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

jtb2412

Morning frugal chums

Bit of a hectic week here getting ready for school and personally trying to get into 'back to work' mode (ugh !)

Grandma jars all look fab ! I'm still resisting the canner (just !) but if I don't get hold of another fridge/freezer soon then I'm going to have to give in :rotfl:. I did get an email from a freecycler saying she has one coming up when her new one is delivered so fingers crossed I'll get lucky this time.

Andromache - belated birthday wishes, hope you had a wonderful day

NYK that champagne sounds interesting ! Bet it'll blow ya socks off :rotfl:. Can remember 'sampling' some home-made apple shnapz (sp?) that my MIL made once and we all got a tad drunk on just a shot glass full :eek:. This homebrew stuff can be pretty potent . Looking forward to hearing how it turns out . We've got bad weather forecast this week (gales and rain) so plenty of indoor things to do here (jam making, catching up on H/W etc) - you sent the weather down here didn't you? ! :rotfl:;)

SF hope the flu soon disappears and your grandad is ok - fingers crossed that they recover quickly and well. xx

BB - hope the flapjack was nice. I can't make it, always turns out either too soggy or breaks your teeth .

I managed to get into the garden yesterday, in between the showers, and clear away all the tomatoes (only a few green ones that I'm turning into green tomato and cucumber relish), cucumbers and dwarf beans. I also trimmed the pumpkins which were overtaking the whole garden. Didn't quite get finished so hope the weather clears up for the weekend.

Dad is doing ok, recovering well but still waiting for the results (about 3 weeks I think).

Had some exciting news yesterday - DH probably going for another job within his company (in effect a promotion) which will mean a pay increase, which in turn will mean I might be able to give up work and be a complete SAHM :j :j :j. I'm a bit of a home bird really and love all the cooking, cleaning and looking after my family - old fashioned I know . So, watch this space !

Hope everyone has a good day, catch up later xx

cw18

Just logged into my G&E account to check they've changed my tariff (following my call to them yesterday), and it appears they've also dropped my Direct Debit AGAIN! So last month was £60, this month (taken yesterday) was £53, and from next month it's £47 !!!!!

slowlyfading

Good morning everyone.

Thanks for the well wishes. Grandpa stayed in hospital last night, and they're going to do another scan this morning, so i hope we'll hear something from them soon. The BF says he's feeling slightly better this morning, but he's still in bed so I think he still feels pretty rough. Its so hard living far away from the people you love when they get ill.

I'm hoping today will be another NSD for me. I have no plans to go anywhere, as I've got to do some sorting out at home so that shouldn't cost me anything. I have to take the dog for a walk, but that's free Tomorrow won't be a NSD as I have a dentist appointment I hate going to the dentist, but hopefully it'll be fine when I go.

CW, that's great news! :j
jtb, ooh that's exciting - do you know when you'll find out if you can become a full time sahm?
lynda, well done for coming under budget in august!

sf x

pennib

NYK: Didn't know that you can freeze lemons! Well ya learn something all the time on this thread:T
Hope your blackberry wine/juice/champagne comes out lovely. I agree with others, homemade wine can knock your socks off

grandma247

http://yfrog.com/b631staug09jx
Todays efforts. Left two rows are piccallili, smallest are the sauce with a few leftover veggies whizzed in the food proccessor so piccallili sauce for sandwiches,courgette pickles and courgette relish.

thriftylass

Hello,

found another 100g !! of blackberries on our bush :j and will definitely check every day now and the other one I found on my way to work. As I'm the only one eating it I only need enough for one or two jars.

I started crochet again. We have a wedding this weekend and I thought about maybe buying a new dress, but changed my mind and rather get new accessories. So I bought a cheap (but nice) 3/4 sleeve cardie from MrT for £3 and I'm crocheting a draw string purse that goes with it just now (wool £2.50).

I'll catch up properly later

savingfortravel

Hi Everyone!
Seems like everyone's been really busy over the last few days.
Belated happy birthday to Nyk, Janet and Andromache!
JB-So glad your dad's op went ok.

I enjoyed a lovely few days away in Suffolk. We self catered except for one treat lunch. Went for lots of walks, flew our kites, bought local produce (big punnets of raspberries for 50p!) from cottages and a church fayre and played bingo at the local village hall (won a bag of groceries :j).
But glad to be home now. Got lots of preparation to do for school. Went for a walk locally and saw some nice blackberries and rose hips (could any of our foraging experts tell me if rosehips can be used as food and do they need to be red or dark orange?)

Also had a bit of thinking time and need to address the balance in my life. Will be joining the local gym next week (with a pool etc-I remember SM always enjoying a swim and jacuzi). Also determined to spend a decent amount of my time outside in the local countryside, enjoying nature and walking. I feel if I embrace such quality time I will beable to continue to work as hard at school. Today's walk sealed this decision in my mind. If this isn't happening I will have to think carefully about whether teaching is my future. Personal happiness and mental health are too important.

Just sharing my thoughts with my forum friends. :huh:

Much love

SFT

DdraigGoch

Hello everyone from Wales

Well, the Manor House is slowly progressing, fingers crossed.

Just popped in to say hello to everyone and apologies for not being able to keep up with the thread, but please apportion the hugs, support, sympathies and congratulations where appropriate.

Best of luck to everyone
DG
ps Just place my first Approved F**ds order - fingers crossed on that one.

grandma247

sft I think it depends on the type of rose. I should think red or deep orange is ok. I used rosa rugosa since that is what we have on the allotment. You need to use the juice only to make rosehip jelly.
Glad you had a nice holiday. Thats the kind of holiday I like. We have the booking form now for a break in October in mablethorpe.(private rent this time and very cheap.)

I don't envy you the task of deciding but having seen an unhappy teacher plough on regardless and making her whole class miserable. I would think about doing something else. not saying thats how you are but this teacher was young and she felt she ought to carry on as she spent so long training but if it were me I would have looked for other ways of teaching or looked for another career.
Life's too short to do a job for long that makes you unhappy .

savingfortravel

Thanks for the response Grandma!
I plan to visit Lincolnshire more in the future. I'm sure you'll have a great time.
sft