Budget Beauty Buys

In these hard times purchasing decisions are critical to making good use of your budget. Wise product buying can make all the difference to how you feel and your purse strings.

The best way to maximise your spend is to get a loyalty card - both Boots and Superdrug have one but Boots one has the edge with its 4 points per pound spent reward. Use the card to check any offers and build up points to use in the future to buy products. If you shop consistently at Boots (or Superdrug) each month you can count 1 - 2 months of your beauty budget as free or use the points for Christmas presents.

But which budget buys really pack a beauty punch? It depends on who and what you believe but in reality affordability should come first. The facts are with your skin the main ingredient is how good are your genes followed by the degradation effects of smoking, sun, alcohol and then food. What you put on only has a small impact. High price doesn't always mean high value but there are some consistently high performing low, mid and high price brands. Beware gimmicks and pseudo science and the rest is just what you like or works for you.

I think the trick is to blend the price points and use offers wisely. My current bargain basement favourites are a mix of low and mid ranged priced products:

1.Herbal Essence shampoos and conditioners, my preference lies with the hydrating coconut range.

2. Aveeno products (lots of offers on these i.e. 3 for price of 2 etc.) and the great thing about Aveeno is the benefit to your skin particularly if you have ezcema or psoriasis, in fact any dry skin condition. Aveeno does treat ezcema but not psoriasis but it does bring relief to the symptoms of it.

3. La Roche-Posey BB's cream which I use on top on my moisturiser which is currently the cheap as chips but highly effective as a base Astral all over moisturiser. Astral quite rich in some respects but if you have normal to dry sin it is a budget buster which works. I always apply a sun screen over my moisturiser as I prefer separate creams to those that include an SPF. Again I use La Roche-Posey.  

Stick to your budget, buy wisely, get points to make prizes and above all use up what you have before you stock up. Don't forget to save those freebie sachets from magazines as well, always handy to have a stock of those as well.

The eBay marathon

Five days into my blitz on my wardrobe and now my listings and I'm only halfway through it. Listing on eBay is hard work and takes a lot of time and effort. The hard part is inputting information and once upon a time I was exceedingly particular about all the clothing measurements but now I stick to the required minimum.

When writing the descriptions and how to wear the items I sort of think why am I selling this and then snap myself back into reality. I have plenty in my wardrobe to wear and I have a target for this year to pay off my credit card. All the items are in good condition and some of them are in the list as they are a little too big for me.As hard as it is I feel motivated and on course to clear the debt. Ironically I was returning a Christmas gift in Cath Kidston on Friday which isn't my favourite occupation nor my favourite shop (although I do love a bit of Cath Kidston at times) and the lovely lady who served me was at LCF and did her MA at the same time. It was a great reminder to me of achievement. I went there with nothing bar my deposit and took out a career development loan (CDL) via the Dept of Higher Education which I luckily got in 2008 as the banks collapsed because I choose to apply to the Co-operative bank. This month 2 years later I finished paying off the £2,800 they lent me to further my mind. The repayment was a manageable £124.22 per month due to the low interest rate for a CDL

Now I must tackle the credit card that paid my fares and bought my books and paid for all the sundries around my studies. I worked as well as studied but it was a big drop in income and now the petit garcon has started school plus the current climate I've never gone back to the level of earnings pre studying. It does make me appreciate that I wasn't saddled with a bigger student debt and whilst my studies were completely wonderful it does call for a lot of self sacrifice ...hence unto eBay!!

You can view the list at my ebay page And here is a selection of the items for sale (weeps, less and less now)

From top to bottom: Whistles Carrie midi skirt, Warehouse blouse, M&S dress, H&M Conscious Collection skirt, Toast shoes, Jigsaw bib necklace, Toast necklace & M&S bag

How I did it - skiing that is...

Let's get straight to the crunch the cost of a Christmas Ski Spree. With flights, chalet accommodation with food, ski passes, ski hire, petit garcon ski lessons and his daily lunch then our lunch plus car parking, petrol and sundries - i.e. airport food at Innsbruck due to delayed plane departure (which was great - the food that is), my best friend Imodium (I suffer with unmentionables at altitude) the cost was £3,497.50.

The first thing I did was add up the actual cost where I knew it, which was most as even ski pass prices are fixed, and then add a forecast spend. having a total figure I broke it down by the months, weeks and days between the booking and the final payment date. I had to pay a 20% deposit immediately upon booking which I took off the total. I then set about tackling our household budget. I allocated income to spend and set aside the amount each month we needed to pay by the end of September. The time frame was 8 months.

Breaking down the amount into a daily amount meant Mr MDS lost his daily coffee habit as £2.50 helped bring down the £14.57 daily cost of the holiday. I also set a limit on Christmas present spending and did it gradually. Clothes spending was out although I did have enough money to get a few things from H&M. H&M is my current level when it comes to budget. I cannot afford anything else and I'm fine with that as I wouldn't swap the views and moments for anything.

 December 28th sat outside on a hotel terrace drinking hot chocolate in glorious mountain sunshine

Petit garcon enjoying his post race win celebratory ice cream on the hotel terrace

A monthly meal planner meant reduced spend on food, household items and wine all contributed to the funds. All my income went on the holiday minus my bills. I also started a declutter process which resulted in sales of Mr MDS's stuff sat in the garage. However he couldn't help himself but buy a Belstaff gilet. It was his only indulgence as we won't count his work suits and shirts, which were an absolute necessity and I did get two amazing suits from Paul Smith and Hugo Boss at knock down prices in the summer sales. In fairness I had repaired and repaired his previous suits before they were beyond redemption. I also updated his work mac which was an H&M purchase 3 years ago with new buttons from John Lewis.

We didn't need any ski gear as we had it all or could borrow from family. The petit garcon needed everything but apart from his ski jacket from John Lewis I managed to get the rest as his birthday presents in early December (handy) and off eBay or Ski Warehouse within budget.

The scrimping and saving meant no going out, no more weekly cinema excursions (the Ides of March was the hardest to resist) and plenty of book swaps with Vintage Vixen. I even saved all our change and went to the coin bank at Sainsbury and use it pay for groceries so I could allocate more food money to the holiday.

The benefits were the pleasure of saving up and this has really turned my spending habits around. We spent nothing for Christmas, no extra food in. We didn't buy each other any birthday or Christmas presents which was the wisest decision we made, not that we go mad but even a single spend of £50 saved is a good sum when you have other priorities.I did have a birthday lunch with birthday money and vouchers but again it was planned and had a fund allocated. Mr MDS is in August and a few days after his sister so he piggy backed off her 40th birthday celebration which was a lovely evening meal and then we had a his favourite a barbecue at home!

The holiday was such a joy all the effort and worry about whether it was the right thing to do was dispelled. My anxiety was based around the validity of spending money on a holiday when I had a credit card to pay off. My preference would have been to pay the card off first but I also didn't want to leave a ski trip any longer as we hadn't been for 6 years. I know the latter remark sounds dreadful given the hardships many families face but we are not  particularly well off, we really do just get by and if we weren't working then it wouldn't have even been a thought let alone a reality.

I found blogs like Frugal Queen hard core helpful and motivational when necessary. This year I will finally clear and cut up the credit card. The idea of using it any more fills me with revulsion. I'm sure I'm not alone in having one for emergencies but when I used to have a monthly even weekly emergency when I was doing my MA, the amount soon built up. To date I've been treading water with my credt card but this year it will finally be gone. My next plan of action is to clear all my clothes that have languished for years in my wardrobe and also sell the petit garcon's hardly worn ski items as he is a growing lad.

Equally I will continue to supplement my income with my part time Stella & Dot work. If any one would like a trunk show then email me or phone me - my details are on my Stella & Dot webpage!

Whatever you want to achieve you can do it!

Giveaway

The Make Do Style giveaway is not of course the stuff of conspicuous consumption but rather the cobblering together of freebies saved from magazines and sent or given to me, or my no longer required 'stylist's own' items that I used in shoots. Sometimes I try to make myself miss photography or commercial shoots but I don't. I,d happily do one but I will never look to do them any more. Next year I will mainly be teaching styling but more of that another time.

Back to the booty - all this week I am looking for your top tips on saving money in these hard times. How do you motivate yourselves? What does it for you? At the end of the week I will draw a winner and get the box in the post pronto...

Christmas presents repeat

It is no secret that every year I try very hard not to spend some money with Shot Dead in the Head but invariably fail. They are my go to place for the men in my life's Chrimbo presents. This year the respective brother-in-laws are the unwitting recipients of a t-shirt and a mug. The mug for brother-in-law 2 is very naughty but right up his street. Luckily he'll be able to keep it at his mates flat where he abodes a few nights a week due to work, I'm not sure it will be welcome at home! (this is the link but I have warned you!)

Brother-in-law one is the only person I have ever met who arrived at a cottage prior to a wedding wearing a laptop on either side. He has never lived this down despite it being many years ago so plenty of geek fodder to find. I was torn between two t-shirt this one and this one but felt the latter was a bit cruel but not as cruel/funny as this one - I was crying it is so wrong but ....

And this year I succumbed to a present to myself. I love The Killing and seeing as I can't afford a Gudrun & Gudrun sweater I have consoled myself with this t-shirt!

The Killing 2 t-shirt £15 shotdeadinthehead

Don't forget my Christmas bumper Make Do Style box of goodies, posted on Friday just leave your top tips for saving money to be in with a chance to win!!

Like a bat out of hell ...to the make do box of goodies

Where did that wind come from?! Yesterday morning at 9:07am I boarded a train on the Durham/ North Yorkshire border and boy was it blowing a gale. The train felt like it was being blown south to London by the wind. I got back to London and thought phew a bit calmer but by the evening the wind, albeit a bit gentler than up north, was blowing a gale around me again. All I can say I was glad of my Moncler duvet coat. I was as warm as toast and felt protected from the elements.

Now I'm safely back home it is on to matters of a giveaway. Not any old giveaway but a Make Do Style giveaway - a box of treats filled with collected samples, gift bag nail varnishes and old costume jewellery used on shoots - you know the bit where it says 'stylist's own'. The Mango plastic link necklace in the box appeared in an Iceland ad!!

Anyway the competition rules are easy all I want from you is to give me your top tips for saving money or tightening your belt or how you live within your means. Simples! Get on your soap box and hold forth....

A dress a day under £100

Often the simplest least expensive dress is the one you value the most. I bought a black long dress in my early 20s from Miss Selfridge and it lasted 15 years with a once or three times a year wear during the festive season or an unexpected formal do. It was plain as plain. Very simple just like today's pick from H&M. When it gave up the ghost or rather I knew its shelf live had passed I probably sobbed!

I don't think you can go wrong with sticking with simple, almost obvious (a black shift dress that is) when it cost £24.99. H&M are having a moment, clear collections, my favourite being the conscious collection, well organised shops, some attempt at better customer service but really not so important as good stock levels, which always makes life easier.

You won't win prizes for originality but you will feel smug and if you use the going out shoes and accessories you already have then you deserve a making do badge!

Black dress H&M £24.99

Renew, Revive, Refresh

The joy of making do is in the preparation and effort. I love an opportunity to sort out my wardrobe and discard any truly beyond repair items. Often is something is beyond repair I'll wear it for a whole week to eek the last ounce of use out of it. I have a really nice t-shirt from Reiss but the cotton has bobbled so badly not even my debobble machine can assist in a refresh. I intended to wear it all next week until it either looks grubby or smells. I'm actually very clean and neat so I take an age to make clothes truly dirty.

In my most recent summer clothes pack away (which lasted 5 minutes as the weather suddenly decided that sunshine was the order of the day again) and winter item injection; I discovered three items I didn't think I'd wear again. One was my favourite jumper which I've had for 7 years and can't part with. It does need a small darn and I decided to dye it navy to give it a new lease of life with me. I wanted a navy v neck and decided it was cheaper to invest in some Dylon and salt than to buy a new one.

 Before

After

I know it was a lovely green but I'd got bored of the colour and needed something navy. I also updated my red jeans which were originally a pale red that I dyed to a bright red and now I've given them a russet edge for this season!

Finally I dyed a Zara cream top to Burlesque Red and a thick cable yellow cotton Pringle jumper to black! Both will work for me this winter as layers to keep me warm while writing at home in the day (I intend to not use the heating as much as I can to save pounds). 

All I have left to do now is sew on some new brown leather buttons I bought to replace the existing ones on Mr MDS's black trench to give it a little renewal.

Don't be afraid to dye clothes in a bucket or machine. I buy Dylon dyes from John Lewis or Robert Dyas and the required salt to seal the dye. I use washing up gloves to attempt to keep my hands dye free.

 Useful barrier

All clean again

Top tip: Wash dyed items with like colours for the first few washes after dying, just in case of any residue running.

Tis the bikini season

Oh er it seems many of you are equally gripped by the idea of honing and toning without resorting to celebrity style constipation over a diet, courtesy of the Make Do Diet. I was quite touched by kind comments and would like to reassure anyone who thinks I might be delusional that I do have 5 kilos to lose which is the equivalent of 11 pounds. This is truly fat not my imagination. I am not one for body dimorphic tendencies as I've always loved my curves. Trust me when I say it is pure fat!

The wonderful Rachel has kindly written a stage one on losing those pounds which are presenting a problem. From now on there will be an update every week - and next week I'll include some pics to make it more visually pleasing but for this week it is all about getting down to it!! Remember no money is required and no diet book to buy.

The Beginning - first week of the Make Do diet

Day One – ok, let us try to make a start on the whole dark art of “losing weight”. First things first, your body is made up on many things, and the weight that you weigh on the scales is the total sum of that – so we need to be smarter in our desire to change body shape, by listing it all.

Date

Total Weight

Bust 1 Fullest part

Bust 2 Under bust

Waist 1 narrowest part

Waist 2 across belly button

Hips 1 on hip bones

Hips 2 widest part of bottom

Thigh 1 top

Thigh 2 middle part

So, fill in the details – you can measure and weigh either all metric or all imperial. We will repeat this every week.

Secondly, we need to remove temptation.....interestingly, a study showed that if there was a box of biscuits on your desk, you would keep eating each time you saw them, you ate less if they were on the desk across the room, and even less if they were in the cupboard out of sight. So, step one, is to remove from your view all of the calorie-laden-no-nutritional-value stuff that we like to pick on when feeling fed up/bored/L’Oreal advert (cos I deserve it moment)....mine will be crisps....

Even more interesting is the psychological study done on “wanting” something...so, if there were 2 jars of biscuits, one with only 2 “special” biscuits in that you were not allowed to eat, the other full to the top with biscuits, us humans, would crave to have the “special” biscuits...and would sometimes even reject the normal biscuits! So, be aware. So don’t be surprised if you crave the thing “you can’t have”. It is like being dumped by your boyfriend...you will be pining for them. Be kind to yourself – distraction techniques work to a certain extent so phone a friend, take a bath go for a walk etc etc.

Whatever, please, allow yourself a treat at least once a week, but make sure that you exercise the total quantity of the item (s) you wish to consume on that day (and in addition to your other exercise). However, if we do eat things that are close to hand, please make sure that you have a bowl of fruit somewhere obvious where you will walk past and pick one up, that you have a bowl of chopped veg in the fridge right in front of you as you open the door (put in as many colourful veg that you can – peas in their pods, green beans, red or yellow peppers, radish, cherry tomatoes, carrot sticks etc). Nuts and seeds are also good for trace minerals, so a tub of them (with a lid on so that you don’t eat too many...) out on your kitchen top.

The third and final bit of day one will be to do some exercise. We know that even a single bout of exercise can immediately change the level of fat swimming around your body, and that repeated bouts of exercise will let you access your fat stores quicker and for a longer. So, wake up your body’s fat burning potential by doing some exercise – the good bit is that it can be anything, as long as you enjoy it – and try for at least 30 mins.

Day One Summary

1. Weigh and measure
2. Remove all temptation that will encourage hips from hell and replace with heavenly hips temptations...
3. Kit-kat workout – work out how much exercise for a treat and burn it off before you get it.
4. Exercise for at least 30 minutes

That's all folks on the diet front. More next Monday and a big shout out to all the diet followers across the globe, America, Spain and Australia as well as the UK.
Tomorrow, I do a product reveiw....

Why being frugal isn't the same as being tight

The trouble with being frugal (and Mrs MDS has been on this slope for over 5 years) is that some benefits are immediate, others more a hill to climb and a couple mountains to conquer.

Let's get the current pitfalls of frugality aired so the word is not associated with austerity or austerity measures, aka the UK current government who are hell bent on confusing personal frugality with ideological measures. To be clear, looking after your household/personal budget is not the same as a complex economic framework. Mr Osbourne might be found of referring to governance of the Treasury as if he were figuratively holding purse strings and all that is required to show some economic might is some tightening of a belt but the reality is an economy is not a pile of cost centres but a machine with cogs that interact, stagnate and fall apart depending on how they are greased. Application of measures designed to inflate, stagnate or stem an economy is not undertaken by one simple act - unlike our own budgets.

We are the masters of our own budgets and can fiddle with the purse strings as much as we like. We can increase or decrease the funding of a certain area of our personal finances without it causing a global economic crisis. We can if we try inject more credit into them too by working more or selling stuff. Lottery wins are always a hope.

an evening at MDS mansions!

21st century frugality is a mix of common sense, reality and a lifestyle choice. If you are poor then frugality is a means of survival. Poverty is a trap for many based on their social standing i.e. lack of education, opportunity and resource. Poverty of mind and soul has as much a bearing on ones social capabilities and coping mechanisms as lack of money. Often all contribute to a vicious circle.

Being frugal has become more a lifestyle choice due to lessons drawn from mass consumerism, a trend that grew in the 1980s and accelerated until the banking crisis in 2008 - bit of general sweep but this is a blog post! Mass consumerism has had a two fold impact, one being an increase in personal debt and the other being an increase in stuff.

Frugality is what Gordon Brown spent a lot of time talking about over many years - being prudent. No one really listened to Mr Brown's view on prudence. He did of course equally spend many years increasing the support to poor households and made it his personal mission to end child poverty. Typically, frugality for Puritans and Quakers meant ensuring you were careful with your money so that you could save it and allocate the savings for more charitable purposes. Mr Brown with his Calvinist background was particularly prudent so he could be charitable. He was fairly hopeless in terms of being 'liked or likeable' but in reality much of his ethos shaped our best times.

Of course for Mrs MDS as others, being frugal is a by product of personal circumstances, notably being rubbish with money for so many years it has caught up with one and not really saving for a rainy day. Truth be told rainy days sounded so terrible dull. Now rainy days look like sunshine compared to inflation, petrol prices and increased costs to everything. Now the fashion is to be frugal. None of us want debts, most of us wish not to have a credit card and a savings account is preferable to an 'it bag'. Spending seems like showing off. Now of course it is all about, sewing, vintage, allotments and home made things.

I have found my outgoings are much less than they used to be (the ones I can control) and I make every endeavour to keep the battle against waste going. Paying back debts is a mind field and there is conflicting advice but being debt free is probably a nice personal goal. I've not tried to be clever and avoid a lot of the Martin Lewis, money expert type advice and stick to the more palatable and nicer Alvin Hall.

Frugal, prudent, making do - it is all the same. Think before you spend, have a budget, think of others less fortunate and in need plus review your spending and budgets but don't forget to enjoy life! You can do lots for free, think libraries for books and museums and taking walks in town or country. Do things on a budget, throw dinner for friends with down to earth meals such as chilli con carne and find inspiration from others. You are not being tight with your money - it's frugal.

Do share your money saving tips...

A sign from Ye Economy Gods

After realising I was seriously on an economy drive and that stupid pointless clothes buying was out, I was nose deep in Net-A-Porter and then My-Wardrobe flitting between 2 yellow tops one priced £70 and the other £159 - WTF springs to mind. I lost 30 minutes of my life fighting a typical reaction to reality. There was the red devil on one shoulder saying 'oh it won't matter if your overdraft is dented a bit more.' And on the other was voice of reason pointing out 'I was bonkers'. Reason won of course, it always does but for one moment of madness I wanted a yellow top in a way that was ridiculous. I have no money, I'm writing a film script and don't go out much!

Once I had recovered from my brief flirtation with my past addiction, I felt so much better and felt immediately richer. I'm now in the midst of compiling a mood board to inspire me to ride out my period of hardship. It is the classic case of when you make a plan to diet you suddenly want to stuff your face with cake. The mind needs motivation not deprivation, so goal setting is key. I've worked out the basics of a Christmas ski holiday, it entails no birthday and Christmas presents, a certain amount put aside every week, all changes put in a tin plus a car boot sale. I'm going to buy our family Christmas presents asap - I've set a budget for this and a deadline to do it all by. I'm going to ask them not to buy us presents for birthdays and Christmas but give us the cash instead. My family are used to being given hints or directives so they won't be offended. I think their favourite year was when I said we could only spend £10 on our Christmas presents per person. It was good fun and made for some hilarious buys.

So yesterday was all planning and being organised. But I also had an errand to run, namely some speedo swimming briefs for the petit garcon. He's started swimming lessons at school, they have a small 15metre outdoor pool which is a complete gem for a primary school. However the regulation stipulations are swimming cap and speedo briefs for boys, no shorts allowed.

On the way to the sports shop, I walked past a charity shop and there in the window was the brightest yellow top - ever! I nipped in, tried it on and got myself what I wanted for £4.50. I'm sure it was the Vix and Sharon Rose effect. I was channelling both when I turned my back on conspicuous consumption for better things and found the perfect top thanks to the Economy Gods.

The offending Speedo briefs so beloved by those who shouldn't wear them!

The £4.50 top

Petit garcon unable to resist a pose!

The imagined outfit completed! Yellow top £4.50 charity shop, Zara trousers 2 years ago, Topshop bangle 5 years old, Zara gold clutch 6 years old, Marc Jacobs heels 4 years old bought in Matches sale

Closer view of the MJ heels

The Economy Drive, signing up

The trouble with money is when you realise you haven't got the balance right. Having just finished work to complete a project I've suddenly become stony broke. My income stream is almost dried up and mu outgoing stream is more like a racing river. I need to get on top of things and was reminded by two invaluable posts Fashion's Most Wanted 'Time for an economy drive' and Vintage Vixen 'Dream On' Both posts are brilliant - a must read to remind us how to do it on the cheap and how it is okay to mess up but rein yourself in and get on top of things.



It is hard to find the balance on fiscal sense for oneself and having hopes and desires. It is the blending of reality (your income) and what you can do (how to achieve goals). I felt spurred on by Christina and Vix - I spend too easily and I don't go the extra mile at times to do something on an affordable scale. I will buy new rather than hunt around. Sometimes this is fine but often by deciding to set a limit on what you can spend, it makes you more creative and look around for alternative ways.

In some respects I'm really good. I grow things, make bread, do monthly meal planners and have a household budget but equally I fritter things away. I will suddenly invite all and sundry around and go mad on food and drink so everyone has a great time. I still want to do this but need to think about not blowing the budget and make everything go further. I don't need to get olives and nibbles etc. Just a meal, pudding and a fun drink - I'm favouring the Venitian Spritz (recipe below post) - all homemade.

Vix made me think about how to focus. I really want to go skiing this year for Christmas so I'm going to have that as a goal. It is the same price as skiing in the February half term and neither Mr MDS or I have been skiing since the arrival of the petit garcon. We would like him to learn to and although this is indulgent I do think it is important to have a goal. We've got all the gear so all I need to get is a ski suit for the petit garcon - even he has got thermals due to all the cold weather we had last year. I even got him salopettes from TK Maxx two years ago but they are too small now.

I also want to clear the last bit of my student loan - only 10 months to go and get rid of my overdraft. Because I'm in the midst of writing it really doesn't matter if I don't go out. My mind is elsewhere and I've partied for Britain over the years, home and away. My best cure for jet lag is to go out to a club, dance a bit and then go to sleep. Of course that's not on the cards these days. My next step is to cut out all wastage, no processed foods, no more wine, no coffees and no ebay, amazon or anything.

To assist my endeavours, I will make a mood board. One that reminds me why I'm not spending money. After all I've been styling for years and creating outfits out of anything. I spent a few hours in front of the mirror trying on different combinations to remind me I don't need any more clothes! It did remind me that I do need to lose my spare tyre or two and that is a great motivator as clothes always look better when not so snug.


The most important thing is the roof over our heads, food on the table and the rest is just a bonus.

Venetian Spritz Recipe

Spritz is a popular apertif in Venice. It is reasonably priced and always served with a complimentary bowl of potato chips, making it the perfect beverage for tourists wanting to appear inconspicuous and save money at the same time. Italian bartenders will usually offer a choice between a Spritz made with Campari or Aperol, another bitter aperitif.

Ingredients:

• 2 oz Prosecco*, Italian sparkling wine from Treviso
• 1 oz Campari
• Splash of Soda water or more if you want to have 2 glasses!
  
• Green olive and lemon peel twist (optional)
  

Directions:

1. In the glass add ice, Prosecco, Campari and soda water.
2. Garnish with a green olive and lemon peel twist impaled on a short wooden skewer.
3. Best enjoyed while sitting alongside a canal in Venice

*White wine can be substituted for Prosecco.

Bra-gate

Making do is of course a favourite occupation of mine. Of course I'm a complete urbanite and make no pretence otherwise. Yes, we have a small patch in the garden where we grow things instead of an interesting water feature or bamboo but mainly we go to the shops for our products.

I'm no stranger to farming or living off the land as we had a family farm. It was a typical feature of many a Welsh family. One of the family members ran the farm and the rest mucked in as required. I spent many a season helping with lambing or hay making as a child. It was one of the things I missed most when we moved to England and inevitably when my uncle died the farm was sold off as no one those days could have given up their urban job to manage a small holding. Contrary to the Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall school of country cottages shot beautifully by Channel 4, farms or small holdings can be quite dirty affairs most of the year and only get a bit of a spruce up and clean in the summer months.

I was reminded of all this whilst watching Superscrimpers on Channel 4 last Wednesday night. It was a mix bag of a programme. I felt the wit and charm of Mrs Moneypenny's FT column didn't translate well to tv not least as her pink coat and orange hat alongside a slightly shrill voice was a bit scary. I love Lady Lesley's madcap sterling stomping through the countryside chucking chickens back over fences. She gave a wonderful recipe of nettle pasta and it was great stuff. Except, and rightly or wrongly, I was most put off by one outfit that suggested no bra was being worn or a really ill fitting one. I have an abject horror of braless or ill fitting bras. Braless with a a double AA cup i.e. almost flat chested is passable, any thing else is too much. Of course there are garments that require no bra but ever vigil I have an array of items that support or disguise this fact.

Good support is crucial for breast tissue to prevent sagging and damage to what is essentially just fat. Anyway I digress, what ensued can only be describes as bra-gate. Of course I was on twitter whilst viewing, it is a bit of a must these days. And invariably I made a comment!

My first and only comment on Lady Lesley was perhaps she should sell a chicken and buy a decent bra. I think a few people felt the same way, tsh us urbanites hey!

A day or two later I got a tweet from Lady Lesley (great isn't it) under her farm's twitter name @trallwmfarm - which stated 'Lady Lesley has a bra but more importantly the sanctuary animals get fed'. Well naughty old me quipped back 'well i'm heartily pleased the animals are fed but am also keen on puppies being kept in place correctly'.

Since then I've had a couple of mean tweets but nothing that doesn't amuse me. What amuses me most is the stupidity of people on twitter. You can look at the account and see who they follow and when it was set up. Now there is a twitter account called @Nickynoodles33 who follows @trallwmfarm and is mainly operating to pick on Katie Price and ..'er me!

No stranger to investigative journalism, although the last time I did any decent stuff would have been at the behest of a newsdesk editor when I was training, I thought I should do some digging, which is very easy due to the friend of the lazy Goggle. Lady Lesley herself is no stranger to controversy and attacking. There is a hilarious account of her action against the former Cheif Constable of Dyfed Powys police. Lady Lesley is a maverick and a very entertaining one at that. She obviously does pour her heart and soul in to her sanctuary and I'm sure she could do with donations which can be made here

Lady Lesley upon being cleared of trespassing and I rest my case re:bra
image: BBCWales

Lady Lesley is an interesting character and does to some extent court controversy and likes to fight the establishment. I have no views on this at all as it does take all sorts and I can't wait to get some nettles and make that pasta.

However, Channel 4 needs to exercise some restraint over its programme participants or give them some guidance regarding 'media exposure'. It is important not to conduct petty or spiteful behaviour or encourage others to do so. I did not attack Lady Lesley or what she does. Pointing out bra issues isn't a crime. I understand it might seem rude and would happily concede that point but in fairness twitter is fair game for some quips of this nature. I would stand by telling anyone about bra matters and whilst I don't point this out to all and sundry, one becomes a fair target on a tv programme, after all one is choosing the limelight and all that comes with it. There is a lot of evidence that public appearances can draw comments. I love how people get so shirty with blogs and twitter. Somehow the idea that the review or views aren't in print in a regional or national paper/broadcaster seems to give licence to spite or vitriol. Seriously people need to get over themselves.

Will I watch Superscimpers again, maybe. Would I say the same again, probably.

Oh SuperScrimpers

In anticipation of tomorrows new series called SuperScrimpers on Channel 4 at 8:30pm, I bring you young Mr Waste Not Want Not himself, the petit garcon. His current project is growing his own herbs (legitimate ones of course). 247Social Media contacted the petit to find out if he would be interested in encouraging others in the world of fending for themselves, a sort of make do brand ambassador. All things considered being 5 years old is not merely about play. His current tasks include learning to read and chopping bananas and strawberries to make smoothies - under supervision of course. He learnt the hard way about onions making you cry when he chopped the spring onions for the salmon fishcakes.

The petit garcon wished to portray a balanced view of his life of forward planning on the making do front, with his love of cricket. This explains the appearence of two different bats in the photos. He was a bit disappointed that he was only sent mint to grow but is hopeful of his seed planting in his handy herb growing bag with feed.