A new 'tougher' thread... and so it continues

GreyQueen

mardatha wrote: »

We have thick heavy falling snow here and the world has turned white AGAIN. I wish I lived in Provence :mad:

You wouldn't like it, hun, it's full of poncey English journalists..............

I'm spitting tacks as I woke up to perfect blue skies and sunshine. Not that I object to either of those things, but have just spent 3 days under rainclouds and missed out on the Bank Holiday Monday car boot crawl................grrrrr.

Got to go to the salt mine for a few hours then will aim to amble to the lottie. Need to start sowing peas into t.p. tubes. Not a fetish, just a reaction to those thieving mice who steal 90% of any peas sown in open ground. A lottie neighbour came over well into the season last year and asked if my peas had germinated as most of his hadn't. Advised him to dig down and I'd bet him anything he liked most of them weren't even underground. The lottie cats need to up their game, the lazy so-and-so's...........:rotfl:

Have a good 'un, everybody. GQ x

ETA; Just had a phone call from SuperGran to say did I hear that ruckus last night? Seems I slept thru a Major Police Incident on the far side of the Towers with lots of smashed glass and 999 calls from half my neighbours. Gawd knows what that was all about; SG will get to the bottom of it and tell me later, I'm sure.

Penny-Pincher!!

Hi Guys!

May I join in again please? It may be a bit hit and miss depending on my health, but will try my best:D I'm supposed to be at the hospital this morning, but OH is quite ill and too late to get transport, so have rearranged.

Although business is going well, we're really trying to cut back to boost the savings as we need another car:eek::eek::eek: and would love to go on a good holiday. Have a chunk saved already, but want to try harder to stop wasting money.

Here are a few money savers we've done over the weekend. Bought a 1.25kg gammon joint for £4 from Ocado. Cooked in SC in cider/water/onion then thinly sliced and bagged for the freezer. I usually pay a minimum of £2 for a 120g packet as we like good ham. Its delish and have 2 more coming this week whilst offer is on. So thats saved nearly £20 per joint.

Also utilised some £20 off £75 spends at Ocado buying Royal Mail stamps. They are selling at their usual rate before they get bumped up at the end of the month but with the extra £20, Ive saved loads! Also did another order buying more stamps and also a Rioja we like usually £9 down to £5. So a big layout of £180, but then saved so much overall on stuff we will use IYKWIM.

Made a SC veggie soup Saturday. Added 2 onions, 2 carrots, garlic paste, 2 potatoes, 2 parsnips, black eyed bean tin and 3 stock cubes with water. After 5 hrs had about 2 litres of good nutritious tasty thick soup;)

OH painted the kitchen and DD's room with paint we've had for a few months and not got round to doing it.

Ive managed to list 30+ items on Ebay with one item selling within 2 hrs for £55. Loads of watchers and 4 bids on other stuff.

Got dogs dental sticks (5 months worth) for £20 combining free postage and discount code.

Last night we didn't know what to have, so OH made a fish pie using 4 cod in parsley sauce, peas and extra sauce with cheesy mash on top, served with broccoli, carrots and sprouts. They were sitting in freezer and needed using and enough for another serving.

Weather here isn't great but dry atm. My joints are telling me though that it will rain soon.

Take care.

PP
xx

mardatha

I tried stuff on Gumtree but didnt even get a nibble. And I saved up my egg & soap money until I had £15, I was SO eggsited ... and spent it on poultry wormer. Life is too exotic and amazing some days.
But this aint one of them!

Dorastar

Wow at the gammon - thought I was doing well getting braising steak and shoving it in slo-cooker instead of a tin of the salty stuff (despite dd's protest cos we couldn't get disney cards as a result!)

Have gutted downstairs of house as friend is coming over later for cakes and a gossip :j

WeegieWumman

Oh! mardatha,
Snow in April and poultry wormer! You're life sounds as unexciting as mine at the moment. Never mind pet, it could be a whole lot worse for us.

paidinchickens

Evening peeps

Sorry I have not been on lately but to be honest after the week wasted painting the fence and it washing away I have not been in the best of moods. They are sticking by the "it has washed off because it is on smooth wood" as they can clearly tell in the pictures I sent. I will ring trading standards tomorrow and then will be doing future correspondence by mail.

Adopted another pooch yesterday, Womble picked him no more pets.

PIC x

Byatt

PIC, I'm not surprised you are upset, what a ridiculous excuse saying the wood is smooth!! What does it say on the tin? Definitely put everything in writing.

Another pooch?! What kind? And how did Womble choose?

VJsmum

GreyQueen wrote: »

I miss the thread when I'm away. Not sure if I'm mad or sad but there you go............:o

I totally understand. I haven't missed it as have checked in on my phone, but typing is such a hassle that I haven't joined in. I do try and post on 5 OS pleasures and that just about does me in for the typing.

I am back from my Gallivanting and that should be it for a while. I feel like I have been away from home for a fortnight, when I only left on Saturday but with 5 days in Stockholm then coming back and being ill for 4 days before heading off to Paris things are a little strange. THe house is a pigsty and needs scrubbing to within an inch of its life.

Paris is certainly not MSE but we haven't done too badly. OH works for a train company which gives us free UK train travel and heavily discounted Eurostar. I love Eurostar, it's so civilised. You get on a train, read for a couple of hours and - voila - you are in Paris! We decided that for the amount we would pay for a so-so hotel we could rent an appartment. Ours was just off the Champs Elysees and was perfect for us and DD (DS is skiing with school). It meant we could get our own breakfast and picnics rather than eating out for every meal. We know Paris quite well and so did some stuff we haven't done before - Tour Montparnasse is cheaper than the Eiffel Tower and with shorter queues (the view also includes the ET, rather than Montparnasse which is not pretty). Yesterday we walked along an old disused metro line that has been turned into a park, and did some of the Green spaces - jardin Luxembourg for example which are free. Today we went to the Musee Carnavelet which is a museum of Parisian history and also free as is VIctor Hugo's house (DD has a thing for VH since she saw Les Miserables). We window shopped Galeries Lafayette today - 2000 euros for a frock :eek::eek::eek::eek: but the view off the roof is cool and that was free.

The only fly in the MS ointment is Disneyland :eek::eek: However, DD loves it so much that it was worth every penny (well, probably not but you get my drift).

However, i am now completely shattered. I've come home with a cold sore and gum ulcers - I think I didn't have enough time to get over last weeks virus before heading off again. Back to work tomorrow though - I daren't have any more time off at the mo. I shall take it easy over the weekend.

mardatha wrote: »

Now we've started a new financial year - is it better or worse for you?

It will be a little worse for us. There is a bit of a question mark over OH's job later on in the year but que sera sera - we are trying not to fret.


It's good to be back.

paidinchickens

We went to the rescue kennels to look at a bichon as a playmate for Womble. The cats pick on him so we were looking for a little girl friend. When we got there the dog was a boy and went for him but while we were there we saw a lovely Beagle.

For some reason I had stuck in my head that Beagles hated cats (not good in our house) so never gave it a second thought. When we got home I looked up on the internet about them and they are one of the best dogs to have around kitties so off we went back for a look.

Two visits and several dogs taken for a walk with Womble and the Beagle and him just hit it off.

24hrs in and the Beagle has been named Lego as he bricks it over everything. He is a lovely soft nature but is a little scared of most things and is quite scared of the moggies. Womble has really come out of his shell these last three weeks and is not afraid of anything so it is doing Lego the world of good. Womble tells Lego off in the car as lego does not like it and Womble just goes to sleep.

I know I am blinkin crazy and I refuse to look at any more animals :rotfl:

Having an early night as I have had to up the pills and I feel groggy.

I have been told it is going to rain for the rest of the week

PIC x

GreyQueen

Byatt wrote: »

PIC, I'm not surprised you are upset, what a ridiculous excuse saying the wood is smooth!! What does it say on the tin? Definitely put everything in writing.

Another pooch?! What kind? And how did Womble choose?

Good morning campers. Now that the Bank Holiday is safely behind us, the weather has reverted to flawless sunnyness in Provincial County. I had a penny for every time I've seen that, I have.........errrrr.........lotsa money, I'm sure.

PIC, I treat my allotment shed with a water-based Cuprinol product which says that it is for rough-planed wood only. The shed is smooth-planed wood. Been doing this for years as got a big tub for £2 at a boot fair. It has NEVER WASHED OFF. I think the beggars are giving you the run-around. Have you spoken to Consumer Direct on 08454 04 05 06? They helped me when I was having a dispute with a high street retailer over an electrical item and I got a vouchers for a replacement after sending a letter with all the right jargon to the Head Office.

:hello: Welcome Dorastar and Penny-Pincher!! And to the new pooch on the block, Lego the Beagle. Lurrrve that name.

I was feeling a bit peculiar yesterday (stop sniggering at the back, I mean more peculiar than normal) so didn't feel up to much after w*rk. Did make a flying visit lottie-wards to drop some stuff off and fetch some stuff back. Having your garden shed 1.5 miles from your home is an interesting lifestyle.

Didn't do any gardening but checked on my water butts - I have one on each side of the shed - and the front one had topped up nicely from the weekend's rain but the rear one had had an accident and something had nudged the spigot and it had drained down. Pretty sure it wasn't me so I'm blaming the foxes when they go over the back fence. Or the lottie cats. Or the pigeons..............anyone but myself, basically. I'll have to bail from the front one to the back so as to leave room for the next rainfall but am feeling a bit disappointed. Hope I can get it refilled before the drought kicks in.

Howsomever, on the upside, the beetroot planted on 25/3 has started to come up, the broad beans are up and the spuds have been in a week, so all is heading in the right direction. Going to be busy, busy, busy from now on.

SuperGran found out what went on at the Towers the night before last; a ruckus which involved a door being kicked thru. The boarding-up was a dead giveaway. A druggie address so no surprises there, then.

VJsMum nice to see you safely back from Forn Parts and good tips of things to do in Paris. I've only been the once and that was 20+ years ago. The Eiffel Tower was closed to visitors due to high winds but I loved Sacre Coeur. My companion succumbed to temptation and bought a fancy cream cake which was the size of a housebrick from one of the little shops and was totally-defeated. Closest I every came to seeing a self-induced sugar coma. I was no help as I loathe cream cakes. Happy daze........I think. Blinking cold in March, tho.

Och well, time for another pint of tea to get my brain into operational mode.

Have a good day, everyone. GQ x