December 5th 2015 - Flooding

We  decided to take the boys to the local farm even though it was cold and wet. 

Along the way some of the roads were starting to flood in places, but were still passable if you went through slowly.  We got to the farm and the road into it had big puddles and the world and his wife also had the idea of the going to the farm in the rain as it would be quiet!

Well the boys went to see santa and the reindeers and played in the soft play area and the rain didnt stop.  We had dinner and let them play some more but at 1:30pm we decided that we would leave as the rain had still not stopped and we didnt want to get stranded due to the flooding.  So we left early and got half way back when we hit stand still traffic and cars stuck in deep flood water so we had to turn round and find another route.

We could not get any internet signal so we were unable to get the satnav to work to help us find a way so hubby pulled into a petrol station and asked for directions.  The way we were advised to go did get us home eventually.  We followed a milk tanker for many miles and this was pushing the water out so we could follow easier.  Then we met a fire engine that was on its way to pump out, when we got home it was actually on road we had passed.

We had to stop about 20miles from home as we had a catching sound on the wheel.  So we pulled up and hubby had a loo and it was the"mud guard bit" in the wheel arch that had come off.  He couldn't fix it so rang the rac.  They came out and cut the plastic off so we could get home.

Due to the flooding the usual 1hr trip home took us over 3hrs.

We are actually really lucky that our house is up hill and very unlikely to flood.  Some people in the local areas are not as lucky and parts of the area are under 3ft+ of muddy, dirty water.  And there is more to come.

May 23rd 2015 - DIY watering can

May 23rd 2015 - DIY Watering can

Now that lil mans has properly established and is all growing well  he needs a watering can, rather than connecting the hose up.  So I have made him one from a pop bottle and my drill, similar to this one on pinterest. It also means that he can water his veg rather than me doing it.

Here's the lid:

May 17th 2015 - Plastic tub boat

May 17th 2015 - Plastic tub boat

Lil man has a plastic box outside (bigger than A4  and about 10cm deep) that he keeps all of his sand pit toys in, but it has no lid!  This means that the rain can get in it, this isn't a big problem as the sand pit toys are all plastic.

It has rained a fair bit over the past few days so there is loads of water in it.  Lil man has decided today to remove all the sand pit toys so that he has a boating lake for his toy boats (bath ones) and those for his toy soldiers. 

He had 1 toy soldier in each boat as thats all he could fit in.  I saw 1 of my small plastic tupperware tubs (margerine tub size) near the sand pit (no idea what its doing in the garden but never mind!)  So I got it and put it in the water, lil man was impressed it floats!  So I told him to put his soldiers in it and he said "but it will sink Mummy".  I told him to try it.  He puts 1 in and was happy it still floated, so I told him to put another in.  Again he was happy it still floated.

Anyway he turns round and says " I bet it would sink if I put 10 soldiers in it".  So I told him to try.  He ran indoors and fetched more soldiers and started putting them in the tub.  All I hear is "Mummy, it still floats with 10 soldiers in it, i'm going to add more" as he runs past me and upstairs.  He comes down with even more soldiers and goes back to his tub of water.

I go outside and see what he's up to and he now has 15 soldiers in the tub and it still floats!  The tub is full and he can't get anymore soldiers in it as they are pilled on top of each other.  He says "I know how to  make it sink......" and proceeds to fill the "boat" with water to make it sink. lol!

What he didn't realise was that his innocent playing was actually learning and numbers and science of floatation.  Play to learning and all through a tub of water,some boats and soldiers. All was good until he decided to see if his shoe would float and he took it off and put in the water - it didnt float and he now has a wet shoe!  BOYS will be BOYS!!!

March 26th 2015 - Re-painting the hallway & stairs

March 26th 2015 - Re-painting the hallway & stairs

Thanks to my lovely kids and their dirty hands up and down the stair walls I need to re-paint them, as where I tried to clean the walls with wet wipes it has removed the paint as well!  GGggggrrrrr!!!!

So we have bought kitchen and bathroom paint that can be washed/is waterproof, so that I *should* be able to remove dirty marks off it.  We have gone for almost the same colour - Water, similar to the pale in the middle.  Once its dry I will take a pic of the painted wall still got all the top to do but as my knee isn't too good today i'm not over doing it.  I will try and get it painted over the Easter holidays.

 

Pic shows the old and new colours, although makes the carpet look grey it is actually a deep green with the pale duck egg type colour spots.  They go really well together.  As I posted above, I need to do the top of the walls and the rest of the stair walls.

January 15th 2015 - cleaning the microwave

January 15th 2015 - cleaning the microwave

Today I was after a simple pin to do as in lots of pain with my knee again.  Now you might think that the task of cleaning the microwave isn't easy, well I thought the same until I came across this pin that has 31 hacks for cleaning.  I was abit skeptical as to whether it would work or not but thought I would give it a try.

It says "Get it out with a bowl of 1 cup of water and 1 tablespoon of vinegar. Microwave for five minutes, then wipe down with a paper towel or sponge."  Yea right like thats going to work!!!  

This is what the inside was like before I added the mix, not the worst it has been but could certainly do with a clean - 

Well I added my cup of water and vinegar to a bowl and put on the microwave on high power for 5mins as it said.  I got a scouring pad and started to wipe the water that had formed on all sides and it didn't look much different.  I took the glass plate out and wiped that with kitchen towel and then a tea towel to dry it, placed it back in and took another photo and  as you can see below there is a big difference.

So a 5minute clean up and the microwave is clean.

1week in......

......on the slimfast diet and I have lost 3lbs so far. :D

The first 3days were absolute hell, I was constantly hungry and craving everything that I would normally eat - cakes, chocolate, crisps etc.  But I was good and stuck to what i'm allowed and drank loads of water. 

I found out that almonds are low calorie and allowed as a snack upto 100grams, but instead of having them all in 1 go I have picked at them when I have felt abit hungry.  It seems to be working ok.  The only thing I have had to do is add in an extra snack as I was feeling very cold and light headed on the  1200cals a day that they suggest.  It was after a google search that I found that this could be far too low for my body and to add an extra snack.

I'm pretty sure i'm peeing for England and that this is a big factor in loosing the weight as I am going up and down stairs alot!

I've also started doing more workouts on the wii and have found some that I can do with my bad knee and they dont hurt it too much.

Fingers crossed it keeps working for me.