What I bought at Cleveleys - Shopping Blog!

Apologies, it's a little while since we posted in this section. But we braved the wind and rain on Sunday to call at Cleveleys and pick up the things we've been running out of. And as the title says, there's a story to every song...

I'm really trying to organise myself - with so much going on with these websites and much of it in my head, my brain's starting to get like fog and I just forget things immediately. So I've been to Smiths and bought a variety of diaries to start writing things down and planning for next year. So there's my appointment diary in my Filofax (which I've had knocking on for 20 years and is an old friend), a desk diary that is my 'jobs to do' book, and a little one as a mileage record for the accounts, oh and I forgot to get one of those little calendars that you made calendars with in school - really handy just to keep on your laptop. I could really do with a notepad on string round my neck, now there's an idea...

Even at my age with hair that's going grey, I still can't resist a notebook and pencil. It seems to be a girl thing, I know I'm not the only one. So Home Bargains once again came up trumps with a £1.39 notebook and all the trimmings. The only trouble is that the pencil seems to be broken all the way down... you get what you pay for! The bulk buy white tack is to keep in the car, handbag and desk! I'm always sticking 'Visit' posters up everywhere, and especially when they have been up a while, the tack dries out and they go skew-wiff.

Cupcakes. Now there's a fashion. a) I can't resist a good book with nice photos. b) I like baking and eating cakes, and c) I need some inspiration to apply to my new icing bag and need to make cupcakes for charity events. Diabetes, here we come! Ditto the muffin tray - also from Home Bargains. Did you know fairy cake tins are something entirely smaller?

Finally, lip balm and dog bones. The weather has been so rough over summer that my whole face feels like sandpaper and I've got a lip balm in every room. The dog bones are nothing to do with that - they are for the dogs!

In the spirit of Fylde Coast Friday we do our bit at Visit Cleveleys every week for the local shops.

Like we say in the title, nothing madly exciting happens in the Visit Cleveleys shopping basket, but if you are nosy like we are you might just be interested in what people buy. After all, you can bet that when you stand at the supermarket checkout, the person behind you is always fascinated by what's in your trolley.. so it can't just be us!

So once again, M&S Simply Food, Tesco, Home Bargains, M&Co all come up trumps....

Here we are again, after a little break! We've still been shopping in Cleveleys every week and propping up the economy, I just thought you'd be bored of seeing junk food and notebooks in a weekly fix from Home Bargains!

Since the sun seems to have gone back in we're back on the tan in a bottle, with Loreal from Superdrug (because we're worth it, of course!), and while I was there a lip salve because of all the winds that dry your skin.... Stop whinging about the weather! While I was in Superdrug at the checkout I noticed nearly out of date mini-eggs for just 20p - yum-yum! I did consider the bright yellow, very in fashion nail varnish but plumped instead for grey. I could be called Lady Jane Grey for all the grey clothes and accessories I've got!

I can't walk past New Look and my one complaint is that the shop is too small. I wish they would go into M&Co when they move to Vic Market! Anyway, I dropped on a lovely reduced T-shirt, nothing like a bargain, and a necklace for good measure!

In Wilkinsons I got a 19p notepad to pop in my bag, always handy to have a bit of paper to write phone numbers, things and notes to self while I'm out and about, then I might stand a chance of remembering what to put on this site when I get back to base!

Had to include this for a laugh! If you have been reading the Visit Cleveleys blog and Facebook page you'll know that a lot of the updating goes on at silly-o'clock in a morning, usually weekends. It's been a huge and time consuming task developing this site and hence quite tiring, so VC are trialling Pharmaton to see if it will help us to make even more updates! I did nearly need gas and air when she told me how much the 'buy two get one free' bottles were, but I've got the web developer taking them too, so we should all be turbo charged by the time we get to the end of bottle one. I wonder if they count as a business expense, maybe they should!

A dress and a cardigan from the new season at M&Co, with the added bonus of 10% off with their new loyalty card! Not often we manage to save anything so that was a treat. Juxtaposed with some Vacuum storage bags from Wilkinsons to store all the other dresses and cardigans.....

Life as a shopper, too much stuff and too little space to put it all.....

I'm a sucker for cosmetics, which is ridiculous really because I don't really wear much make up, so when I saw Rimmel lipstick in Superdrug I just couldn't resist the offer to buy 2, get one free.

A neighbour of ours had bought some of these dog treats from Home Bargains for our boys, and they went absolutely beserk for them. One swalled them hole in a bid to stop the other one getting hold of it, and the other one raced round the room like a nutcase, with dog one in hot pursuit, trying to get his jaws on both of them! Apparently they are in Home Bargains as a cheap 49p offer because the packaging has been updated and they now retail for £1.99 - I mean, for goodness sake, does it matter to dogs!

I really didn't fancy a sandwich for my tea so I imbibed in a Tesco frozen stirfry, and it was really nice! Topped off with a piece of lemon cheesecake. Buy it early enough in the day, carry it round Cleveleys while you are shopping, and it's defrosted by tea time, so that's OK.

Much to our relief, we also discovered that Kays chippie is open again, so normal service is resumed this weekend!

This is starting to get beyond a joke, people who are following this will be thinking that I'm 147 stone and obsessed by my stomach! If you read the blog you will know that the day that this was taken was a lazy Saturday with a walk on the beach, and a nap on the settee, topped off by Chinese Tea!

Many years ago when we lived in Yorkshire we had been on holiday to Torquay and tried a take-away which did King Prawn with Spring Onion & Ginger. Our local Chinese at the time only did really basic stuff, and not very well it has to be said, so this was a revelation. So when we moved to Cleveleys we weren't very long in trying the local Chinese, Maxim House on Rossall Road, and quickly worked our way around the menu.

Plus which, Kays Chip Shop is closed, so our once a week treat had to have a change of flavour this week! So if you come on holiday at Cleveleys and feel a bit nervous at trying different take away food, I can highly recommend this!

... possibly the nicest pie in Cleveleys!

There are two Taylors bakeries in these parts, and this pie came from the one on Rossall Road near the end of Thornton Gate.

They are a local legend, their pies. Best eaten hot, and bought in the hundred each morning by locals and visiting workmen. I was on the late shift on Saturday morning and bought my pie at 11.30, not long before I was due to have lunch, so I didn't actually eat it until tea time when it had gone cold. And it wasn't nearly as nice. Must get there earlier next time, early enough to have my pie mid morning with a nice, hot cup of tea.... mmmmm....

I went shopping on Saturday this week instead of Sunday, and I have to say it was far busier in Cleveleys than I'm used to (the website must be working! lol!)

I did buy other things too, but I saw the funny side when I unpacked at home, with all the sugary food that we bought, so I thought you might enjoy sharing the joke!

I did actually have salad for tea, which is why I bought bread from Tesco, but the lemon meringue was a lovely desert, and the sticky toffee puddings were glorious for Sunday lunch - they were only 99p for two.

It has to be said that if you shop like I do, all the offers in shops make you vary your diet, I just buy what's reduced and try everything!

I needed some kitchen tiles last week, and I needed them straight away. So I went along to Topps Tiles at Anchorsholme.

Now I have to be honest, a good few years ago when I was last doing some renovations at home I had been into Topps Tiles and I have to say I wasn't impressed. The shop was previously tatty and the service very lacklustre, and I haven't been back since.

The fact that I needed tiles off the shop floor and quickly was what drove me there, and I have to say what a difference I saw!

The shop has had a make-over, they have got a really good selection of tiles even from stock (and in most places they are all to order), the price was reasonable, and the service was excellent. All in all I was very impressed. Well done Topps!

I had a shopping trip to Cleveleys yesterday afternoon with my mum - these are just a few of the things that we came back with. She's a bright spark and munches her way through hundreds of cryptic crosswords like these that were on offer in WH Smiths. I took a deep breath and bought these tights to (maybe) wear with a new skirt, if I feel brave enough, but at £2 from M& Co it's not that big a gamble! Have you ever tried these little sponge cakes with custard on top? Makes a quick and easy pudding, as Nigel Slater would say! A get well card for a friend from Card Factory and yet more puzzle books were about the most exciting of the things we bought.

We go to the supermarket every week just like everybody does, but we also go to Cleveleys nearly every week too. Just buying incidentals and things you need we rack up a fair amount of money and between us we must have spent about £60 or £70 including some half price supplements that were on offer in Holland & Barrett.

If everyone who lives locally did that just think how successful Cleveleys would be. We've already got a high street to be proud of, so if we all spend just a bit of what we earn in our own local shops we'll be laughing!

I gave in to fashion this winter and bought a pair of UGG boots, and I have to say how very warm and comfortable they are too. However, they also mark quite easily and I had already acquired a dirty mark on the right foot (probably in driving) before I got to Tesco....

The only trip I made to the sales over Christmas had been to have my passport stamped for a trip to Next/Matalan etc at Marton, and disappointing it was too, although not for my bank account. I'd gone in the big Tesco and was stood deciding what to buy when a woman a few feet away hurled a pot of fresh bright orange soup at the floor. Thankfully it splattered her from head to foot and not me, although my lovely UGG boots did catch some back lash.

So I pootled off to Fredericks at Cleveleys on New Years Eve to buy a cleaning kit. It was £22.99 and that's the cheapest I have seen them anywhere, and of course no p&P to pay either. Haven't used it yet but apparently they are very good.

While I was at Cleveleys I bought a few balloons to trim up for my mums birthday (she won't read this!), and popped into Cancer Research to introduce myself to Val the manageress. Of course I also diverted into New Look and M&Co for a couple of sale item trinkets - both the scarf and necklace might be wintery colours but will wear all year round to add contrast to summery pale colours. Roll on pink T-shirt weather!

I came to the conclusion a long time ago that it's false economy buying expensive slippers because they still get mucky and smelly, so I now buy cheap ones and throw them away - not very environmentally friendly but I do my bit elsewhere. I couldn't resist these leopard print ones from Shoemarket - £2.99 - what a bargain! I can still get a good two months wear out of them which isn't bad.

I can't resist Home Bargains either as followers of this page will know. I'v got a bit of an addiction going on at the minute for Ryvita Minis - laced with a teaspoon of butter which somewhat makes a mockery of them being low fat, but hey ho! None of the supermarkets have them either, which is strange. Greggs gingerbread men are very scrummy too!

While I was there I bought a brush. I'd been to Images Hair Salon a couple of weeks ago, where I have to say Becky did a fab job of my twice-a-year haircut. I did ask for it flicking out and she flicked it under, which I did prefer although I wouldn't have asked for it. It would be so easy doing your own hair if only you could take your head off to get round the back... I can't guarantee that I'll blow dry like Becky did, even with a new brush.

Another pair of gloves (for mum actually) from Supershoppa (or whatever it is now) and, wouldn't you know it, I've already lost one of the black ones I bought a couple of weeks ago - I need them on a string through my coat!

I've had my eye on this cardigan from M&Co for a few weeks, and having enough clothes myself to fill the shop, didn't want (or need) to pay full price for it! I was thrilled ysterday when just one, perfectly formed, small sized one was left in the shop, waiting for me of course, and reduced quite heavily!

Good old Home Bargains provided yet another treat in the shape of a cheap, but again perfectly formed, coffee mug, fluted to make your drink cool more quickly for those of us who take hours to drink anything!

The Three Kings are Christmas decorations from Burnside Garden Centre - where we too make an annual pilgrimage along with the hundreds of hoards to look at the goodies and buy a few trinkets each year.

Why a packet of lard I can hear you ask? Dreadfully embarrassing to buy, but vital in making wild bird food! Melted in the microwave (and hold your nose for the smell) when mixed with cheap rolled oats and some out of date sultanas it makes ideal high calorie food for our feathered friends, when it's -10 outside!

I'd been out doing some letter dropping earlier this week and had a bit of a glove catastrophe, and with my cold hands I need all the help I can get! I'd poked my finger through on one hand, and lost the other one!

I was pleased to find some fabulous leather gloves in good old Home Bargains for just £2.99! Of course Home Bargains is also where the Christmas gift bag and the pens came from - you can never have too many pens and these are Papermate Gel pens, 4 for just 99p!

I had a walk up to the Cancer Research shop, I know we've got an abundance of charity shops in Cleveleys and just like in every high street in the UK they are one of the shop types that are doing well! They do sell some fabulous new gifts though. The manager had posted on the Visit Cleveleys Facebook page that they'd got new Breast Cancer shopping bags in but I wasn't quick enough off the mark! I did get some nice Christmas cards though and a good selection they have too, especially since buying them does some good!

Coming back through Victoria Market I spied another pair of gloves - just like the one I'd lost earlier in the week - as I'm a bit of a calamity I decided to have them too! Another good buy at just £1.99!

I suppose this is a bit of a different way of looking at what you bought, but it was a cash transaction!

When it gets to 'Chip o'clock' on Saturday, the only thing for it is a 'Chippy tea'.

The best seaside fish and chips, straight from Kays at the side of the bus station. Open in the fresh air, at home, or in their cafe, you can't got wrong!

Present time for friends took us to Victoria Market so that solved a puzzle (pardon the pun)!

Two more trips to my favourite shops: B&M Bargains to stock up on doggy goods, and Home Bargains to stock up on note cards & thank you cards! The little bucket of dog treats was £1.59, and in a 'well known national pet store' at Squires Gate, they were about a quid for a small handful. What a bargain! The Genoa cake looks lovely, but it's a heavy as a brick! I can't imagine it can do much good for your waistline, but I'll live with it!

I always loved the desk calendars with the tear off days that we had where I worked when I left school, so when I saw them in WH Smiths I just couldn't resist it!

A couple of weekends ago when the weather was drier I fancied a few flowers to brighten up the garden through the cold dark days to come, so Howards plant stall at the back of Victoria market once again came up trumps with some primulas at 3 trays for a fiver - and very nice they look too.

Home Bargains is my regular haunt of a weekend, and provided a lovely baby blanket for my little dog!

Just in case it gets too much and I need to slit my wrists, a stanley knife from Wilkinsons (which I did think about wrapping in something pink & flowery to keep the husband off!). It's actually for cutting cardboard boxes down!

I hate to think about Christmas except to know that its over, but I do like a nice card and the Cancer Research shop were happy to oblige (thanks!) especially since a contribution goes to a good cause!

And finally, no trip to Cleveleys would be complete without B&M Bargains and a few cheap sweets!