Saturday, 15 June 2013

Project 365 9th June to 15th June

Well another busy week at the new house but I have to say it is looking very good and is all beginning to pull together nicely. This weekend task is to get lots of little bits and pieces up there, emptying out kitchen cupboards, taking clothes from wardrobes, ornaments and pictures, contents of bathroom cabinet etc etc so that when the removal men turn up on Tuesday will just be a matter of the removal company moving all the big stuff into place and us refilling them.

Sunday 9th June

There are strawberries on my plant in my hanging basket, lets hope I get to the before the birds do.

Monday

Made some rhubarb muffins, and very nice they were too, will put the recipe up one day.



Tuesday

Was sent vouchers to try out this, very nice it was too, review will follow.



Wednesday

Its amazing what you find lying around the top of kitchen cupboards when you wash more than 10 years of grime and stour off of them. This was awarded back in 2000  and I guess should have been handed back in for more names to be added to it. When we get a chance we will hand it back in to the bowling club though I doubt it will be any use to them.


Thursday

Bob came round to help, here he is enjoying the sun and taking a well earned rest. Note to daughter No1 - there are now spoons and forks on the cutlery draw. (I had bought pot noodles for lunch, then had 1 teaspoon between us to eat them...oops...lol)




Friday

The living room carpets are down and we have taken up a lot of the ornaments and put them in place. On top of the fireplace is a card from my lovely friend Samantha across the road, she also gave us a present each, I will share them with you next week. You can read more about the transformation here




Saturday

Ok you are getting to see the new house in all its glory, so today  I took a picture of our current  kitchen in the middle of hauling everything out to pack it/chuck it away.


TheBoyandMe's 365 Linky

My Flotex carpet from Forbo Flooring approved by Allergy UK

I was asked a few months ago by Allergy UK  if I would like to trial a Flotex carpet made by Forbo flooring, to see if it makes any difference to us.

What is Flotex?

Flotex is a unique hybrid product that brings you all the warmth associated with a carpet, while remaining as cleanable as a hard floor. 100% waterproof and hygenic, everyday splashes and spills can easily be cleaned up, leaving your Flotex looking like new.
Whether you are looking to introduce the natural beauty of wood and stone to your home, make a striking style statement or create a room to simply relax in, Flotex brings you the very best in design choice.
Flotex can also help contribute to a healthier environment within your home. Thanks to its unique construction, which helps to reduce the amount of allergens in the atmosphere, Flotex has been awarded the prestigious Allergy UK Seal of Approval, while its integral anti-microbial treatment Sanitized provides constant protection against a wide range of bacteria. In addition, a 20 year wear guarantee helps to ensure a long and happy product life.

As I was planning on moving there was no point in arranging it for the house I am in, so they agreed to fit it into my new house. So we looked on line at the full range of flooring they had and used their on-line form to send for samples to see which one we preferred. Must say they have one that is designed to look like laminate flooring and we did toss up between that and the one we finally chose.  We chose the cord toffee from the moods range

So this week Gerry Philbin from Victoria Road Carpets in Glasgow came out to fit it for me. Have to say I was very impressed by his professionalism as well as his helpfulness. He took off the cupboard doors for us as they would not open and shut over the carpet once it was fitted. Hoping a friend will lend me a planer to take the bottom off the doors so they can be refitted.


So first off Gerry fitted the sound proof layer, it is fitted to help out with noise that goes down through an upstairs floor.




Next off was a hardboard layer that the carpet is fixed too, goes down in sheets

until the whole floor is covered


Gerry then spread the adhesive that the carpet sticks to


The finished result, right into the cupboards


 Bob testing it out with his train set


Have to say the carpet feels fine, looks brilliant and has a nice tight pile. I will do a further update on this once we have had a chance to see how it behaves.

It also has a 20 year guarantee so should be around for the great grandchildren as well.

Friday, 14 June 2013

The living room has been transformed

Well it has been another hectic week, but really beginning to see the fruits of our labour, and that of the decorator and carpet fitters.

Not a lot to say so will just give you the story in pictures.

striped ready for decorating



the decorator is in

the stripes are up


the fireplace is done as well. 



no carpet just yet

the carpet and rug are down

we brought ornaments and lamps round. 


the first half of the  stairs ready for underlay and carpet




carpeted with the lamp in place. 

#KidsGrowWildChallenge

I received an email from Britmums that in conjunction with Moneysupermarket.com - Sign up for our #KidsGrowWild Challenge, and you get a free gardening starter kit for your child worth almost £25. Then get out in the garden, put it (and your kids!) to work and blog about your outdoor experience. 

So I asked Bob if this appealed to him and he said yes please. Back in April I bought him seeds, compost and seed trays to start his seeds off with. He enjoys growing food and so I thought this fitted nicely with what he is already doing. 

The agreement I had with Bob and his mummy was he wrote the post and mummy took the pictures. So the following blog post ( or log post as Bob calls it) is all Bobs own words as dictated to and typed up by mummy. We have not changed his grammar 

Playing with his sister and his swings

This is my garden.  My garden is awesome and really big and has lots of toys.  I like to play in my garden
with my Mummy and Fifi and my friends.  I like to fight the baddies away in my garden.  The best thing I like to do in my garden is growing things.  Growing things is lots of fun.  I like to grow some flowers, but not many, and I like to grow things that I can eat.  Last time, me and T growed potatoes and me and Mummy and Fifi had them for tea and they were the yummiest potatoes ever.










Some nice people knowed that I like to do garden stuff and grow things and they sended me a present for my garden.  My present had lots of things in it. 
My favourite thing in my present was my water can.  My Mummy letted me water all my plants with it.  I watered my peas and my beans and my lettuce and my apple tree and my flowers and I even watered some of my friends garden in the next door.










the sunflower seed





I gotted sunflower seeds in my present too and me and Mummy planted them.  Mummy says they might even
grow bigger than her but she’s silly.
I wored my new gloves but they made my fingers not want to get the seeds so I had to take them off.















watering and weeding my vegetables



I got a fork and a spoon too but Mummy says they not for when I eat my tea so I digged some bad plants out of where my potatoes and carrots are.  My potatoes are getting bigger but my carrots are just tiny still, Mummy says that the bits on top aren’t the good bits and the bits under the ground are the bits that need to grow big.
I had lots of fun with my present, it is awesome!  Mummy says we can plant the other seeds soon when she digged all the bad plants out of the other bit but it’s got lots of bad plants in it so it might take her a long time.










Footnote from Mummy:-
We were sent a children's gardening set from Moneysupermarket to play with.  It contained a watering can, pair of gardening gloves, fork and trowel, a selection of seeds, some plant labels, ideas of things to do to encourage kids into the garden, and a bag to keep it all in.
The bag is a good size, with plenty of space to hold everything, with 8 pockets round the outside to hold tools, seed packets, etc.  The fork, trowel and watering can are a nice size for small hands, sturdy enough to withstand a good amount of use, but not heavy.   The gloves are good quality, thick gloves, however they are a little big for Bob (who admittedly has very small hands) so he found them a bit unwieldy, especially when attempting to pick up the seeds whilst wearing them!
The ideas sheet had some really good ideas, for instance planting seeds in letter shapes so that the flowers will spell the child's name.

Bob has had lots of fun with this set so far, especially the watering can, which has been used daily, including Bob trying to fill the paddling pool with it!

This post is an entry for BritMums’ #KidsGrowWild Challenge in conjunction with Moneysupermarket.com

Thursday, 13 June 2013

Win a family ticket to 4 attractions at Blackpool Tower.

I have on offer a free family ticket (up to 2 adults and 2 children or 4 people) which gives access to 4 attractions in the Blackpool Tower:





The Tower Ballroom

The attractions are 


Jungle Jim’s (for kids)



Jungle Jim's


You can read here more about The Blackpool Tower here









Compulasry - To enter this competition please leave me a comment telling me what is the first attraction you would go on if you won the ticket. PLEASE leave a means of contacting you in the comment should you win. 

Optional entry - please tweet - 

Want to enter to win a family pass to attractions at Blackpool Tower with  and ? click here 

 and then come back and leave me a separate comment telling me you have tweeted and leave your twitter name. 

The competition tickets will be valid for 90 days after the competition closes. 

This competition closes at 8pm on Thursday 27th June 2013.
Open to UK residents only.
I will request details from the winner to pass onto the promoter who is responsible for sending out the prize.
Winner will be chosen my Random No org with the chosen winner being declared on here.




Competiton is on;
ThePrizeFinder - UK Competitions
Loquax

Vaginal Dryness a review and giveaway

One of the perfectly normal stages of the menopause for many women is vaginal dryness. Well it may be perfectly normal but it certainly is not fun. It is also one of the topics people tend to be embarrassed to talk about, the girls at work all complain about their night sweats etc, but why should this topic not be as readily discussed as any other?

I have suffered with it for a number of years now. I was not sure to start with what was happening. I first started noticing it badly at work.I thought it was maybe an allergy to the toilet paper at work, and so I started wearing a towel and just giving myself a shake rather than wiping. But this did not seem to make any difference. Then I started to notice it during the week as well, so that ruled out it being the paper at work.

 I work in a hot environment and am on my feet the whole shift, I can walk 12-14,000 steps in an average 6 hr shift.  The itch was really beginning to get to me, it was driving me daft both day and night. When you have an itch in an intimate place you really cannot walk round scratching, and anyway scratching did not help. Some of the itch seemed internal as well as external.

Using the internet and reading through various sites it appears I was inflicted with vaginal dryness. Putting a label on things can help, but to be sure I went and spoke to my GP. Really did not get much help I have to say, she decided that HRT was not right for me at that time and suggested lubrication.

Menopausal and post-menopausal vaginal dryness affects three million women in the UK. It is a problem driven by hormones – or rather, a lack of them.
During the menopause the production of oestrogen ceases, which results in a thinning of vaginal tissue and leads to varying degrees of discomfort and pain.
This can greatly affect quality of life, even making sitting, standing, exercising or urinating uncomfortable and can also cause pain during smears or intercourse.

I tried a few different lubricants, these did not really help and had the drawback of being really messy.  I even tried Vaseline, this was thicker and did help a bit more but still left me feeling uncomfortable when walking.

Then I was on a forum designed for older people, like myself and they were having a forum discussion on the very subject. So as well as reading what other people were suffering and how they were trying to cope I popped in a comment of my own. There was a chance on this forum to apply for a sample of Balance activ, which I did, well you have to try these things when you are inflicted.


Menopause Moisture Gel


Balance Activ Menopause Moisture Gel comes in easy-to-use single-application tubes that can be used at night before going to bed.

The key ingredient is hyaluronic acid (HA), a compound that is naturally present in the vagina and cervical fluid and, as well as providing moisture, possesses wound-healing properties.

The gel is clinically proven to be completely safe and is also hormone-free, making it ideal for women who can’t or prefer not to take products that contain oestrogen.

I received my sample and have to honestly say within an hour of using a tube I was getting relief. The itching had stopped. I was pleasantly surprised and have to say I will be buying more of this for myself.

If your suffering and want to give it a try, then why not enter my simple giveaway?

I have 10 boxes to give away, 1 to each of 10 winners. For a chance to try a box for yourself just enter using the Rafflecopter box below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Competition also on Loquax
and ThePrizeFinder - UK Competitions

Sunday, 9 June 2013

Project 365 2nd June - 8th June

Well it has been another hectic week, with a lot of time again spent at the new house.

Sunday 2nd June

I have two hours to kill in between shifts at work, and I help to pass this time with my notebook, entering competitions or writing blog posts. I sit in the wee cafeteria run by the WRVS. Sometimes I people watch its quite an interesting pastime.



Monday 3rd

Hubby still undergoing tests, this time it was a blood pressure monitor attached for 24 hrs, taking his blood pressure every 15 mns during the day and every 30 after midnight. We have an appointment on Tuesday to back for the results. No results so far for any of the other tests he has had but maybe on Tuesday she may have more in she has not told us about. He was up at the new house to let the workmen in who were re-erecting the fence on the RHS of the garden so we can get the shed where the fence was lying.



Tuesday

Up at the new house again today, this time OH and Son No.1 were building the base for the shed that was suppose to turn up on Friday. I was finishing off shampooing the carpets and started painting skirting boards and insides of doors.



Wednedsay

Never went near the new house, instead after work I chilled, and then went out to the cottage for a while. These were growing in amongst the wild garlic.



Thursday

Another day spent at the new house.  We turned up at the house to find the shed, that was being delivered on Friday morning as its the only day the company come to Scotland, lying in the front garden. Neighbour tells us it was delivered Wednesday morning at 7am.  The neighbours on the LHS have decided to replace the fence between us and then that is in rather a dilapidated state. But first of all they needed to chop the trees down that have been pushing it over. OH and Son put loft flooring into the loft ready for the boxes to go up.




Friday

Today the shed went up, we had people already booked to come and do this. Fifi came up to the new house after school as Bob was at Home Education group and Fifi is too young for a house key, its only for 30 mins but still too long to be left roaming the street. Next school year we will be on hand anyway,




Saturday

A waste of money or will something worth while come out of it? Will fill it in regardless.