SuperSavvyCircle - Always Discreet Part 2

Read the introduction post here :)

So carrying on from that - I read through all the material and got to work making up my goody bags to hand out to friends, families, acquaintances and anyone else who fancies a trial :)

So basically we had a buch of shiny purple bags to make into goody bags - nice and discreet just like the name :)

A pack of 20 small pads and a pack of 10 large pads

10 x money off coupons (£1 off pads £2.50 off pants)

Ask a friend sheets - not sure how many but lots :)

Info sheets

I made up 15 bags with a mix of items. I decided not to put the coupons in the bags instead I thought I would offer them to people who tried the product and expressed an interest in buying some more - rather than giving them to people who perhaps wouldnt use them :)

So each bag had either 1 x large and 1 x small pad plus the ask a friend sheet and the info sheet

Or it had 2 x small pads plus the ask a friend and the info sheet

I have already started giving out the bags :) and so far the response has been pretty positive.

I have also started using my pack which includes the regular size pads.

To give you an idea of the sizes I 'borrowed' the pads from my sister's bag (she didn't mind as I didnt take them out of the wrapping) and took this pic - excuse the hangers but they kept curling back closed!

As you can see there is a huge difference in the sizes of the pads including the length and the depth of them.

I'm currently trialling the regular ones and will post my findings on them next week along with some of the feedback from the other ladies I have shared with :)

+ 365 days 309-310

Day 309 - Friday

Today I had the day off work. I won ages ago a night's stay at Hilton St Anne's Manor house and Spa down in Wokingham we were due to go for my mum's birthday in July but due to my sister's dad dying and us having my niece who was very poorly at the time we had to cancel and rebook.

Anyways we were pretty excited about going - we dropped the hound off to my aunty Kath's at 11.30 - then we went to Morrisons - got some sarnies and some pop for the journey, filled up with petrol and headed off.

Everything was going pretty well - it's about 2 hours drive from Cardiff - at around an hour and 15 into the trip I stopped at the services for us to have a wee and a break.

This is then when things went wrong!

As I was pulling out of the services (driving around 5mph I might add) I hit the worlds biggest pot hole. Something went CRUNCH but the car seemed okay so back on the motorway.

Driving in the outside lane at around 80mph and the abs light comes on, then the airbag light comes on. I panic a bit and move into the middle land and drop down to 70mph. Then every single light comes on the dashboard, check engine, oil etc etc. I move into the slow lane and the car starts to lose power! The wipers stop, the indicators stop, nothing electrical works not even the hazards, I manage to glide onto the hard shoulder as the car completely gives up the ghost.

I panic slightly - no hazards and visibility is very poor and trucks are getting very very close to the car. It's pouring with rain too! I climb out of the car by climbing out the passenger side (there's no way to get out the drivers side!) the car is half over the line into the traffic. Its stupidly loud and scary. I get my mum to sit in the passenger seat and steer whilst I push the car from the passenger side so we manage to get it completely onto the hard shoulder and away from the traffic - phew!

Called RAC - thankfully we have full cover. They take 45 mins to get to us - its still pouring with rain so we are sat in the car but on the passenger side with the seat belts on in case it gets hit although now its right the way over the hard shoulder there's less risk. The RAC guy takes 5 mins to tell me he thinks its the alternator - which he bashes with a big metal stick a few times - he said that sometimes they seize up and a good bashing gets them running again? but it didnt work :( so he then fits a generator to the battery via cables which he feeds through my window into the car. I have to drive the car being run by the generator down to a RAC approved garage in Swindon. I get t the garage and its gonna cost £288 to repair the car - ouch!

I have no money everyone knows this - my mum has the money but it's in a savings account not in a debit account which you can only access via going into the bank - its 3.30pm we are not gonna be able to get to the bank arrrggghhhh. Finally I call my dad and he agrees to pay on his card - he's due down next week so my mum will pay him back when he is down and I will pay her back when I get paid in 2 weeks.

At the garage they say it will take an hour to be done...we sit in a waiting room stinking of paint/oil fumes and it takes until around 5.45 pm to get fixed. Thankfully my dad is able to pay over the phone and the car is working and we are ready to go - except it's rush hour and we are stuck in Swindon and starving so we drive around the corner to Tesco where they have a Giraffe restaurant - it was crazy expensive to be honest £30 for 2 dinners, 2 diet cokes and a side of onion rings! ouch but at this point we had enough and just wanted to chill.

We left Swindon at 6.45pm and got back onto the motorway - it's around 55minutes drive to the hotel so no probs but there is massive tail backs on the motor way...we eventually arrive at the hotel at 9pm! It's pouring with rain it's really not a good start we just want to get into our room and go to bed!

Check-in was really easy and the hotel itself was lovely. We literally got into our room and crashed out boo

Today's positive? I'm really struggling to find one - it started out so well but then everything just went wrong and got worse! I guess I am glad my dad was able to pay for the car to get fixed otherwise I would have had to get taken back home via a tow truck!

Day 310 - Saturday

After a good nights sleep we could kinda laugh about yesterday in a OMG WTF kinda way!

Anyways - our room included breakfast so we got up in time for that - best hotel breakfast ever! literally an amazing selection of food and drinks available.

We also had chance to review the hotel and the room in more detail and it was pretty awesome (my review is right here if your interested with pics and stuff http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowUserReviews-g227132-d227163-r325117067-Hilton_St_Anne_s_Manor_Bracknell-Wokingham_Berkshire_England.html)

We also had free jars of jelly beans and nuts in our room. It doesnt take much to make me happy and a free jar of jelly beans does that!

We were supposed to be staying for afternoon tea but when we checked in for it they told us that the restaurant was over booked and it would be served in the bar! We really weren't keen on that. They offered that we could have it in the conservatory but that was pretty full too as there was a large wedding party there. So we ended up cancelling and just going home!

The drive home was uneventful the car ran fine. I managed to drive straight pass my turn off the motorway and ended up going into a different area of cardiff and driving through to get the dog - the dog was happy to see us. Then it was home for a nap before going out shopping as we had nothing in the house.

I came home to 2 parcels one was a Miffy for my niece for xmas and also a book for her so I am really happy with that

Today's positive was the car running fine home - I was slightly freaked it would go wrong again!

+365 days 305 - 308

Day 305 - Monday

I'm in a grump right now mainly due to issues at work which are making me a right grouch. When I am grumpy I tend to avoid other people and hibernate - sleep loads and sulk.

To try and get myself out of the grump I actually went out after work - I drove to an old work colleagues new home - she retired a while ago but stays in touch.

I spent the evening with her and her husband - she cooked me a gorgeous dinner and showed me around their new home which is stunning (not a surprise she has very good taste)

Even though I didn't really want to go I actually had an amazing night with her and her hubby and felt much better for going.

Coming home was crazy there had been a really bad accident on the M4 so they closed off the motorway and I had to come home via a completely different route - I am not brill at directions and in the dark I got a tad lost but found my way home eventually.

Today's positive - spending time with friends :)

Day 306 - Tuesday

I caught up on a lot of stuff I was behind on in work today which made me feel a bit better. I hate not being on top of things but due to stuff beyond my control (staff sickness) I got behind as I had to take care of other stuff. Catching up makes me happy I hate my desk being a mess but when I am busy it is and it drives me nuts so catching up meant I could tidy some stuff away which is good.

Today I also got an e-mail to say I had won CarpetRight's House beautiful competition - I had to say how to bring more beauty into your life and they chose my quote as the winner :)

My quote was "Buy one impractical beautiful item that you love - whenever you see it - it will inspire you to achieve more beauty in your life :)" and it is actually something I believe - I'm quite a practical person but I have some lovely random items which I bought not because I need them or had a use for them but because I just loved the look of them :) seeing them still makes me smile so they are money well spent.

Anyways the prize is crazy - £700 carpetright vouchers to spend on their House beautiful range, a riverford recipe box (which sadly I cant have as they dont do them in Wales so they are sending me recipe books instead!), a designer bear strength tee - my mums having this as they dont do lard ass sizes unlucky for me :( but she will be pleased, a year's subscription to house beautiful magazine - I have been working lots on upcycle projects so a great item to have to give me ideas on what to do next, a bottle of the new paco rabanne perfume which I am prob gonna keep for myself.

I am really excited about the carpet vouchers - we desperately need a carpet for our stairs, I am hoping I can get one with the vouchers and maybe a new rug for the living room :) but will have to wait and see what they say - I have to call them to claim the prize but havent yet 

Today's positive was obviously winning such an amazing prize that I can use to make my home more comfortable

Day 307 - Wednesday

Today after work I was super tired - I think my blood glucose levels are too high and I need to start being better about what I am eating - I have fallen back into bad habits and it's really impacting on my general well being - this week is not a good week to start being good as it's my birthday week but I am going to start back on my healthier eating plan from Monday - I need to I am sooo tired I am literally turning into a proper old lady and napping all the time.

This evening we had a take away to celebrate my birthday and watched some of the Librarian films I recorded on sky - the new series started this week so we thought we would watch the films to get us in the swing of things.

Day 308 - Thursday - My Birthday :)

Happy birthday to me - 34 years old eek. I had to work today but I have tomorrow off so not so bad.

I had lots of really nice pressies from family and friends so I am quite pleased. I wasn't really expecting anything no-one in my family has any money lol well except my dad and he already have me my birthday money before my holidays - he bought me $$$ so yeah I wasn't expecting anything but he got me some cute little mini signed prints, my mum got me a disney bag/tablet case and a phone case plus smellies and socks :) my sis got me some alcohol and candles, my other sis sent me a £10 in a card and I had loads of choccies too.

After work I went to bingo with a couple of the girls from work. We had a really good time and a laugh was lots of fun my friend won too so we all had a free night out as we split the winnings. We stayed after the bingo finished and chatted for ages. Was great to just chill with them before heading home :)

Today's positive - had a great night out with the girls :)

+ 365 Day 304

Today was sunday traditionally a day of rest but for once I didnt lounge about I did something productive. :)

A couple of months ago I won some really nice material from a comp (no idea which one as it came with nothing to say where it was from) I'd been umming and ahhing about making a new dog bed or a hand bag for myself but hadnt got round to it.

My mum like me procrastinates - she got this hideous old foot stool for free ages ago - the legs had been chewed by a dog and the stool itself was nicotine yellow with stains - not really attractive at all

So today I got off  my lazy butt and recovered it for her. Originally I was going to sand down the legs and paint them but the damage from the dog chewing was pretty extensive so instead I covered them in a contrasting material instead.

It came out really well (the photos do not do it justice!) and I am going to get out my sewing machine next week and make a couple of cushion covers to match it too :)

Today's positive is feeling like I have accomplished something  :)

Before - looking gross and in pieces

Recovered and legs back on 

And in use :) practical and pretty

Another SuperSavvyCircle Project - Always Discreet

I am a member of SuperSavvyMe (forever to be ref to as SSM) and a part of their review/trial panel SuperSavvyCircle (ref to as SSC)

If you have never been on SSM it's a pretty cool site - a site that offers lots of coupons, freebies, samples and reviews of different products. It's been around for years and is a great place to find out about new products as well as get a discount as it is partners with tonnes of companies.

SSC is a subsection of the site. It runs product tests/trials and allows members to apply to take part in these projects. You don't get paid to take part but you do get the product to try, plus normally some samples to hand out to friends and family and money off coupons.

The latest project I was lucky enough to be selected to take part in is for Always Discreet. Always Discreet is a product for people with bladder sensitivity - for me and you thats us ladies who due to age, medical issues, having kids etc get a little leakage when we laugh, cough, run, exercise or do a hundred other things.  We are not talking full on pee your pants but slightly embarrassing 'dampness'

So why did I want to take part in the project? Well when I had whooping cough two years ago it had quite an impact on me - it caused my ear drums to burst, my ribs to crack and unfortunately my bladder muscles to not be as toned as before. I joined the ranks of hundreds of other women who were afraid to laugh uncontrollably, to jump on a trampoline or to sneeze in public - just in case the force caused a little trickle!

To combat this and the possible side effects of 'wet patches' I will admit to using panty liners - my reasoning being I'm not about to let loose with a full on waterfall of activity so I don't need a massive walk like I am wearing a nappy pad on down there, they are easy and discreet to keep in my handbag and change as needed and they are cheap. The downside to using them is this isnt what they were designed for - so I always have the fear that I am going to smell and wearing them can cause some irritation - they arent designed to lock away urine and urine has acid and acid laying close to your skin can hurt - noone wants red and sore ladybits right?

So when I was offered the opportunity to have some free products designed specifically for bladder sensitivity I jumped (very carefully!) at the chance.

I did wonder very briefly is this something I will be comfortable talking about to other people and then I remembered last year a very long conversation I had with my best friend by text message regarding the colour of her poop and how it compared to mine and the conversations with work colleagues about yes tricklege in the nether regions after having kids (them not me) and I was like what the hell it's not like I hesitate to discuss every other bodily function haha. So yes I applied and got chosen whoop go me and my soon to be cushioned with an always discreet pad lady bits (I have to admit to quite liking that term lady bits and feel it should be used more often in every day conversation along with buttocks but thats an entirely different post)

Today my promised pack of goodies arrived from SSC - it included 3 packs of pads small, medium and large (or as I am going to nickname them, drip, rainstorm and waterfall mwahahaha), some fancy purple bags, some information on bladder sensitivity - why it occurs etc, money off vouchers, ask your friends sheets and most importantly the information book on what you need to do. 

I haven't read through the material yet but based on other projects I am guessing some of the pads are for me and some are for me to give to my friends and family and co-workers etc inside the snazzy purple bags along with the ask a friend sheets and vouchers. 

I plan on reading through the material tomorrow to make sure I have everything organised and then getting on with it so this is just a brief intro and hopefully I will have an updated review once I have had a proper chance to get started :D

+365 days 299 - 303

Day 299 - Tuesday

Nothing really happened today - it was just one of those days that you kinda sleep through. I didnt do anything interesting, nothing interesting happened, work was work and home was home and that's it.

But sometimes you need a banal nothing happening sort of day - having things happening all the time can be exhausting so yay for banality!

The new cat tree arrived and I put it together and the cats all love it which is good.

Today's positive is just that I put the cat tree together without any difficulty and the manic mogs actually liked it...after I sprayed it with catnip that is!

Day 300 - Wednesday

Today I had my diabetic and general health blood tests done - I really hate having bloods taken not because I am bothered by needles (having injected myself for a couple of years and having to finger prick test for the last 14 years needles hold little in the way for fear for me), no I hate it because I have stupidly small veins which are too deep and they often struggle to find a viable vein to use - at one appointment they tried both crook of the arms (is that the right word? you all know what I mean the normal place they take it from), they tried from my feet, behind my knees, wrists and finally got it from the back of my hands - I was bruised, in pain and then it took ages to stop the bleeding and they didnt take enough blood to test but I had nowhere left for them to take it from so had to go home lick my wounds and go back a week later to try it all again! And these tests arent just one vial either they usually take between 8-10 of them. I normally end up with a really nasty bruise too thats massive so yeah I wasn't looking forward to meeting the phlebotomist so when I rocked up I was greeted by the health care assistant who was doing my bloods.

She was actually really nice, took time to find a decent vein before just ramming the needle in and generally did an amazing job, one stab and jab and that was it - when she finished the bleeding stopped really quickly and hardly a mark. A couple of hours later a tiny bruise came out but nothing compared to what I normally get. I have decided its the healthcare assistant all the way in the future lol no more stab happy phlebo's for me!

Anyways now it's just a case of waiting for the test results. I am expecting them to be bad - I'm not sure how bad but seeing's how they look at the last 3 months and one of these was spent travelling in the USA it's just a miracle I dont have maple syrup running through my veins. I'm gonna get a bollocking from the diabetic specialist but thats saved for 2 weeks time so I guess I can just wait and see how awful they are. I should probably be more worried about my glucose levels than I am - I should also have carried on losing weight but I havent. I weighed myself and I think I have remained roughly the same which is good (all the walking on the holiday counteracted the fast food!).

So today's positive is the delightful health care assistant who is now going to be my best friend for all future bloods!

Day 301 - Thursday

So today kinda sucked in work for lots of reasons and it has just highlighted that I really do need a new job. I am completely in a rut and I really dont enjoy what I do anymore. I dont want to go into loads of details I am sure there is some kind of non social media / blog disclosure policy I havent heard of that will get me fired if I do! Let's just say I am not a fan of my new supervisor's rules and policies which are different to my previous supervisors ones. My previous supervisor looked at my role within my team only and therefore had no issue with when I booked my holidays, or with me taking advantage of the companies annual leave buy back scheme. My new supervisor looks at me as part of a team of admin people and therefore has issues with when I take annual leave and whether I can buy back annual leave or not. Having been in the job for 10 years and suddenly having this change is unsettling.

I have made some half-hearted attempts at applying for jobs but havent really been doing it seriously I have just been coasting but I really need to get my ass into gear and actually start looking properly and making a serious effort to apply not just chucking in last minute applications.

So whilst today was quite unsettling I probably needed it. For so long I have been saying yeah I need to find a new job but not been doing anything about it. The fact is I DO need a change of job and it may mean a pay cut in the short term but thats okay I can cut back on stuff. I have worked out my finances and I can take a job thats up to £5000 less a year if needed and still live okay - it will mean cutting back on some things but I know I can do it and knowing I can manage on a lower salary means I can start looking at jobs outside of the area I am currently working in.

So today's positive is making that decision - I need a new job and I will take a paycut if it means a job which has prospects for progression and training! Now to find myself one ...

Day 302 - Friday

Today was a half day in work for me which was good as I had to babysit H for a while as my sis had to have some tests done. We just chilled and watched TV I had a banging headache so didnt really want to do much else.

I also got some flowers I won delivered today. I was going to give them to my sister but as my mum has been a bit down since the holidays (she struggles with depression in the winter so it's not a surprise) I gave them to her instead.

They seemed to cheer her up which is good.

I also got a message from a friend to say our work colleague has had her twins. They arrived early as often happens with twins and the one was taken to scibu but over all a very good result for mum and the babies - they were okay weights and all seem to be doing well :)

Today's positive - happy mum and new babies awww sweet

Day 303 - Saturday - HALLOWEEN :)

Today is Halloween and its also the end of the month. If you enter comps like I do the end of the month is kinda a big deal - usually every day theres around 200 competitions closing but at the end of the month it can be anything from 500-1000 comps closing. Now sensible people (people other than me then!) do a few eom (end of month) comps each day so when it comes to the last day they dont have loads to do. Me I like to live on the wild side and so entered 500 comps today phew! Some of them actually closed at midnight so I missed them and there are loads run by spammy/scammy companies that I skipped too. Anyways am pleased I did most of them and hopefully I will win a few good prizes to put buy for Christmas for people and for the cat charity to sell and also for my friends raffle for neuro-rehab fundraising too.

As it's also Halloween when I took the dog for a walk I popped into the little Tesco to get some sweets just in case we had some trick or treaters - I also called in the charity shop seeing's how I was up that way and got a couple of dvds and 5 books (all in all I spent £3 on everything :) )

We didn't get any trick or treaters so I ate the sweets myself - thats what I call a win win situation.

I also managed to do all the comps closing tomorrow so I am going to kick back and have an early night tonight as tomorrow I have the fun task of giving the litter trays their weekly full clean and bleach and my mum was muttering about doing the garden - I'm allergic to most plants so that will be fun. I also plan on spending some time working on my cv, reading up on how to write a good personal statement and looking for jobs :)

Today's positive was probably finding a complete set of Robin Hobb books (trilogy) in the charity shop - I have read them before but a long time ago I think when I was in uni so over 15 years ago now so it will be nice to re-read them :D

+ 365 days 291 - 298

Day 291 Monday

Today I kicked my ass into gear and got round to book all my diabetic checks and blood tests that need to be done. I couldn't have my flu jab last time I was at the dr's due to having a viral infection so thats been booked in too.

Not really something I look forward too - who does enjoy getting bloods done and stabbed with needles but it's something that needed doing and has been done. Due to how busy everything is at the GPs I wont be going in for the bloods until 28/10 and then the check up and jab 12/11 so a bit of a wait but yay for the nhs

So yeah that's my positive :D

Day 292 Tuesday

Today was a work colleagues birthday and a staff meeting - the meeting kinda sucked but we had cake which made up for it. I consider this colleague a friend as well as a colleague and I know she doesnt have a huge amount of friends or family so I got her a little gift nothing much because it's the day before payday so SKINT. Anyways I think she liked it :D

Today's positive - CAKE!

Day 293 Wednesday

PAYDAY! Seriously I can't explain how I managed to be so skint this month - well I can I owed my dad £300 which he lent me to take on the hols so I wouldn't need to use my card and get charged - then I paid for our travel and hotel in London so I have been desperate for payday - literally on the red in the car and about 3p in my purse!

So after paying all my bills I remembered that 1. I have a meal out with work people and 2. I am going to a spa weekend haha so have had to put money by for both those things so looks like another skint month but at least I will have something to show for it :)

Today's positive - PAYDAY!

Day 294 Thursday

So I have been really tired since I got home from the hols - firstly I thought it was jet lag and then I thought it's prob cos I have the ear infection and the viral infection but now its like 4 weeks later and I am still really tired.

I find myself around 2pm in work literally nodding off at my desk. I get home and take a nap usually for 2-3 hours and then I'm super tired still and then I go to bed about 11pm and when I get up at 7am I'm still exhausted.

As I am getting blood tests done anyways I am going to ask them to check my iron levels. I've been anemic a few times in the past due to other medical conditions but I dont remember being this tired with it - maybe it's just a sign I am getting old. I realised with a shock that in 6 years I am going to be 40 thats like 50 % of my life gone! That kinds sucks - that means I have like another maybe 30 years of decent living and 10 as being a decrepit old woman.

Anyways this kind of thinking maybe me feel really low - I dont really feel old. I always thought at some point I would feel like a proper grown up all in control and stuff but I haven't yet. When I was younger I thought old people had it sussed but now I am one of them I realise they dont. Just because I am old doesnt make me mature.

So to cheer myself up I have spent time looking at hotels and places I want to visit in New York and looking at hotels in Orlando for next year. I know I only just got back but I need another one soon.

Today's positive - well I guess it's recognising when I am spiraling down. I dont have many dark days - even though I am naturally a grumpy I am not naturally depressed.

Day 295 Friday

Final day of the work week whoot! Seriously does anyone else find Fridays in work does something funny to the time? Like it seems to crawl backwards and the day lasts for ever - maybe its just the anticipation of the weekend and lay ins!

After the day in work finally finished and boy it took forever! I took my mum and uncle out for dinner to the local carvery. They have a new meal deal offer on where you get a meal and a dessert for like 5.59 (it used ot be just icecream for the dessert but now they have about 6 you can choose from).

I'd had a bit of a dodgy tum all day in work but I often get one if I am stressed or eat certain foods but thought I would be okay.

Everything was going good at the meal - it was really nice food we were having a good chat and a laugh and then BAM suddenly felt like a boot in the tummy and I had to run to the loo - not to be gross but I wasn't sure which end I would need to put on the loo ! what a waste of all the nice food.

After that I still wasn't feeling so good so my uncle drove us home - they stayed in the living room chatting and fell asleep and pretty much stayed in bed all night only getting up for water to drink and to use the loo.

I pretty much slept all night - I obviously needed it.

Today's positive - family time - sure I was mortified by throwing up in the loos and hid until everyone else left haha but the time we had together before I lost my dinner was good :D

Day 296 Saturday

I slept in today until like 11am ahhh bliss

Rest of day was spent tidying and cleaning my room - it was in a disgusting mess and smelled fousty - it needed airing! I changed the bedding too which I love - seriously what is better than crawling into a freshly made bed :)

I also finally got round to setting up my new printer - OMG I spent 3 hours doing this and I cursed HP in heaps the air around me was blue - the software didnt work, it wouldnt recognise the wifi connection, it wouldnt accept my details on the ink order etc - total nightmare but I finally managed to get it all done!

I also got a code for a free photo book with snapfish for using HP proper inks (just had to pay p&p) so I made a book for my uncle of our holidays showing the best snaps for him and paid the £1.99 p&p and it should be here next week - if it turns out good I might make another one for us :D

I finished off the night sharing a pizza with my mum :)

All in all a good saturday

So the positive was defeating the demon that is HP and getting the printer sorted.

Day 297 Sunday

Today was another mostly chilled day.

I drove to see my sister and my great nephew as he's staying for a few days over half term. Was lovely to see little Drake and he was super chatty :) Harmony has a stinking head cold so was snotty and a tad grumpy  - she kept blowing snot bubbles urgh!

My sis seemed in a good frame of mind too which is always good.

Drake's other nan had sent him with no clothes so my sis was worried as she had nothing for him to wear. They were due to drop some stuff off but hadnt by time we were there.

My aunty Chris used to buy him a few outfits whenever she was out so he always had clothes but as aunty chris passed in March he hasnt had anything bought and my sis as always was skint. I said I would look out n the freebie sites and charity shops for shoes and clothes in his size for her so she could keep a few outfits for when he stays.

After visiting my sis I came home and had a bit of a sort out of my books and some of my tees. I have way too many of both and I know a lady who raises funds for kitty rescues was looking for donations so I kept the best for her and messaged her and she is coming to collect in the next week or so.

I also ordered the cats a new giant cat tree - they have 3 scratching posts which I have decided to get rid of - I was going to bin them but then I thought that a cat rescue might like them - they are all well used but when they get a new cat in they have to isolate it in case it has anything contagious - they dont want to put a new scratch post in with them as its a waste - if kitty is contagious the post has to be binned - so they can have the old posts and give them to the kitties in quarantine and if they need to be binned its not a big loss. I have contacted the rescue and once our new tree arrives they will come collect the posts.

I also put a post on my local freecycle site asking for a couple of pairs of jeans /joggers some tees and a hoody for Drake and a pair of size 11 shoes/boots. I had loads of almost immediate responses and arranged with the 2 ladies to collect from them on Monday evening after work. They weren't sure exactly what they had but deffo had some clothes in Drakes size.

So all in all a good sunday :D

Today's positive - getting rid of old stuff - I am by nature a hoarder (at one point I had nearly 5000 books - my bedroom was full of them!) so I do find it hard to get rid of things and I have to make a real effort to say this needs to go!

Day 298 Monday

So today I went to collect the items I had offered for Drake from freebies.

All I can say is WOW :)

I got 2 carrier bags full of stuff and when I got home and checked it out it was all fab. All in really good clean condition - some items hadnt even been worn.

There was a pair of black nike trainers - worn but still loads of wear left in them, a pair of stripey wellies with tie tops so he can go splash in puddles and out in the rain and a pair of really smart almost new brown ankle boots. Several pairs of good quality jeans and trousers, some lovely tees, 3 hoodies, 2 thick winter coats, swimming trunks and some PJs and a bunch of other bits

I would guestimate that even if I had picked all this up second hand in a charity shop it would have cost £30ish and if new prob closer to £100.

This is really going to help my sis out a lot and I cant thank the ladies enough who gave it to her. Despite all the shit we hear on the news about how awful we humans are there are plenty out there who are wonderful kind people :)

And that's today's positive - the kindness of other people :)