Live on £4000 for a Year, 2009 Challenge, part 2

lingojingo

Oh well, that's the end of that frugal slug-catcher idea then, as I don't want our cat to be flea riddled.

It's been another sunny day here, just getting a bit overcast now.
CW - 3 hours with the lawn mower:eek: It takes about 3 minutes to mine :rotfl:

cw18

lingojingo wrote: »

CW - 3 hours with the lawn mower:eek: It takes about 3 minutes to mine :rotfl:

3 hours for mine yesterday - 4 hours on DDs today :eek:

Lots of edging on mine yesterday though (done with the strimmer as I'm too lazy to dig to the back of my garage for my proper edging tool), so hopefully not that long again this season.
DD's was waaaaaay too long, and had to be fully strimmed before we could get the mower (on highest setting) onto it. I did have a break within that time though, as she made me a butty and brew for lunch

savingfortravel

Hi Everyone!
Had a productive day. Spent this morning writing English reports. My brother has arrived at my parents for a few days so we went for a walk in a village then on to show him (hopefully) our cottage and its local pub. Stopped there for a quick drink of the local real ale.
Since brother paid for the drinks it has been another NSD. Yipee! :j Had scrambled egg (free range from one of my class parents) and smoked salmon on toast (thank you waitrose vouchers) for lunch and baked beans (from our stock pile now in parents' shed) on toast for tea.

Looking forward to Springwatch starting again tonight.

The weather has broken now and it is raining outside.

Have a great evening all.

sft

Skint_Lynne

Evening everyone,

Not much to report as it was a lazy day for me. Hung out 2 lots of washing today and got it all dried before it started raining tonight. I've got a bit of a drive tomorrow, going to Middlesborough, so away around 8ish.

I hope my arm will be okay as it's the longest drive I've done since my accident.:o

I've been having a look at the OS pleasures thread since andromarche put the link in for us, it's great to be reminded about the nice and simple things in life, like drying the washing outside and baking. Lovely stuff. Will check in later. xx

Blairweech

Hi folks!

Have had a productive evening, did the washing up/cleaned the kitchen, made pate - then realised I had used the last of the butter for cakes, so got my thinking cap on for the snacks....and realised I have Trex in the fridge, so made 'The Best Mince Pie Pasty Ever' and had mince pies instead!

Am going to Bath and West on Thursday, will take a pique nique with us and am dining at my parents, so *fingers crossed* should not spend too much money

The 'little things that make us feel rich' comment was inspired by this post over at Get Rich Slowly. I made a list of mine on Saturday afternoon whilst the forums were down, it is nice remembering all the little frugal things that make me happy The OS pleasure thread is lovely, I had forgotton about that, so thankyou andromache for posting it

Frugaldom

Good morning, I've got the best of both worlds for Frugaldom garden today - sun's shining but it rained through the nigh, so no need to do any watering this morning and the hens, chicks & ducklings are happy.

Going to try to complete one lot of work before lunchtime, got some of it done already, then head back out into the garden. If the weather changes, I have the eggstra cooking to do by way of the meringues and the lemon curd. I bought loads of lemon juice from Approved F00d, enough to make curd to last the rest of the year. It even tastes nice baked into a lemon meringue pie.

CW, hope you aren't exhausted after your mammoth grass cutting - doesn't DD have any friends or neighbours who could help her with her garden if she's not able to do it herself? If she was close to me I would happily take over such a huge garden and have it turned over to beggie production to further save on the groceries longterm. It seems a great opportunity for someone who would, otherwise, have an allotment but can't get one. Loads of garden share schemes about, even online. I considered doing same with my DD's garden but the 25 mile round trip plus the fact that she's wanting to move house makes it pointless. (But I still wouldn't be mowing her lawn for her - I'm an honourary member of the bad mothers' / grandmothers' club )

SL, I hope your arm is alright, Middlesborough is a fair trek. And don't forget Big Brother's watching you when you get there - can you tell the TV was actually switched on here last night?

Re the hedgehog debate - not all hedgehogs have fleas, although many do carry them. These fleas are hedgehog fleas, not the same ones that live on cats/dogs, so there's no need to be unduly worried about pets becoming infected. Just thought I'd add that part

cw18

DD's garden isn't big - she just lets it get out of control (misses last couple of cuts of the season, and then starts late the next year). She says she "doesn't have the time" as she has a full-time job and two youngsters - and to be honest her days are long considering how close to work she lives. But I don't think this gives her any real excuse as others have to manage. (But she's a long way from being the only person on her street who waits for the warning letter from the council before doing anything though :eek: )

The main reason I went to help yesterday was so my GDs have somewhere safe to play out - she's been kicking them onto the street, which is a cul-de-sac to cars, but has nutters racing through on motorbikes and quadbikes to get to the open land behind her..... I've almost been hit more than once :mad: I made it quite clear that I don't intend to do it to that extent again, and that she needs to stay on top of it !!!

ETA: She was working too - she raked up after I strimmed, swept the paths, made brews and lunch, and I left her to vaccuum up the bits of grass my GDs had traipsed through the house :rolleyes2


Thanks for the info regarding our little prickly friends (and their friends). May have to see if there's anything I can do to encourage our visitor to become more permanent, as I love these little critters

Am about to get off here, have a second cuppa, get dressed, and start blitzing my kitchen!! Have decided that's where I want to start today/this week - especially as it's damp and threatening to rain which rules out the garage Will do about an hour or two, then wander down the shops - need cabbage and carrots to go with yesterdays buys from Mr A!di so I can get some more veg soup cooked and in the freezer. I can carry on blitzing the kitchen whilst keeping an eye on that too......

lingojingo

nykmedia wrote: »

Re the hedgehog debate - not all hedgehogs have fleas, although many do carry them. These fleas are hedgehog fleas, not the same ones that live on cats/dogs, so there's no need to be unduly worried about pets becoming infected. Just thought I'd add that part

Oh good, so now I just need to find one :rotfl:and then persuade it to live in my garden

Frugaldom

lingojingo wrote: »

Oh good, so now I just need to find one :rotfl:and then persuade it to live in my garden

If you were close enough to me I could deply the 1st Airborne Troop of Feathered Marauders to do battle against your slugs and snails - the hens love them.

Between downpours, I have managed to get washing dried, transfer a couple of courgettes from greenhouse to square foot garden and get todays orders packaged and send off to post office. It's not a lot, but it's a start. This afternoon, seeing as the weather cannot be trusted to stay dry, I'll sort out the budget for decorating the bathroom - new neighbours'll be here in the very near future and I can't fall behind with the keeping up with the SM's just yet. All I need to do is juggle some accounts, not touch DD's wedding fund, not touch DS's 21st fund, not touch the ISA and hey presto - a decorating budget. Hmm... any ideas what I can do for 37p? :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl: I think I'll bake, instead.

cw18

Sounds like you've got more 'spare' cash in the bank than me Nyk :rotfl: