We are more than halfway through No Buy July – for me that means no buying of clothes. The very last thing I needed to do clothes wise was to update my sleep wear because that was anywhere from 4-6 sizes too big for present size me. Kmart was having a clearance and on the 30th of June I picked up 4 very comfortable new nighties in size 10-12 for $5 each. YAY!

As we walked through the shopping centre to pick up one item from the supermarket that same day, I said to the other half – “I might just check Noni B. They had that dress in my size on the clearance rack when I was there yesterday but it was still very Up Money.” As I walked into the store the staff member greeted me and then told me everything on the clearance rack was $20. “Even the dresses?” said I? “Even the dresses” said she. I grabbed that thing so fast nobody saw it. I am sure if you could watch it on CCTV I became a blur of movement. I dashed into the fitting room so quickly The Other Half was messaging me “where did you go?”

I fits, I buys. I had been wanting this dress for over 6 months, I even mentioned it here on the blog. And I got it for $20. That is CRAZY TALK I am telling you. :) The material feels amazing, it has kind of a crimp in it is the best way I can explain it.

I did pick up another gorgeous top for $20 at the same time, and I pointed out my next wanted dress to The Other Half..

Unknown to myself, I had matched my new kettle to my upcoming new outfit. This is the Breville 1.7 litre kettle in Dragonfruit. She is a sparkly delight. We’d had our previous kettle for over 10 years and the spout was plastic and beginning to biodegrade somewhat meaning hot water would go everywhere when I tried to pour it. Very dangerous, it had to be replaced. I was worried because my Mum had bought a stainless steel kettle which is the noisiest kettle ever, you have to shout to talk over it. But this one is whisper quiet and it makes a gorgeous BING sound when it is finished boiling. I love it.

Speaking of things I love, no, I did not enjoy spending some serious cash on a new coffee machine but I love the one we’ve ended up with. We’d had the previous one for 6 years and when we did the maths, it cost us 12 cents a cup. I’d like a bit more than 6 years out of the next one, thanks appliance deities! We do use it quite a bit – 4 cups of coffee a day minimum, plus occasional extra shots for iced coffee or adding to a smoothie or milkshake.

I’ve been cutting down on dairy lately because I had a bad flu which just dragged on and on. It seems to be uncooked cheddar cheese which is my main problem – if I eat it I have a stuffed up nose for the rest of the day. I figured while I was eliminating things I would give some different milks a try for coffee. The new coffee machine froths coconut milk perfectly and almond milk not quite as well but it is do-able. I am loving my coconut milk cappucinos. You get a coconut flavour as a bonus. Our afternoon coffee is accompanied with one serving of Dark Kit Kat.

June is my birthday month and Crabtree and Evelyn were having a sale plus they sent me a $15 birthday voucher, so I grabbed a couple of hand creams and some salted caramel fudge. They did not quite bring enough salt for my liking. Rose and Pineapple hand creams smells like a toilet freshener according to the other half – it just so happens that is the one I most love. ;) I gave him the Spiced Earl Grey to try and combat his winter hands. Carribean Island Wild Flowers is super loud in a good way and the fragrance sticks around through several hand washings.

TVSN were also on sale. I am clearly not the only addict to this channel in the family but my biggest addiction is to their clearance pages. Grumpy suggested I buy this top.

While I did not take that particular advice as I felt it was slightly up money though I may well buy it later on when it is reduced if it is still available in my size, I did purchase one Diane Gilman top which I had been watching for months in clearance that suddenly jumped down to $9.95, and one set of tops with rainbow holographic sparkly sequins. I am always impressed with the quality of the goods once I receive them.

The Berry Bypass is now officially open – one lane of cars each way with a speed limit of 60km/hr. We ventured over to Berry on Saturday to check out the town minus all that traffic – seems like most other people in the world had a similar idea. We drove the bypass on Sunday on the way to Costco, it was brilliant.

No movie post this week, we have been too busy to watch movies. Part of the busy was an overnight trip to Canberra. We went to IKEA and picked up a few things, including another HODDE.

One presently resides on the floor in front of my recliner. Something about this rug just makes me happy. If I could, I would cover the entire house with them!

For now, I have settled for replacing an older rug in the Kitty Hang Out Area. This is a spot where the sun shines for much of the day. There are places for cats to sleep at varying levels, many including floor mats placed inside or on top of cardboard boxes.

There is a pot of all the vegetables we did not eat over the last two and a half weeks bubbling away on the stove. Red capsicum, leek, one lonely carrot, cauliflower, zucchini, brussel sprouts and potato. It will be ready for lunchtime. Happy moments here!

Twas the week before Christmas, and all through the house..

Not a creature was stirring, except for the mice in the chook pen.

The bin had been placed on the kerb with care..

In the hope that the bin truck would soon be there.

The Other Half and I were nestled all snug in our bed..

While visions of sugar plums danced in our heads.

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,

but because we were asleep,

nobody sprang from our bed to see what was the matter.

Luckily the security cameras caught the bin thieves,

who rather stupidly live just up the street

and chose to use their quite recognisable 4wd to try and steal our bin.

Because they took off like a bat out of hell,

This bin theft did not go very well.

Because I use very recognisable bin bags,

we found our bin right where they left it.

Just between you and me,

The council replaced our broken bin for free.

And they would have provided our caught on CCTV thieves with a free bin regardless of why it went missing. Your results may vary depending on your council.

Perhaps in the old days before CCTV, people might have snuck out in the night to steal someone else’s bin if something happened to theirs, and the destiny of the bin would forever remain a mystery. These days, not so much.

Having cleaned out the mug cupboard, it felt like it was time to keep going with some decluttering and donating. I moved on down to the next cupboard – the cup cupboard.

Kitty supervisor was otherwise engaged and oddly chose not to wake up from her long sleep in front of the gas heater. It was a cold day so I understand, but I need to be supervised!

I took all the cups out and put them on the counter. Many of them are the IKEA Vaken which has been available in different colours (and names I think) over the years.

These cups above and below are from Costco – it was this set. My parents have the same set. The tall cups are favourites of The Other Half. To be specific, he loves the tall blue ones. He also has a tall blue acrylic cup not seen here and I have a matching pink one which can be seen in the overview shot above next to the purple travel coffee mug. He likes to use one cup a day. I’m more of a three cup a day person.

I like to use the small version of these cups when I visit my parents. At home I prefer the Vaken because they hold exactly 2 cups of liquid, it makes it easier to track my water intake.

These are the IKEA KALAS childrens cup. They are part of the Kalas range of childrens tableware. I have many MANY of the KALAS plates and bowls. These cups hold exactly 250mls so they are also great as a measuring cup. The whole range is microwave and dishwasher safe.

Here is the finished cupboard – much neater, and much easier to use. I’ve sorted it into sections, which will make life a lot easier for me. :)

Goodbye cups! Thank you for everything. :)

Continued from last week – we now have the mug keepers.

These mugs come from Haven & Space in Berry. They are not very expensive – I think I paid $3.95 for them. There are three different sets – the emus seen here are part of a “hearts” set, and the beetles are part of a “bugs” set. I believe we did once have the four heart mugs, however, daredevil adventures killed them, and we only have this one left.

These two sets have a small image on the inside of the mug.

Dragonflies and bees!

Beetles and butterflies!

Then we have the Geisha set. Some of these mugs met with daredevil adventures. I went back to Haven and Space hoping to replace them and sadly they were all gone.. some months later on another Berry visit, they were back and I managed to replace the missing ones. Plus I bought a set for my Mother, who also has some of the mugs from the bugs and hearts sets.

The two tall mugs on the outside were both Secret Santa gifts. They have gone a lot of places with me over the years, to several different work places. The stripey mug in the middle is my favourite cup of soup mug. I am not sure where the flower mug came from though I know it once had a partner. These are my sentimental keepers.

These were a gift, there were two more but they met an untimely daredevil adventure death.

These two were a gift, though I think there may have been 4 originally. They are a great size so they are definitely keepers.

These mugs are all from IKEA. They are the workhorse of our mug collection, and you can kind of tell on the TILLBAKA mugs at the top there, they are getting old. The bottom mugs are called the IKEA 365+ mug.

These are the non-mugs – lids from my Nutri Ninja live within them.

And now to mention my most favourite mug of all. Most mornings this is the mug I drink my coffee from, but we only have the one gorgeously huge IKEA mug – I used to have two of them but one got broken. In fact I can even tell you when I bought these because I posted about it on the blog.

It isn’t looking too bad for nearly 9 years of constant, regular use. All the other mugs are lesser mugs compared to that one mug. And every time we go to IKEA, I have this tiny bean of hope in my heart, that I might find another one. But I never have. :(

Laura over at The Occasional Nomads wrote a post about mugs the other day. It has inspired this mug post from me. It also inspired a winter-clean-out of the mug cupboard! As you can see above, we had more mugs than space.

The truth is, our coffee machine does not have a lot of height for mugs. All the tall mugs had been pushed to the back of the cupboard because they are too difficult to use. Supervisor Kitty appeared, as she always does when anything is happening in the kitchen –

Under her careful supervision, I pulled all the mugs out of the cupboard and now you can see why many were stacked on top of each other –

How did all of these mugs ever fit in that cupboard? I have no idea. When I pulled them all out, I realised that every mug has a story to go along with it – where it originally came from and memories from times they were used. Some of our mugs were gifts – some wanted, some most definitely not wanted. Some of our mugs were purchased in an attempt to find the perfect mug, but when it came to using them they did not live up to expectations.

The Other Half and I made some difficult decisions – to say goodbye to some much loved mugs and send them off to find homes where the owners might have a coffee machine with more height available, or maybe they drink instant and don’t have to worry about the height of their mugs.

The brown and white mugs were part of a dinner set but the handles are weird. Not a fan. The mint slice mugs were a Christmas gift. The cartoon cats were a gift from my Mother, but these are super tall and thin and do not hold a lot of coffee. The need more coffee set are very small – good for the afternoon coffee, but one of them is now chipped. The other four were an unwanted gift and they are too small.

Mugs are in constant danger in my kitchen. Life is a daredevil adventure for them! There is a reason many of my plates, cups and bowls are plastic.

These are some of the too tall mugs that I would have loved to keep but am letting go of. We simply do not use them. Here are the goodbye mug friends all packed and ready to go to their new home –

And here is the mug cupboard when the task was completed.

There was even space for the non-mugs to reside in their own area. Measuring jugs, plastic mugs which I usually use for making chicken stock or reheating soups..

Much better! I did keep some tall mugs which you can see at the back because I sometimes use them for tea plus they have sentimental value. This has actually turned into two posts – I will tell you about the keeper mug friends next week.