The Best Christmas present

My Results are in , I don't have Ms , Quite a few white spots on the Brain that the Neurologist is putting down to ageing , I still have the problems but  i will discuss  them with  my doctor on wednesday , 

It's probably the fibromyalgia and osteoarthritis that is causing lots of my problems although none of these explain why i keep tripping up  but i am so happy that i don't have such a deliberating disease, 

So i am soooo looking forward to the new year , I have so many plans ,

We have been married for 40 years in June so  i am hoping to have a penny pinching  holiday to celebrate  , 

I would love a garden party but Dave is not so keen , 

The business in the new year will either  be flourishing or ending completely , Not being able to drive is holding me back as , Dave is not well enough to cope with traffic to take me where i need to be to get stock and  in other situations i am paying more than i need to for it so am loosing out , 

But on the other hand i am so looking forward to getting into my new garden that was created last  year , 

Is there anyone out there that is looking forward to the new year rather than Christmas. 

I have included some of my favorite pictures from my blog from the last couple of years. 

Mom and Dad , Brother and sister.

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Merry Christmas and A Happy new Year from Eileen xxx

Muscle foods

For a long time now i have wanted to try muscle foods ,Hopefully reducing  my food bill even more, So when they had the black friday deal i took advantage and sent for the new customer pack , 

Initially it looked brilliant  and very good value for money , I seperated it into individual meal portions and was looking forward to creating delicious meals with the meat , There were a couple of things i knew we wouldn't eat like turkey thigh meatballs but on the whole like  i said it looked great ,

 The first thing we tried was the hache steaks they were as tough and rubbery as old boots , The steak was in chunks not sliced and was also very tough , The chicken  after initially roasting it in foil it didnt have much taste so i had to add herbs and butter to give it some taste ,The bacon was slimey,The chicken burgers tough,
The rest of the meat we had tried has been of similar quality and i am not very happy at all spending £79.00 and then every meal time worrying what its going to taste like , I have now had to turn the steak into casseroles or pies cooking it for very long periods in the slow cooker , 
So i complained , The customer service was very good but they wanted to replace the items i was not happy with but i don't want any more of their meat , The only thing that looked Ok was the Artisan Turkey so i opted for one of those feeling satisfied with the offer , 
Well that was until this weekend being snowed in and running out of bread flour (very unusual for me ) we had the protein loaf that came with the meat and almost straight away as soon as i opened the packet i could tell it was not fresh , It was the smell of a loaf you have had for a few days , Initially when i put it in the freezer i thought it was the texture of the bread but it wasn't it was stale , 

There was also a Beef pizza which came out of the packet soggy , I thought it would firm up after cooking it but it was still soggy and went in the bin so we ended up with egg chips and beans ,The problem is  in the end it has cost me more money because of having to come up with replacement meals , I have emailed the customer service and they offered to send replacements of these items but i declined , I am waiting to hear from them yet again , I know these products are sold because of their lack of fat but  i buy lean meat from the supermarket and don't have a problem with that and  am an excellent cook (even though i say it myself) so its not that either. Sometimes i wish i could become a vegetarian.  




Christmas decorations are up now , I have not bought one new decoration at all this year. 

Sorry about the lack of blog posts i am feeling a bit anxious as i am still waiting for the results of my scan wich they said would take two weeks now they are saying it could take six , It's been four now , I dont mind waiting it's just that they should not have told me two initially so i wouldnt get so wound up.


XXX  

I love buying Jewellery

Jewellery does not take up much space and i get to own it for a few weeks , I love silver more than gold , I sold all my own gold over the last few years and it funded a couple of caravan holidays so i was happy with my return here are my latest finds  

Then this beauty , The chain is gold but i am researching the mark on the pendent at the moment as i do not recognise it.

XXXX

Well i didnt like that

When i arrived at my appointment yesterday i was told the MRI would take 20 mins the first half then 10 mins the second half, 

I think the staff told me this because i was dreading the scan , I dont like the enclosed space and then they told me the first part i would have to wear a what they called a helmet , I would describe it as more like a cage that fits over your head with a bar across your face , This was supposed to take 20 mins it took 35 ,

 They then fetched me out so i could have the cage took off and i went back in for a further 25 mins , 

It was called a wide bed scanner that is supposed to be easier for people with problems with the normal scanner but it still is about 6 inches from your face and wraps all around you 

The problem is  i need some answers and had to talk myself out of continuously pressing the panic button , I did feel a bit proud of myself when i came out and they said well done you have done really well but i was uptight for the whole hour ,

 Mind you it didnt help that they had the download charts on and my god the current music is so rubbish a bit of supertramp or clannad would have been lovely, Anyway its over now i just have to wait for the results.

Ebay.

Does anybody sell on Ebay , Are you having problems selling things at the moment , I have put some of my things on Ebay and usually when november lands it gets really busy, people buying gifts but hardly anything is selling i really think people are struggling and this is a sign of the times , 

What do you think,

Just some of the Items i have on with a starting price of 99p

Job lot of vintage jewellery. 

  

The thing is Ebay is not very good at selling things in December either or will people be waiting until the last minute this year, Mind 

XXXX

Feeling a bit nervous

I  have my MRI  tomorrow ,SUNDAY ,Yes I  know ,It's Weird but  apparently that's the way they get the waiting lists down  ,This will be the bee all and end all of results , I have numerous health issues but choose to get on with them  and prefer to share with you the pretty things in my life rather than the negatives and occasionally share with you some of the health issues.

  But this one is a worry  as it will be to diagnose if i have MS once and for all.

 I am having a complete brain and spine scan ,

 I have had a lovely day with our daughter spending it at merry hill helping her to spend money ,

Me  as frugal as ever spent £18.00 on some M &S  knickers , The last lot lasted me for 8 years so hopefully this lot will too ,

On a positive note we have our bed being delivered thursday from Ikea a white metal bed ,we have the mattress so we will be able to finish the bedroom , Then i will do a post about it , This will help take my mind of waiting for the results apparently i will know one way or another by the end of the month.  

xxxx

IKEA

I have just been to Ikea and was intrigued to see a Christmas  room set  that draws you in through a mock bay window and it was really festive then i realised that without the tree and the decorations It was almost Identical  to our living room 

 The wall colour was the same , The mirror over the fireplace and the fireplace  was very similar and i wondered if somebody from Ikeas Decor team has been reading my blog , 

I worked for Ikea for 5 years and always wanted to get on to the elite deco team but you have to have the right qualifications and i hadn't, but its strange that somebody like me can create just as good a room without the qualifications or loads of money for that matter ,

 My mirror came from either a boot sale or a jumble for £3.00 even before Ikea started to sell them our furniture was sourced to be the cheapest  best value for money we could find or bought from jumble sales , The only thing the room did for me was to reinforce my desire to get a rug to make our room warmer , When i put the christmas decorations up the room will look almost identical , Weird isnt it , 

But if somebody came here who loves ikea and didnt know our room has been completed for months  they would have thought i had got the idea from there.

The sofa was from Ikea though.

We will be getting a bed from Ikea though as it's the best value for money with the style that we want and i will update the blog soon with the bedroom makeover. 

XXXX

Todays jumble sale buys

I Dont normally have time to visit the book section of the jumble sales but as there was some time to kill and not enough time to go home in between  two jumbles  so i took a look and i was really pleased that i did ,

  Just lately  i read my books then pass them onto my neighbour but these are in such good condition especially the hard back ones i will read them then sell them on my stall , They all cost 10p each , Even the cookery book , 

The paperback is in not so good a condition but i really fancy reading a christmas book so i am going to start that one today as doing two jumbles in one day has tired me out.


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This boys hoodie was 20p and the original label is still intact and it was nearly thirty pound.

These shoes were £2.00 and they are brand new.

xxxx

Disgusted at last nights eat well for less

The women on last nights eat well for less was spending more in a week on food that some people have in a month to spend , 

Alright she could probably afford it having her own dance school but it was disgusting she said she had a phobia of big supermarkets and shopped at the local garage shops or one stop small tescos

I think the producers of programs like this should come into the real world , Yes people need educating about food and swapping brands etc but surely there is a better way to do it , people need to go back to basics with ordinary cheap ingredients ,

 Even when i was working full time i spent sunday mornings batch baking and filling the freezer with meals for the week like spag bowl spaghetti bolognese, chilli , pizza , quick meals were simple egg and chips with beans or stir frys ,

 There are lots of frugal food bloggers out there who would really contribute to this type of program , simple frugal meals and cakes and puddings like these. 

 XXXX