The little birds...

If you watch little birds you will see they are busy and happy! Using whatever they can find they create the most gorgeous little nest.
I would be the little bird with some glittery thread in her nest!
We can be like this. Happily working away with the things that are available to us to create a beautiful and happy home.
All the while with a little song in our heart.

Banner by Free Pretty Things for You.

Thursday 26 April 2018

Feather your Nest Friday, 27th April, 2018.

We have had beautiful sunny days and cool nights.  I love it like this!
This week was a mixture of little ways to get things done,  get ahead and save.

All week I have been working through lemons from Hilde's.  As I use a lemon I then put what is left into the dishwasher to go through with the next load.   The dishes come out so well and the whole dishwasher is sparkling.


Over the weekend I have big plans for them.  I am making lemon cheesecake and making my first bach of Limoncello which I have been wanting to try for years.  I figure this would make good gifts.

I made a big batch of Mimi's Sticky Balsamic Vinegar.   This is something we use all the time.  A simple drizzle of this over a salad,  pizza,  things like figs.... makes everything so beautiful.   It is sold here in tiny bottles for about $5.   I used Mimi's recipe and it's is wonderful and now for the life of me I cannot find the link.  We will get it posted in comments.   I used a big jar of my own Plum Jam in the mix  to add flavour and make it thick.   Well it is beautiful and I got so much! 
I actually ordered tiny 100ml squeeze bottles for this so I can give some as gifts.  So I have mine in decanters and a big jar of it waiting for my bottles to arrive.


Allie helped Andy to clean our gutters on the shed and the house.  This is a big job and now done before any major rain.   For her work I am making Allie a tray of Lasagna.   This is one of the trades I do with her... sometimes it is Banana Cake.  We are doing a lot more trades lately.  She told me she would much prefer Lasagna than cash! 

Last week I had my Flybuy points arrive and I turned them into a $50 Coles voucher.  I always aim to at least double my money by buying great specials or make downs.  This is a burst of extra things for my pantry.  This time I did the best ever! 
On facebook I saw that Coles was having a clearance of shampoo and conditioner.   The thing is if you follow catalogues the clearance items are never in them.... nor the mark downs.  Most times I look at catalogues thinking I would not pay that!  The good stuff is never advertised.  Thanks to Facebook groups I heard about this one.

I turned my $50 voucher into $141.95!   


I bought brands I use and like.... this was an example this Dove Conditioner was normally $6.90 and out for $1.72.

I ended up with so much! It took ages to select!


I have supplies for just ages and this was all free thanks to saving my points.  Now when at the check out I notice most people don't even bother dos ave their points!  I cannot understand it! 
I essential got paid $150 for half an hours work here.

I cut Andy's hair.

Yesterday I had a lovely time.  I took Harper to the train station to watch trains.  That kid loves trains. She nearly screams the house down when another train is coming through the tunnel lol
So we sat there eating cake, feeding birds and watching trains.   There is so much free stuff to do with little kids.  We go to the play ground.  If there is a construction site we watch the tractors.  Men digging holes is highly impressive.  Kids love this kind of stuff!  

How was your week?  How did you save or get ahead?  What did you do to build up your home?

Today is our wedding anniversary and we are going out to dinner!  Tomorrow is Andy's birthday and I am making a chocolate cake and a special meal with his favourite... steak. 
Mum is here in Adelaide and loving seeing the girls again!  

Have a wonderful weekend! xxx



62 comments:

  1. Happy Anniversary for today for you and Andy and Happy Birthday for tomorrow for Andy.
    Our big news for this week is we welcomed our second Grandchild into the world. Miss Madison is doing very well and big sister Tilly absolutely adores her. Mum and Dad a tired, but both are well.
    We too have been having sunny warm days and deliciously cool nights. I have been getting loads done in the garden and have been harvesting a little more everyday. Our evening meals have vegetables that have mostly come from the garden. The tomatoes are starting, so soon we will be having more than lettuce and herb salads.
    Bluey has gone into Lazy Susan production up in the shed. He has made one for Mum, one for Katie to give as a gift, and we have four more. It is good to see Bluey enthusiastic about a project once more.
    Life is good.

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    1. Congratulations on the birth of your second grandchild. How wonderful! I bet she is loved! Bluey's Lazy Susans' sound like wonderful gifts. Love, Bridge

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    2. Hello lovely Annabel and fellow Bluebirds, I think Allie is very smart to get paid in lasagnes. I would love that myself! I would love to try and make the Limoncello and the sticky balsamic vinegar. Those squeeze bottles sound great. Well done on the mammoth savings on the hair products. I bought some too in my favourite brand. It is unbelievable- I bought some expensive brand 'hairdresser' brand last year and then tried this supermarket brand, and my hair certainly prefers the supermarket one...I got bottles for $2, compared to $20 or so..I love the sound of that outing with Harper. I think that Henry would love it too. We had roadwork going on near our house and normally I'd hate the noise etc, but Henry just loved it, so off we went and took our biscuits and had afternoon tea whilst watching the machines...I've been on a mission to find free things to do with young children this week. The library puts on amazing things, this week they had a session in a nature playground, with a story and then activities set up in the park all for free, then today the community health centre put on free music classes...so good. Happy anniversary Annabel and Andy! Have a magnificent time together. It is so nice to celebrate together. Lots of love,Bridge

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    3. congratulations Jane and Bluey on the safe arrival of your beautiful granddaughter.
      Grandchildren are the best.
      Love Lorraine

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    4. Congratulations on your new granddaughter, Jane. I can only imagine what creative things you'll be doing for two little girls. Glad to hear Bluey is doing well. Blessings, Cookie

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    5. Welcome to the world, Madison! Congratulations on your new family member. <3

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    6. Thank you ladies for all your good wishes.

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    7. Dear Jane, What a fantastic week. Congratulations. I love having two little girls. It is so beautiful.
      This is good about Bluey and I love the things he makes! And your garden produce is amazing. I love seeing what comes out of that garden! (and what you do with it) Have a great new week. I hope the baby and everyone is doing well. With lots of love, Annabel.xxx

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  2. Happy Anniversary, Annabel and Andy.
    Happy Birthday to Andy.
    Love and hugs,
    Glenda

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  3. Hello Annabel and Bluebirds!

    Happy Anniversary to you and Andy, Annabel and Happy Birthday to Andy! I hope he has a wonderful day!

    Jane Allan-congratulations on your Granddaughter. So good to hear that Bluey is doing so well, too.

    Here in my neck of the woods, it is starting to feel like Spring, finally! I'm hoping to do some gardening and yard work next week.

    I have been decluttering, organizing, and just doing general "spring cleaning". I've gotten rid of bags and bags of trash and items I no longer want or need. It is very refreshing!

    My birthday was this past week. I have a specific diet, so I made cupcakes for our dessert using ingredients I already had on hand. If I had bought them (I only made a small batch...9 cakes), it would have been over $20.

    I found a few things to send to a Bluebird while I was decluttering. I've boxed them up and hope to send them out this weekend.

    Have a wonderful week!

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    1. Dear Jenn, Thank you!
      Happy belated birthday to you! Well done on all the decluttering and organising. I find one thing leads to another when we get started. It feels good! Some lucky Bluebird will be thrilled! Have a lovely new week! With love Annabel.xxx

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  4. Happy Birthday Andy! Happy Wedding anniversary love birds!

    Congratulations Jane and Bluey on a new grand daughter to love and spoil, very exciting for you all.

    Annabel there is nobody like you for finding a bargain. You won't need to buy shampoo etc for a while.

    I have got Mimi's balsamic and limoncello recipes tucked away but have not made them yet.

    I got a lovely feeling thinking of you and Harper waiting waiting for the train to come out of the tunnel. My entire family love trains. Any sort of train really. They still feature in our lives in a big way.

    I have lots of baby/kid flannelette and this morning I made up a great selection of child hanky size pieces. Not sure whether to roll edge them on the overlocker or clip around the edges with my pinking shears but I've decided they are grandma's special hankies for when grandkids are sick. I would possibly have thrown these out if it were not for you. So thanks for the inspiration.
    Have a great weekend and enjoy your dinner out.
    Fi xx

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    1. Dear Fiona, Thanks so much! We had a great weekend!
      The patterns the baby flannelette come in now are just gorgeous. I love the softness of it. I saw some with little foxes and woodland animals etc and it is adorable.
      The pinking shear edging are perfect! Good idea!
      These hankies are a really good gift to send to someone sick. The ones I dont hem we treat as optionally disposable... but usually they all get washed up as no one wants to part with them!
      Have a great new week! With much love Annabel.xxx

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  5. Happy Anniversary to you both!
    I was interested to read that you learn about supermarket bargains via FB groups...any particular ones you use?

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    1. Dear Maria, I am in a lot, this one was Our Aussie Stockpiling Community. I have been tipped off to other deals through then too. I also am in Mums who organise, Mums who cook and bake, Mums who clean, Kmart hacks and Decor... lol I have a long list. I make it I only see on FB things that I like and are helpful to me. Its really good! I hope this helps! Love Annabel.xxx

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    2. Thank you Annabel; I will check them out!

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  6. Annabel, I loved the story about taking Harper to see the trains. Happy Anniversary and a Happy Birthday to Andy. It was our 40th anniversary a few weeks ago. You are going to have a busy weekend using up all those lemons. The lemons on our tree are still green as are the oranges. They will be ready in good time I imagine. Enjoy your weekend.

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    1. Thanks Nanna Chel! Congratulations on your 40Th wedding anniversary!
      I have been working on the lemons! I love them. Lucky there are a lot of uses. You have a lovely weekend too. Andy's bday today so Im cooking a special dinner! xxx

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  7. Dear Annabel happy anniversary for today to both of you and happy birthday to Andy for tomorrow. What a super deal on the shampoos and conditioners you got heaps and your sticky balsamic vinegar looks lovely and plentiful now too :).

    Our Vicky challenge added up to $131.52 in savings this week.

    Here is how we saved and feathered our nest last week -

    Finances -
    - Listed 10 handmade items and saved seeds taking advantage of a free listing promotion on eBay saving $16.50 on usual listing costs.
    - Downloaded $14.29 from the sale of saved seeds from our gardens to top up the pantry budget.
    - Saved more money into our home deposit savings account bringing us to 24.81% of the way there.
    - By turning off our electric hot water system and only turning it on twice a week we saved $20 this quarter on our electricity bill.

    Purchases -
    - Finally found new white shirts on clearance for DH in his size 3XL for $3.50 each and purchased all there was being six saving $39 on usual prices. He will have enough church and going out shirts now for a few years.
    - Whilst out of town at a church function we took our 3 empty jerry cans with us to fill up at our favourite wholesale petrol station. We filled them up saving .14c per litre on E10 fuel and .09c per litre on unleaded saving in total $11.25 on usual prices in our small country town. This made our trip down there free and we packed our own lunch and drinks and stopped at a nice park on the way back.

    In the kitchen -
    - Cooked all meals and bread from scratch.
    - Made 5 more bags of apple pie filling from apples purchased on special saving $6.77 over purchasing it in tins.

    In the gardens -
    - Harvested 6 cobs of sweet corn and 4.5 bunches of silver beet from the gardens saving $22.95 over purchasing them.
    - Separated dried lavender from the gardens making another 26g for our use and some to sell on the internet saving $4.40 over purchasing it and harvested some more to hang and dry in the home too.
    - Planted a 6mt row of broccoli, a 2.4mt row of cauliflower and a 6mt row of snow pea seeds in the vegetable gardens.
    - From saved seeds in the vegetable gardens we planted a 12mt row of broad beans and a 6mt row of early Massey pea seeds saving $10.85 over purchasing the seeds.
    - Thinned out, separated and transplanted lots of silver beet and beetroot seedlings from our nursery bed to beside the drippers in the gardens.
    - Finished digging up, trimming and transplanting the rest of the canna and native lilies and elephant ears into the new nursery garden beds.
    - DH widened the paths between the garden beds in the back paddocks by shovelling excess dirt. Now just to put dried leaves and grass clippings in them to stop the weeds growing.

    Have a wonderfully frugal week ahead everyone :).

    Sewingcreations15.

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    1. Dear Sewingcreations, Sorry I am slow this week! We had an anniversary dinner then Andys birthday and time just flew. But it was all very nice. I am getting much better at saving seeds because of you. I saw I had more meds of parsley with dry seeds the other day and went out and snipped them off. I have many packets now. Seeds are a good gift that can be mailed too.
      The white shirts sound beautiful what a deal. I love white shirts!
      I love to hear your garden activity! The corn sounds beautiful too. I am looking forward to seeing your garden as I want lay out ideas and whether to do raised beds or not... Thinking about that. I think so as a the farm there are always rabbits...
      Have a great new week! With much love Annabel.xxx


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  8. Dear Annabel, Great work on the hair care haul! 😉 My daughter likes that orange one so I told her to get in and see if any left on clearance. Hope Andy has a lovely time on his birthday and "Happy Anniversary" to you both. love, Kaye xoxoxo

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    1. Dear Kaye, I was so pleased... you always inspire me with how far you stretch your flybuys. I was really lucky with this one!
      We had a lovely anniversary and now its Andys bthday. I am cheating on the cake... Have a good weekend! With love and thanks Annabel.xxx

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  9. Happy Anniversary! I'm so impressed with your deal on Shampoo and now you are stocked up for such a long time! I love that Harper loves trains. I can just hear her delight now. Have a great day!

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    1. Dear Vickie, Thank you! It sounds like you had a good week too (from AWP classroom I know!) so have a good weekend! With love Annabel.xxx

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  10. hello
    Happy Anniversary I hope your enjoyed your day. We are going thru a sad time with sickness at present. Mums not well, her brother is in hospice and my nephew is having tests to find out if his illness is treatable. Hasn't been a fun time and saving money at present isn't possible. I received a 10$ store voucher from a manufacturer and I bought coffee bags, coffee satchets some herbal tea bags and a tin of beetroot for the pay cut emergency fund. It will be tight but I know I will manage when July 1st hits and having an extra emergency pantry will sure help. Hoping to stay home next week and get some more sorting done. Leanne

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    1. Dear Leanne, I am sorry your family is having such a hard time right now. I hope your Mum improves and I hope your nephews illness is treatable.
      It is a very sad time when someone is in a hospice. I hope and pray for good care there. At times like this it is just about staying afloat so dont try to do extra just get through now. I will pray. With love Annabel.xxx

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  11. Happy anniversary to you both, and happy birthday to Andy for tomorrow, xxx Cath

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  12. What great savings!!! Happy Anniversary to you both.

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  13. Hi Annabel, happy anniversary to you both and happy birthday to Andy. Hope you both hade had lovely days.
    We are still recovering from having our garden open in the Open Gardens held by the Garden Club on Sunday 15th April.
    We had well over 250 visitors during the day.
    It was lovely looking at our garden through other peoples eyes.
    this gave us a whole new outlook on our garden. All the comments and feedback were lovely.
    The photographer from the local paper took a lot of photos and a lot of them were in the paper last Tuesday. Very uplifting.
    Love Lorraine xx

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    1. I would just love to see your garden... feel free to share photos! :) I adore gardens... well done that would have been a lot of work!xxx

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  14. Dear Annabel,
    Happy Anniversary to you both and a very Happy Birthday to Andy.
    What a marvelously productive week you've had.

    We're still in the throes of spring cleaning but are almost done. The weather here is still warm one day and icy cold two days later so nothing is in the veggie garden yet. We did take some time out to go to the church rummage sale and I found a brand new swing, still in the original box, for our new grandson, for $2. I've seen them in the stores for over $40.
    Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend. Blessings, Cookie

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    1. Thank you Cookie! A swing is a lovely thing to have! This will get a lot of use! My Nan and Pa had a swings in the yard. I LOVED it. Every Christmas "Father Christmas" painted it freshly often either gold or silver. This was so exciting! :) Memories...
      Have a good weekend to you too! With love Annabel.xxx

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  15. Dear Annabel, I have just spent the last hour having a lovely read through your last 4 posts and all the comments. I have really missed them as my computer has bee at the computer doctors for over a week, for some therapy opps for a service, so I am busy catching up
    Cheers Lorraine xxx

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    1. Dear Lorraine, I am at the point I hate being without the computer! I am glad you have yours back and thank you for commenting and catching up!
      Have a lovely weekend! With lots of love, Annabel.xxx

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  16. Hi Annabel and everyone,

    Happy anniversary (and Andy - happy birthday)! Wow, you did great with your voucher, that is amazing. The Dove body and haircare products are so nice.

    This week's efforts:

    Cooking and food: All work lunches and snacks were brought from home. ($150 savings on lunches, I would say $40 on healthy snacks.) I made a pork roast and potatoes for planned leftovers, an apple pie for a treat, and shopped from our pantry. Since it is nearing storm season, I replenished my work stash of "emergency dinner food"; noodle packets and canned fruits. The entire lower level of my work is a storm shelter, and we also have a large parking garage, so my husband and I usually stay late a few times a year if the forecast predicts we would be driving through the storm during the evening commute.

    Household: I found a frame that I liked for a finished x-stitch piece, but it needed a little modification to fit the piece. My husband took it out to his workbench, modified and sanded it, and it fits perfectly, just what I wanted! The frame cost $9. I just had a custom frame built for another piece that is strangely shaped (with a 70% off coupon, it was still $72 for frame, conservation glass, and foamboard), so he saved us over $60 by being handy! He also moved some artwork around and rehung it for me.

    All of the bed linens and towels were washed, and we had a couple of sunny days so that I could open windows and get some fresh air - very important since we had a rainy damp weekend.

    My husband called our internet provider and got a better monthly rate, saving us $20/month going forward ($240 for the year).

    My in-laws are visiting us this weekend, so my furniture got a good polishing with lemon oil. We gave the car a good deep-cleaning inside and wash and polish outside. My husband trimmed and edged the lawn (almost everyone in our neighborhood uses a lawn service - I do not understand it at all!)

    Entertainment: We've been really enjoying sharing a cup of tea and reading our books together, and still love birdwatching! We had our first cardinal pair of the year this week. They are one of my favorite types of birds, I hope they come back to our yard. Also lots of magpies, doves, starlings, chickadees, and sparrows.

    Personal care/education: I filled a prescription with a generic instead of name-brand medication; it cost $5 instead of $20.

    I watched a free tutorial and learned how to park threads with cross-stitch, and also read a free guide to using waste canvas to embroider on different fabrics. I would really like to embroider some stock collars/ties for my horse show clothes (custom collars and shirts are terribly expensive!).

    Crafts/gifts:
    I bought a package of blank notecards (60, with pretty ocean themes) for $5 (on sale, combined with a coupon).

    Several weeks ago, as a gift to my in-laws, we bought university theatre tickets with my employee discount, saving $30.

    I packaged up some gently pre-loved books and tea for a friend who will appreciate them. Another friend received a cute card from my stash and handmade earrings. ($20 savings, maybe?)

    As I found time, I put some stitches into a cross-stitch WIP, and worked on a bulky-weight shawl.

    I hope everyone has a great weekend!
    Kathy

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    1. Dear Kathy, Thank you! I really like Dove products too so I am happy!
      The pork roast sounds beautiful and well done on building up emergency dinners.
      I think your house would smell heavenly with the lemon oil!
      I love birdwatching and would love to see a Cardinal! As I get the hang of my camera I really would like to show you some of my favourites here like Blue Wrens. I just love them! I could watch them all day!
      You have done well! I love how your husband altered that frame too. How helpful! Enjoy your weekend! With lots of love Annabel.xxx

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  17. Annabel,
    Happy Anniversary to You and Andy and a Very Happy Birthday to Andy!! Prayers both days turn out to be very special memories.

    I traveled this week with husband. No thrift stores were open, a very funny town where most places didn't open till Wednesday, we drove to the next town that morning and didn't have the time to stay and investigate. I asked husband if next year we can be there on a Wednesday.
    I was able to add to my Pantry though by going to 2 different Amish stores in 2 different towns during our trip.
    Their prices on herbs and spices are much more reasonable than grocery stores. We restocked:
    Tarragon, Toasted Onion Bits, Marjoram, Star Anise, Whole Cloves, Crystalized Ginger, Chicken Flavor base, Citric Acid, Mixed pickling spices.
    7 Grain Mix, Vital Wheat Gluten, Semolina Flour, Pearled barley, New Hope Buckwheat Pancake Mix, Chia Tea Mix, Nut & Sweet Snack, Low Sugar Mango Slices, Roasted Pumpkin Seeds, Ring Bologna, 2 paring knives that I can only find at Amish Stores.
    I felt so blessed. Now to repack everything into jars for longer storage time.
    I will be home for a week so my goal is to have a no spend week where I concentrate on Spring cleaning and purging.
    Love,
    Rosanne
    xxx

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    1. Dear Rosanne, I am glad you had safe travels! I would LOVE to see an Amish store. I have heard a lot about the good deals on spices etc. They were all wonderful things to stock up on.
      Enjoy your time home now. It is always a time of catching up when you've been away. Have a lovely weekend! With much love Annabel.xxx

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  18. Happy Anniversary to you both!

    Happy Birthday to Andy!

    Love the look of the Balsamic Vinegar. Looking forward to the recipe.
    Limoncello sounds wonderful.

    Enjoy your weekend. Laurie

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  19. Happy Anniversary! Happy Birthday to Andy!

    I love the idea to put the lemons in the dishwasher. Ours just needs freshening so I will do that especially after we return from the lake. My Dad used to take the kids to see the passenger train come through Winter Park, FL because it stops at a pretty little park there. One night they saw Micheal Jackson come off the train as there was a little New Orleans style hotel there that he used to stay at from time to time.

    We had a week of needing to maintain and replace some items but is was all money that was budgeted for so it was there and we were able to do what needed doing. I had to renew my drivers license, new wipers were bought for the car through a really great deal on Amazon, a new timer was needed for the hose for watering and we bought new chairs to keep in the car. We use our chairs all year long for various activities and places. Last summer our 15 year old chairs were repaired many times and it was time to replace them. We get so much use out of them and enjoy so many outdoor concerts and picnics and such that they are well worth their cost. We got better and more comfortable ones this time since our aging backs need better support. They will come before we leave for the lake next week so we will be all set to enjoy them while we are gone. We also bought new coco liners for hanging baskets and window boxes. Now all we need is warm weather so that we can plant them. We have had a lot of rain so we should have really good peaches this year. I am all ready to can them so that I have them all winter.

    Enjoy your dinner out and your Mum!

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    1. Dear Lana,
      That is so amazing with the train and seeing Michael Jackson. How exciting!
      You had a busy week. I think maintenance is sort of endless with a house and around the house! But better to keep up with it! I do hope you get a great peach crop! I love peaches! Enjoy a wonderful weekend! With love Annabel.xxx

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  20. Happy anniversary!! I am sure Harper loved the train watching! I once took my 2 year old son on a "date" to ride the bus all over town. We just rode it on the whole loop right back to our starting point and he was in heaven. I remember another day when I was babysitting and had two little toddler boys with me. We lived in an apartment at the time and there was a crew removing trees right outside our window and putting them through a wood chipper. Those little boys stood in front of the window, completely mesmerized, all morning!
    I have discovered another free activity to do with my preschooler. We've signed up with a local organization that delivers meals to home-bound seniors at lunchtime. So once a week we spend two hours driving around town making quick visits to about 10 homes. The seniors LOVE visits from my little daughter, and it gives us a pleasant way to spend some time together. I don't put my kids in preschool so I am saving hundreds of dollars a month; it just takes a little planning and creativity to fill our days in productive and educational ways. Have a good weekend!

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    1. Dear Leigh, Children this age just love all of this things they are so excited! I watch out for interesting things to go look at. I love it!
      Older people would just love seeing the kids! How beautiful. There are so many things you can do that are educational and social. This is a very precious time. Thank you for sharing what you are doing I wholeheartedly approve! With much love Annabel.xxx

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  21. Happy Anniversary and Happy Birthday to Andy! Nancy

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    1. Thanks so much Nancy! We had a wonderful weekend! xxx

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  22. Happy Anniversary, you two love bluebirds!

    *hugs*
    from Manila this week

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    1. Hello Kelley in Manilla! I need to put a tracking device on you! :) Safe travels! xxx

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  23. Happy Anniversary to you both for yesterday

    Happy Birthday to Andy for today. Have a wonderful day

    Love Aly
    xxx

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    1. Thanks so much Aly! I hope you are well settled in your new home.xxx

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  24. That is a great idea to put the extra of the lemon in the dishwasher. I'm going to have to give it a try. Great job on the sales. You really made the money work for you. I never understand why people don't use coupons or do points if it costs them nothing. I guess we should be glad. If everyone did then the stores would probably stop doing them. My frugal list is here: https://mcoia.blogspot.com/2018/04/my-frugal-list-week-of-april-15-2015.html

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    1. Dear Makingcentsofitall.... I think you are right! Stores make some amazing offers knowing that only a certain percentage of people can be bothered. They probably been know how many people that is... Also several people said to me they missed the clearance shampoo and conditioners although they were in there... and others who say they never get marked down meat etc. I just check each area every single time even if I was only there for milk I would check meat... etc. I am off now to see how you did this week! Thank you for sharing that! With love Annabel.xxx

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  25. I love visiting here when I have time. You have wondered ideas! I must say you definitely scored an impressive haul with all those lovely sundries. When you put your leftover Lemons in your dishwasher do you put them in anything or just on the rack? Happy Anniversary.

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    1. Thank you Lynn! I just sit the half lemons in the cutlery holder or the top rack. Once they have gone through a wash I throw them out. They just add cleaning power and freshness! Thank you, we had a lovely anniversary! xxx

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  26. Annabel,
    Happy Anniversary and Happy Birthday to Andy! The lemons are just beautiful! I have made Wendy's Limoncello and it is good Rick gave it out as gifts. And just think you can take shampoo out of your budget now! Fantastic! You almost tripled your money! It amazes me how people can overlook free money of any kind when it can help the budget and get us ahead? I see that a lot at Kmart and with coupons and Kohl's gift cards that come in the mail. As for us this week Rick took in a load of scrap and found a new place for parts that has already saved him several hundred dollars. He is quite proud of himself. I am still getting deals from Kmart and got the kids a badminton set and I got a couple of Christmas ornaments that don't look Christmassy that I can use for a project later. Plus I added bottled water, green tea, toilet paper, paper towels and a small bottle of apple cider vinegar to the pantry and a dozen half pint jars for canning. Also 2 wastebaskets. One is in the gift trunk. I added to the compost and have more orange peels steeping in vinegar. I was able to hang laundry out a few days and I got several samples in the mail and a Ralph Lauren tshirt with a 39.50 price tag. Small pieces if wood I picked up and wrapped in newspaper to use as kindling. It works really good when the wood is wet and cleans up the mess. We made the dog food for the week, oh and I found a few meat mark downs and had coupons too so got a few bargains. I got a free box of haircolor with a coupon and got back 2.50 on Ibotta for buying it so a money maker. Rick got a part and in the box was pretty yellow paper. I saved it to use for gifts. It was a good week!
    XOXO
    Vicky

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    1. Thank you Vicky! My Limoncello is already looking really yellow! You have done so well with your free things and deals. I know the present cupboard is looking very good! I love picking up kindling! Yes it dies up the place and lights the fire. Drier lint is great in kindling!
      Have a very good new week! With love Annabel.xxx

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  27. Thanks for sharing your deals. Happy Anniversary!

    Blessings,
    Leslie

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  28. Dear Annabel and Friends, well done to everyone! Annabel, I particularly enjoyed reading about your Flybuys voucher. That's an impressive haul! Happy Anniversary to you and Andy and Happy Birthday to Andy as well. What a lovely week. This week I made Ricotta, boiled eggs for egg spread and poached some chicken breasts to shred for sandwiches, baked for lunches, made some lotion bars for friends for Mothers Day, and had a huge card making session. I just found images on Google, and cut and pasted them into a Word document, adding an appropriate sentiment on the bottom of the page, ensuring that the image was upside down and the sentiment right way up, so that when I printed and folded it, it was all right way up, if that makes any sense. I then just folded them and tied the edges with strips of pastel chiffon, and they looked so pretty. A colour printer is necessary, but I made dozens and still have ink left, so I'm certain it's still a significant savings on buying cards. I also made costumes for my daughters old school as they still need someone to assist with sewing. Apparently nobody sews any more...or if they do, they're not owning up...lol! Overall it was an enjoyable and productive week so I'm happy. Have a lovely week everyone. Mimi xxx

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  29. Oh and here is the link to the sticky balsamic dressing. Thankyou for mentioning it Annabel....xxx
    http://atrayofbliss.blogspot.com.au/2015/10/very-special-diy-giftshome-made-sticky.html

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I really appreciate your comments thank you! The aim of my blog is the be a place of encouragement and happiness. Very rarely is anyone rude. Actually only twice so far! If you post a rude or aggressive comment I will read it but not publish it, thanks for understanding.xxx

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