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

slowlyfading

Not having the best day apparently the bf has got swine flu, and my grandpa has been taken into hospital this afternoon. at least its been a nsd x

lingojingo

:grouphug: for SF, her bf and grandad.

sophiesmum_2

Loving everyone's pics of the home preserving. I was thinking how yummy the greengage jam looked, used to make that when I lived near salisbury when the kids were little, haven't seen any near here anywhere. Today I have been given just over 4lbs of yellow plums not sure what to do with them now - severe jar shortage here and my canner and jam pan are in other house:rolleyes: I could stone and freeze them I suppose for dealing with later or I could just turn them into crumbles

Grandma your stuff looks great, you have been really busy:T:T, looks like the recycled jars are doing okay too:D
Nothing much to report here today, been to spend time with my dad so not doing much else.

Happy Birthday Andromache :bdaycake:

Brighton_belle

all this fantastic foraging and jam/chutney making - I am definitely feeling a bit of a flakey urbanite! I better go and at least make some flapjack to feel I am pulling my weight on the forum:rotfl:

Lynne - we always have to fold both mirrors in every time we park in our road: you can hear the thud of mirror after mirror being hit as vans/careless drivers pass down our very narrow road. Parking both sides leaves about 6 -12 inches either side sometimes to pass through.

Hope it is nothing too serious with your grandfather sf xx Hope bf has the relatively mild version.

slowlyfading

lingojingo wrote: »

:grouphug: for SF, her bf and grandad.

Brighton_belle wrote: »

Hope it is nothing too serious with your grandfather sf xx Hope bf has the relatively mild version.

Thanks x x

Blairweech

Hey all

SF - Hugs to you, hope your bf and grandad get well asap

Spent £12.12 on the TV licence today and £2 on the football sweepstakes at work (£1 a week, the first team to score 11 goals in the Premiership wins the pot - I got Sunderland :rolleyes:)

grandma247

Sf I hope your bf isn't too bad with the flu and that your grandpa is doing ok.
SM I have not had one of those recycled jars break. One of the curry jars leaked a little but it sealed ok, I think I overfilled it a touch. I only use jars that are likely to be made of tempered glass so anything that has been hot filled. I keep coffee jars etc for my dehydrated foods.

lingojingo

lyndasharp wrote: »

Happy birthday Lingo!

Think you've got mixed up, I was sending birthday wishes to BB, Nyk, Janey and Andromache - but mine is in March
Perhaps I could have an unbirthday, or a half birthday, it'll be midway next Tuesday.
Thanks for the thought anyway :beer:, and good luck with the chickens.

Frugaldom

Pennib - why not just make one lot of lemon curd and freeze the other lemon until it's needed? I make lemon curd all the time now and it keeps fine in the fridge for a few weeks before it's all eaten.

Lingo - apologies, birthday wishes were my fault, I typed Lingo instead of Andromache

Grandma, piccies of preserves look good, well done!

SF, I hope your GD and BF are both well soon.

BB, I am useless at flap jack, I think my favourite item, so far, is lemon drizzle cake and coconut macaroons - I fancy making both those things before my visitors arrive on Friday.

Next batch of blackberries are now boiling down with the apples from the garden for more jelly. There's about a kilo of fruit in total, so hopefully I'll get another couple of jars from it and possibly try a second batch of the 'hedgerow fruit champagne'. :rotfl:The first lot looks like R!bena, so not quite pink champagne. Not sure how it will turn out as I used a couple of bottles of lemon flavoured spring water that I got for free with an App F00ds order ages ago. Will soon find out what it tastes like. :rotfl:

lyndasharp

lingojingo wrote: »

Think you've got mixed up, I was sending birthday wishes to BB, Nyk, Janey and Andromache - but mine is in March
Perhaps I could have an unbirthday, or a half birthday, it'll be midway next Tuesday.
Thanks for the thought anyway :beer:, and good luck with the chickens.

In that case Happy Unbirthday Lingo and everyone else who isn't having a birthday today...

We've hopefully signed up for a chicken course - emailed about it last night, and even better, it's free!

I've done my August budget and have come in about £2 under budget for the month :j I really thought there was no way I was going to stay on target. I suspect I'll be over this month though - one greenhouse and 4 bridemaids dresses are going to make quite a dent in the budget!