I'm at that stage where I'm already enjoying this summer and the holidays but also wondering if may need to get in a little black dress for Christmas. I never wear a little black dress to be honest as I'm not a big dress wearer but Christmas is a time that I always want to slim down for, just before the big binge of roasties and pigs in blankets. What am I on about I'm always wanting to lose weight, it just doesn't happen quick enough.
Well maybe if I put this chunk of chocolate down, get off my arse and maybe do some exercise that may help. I have been doing just that with taking a daily walk but I've also been going along to some classes with 24 Fit Derby. There is a wide range of choice regarding the types of exercise you can take part in. They have Zumba, Clubbercise, Konga, Tyga, Pound, Pilates and even a low intensity class if you need to start at a gentle pace to get you going. All the classes have great instructors, a friendly atmosphere and people who will help you along if you feel a bit lost. You're first class is free so you can try out a different class to see where you feel more comfortable. The classes are at variable times so you should be able to fit in a workout around your commitments, stick the recorder on for Eastenders and watch it when you get back, relaxing after all that exercise. You'll feel good and you'll lose weight if that's what you are wanting to do. Don't forget exercise is not only great for your body but also your mind which has been the subject of a couple of the blogs featured on the 24 Fit Derby website this month. I have been guest blogging for 24 Fit Derby so take a look at some of the posts. We feature some profiles of the instructors and clients so you get an idea who is involved and also more information about what each class is all about. So if you are not aware of what Konga, Tyga and Pound are then check it out.....it might be just up your street. Go on......take a look and come and join in. Apart from all the hard work you will put in to get in shape or maybe just taking that step to be more healthier you will also have a lot of fun......I guarantee! For more information about 24 Fit Derby and to book your classes go to: www.24fitderby.co.uk I may see you at one of the classes.......thanks for reading today. Join me again tomorrow for my Verse for Thursday but for now take care. Enjoy the hols but get ready to put ya brew down and that cake and come and GET FIT!!!
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To take another step to be in David Attenborough's good books and to save the oceans and the planet I decided to stop using plastic straws in our house and go for these reusable ones instead.
I purchased these stainless steel straws from Amazon and for £6.99 I received: 4 straight straws 4 angled straws 2 cleaning brushes 1 velvet pouch for storage They are really good, they don't taste funny and are not toxic, just totally environmentally friendly. They go in the dishwasher but are also easy to clean with the brushes provided. It feels so good to use them too and not have to throw away a plastic straw knowing the damage it will do to the environment. I'm hooked and not going back now and I have even started refusing plastic straws in my drinks if in a bar or restaurant. You can also get fold away straws to carry with you while out and about which is great if you find yourself with a fast food milkshake in your hand. The company Silver Straws who supply these straws have even gone as far as using non plastic packaging when sending these out to their customers. they arrive in a small cardboard box which I think is well thought out by them. There are a lot of companies that could take a leaf out of their book, as this is one of my pet hates seeing so much plastic packaging. We just don't need it. If you would like to join the reusable straw club then go an order some now though this link (affiliated)....... Thank you for reading today. Do let me know if you have already tried these straws, do you like them? Surely they have to be better than soggy paper ones and maybe a bit safer than glass ones? Join me again tomorrow for my Verse for Thursday but for now....... Take care. In the microwave of course. Something I had never thought of doing before really. I've always boiled a pan of water and popped my eggs in there to boil but this microwave egg boiler is really good and quick.
We all want a quick answer to stuff these days don't we? We all need to be going about the world faster than our brains can even think about it. I wasn't even looking for an egg boiler but I just laid eyes on it while walking around our local Dunelm store. After a flat white and a couple of gluten free shortbread biscuits that had blueberries in, yes fruit....makes them healthy, oh go on play along. So yes after a brew I saw this cheeky little egg device and thought, I'm having a go with that. For the bargain price of £1.99 you can have a boiled egg on your plate in just a few minutes. All you have to do is fill the bottom of the egg boiler up with water to the line shown, pop the metal case in and prick the egg on the big end with a pointy tool supplied in the pack. You have to push this through so that it punctures the yolk, then you pop the egg with the holey end up into the boiler and secure the top on. The boiler then goes into the microwave for 3 mins if you want a runny egg and 5 minutes for hard boiled (based on a 1000w oven). Brilliant eh? You just have to remember to fetch the boiler out with oven gloves as it does get warm but it just takes the faff out of boiling a pan of water. I'm likely to use this quite a bit now as it makes the process so much quicker. I'm so easily pleased for £1.99 but I did have a brew and fruity biscuit too (yes fruit). Someone is going to tell me that these egg boilers have been around for ages, why haven't I had one before? Oh well better late than never. Let me know if you have one. Do you like it? Still use it? Or is it in the back of the cupboard, never to be used again? I'm not sure why the egg face looks a bit miserable because it should have a happy face, smile egg man, you are great!! Thank you for reading today, please join me again tomorrow for my Verse for Thursday but for now take care and happy egg boiling!! I'm doing quite well with my plants, they are still alive and in this hot weather too so I went out and bought a new one. Me and Mum from the Brew popped along to the local garden centre and have a look at what was on offer.
I purchased a new kettle a while ago didn't I? Yes I did as I wrote a post about it, come on catch up!! I just couldn't throw my old kettle away so I thought I would put it to some use in the garden, with a plant in it. I thought a herby plant would be nice, something trailing that would look good flowing out of the kettle. Mum from the Brew said 'have you got some Thyme?' I said 'it's 11.15 Mum' ........I know, it's an oldie but a goody. I didn't have any Thyme actually so I went for it and as they were the bargain price of £2.50 I had two. Mum from the Brew bought three!! She has way too much Thyme on her hands.......ok I'll stop now. So now my Lemon Thyme is sitting in my old kettle and smelling so fragrant, yes I've given it some water and I hope it will survive.....I'm feeling more optimistic. I seem to have this plant thing sorted now. I also decided as I was turning into a great gardener I would have a go at growing some potatoes. I can't go wrong with them, I have grown some before and it was easy peasy. I bought some potato bags, a bag of compost, got some proper advice from an expert at the garden centre and they are now in the garden. Yes I've watered those too.....never looked forward to my Christmas dinner so much - home grown potatoes with fresh herbs....yummy!! So an inexpensive What to Buy Wednesday this week.....that's what we like and fresh produce growing in my garden, might get my greenhouse cleaned out in time for winter ha ha. Thank you for reading today, go on come back tomorrow for my Verse for Thursday, you know you want to. For now though take care and keep cool in this hot weather my little brewsters. Get one of these and you'll be in David Attenborough's good books forever and a day for instead of using any plastic you can pop this in your handbag or your pocket and fill it with your favourite brew. yes you could pop to your local Costa (other coffee outlets are available) and ask them to pop a flat white or a cappuccino in and away you go, feeling good that you may just be saving the planet..
This collapsible cup came from Ebay and only cost £5.59. It holds 350ml and is reusable, foldable and leak proof, you can also chuck it in your dishwasher too if you have one....I mean don't go throwing your cups in any random dishwasher, that wouldn't be good. It also comes in different fancy colours so you can match it with your outfit or colour co ordinate with the handbag of the day, for this price you could have all the colours and choose a different one every day. I love it, it's purple (my favourite colour), it's handy and you can fill it with a hot or cold drink, it packs neatly away and it doesn't cost much so what more do you need? Well now I need a blooming brew so off I pop again. Blimey after a new big teapot yesterday and a fancy 'on the go' cup my bladder will be 'on the go'......permantley on the loo. You know where I am if you need me. Maybe I should re name myself 'Sue from the Loo'. Hey talking about my name, just while I've got your attention.....I got recognised in my local public house last night. Yes someone actually said to me ' are you Sue from the Brew'? I was quite surprised as it was the last thing I thought someone would say so thank you if you are reading this, you made my evening......I am now a little bit famous, with a plastic foldaway cup.......the only way is UP!!! Thank you for reading today. Join me again tomorrow for my Verse for Thursday but for now take care. A Groupon offer this week, yes shock horror I haven't ordered from Amazon!! So you wondering why I have bought these handy foods containers. Well when I saw them my fellow brewsters I thought they would be really good for keeping my portion sizes to some sort of realistic and dieting size.
They are available in round ones in 450ml, 700ml and 900ml capacity but I went for the three compartment square ones. I figured for those busy days I could prepare a meal and pop some meat, vegetables in there. Here in this photo I had cooked a Chilli Con Carne in my slow cooker and ate one portion and saved the rest for another day, storing it in one of these containers. You can freeze them and use them in the microwave too. They are also dishwasher safe so a good all round useful container. I ordered a pack of ten and so I can just keep reusing them as and when I need to. They are so good as I can prepare and store my own meals, Slimming World friendly instead of going out and buying processed ready meals so that feels great as I know what is in my home cooked meals. The square containers are available in one, two or three compartments so there is a wide range of choice. I paid £6.98 for ten of these and to be honest two were damaged when I received delivery. I could of gone for replacements but for the price I paid I've just used those for another use and the other eight will be plenty to keep me going. They do also make good little paint palettes so if you have small children or anyone who loves painting then you can use them for that too, especially the lids. If you would like any more information on this offer then you can find it on Groupon here www.groupon.co.uk/deals/ten-pack-food-containers If you're like me I tend to go a bit mad with a cooked dinner and load far too much on my plate well these have really taught me to keep the size of my meals down so think of them as a nutritional educational resource. If you've tried them let me know what you think or do you think they are a good idea? Thanks for spending time reading this......and as I have scheduled this post for 7pm......what are you reading this for now? ENGLAND are playing in the Semi Final of the World Cup - go watch that and read this later. Thanks for reading though whenever you have......come back tomorrow for my Verse for Thursday for now though take care, good luck to England Please, please stay safe, drink sensibly and please don't go out and damage any property or hit anyone......that is not what football is about......If football is 'Coming Home' then lets bring it home together in good faith. xxx
Have you ever got so warm after a work out that you desperately needed to cool down or are you struggling with this heatwave in the UK at the moment? Well this could be the thing for you.
These little magic towels are great for keeping you cool. You don't have to be working out although they are good for that, you could be a lady of a certain age (like me) having one of those dreaded hot flushes or you could be sweating in these high temperatures. All you have to do is wet the towel by just running under a cold water tap and then give it a nice big wring out. It can then be used in many ways such as placing around your neck or wrapping around your wrist to cool you down. It really is amazing as it does stay really cold and if it starts to dry out just add water again and away you go, on the way to cool town. If you are taking part in some vigorous activity (eh steady!!!) you can use it to mop your sweaty brows and it will still absorb sweat like any conventional towel. It is a really handy size so you can tuck them away in your bag and travel around with it. Don't worry about your bag getting all soggy and wet, this towel just feels slightly damp so it won't be dripping from your best Radley handbag or if you are worried just keep it in the plastic bag it arrives in. I bought a pack of three from, yep guess where? Amazon, but they are available in different shops too, I saw some available in a local garden centre so keep a look out. I will pop the link to Amazon at the end of this post if you should want to try them. I've seen all sorts of uses for these towels even to keep a pet dog cool but I suppose you could also use them to control a persons temperature if they have a fever, the possibilities are endless meaning that this is a great buy and not at all a waste of money. Give them a go and see what you think. If you already use them, what do you think? I'm still getting over the fact they just stay really ice cold......doesn't take much for me to be amazed. I need to get out more. Thank you for reading today, pop back tomorrow for my Verse for Thursday but until then take care......and Keep Cool xx Well a lot of toast really, four big slices of the stuff. My son has been nagging me for a four slice toaster for ages and I have put my foot down stating that I couldn't see the point of having one. Just do two slices at a time I would tell him but he continued to tell me how it would be so much better to have four slices all cooked together.
It is an debate which has cropped up so many times and there have been occasions when I have been making toast for both the boys and wished I could just do it altogether but then I would talk myself out of the idea. I would just tootle along with the trusty old cheap and cheerful two slicer and be satisfied it was doing the job. Well I don't know what came over me. I don't know whether it was because he had finished school and yearned to eat more toast but I gave in and bought this luscious four slicer. It wasn't easy to buy either, I went everywhere for one. I looked on trusty Amazon and they didn't have one I liked that was available like today so that was no good. I went to Argos and the one I liked there wasn't available straight away then I found this one in Currys/PCWorld. I wanted a black one to go with my other kitcheny things and you wouldn't believe this colour was so scarce at a reasonable price. I could buy blue, pink, all sorts of fancy ones but I wanted a black one. There are even toasters for about £70!! What do they do? I feel you may be paying for a name there. Designer toast, now there's a thing. I spent £40 and that was pushing it for me. After having a £7 two slice one this one was a major upgrade. We can not only get double the slices in but thicker bread, crumpets, bagels and toasted cobs. They all just got stuck in the cheap one so it's happy faces all around. I can't even use the new arrival. I have my own cheap number for my gluten free bread so I felt a bit left out but it is worth just seeing the delight on my sons face when he tucks into his toast. It defrosts, warms up, has extra wide slots and a high lift eject facility. For more information here are the details of the Breville Curve Toaster www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/household-appliances/small-kitchen-appliances/toasters/breville-curve-vtt786-4-slice-toaster-black-10148160-pdt.html I did wonder what the attraction was in a more expensive toaster with extra slots but I have to say I'm impressed. You can still toast just two slices if required so everyones happy and that as a mum is all we want eh? Thanks for being here to share my toaster heaven......I'll be back tomorrow with my Verse for Thursday so join me for that. for now though....... Take care. This is a really good idea from Avon. The Letterbox Look collection is a group of make up items which are suited to your natural tones, packed up for you and delivered straight to your door.
I hadn't ordered from Avon for a while so was in need of a few items and when I saw this it just solved my problem of what to order and made it so simple. It is literally so easy......you choose your perfect look from: Ivory - pink undertones (fair skin tones) Porcelain - neutral undertones (fair skin tones) Warm Ivory - golden undertones (fair skin tones) Natural Beige - neutral undertones (light to medium skin tones) Medium Beige - neutral undertones (light to medium skin tones) Nude - golden undertones (light to medium skin tones) Walnut - neutral undertones (medium deep skin tones) Caramel - golden undertones (medium deep skin tones) All the information you need about all the products in the box for your chosen skin tone is on the website when you order. All this for the bargain price of £20 including free delivery when entering the code LETTERBOXLOOK20 at the checkout. I ordered the Ivory package and included in my box was: Matte Lipstick in Pure Pink Glimmerstick Eyeliner in Black Avon True Supershock Mascara Eye Shadow Quad in Mocha Latte Cream to Powder Foundation in Ivory Mark Powder Blusher in Cheeky Malba This gives you a massive saving of £31. Great if you need a bit of a stock up like I did or maybe you want to order a box for fresh products to use on a holiday. You could even order one for a friend as a gift. I loved all the chosen products and they suited me perfectly. I particularly loved the Cream to Powder Foundation as I had never tried this before. it really does give the impression of a liquid foundation with a powdery finish. I usually tend to use a liquid and then a powder over the top and that's ok but when you get it all in one like this it's so quick to apply. Even better if your away and you don't want to take too many make up items with you. The coverage is really good and makes my skin look soft and it stays on which is another plus, it doesn't seem to need reapplying. So I am impressed and just lucky this came at the right time for me to order. If you fancy giving this a try then contact your local Avon representative or go online. My local rep Kayleigh is lovely, she's always on hand for a bit of advice if I'm not sure about a product and she loves her job which shows. Kayleigh's website is www.batesbeauty.co.uk Take a look and see what you think. If you've also tried this box of delights then what did you think? Let me know as I would be interested to know. Thanks for reading today, please join me again tomorrow for my Verse for Thursday but for now...... Take care. I missed a parcel the other day which doesn’t happen a lot. I have a great postman and he always knows where to leave something or will seek a neighbour for me but he took a day off. I know!! How how dare he have a holiday when I was having a package delivered. Blimey he deserved it, they work so hard our posties but my stand in postie didn’t manage to get my attention for the needed signature for this package and took it back to the depot. Oh we all hate it don’t we? When the post goes back to the big depot, I dread seeing the card through the door that says you can collect from the main post office. If your main post office is anything like our it’s a pain to go to, not a lot of parking and no one ever fancies going to chase after the post. I was actually in at the time it was delivered but I must have been out the back and my doorbell doesn’t work. So what did I do? Well firstly I just arranged a redelivery as far as the parcel was concerned. It wasn’t the Crown Jewels, only a roll of ribbon but a well travelled roll of ribbon. I then thought it was time to get my doorbell sorted. It hasn’t worked for years but I do tend to find the odd person looking a little fed up that I haven’t got to the door sooner. Now though……as Anita Ward sang ‘ You Can Ring My Bell……. I bought a new wireless doorbell……yes from Amazon but for a bargain price of £7.64. For this you get the push button device which attaches easily to the outside of the house and then a receiver which pairs up with the button and it’s as easy as that. You can fix the receiver to a wall or just stand it up on a shelf. I have got it free standing at the moment as I think it’s great to be able to move it around, especially if wondering out into the garden. The receiver also chimes, flashes a light or you can switch the chime off and have it just flashing. This I’ve realised is great when I’ve got my headphones on and I keep the receiver close by. I really do sound as if a million people come round but they don’t I’m afraid I’m just conscious of missing the postie. It’s brilliant and I’m really impressed. The receiver takes two AA batteries (not included) and the push button part takes a CR2 battery which is included. It has a range of 100 metres (300 feet) and 36 CD quality chimes, even Christmas carols for a festive feel. If I can get it set up and sorted then frankly anyone can. I have just got to let the novelty wear off now and stop myself goinging out and ringing it. The first day was me saying ‘listen kids’ and running out side to press the bell. I know sad eh? I’ll be ok after I’ve had it for about a week. So hopefully no more missed parcels and no missed visitors. I wonder if there have been people out side pressing the doorbell and I’ve never realised…..oh missed opportunities or maybe it’s been a blessing…..I’ll find out eh? The link is at the end of this post for this doorbell from Amazon (affiliated)…..if you’re due to update your ringer then go for it, I can recommend this. There was a promotion on at the time I ordered this item and so I did purchase it at a slightly discounted price. The price as of today is £8.99 now but still worth every penny. Thanks for reading today……join me again tomorrow for my Verse for Thursday but for now……. Take care. |
What to Buy WednesdayFrom May 2020 I will be writing a poem about something I may have purchased or would like to purchase. Archives
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