Saturday Night In...

Saving money, I am discovering, also helps to save time.. Instead of going out and spending a small fortune, I stayed in this Saturday night and it was truly blissful. I cooked mushroom stroganoff with my older daughter, chopping and chatting, whilst I sipped Sauvignon Blanc, after adding some to the recipe. We sat down with my husband and it felt so cosy, listening to the bang of the fireworks outside, with a Jack O'Lantern burning on the dining table. Then we all snuggled up on the sofa with our two dogs and watched Anne with an E..

Earlier, I had taken the dogs for a walk over the fields, opposite to where I live. The skies were full of pink clouds turning to lilac as I strolled and the dogs ran free. I stopped to talk with a few fellow dog walkers, who were happy and relaxed and seemed equally pleased to be spending the late Saturday afternoon in such a wholesome way. It felt good for my soul tramping the grass in my boots and filling my lungs with fresh air.

I woke up this morning at 9am after a heavenly lie in before pottering about in my dressing gown, joining the queue to the bathroom to have a hot shower. I drank coffee and read the weekend papers while I waited and had breakfast with my family. My husband decided to get a box of stuff from our garage and we had to sort through it in a bid to clear the space and will try to sort a box a day going forward. It was quite painful, as he finds it hard to chuck things away. In the end, we managed to get rid of 10 hairbands and 4 hair clips. This de-cluttering process is going to be a long one.

I needed to buy petrol as I was right on empty, so I broke my No Spend November but think food and petrol won't count this month!

I gave my older daughter a massage before dinner because her shoulders were aching and she had lower back pain, plus I am a trained aromatherapist, so it felt rude not to. It was so warm and tranquil in my treatment room and once I got the music sorted, it was a relaxing atmosphere. I started off playing Dream Catcher, which, although, sounds beautiful, is a bit too lively to lie down and try to drift off to.