Sheep skin

We have been given 2 sheep skins by my parents. I have washed them. One survived but second not so. I have been trying to repair the damaged one and make it in something usable.
I have stuck with "cloud" design and just cut it. It will be hopefully nice rug for the nursery.
I think it looks lovely now. Also I have started our gallery wall. (and I have to really stop to making pictures in the evening! The light is no good.)

Nursery - decorative cloud

I have been "playing" with my sewing machine again. I am guilty as charged these days about it. I hope my husband Rob will not feel left out. I am usually camping in the dining room where all the mess can be contained. :-)

I thought that I will make our new nursery more colourful. There are lots of nice decorations on Pinterest and one caught my eye.
Cloud with colourful raindrops.

I have in the end made it in about 2 evenings.

Gone for swimming

Yes,
this morning I have actually got up and went for a swim.

I am paying the GYM I have to confess that I haven't been there for almost 4 months. That has to change! So swimming this morning before my work and then I have GYM appointment tomorrow morning for some safety. I hope I can manage some quick walking and cross trainer for a start. I have got really unfit.
So no any pictures of me today as swimming suit under office clothes is never a good look. :-)

Nursery continues

Slowly but surely we are doing up our nursery.
This is our progress. (sorry about dark photos - blame it on energy saving bulbs)

Sewing and sewing

Another little tick on "to do for baby" list done.
I have sewed a cot bed skirt. Just a simple 3 piece of white fabric covering the bottom half of the cot. It looks so neater now. What do you think?

E-bay and why I love it

I spent a lot of time on E-bay. Buying or selling I just love it. Where else will somebody pay you to take your "junk" away? :-)
We sold our 3 seater futon and it was picked up on Monday evening. The lovely buyer actually fit it in the VW golf! I would not believe it.
I see E-bay as big treasure box with a new stuff every minute!
With selling some high cost furniture there now maybe even the cost of the baby stuff will not be that bad.

There are some basic & safety rules when selling which is a good idea to follow.

Is your clothes ethical?

Yes, I know I have clothes from Primark. Not at all ethical, but I really like it. Their basics I mean. So soft, they actually last for ages (so no need to buy a lot) and of course the price. I like their basic t-shirts, tops and socks. I bought also some tops & socks from M&S, Tesco and H&M, but they do not last that long and they go "funny" after number of washings.
I wish the Primark was a little bit more "ethical" about their workforce, but did you look at your clothes lately? There is no any shop (on high) street selling clothes made in England or at least in Europe. The closest is "made in Turkey/ Romania". Even the more expensive shops have labels "made in China/ India/ Bangladesh.
So me being me, I see as being all ECO and ethical to not to buy "a lot of clothes" or buying clothes from charity shops & E-bay auction. Reusing & not having excess has to be the most World friendly. am I right? In the end I always get stuck between being ethical and being frugal.

Clothes & pregnancy & pictures without me

There is a lot of clothes shops and clothes are quite cheap here in England (compared to men clothes) so it was surprise for me that I couldn't find any maternity clothes! When I have found some (on Internet) they were twice a price of ordinary ones. For example basic top can cost about £6 - £8 (from cheaper shops) but add to it "maternity" (a few gatherings around a waist) and it is £16! Maternity is a magic word. Same as "wedding". It just means that the shops can charge more. Then on top of it, you have to buy it on line and pay the shipping.
I have just bought a few tops in bigger sizes from Primark and then bought proper maternity from E-bay (second hand, sometimes with labels still on - very ECO & frugal :-)|. Just a few items will do. All together I have spent £180 ( 2 jobs + clothes for home). The biggest purchase were the tailored trousers from H&M (new). So now I am literary living in 2 cheap black skirts from H&M and the black "expensive" trousers from H&M. I have bought proper maternity black trousers (second hand), but they are still a little bit big for me. :-)

It doesn't match!

Yep, that was when I was proudly showing our new nursery furniture!
Chair is a light wood, cot is white and our new/ second hand chest of drawers is a dark oak. Put it together with our solid Oak furniture in the rest of the house and it is not colour coordinated!

Chest of drawers & cot & bumper done!

This weekend we have picked up our new (second hand) chest of drawers for nursery. I have immediately started with sanding it down. I didn't want to have the very "orange" pine varnish on. Of course all done by hand. My husband helped me to take the handles off.

Also done this yellow chevron cot bumper.

Have it as on Pinterest or on budget?

That is always my dilemma. I start with "it will do" and I will use what we have (that 15 black frames in the attic could be redone in white for nursery) and then I see something on Pinterest or others blogs and instantly I want it all. Then slowly realised that that will blow any budget and I come back to re-do what I have.

Cats & pregnancy

It is really funny, but I am pretty sure that our cats have known that I am pregnant even before it showed on the "stick". :-) They both got more cuddly with me and as I realised they never leave me on my own at home. At least one is always in the room with me. Especially in the morning when I am getting dressed & putting makeup on. Sometimes even Meowgi (the boy) follows me to to bathroom at night and then back to the bedroom. :-)))

Mewogi's usual position.

Our new mortgage deal

We own our little house in Surrey for 2 years now. That means that our first mortgage deal is running out. I had a look at new deals with our bank to switch to and I was interested in their 4 years fix. We think that rates will go up so it makes sense to fix it for longer. I have popped into our local Halifax and spoke with manager. It looked like we were just above 60% Loan to Value (LTV). To get the best rate (which is below 60% LTV) I have paid £6000 into our mortgage (from our savings).

Source: Web

Baby cot update

I have almost forgot to put here update for our new (second hand) cot! I have bought the most ECO & baby friendly paint what I could find. It is from The Little Greene Company and it is just water based one with very low VOC. Bought it from Cane & Adam and it set us back about £23 per liter. :-(

 

Preparing for the winter

This weekend was another busy one. I have finally finished clearing our garden, cut the grass (hopefully the last cut) and covered the garden furniture. Also planted some bulbs for spring flowers.
Did the last of the coats on the baby cot. It is just drying now.

Called our local roofer so we can get the chimneys sorted out for the winter. Do you remember they were leaking! One is not 100% so I don't want to block stain our fire places again. :-)))

Another job was unfreezing our freezer. I am trying to do it when is not very hot or cold as in full Summer the frozen food will not last that long and when in cold the freezer will take longer to unfreeze.

Yep, we had there more "snow" than Surrey will get every winter!
Firstly, switch off the freezer. I do it in the morning so I can have all day to monitor the "ice" and to keep the food outside for minimum of time.