Still frugaleering into Autumn.....

[Girliefriendlikesflowers]

New thread for us all to chat, support each other and hopefully save some money!!

hmm a weider post han normal from Laska.. not sure what [Bring] is!

Oooh its exciting isnt it? .. slightly overinvested in someone I have never met's pregnancy .but I need to go to bed (as after reading Observer article about sleep today have determined to shut of screen earlier each night) ..

Okay, I'm fully back on the thread now. The picture is the reason I've not been on for the past few days. It has been my aunty's 60th birthday this week & she asked me to make a cake for her party last night. I had several practice runs but in the end it turned out really well. It is quite a dense, rich chocolate sponge with white chocolate buttercream, edged in triple chocolate bark and piled high with brownie chunks on the top! I may never eat chocolate again 😁.

Now, back to reality, need to meal plan for the week. Also need to go round the house and write a list of jobs that need doing over the winter. Things like putting up pictures, touching up paintwork, etc. Things we can do that won't cost much, just time & effort.

I'm going to Edinburgh next weekend with DD, my mum & my aunty. It's been planned for months & we've been able to do it for just over £100 each for train fare and accomodation which I think is a bargain. We're staying in a 3 bed waterfront apartment in Leith which is much cheaper than city centre hotels. Hoping to keep additional costs down as much as possible.
Will catch up & read back now. Aiming to post at least once a day to keep focused.

Em normally posts lots of times a day without fail so maybe summat is brewing?

Cag no worries, I know you have a lot on! I will just send a pile of baby clothes hopefully won't clog up your house completely and if there's anything you don't need you can send it to the chazza. I'll stick the tens machine in, will research postage options and hopefully dispatch this week.

Mammy MIL is a kind lady but just doesn't understand DS. I think she interprets his behaviour through her neurotypical lens and therefore thinks he is naughty /deliberately rude. But he isn't. He is hard work at times, I'll give her that, but he is sweet and loving and I adore him.

Lonely the cake is here (not a great pic as it was 1am when I finished and the light in my kitchen is crap). I piped his name on the top afterwards too.

North that looks wicked! My cake was chocolate too, with buttercream filling and coated in chocolate ganache before fondant icing. I have a fair bit of leftover ganache and buttercream. I am thus deferring the diet again.

There is also Neptune and Pluto out of view round the corner. DS went straight in and ate Pluto before we'd even finished singing Happy Birthday

Whoaaa that cake is epic!!! Well done seacow

Looks super yum also north that's the kind of thing I plan to eat as soon as I'm allowed sugar :o

Seacow the cake is fab! I'm not good with fondant icing so take my hat off to you.

Two lovely cake photos! Thankyou thankyou!

Right, where is em ?

I hope she is ok! Maybe this morning's clearout really wasn't down to the cabbage :o fingers crossed all is well anyway.

I have still been a wreck this evening but did have a lovely cuddle with DD during which she felt baby turning. Her face just lit up 💕💕💕

Aw Cag, rest up and try to forget the big stuff and enjoy the small stuff just for a bit

That's so sweet Cag
Fingers crossed for Em wherever she is!

Fantastic cake art !

NSD as working and ended up an hour late getting off and hacked off as it was such a nice day

So. I haven't caught up today. Have...er...been otherwise engaged. Baby boy decided to make his suprise appearance 4 days earlier than expected. He weighed in at 7lb 1. Delivery was 4.5 hours (about 6 in total including contractions starting waters breaking etc) zero pain relief (I'm amazed I did that to be honest!) until afterwards when they did the stitches. I am overwhelmed and utterly in love. I never thought it possible to love someone like this. So so much love. 💙💙

EM !!! Congratulations! Had to check in once more before bed, so glad I did! Bloody brilliant news xxxxxx

That's a seriously quick delivery, take it easy, your body will be a bit shocked! Oh I'm so happy for you x

Oh my God! That's bloody amazing! I can't believe we were only chatting this morning. Well done em! And Mr. em too, obviously. So happy for you all.

Omg!!! Beyond ecstatic for you em that's so fantastic 😍😍😍 congratulations ❤️❤️❤️

Em huge congratulations to you! Fantastic news

Cobgrarulations Em, savour these first precious days x

Aw fanx guys.

Here he is. Absolutely perfect. Noisy. And hungry. But perfect. Now to perfect the art of doing things one handed.

Dh was bloody amazing. He kept me unbelievably calm. I honestly have no idea how I'd have done without him. I feel a bit "empty" now. It's a strange feeling.

Awww he's beautiful! 💕⭐️

Wow em congratulations! What a beautiful baby

Congratulations Em! Fantastic news. So glad it was a quick delivery. Rest up there and enjoy sleeping on your front.

My Dh is off to america. Just us two left here now for 2 and a half days.

Wow I went to sleep after my last post at 9pm last night & @ememem84 only goes and has a baby while I was sleeping well done em he's absolutely beautiful, no drugs too absolutely 👍🏼 hope he gives you some time to rest now
Super fast from start to finish, you'll be an expert at doing things single handedly by wed!

Seacow & north those cakes are amazing well done to you both.
*
Laska* I'm following Team RH Fitness a guy & girl team from Sunderland called Richie Howey & Rachel Hepton. It cost £15 to join and £3.50 monthly to be part of a private Facebook group. I also purchased a Fitbit older model off eBay to keep costs down. It's caloric deficit so you take in less calories than you burn to lose fat. Then those calories are split into protein carbs & fat with a special emphasis on fibre. Basically you eat within your calories & aim to to hit your protein & fibre goals & the rest are interchangeable. Water intake is based on your Bodyweight, my goal is 3.2l per day. The Fitbit tells you your calorie burn & also your stepcount. I've 9.5lbs lost since June 22nd.

Lonely I need to watch the videos
North Edinburgh is my absolute favourite place in the world 🌎, the bus from leith into town is very regular too, and leith is a beautiful village. Enabling a bit here but my first time ever being in bear factory was in leith shopping centre

Sorry about all the bold text obviously just laska was meant to be bold.
Sunny you'll do great & the time will whizz by

Cherry tomatoes were refunded by Tesco 79c - result!