Shampooch!

Beautiful Soft Fur on a budget.


Having a hairy hound is wonderful.  When we decided to get a dog, my request was; `I want a shaggy dog'.  It is all it's cracked up to be.  His love is unconditional, he is cute, funny and playful and he definitely is `shaggy'.  I read page after page of information on the internet about Old English Sheep Dogs and knew that they require amongst other things a bucket full of brushes, combs and de-furring equipment.  They don't however inform you that you will use practically a half a bottle of shampoo per shower.  So rather than use up another bottle of shampoo after only 2 or 3 showers, I decided that I would make my own, particularly as Digby was, well lets just say, desperate for a shower and I had no doggy shampoo.
Now, I did investigate the use of baby shampoo on dogs and got various opinions from; yes it's a great idea, to; no, it is more drying than any other shampoo.  I did discover via many posts that Baking Powder is a great cleaner and deodoriser for dogs and so as he smells like he has slept in a skip this was a `must have' ingredient.  So with no particular recipe, much like many of my teatime concoctions, I began to make a potion, a skill as a youngster I had spent hours honing with `dog' rose petals and water. 


For my big Pooch however, I used:

• a mug of water
• about half a cup of ground oats (ground them in my grinder)
• 3 drops of tea tree oil
• a squeeze of Simple Baby Wash (thought a little would help to make a lather)

I put it all in an old shampoo bottle and shook.  Admittedly, if I was going to patent it and sell it, the appearance wasn't its best feature, but I wasn't,  and Digby quite honestly couldn't give a monkey's as long as he could shake his coat all over me after I had subjected him to the shower.

Though a strange consistency, it worked really well.  Yes, Digby did drench the whole of the bathroom and me with his beautifully clean coat, but I did ask for a Shaggy Dog and I had got one.

My big dogs coat has never been so soft and white and he smells fab!  I will try and measure the ingredients next time I make it and provide a more accurate recipe, but I will make it again, probably without the Simple Baby Wash, didn't really need it.

Pancake Panic

Ok, so I remembered it was Pancake Day, after all we did Pancake Tossing at Pre-School and had Pancakes for Snack.  Then I remembered.......I have children, which means my Pancake making skills will be required after school.  I had no time to get the obligatory Lemon from the shop after work, so, a search through the cupboards it was.  Given that I have packed pretty much everything in the kitchen other than the essentials ready for the imminent house move, there was little to choose from. Luckily I bake regularly to save money so flour, eggs and milk were present and correct.  All I found at the top of my cupboard was half a wrapped bar of strong dark chocolate from a previous pudding baking adventure.  As the chocolate was quite strong I decided to use my grinder to grind the pieces into fine crumbs so that it would be less overpowering.  I sprinkled a couple of small handfuls of the chocolate crumbs into my pancake mixture and a little over the pancake when in the pan, rolled them up, and put them on the plates, all ready for when the hungary pancake craving small humans arrived home.  I had two very pleased children when they arrived to find Pancakes ready and waiting, and surprisingly the pancakes were the best I have had for years, they were especially nice cold.  I thought they may be quite nice as a treat in their lunch boxes too.  Not quite as fattening and sugary as chocolate spread or sugar and lemon.  Though I do like the traditional sugar and lemon I must confess.

A Little Bowl of Cheerful!

Well, this morning I woke with a Migraine, yes I had had a drink last night, but not enough to give me a migraine.  It was in fact one of my `Pain in the Neck' migraines, which I have once in a while.  Anyway, that's not why I write.  Whilst sleeping off the pain this afternoon, I heard little footsteps around my bed.  Yes they were little this time, unlike most other times when the Wildebeests come calling in the form of the neighbourhood kids.  The footsteps stopped at the side of me and a little voice quietly said, "I've brought you something to make you cheerful."  It did indeed make me cheerful.  My wonderful little boy had brought me a little collection of flowers, minus the stems I admit, but, as I have always told him, never pick anyones flowers, and he hadn't, he had found them.  It really made my day and it's not even my birthday.  I decided to float them in a bowl to keep them for as long as I can.  He has been back since and brought more, I suspect I shall need another bowl.  Who needs a big expensive bouquet of flowers, this is much more, well, Cheerful! Thank you Elijah.

My Little Bowl of Cheerful!

Thrifty Bunting for a Thrifty Party

Well, being the only child, it is left to me to arrange my Mums 60th Birthday Party.  It is a surprise so Shhhhh don't tell her!

I don't mind, in fact I have discovered I quite enjoy the crafty elements of the organisation which being the wrong side of wealthy has foisted upon me.

I've often admired the lovely bunting which currently adorns many boutiques and craft shops in the towns these days.  I like the idea of it, and thought about the beautiful beams in the venue I had chosen for the party.  That's it, I will have bunting!  All good and well, but I needed about 18 metres of it and have you seen the price of the stuff?  So, thinking cap on, I went in search of ideas to make my own.  I discovered you can print your own on precut card all ready to be hung.  Again not cheap, and then I'd have to decorate it,  another expense, that and my artistic talents would probably not provide the end result I would have liked.  I would have had a go at making fabric ones, if my sewing machine had not been packed for our house move and I had the right sort of scrap material lying around.  So, no sewing for me before we move.  Instead I opted for Paper Bunting!  A little time consuming (2 evenings), but fun and my daughter enjoyed it, four hands is always better than two.


In the end it cost me about £10.00 for the whole 18 metres, though I did have a few bits already around the house, like scissors.  The colours match my daughters room too, so I can reuse it to hang in there after the party. Thriving Thrifty, as ever!

You can go to my `Furniture Projects and other Crafty Things' page to see how I made it.

Muppet Madness

I wasn't sure about anyone reinventing the Muppets, until I saw the trailer for their new film, it made me smile!  So when my friend asked if I wanted to take the children to the pictures to watch it (cinema for those of the current generation) I was happy to have an excuse to revert back to my childhood for a couple of hours.  The cinema isn't cheap anymore, and payday is still far enough away to have to check the online bank account, so the compromise was; arrive early and take a quick trip to Poundland to stock up on terribly sugary treats and some drinks to keep the children happy.  Some cinemas don't allow it, luckily ours hasn't quite cottoned onto the `food purchased outside the premises is prohibited' rule.  Though it is only a matter of time having read the very long list of rules strategically placed at the entrance, one being `no scooters or skateboards on the premises'.  A strange rule, or so I thought, until the ticket assistant handed back a couple stunt scooters to two unaccompanied minors.  Ok so the cinema experience has changed a little since Jaws 3D, you didn't have to pay for your 3D glasses back then either.  Anyway, Poundland saved the day and allowed me to take the children to the cinema without having to be the worlds worst Mum and say no to krax and over priced popcorn.

The Film

I have to say I wasn't disappointed, it was brilliant!  Funny for my 11 and 8 year old and funny for a 37 year old, who remembers the Muppets from the 70's and 80's.  A Good old fashioned, laugh at "Fart Shoes" and singing chickens (my favourite bit of the film, by the way).  To my husbands annoyance he was left behind to fix that, `forever needing repairs' car of his.  Though I shall indeed be watching it again with him when it comes out on DVD.  It was a real feel good film, see there I go again, I believe the term now is `movie'.  So, if you have young children, old children, or are simply needing a retro fix to cheer you up , I would say take a few hours in the afternoon, pop to Poundland for your goodies, and go and see The Muppets.  "Cluck, cluck, cluck, cluck.....cluclucluclucluck"!  You could also be even more thrifty and go on `Orange Wednesday' and take someone else with you so you don't look like a complete Muppet!

The First Run

Yes! I did it, I went out with my daughter for my first short run in, well, sometime.  Only to the shop, probably a mile there and back in all, but I did it.  What I discovered; well firstly I am not as fit as I used to be, no surprise there then; secondly my dog either runs slower or faster than me hence requiring me to either pull forward or backward on the lead, therefore using up more energy, and; lastly, I should wear a ruck sack when fetching a bottle of milk from the shop when on a run, again extra energy used.  So, instead of the mile I ran, I am telling myself that it was probably more like four, not true obviously, but at my age a little white lie to yourself gets you through the day and makes you feel that little bit more self-righteous.

I have to say though, it took about 20 minutes in total, which was very productive, the dogs got a work out, I did the post, electric, gas and restocked the milk, as well as allowing myself to feel vaguely fit for all of 10 minutes.

I recommend it, here's to seeing how long I keep it up! Oh and thank you Alana for accompanying me and not being quite so out of breath as me on our return, reminding me I'm old. :-)


Oh and did I mention that it is far cheaper than joining the gym!

Dinner time success

Well, as planned I scratted about in the cupboards and freezer and chose my ingredients for tonight's feast.  I was a little later than normal so pasta it was.


Dry Spaghetti (which should have been pasta tubes, before I realised my daughter had left me with enough for four pixies not four humans).
Left over chopped chicken from the roast.
Frozen Spinach x 2 cubes.
mushrooms, a handful or two. 
A glug of white wine which happened to be open and needed to be used, you may wish to finish off the rest via a glass.
chicken stock (1 Oxo cube in a mug of hot water).


Ok, so I fried the mushrooms in butter, salt and pepper added a little flour to thicken and then added a small amount of the stock.  Turned up the heat til bubbling madly and threw in a big glug of white wine.  Boiled it all down a little and added the spinach which I had quickly defrosted in some hot water in the microwave for 2 minutes.  Mixed it all around added a little more salt and pepper, some cheats dried garlic from my spice rack and then left for 10 minutes to all cook together.  At this point I think I may have started boiling my spaghetti as I did forget.


As I have a very fussy son who basically eats no veg apart from carrots only if they're steamed, and Broccoli with absolutely no stalks (basically Broccoli sprinkles), I liquidised everything up at this point with my trusty hand liquidiser to make a smoother sauce.  I then added my leftover chicken, left to bubble gently for 10/15 minutes and that was it, 30 minutes later Spinach, Mushroom and Chicken sauce with Spaghetti.  Everyone ate the lot! A successful, healthy, improv dinner for four.