Live on £4000 for a year - part 4 (Oct - Dec 2008)

thriftylass

lyndasharp wrote: »

....I was warm until the cat got off my lap... must get more cats. ...

Mine just walked out too, replaced her with my laptop, keeps we warm too:D

lingojingo

Wow Bails, that sounds fantastic! hope it works out for you.

Nyk, just keep reminding yourself how much better it will be in the new house - not long to go now!

No snow here but it's been really cold. Temp down to 9 degrees in the hall by 4.30pm, we could even see our breath, so we've succumed and put the heating on, downstairs only, this evening. Wonder what tomorrow's readings will be, at least it won't be as high as Nyks, that's really scary.

edited to say just got email from imeasure about the competition, won by a man apparently. Off to their site to find out more.

purplevamp

Sophiesmum - that is one very impressive looking basket :T . Your Mum should be very pleased with that. You are truly talented. My talent only goes as far as baking biscuits and cakes, etc!! (Sorry, that sounds a bit big headed but they are lovely and everyone wants more) I'm thinking of making some baskets of cookies for christmas. I've seen some lined handled baskets in £Land, so all I need is cookies and cellophane.

sophiesmum_2

purplevamp wrote: »

Sophiesmum - that is one very impressive looking basket :T . Your Mum should be very pleased with that. You are truly talented. My talent only goes as far as baking biscuits and cakes, etc!! (Sorry, that sounds a bit big headed but they are lovely and everyone wants more) I'm thinking of making some baskets of cookies for christmas. I've seen some lined handled baskets in £Land, so all I need is cookies and cellophane.

Purplevamp go for it, everyone loved the hampers I made them last year, and they can look really expensive without costing a fortune - have you checked out the finished hampers picture thread on the special occasions board - lots of inspiration on there.
I'm sure your cookies would go down well, and look fab:D
I've just madea coffee and choc hamper for OH just need to find somewhere to hide it now:rolleyes:

http://i212.photobucket.com/albums/cc199/sophiesmum_photos/SP_A0148.jpg
http://i212.photobucket.com/albums/cc199/sophiesmum_photos/SP_A0149.jpg
http://i212.photobucket.com/albums/cc199/sophiesmum_photos/SP_A0150.jpg
total cost for that one was £6.34

Janey51

great news bails and great hamper sophiesmum :T

What a load of barely plumbed talent we have

Nyk I think you need to take a chill pill before you move or you will explode with all the activity going on :rotfl: You'll need all your energy to dig that garden over :eek:

Marru

Good morning all,

Sophiesmum - your hampers look amazing! And it is the fact how much thought has gone into every single one that is the most precious thing. What comes to your comment last night I think you are entitled to feel a bit deflated. You have had quite a year with the diagnosis of your brother's illness and then losing him, all your gardening, cooking, preserving, looking after fellow MSEers , stockpiling and not forgetting that you missed out that week in the sun that should have been your time to relax and charge up. And now the clocks went back giving us suddenly really dark evenings. I hope you have a chance to have a bit of a chill preferably in the candle light with your lovely OH.

I am in a process of making my to do list for today it is not as long as the one in yesterday so I have high hopes that I manage to get through it.

Thanks BB about the tip re powdered milk and tea. I am running out of milk but now can have a NSD and use powdered milk for my tea.

Off I go now and catch up with you all later.

Marru

PS really cold here, had trouble getting my car doors open as they were so frozen. Just frost, no snow. I had a lovely lovely walk with my dog this morning

bails

I had the same problem with my car doors Marru, was nearly late for my doctor's appointment!
Your hampers are fantastic Sophiesmum! :T I was thinking of attempting something like this for my mum, where can I get the baskets and cellophane from?

Thanks again for all the good wishes, makes me excited all over again! Thriftylass, we would rent the house out furnished while we were away and store all our stuff at my parents hopefully (I'd need to empty out all my clutter from there first though :rotfl: - they moved house while I was on my gap year and it's never been sorted, just added to )
My feet are FREEZING!! I resisted putting my heating til half 4 yesterday but it's so cold sitting in the house all day (especially as I really feel the cold now). I wish I could put the heating on without worrying about the cost India/Africa/anywhere warm sounds very appealing today!
I have the joy of filling out my DLA form today :rolleyes: Anyone got any chocolate?

dND

Bails, ages back when I was looking for cellophane someone suggested a florist suppler to me and they were much cheaper than the craft shops but it was obviously a large roll. They also had the pull thread rosettes too.

I don't know if all suppliers will sell to the general public but if they don't maybe a local florist would help.

I've no ideas about the larger hampers but I had an RSPC shop locally in the UK and they always had a supply of the smaller baskets other than that the catering wholesalers sometimes have the smaller baskets too.

Failing that, the cardboard fruit trays can look nice too if they're covered in some nice wrapping paper.

bails

Thanks so much for all that dND, it's really helpful! I've been looking through my pressie box and think I have almost enough themed things for my mum and sis-in-law :T I'm going to do a pampering one for mum and a relaxation one for my SIL. Next year I might do them a gardening one and a cooking one!
Am ditching the form for now as I am so completely shrammed and will head to local charity shop for more treasures :j Just have to find some money (I left my bag in Birmingham, locked in my brother's house :rolleyes: - what was that about sieve heads? :rotfl:) I've raided £10 from OH's piggy bank (with his permission) so I'm off to do a Nyk £10 challenge!

Janey51

Frrreeeeeezzing Frugalland :eek:

I had to put the heating on last night for a few hours because it was only 12.5C in the living room even with the log burner on.
It was bliss. Had to bleed all the radiators first.
But I did dry a lot of clothes while the radiators were on and then I fell asleep. Woke up at midnight and then couldn't get back to sleep again so was up until 3am :rolleyes:

This morning I have hoovered out the car and am chilled to the bone so I'm going for a soak in the bath.

I am well impressed witht the hamper pictures:T I am doing a couple of hampers again this year myself. I collected all the stuff earlier in the year before DH died. Christmas will be hard this year without him
I really miss the :kisses3: and :grouphug:

I have been thinking...again ...about my shopping for 3 months/a year project.

Whereas Nyk has a thing about neat numbers I have a thing about neat dates

I think I will possibly revise my stockpile shopping plan so that initially it is for 2 months and then, on Jan 1 :j I can start properly.

But, prices might go up and then I have lost out Oh, decisions, decisions