Money was certainly spent last week - after all we were 'on holiday', and an excellent time was had by all. But some of the best entertainment for DN was very cheap. There were the two trips to the local swimming pool - council run and very reasonably priced. Indeed, on Friday afternoon there were only a few other people in the pool and it was almost like having our own private swimming pool - just as well as the sight of me in a swimming cossie is not pretty!! Even if said cossie is a nice charity shop buy and a 'slimming' dark blue colour. But, lets be honest, there's only so much 'slimming' a dark colour can do when the garment is skin tight!!
There was the lovely afternoon spent at Southend beach. DN was content to spend hours bobbing about in the sea and the only costs involved were the train fares and a delicious Rossi ice cream cone each. My sister and I were able to sit and have a lovely long chat whilst DN amused himself digging up grit and sand from the bottom of the sea and pouring it over his head. He was so happy and content we could hear him singing to himself the whole time. Of course, a trip to the beach would not be complete without building sandcastles and DN built a nice one and topped it off with a paper flag he found floating in the sea.
That's my boy, making good use of what he can find. Oddly enough, the flag was for the Taoist Tai Chi Society which P and I used to go to. Essex is a real 'hub' for the Taoist Tai Chi Society in this country, and I suspect the flag was from a demonstration they had been giving somewhere in the area. It made a great addition to the sand castle.
Sunday's entertainment was totally free as it involved DN kicking Uncle P's football about in the front garden and having a great time with the neighbourhood children. We're very lucky in where we live as it is really quiet and children can safely play out in the road - although they have to watch out for cars, of course. Indeed, every evening there is the sound of footballs being kicked about, or tennis balls being hit, it reminds me of when I was little.
A large stack of children's videos also proved a godsend for when DN was tired and wanted to just watch something on TV. At home he has cable TV but as we don't have that here I was a bit worried he'd miss it and get upset about not being able to watch 'Ben Ten'. No worries, the Disney videos proved to be a huge success - and none of them cost more than 30p each. Indeed, Auntie Elizabeth has also enjoyed watching 'Stuart Little 2' and 'Toy Story' herself.
Just a small 'shout out' about a new website called The Love Factory - www.thelovefactory.co.uk. There are all sorts of eco friendly products and handmade item for sale there. In fact, under the 'Handmade' section my hand-knitted dishcloths are for sale. I was immensely pleased when I was asked if I'd like to sell them on the Love Factory site, nobody has ever approached me to sell any of my handmade items like that before.
What a great post! Sounds like my holiday - I swam, walked and went bird watching! Frugal and fun!
Posted by: Frugal Trenches | 08/27/2008 at 07:26 PM