Parkrun - Fun, friendly, free and fabulous :)

Today we attended our first Parkrun!

 

These are weekly, timed runs hosted throughout the country. The main runs are 5km but there are also junior runs which are 2km.

I've been trying to coax Miss P for a while and she finally relented and gave it a go today with the help of some friends to run alongside her.

The sun was shining, which definitely helped the horribly early start (8.30am on a SUNDAY!)

The first thing that happened when we got there was the organisers asked if it was anyone's first time, and everyone gave a round of applause. What a lovely way to welcome new runners!

There were awards for those who had participated in certain numbers of runs, then the kids all went off to warm up. (The photo is from https://www.parkrun.org.uk/news/2015/07/page/2/, I forgot to take any!)

And then they were off! The route was 2 laps of the park, so it wasn't long before the first ones came flying past us. The event was really well marshalled, and all the volunteers and parents clapped and cheered for all the kids who ran by. By the second lap there were a few that were flagging, but you could see that the encouragement they got really helped them to power through to the end.

My nephew bolted round and got a fantastic 11 minutes on his first ever run. Our girls all stuck together, from very-nearly-4 to almost 14, they brought up the rear, but it really didn't matter. The focus is not really on who you beat, but setting your own time, and then through persistence and practise, bettering that. However, you can go on-line and see how others did. Including whether they achieved a new personal best, and how often they've done the runs. The winning time this week was 7 minutes 50 seconds! Amazing!

I'd wholly recommend giving it a go. It's not often you find such well organised regular activities for free. And it felt like such an inclusive activity. I'm sure there is some competition, especially in the top ranks, but it's obviously designed to be something that anyone, regardless of ability, can join in with.

We'll see if we're still there when it's cold and raining though!

Do you have any other sporting activities to recommend? Or have you done the parkrun? How did you find it?

Veggie Stir fry for ALL the family!

This evening I cooked a veggie stir fry for the family. I think it's the first time in 9 months the boys have eaten my meat-free food! It was an exciting time :)

We've not had stir fry for ages, but whenever we do I always use instant noodles. I think they're tasty and moist, and so much cheaper than any of the other supermarket options at about 18p a packet.

For tonight's meal I used 3 packets of Aldi noodles, and it made 7/8 portions.

I did an optional Yellow Bean and Cashew Nut sauce which I got from Quality Save for 29p. That was served separately in case people didn't like it but to be honest it was delicious without.

The other accompaniment was cook-your-own prawn crackers. Bought from the Chinese supermarket for I think 99p (it was an age ago). They're a total bargain compared to ready to eat ones and so much more fun! They take about 10 seconds to fry.

So the stir fry itself included

1 onion
4 carrots
1/3 white cabbage
Pack chicken style pieces
Beansprouts
2 spoons of garlic ginger (amazing stuff. Available in Asian food shops but currently in Lidl for 99p!)
Slosh of soy sauce

I pretty much chucked it all in for about 20 minutes and served on the noodles.

I'd say a total cost of about £3, which works out about 40p a portion!

The boys weren't quite convinced by the "chicken" but ate it without complaint. And enjoyed the rest of the meal. There's enough left for 3 more meals. It would have been 4 but Master P had a big helping of seconds.

What are you favourite quick and easy meals? Do you have any cheap products you'd recommend instead of forking out for the proper ones?

Swishing - Refreshing your wardrobe for free!

I was quite excited about this blogpost. Because swishing is one of my favourite things. It is essentially clothes swapping. I've done it with just a couple of friends, a houseful, and even as a charity fundraiser in church or school halls.

I shared a picture of my wardrobe on a previous post, of the 35 dresses in there, 18 of them were swished!

 

It can be difficult for us to think that the things we have tired of, or bought and never worn, will be of interest to anyone else. But one girl's trash really is another girl's treasure. I, for instance, was more interested in fitted tops and jumpers this time. I have enough dresses, as you can see! So it's not all about bringing the fanciest or most expensive clothes.

 

This weekend I invited a few friends round. We had a glass of wine, some snacks, a natter; generally just a lovely evening together. Plus we all went home with some "new" clothes!

 

I had a serious clear out beforehand, resulting in 2 huge bags of clothes to swish. I find I am more ruthless when gathering clothes for swishing than if I'm just taking to the charity shop. Perhaps it's knowing that they will be replaced with other clothes, but either way it does make me more focussed on getting rid of what I don't need. I've been reading a book about tidying and have realised that half the clothes I wear are my "that'll do" clothes. I own lots of things I love, so the mediocre stuff had to go!

 

I should really have taken some pics last night but to be honest we were all too busy trying on each others clothes and talking. The way we work it is take a bag at a time and sort of show each item, if someone's interested they take it, try it, think about it, and if they don't want it either pass it along or put it in the 'no' pile. There is no shame in having your stuff in the no pile! We all have different styles, are different sizes. I guess you could feel a little exposed sharing your clothes with everyone but surely it's better to give those clothes a change at a new life than festering in the back of your wardrobe?! And if you didn't want to do it that way, you could always throw everything in a pile and just take out things which interested you. I think we just like to make sure we get a good nosy at everything!

This dress, for example, is divine. I need to work on my photography skills! It was my sisters, the pattern is lovely. But it wasn't right for any of us. Inspired by the sewing bee I MIGHT have a go at adjusting it for Little Miss Poppins.

 

I didn't take a whole lot last night, I'm trying really hard to cut down on clothes. But I did get a couple of jumpers, few tops, some shoes, and this totally gorgeous scarf which I just can't decide how to wear!

 

 

If you've never tried swishing, I'd really recommend it. You might be surprised at some of the things people get rid of. One of my favourites is this jacket (photo courtesy of Ebay). My friend had it in her wardrobe for ages, but the length wasn't quite right for her and she thought it was a bit fancy. I wear it on the school run regularly and it just makes me feel fab!

 

If you've tried swishing, I'd love to know how it went. Or if you've other ideas or ways of doing it, please share! What are your best swishes?

Finding Fun for Free!

Hey!

So our week at the seaside did not quite go to plan...

We had a wonderful time nonetheless. Having time together with the family was lovely; we got through a lot of wine, cheese, jigsaws and board games!

One of the things we did while we were there was join the RPSB. The great thing about this, as well as free entry to a bunch of sites around the UK, is that YOU CHOOSE what you pay! How good is that?! There's no fixed membership fee. And we got all this for free...

 

There is a quarterly magazine each for the kids, and one for me. A wildlife book, stationery, sticker book and a brilliant Nature Discovery pack which has heaps of things to do with activities from 10 minutes to all day, and sorted by season.

 

I think organisations like this are really important to support, but it's not always practical or possible to commit regular payments. Now we have, I want to make the most of our membership so we'll be visiting Old Moor at Dearne Valley regularly. I hope! They have some great activities on in the holidays, like pond dipping. If you have kids and they bring home the Raring 2 Go magazines, there's usually info in there. They also have free family tickets to Old Moor so if you don't want to or can't afford to become a member, you can still go for free!

 

http://raring2go.co.uk/vouchers--offers/free-family-entry-to-rspb--old-moor



 

One of the other things which happened this week is that my friend sent a link to this article - My year of Buying Nothing

 

This woman is mid way through spending no money for a whole year! Now that is just not on my radar as far as challenges go. However, the bit where she talks about finding free things to do is right up my street.

 

We are surrounded by places we can visit for free. There's something peculiar about human nature (or maybe just me!) that our local environment just doesn't seem that exciting, whatever it contains. I found this list of 50 things to do for free in Yorkshire and was surprised to find Locke Park on it. I grew up about 2 minutes from it, so I just don't see that actually it's a really cool park!

 

There were some places which are not on this list, so here's my own start at a Barnsley one. Although I would definitely like some contributions if I've missed anywhere good off!

 

Gallery @ Civic - All the exhibitions we've visited have been brilliant, really hands on for the kids.

Cannon Hall Park - The farm is expensive (although they have an after school price which is pretty cheap) but it's lovely to walk round, go to the fairy garden, play Frisbee, feed the ducks.

Cannon Hall Museum

Worsborough Mill

Experience Barnsley

Old Moor (with your free family pass!)

Locke Parke

Cooper Gallery - there is a relaunch on 11th June which I'm hoping to go to. I'm ashamed to say I've never been before!!

Libraries - We do not use ours often enough but there are often activities on, as well as obviously free use of books, DVDs and audio books.

 

That's not a bad little lot really. And if you are prepared to travel there are a whole lot of other free days out, both indoors and outdoors.

 

As well as places you can visit anytime, it's also worth keeping an eye out for free activities, festivals, theatre etc.

 

Creative Recovery are my favourite. They have events with music, art, fun for the kids, and the atmosphere is just so warm and friendly. Their next one is in Wombwell Woods on 30th and 31st July and there's a heap of different things going on - https://www.facebook.com/events/171340416601267/ 

 

The Handlebards are a theatre group who perform a bunch of "pay what you can afford" shows. And they are hilarious. They were Sophie's introduction to Shakespeare and she's hooked! We plan to see them at Sheffield Ampitheatre and possibly Recyclebikes in Sheffield too. For a closer-to-home performance they are also at Wentworth Castle Gardens but that one is ticketed.

 

There's Peace in the Park, a free Community Arts and Music festival on 11th June.

 

Live in Barnsley is on 18th June and tonnes of bands and musicians will be playing, for free, around Barnsley.

 

If you know of anything else coming up, let me know! I'm sure there are tonnes of events out there, we just don't always know about them.

 

So if we adjust our expectations a little, we need never pay for days out again!

 

Please get involved; let me know if you've visited any of these places and what you thought, as well as any other ways we can have a bunch of fun without breaking the bank :)