Daffy's 'a nice cup of tea cheers you up' diary

Cheery_Daff

It was 61 limes actually :rotfl: :rotfl: It was the local greengrocers, they were selling a whole box for £1.85, I couldn't resist! :rotfl: Daft impulse purchasing

So - I gave 3 to a friend, gave some more to another friend today, I'm going to a gig tonight where you have to take some produce to get in (!) so I've bagged up 10 limes Chopped up 20 and put on to soak to make into marmalade tomorrow still got 17 left - so thank you Pooky, I'll chop them and put them in the freezer :T

Not now though - need to go and squeeze myself into my corset! :T :T

MrsMoo2U

Fantastic budgeting post Cheery. That is what I need to do over on mine. I have it on the back of an envelope but not transferred to the diary yet.

Loving that you are saving for Knickers and Bras, you should try to have a least one set for New Years day(or whichever day is your special day over the holiday) so that you can start the new year as you mean to go on.

loving the idea of paying with produce to get into the gig. where does all the produce go to? Does your OH get paid in produce? Makes me chuckle.

beanielou

Just to let you know I got some lovely new underwear in a M & S outlet yesterday.
Two fab bras & then two pairs of matching shorts.
Not too expensive & wore one matching set today & it really cheered me up for not too much money

Cheery_Daff

Excellent beanielou! See, that's why I'm having the Underwear Project! :j :j

cherisong, I'm planning a whole basic underwear drawer by new year! So at least 3 bras (2 black, 1 white/pink), and at least 12 pairs of pants! (don't want to have to do the washing tooooo often! :rotfl:)

Right, marmalade bubbling away, I'm dressed and breakfasted and had a cup of tea :j But mother is due in about 20 minutes :eek:

Still need to...

* wash up
* take compost out
* tidy kitchen table
* sweep floor
* make a cake! (although that can be done while she's here obviously)
* get Mr Daffs out of bed :rotfl:

The race is on! :j :j

Teatopia today :T (excited, although I suspect it really will just be an exhibition of teapots! :rotfl:)

Ooh, and the gig was to raise money and awareness for Assist, who provide support to asylum seekers in the city. We're the first City of Sanctuary here, so there's a fair bit that goes on to support people seeking asylum. The produce was partly a cheery sideline, but it'll be distributed to people who need it - not entirely sure what they're going to do with my limes mind you! :eek:

Right, best crack on, only got 15 minutes now after all this wittering! :rotfl:

Cheery_Daff

Right, I'm back! The lime drizzle cake was ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS (and is nearly gone now - oops! ) The marmalade has had nearly 2 entire bags of sugar in it and is *almost* edible :rotfl: (house smells delicious though!).

Teatopia was, as expected, an exhibition of teapots, tea cups, and tea towels :rotfl:

And the big wheel was CLOSED for maintenance! :eek: Poor mother was soooo disappointed Like really disappointed So we're masterminding an MSE trip to London to go on the London Eye in the spring She's only been to London once when she was ten - they had to vote between the science museum and the natural history museum - she wanted to go to the natural history museum but everyone else voted for the science museum... so I can see the beginnings of an itinerary there! :T

Mother also bought me lunch I struggled to even think of somewhere, so un-used to buying lunch out! :rotfl: But, bless her, she feels bad because she always spends money on my sister, and I don't really give her the opportunity. Largely because I'm so frugal myself, it never occurs to me to suggest going out for lunch, whereas my sister (who professes poverty), does it all the time...

Also turns out she's lent my sister the money to put her middle son into nursery 3 days a week until January because he was so desperate to go but isn't old enough for a free place yet... She also lent her money for a car, which she then said she didn't want back so they could use it to pay for the wedding, which they spent almost nothing on... Apparently when my mother dies (not just yet, she's only 51!) my sister just has to remember that she's had all this stuff and I haven't...

Now, I genuinely don't have a problem with all this, I have no interest in taking money from my mother, who earns about half of my full time wage, lives in a council house, and has only a little bit of savings left over from what my grandma left her. She also has half the household income of my sister.

However, I think my mum really worries that she spends more on my sister than me. How on earth do I even this up?? The only way I can think of is to get her to take me out to lunch more often! :rotfl: Which I don't really need or want! But that's the problem I think - I don't need or want anything, and have no interest in asking my mother for help when I don't need it (or even if I did!). My sister is more than happy to ask for help for things she 'needs' (although her 'needs' probably equate to my 'extravagant unnecessary wants'...) and to take whatever is offered.

Bleurgh, what a silly old mess!

Anyway, she's trotted off home now, armed with a large bit of cake And we're trying to put about 6 gallons of fairly vile-tasting lime marmalade into jars :rotfl: :rotfl:

Karmacat

Hi cheery! Its a dilemma, isn't it ... my mum has felt that dilemma too - both my siblings have kids, and have taken loans from her/them in the past, and I've never done either of those things. I'd never felt it as an inequality either ....

So, half jokingly, you've hit on the solution - days out together, not just lunch. That way, she gets something too - you could even take your own frugal lunch for the pair of you on the train, and do things in an mse way, so she isn't just splurging uselessly for the sake of it.

What do you think?

Cheery_Daff

Good plan KC! :T I think she also feels a bit sheepish because she sees my sister far more often than me - even when we both lived a similar distance away. That's mostly because my sister has 3 young children and I don't have any such attractions! :rotfl: And now my sister lives much closer, so it's much easier.

Anyway, I've just sent her a big long email with websites for the natural history museum and london eye and I've discovered there's one in Liverpool! And found a 2 for 1 voucher for it :rotfl: So she may well yet be able to get on it! Even if I have to go over there and go on it with her because nobody else will.

Things to ponder at least.

7 jars of lime maramalde! :T That alone has got to be worth 60p worth of limes :T (and £2 worth of sugar but we won't talk about that :rotfl: :rotfl:)

Karmacat

Sorted

Please tell me that your lime marmalade actually tastes really nice :j

MrsMoo2U

Hey Cheery,
Parents can be a worry cant they I was also in a similar situation, I had a good job and no kids. My brothers and sister all have children and my sister didnt work so my Mum used to help her out a lot. Like you I am not in any way interested in things for the sake of them and my needs were very different to the needs of my Brothers and Sister and my Mum often helped out. She told me (not long before she died) that she had always felt this inequality and that she never quite knew how to address it. I,like you, had no idea how to alleviate her of this feeling. I was content to go and sit with her and just chat. To me quality time is worth far more than material help. So I think that you have definitely hit on the right idea. There is, indeed a wheel in Liverpool I thought that there was now one in Manchester too.
The London idea is a great one and you can do it on a very small budget. Maybe if you find some cheap train tickets and a nice cheery (cheap) place to stay then let your Mum pay for the tickets or accommodation then she will feel better. Check out the Travelodge website, if you register you will get an email when the £9 tickets come on. There is a travelodge very near to the wheel and also one right next to the Globe and Tate gallery.
Love the sound of the lime drizzle cake, any chance of the recipe? Ok, I know that you will say that you just bung everything in but a starter for 10 would do.

Cheery_Daff

Just had a pancake with lime marmalade on It's a little on the bitter side, but just tastes like Very Posh Marmalade, so we're convincing ourselves we paid £4 a jar for it, and considering it a bargainous luxury :rotfl: :rotfl:

Seems to be a bit of a theme with parents! Perhaps I should stop being so fiercly independent But I've emailed her with prices and options (she suggested the travelodge thing! I did warn her about the lack of free shampoo! :rotfl:). I actually offered to pay for her half if I'm working full time by then - which probably wouldn't help matters :rotfl:

Anyway - lime drizzle recipe (well, you did ask)

Make sponge cake

(oh, you want the sponge cake recipe too?? :rotfl:)

Er, mix a couple of wooden spoon-fuls of margerine with a bit of sugar tipped straight from the bag
Mix in an egg, then some flour straight from bag, then an egg, then some more flour.
Mis the whole lot round, pour into only clean (and greased with a bit of margerine on fingers) baking tin
Put in oven til knife stuck in middle comes out clean.

Meanwhile mix about half a cup of sugar with juice from a couple of limes. When cake comes out of oven, put on a plate, stab a few times, then pour over lime/sugar mix. Eat immediately, or later

Will that do??

(basically just ordinary sponge recipe - weight of 2 eggs in sugar/self raising flour/margerine, with lime juice/sugar poured over!)