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Sunday 29 November 2015

Nearly Free Nights Out

I am a lover of a website that you can sign up to for free tickets to films and events. I know that I have mentioned Show Film First before and over a week or so ago, on a Wednesday night we had a nearly free night out with free tickets to see Guys and Dolls at the Palace Theatre in Manchester city centre.

It was a great show with Sophie Thompson and David Haig taking centre stage and bringing the laughs to this fantastic musical. We had stall seats that should have cost us £44.50 each but by signing up to the website I was sent an email advising that tickets were available for free. A couple of minutes later I had two tickets reserved for myself and David and we had £89 worth of theatre tickets for nothing.

I had to collect the tickets between 5pm and 6pm at the theatre on the night of the show and the show did not start until 7.30pm so this was just the right amount of time for us to have a pre-theatre meal.




I had a look on line to see which restaurants were near the theatre and just a short distance away was a Pizza Express. I booked straight away as they had a buy one get one free deal on main meals on a Wednesday and I knew a code would be emailed to me. Sure enough we got the code and not only did it include main meals but it also included BOGOF on the famous starter of dough balls with garlic butter.

Our meal was cheap and cheerful with food costing us just £13.50 for the two of us using the offer and a bottle of wine at just over £14.

With the cost of our return tram tickets into Manchester at £4 each we had a fantastic night for a little under £40 for both of us. It actually cost us more than £40 because we left a tip for our waiter but it was still incredible value.

A week later we were back into Manchester again with free tickets to The Comedy Store courtesy of the BBC who were recording The Show What You Wrote for Radio 4. This was great fun and was the third time we had visited The Comedy Store for free with the BBC. Sign up for their free ticket events on their website here.

The show starred John Thomson (remember him from Cold Feet?) and Shobna Gulati (of Dinner Ladies fame). We loved every minute of it and think it is great to have a few drinks and some great laughs on a night out.

So, how did my surgery go? It was a long day with 3 operations in total. Two to remove the carcinoma (the surgeon did not get it all first time) and one to reconstruct my nose. I don't look too pretty at the moment but know I should look better next week when the stitches are out and the bruising and swelling have subsided. I've managed to not take a day off sick and have worked from home using my laptop and blackberry although I have missed the hustle and bustle of the office. Yesterday morning the most beautiful bouquet of flowers arrived from work for me and have cheered me up no end.


Sunday 22 November 2015

Grammar School Fair

I know I've been missing again for a couple of weeks haven't I? I am sorry that I've been gone for two weeks again but I've had a lot on mind as I am having facial surgery this Tuesday. Not a face lift but skin cancer (too many sunny holidays from years ago wearing just suntan oil). It is curable with the surgery and is only a small lump but more complicated than I thought because of where it is on my face.

I have felt slightly out of sorts and although I have quite a few new posts, they are all half-written as I kept losing my mojo part way through. I think I found my mojo again yesterday as I went to my hairdressers for my usual cut and colour. I spoke to one of the guys there as he has had the same surgery at the same hospital that I will going to. I remembered he had some stitches and scarring to his face earlier this year. I asked him about it and after talking to him he has allayed my fears and I feel more settled about it. I mean, what woman would not be scared of having some invasive facial surgery even it is just to remove a small lump?

So now I have my mojo back I'll finish off some of my half-done posts and here's a new one from today.

Twice a year the local grammar school has a fair/tabletop sale. They are usually in the summer and towards Christmas time. I could not decide whether to go or not as I have recently had a clear out of the garage and realised we have too many things but the draw of a bargain was too much. We were there and back in less than an hour & a half with three bags of goodies.

Firstly I love any shade of pale grey and we have two pale grey suede rugs in our bedroom and guest bedroom so I was pleased to find a pair of large mohair style throws in a soft dove grey for £5 the pair. These are as new with no pulls or pilling. They are just from Sainsburys and I have looked on.  their website here and found similar only in a burgundy colour for £20 each. These will look great on the beds or just to snuggle up in. My cat decided to get in on the act on the photos! She was a stray  who simply moved in about 9 years ago. She is the most spoilt moggy in the world and for originality is called Pussy. My last cat was called Kitty. I don't go for fancy pet names.



My next purchase was my favourite brand of candle - yes another Yankee candle. This time it is a pillar jar in their World Journeys scent of Barbados Island Flower. This just smells divine and I adore the rosy colour of it. A kind of cross between coral pink and ruby red. These cost £16.49 but I paid just £5. It has two wicks which will give a lovely glow on a summer evening.


I found a very wearable duo shade of Clinique eyeshadow for £1. These are usually £22 so a good bargain for me. The colour is called deco dence which is not dissimilar to the shade Day into Date. I love these Clinique duos as the texture is silky to wear and the colour lasts.


I also bought this new Champneys exfoliating mitt from the same lady for 50p. These are usually £4. This will be great to run with a body scrub in the shower.


I also bought my usual collection of DVDs - 6 in total and they ranged in price from 3 for £1 to £1 each. Some good viewing to keep me out of mischief over the next few weeks. I also found a Victoria Hislop hardback book that I have not seen before. It is called The Sunrise. This was £1 and as it is hardback I'll take it to Tenerife next year in my hand luggage to read on the plane. I'll do my best to catch up with all my other posts over the next few days and I have plenty planned on getting ready for Christmas. (I've already wrapped my gifts!)

Sunday 8 November 2015

An Expensive Carboot Sale

I am so sorry that I have been awol for a couple of weeks. This has been due to an unexpected break in the Lake District and some unexpected hospital visits that I had to go to. Well rather late but here is my post from a couple of weeks ago.

Nothing was expensive at the carboot sale it's just that it was an expensive day for me because I bought so much. In fact I spent £100 there. I took £55 thinking that this was plenty. I ran out of money so David gave me £10. I spent this and then had to wait for him to catch me up to give me another £20. After I had spent this I said we should go home. "Let's just look down this row again" he said. I had to borrow another £30 from him after wanting two more items which cost £30.

What did I buy? Well here is what £100 buys you at the Cheshire carboot sale.

Two Le Crueset pans in a charcoal grey. One is a small skillet which will be great for omlettes and the other is a griddle pan. I love these and have one already which I use for cooking beef and lamb steaks. They give the meat a lovely char-grilled flavour. Delicious. The griddle pans sell for £99 so the £20 I paid for the two was a good price.


Two trio sets of Yankee Candle candles. These are usually £21.99 but on offer at £14.99. I paid £10 a set and they contain 3 Cafe Culture candles in 3 different scents: cappuccino truffle, pain au raisin and tarte tatin. I am going to give one of these to my niece as part of her birthday gift.  I also bought another of the large 22oz jars in Nostalgic Snow for £10. These are usually £21.99 each. I bought one of these the other week and like that it has a fresh peppermint smell. The white colour also appeals because it goes with anything.



So far this was £50 spent. I then spotted two items that I had to have. An 80ml bottle of L de Lolita eau du parfum by Lolita Lempicka, who is a French designer (Lolita is her psuedenom). The lady who had this on her stall always has lots of beautiful new items. She sells the kind of things you see in a smart gift shop/boutique. This was £20 and she had a couple of bottles. She had opened one as a tester and the smell is divine. I have checked this on line and the price is around £60 - £80.


She was also selling these gorgeous Fat Face capes at just £10. The one I have is in grey and ivory rather than navy and will look great worn over a jacket, jumper or dress with thick knit tights and boots. I wanted to buy lots of other lovely items from her but resisted. She said this year the owner of the carboot sale was planning on running it until Christmas so plenty of time to buy other things from her. This was now £80 spent. David has said that he will pay for the perfume and cape and put them away for me Christmas.



So what did the remaining £20 get spent on?

I bought a bag full of sample cosmetic products from Harvey Nichols for £5. There were 10 items in total and included 5 Aqua do Parma samples of parfum and body lotion, 2 bottles of LancĂ´me toner, a gorgeous Clarins night cream in a good sized glass jar and 2 L'Occitane travel bottles of body lotion and hair conditioner. I bought these from the lady who I bought the Le Crueset pans from.





I also got a cute Bobbi Brown lipgloss and a Boots No7 hot cloth cleanser (with cloth) for £1.50. I've not seen this cleanser before so am pleased to be able to try it at a bargain price of £1. I looked on line    here at the Boots website and found it costs £9.95 for 200ml. The bottle I bought is 50ml travel size.


I bought a Soap & Glory toiletry bag for my nephew. It is brand new and never been used and will be great as a stocking filler for him for Christmas. I may see if I can get some Soap & Glory products to put in the bag for him. This was only 50p

I found an elegant cut glass candle for £1 which I will used myself in out lounge. It is scented but I can't quite place the scent. It smells a little sweet like vanilla or honey.

The rest of my money went on a huge selection of DVDs including numerous boxed sets and CDs. The boxed sets included Mad Men series 1 & 2, John Thaw as Monsignor Renard, Vampire Diaries (I love a bit of trashy teen viewing) and Bonanza (David's choice not mine). There are some Disney films and a mixture of others. The CDs are a real mixture too.

My final purchase was a Dinner Party theme of a meal on the Orient Express travelling from London to Edinburgh. You must have seen these before where there are themed nights such as murder mystery dinner parties. This originally cost £19.50 from Marks & Spencer and I paid just £1.

We had a great morning out in the fresh air scouting out our bargains. What did you manage to find.