It’s not just the shopping, it’s the rapid growth of my beanpole 10 year old – she’s not only outgrown last year’s school shoes but her bike as well. So when we were mooching around the shops the other day I wondered if I should really buy her new school kit now or wait a couple of weeks, and with time running out until the #blogladesh/Bangladesh, I decided to put it all on hold.

That said, somebody up there must like me – this problem has now been solved. We got this lovely package delivered today, as photographed by Miniminx.

And then we opened it to find a selection of the Tesco Clothing school uniform range. It’s part of a blogger tagging idea and I really like it because it’s relevant, fun, convenient and great timing, so thanks from me!

Before I go any further, I am going to nominate Linda S Jones of Got Your Hands Full to receive the same pack. So Linda have a look for the rules at the end of the review – I’m sure they’ll send you a twin-pack!

Tops: we got a cardigan which is a wool mix – it’s a simple design and gets a ‘thumbs up’ from both of us. There are several styles in the range and they’re contemporary without trying too hard. I really like the girls Fair Trade Pique Polo shirts which are £4.00 for a pack of two. The Girls Long Sleeved shirts are £10 for three. Bottoms: the skirt is nicely designed and the trousers are a very pale grey – we like the buckled kilt best. There is a good range to choose from on the site and some shorts too which would look good with woolly tights.

I’ve never bought school uniform from Tesco so I am keen to look over the range. We tend to plump for Marks and Spencer and have had a dreadful experience with Asda’s range – the teflon skirt I bought had material so hard and tough that it actually cut my daughter’s leg and drew blood. It went straight in the bin and we never went back there again. It seem the competition on the high street is to provide the cheapest school uniform but retailers tend to forget they have to be of a decent quality, design and hard wearing as well as comfortable.

At first glance the uniforms look fine – although a little small for my daughter. She is just over five feet so she doesn’t fit the 9-10 size and we’re plumping for the 11-12 group. We tend to buy clothes on height rather than age now anyway but it’s worth checking out, especially if you’re buying online. The size guide on the site is found next to the product and it’s really thorough.

So what does Miniminx think? She reckons it’s ‘Alright’ which in child speak is pretty ok, since choosing clothes with a 10 year old is a case of ‘No I’m never wearing that’ or ‘But it’s only a £100 for those boots, they’ll last ages. Well, you get my drift.

I have had a good nosey around the Tesco school uniform range and it’s pretty cool price wise and the designs should have H&M rushing back to the drawing board. I’m particularly impressed by the raincoats which start from around £12 and the range of choice too.

The key issues for choosing school clothes are mobility and wearability – there’s no use wearing a pencil skirt if you’re running around the playground all day and stiff materials make for uncomfortable wearing too, and at worst rashes. The overall look is important. We have spotted some really hip kids uniform in Zara but it’s outlandish and as my daughter said ‘I’d never wear that in a million years’. I think kids like to customise their uniforms but don’t want to look like idiots – like the rest of us.

By the way, I’m taking the pens from the pack to Bangladesh to give away to the children there.

If you’ve been tagged by me and want to get involved, here are the rules; to tag someone else once you’ve got your pack from Clothing at Tesco you simply upload a photo of your pack to your blog, and tag a fellow mummy blogger. Simple.

I’ve signed up to loads of voucher sites and I’m quite partial to making savings when and where I can but I always prefer a recommendation from someone.

VoucherHub combines the two because it’s people-powered so it helps you in both finding and sharing money-saving vouchers. Members post, recommend and rank thousands of online and printable vouchers for food, fashion, travel and services, making it fast and easy to find the best available discount.

I was surprised at the variety of companies featured because there’s even the NCT which is great for families.  There’s also great brands like ASOS and I spotted some great savings on eBay too.

There are lots of places where you can share and also recommend vouchers but it’s ot hugely populated at the moment.

Living Social is well worth checking out but it’s London only and one day deals so I can already hear you lot outside of the capital groaning – check back if you’re coming to town for some sightseeing and shopping, you might get a great deal on a restaurant.

And then there’s groupon which is another social shopping deal site with lots of big daily offers.

Well, I’m being dramatic, I have not replaced the entire wardrobe, it’s had a necessary update as a few things need replacing. Actually, these few things are being parked permanently; in the dressing up box or the ‘vintage’ pile for my daughter, never to see the light of day until she asks for them.

But back to the spree. For once, I avoided my holy trinity of Selfridges, Harvey Nichols and Whistles and headed to Hoxton Boutique – one of my faves – and as you can see from the photo it has an eclectic style. It’s the first time in ages that I feel really excited about the clothes. Usually I do a smash and grab panic buy and feel like I’ve got clothes just for the sake of it and don’t really feel good in them. But these are all great and from new designers I don’t know which means a discovery has been made.

I’ve managed to bag a gorgeous Totem dress and a gorgeous BZR braided cream top. Also in the bag is a Sugarhill boutique dress – handmade in Bali and very individual. My new finds for everyday wear are Pastelle and not the Kanye West range – this one is by Patricia Elbaz, Dr Denim and BZR. It’s so refreshing to find new affordable labels that cater to the individual. I love the less mainstream shops like APC and The Dispensary but they’re really rooted in my 90s style and I’m really going off the brash big designer brands. I’m not quite sure why.

So what triggered this particular mini spree? I’m sad to say this has all been brought on by a most disastrous wardrobe malfunction last weekend. What was I thinking? Perhaps the excitement of the World Cup clash of England v US and the sunshine combined with a big fat bbq at my house with oodles of friends had something to do with it. As usual, with so much to do, I hadn’t really planned my outfit and thought I could easily play it by ear. I had planned to get in a cleaner to blitz the house and also iron a Luton van’s worth of clothes – I booked one using what looked like a pretty cool web site, but they never got back to me! So I was left in the lurch to do all the cleaning myself and collapsed under the weight of it all and sloped off to Miniminx’s School Summer Fair before the guests arrived. I managed two glasses of wine before wobbling home on my bike to get ready.

It must have been a stress related decision. My top was fine, my leggings were fine, my feet, my hair but I had no skirt. My favourite G-Star skirt which I’d worn to death had been binned a week before and I’d promised myself to buy a new one but did not have the time. Rats.

They always say never keep anything you haven’t used or worn for two or more years, so what tempted me to rummage through my old designer rags that I’ve long tired of but can’t bear to throw away I don’t know. I’ll put you all out of your misery now – I donned a Helmut Lang hipster black denim mini that should not be worn by anyone over 40 who has given up smoking. I admit it was not my smartest decision. But I I was being ironic. As I sat down to look at my photos from the day I saw ‘the photograph’. You know that photograph, ‘the one’ that makes you check, check and recheck that it’s you. Oh dear oh dear.

I’d like to say I have checked into a spa until I hit size zero and feel ready to emerge refreshed and renewed. Well, actually, I’d rather say, sod that. I’m far too old to get caught up in all that vanity. I just went out and bought a more flattering wardrobe that fits, and binned the unnecessary booze that I love to guzzle.

And the reason I adore my Totem dress is that it’s a total liar, the label says size 10 which is most definitely US 10 but I’m not telling anyone that!

I love a bit of luxury but I wouldn’t say I spend as much as £24,000 per year like some. Neither would I say it’s a feminist principle to pamper or not, it’s just about feeling good and having your favourite products. For me it’s got to be a sumptuous pot of Laura Mercier body souffle, a gorgeously dressed bottle of Pucci perfume, or maybe some Rose handwash and even better a Morrocan rose bath soak. Whatever it is, it must be full of natural aromas and ingredients and packed with ingenious, life ehancing science that doesn’t harm the planet and makes me look and feel great.

What’s your favourite brand and would you consider up or downgrading? Are you a Boots No 7, Creme de la Mer, Mac, la Prairie, Khiels fan or all of the above? Or do you shop in the temples of beauty like Harvey Nichols or Boots?

I’ve loved Space NK for many years and been a slave to the gloss and glitter been able to get the best nail colour, the newest edgy brands, quality products and loads of great advice. While I’m obviously captivated, my loyalty is being tested… My latest splurge has left our household smelling of delicate flowers, I’m scrubbed and polished and Miniminx has had a heavenly milk bath soak before bed and will probably dream she is Cleopatra this evening.

I bought this body scrubber. It”s an Space NK one £18 (suspiciously like something I used to buy from the Bodyshop back in the day).

And then I got this gorgeous body wash which is great for exfoliating and detoxing ropey old Winter skin.

I also bought some more Terry eyeliner – the best ever, ever, ever – it shimmers and sets and doesn’t fold or flake, try it. And some Dr Sebagh face wash (can’t live without it), Laura Mercier eyebrow pencil and cream blush. Well at least I thought I did.

I got home and the blusher was not in the bag. While I’d not been charged, I was really peeved. I’d planned a whole new look – and I wanted to try it out at home immediately, as you do. It’s not the first time I’ve felt so disappointed. Last weekend I dropped into Space NK Bournemouth and asked for a product and was told they did not have it, I felt affronted by the sniffy sales assistant – I was away from home and I had run out of cleanser and I needed it, I didn’t need to be laughed out of the shop. At Christmas I bought a fabulously glittery eyeshadow which I tried in the Covent Garden branch – only to find they had put the wrong one in the bag and when I got home and opened the packaging, it was navy and not the silver one I’d chosen. It’s still sitting unused in my make up box, I’ve not had the time to sort out a refund or exchange.

I’m wondering if I’ll keep spending my hard earned money there.

Why am I sharing all this?
I want something better.

If you’ve got as little time as I have but the desire to shop and nice things, why should it be so impossible?

I don’t want to go traipsing from branch to branch in search of a product, I want a really personalised service that fits around me and gets my product past the till and into my make up box. After all the money I’ve spent over the years, surely I deserve it.

So let’s look at Avon.

A friend of mine gave me some really gorgeous pyjamas the other day – they’re from shock horror Avon, they’re bloody great. Then I had an Avon catalogue dropped through my door the other day…I’ve put it outside on the windowsill but I might just grab it back in after my experience today. Another friend of mine texted me today to say she was thinking of joining up with Avon. Seems like everyone’s at it doesn’t it? I suppose after the credit crunch, we’re all in need of some extra cash.

It leaves me wondering first off; whose pocket do I want to line with my hard earned cash and second; if I’m going to make the change from a depersonalised service to something more community based.

I’m a busy working Mum who doesn’t have time to faff about and have to keep going in and out of shops, I want face to face yet convenient service. Imagine if that was in my home or round the corner at a friend’s house with a few other friends coming over for a glass of wine and a natter…if Avon products are good, I’ll give them a try.

Oh, that’s unless Space NK fancies popping round to mine … I’ll bring a few friends too, honest!

The Victorian architecture is, even now, quite scary but there are so many places to explore and investigate inside this great building, it’s hard not to resist it’s pull. The creatures recorded within and on display still give me the shivers now – how could they have ever existed? Gigantic, prehistoric, weird and many of them now long extinct, it pushes the boundaries of imagination for us little city folk to imagine how things once were. This is really where the wild things are.

I must have been about eight years old when walking beneath such a great colossus crystallised in my mind and became the great memory that it is. Today, it maybe a little less magnificent, even dusty on the top, but this gargantuan structure still inspires me with awe. It’s the Blue Whale.

In my mind, I remember walking underneath it in a great big hall and wondering at it’s sheer size and might. It’s since been sidelined to a lesser space, but it’s still very enchanting.

And of course, generation after generation, we always wish to inspire our own offspring and let them experience the same things we did.

They never really do see it the way we did, but it’s a great thing to share all the same. This is London at it’s best.

This weekend’s trip, and it definitely wasn’t our first one, was a voyage of discovery for Miniminx. While we went to experience the Butterfly Jungle, it was she who was the real butterfly of the day. She fluttered and skipped around and had a great adventure in the jungle of centuries past.

We walked (she skipped) around and tried our best to believe that many of these things were once real. Woolly Mammoths in London? Wolves that returned to the sea and became whales? Soft shelled tortoises? It was pretty cool and very outlandish, but that’s nature for you, even if it is behind glass.

Check the Panda…complete with bouffant bikini line…(my observation not Miniminx’s I might add)

Oh, and this hybrid cross-continental tiger…how majestic and yes, how stuffed, but we learned something!

The Butterfly Jungle was actually quite a challenge. When we walked in, we were immediately faced with glass tanks full of snakes and cockroaches and strange looking jungle life. Not quite the pretty Sunday afternoon spectacle we were anticipating. Then Miniminx was freaked out when she turned round to see a man with a butterfly languishing on his nose. I’d been looking forward to this little adventure, but she was feeling quite skittish, so I guided her towards the pretty things to get her on an even keel.

‘Ooh Mummy look at those!’
Ahem. How do you explain this little butterfly dance?

But how can you not fall in love with this cheeky creature? Check his legs-akimbo-stance. Like a character from a fairy tale isn’t he?

And these lovely geckos – Miniminx took this one – she has a great sense of drama in composition – it’s like geckos do Prison Break.

And I don’t know why, but these look like some kind of insect-world restaurant in China Town – you know the ones where they have the glazed duck hanging in the window – do you see what I mean?

And of course, we couldn’t leave without a drama. I spotted a butterfly languishing on the back of Miniminx’s skirt just before we left. I should have kept my mouth shut and not excitedly said;
‘Look, there’s one on your bum!!!!!!!!!!!!’
‘Aargh’

Before you could say Cabbage White, she was off and running like a bat out of hell through the dividing doors and into the exhibition shop flapping as if she had bats in her hair. She managed to export the butterfly with her which meant I had to very carefully guide the poor thing through two lots of clear plastic dividers.

Needless to say, I smiled graciously at the shop assistants and shepherded Miniminx into the Great Hall.
She spotted this fish and was momentarily entranced.

Was it the gothic setting?
The overwhelming sense of the Victorian age?
The cold, the glass, the stillness of it?

‘Mum.’
‘Yes, what is it?’
‘It’
‘Yes – a fish?’
‘It’s’
‘It’s a what darling?’
‘It’s, staring.’
‘Mmm, I suppose it is.’
‘Mummy! It’s staring! At me!’
‘Is it?’
‘YES’

To be honest, I found it hard to disagree, museums can be a bit gothic and creepy. It was time to get back to the real world. And of course, with Knightsbridge on the doorstep, we had a spot of lunch, a nice little wander up the road, and yes, the great Museum of Shopping to explore…a perfect Sunday.

It’s not that I don’t get out much.

I’ve been all over the social-meeja-blogandbeer-scape this week and I’m also popping to Butlins for their Tweet Up in a couple of weeks. I just can’t get enough of it in fact!

What’s so amazing about all this stuff is there’s room for everyone and it’s not just powerful as a new media (think blogs/twitter/facebook/myspace et al) it’s really getting people together and empowering people to connect and share in new ways.

A few weeks ago I went to SMCLondon and was pretty gobsmacked. VioletPosy recommended it to me some time ago and I offered to guest blog. I met a lot of very cool people with a lot interesting things to say. In fact, I hadn’t felt such positive energy among a bunch of people for a long time. This reminded me of the early days of the dot com boom and it’s a totally invigorating feeling and anitdote to the credit crunch.

So this week, I hightailed to my old hometown; Shoreditch, and popped in to see Vanessa and Katie at The Sway event downstairs at The Great Eastern Dining Rooms. Oh heavens above, this was certainly one step close to career nirvana and an evening full of highjinx. I have fond memories of the venue, when it first opened I had lunch with a fashionista friend and we drooled at Isabella Blow who was dining delicately in the corner, and dressed exquisitely.

The Sway brings a touch of Sex and the City to blogging – I kid you not, it was a very glamorous evening and lots of amazing people there too – the chicks who click are hipsters. My Armani jacket (it’s out of the wasdrobe again!!) and killer heels certainly got a run for their money. I was quite taken with Deluxe – a site I think a lot of you out there probably know already, and if not should check out. There was also a free bar and some lovely canapes provided by the sponsor Skimlinks and I was impressed with the company’s slick social networking products which I hope to look into more.

On the same night, there was the London Bloggers meet up at Shish! on Old Street – another flashback to days and nights gone I thought. As The Sway wrapped up, a few of us went to the Meet Up. It was a good crowd and sadly I’d missed the speaker. I got a chance to chat to all of the people there and had some very big laughs too. Andy who hosts it is great fun as are the other bloggers who I met.

It’s a good time to be a blogger!

Piddle.

The thought of making a mad dash to grab a new one left me on the verge of passing out. I’ve spent the last month trying to perfect the recipe for my gorgeous breakfast treats. But there’s pain, and there’s PAIN.

I am still suffering from a 1,000 yard dash in very high heels down the Kings Road two nights ago.  My feet are in ribbons. If that wasn’t bad enough, after a full day in the office in four inch heels yesterday, I went to meet my very fast-on-her-feet sister for dinner and a movie last night. I must have walked two miles from the station to restaurant to cinema to car park, and the soles of my feet were screaming.   And so was I inside.

Today I have found solace in my Minnetonka moccasin boots, call me Pocahontas, I don’t care, comfort is what I’m craving.

So back to the checkout.

In bleeding heart style, I meekly held up the offending sugar bag to show the lovely man on the check out that it had sprung a miniscule but meaningful leak.

‘I’m sorry,’ I choked the words out. ‘But there’s a hole in the bag, I am not going to take it’

‘You can change it you know.’
I yawned (how embrassing at 6.45pm) and rather comically raised my tired and deflated eyebrows (yes I can, no botox). Please ring the bell and ask some wonderful person to save my feet and get it for me, I was thinking.  He opened his mouth as if to say the magic words, but…out came
‘Yes, you can’
My eyes narrowed. I did not need a Barack Obama-ism to spur me on to do another marathon around our supersized not so super market.
‘I’m. Too. Tired.’ I gasped.

But after two days back at work and a marathon shop, that’s the easy bit out of the way. My Easter holidays are just beginning. I’ve got to head to North, South, East and West London, there’s an Easter Egg Hunt to prepare, a massive Sunday feast to produce and packing for a holiday and that’s all before the back to school mayhem, and then work. Compared to what’s coming, this was a bloody picnic!

Honestly, I’m really looking forward to it all. But there always needs to be a Plan B. At times like these, my hero Pedro Almodovar springs to mind. I’m a real fan of his early movies and especially this Gazpacho recipe. It’s an evil twin to my Bloody Mary Mix which I’ll begin marinading tomorrow for Sunday.

Ladies and gents, if your Easter Sunday gets too much don’t worry. When everyone hits the chocolate high from too many eggs, you may start to feel the exasperation of being chained to the kitchen and that irksome feeling when the champagne runs dry. Fear not, just remember this clip from Women on the Verge of A Nervous Breakdown. It’s an all time family favourite among the women in my family. Give them a bowl of this special gazpacho and I guarantee you’ll have a peaceful day and no arguments over what crap to watch on telly.

picture credit James Mosingo

No darlings, no typo, I’m far too considered for that. I suppose it’s more of a wardrobe misfunction. Or really a malfunction. Actually, it’s a nonfunction. No, no, sorry. It’s a gone-function.

‘Wasdrobe’ is my new name for what was my work wardrobe. It came to me as I opened up the white doors to find something to wear for my child-free bout of weekend socialising. I rifled through the rails marvelling at all this smart stuff I haven’t worn for months and had a small but perfectly formed revelation. A very obvious and great divide had evolved….

You see, while I’ve had time on my hands, I’ve put it to good use. I’ve done what every good girl should, but no frazzled full-time-working-bread-winner-plate-spinning Mum can do, I’ve colour coded my wardrobe (yep, I bet you’re jealous).

I know, it’s not exactly ground breaking, but it’s my own kind of Hong Kong Shoey Feng Shui. Starting on the left with a winter white Prada waterproof jacket that’s definitely seen a few adventures…moving towards chocolate browns including a very neat suede biker cut jacket, a D&G striped knit with olive sleeves and a few choice khaki items; linen trousers etc, then on to my blue clothes, and ending at my DVF purple satin wrap blouse. Then strangely, a gap. Well not quite a gap, it’s filled with empty wooden hangers. And towards the right, it’s all gone a bit Johny Painter – see vid if you’re not a Fast Show aficionado…

So there it is.
A preCredit Crunch collection of expensively tailored, extensively searched for, very exquisite and very defunct clothing.

Black cacherel 50s style jacket, my prized Armani cinched waist rosette jacket, DKNY nipped waist dress, Miu Miu capri pants, black merino jersey t-shirt, black stretch cotton tank, black biker jacket, black Maggie Wonka net skirt, some eco friendly black wrap dress. And there’s a whole lot more languishing at the dry cleaners.

But who cares about the designers – it’s all just black – and a sign of things now past. Like they say, consigned to the back of the cupboard. And how the world has changed…

Funny isn’t it when you see a little capsule collection, or rather a time capsule, like that?

You know me, I’m always at a loose end these days but I do manage to keep myself pretty busy. So today’s ‘job’ was to get back to basic communication and create a flyer and publicise my ‘Lost’ notice to my neighbours and use some good old fashioned door to door leafleting.

I found myself inhabiting a strange new junk mail world as I opened creaking gates and posted my flyer through the NO JUNK MAIL stickers on letterboxes. I met a nice VSO lady on the way round, she was doorstepping for volunteers, and a rather gorgeous delivery man who eyed my leaflet very sweetly (he obviously thought I was the neighbourhood kook, and I guess he’s right).

The whole thing was quite scary. While I managed to get a good old gander at the decor and decay of the houses in my close vicinity, I was terrified of being pepper sprayed or worse, attacked by dogs. Thankfully I was not, and amazingly that was my whole morning taken up.

I’m sure you’re wondering by now what my particular ‘Lost’ thing is.

Well, when we moved here last year, Miniminx and I thought it would be a great idea to let our gorgeous little tortoise Shelley experience the great outdoors and experience summer on the lawn. I’ve never seen her so lively, she chomped and tiptoed her way around the garden like Angelina Ballerina, she grew, her eyes sparkled, it was a good thing. Whenever we brought her inside, she would walk up to the french doors and gaze longingly at the big wild world outside and even bring herself up onto two legs. So you got it, we gave in and set her loose. She’s a born wanderer, and started disappearing for the odd day, and come back, then a week and come back, and then three weeks and back. But by September she had upped and left us. I was worried that she’d taken up home with the tortoise four doors down or worse, snaffled by the foxes under the shed. Worried as I was, I knew she could peck her way out of any situation, but come the snow, Jack Frost would get her. I have had terrible dreams about her demise over the last few months and felt haunted by her loss. While I feared the worst, and Miniminx has shed a few tears, I’ve always kept the faith strong and believed she would return triumphantly in the spring.

So the nature of my DIY-Direct-Mail shot was a last concerted effort to find Shelley. It was quite poetic…

HAVE YOU SEEN OUR TORTOISE?
Our lovely tortoise Shelley has gone walkabout.
We have a feeling she may wake up out of hibernation in your garden because we’re neighbours. Her usual habitat is XXXX XXXXX, so if you find her keeping your lawn in trim please call us on XXXXXXXX
We have all the documentation to prove she is ours.

You get the idea.

Much as I’d like to say I felt a bit smug about my little lost tortoise campaign, I was actually feeling really guilty for losing her. And how upset Miniminx has been. And what if an empty shell is found in someone’s garden and they drop it by. And was I showing myself up as a complete and utter loser. And, and…so enough of all that, I had done all I could, and that was that, it was now in the lap of the gods.

I decided to get busy with the garden. I picked weeds at random and ventured to the bottom of the garden to check on our resident newts in the water butt. I know I’m naughty but when they’re basking in the water they look a bit dead so I’m not averse to poking them with a stick. Phew! The floating one was alive. I looked around the shed and felt a bit glum. Then I spotted the new ringweed shoots (that hideous scourge of any garden) I became a toxic avenger, brandishing the weed killer and spraying it with venom. I my eyes darted around the foliage, something moved, or did it?

‘OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!’ I boomed.
There was a shell, a Shelley shell. With little feet sticking out of it, but no head. I grabbed the poke-the-newt-stick and gingerly reached out towards my muddy beloved.
‘Is she…..?’ I whispered to myself
‘Is she….?’ I reached over and tapped her shell. She moved! Her head popped out.

photo credit Bob Gibbons

‘ALIVE! YESSS!’
I ran inside shouting
‘The tortoise, she’s back! Hurray!’
A startled cleaner jumped up and down.
‘Sweet’ she said. Maybe I should have offered her £20 ages ago and she would have found her in the manner of my iPod?

Weirdly enough, I’d been checking tortoise web sites to find out what I should do with one straight out of hibernation. So I put the taps on in the sink to get the water running and filled it, adding some sugar.

I headed back outside, darling Shelley had the appearance of a little space creature that had just landed – slightly dazed and looking around wildly (well as wildly as a tortoise can) at her new surroundings. She was covered in mud so must have tunnelled out of somewhere pretty recently. What a result!

She is now bathing in the manner of Cleopatra in a large warm bath and happily chomping on greens. I still can’t quite believe she just appeared, but hang on a minute. On second thoughts, do you think some bastard got the leaflet, realised that she belonged to us and then just lobbed her over the fence in a panic?

I’ve obviously lived too much of an urban life. For just a moment ago, I got a call from a concerned neighbour.

‘Hello, I got your note’
‘Hi’
‘I haven’t found her, but I’ll be sure to keep an eye out for her’
‘Thanks so much. But do you know what? Oh, you’ll never guess what.’
‘What?’
‘Can you believe it, I just found her at the bottom of the garden. Alive and well and she’s reviving after hibernation in the sink, happy as larry’
‘Aaaah, that’s such a lovely story, that’s made my day’
‘And mine, thank you so much for calling’
‘No problem, that’s really great’

…now, much as I’d like to think it would be a better story if this caller had been the secretive tortoise-over-the-garden-lobber, I’m not going to believe it.

I’m happy to have my other little baby back…

This surely is frugaletarianism at it’s absolute best, happy reading.

Bin there…
First I bring you The Rubbish Diet , better than a bogof (‘buy one get one free’ for the uninitiated), it has a great round up of eight or so ways to keep your bin empty, your belly full and change in your purse.

Charity Begins at Home

Shoestring Alley is a great take on living for less and putting aside money for the future. So the lucky girl will be having a great holiday and a cushy Christmas in 2009.

I really like Potty Mummy’s new frugal ways – I’ve been taking a few notes, especially on the meal planning side…and you can save yourself a thousand quid or so, not bad eh?

Violet Posy shares her shabby chic style and tells us about her chair make over.

London for Free

The lovely Susanna at A Modern Mother sent me this post which makes me proud to be a Londoner. Our melting pot metropolis is possibly the most expensive city in the world, yet we still manage throw open the doors of our great institutions for free. Find out how you can have a free workshop at The National Gallery.

For Frugal Fashionistas

Bargain hunters will be delighted to discover Recessionista Sister who is up on all the latest high street deals so check out her posts, and keep yourself plush and lush for less.

Buying Designer Clothes has tips on customising your wardrobe and keeping on trend for just a few quid.

Sharon Rose has a fabulous Fashion Thrifting blog and waxes lyrical about her designer bargains.

Effing Had Enough of this Crunchy thang

Writeonmum bucks the trend of hiding behind the sofa when the bailiffs arrive and shares her peace love and crunchiness to solve our financial woes.

From Across the Pond

Mom Most Travelled gives a tutorial on how to make colourful play silks for the kids – just swap food colouring for Kool Aid and it’s a winner.

Almost Frugal has some reading tips – The Tightwad Gazette and Your Money or Your Life for a start – and asks what unlikely reads are helping to shape your journey towards frugality as she shares her own – and there are a few surpises.

Tighten Your Belt is happy to share advice with regular tweets on making every cent count. Sign up to the updates and check out the first top 20 tips here.

Nixdminx

My top tip? It’s a state of mind.   ! I’m getting on a cheap flight and heading to the sunshine for a few days to stay with some very good friends and spend time rather than cash…who knows, I may have a job soon and my lady of leisure lifestyle will be over.

Thanks everyone, please send us your top tips too, I hope you all enjoy new and interesting ways to live more for less!

And let’s not forget

“Take care of the luxuries and the necessities will take care of themselves.”

- Dorothy Parker