My 'What to Buy Wednesday' feature this week is dedicated to the founder of the flat packed giant Ikea Mr Ingvar Kamprad. He has passed away at the age of 91 years old in Sweden. 

He was renowned as one of the greatest entrepreneurs of the 20th century and started his venture at 17 years old after being given some money for performing well at school despite being Dyslexia. He only stepped down from the company in 2013 at the age of 87 so not a bad career eh?

You may love it or hate but for me personally I love the flat packed delights at Ikea. It's simple and very easy to put together, yes even for me who has struggled at other furniture projects. I like this as I can construct it all by myself and as a single mum, it makes me feel like I can achieve something amazing. I've felt quite proud after putting two bookcases and two of these Trofast units together.

My first project was the big trio storage unit for my son's track and trains. It's still together, very sturdy and holds so much stuff. My second project was a multi drawer unit for my kitchen utensils and accessories which I use instead of a fixed kitchen unit. I demolished that to make space for a dishwasher, well needs must and all that. Both these units took very little time to put together, the instructions were clear and for me who lacks patience, I didn't swear once. 

I could actually spend all day putting this furniture together, oops think I may dig myself a hole there or maybe I could rent myself out as a 'construct my furniture' type person. 

I purchased the multi drawer unit for £45 and this includes the frame and seven storage boxes which I think is great value. Flat packed, it fitted in my Ford Fiesta so didn't have to worry about paying for delivery The other unit was £50.50 for the frame and three large storage boxes and again fitted easily in the car. 

It's good to look around the store and sample Swedish meatballs in the cafeteria, it can become a family day out really, the only drawback is that our nearest store at Nottingham gets so busy so I think we could do with another store to take the pressure off a bit. Just a suggestion. The whole system of the store is well worked out, I love taking the furniture from the warehouse shelves, makes me feel like I'm about to do something mega DIY'ish. I now have a healthy collection of allen keys Mr Kamprad would be proud of. 

So fly high My Kamprad and thank you for your contribution of flat packed furniture to my world. If you want to find out what is available go to the website at www.ikea.com

Build to your hearts content. I did and if I could get more in my house I would. So what is the teapot rating for Ikea furniture? It's a.......

Yes that good!! Let me know what you think. Do you like it or totally detest it? What alternative would you recommend? Leave a comment below.

​Thanks for reading today, please pop back tomorrow for my Verse for Thursday. For now though - take care.

This weeks What to Buy item is a book by Carole Matthews called 'A Cottage By The Sea'. This is a nice easy read and I loved it from start to finish. I actually couldn't put it down, it was one of those page turning epic stories where you just need to know what is going to happen.

It follows three girls who built their friendship while at University and have stayed friends ever since. When all three girls decide to take a break by the sea their lives are turned a little upside down and shaken up slightly especially when it comes to love and their relationships.

I love all the characters and wanted so much for their plans to work out, I  kind of want another one now as a follow up to continue their stories. It is one of books where you can lose yourself completely in, a chick lit dream.

I know.....get me creating more work for Carole, I'm sure she has enough to do without being bossed about by Sue from the Brew. I'm just excited about whether everyone continued to be happy and if everything panned out.......no spoilers here. I do want to mention something but I'm not giving things away. Go read it then we can discuss........

I bought the actual book as myself and my mum have decided to tackle a few of Carole's books and then swap them, our own mum and daughter book club. Carole has written quite a few books so we could end up with  quite a big library. I like a proper book sometimes, I tend to flip between book and kindle, a change is good I think.

So this book is available at Amazon and I will include the link (affiliated) at the end of this post.
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I give this book a teapot rating of:

I'm very fussy about books so this is well worth it's five stars. Cheers Carole for such a great read.

Thank you for taking a look today, please pop back for my Verse for Thursday tomorrow. Take care for now. 
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I've fancied making my own pasta for a while now. They make it look so easy on Masterchef I thought I would give it a go. The secret to this is making sure you have a good dough and then feeding it through the machine becomes a dream.

I am still in the process at just trying different recipes at the moment. I started with just a basic dough but now I'm thinking of experimenting with an egg pasta to see what the difference is. I also have got to try and make a gluten free dough which may be tricky but I thought I'd try with the gluten variety first for the kids to eat and to get that right before moving onto gluten free. 

Anyway I did produce some satisfactory tagliatelle here and I'm quite proud for my first attempt. I purchased this machine from Lakeland, well I used a voucher I received as a present for Christmas so Merry Christmas Sue from the Brew. It has a retail price of £26.99 and makes lasagne, tagliatelle. spaghetti and linguine so a nice choice of the most popular varieties and my favourites. It clamps onto the kitchen surface allowing you to roll out loads of pasta without it all falling on the floor.

There are eight thickness settings on the roller and then you have your three other pasta cutters. It is very sturdy and lovely to use and I'm really surprised how easy it is to just mix the ingredients and pass it through the machine resulting in professional fresh pasta. Cooking time is quicker as it only takes three minutes to cook fresh pasta and frankly it is as quick as if you were preparing mashed potato, by the time you have peeled, boiled and then mashed you can make pasta.

I know what you're saying and I do realise you can buy dried pasta and just chuck it in boiling water, job done but where is the excitement in that and fresh pasta taste so much nicer. You can also experiment with different flavoured pasta, add pesto or other ingredients to make it more exciting. 

I love this and I think it definitely will get used, I'm determined not to let it sit in the cupboard unused so I'm hoping everyone fancies pasta for the next few months at least. 

Now I completely forgot to give a teapot rating to my product last week so I have remembered this week, it's a new feature so bear with me. I'm impressed by the quality of the product and the easiness of using it, the actual dough is up to me so I'm giving this pasta machine a:

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Another five star product so I can definitely recommend this. You can find it on the Lakeland website here at:
www.lakeland.co.uk/72388/Lakeland-Pasta-Machine-Chromed-Steel

Thank you for reading today, join tomorrow for my Verse for Thursday but for now.......

​Take care.

Well I took the Christmas tree down and was left a bit dismayed. I missed the light that it gave in the corner of my living room. Life became a bit dull and not very sparkly anymore.

The house seems bare doesn't it after Christmas when all the decorations are taken down? I do have one lamp in my room but didn't realise how hard it was trying to light up the whole room on it's own. So I bought it a mate, to share the responsibilities of providing the very much needed light.

I purchased this lovely little lamp at Argos. I looked at Amazon which is where I always tend to go but couldn't find anything I liked, Argos however had a massive choice. This one is called Collection Elspeth Antique Brass Table Lamp in Ivory www.argos.co.uk/product/4550965

It is at half price at the moment priced at £12.49 so I think that is a good sale price, not sure if I'd pay £24.99 for it which is the original price as it is quite basic but classic. It's just a plug in and away you go but do remember to buy a bulb as one isn't included, they do ask you at Argos if you need one which I thought was good. I'd never have had a bulb at home and  would be pretty miffed if I had got home and found myself bulbless, would have been so annoying.

I love my new lamp, it adds a lot more light to the room and I don't miss the Christmas tree so much now. So don't feel lonely without the Christmas tree lights, either keep your tree up all year around or just invest in a little lamp like this one.

Thanks for reading today. Please feel free to pop back tomorrow for my Verse for Thursday but for now you all take care.

Yes a new change for 2018. I am changing Whatever Wednesday which was the day for random posts about random subjects to What to Buy Wednesday where I am aiming to review various products around the shops and online and give them a teapot rating out of five. 

So for my first 'What to Buy' this year I am reviewing a new handbag. Oh surprise surprise I hear you say, especially those that know me very well. Not another new bag!! This one I'm not actually supposed to have yet as it is an early birthday present. My birthday is only next month and I think my mum thought it may border on child abuse or some sort of torture to forbid me from using a new handbag.

It is gorgeous, very soft leathery looking bag and yes it is one of those 'bags within a bag' which I think is the greatest idea ever. Two bags, yes two!! Oh I'm in heaven. For those who don't know me at all I am a total bagaholic. I love bags, all types too. I can actually get excited about the shopping bags at the checkout in the local supermarket. Sad I know. 

This newest member of my collection came from The Little Shed which is very lethally situated around the corner from where I live. Lethal because they just stock gorgeous handbags, gifts, they have cake, tea and coffee and what's more lovely friendly staff. It is literally so hard to pass by without going in, I'm addicted. 

The smaller bag fits inside the bigger bag and can be secured with press studs but get this, there is also a nice long strap provide too which you can attach to the larger bag or to the smaller bag so the possibilities are endless.  Both bags are very roomy and the smaller one has a main compartment with two inside pockets and a zipped pocket on the outside. Believe me I carry all sorts of stuff around and there is so much room here and you can keep everything nice and tidy using the small bag or leave that at home and just chuck everything into the big bag, it's totally up to you and how you are feeling at the time.

Just love a bag I can change my mind with and stay dainty and small or go large and shopper type. This one pictured is a dark grey colour but there are other colours available - an olive green and a light pink were in stock today. The price? £26.99 so if you want to know more or are interested in purchasing one you can find details about The Little Shed in Allestree here at: www.thelittleshedallestree.com

So what teapot rating do I give this item.....well its a........ 

5 stars out of 5!! yes a very happy bag lady......well erm, customer sounds better.

Thank you for reading my review today. Please join me tomorrow for a Verse for Thursday as usual but for now.......

​Take care.