Our Autumn family bucket list. 2021.

 I do love this time of year. It's cold but there are some days when the sun is shining so I can still get the washing out on the line, I like the dark nights, cosy oversized jumpers, half term, comfort food and all the best TV is on. It is tempting some days just to stay under a blanket but I want to make some memories and have some fun. I have came up with a few ideas of things which I want to do before winter arrives.

Go for a walk to the next town over through the fields, on the footpaths of course.

Buy some more autumn scented candles.

Make a Pumpkin spice latte.

Find some conkers and have a conker fight.

Make some homemade soup from scratch.

Drink lots of hot chocolate.

Run through a pile of leaves.

Make toffee apples.

Get some new boots.

Have an Autumn picnic with hot chocolate, pork pies, sausage rolls and cake!

Buy some new blankets.

Make a recipe using pumpkins.

Roast some pumpkin seeds.

Get some new jumpers.

Give knitting a try.

Go to the cinema.

Bake an apple pie.

Do something crafty with pine cones.

Watch some scary films (not too scary though)

Make Halloween cupcakes.

Put some Halloween decorations up.

Carve a pumpkin.

Get us all some thick, cosy socks.

Roast Chestnuts.

Take a walk on a foggy morning.

Go to a Fireworks Display. The one locally is back on again this year along with the fairground and food stalls. We can't wait.

Start watching Christmas films.

 It's half term next week so I think we will get a good start on our Autumn bucket list and I already have a few things planned as well as a couple of lazy days.

Do you have any fun plans for Autumn?

(Ad - Gifted) Reusable sanitary pads from Trade To Aid.

Disposable sanitary products contribute millions of tons of plastic to landfill every year. Each woman can use between 5 and 15 thousand pads or tampons during their lifetime, the vast majority of which end up in landfill or polluting the oceans. Most disposable pad brands are over 90% plastic and contain synthetic additives, many of which are damaging to both women’s health and the environment.

Reusable pads are much better for our world and ourselves and recently I have been sent some to try out from Trade To Aid.

Reusable pads and the Trade To Aid reusable pads are designed in the same way as disposable sanitary pads and are used the same way too. Instead of throwing them away reusable pads can be removed, washed and reused. The whole process is quick, easy, clean and comfortable.

Made with a super soft bamboo charcoal layer, a highly absorbent microfibre core and a recycled waterproof membrane. The pads are free from the synthetic additives and nasty chemicals found in disposable pads, they are kind to your body. 

I was sent the Reusable Sanitary Pads (Pack of 6) box to try out which contains 2 heavy flow pads, 2 medium flow pads and 2 light flow pads and a waterproof wet bag. 

These pads have the same tried and tested design as standard disposable sanitary pads and work the same way. You fix them to your underwear via the two small clips that are attached to the wings, a lot like the sticky wings on disposable pads. Once you have finished with a reusable pad, you remove it and fold it up and place it in the sealable waterproof bag until it is time to wash it.

Many women put off using reusable pads because of the thought of washing them. If you are out an about you can put the pad in the wash bag supplied with the pads or if you are home just place it in a bowl of cold water to soak. Cold water helps lift out bloodstains. Soaked pads can be washed in a standard dark 40-degree wash or by hand. You can use light detergent but fabric softener will leave a residue on the pads, which you don’t want. If you are worried about disinfecting the pads then you can add some white vinegar to the wash too which is perfectly safe and fine for your washing machine and great for other clothes too! Apart from the soaking washing reusable pads is the same as washing any other clothes! Drying them on the washing line in direct sunlight is ideal but when this isn't possible drying them in front of a radiator is fine. The pads are designed to be absorbent so they’ll absorb a lot of water and will take a while to dry.

These arrived just at the right time. I had been on my period for a couple of days so it was the perfect time to try them out because I didn't have such a heavy flow. They were so soft to touch and when I tried them on they were so comfortable. Way better than plastic, disposable pads. I liked that they came in different sizes depending on what your flow is like because not every day on your period is the same. I didn't have to change them quite as often as disposable pads and towards the end of my period usually my skin is started to get irritated with these it wasn't. I do at least one load of washing a day so washing the reusable pads has been easy. I have a bin in the bathroom half full of water and that is where I have been soaking the pads. Stu did roll his eyes when he noticed the pads hung on the line, worried about what the neighbours would think but to be honest I don't care. 

I have realised that to use these for all of my period I will need more than the six that I was sent and I do intend to buy more as I have got on so well with the one's I was sent to try. The average woman in the UK spends some £13 a month on sanitary products. That works out to over £1,500 a year so once I have bought another couple of packs I will actually be saving money.

Trade to Aid have joined the fight against period poverty. For every pack of reusable pads sold, Trade To Aid donate a pack to someone in need of a better period. Trade To Aid is a non-profit social business and they use every penny of the profits to donate packs to a woman in need in a refugee camp, a conflict zone, or a natural disaster. The profits also go towards funding menstrual education and hygiene programmes.

The pack of 6 reusable sanitary pads cost £29.97 and I think that is a fantastic price considering how much you will save in the long run. Reusable pads will last 5 years or more and also vastly lower your carbon footprint and contribution to landfill.

Have you tried reusable pads before? How did you get on?

I was sent the pack of 6 reusable sanitary pads free of charge in exchange for this blog post.

Some random thoughts that I've had lately. Part three!

 I like to write my random thoughts down, those thoughts that don't fit into a blog post but I want to mention them and share them with you. You can read my previous mind dump here.

These are some of the things that I have been thinking about.

Getting a cold worries me so much. We've all had a bit of a  snotty nose here, it was just a cold lasting a few days but in the back of my mind I was always thinking could it be Covid?

The petrol shortage made me so glad that neither Stu or I drive. It was something which I didn't have to worry about.

It's my birthday next month and I am excited! I am hoping to go out for a meal and hoping that the pub has started selling their Christmas meals. Fingers crossed!

Do you know what's worse than the kids leaving and empty loo roll in the bathroom? Them just leaving a couple of sheets on the roll! So annoying especially when we keep the new rolls in the cupboard at the other side of the bathroom.

Squid Game was amazing, watch it if you haven't!!

Making new friends is brilliant! I have a new friend one of those where you just click and chat about random things.

Ellie is going to have her Covid vaccine at school soon and it is an understatement to say I am worried. I have read about the side effects and one is swelling of the heart. Her heart needs no more pressure than it has. She has had open heart surgery and has leaking valves. But, if she doesn't have the vaccine the outcome could be much worse for her and the way things are at school it feels like it's a matter of time before she catches it.

Spiders and daddy long legs are set to take over the world or it feels like it at the moment, there are tons of them in here every night! 

Just don't lie to me, someone who I trusted has and now I doubt everything that they say. It was a silly lie that they didn't need to say but that lie has me wondering about everything they have ever said.

The Strictly results getting leaked every week is annoying. I always seem to see who's leaving on Twitter. Grr.

We had the chance to go away over Christmas but we have decided just to stay home. I don't want to run the risk of catching anything. My dad is sure he caught the virus the first time a couple of years ago when he went away.

Shopping for the kids Christmas presents is so much harder now they are teenagers! They just want clothes and money but I want them to have presents to open which are a little bit more exciting.

I have got such a dodgy hip. Exercising is great but my hip is not a fan. It comes from when I slipped on some water in the kitchen about 10 years ago. I am working through it but it's a sign that I am getting older.

Becky gets paid for the first time from her job soon and it will be more money than she's ever had for herself. She got her child trust fun money but that has been set aside for driving lessons. I am really hoping she is going to be sensible with it. She has said she's buying everyone Christmas presents and I hope she doesn't get too carried away.

Winter is coming. We've had our heating on a few times already over the last month or so. I don't want it to be cold. I liked the weather a the end of September when it was chilly but still warm enough to go out without a coat.

What random thoughts have you had lately?

Our weekly meal plan! 18th - 24th October. #MealPlanningMonday

Last weeks meal plan went well, really well. We did swap a couple of meals around but ate everything that I had planned. Hooray!

We should have got 3 meals from the two chickens that I cooked on Sunday but I forgot to put chicken into the pie with the leftover veg from the roast dinner. My family didn't question it and enjoyed the pie and it meant there was more chicken for the Irn-Bru chicken which I cooked in the slow cooker. It went down really well. It reminded me a lot like the diet cola chicken we've had in the past. We are going to try it with Dr Pepper next, my youngest has suggested Tizer but I think that's pushing our luck. lol We ended up making our own pizzas, well putting toppings on pre-made dough and treated ourselves to onion gravy with the sausage and mash! Yum, yum!

When I was doing the food shop for some reason I thought that Becky's girlfriend was coming to visit and to stay for tea tonight so I had planned to cook spaghetti bolognese as I know she loves it but I was wrong, Becky is only coming back from her girlfriends today after being there for a couple of days, it's next week she's visiting. Oh well, I have the bolognese stuff so will still make it.

Monday - Spaghetti bolognese & garlic bread.

Tuesday - Leftover bolognese in Old El Paso Stand ‘N’ Stuff tortillas covered in cheese.

Wednesday - Chicken and bacon pie with mash & veg.

Thursday - Heinz Original Beanz Burgerz with potato wedges.

Friday - Pizza.

Saturday - Burgers in buns with corn on the cob. 

Sunday - Mince, dumplings, mash & veg.

What are you eating this week?