Frosted Glass Film on the Bathroom Window

When the house was extended about 20 years ago, we made a bit of a boo-boo with the bathroom window & put in a clear not frosted one. We didn't actually notice until the work was finished & we started using the room. It was added to the list of things to sort out one day.

2015 is my year to sort these jobs out as frugally as possible. I found some frosted glass film on e-bay for £7.99. It comes with a paper backing. I cut it slightly larger than the window. 

I'd cleaned the widow to within an inch of its life the day before. I cleaned it again with a slip of washing up liquid & water. I sprayed the window again, peeled off the backing & positioned the film. The kit came with a squeegee to smooth the film down.

Once it was as air bubble free as I could get it, I trimmed the edges with a sharp knife & a straight edge. It was rather like hanging wallpaper, a skill which my Dad trained me in at a very young age.

All done and other job crossed off the list.

Make Do & Mend - the Laundry Basket

I hate throwing things away and will always try to fix something to get a bit more life out of it.

The laundry basket lid was showing the signs of its age, not helped by that fact that my youngest cat Brian liked to chew it & run off with bits he'd broken off.

I decided to recover the lid to stop any more bits disappearing. I drew round the lid onto some calico.

Cut it out & sewed it onto the lid. The sewing was a bit tough as I couldn't always find a gap in the basket weave to put the needle though.

It took me several evenings of sewing to complete.

A similar basket in B&M was priced at £14.99. I spent about 70p and the basket is maybe not as good as new, but has a few more years left.

2015 - The year to get things sorted

I'm not really into New Year resolutions but I have decided that 2015 would be the year to sort out stuff that I've been putting off.

First thing to tackle was the mortgage. I've been paying it on my own for 7 years, but it's still in joint name with my Ex. How much work is it to apply for a mortgage these days? After what seemed like a lifetime on the phone I've had an offer and the application is in process. I'd put off re-mortgaging because I thought there would be all sorts of expenses.

 As it turned out I've stuck with my bank that the current mortgage is with and I've got no set up fees & no survey fees. I've also managed to knock a year of the repayment terms. The only expense that I'll have is the legal bit, but that does mean that I can get his name off the deeds. Over all, a little expense and a great deal of peace of mind.

Next was a new carpet & bed for my daughter's bedroom. I decorated the room a couple of years ago but had to stick with the existing furnishing. I bought a room sized piece of carpet that worked out cheaper than buying off the roll.

I saved all the fixings from her old bed to use for something else. My Ex took the wood from the bed to make shelves for his shed so we recycled as much as we could.

2 bags of gravel for the front garden. I say garden but it's just a car park really with a couple of shrubs. It had become a muddy mess and the new gravel was overdue & has tidied it up nicely. 

 I've been debt free for over a year now. It's such a good feeling to able to tackle some of these jobs. What a difference to be in control of the money rather than the money being in control of me. 

Next job - tidy up the downstairs loo. I've set myself a completion target of next Christmas. Gently & frugally does it.

A Relaxing Crafty Christmas Break

It's been a busy & difficult few months and have haven't had much spare time for my usual craft & DIY. I had a 2 week break from work over Christmas and I managed to catch up with myself.

This craft kit was in my Christmas Stocking.

Everything that I needed to make 3 felt Christmas cupcakes.

I spent a couple of rather enjoyable afternoons, with a large pot of tea, sewing & relaxing.

There was even a cake box to make.

But I decided to turn them into tree decorations.

  .

I spent a few more afternoons, with pots of tea, working on my crochet blanket kit that my friend bought me for my birthday.

I rounded off the Christmas break by revamping the lamps in the living room, with a coat of paint and some new shades that I picked up in the sales.

Shame I had to go back to work........

Frugal Gardening

Friends told me that one of the local garden has a plant sale at the weekends. They sell off plans from 50p that are still OK to plant out but may be past their best to be charged a full price.

I picked up all these for £4. I used them to spruce up my pots & containers.

In the mix was a 50p pepper plant. Re-potted & with a bit of TLC in the greenhouse, it's doing very well.

Same goes for my 50p fuchsia.

I've been collecting pallets for free from work to use in the garden. I painted  a couple with left over paint from the garage.

The pallets made a stand for my collection of plant pots.

My frugal garden feature.

At last - A nice cup of tea & a sit down in the Garden

I've spent so many Sunday mornings this year working in the garden and today I finally got to sit down, relax enjoy the results of all the work.

To start the year I took a couple of months to chop back the trees a bit at a time. They burst into life as soon as spring arrived.

The same for the vines, which now provide shade over the decking.

 Once the weather picked up & the rain went away, I spent a couple of weekends cleaning & sealing the decking. I've planted up the flower tubs & planted vegetables.

Last week end's job was to paint the little shed.

So finally, after an early trip out to get new car tyres, I finally got to spend a Sunday morning, just sitting & chilling in the garden. One of life's simple pleasures. 

Joined by Billy - a master of just chilling.

Breakfast from the Garden

I've just picked the first of the raspberries & strawberries from the garden. Accompanied by low fat yogurt it was the perfect breakfast on a sunny summer morning. 

 I'm hoping for a good crop of raspberries this year. 

I was hoping for lots of strawberries as well but the squirrels have been at them.

Not only eating them but burying them. Another job for my list- construct a squirrel proof cage for the soft fruit !