I've finally got around to going through all the receipts that I had been saving since we went away in February half term.  I don't like the results of my sums.  In February we spent £170 on food/toiletries/laundry/cleaning for the two of us and the cats.  I was having a conniption fit until I remembered that the total includes buying tea for six months because I found a brand on a good offer that we like and also 4-5 months of catfood because I found their preferred one on offer.  And there were a few treats for the week we were away. And a few other things in store that were bought on offer. And a few bits for the hens and rabbits. And a few Welsh cakes and chocs brought back from Wales as thankyous to the animal sitters. But I still can't get over how high the remaining figure is.  We didn't have any steak or caviar or buy/eat anything particularly extravagant so I just can't get my head around it.  I've also been through the receipts for March so far and the totals are nothing like as horrific. 

Just shows what can happen when you take your eyes off the ball briefly.

I've had a lovely weekend.  For mother's day, my younger daughter invited the whole family round for tea as well as her mother-in-law and another family friend.  We had a lovely evening together.  My daughter had made two big pans of soup - carrot and coriander and tomato.  To go with it, we had a choice of three varieties of homemade bread - herb, ciabatta and multigrain. Lovely! And there were fruit baskets (filo pastry filled with strawberries and cream) and a chocolate tart.  My son had made me a card helped by my grandson who had made his own card for me and also covered a little box with bits of tissue paper and put some sweets inside.  When he gave me the card and present he informed grandad that they were not for him, just for me but in a very stern voice so that grandad would do as he was told.  Just lovely!

I thought I'd join in with Astra's revolution.  You can find her blog at A Journey to a Dream:

http://ajourneytoadream.blogspot.com/

This month the 10 things that are making me happy are:


1   I have a working toilet : )
 
2   My friend down the road has given me a portion of her Friendship Cake  mix last weekend.  I just love sourdough bread and cakes.  It is that lovely tang which is just a delight.
 
3   Just two more weeks and it is the Easter holiday from school - yay!
 
4   Confession time - I love playing Zuma Blitz on facebook.  This month I got my highest ever score in the year I've been playing. I was happy about that as I had beaten my daughter's score.  Mum is not quite over the hill yet. 
 
5   I feel healthier than I have for many months although I still get tired too easily.  Health is one of those things that we really take for granted until it isn't there so it is a real pleasure to say that I feel so much better right now.
 
6   I've been doing a bit of crafting again.  When I'm not well or stressed, I don't like to make anything because I am never satisfied with it.  I suppose it is because my brain is too fuzzy.  I've just done a little cross stitch picture and I'm currently knitting a jumper for a friend's little girl - and I'm happy with them.
 
7   I've been able to read lots of books recently.  They are mostly books from the school library that are aimed at teenagers.  I've just finished two books by Deborah Ellis about a girl's life under the Taliban in Afghanistan.  They are fiction but based on fact.  My life is so easy by comparison.  I'm happy to be able to go about freely, to have a job and to live without fear of being beaten up or of imprisonment without due cause.
 
8   I've been able to sing with the church music group again this month after my voice being gone for 10 weeks with my last chest infection.  I'm not the world's best singer but I do really enjoy singing.  It makes me happy.
 
9   Like Astra, I appreciate the lighter mornings and evenings.  I feel like a mole in the winter when I get up in the dark, go to work in the dark and come home again in the dark.  The lighter evenings also mean that I can see my little hens in the evenings and I like that.
 
10  I've seen and talked to both my grandchildren this month.  I'm hoping that I'll see them again this weekend for Mothers' Day too.  My grandson has discovered Spiderman.  I'll try and post a picture later...

My husband had a non-teaching period last thing yesterday so he popped to Wickes and bought a new bit to connect the offending toilet to the existing pipes.  He went home and fitted it and...... no more leaks!  Hooray!!!!!!!  We conclude that the part from Screwfix must have been faulty.

I can't tell you just how excited I am to have a toilet that doesn't leak all over the bathroom floor.  And how pleased I am to be able to give up using that bucket : )

Aaaarrggh.  The new toilet is still leaking.  Last night the problem was found to be worse when we went up to bed and so my husband, tired though he was, had a look at the problem. Again.  And he made the problem even worse.  And he has a meeting at school this evening followed by a meeting at church.  And he says that he must go to both.  And he is at school again tomorrow evening.  And at church the evening after.  And meanwhile, the toilet is still leaking across the floor.  He is wondering if the unit that links the new toilet to the existing pipe is faulty.  So it looks like he will be going to buy a new one on Friday.  I'm not sure my patience will stand the strain.

The hens are laying like mad at the moment.  The newest hens have definitely realised about laying because Sun-Thurs they have laid an egg each every day.  I'm twisting everybody's arms to buy eggs at the moment because I know that after the spring flurry is over, some of the older hens won't lay again beyond the very occasional egg.  The money I get now provides their pension for a comfortable old age : )