In August we had a new boiler fitted ... an outside boiler giving us more space in the kitchen ... eventually we want to get a bigger fridge/freezer and we need to re-do the floor where the boiler was. Losing the boiler in the kitchen meant that we lost some work surface too ... I suddenly seemed to have none! So we decided we needed a little cupboard we could use like a pantry but also free up some work surface ... Steve found this on eBay and I won it for £36!!

I REALLY LOVE IT!!

Inside there are 2 shelves and the round disk on the front is like an air vent so perfect for food!

Please ignore where it is in the kitchen ... it will eventually be moved, but we have some work to do before then!!


... and this beautiful mirror was given to me by a friend who found it in a charity shop for £5!

I stuck it up on the wall for the photo, but think I want it in the hall, but need to alter the back it so its up-right not sideways.



Have you found any bargains this month or bought any treasures?

I wanted to share some more signing with you, so thought I would start with the alphabet!

You can spell the alphabet on your fingers

Here is ABCD


... now you try!

Billy and I have been going to a HomeEd group since March, which has a focus on learning to sign. We both love this group and have made some really lovely friends!

I am not the fastest at learning languages, but I think learning to sign is really important and I have even signed up to an online signing class too!

This month our group had a challenge to video an introduction about ourselves and put it on Facebook. I thought it would be fun to share it here too and I am going to try and continue to do some signing videos to help me not have signing-shyness!


Can you sign? Are you interested in learning?

Anyone who knows me, knows I love my stationary and have always been a bit of a filofax girl!

A few years ago when Timber was a naughty puppy, he got hold of my home filofax and ripped off the band that went around it and left a few teeth marks. I always meant to replace it at some point, but they are not cheap, even second hand and so never got round to it.




On Sunday we had a quiet, cozy, snuggle up on the sofa kinda day and I managed to get a little sewing done and made a new slip on cover for it :)



I made a double sided strip and folded the 2 ends over to make pockets for the filofax cover to slip into.


I am loving it, it feels like a brand new filofax!!

These arrived this morning! Just in time for an Magpie Monday post!!!

A little more Denby Gypsy for my collection!


Salt, pepper and a little mustard pot. Perfect condition and all for £4.99 on eBay :) I love them!!!

Have you found any bargains this month or found any treasures?

My passion is not for cooking, but I have always wanted to be a good wife and mother and make sure my family eat healthily ... sometime I have succeed and sometimes not so! ;)

I feel like I am on a journey and taking steps towards becoming more this-free and that-free, but I find it hard as I would almost rather be doing anything but cooking ... even cleaning!

So I have just created a Facebook group, which I would love you to join if you are interested in what you eat, where we can share recipes and tips and ideas ... It is not just one thing, like 'plant based', 'dairy free' or 'paleo' but as long as its not processed and easy to make, its welcome!!

Please join me and share what you are eating!!

Since getting rid of my caravan, I have a lot of folder, papers and office-type-things that now don't have a home. So I have made an organiser box for my essential oil business stuff :)

So with a cardboard box, some pretty paper and parcel tape I made up a box with slanting edges ....


I decided to add a divider in too but with some different paper


It is really tough and I know will be full very soon! haha :)


I think I will make some more, for home office stuff and other projects I have :)

I am holding a BIG clearance sale this Summer!
Its on Facebook ... https://www.facebook.com/mariainthewood/

There will be handmade silver jewellery, fun fashon jewellery, home decorations and gifts, greetings cards and other stationary goodies!
Just comment on the post if you want the item.
Most items will be half price. UK P&P will be displayed on each listing (if you would like a quote for anywhere else, just ask) Combined postage is available.
EASY PEASY ... please share and invite your friends who you think will be interested :)

Thank you

The other weekend Billy and I went to the carnival ... and we even went in a float!! I was dressed as a flower and Billy was a mouse ... we were having a tea party with the mad hatter!!

It was the best day and we had so much fun ........... oh and our float came 2nd!!!

Just after we got married, Steve bought me an old vintage caravan to convert into a work room. This caravan was christened Dora and she was FILTHY ... so disgusting it made you feel sick, but we cleaned her out and made her nice enough to become a bit of store room. Unfortunately I never got round to making her into the lovely work space I planned. She started leaking over the last winter and so this spring I had to decide if she was worth spending the money on and the time to make her how I wanted her.

Well I decided that poor Dora had to go ... and Sunday was the day ... I have been wanting to work on our side yard this year. Make a lovely space at the side of our home for Billy to play .... and maybe something else!! ;) It has been ignored for the last 3 years ... so just ignore the mess in the photo ;)


So Steve towed her down the drive and loaded her on the trailer (she wasn't road worthy)


... and off she went ...


goodbye Dora, I am sorry I never got to make you wonderful!

I like things ... especially pretty stationary ... there are always bits of paper floating about! Also being a crafty person and someone who goes whole-hog into a craft (Im not a half hearted person!!) I seem to have lots of stuff!

Most of the house is mostly tidy most of the time, but there is always that room, that dumping ground, where half done projects get put, where things that have no home get put, where half sorted things get dumped and I am sick of it!!!

I have no problem getting rid of things, I am in no way a hoarder, but having had a business making things, I seem to have a lots of 'stuff' and where I am in my life at the moment, with a little one, not much time and concentrating on my oils business, I really need to be ruthless!

A whole storage box of card making papers has been given away and the paper recycling bin has been very full the last few weeks (mostly old catalogues!)

But I really want a more simple life ... I want to not be drowning in stuff ... so the serious clear-out-sort-out-declutter is beginning!!

Here are some quotes that are keeping me going x






Do you have any motivational quotes that help you?

I like greens and pinks/maroons ... most of what I crochet and knit are these colours! So I end up with lots of little balls of wool that all look lovely together but not big enough to make into something ... unless I put them all together!

So I have been crocheting them into squares for a granny blanket with a soft green edging ... this is what I have done so far ....




What have you got on the go at the moment?

Have you ever thought about all the chemicals there are in your home?
Take a look, check out your cupboards, the cleaning products you use, your toothpaste and shampoo ... your make up! Its all full of them!



They are all going on and in your body and your families bodies ... whats it doing to them??



I am no expert but I know though these chemicals can poison us and become toxins in our bodies and make us pretty ill.

I am on a journey to try and live a more chemical free life and for the last year I have been using Young Living's Thieves Household cleaner .... it is really amazing!

One bottle does all your cleaning jobs! Windows, counter tops, taps, sinks, toilets, showers, floors!

Just alter the strength of the spray bottle that you make up depending on the dirtyness of the job! I LOVE IT!!

I have a spray bottle made up in the kitchen and the bathroom.


Thieves is an essential oil blend created based on research about four thieves in France who protected themselves with cloves, rosemary, and other aromatics while robbing plague victims. This blend was university tested and found to be highly effective in supporting the immune system and good health.

From this blend, Young Living have made a great range of products including the household cleaner. It is a natural all-purpose concentrate that can be used in every room in your home, without the harsh chemicals. Dilute in a spray bottle or bucket, or use straight for extra strength. It costs less than £1.00 a spray bottle to make up. For most cleaning jobs you need a cap full diluted in a 500ml spray bottle with water. You can't even get something that cheap in the organic section at the grocery shop! It replaces a multi-purpose cleaner, glass cleaner, toilet and floor cleaner ... every cleaner you have! The organic versions of these can be about £5 a bottle!


I really love this stuff and would love you to try it, so if you are interested in trying some Thieves Household cleaner, drop me a line in the comments below or message me and I will send you a sample! ... and it smells pretty wonderful too!

12 years ago I got my little baby ... my fluffy heart beat at my feet. My constant companion, by little faithful friend. She really changed my life and filled a hole in my heart.

{ Here } is a link to my post 12 years ago about getting her!

Looking at her eyes back then they were so beautiful, pools of amber. It is sad to see them so white now, and know she can't see me.

Here are some photos of my furry-baby :)