virtual Model

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Current Weight
Date August 2007
Weight 200 lbs (14 Stone 4 lbs)
Dress Size 18
BMI 34%
Virtual Model

-------------------------------------
Target Weight
Date Whenever, thought at some point in 2007 would be nice
Weight 180 lbs (12 stone 12 lbs)
Dress Size Unsure maybe 14/16
BMI 30%
Virtual Model

-------------------------------------
Ideal Weight
Date Never, LOL
Weight 164 (11 Stone 10lbs) down to 144 lbs (10 stone 4 lbs)
Dress Size No idea and will never find out
BMI 28% down to 25%
Virtual Model

-------------------------------------
Get your own virtual model from My Virtual Model Website

Nope, I haven't gone UP to an Size 18, I have gone proudly DOWN to one

I can not remember the last time I was in a teen dress size rather than the twenties !!!

But my size 20 jeans had got so loose that I no longer had to unbutton them to get out of them, so I went down to Tesco and spent £5 on a size 18 and I have spent all day wandering around, thinking these are a size 18 !!!

I'm going to try and get a photo of me in my size 18 jeans this weekend and put it here....
ADD_PICTURE_HERE

In 2005 I was heading to 19 stone and a 28/30 dress size....I think this is one of my biggest pictures.


I started a health kick in February 2005, eating less of my nice food and a lot of gym visits and lost a fair bit before my wedding in November 05. I dropped three dress sizes so I was a 24/26 for my wedding day


Straight after the wedding I got pregnant with the beautiful Babychair, no idea on dress size or weight at this time I was enjoying being pregnant.


December 2006 I started getting very sick with painful attacks. Turned out I had Gall Bladder problems, two emergency hospital admissions, many hours throwing up and a totally fat free diet, meant my weight plummeted...not recommended in any shape or form.

I am following a moderately low fat diet, as my body no longer has the ability to deal with fats the way it use to.
Now in August 07 I am hovering around the 14 stone mark and a size 18. Here is a picture of me at my sister and mothers birthday party in Leeds.


I really need to lose another stone or two but I can't see that happening as my weight loss has stopped despite a much better diet and more regular exercise.

Food wise, I now eat dry bran cereal with raisions for breakfast, fruit for daytime snacks, salad, wholemeal pitta bread and turkey ham salad for lunch and an OK tea (not very low in fat but a reasonable sized portion with lots of veg) My downfalls is eating in the evening, occassional takeaway and drinking wine at weekends

Exercise wise, we are going to the swimming baths weekly as a family so both DH & I get a chance to have a proper swim. I aim to start Salacise class again from Monday assuming my scar stops hurting and a couple of times a week I play for an hour on my dance mat (often whilst having a drink at the weekend) Not sure if the dance mat is classed as proper exercise but it takes a lot of energy and I get sweaty and out of breath so I assume it is good for me, not that it really matters as I play it for fun not for exercise.

So I hope to stay at this weight and I aim to improve my evening meals and reduce evening snacking and keep up the excercise. To be honest if I can just keep constant at Size 18 and get a bit healthier, then I will be very happy indeed

I have been interested in the concept of Soap Nuts for ages and today I finally caved in and bought myself some and Lavender Essential Oil to try, from the In a Soap Nut Shell website

Basic idea is shove a few Soap Nuts in a sack, into the washing machine and a few drops of essential oil in the conditioner drawer (optional) and you can clean your washing with no expensive chemicals.

Apparantly the only disadvantage is that over time the whites might need a boost as the Soap Nuts don't have any bleach in them and the reverse is also true, colours stay bright and don't fade either, which is good.

If I find I need my whites to be whiter, I'll buy Ecover bleach which is a natural non-chlorine bleach to use occassionally with the Soap Nuts.

I can't wait for them to arrive, lets hope they actually work !!!

Want a online free IQ test try here


My results....
Your IQ score is 131 !

You have a strong ability to process visual-spatial and mathematical information and this, combined with your logical mind, means you are a Visual Mathematician. You can manipulate multiple parts of the picture (or problem) to come up with a solution and can understand the "big picture," which is partly why people may turn to you for direction.

Like Einstein, your ability to detect patterns and your skills in maths and logic, make it natural for you to come up with ideas and theories that simplify processes for everyone.

.....and DH got 136.

Just back from our local Asda, where I queued up at midnight for a copy of Harry Potter Book 7 for a fiver

The last words in the book are "All was well" and it has 607 pages.

Right off to read it

EDIT: Finished reading at 7pm

Really enjoyed reading this book, shame I had to rush it to avoid hearing the ending from another source, which would of been upsetting as I have been eagerly awaiting this last book in the series.

Without spoiling the book, I like to say I love the many battle scenes, was amazed with the many deaths and laughed at a fair few lines.I am sad that the books have finished but happy that I have another 'faithful' set of books to add to my other fantasy and sci fi books which I read and re-read.

Right, back to reading "All the Weyrs" by Anne McCaffery which I was half way though before I bought Harry Potter

Do you FLY ? Do you have a shiny sink ?

If you have no idea what I am talking about visit the FLY Lady website.

The FLY Lady introduces people, with clutter messy homes, to a way of breaking their homes into zones and how to work in an organized way to clean and declutter each zone in turn until your home is clean and tidy. The actual FLY Lady site is a bit americian and chipper in attitude, if you know what I mean but the principles of FLYing are sound and do work.

Here is my English understanding of the FLY system :-

: Do some house work everyday and build up regular routines which work for you and your home.

: Don't beat yourself up about not doing everything right or right away.

: Accept that a messy cluttered house took years to get that way and will not be cleared up over night.

: Understand that a small mess left will gather more mess,like leaving mail on a table (hotspots)

: Realize that you can't organize clutter, it can only be sorted (chuck or find a home for)

: Chuck out all the things you don't need and/or love.

: The real key to a clean house is to clean as you go and stay on top of it

I love the FLY system it really helps me to be motivated and now when I looked around our home which use to be full to the brim with clutter I can see the difference that I have made to the house and that makes me happy. I still have a long way to go until my house is totally clean and clutter free but that is alright as things are improving all the time.

Big thank you to the FLY Lady for her wonderful website and to Kelly for her daily missions which I don't always do [blush] and to the FLY Yahoo group which sends the FLY emails in the UK time zone.

DH took me to A&E last Thursday 15th March, I have been in hospital every since and today I got discharged.

The staff were lovely but I missed Babychair terribly, even though I know my mum did a wonderful job looking after her.

I have to go back for a gall bladder operation but not for a few weeks yet.

Wish me luck that everything goes smoothly.

If Ms Ford is reading this, please note the only things I have of value are my wedding band and baby, neither are worth suing me over. Thought to be frank I might give you the baby if you ask nicely, she is teething at the moment and I need sleep.

I have held off bloging on this issue hoping that Gina Ford would realize even though she has the money to ensure she can win any legal action taken against those who lack the money to defend themselves, that she will lose far more in credibility and book sales though the bad publicity of this case.

Even those who had never heard of Ms Ford previously, read about this legal action and wonder why this lady is incapable of accepting any criticism from normal parents and what is the reasoning behind her selfish wish to close a free to access and popular parenting site (i.e. Mumsnet), which is a lifeline for many struggling parents. An action which is hardly likely to increase her popularity even with her own supporters.

I will never understand why our UK court system allows such lob sided court cases to go to court, in this case we have two WAHM with newborns pitted against an international printed author. Sadly the story started here and continuing here, is far from over and the legal case is poised to continue if this latest newspaper article is anything to go by. Following on from the above links here is my opinion

Gina Ford helps the mums who buy a copy of her parenting book(s) or can afford £40 a year to subscribe to her private parenting forum. Mumsnet helps all mums with access to the internet at home or via work or local library for no charge 24 hours a day, regardless of parenting methods including (until recently) the Gina Ford method.

Last year if you were to search under the name of any well known child care guru parenting advisor on the Mumsnet forum, both posts for and against that person’s methods would be listed with members on both side of the fence battling out the same tired old arguments about why their ‘side’ is better.

In fact ironically one of the most well known quotes from this legal case was from a highly entertaining Mumsnet member who was pointing out how silly these discussions got by posting in reply to a question about what Gina Ford did.....

She straps babies to rockets and fires them into south Lebanon

It was a joke not a serious allegation, which anyone with half a brain can see and when the quote was read in context was even funnier than read as a single quote.

Sadly since this legal action began no mention of Gina Ford or her methods are allowed on the Mumsnet forum. That is a shame both for her supporters and to those future parents who might have become supporters though the site and I say this as an AP parent who would never follow a Gina Ford routine.

Ms Ford's parenting methods would never work for me or my child but I believe in free speech for all parents not just the parents who agree with me. I hope that one day, all topics of conversation will once again be debated on Mumsnet, without the fear that legal action will be taken against the owners of Mumsnet.

I wonder why Ms Ford is the only person to take offense at being discussed on Mumsnet ? I find this interesting as all the other parenting guru's are happy to have their ideas and methods discussed both in a positive and negative light on Mumsnet. They understand that parents have the right to free speech and are allowed to hold an opinion which opposes their ideas, all except Ms Ford.

Surely taking a small website to court, is not the behavior of a confident person in the right but more of a selfish woman who wants everything to go her way and has a pocket book to ensure in the most part that it does ?

It is a shame that Gina Ford's response to the opinions and problems of the parents she wants to help, is to try silence these parents by closing the Mumsnet forum and hence remove access to a free online parenting resource. There is a word for those who give others critism/advice, yet can’t accept any in return…does anyone know it? Well, I know one person who is blissfully unaware.

Lets hope common sense prevails and this pointless court case is thrown out of court but with the current UK legal system I won't be holding my breath.

To my wonderful husband

From your loving wife

XXX

PS. We have declared Valentine's day to be on Saturday this year, as payday is tomorrow.

This way the cards are cheaper and we are going out on a date whilst my mum babysits Babychair