Live on £4,000 for a year - 2009, Part 3

Brighton_belle

glad to hear BB is looking after herself in the food stakes SM - that's my girl:rotfl:.
Legs improving again thanks Nyk; don't really know what casued that blip and it's really warm and not damp down here. But a new day today and a new week.

Picnic yesterday and someone brought for pudding, individual home made jellies made from applejuice with fresh balckberries in - looked really nice and very refeshing on palette: apparantly original recipe includes carva and you can put what ever foraged berries in you like, so thought I'd pass that on.

Went for a gentle walk yesterday in glorious ancient woodland: The definition of ancient woodland is it has to have been woodland for 400 years+ (old maps and documents can prove this) plus have a number of indicator plant species - . e.g. bluebells (but just bluebells would not be enough of an indicator). This woodland is also home to rare fungi so may try and go back in the autumn.

For those who want to read a little more about the definition of ancient woodland, these sites explain it further:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_woodland

http://www.countrysideinfo.co.uk/woodland_manage/oldwoods.htm

taka

lingojingo wrote: »

thanks for the suggestions of places to stay in Edinburgh. Travelodge & Premier Inns all no good, no cheap room deals that weekend, but i have a booked a nice little B&B near Murrayfield (with twin beds).

:hello: You are going to be very close to me then! I live a few mins walk from the stadium! Which uni is your DD going to? (I think there are 4 here now! :eek:) What is she going to be studying?

slowlyfading

Afternoon everyone

Well, I"ve been to work 9am til 3pm today, and the manager didn't speak to me at all. Only once to tell me to go on my break and that was it. Totally blanked me all day. So, I handed in my notice - I'll be leaving on saturday now. I can't believe how this has all ended, but never mind.

Today is nsd no 14 for me, so I've made my target for the month Going to see if I can add in a few more before the end though, but I'm pleased with that so far. I've just got to work out a budget for the next month, but I'm not sure how the traveling expenses will work, so I have to wait until I get there before I can do that.

Me and the bf went on a 12 mile walk yesterday which was lovely - hard work at times though! I'm trying to get more fit, and walking with him is a good way to do it i guess, and its free just took a packed lunch with us, and it didn't cost a thing.

sf xx

lingojingo

taka wrote: »

:hello: You are going to be very close to me then! I live a few mins walk from the stadium! Which uni is your DD going to? (I think there are 4 here now! :eek:) What is she going to be studying?

Oh, will have to look you up when I visit on my own and DD is settled in.
She's going to the University of Edinburgh to study Maths and Spanish, hoping to do a year at a Spanish uni, studying maths in Spanish!

taka

lingojingo wrote: »

Oh, will have to look you up when I visit on my own and DD is settled in.
She's going to the University of Edinburgh to study Maths and Spanish, hoping to do a year at a Spanish uni, studying maths in Spanish!

:j:j

She must be a very clever DD! :T I couldn't study maths at uni let alone in another language. :eek: I hope she settles in well - I bet she'll love it. Let me know if I can help in any way...

Blairweech

SF - Sorry to hear about your job, am sure you will find a better one soon enough (if you are getting another job, cant remember if you said you were working through uni or not). You can't win with some people - your manager will probably miss you massively when you are gone and come grovelling back. At least you handed in your notice and did not walk out in a fit of rage, as I probably would have done!

Made everything I said I would yesterday, and it all turned out lovely...ok, the flapjacks didn't cause they stuck to the paper and broke into a thousand pieces when I tried to take them out of the tin. They still taste alright though. Don't know ifI said, but I made the chilli with half meat/half lentils, and I am just sat here eating it now, and I cannot tell it has lentils in at all (and I know what I'm looking/tasting for!) Yay for stretching meat. Am considering buying a meat box, as they are apparently half price until end of August - failing that, will just go to the butcher next week when I get my hair cut.

Had a NSD today as well, apart from council tax

thriftylass

SF sorry to hear about your job, hopefully sth else will come up.

Almost an NSD again but had to sent an Am@z0n sale off. Spent the evening (after our freezer stock meal) mending my jeans (needed new hem) and mending the cuffs on my cardigan. Was close to replacing them both but thought they will do/have to do another while .

Someone on another thread mentioned an easy cheap pudding called Magic Lemon pud and I tried that yesterday. Think I didn't have enough sugar in it but with strawberries for sweetness it was edible .

P.S. I also have a virtual allotment now thanks to someone mentioning F@rm T0wn .

sophiesmum_2

Not much to report here today, cooked lunch for the oldies so ate for free at dinner time, and put out an s.o.s for jars after this weekend's jam making has depleted most of my store of recycled jars. Still no sign of my pressure canner:rolleyes:

Skint_Lynne

Hiya,

All quiet here today, not a lot going on. I was not as successful with the lentil and mince mix, blairweech, I found it to be okay, but I do prefer the mince only. I should have boiled the lentils first I think, I started mine in the slow cooker. It didn't half bulk it out though, I used 2lbs of mince and got 10 really big portions out of it (we eat double portions here:D), I think these may be around 15-20 normal sized portions.

One sister did not like the lentils in it and one did. My dad will eat almost anything and he said it was nice. The wee nephew liked it, that sort of mixture is good for him, shhhh though, don't tell his dad that we gave him red meat, that sort of thing is not allowed.:o

So, a success in the bulking out department, but not so successful in the taste stakes, although it is definately edible.

I'm sorry about your job sf, it shows that you are a really honourable person to stick that out until saturday, I hope that your boss is feeling like the biatch that she really is. It is totally her loss, so onwards and upwards for you, think about your studies and leave the bakery well behind.

I'm driving down to blackpool tomorrow night for an early appointment on Wednesday, so I might not get on tomorrow.

Speak later, hugs to all. xx

thriftylass

Skint_Lynne wrote: »

....I used 2lbs of mince and got 10 really big portions out of it (we eat double portions here:D), I think these may be around 15-20 normal sized portions.

How many parts veg do you add. We only make 6-8 largish portions (chilli, lasagne, spag bol etc) out of 2lb mince. But then I only add one large onion, 2-3 cans of chopped tomatoes, stock, some mushrooms, and spices. Even your 10 portions then only have ~90 gr of meat (never mind 20 = only 45 gr each ).

P.S. Ooops, just read that 100-80 gr is a normal portion of meat (the one that equals that stack of cards :eek:). But I find that too small sometimes. Althoug it's probably healthier to have that little. (P.S. I only weigh 8.5 st, so I need it I guess :rolleyes:). But I make up for it by counterbalancing that with more fruit and veg than needed