Toy Story And Royal Story

 Yesterday morning when Scarlett arrived the weather wasn't very nice at all so after we had eaten our breakfast she asked if she she could watch her new favourite film Toy Story. Apparently she has watched it a few times at home and just loves it. I haven't seen the film for years, but it was always one of my favourites from when my children were young. We settled down and watched it together and I was reminded why I liked it so much, but it also reminded me why I struggle to get rid of any toys!

I was always soft hearted, I have kept so many of my toys as I could never bear to get rid of them. I have so many teddies from my childhood and I even have my Tiny Tears and Amanda Jane from when I was about 4 or 5. They are still in the original toy chest they were kept in when I was a child, this is one I got on my 5th birthday. It has gone everywhere with me since then, all ten homes I have lived after I was five and even sat on the shelf next to my bed in the nurses home I lived in in the late 1970s. 

Youngest son is just as bad, he has kept all his toys and entirely blames Toy Story for not being able to get rid of them! He has all his old games consuls and games in the loft too, old Sega Master Systems and Mega Drives with games all packed up. He can't bear to get rid of them and I always joke he will be the only one of us to be a millionaire as one day they will be worth so much. As I watched Scarlett clutching her little toy dog with her little lip quivering as poor Andy was so heartbroken when Woody and Buzz went missing I thought "Oh dear, it has started."

Despite the bad weather we did manage to get out for a walk and the sun shone for a while so we were out in the garden, even though it was terribly windy. Scarlett loved it as the male fox was sitting there for all the time we were out there, she tried so hard to get really close but he would only let her get so close before he ran through the gap in the fence. I did have to smile as she kept saying "Oh fox, please come here." with a big sigh. She loved him.

In the evening we were sitting eating our evening meal watching the documentary about the Panorama interview with Princess Diana. It was horrifying and so sad. I felt as if I could have been watching a programme about the demise of someone like Anne Boleyn with Oliver Cromwell gathering evidence. It's hard to believe now after how famous she was, but youngest son and daughter, who have no interest in the Royal family at all, have never really seen Princess Diana talk before. Their only knowledge of it all is short extracts they've seen on TV from The Crown. They thought she was absolutely lovely and not what they expected at all. They both agreed she had a charm that no actress on a TV drama had ever managed to quite capture.

Well it's another windy day today, though so far we haven't had rain. I'm going over to see my Dad with my sister and we were hoping to go and investigate some more on our ancestors who lived locally so I really hope the rain keeps off. I hope everyone has a lovely day what ever your plans.

Money Saving And Stormy Weather

 The weather has been very strange this spring. We had a brief lovely warm spell and then very cold, frosty dry weather with virtually no rain and now May is making up for that. We have some sunshine followed by such heavy showers if you are unfortunate to be out and about in it you get soaked through. I have been caught several times out with the dogs and its not much fun. I did manage to re pot sickly tomato plant which is now looking wonderful and re potted some of my apple trees even though the whole time I was out there, I was accompanied by rumbles of thunder in the distance. There was an article on the news yesterday with Prince Charles calling for us all to plant a tree for the Queen's platinum jubilee next year. I hope Her Majesty will be impressed with all my efforts! My trees are doing so well and actually seem to be really thriving in all this rain. This adverse weather has caused everything else in the garden to be much later than other years though. Youngest daughter was showing me photos of the roses in our garden from three years ago yesterday. There were quite a few in full bloom looking beautiful, but this year nothing yet. There are lots of buds so something will happen soon but it's just taking it's time.

I have been continuing with my Too Good To Go Bags and they have been really successful. Everyone says they have tried new foods they never would have thought to try. Who would have thought sun dried tomatoes and mozzarella would have been such a hit with our quiche the other evening. I have saved so much money on our food budget this week I'm on track to buy a new drill for Tom out of saved money that he has had his eye on for a while. The bags wouldn't do for vegetarians as there is always a lot of meat which I freeze straight away for the rest of the family but there is usually one vegetarian item for me. I'm also quite enjoying the walk down just before nine, I rarely walk that way so am getting a totally different view point of out area in the evening. It's much busier in that direction and it has a  different feel to our little row of shops but already I'm bumping into the same people and having a little chat with people I see each evening. I just can't resist having a little chat! The sky was so dramatic when I walked down last night I had to take some photos.

I scanned lots of photos yesterday which was very time consuming but a good job out of the way. Even though I am very pleased to have got through so many, this morning I really must try and get further with the caravan awning curtains as our break away is getting closer. I hope the weather improves, three dogs in a caravan with this rain would be a bit of a challenge! I'm going to my Dads to do his shopping today and my sister and I will be able to spend some time with him all together inside his house now. How wonderful, I just hope nothing gets worse again to spoil this freedom we are having. Have a lovely day everyone what ever you are doing. xx

Growing Trees From Seeds And Not Reading Clearly Enough

 It was a nice sunny day yesterday and I managed to get quite a few small plants in the greenhouse planted out. I planted meadowsweet, poppies, echinops and hollyhocks, all grown from collected seeds last autumn. They are all plants that bees love so I'm hoping will attract more to the garden. I had kept some of the geraniums I grew from seed last year in the greenhouse over the winter and I put them out now too. This left more space and spare flower pots so re potted some of the trees I  have grown. I potted oak trees grown from acorns from the oak tree in my Dad's garden and plum trees from plum stones from the plum tree in our garden. I still have lots more to re pot so I'm going to clear an area at the side of the duck run as my tree "nursery". I was really pleased as, after I was starting to wonder if there was no hope, my Silver Birch trees are starting to come up. I planted them last September and there had been no sign of life. They are only tiny but I'm hoping they survive. These are the oak and plum trees. Some of the oak trees still haven't got leaves on yet but I had put two acorns in each little pot so they had to be separated out.

Our garden is really filling out now. I hate gaps anywhere! I still  have lots of plants to put out and 24 free (almost) geraniums coming. I have bought some seeds before from a company called Thompson and Morgan and they often send me emails about offers and the other day I received an email from them saying I could have 20 free geranium plants, postage was £5 so it didn't work out totally free but it as still a good deal and should fill any gaps.

I had ordered another £4 bag of food and and Tom and I walked down to the local garage together at 9pm with Tom telling me how much he had enjoyed his sandwich and Danish pastry at lunchtime. When we got there I realised I had chosen the wrong petrol station on the app and it was the one on the other side of our town. We had to walk home and then drive to collect our food with me apologising the whole way. I'm not making that mistake again! Even though we laughed about the state of my eyes I was really cross with myself. There wasn't such a good selection either which was interesting to compare but still lots of food for today and Tom got his Danish pastry to take to work so he wasn't too fed up. When we got back it had got dark and now I have worked out where the little solar panel is on the bee he has finally lit up!

Scarlett is coming this morning and I'm sure she will want to help me in the garden today. I was hoping we may be able to have our lunch sitting on the bench by the aviary after it was so lovely yesterday but the weather forecast is not as good and showers are expected so I may have to rethink. I hope everyone has a lovely day and enjoys what ever you are doing. xx

The Little Pieces Of Information In Family History

 Yesterday at my Dad's house we were talking family history research again for a while. We have found out so much information about my Dad's side of the family recently it has really given me a push to keep looking. My Dad's family, from Liverpool were a really interesting mix. His Dad, my Grandad, was one of 12 children, and a butcher like his own Dad (They must be turning in their graves at your vegetarian shenanigans youngest son likes to tell me!) My Grandad, like my Dad won a scholarship to a grammar school and was bright, funny and very political. After he was widowed he would come and stay with us for a week at a time and take himself off on the train and then the bus to explore London. He always had a funny tale to tell us when he returned and I really enjoyed his visits. My Dad tells us he was so ahead of his time believing in equality for all, women's rights and despite being a butcher hated any form of animal cruelty. Apparently he and his five brothers would have long political discussions for hours. 

Rightly or wrongly I have built up a picture in my mind of what each brother must have been like from the conversations I have had with my Dad but in my family tree searching I have come across a few old newspaper reports that have given me so much more of an insight. The third eldest boy was called Francis and Dad told me he was the quietest of the brothers. When he was a child he had been involved in an accident being hit by a tram and nearly died, in adult life he was a French polisher, restoring furniture and Dad said when he came round and restored a table for them and he couldn't believe how beautiful his work was. He kept himself to himself and didn't really get heated in any of the political discussions. I built up a picture in my mind of this quiet, artistic type maybe his injuries from childhood still affecting him. Then I found the newspaper report of a court case.

When Francis was walking home in Liverpool late one evening in 1933 he came across a crowd gathered around two men fighting. One of the men had a knife and had stabbed the other man who was bleeding heavily, Francis went straight into the foray despite the crowd shouting "Look out he has a knife" and the attacker shouting at him "Do you want it too" He disarmed the man, despite being stabbed in the hand himself and wrestled him to the ground. Sadly the man who had been stabbed died later in hospital but Francis was hailed a hero and the attacker was arrested. Suddenly the quiet, artistic young man became a completely different person to me! When I showed my Dad he couldn't believe it he knew nothing of the tale but there it was, with Francis's full name and address in the paper. It has made me realise how important family research is for future generations. Although  finding birth certificates and marriage certificates is so important, it is the little snippets that make up a personality that can be so much more helpful. I really must try and find more time to do more research.

Yesterday I bought another bag of food to be collected on my Too Good To Go app. I'm trying really hard to plan our meals around these £4 bags as it will save so much money, and Marks and Spencer food is really good quality. Tom took the salad and a pastry to work yesterday, and as he normally spends about £5 a day on his lunch in the work canteen that had already saved us money. I made sausage and mash with some steamed courgettes for Tom and youngest son and daughter so all I had to add was a veggie burger from the freezer for me. I  froze the rolls for another day and the salad and hummus I will eat over the next couple of days. I bought another bag last night which I froze the sausages from straight away. There are lunches for Tom and youngest son and daughter today too.  So far I'm finding this a really good money saving exercise. This was last nights bag for £4. 

It's a lovely bright day today and I have planned to plant out some of the young plants in the greenhouse. I hope everyone has a lovely day what ever your plans are. xx

Food Too Good To Waste

 It as really windy again yesterday morning with some heavy showers. I managed to get the second curtain for the caravan awning cut but not pinned ready for sewing as it took me so long, checking and double checking. It has been made so much harder as the original curtains were enormous. I thought when they first arrived they must have been curtains for French doors, but I was checking the length yesterday and we live in an Edwardian House with very high ceilings but they would hang from ceiling to floor. It has made them really hard to cut and manage but I am so thrilled with all the fabric. 

The other task I put aside five minutes for yesterday morning was to check my Too Good To Go app on my phone. I used it a few times before the first lockdown but then deleted it off my phone as it wasn't really worth keeping it on. A month ago I thought I would give it another go and I have bought a couple of takeaways for the rest of the family. You buy £12 worth of food the restaurant or shop advertises and collect it near the end of the day for about £3 or £4, it is to help reduce food waste and also boost local businesses. You can buy one, two or three meals if they have them available but it is a mystery bag and as I don't eat meat the take away option hasn't been any good for me as so far no vegetarian restaurants are taking part. The rest of the family have loved it though. I had decided to try the shop at our petrol station which is an M&S local selling other brands as well and has a little cafe. I purchased my bag for £4 and my collection was booked for between 9 and 10 pm. 

I spent a few hours of the afternoon gardening. There always seems to be so much to do at this time of the year. I re potted my hydrangea my eldest daughter had given me for my 50th birthday. I realised it must definitely need it as I have had it 11 years this summer! It was really heavy to move about but I'm glad I finally got it sorted out. I have lots of plants I will be putting out from the greenhouse in the next few weeks, poppies, echinops, and hollyhocks and am looking forward to seeing how they will do. I kept Cassie up there with me while I was working but tied her to the garden chair on a long lead as she would chase the poor foxes if she was loose. They walked by a few times looking a bit worried at the sight of her, but she only growled. She may be little but terriers can be really feisty and she certainly is, even though she looks as if butter wouldn't melt in her mouth!

After Tom had got in at 7 o'clock and we had all eaten our evening meal I walked down to the petrol station at about 8.45. It was a nice walk as it was still light and very quiet. I showed the man who works there the code sent to me on my phone and he gave me two bag of shopping and when I thanked him he said "No, thank you this would all be thrown out at midnight otherwise." I'm sure we would be horrified if we saw all the food thrown out in our local area. I was really pleased, all this for £4.

Sadly I heard yesterday evening the young whale in the Thames had been found but had to be put to sleep as it was in such poor condition. The poor thing, it made me feel sad the whole evening. There has been some good news though as coronavirus restrictions are being relaxed a bit more next Monday. I'm going to my Dad's house today to do his shopping and have quite a bit to get through before  To think by the summer things may be back to some sort of normality. No more queuing and mask wearing when we are shopping I hope. It's an exciting thought! Have a lovely day everyone what ever you are doing. xx

Recycling, Upcycling And Turf Wars

 I've realised I get much less done when Tom is on a late shift. For seven days he is leaving for work just after an early lunch and getting back in at 11pm. I don't seem to get much started in the morning on these days, especially as youngest son and daughter are both still home from work for the Easter holidays. By the time I had tidied up and had a chat over a cup of coffee, most of the morning had gone and I had missed the sunshine as it went in and became quite cold again. One thing Tom and I were chatting about was something we saw on Breakfast Television about charity shops. Apparently they have been inundated with donations that they can barely cope with. They haven't the space for all the stuff people have been clearing out during lockdown and as was our experience, they have been turning people away. On Monday, so many people visited them across the country they took more money than any other day in their history. A reporter visited a massive charity shop in Bristol that even had a cafe on it's premises, it looked like my idea of a good afternoon out and I usually hate going to shops! Shame Bristol is so far away.

I love buying second hand. I love the feeling something has a history and while there are perfectly good second hand items I can't bring myself to buy new.  It's not just buying second hand, I'm an obsessional fixer. I really enjoy making old things work again. I get much more pleasure from fixing an old broken item than I ever could from spending lots of money on a new one. The lampshade I ordered arrived today for the 1970s lamp I rewired a while ago. Handmade from 1970s material I thought it would be perfect for it. All totally recycled.

Another item I started repairing today was a step for the caravan. I feel embarrassed to admit we put this tatty old thing outside our caravan door last year. Tom wanted to throw it out and buy a new one but I am determined to do it up. It's an original old feature of the caravan, probably from when the caravan was new, and because of that I want to try and keep it. I'm hoping in a few days no one will recognise it, I have big plans!

A strange thing that happened yesterday was some sort of territorial fox war is going on. Everything has been so calm in the garden for months, with our foxes plodding about, that it all came as a bit of a shock.  I was standing in the kitchen at about eight o'clock, just as it was starting to go dark, when I saw something moving in the flower bed, one of our foxes ran down the garden so fast it frightened me. I never see them run like that. There was the sound of crashing into fences and loud fox howling that went on and on. I ran out to see what was happening and the male fox was standing in next doors garden looking ruffled to say the least. There is definitely some sort of turf war going on. I'm not sure if an outsider is trying to move in on the territory or if the vixen is getting close to giving birth and the balance is upset. I'm going to keep a very close eye on them to see if I can work it out but it seems rather strange to be watching events in the garden that we have no way of influencing. It makes you realise nature is so much bigger than we are.

Scarlett is coming today and I'm sure will be delighted with our new dove, who is much more vocal than Dottie to put it mildly! Tom is here this morning so she will be thrilled to spend some time with her Grandad. I hope everyone has a lovely day what ever you are doing. xx

Totally Free Items

 We had some really heavy showers yesterday. I had intended to plant some seeds but decided instead as the garden waste was being collected today to fill the bin as much as possible with the last remnants of winter waste around the garden. I spent the afternoon dashing in and out to avoid these heavy showers but when I spoke to my Dad on the phone in the evening, even though he is only seven miles away he hadn't had a single shower.

While I was inside I got on with a task I  thought was going to be really difficult but wasn't.  When we moved into this house Tom brought home a really lovely brass and onyx standard lamp that someone had put out for the dustmen. I really liked it but it was very wobbly and every time a dog walked by it leaned precariously. The nut which held the stem in place had rusted on so solidly under the base we couldn't tighten it. I couldn't bear to throw it out so we put it in the loft.

I noticed it when I was up in the loft the other week. Strangely Tom had noticed it but not mentioned it either and when he was walking home from work at 1am the other night he noticed a large lampshade on top of the bins to be collected by the dustmen and thought it may do for the lamp. We got it out of the loft and yesterday I set too with rust remover which I bought on Amazon and pliers. It was fiddly work but in the end I managed to fix it and it is completely solid now. It has only taken me 16 years!

As a family we can't resist bringing home free items and reusing them. Eldest son knows how much I love original art and he has often bought round a painting he has found in a skip. One day I may be on Antiques Road Show telling them my £50.000 painting came out of a skip!

The weather forecast is not very good today and I am going to my Dad's to do his shopping. He has been busy this week planting roses he bought from his David Austin catalogue so I hope the weather is nice enough to be out in the garden admiring them. I hope everyone has a lovely day and you manage to see a little bit of spring weather. xx

Rescuing Toys From Landfill And Caring For Pets

It was a bit of a disappointing day yesterday as it hardly stopped raining. We had promised Scarlett that we would go to the playground and then take her to feed the ducks and the geese at the ponds which she loves but it was just too wet. I have a supply of toys I have bought at car boot sales for her and I try and get a different one out each week. This week I got out a Baby Annabelle crawling doll I bought for a £1 and she chose a new outfit for her from my bag of dolls clothes that I have acquired over the months. She loved her and it was definitely £1 well spent, especially considering they are £50 new. I think it is so important for little children to care for and show empathy for pets and Scarlett loves our dogs and cat but she is still a bit small to care for them so we get our little guinea pig Chip out for her to feed, stroke and gently brush which kept her amused until lunch time. But it was still raining so back to the stash of toys!

   I have often thought when I am at Jumble Sales and Car Boot Sales the world doesn't need any more dolls! I think there should be a slogan the same as for dogs "Adopt Don't Shop" Thousands of perfectly good dolls must end up at landfill every year. I can't resist those poor little unwanted toys at Jumble Sales and have lots I have fixed and put in new clothes which I  will either give to Scarlett or just give away now they are cleaned up .I enjoy fixing them and making them look as good as new again so don't really care if I don't make any money for them. A few years ago I bought this little doll for 50p at a car boot sale. 

     She was filthy but I managed to clean her up with upholstery cleaner . I bought her a little dolls baby grow for 20p and she looked perfect. I had intended to sell her but ended up keeping her for Scarlett as she is just the right size for her. She has turned out to be one of her most precious toys that she keeps on her pillow every night when she goes to bed. The little doll couldn't bring more pleasure if I had spent a fortune on her.

      After lunch, as she was so disappointed that we weren't going to feed the ducks I promised her we would wrap up and go to the local Charity Shop so she could choose some new books. She has a lot of lovely books already but it was more to make up for the disappointment . When we returned the rest of the afternoon was spent curled up on the sofa reading the new books which she loved. And so did I! Not quite the day we planned  but she seemed as happy as can be.

  The weather is a bit brighter today and I am off to see my Dad so hopefully there will be no problems on the trains. Have a lovely day what ever you are doing. xx

Making Something Old New Again

  Tom was working yesterday morning so I had a bit of a sort out of a few cupboards and when he got in we had an early lunch and took the boxes of old ornaments to our local charity salesroom. Hopefully someone else will want our discarded items and we set about looking for items we need. I have a painting and an old print I have been looking for frames for and I bought two nice large frames whilst I was there to reframe them. The large one was £2 and the smaller one £1.50 so much cheaper than if I bought them new. I find it is often worth buying old pictures instead of frames as they are nearly always very cheap.

   The smaller one has a message on the back so it was obviously given as wedding present for a couple from The Guiders Of North West Division. I wonder who the couple were. I hope they had a long and happy marriage. I'm going to put my print over this one but keep the original in the frame too and keep the message on the back. I would hate to take away the history of an old item.

  Two other items I found were these two casserole dishes for £3. I have an idea for making some extra Christmas presents from these with either bulbs or pansies. I'll have a little search around Wilkinsons later on today to see if I can get some ideas. They are very big and heavy so could have lots of other uses when the plants have died.

  Tom managed to get a few UB40 CDs so he was very happy and I found this Wind In The Willows DVD. My children had the video of this when they were little and loved it so I thought Scarlett may enjoy it now. I must admit I'm quite looking forward to settling down on a cold day to watch it too.!

   I finished the last of the conker liquid yesterday and noticed it had thickened up as it been left standing. All nice and clean except Tom's white sports socks but maybe that was asking a bit much! Eldest daughter has sent me a message saying Scarlett was very busy yesterday and has collected a lot more for me. I feel this may be child labour!
   We are trying to decide whether to walk down to a local car boot sale as the weather has been so bad over night.It's starting to brighten up slightly so may be worth a little mooch about. Hope everyone has a great Sunday what ever you are doing. xx

The Eco Friendly Conker Washing Liquid

What a lovely day it was yesterday. The sun shone and I felt very productive and cheerful. After my second operation on my thyroid they told me I may never be able to sing again but even though I was very croaky in the early days I can sing fine, well as well as I could before anyway! When I catch myself singing away whilst I am doing things I am always very grateful. It's funny the things you take for granted in life. Anyway aside form me singing all day I managed to get lots of little jobs done in the sunshine and after lunch I started on the job I was looking forward to most.
  I put aside half the conkers I had to experiment with my horse chestnut washing liquid with, which was a nice little hoard. Thank you very much Scarlett!

I started bashing with my hammer as the instructions online had said but with conkers flying and dogs barking it wasn't as easy as I thought.  However with a bit of experimentation and the use of an old towel I got a rhythm going and it started to work.I found using the claw part of the hammer and hitting dead centre was the most effective. "It's a good job Scarlett can't see what's happening to her precious conkers" youngest son commented as he walked past the kitchen. I had intended to put them in my Mum's old Magimix as the instructions said but they are so hard I was a bit worried about damaging it so I just kept bashing.

  Only a short time later the conkers where all in a satisfying pile of small pieces and I removed any loose outside bits, although the instructions said you don't need to, and then put them in a Kilner jar.

  Then I poured very hot, but not boiling, water over them level to the top of the conkers. Different sources say different amount of times to leave them soaking some say four hours and some say overnight.

  I left mine overnight on the kitchen windowsill and this morning strained the liquid through a muslin into a bowl.

   I poured the liquid it into a smaller kilner jar and here it is. It's a bit more watery than I imagined it would be but maybe that's because in my mind I am picturing Persil liquid! The proof will be in the using but youngest son and daughter have said "You're not practising on our clothes!" and who can blame them. 

  I'll try it out today on some of mine and let you know how I get on. Hope everyone has a lovely day what ever you are doing. xx

Ideas For Thifty Presents And A Small Extra Income

     I'm always on the look out for ways to save a bit of money as I'm sure lots of people are. We have an allotment but last year it was rather neglected due to a lot of family illness. It has two lovely apple trees and a pear tree on it which are very old and last year we had so much fruit we were distributing it to all our neighbours and Tom was taking bag fulls into work to give away rather than see any of it rot. We have also planted lots of fruit bushes, which once we have built a cage round this year, we hope will also add to the fruit yield.
    Although I know I should be planting lots of vegetables as it helps to save money my real love for growing and planting is flowers. I come from a long line of gardeners and people who would rather spend hours in a greenhouse than in front of a TV and nearly all my presents to family are gardening themed whether it's plants or garden centre vouchers. So this year I have decided to grow as many presents for family as I can on the allotment and maybe try and sell surplus plants and later in the year fruit. I could also add eggs from our hens and ducks.

The fruit trees on our allotment last spring.

     When I told my plans to my family they all roared with laughter. "This is London not the countryside Mum" they said "An honesty box wouldn't last five minutes." Well I have more faith in our neighbours than that and I think I shall aim to try later in the year. I know this is maybe a bit ambitious but I would love a stall like this in our little front garden. 

Planning Ahead To Save Money

I have always been very thrifty. We were married at 21 and had four children so really we have had no choice. Most of the time I have quite enjoyed the getting through and I see it as a challenge to be overcome. I even thought I was quite good at it and after 34 years of practice, didn't really need to learn any more. However a few set backs this year have made me try even harder and I have been searching online for ideas.
Well I am amazed. I have discovered so many blogs out there from like minded people who are so incredibly clever and have read so many brilliant ideas. I really admire these thrifty people. The main change I need to make I think, is forward planning and organisation. No matter how hard I work to save money I really only plan for week to week and  think I need to look ahead. The other problem is organisation, every year my new years resolution is get organised which is of course far to vague and never seems to happen.  I need to keep records and stick to the plan.
A few years ago I bought Elizabeth Craig's 1000 Household Hints published in the 1940s from our local second hand book shop which has a marvelous 10p box outside.

In some ways it is more helpful than modern books as it was written in a time before people expected to enjoy luxuries. There are lots of tips on cleaning stains and even how to skin a rabbit. (I think I better hide that chapter from our rabbit Louis!) There is also a section on money management which gives a real insight to the time. It divides household income after tax into tenths
Two Tenths : Housing
Five Tenths : Food And Operating Expenses (Including Utility Bills)
One Tenth :  Clothing
One Tenth : Personal
One Tenth : Health Insurance And Savings.

Straight away I can see our proportions are different to those set in the 1940s as our mortgage is four tenths of our income but I am definitely going to study this over the next few days and work out a long term plan as there are lots more tips in this book I'm sure will be helpful. That with all the clever tips I have read on blogs will make for a much more organised life. I'll will share how I get on. I'm off to Wilkinson's today to buy a new cash book, and it's not even New Year!