An Eco-Cleaning Week

The nice people at Ecover sent me a selection of their products to try out, and compare with my regular cleaning products.  So last week, I did the test, and here are the results.

Monday

I used the Power Cleaner to clean the top of my very greasy cooker, after a hard weekend of cooking.  I was very impressed by its degreasing ability, but kind of missed the lemony ‘clean’ smell of my normal Flash Kitchen spray.

Tuesday

Mirrors and some windows today, with the Ecover Window & Glass Cleaner.  It did an excellent job, on a par with my regular window & glass cleaner, no complaints at all.

Wednesday

Bathroom floor day: I used the Ecover All Purpose Cleaner, which had a nice lemon fragrance, though not very strong, and it didn’t last for long.  It cleaned the floor perfectly well.

Thursday

Today I used the Multi-Purpose Cleaner to clean my kitchen work surfaces (granite).  It worked very well, again just as good as my regular cleaner, but again I missed the fragrance. 

Overall, I was impressed with the products’ cleaning ability, and if they were on a price level with my regular products, I may well buy them next time I need  a cleaning product.

The other thing I’d like to mention is the plastic packaging – although it is made from 100% recyclable materials, my local Council don’t offer a facility for recycling this type of plastic, as I’m sure many others in the UK don’t, and the packaging therefore has to go into the landfill bin.  I’d like to see refills of the products available in more widely recyclable material in order to consider this a truly ‘eco’ product.

Edit Add Appreciate Sunday

 

Edit one thing–material objects, negative thoughts, bad habits, or activities that don’t reflect who you are as a person. It doesn’t have to be a physical thing; Sometimes bad habits and negative thoughts are more detrimental than physical clutter.

Add something. Bring in something or reinvent one thing in your life–thoughts, habits, activities, clothing, objects…Add something that will help you be a better person; And yes, sometimes a new pair of jeans can help!

Appreciate something or someone already in your life. Hug your children and tell them how special they are. Call your spouse, just because. Be extra polite to the guy who makes your latte. Frame that favorite piece of art.

It’s that time of the week again (already).  So, for this week …

Edit – Procrastination.  I’ve just downloaded a productivity app for my iPhone, which will hopefully give me a kick up the ar*e and help me get some of the stuff accomplished that I need to crack on with.

Add – Some pampering.  I feel the need to give myself a pedicure and paint my toenails, a face mask, pluck my eyebrows, and generally do all that girly stuff.  Ashley is away a couple of nights this week, so that will be a good opportunity to have some me-time.

Appreciate – my friends.  I’ve got a lovely social week lined up this week – lunch with two different friends on Monday and Tuesday, and catching up with an old friend for a coffee in the afternoon on Wednesday, who I haven’t seen for ages.  And we had a lovely dinner with friends last night as well.

Stolen Time by Sunny Jacobs

I spent a rather indulgent couple of hours in bed reading yesterday afternoon, and finished this book. 

It’s an autobiographical book written by a woman called Sunny Jacobs, who was sentenced to death at the age of 28, along with her partner, for the murder of two police officers, a crime they didn’t commit.  Sunny subsequently spent five years in solitary confinement before her sentence was commuted to life imprisonment.  She was finally released in 1992, after an incredible seventeen years behind bars.  Her partner, Jesse Tafero, was executed in 1990.

I saw Sunny being interviewed on television earlier this year, and was so amazed by her story, I just had to read the book.  It is brilliantly written: she is a remarkable woman, and I found the book totally uplifting and inspiring – an unforgettable memoir.

Shopping Spot Friday (A Bit Late … Again!)

Somehow yesterday just ran away with me.  As I mentioned earlier this week, I really want to tell you about some things that I just can’t write about at the moment, because I’ll spoil the surprise, so I’m afraid it’s rather a boring Shopping Spot this week.

I popped into town yesterday, looking for a black top to wear under winter cardigans, so I didn’t want anything too thick or woolly.  Couldn’t find anything in black that I liked, but I picked up this very nice dark grey blouse/shirt in Evans, which will do the job very nicely (it’s actually darker than it looks in the pic).  I paid full price for it (sharp intake of breath!) but I have an Evans store card, with one of those clever insurance policies whereby if the price of an item you’ve purchased is reduced in price within three months of purchase, you get a refund of the difference. 

I just file my receipts in my diary for three months hence, and take them back into the store after three months, and ask the staff to check the prices of the items on the till.  When I’ve amassed several receipts, I make a claim on the insurance, and they pay out usually within a couple of weeks.   I have saved literally HUNDREDS of pounds over the years doing this, and long may it last! 

Anyway, I digress.

While I was in town, I popped into Boots to pick up some of my usual hair styling gel, which was on special offer, reduced from £4.55 to £3.03, so I bought two.  If you spend £5 in Boots, you get a £5 voucher at the moment, to spend on an item from a number of ranges.  So with my £5 voucher, I bought some Boots Time Delay Instant Lip Plumper, which is a sticky lip gloss with amazing staying power which makes your lips tingle.  Best lip gloss in the world, in my humble opinion (and I’ve tried A LOT!).  And because I had the voucher it only cost me a very small amount (can’t remember exactly, as I can’t find the receipt, but it was cheap).

So then I went to Superdrug to look at the Barry M make-up (my new favourite brand, and how CHEAP is it?!)  Discovered this due to Amy’s recommendation over on her blog - thanks, Amy!  I wanted some new sparkly eye shadow for Christmas – I love a bit of sparkle at Christmas time, don’t you?  And I don’t imagine there’s be very many more years when I’ll be able to get away with sparkly eye shadow sadly – in fact, I’m possibly too old for it already .

Barry M was on 3 for 2, so I picked up two bright blue sparkly shadows and an orangey lipgloss, which actually tastes of orange – go figure!   There are so many lovely things in their range, I’ve got my eye on a sparkly liquid eyeliner next.  And I just LOVE the prices!

Right, off to do Saturday stuff – more work on my secret project.

Ebay Sales

So today (especially for you, apow!), I thought I would do a post on a few of the things I’ve sold lately on Ebay.

•  Isabella Rossellini perfume giftset, which I bought for 50p back in May this year, for £13.50.
• Bronnley Lily of the Valley soap giftset, paid £1 in June, sold for £4.95
• A Jo Malone carrier bag which had been knocking around in my understair cupboard for the best part of a year sold for £2.39 (go figure!)
• Boots No 7 Lipgloss set, picked up in August for £1, sold for £8.25.
• 2 Pringle golf jumpers, bought for £2.25 each waaaay back in Feb, one for £8.50, and the other not so good, only £4.  However, I was just delighted to get these sold, as I’d listed them for sale back when I bought them and got no interested at all.  Christmas is definitely the best time of year to sell some things!
• Molton Brown Giftset, for which I paid £2.50 in August turned out, as per my prediction, to be a winner, with a sale price of £22.32!  Woo hoo!
• Bag of stickle bricks, bought on the same day as the Molton Brown set, for 50p, sold for £5.50 earlier this week.
• Boots No 7 skincare giftset, paid £2 in June, sold for £9.

And just so you know I don’t always get it right, these two Monsoon tops that I bought back in June for £1.25 each, have totally failed to sell and are about to make their way to the charity shop (no chance of me ever getting into a size 10 top from Monsoon, I can tell ya!).

Oh, and one more:

• Body Shop giftset, b0ught for 50p, sold for £9.49.

I could go on, but I’m very bored of linking and have lots to do today, so I’ll leave it here, I think.

I was really pleased with yesterday’s progress, nearly completed the list that I posted (below).  Only managed to wrap 4 presents before running out of paper, but am waiting for more paper to arrive (everything except kids’ presents being wrapped in brown paper this year – how very green – or brown even!).  And didn’t manage to make start on secret project, but hopefully today for that.

Have Ashley’s mum coming for dinner tonight and am attempting Nigella’s crispy Chinese duck for the first time.  Have put Ashley on pancake making duty.  Will let you know how it turns out.

Have a great Thursday, everybody – not long till the weekend now!

The Train Now Waiting At Platform 3 ….

… is the express service to Procrastination Central.  Calling at: Fiddling With My Iphone, Make Another Cup of Tea, Avoid The Ironing, and Facebook.

Yup, that’s been my week so far.  

I heard on Monday that one of the school governors I’ve worked closely with for the last four years had died on Sunday (cancer).  She was a real example through her long illness, very brave and a real character.  The last time I saw her (less than two weeks ago at a committee meeting), she made me laugh out loud with her dry wit, which will be how I remember her.  So sad.  Candle for you, Stella, to light your way.

And I have been giving far too much headspace to the thing with my ex sister in law which I mentioned earlier this week.  It’ s been troubling me.  Mostly because I feel guilty about William’s relationship with his cousins.  I am happy to discontinue contact with Sarah – it had been getting less and less, anyway.  But I feel bad for William.  However, Ashley and his brother could make the effort to get the kids together (which they never have done.  Ever.)  Or indeed my mother-in-law could do so.  Why do I feel the need to take responsibility for this?  I don’t really know, but it seems to be nagging away in my head.

So, here’s the thing: I need to GET STUFF DONE (copyright Mo!).  I am going to list ten things here that I want to get done today, and I’m going to do them.

1. List six things on Ebay.
2. Make Nigella Breakfast Bar recipe (Will wants to help, so will have to be after I pick him up from school).
3. Go through two boxes of clothes which have been sitting on the landing since Dickens was a boy.
4. Wrap up ten more Christmas presents.
5. Hoover and dust my bedroom, and tidy large pile of clothes, too.
6. Tesco Wine order (v v v important, this one – must get it done TODAY!)
7. Filing (pile is possibly going to be vying for a place in The World’s Top Ten Highest Mountains if I do not tackle it.
8. Do a load of washing and get it dry.
9. Make a start on a project that I can’t tell you about because it’s for somebody who reads this blog: I bought something yesterday which is going to be an awful lot of work but will be absolutely fabulous when complete.  Couldn’t resist it.
10. Clean and polish kitchen worktops.

Wish me luck.

Edit Add Appreciate Monday

Edit one thing–material objects, negative thoughts, bad habits, or activities that don’t reflect who you are as a person. It doesn’t have to be a physical thing; Sometimes bad habits and negative thoughts are more detrimental than physical clutter.

Add something. Bring in something or reinvent one thing in your life–thoughts, habits, activities, clothing, objects…Add something that will help you be a better person; And yes, sometimes a new pair of jeans can help!

Appreciate something or someone already in your life. Hug your children and tell them how special they are. Call your spouse, just because. Be extra polite to the guy who makes your latte. Frame that favorite piece of art.

Edit – a toxic ex-sister-in-law out of my life.  I have tried to maintain a relationship with her because her children are William’s cousins, but her airing of her dissatisfaction with me via her Facebook status is the straw that has broken the camel’s back.  No more.

Add – present wrapping, and finishing present buying.    It would be great to have everything wrapped and ready by the beginning of December.

Appreciate – my lovely little boy, who is turning into a big boy toooo quickly.  How do they grow up so fast?

Sunday Car Booty

The weather is viiiiiiiile: woken up in the night by huge cracks of thunder followed by hail storm.  Didn’t make me feel much like leaping out of bed this morning, but leap I did, and I’m glad I did, because I got some good bits and bobs.

Rather nice pink Dunhill shirt, brand new, for Ashley, £1 (‘hmmmm, it’s very pink’ was his only comment.  He actually looks great in pink.  Get into the 21st century, man, and stop dragging your knuckles on the ground, for God’s sake).

Baby Whisperer book, 75p, to sell

Observer’s Book of Aircraft from 1969, £1.  Thought it might sell, but not sure. 

Soap & Glory giftset, £1 – to sell.  Should make a nice profit, particularly at this time of year.

Gorgeous baby leather booties in pretty box with Star Child logo, how cute are they?  50p, to sell

Brown leather ladies Clarks boots, £1.50 to sell, fab condition.

Brand new patent leather girl’s short, £1 to sell

Almost new Adidas kids trainers, £1.50 to sell

A rather nice printed silky top from Evans for me, – £2.

Bargainous high-end make up and skincare.  From 30p for the little Clinique moisturiser, to £1 for the bigger compacts (Estee Lauder and Elizabeth Arden, difficult to see in the photos), I think I will make a tidy profit on selling all these rather nice bits and bobs in time for Christmas.  Better get listing!

So, plans for the rest of Sunday ….

William is going over to his friend’s house this morning, and I’d half hoped to go for a nice walk this afternoon, but the weather isn’t looking too promising.  The bloody cats ate the pork I was defrosting for tonight’s dinner, last night (even took it out of the bag, which they’d apparently ripped open with their teeth, little buggers), so I’m guessing that a trip to the supermarket might be in order today at some point.  Other than that, some eBay listing, some reading, and some Gossip Girl on DVD, I think.  Oh, and some iPhone fiddling, of course ….

I May Be Some Time ….

I was going to write a ‘Things I’ve Done This Week’ post today, but I can’t be bothered, because I’m too busy playing with MY NEW IPHONE!!!!!!

How did I live without this marvellous thing for so long?  It’s a-MA-zing.  I love-love-love it.  It’s SOOOOOOO clever!  Can you tell I’m excited?

Seriously, though, I think it’s going to be brilliant in helping me with something I’ve been struggling with a bit lately, and have mentioned before: delineating clearly between work and home.  I’ve been chained to the computer in the office at home from morning till night recently, and I think this clever thing is going to help me be less chained.   For example, I won’t have to physically be in the office to access my Google Reader and catch up on everybody’s blogs.  And I can check if I have any eBay questions I need to answer without coming up to the office and getting caught up in lots of other stuff that catches my eye because I’m here. 

I believe there’s even a WordPress app, so I could blog from it, but I think the keyboard would drive me round the twist!

Anyway, guess what I’ll be doing this weekend?!

Friday Shopping Spot

Woken up this morning feeling generally under the weather and with a rotten headache, so once I’ve finished this post, I’m going to do the hoovering, have a tidy round, and then curl up on the sofa, methinks.  William’s been struggling with a horrible cold all week, so perhaps I’ve got that coming – just in time for the weekend – lovely!

Anyway, without further ado, here’s some more of my recently shopping highlights:

First up, these fab winter boots I picked up for William in Asda this week for only £12.  He’s been mooching round in Crocs or school trainers since the summer (apart from his school shoes) so I thought it was about time I bought him something more suited to our current weather!  He even likes them – result!

I popped into Richley’s last week (not one of my usual shopping stops, but my car was parked right next door, as I was picking up my new bedroom lights from the shop next door, and as they had a huge sign proclaiming a big closing down sale, I just had to go and have a quick nosy.  Very worthwhile as it turned out, as I picked up two of these pretty summer dresses (Monsoon) and three of these Per Una skirts, all to sell on Ebay, for the absolute rock bottom price of £1 each!  Was jolly glad I went in after all!

And last but not least, but lovely new bedroom lights.  I am so pleased with my bedroom, just the finishing few touches to complete now, and it will be done.  Please excuse the appalling bottom photo, I wanted to show you how the bedside lights look on and off, but it hasn’t come out brilliantly.  They look much better in real life, I promise.