Keeping up appearances.......

HappyNow

babyblooz wrote: »

Happyday the mushroom soup didnt go pink at all, it was quite a dark greyish brown anyway because I used the brown mushrooms and just added a small dollop of redcurrant jelly because I remember seeing it used to add depth to some sauce or something on a telly cookery programme.

My all time favourite though is pea and ham, lots of taste and very sustaining and just the thing for the cold weather.

Pink would actually have been very pretty! I have some cranberry sauce left over from Christmas, I bet that would work too. I'll try it and report back, thanks for the idea .

Pea and ham soup always smells lovely, but I'm a veggie so can't eat it. It's not often I like meaty smells, but pea and ham soup and bacon do sometimes tempt me.......

HappyNow

poohbear59 wrote: »

Happy, well done on the month you have just completed. You are really making huge changes and should be very proud.

I started a long time ago, gained more debt for the business and now I am very impatient as mine is going down too slowly. You on the other hand have realistic expectations. Well done

Ha, my expectations were actually much higher than the reality! I seemed to have put in an awful lot of effort for very small reward, but I'm hoping to see better results next month.

I do have peace of mind though and I'm LOVING that. It's very satisfying to have little tubs of cash in the house, each with a label on - one for groceries, one for petrol, one for animal expenses, one for DD's upcoming birthday meal and one marked 'spare'. Imagine, spare money! That one's only got £30 in, but for the first time in my life I have an emergency fund!!

PinotGrigio41

Just catching up on your last few days,

Totally agree with you, an emergency fund whether is £3, £30 or £300 is an achievement in itself in my eyes. Mr Pinot thinks I am a bit mad, but I get very excited when I pop a few pennies in a pot ! I feel so proud of myself !

You are doing so well and you have reduced your debts. You still seem so very organised compared to me, I am still bumbling. No real plan, but getting there all the same, somehow !!

Have you made the rice pudding yet in the slow cooker ? I have bought the pudding rice buts its still staring at me front he depths of the cupboard willing me to get my act together and use it !

HappyNow

Hi Pinot , no I haven't made the rice pudding yet either. It is one of my must-try dishes, but there was no pudding rice in either Tesco or Lidl. It's on the Tesco website so I know it exists but there was none in-store. I know someone on here said they used risotto rice, but because it will be my first attempt I want it to be perfect!

Well, three days into the financial month and my emergency fund is spent! I've had an email saying that the rest of my winter hay (for the horses) is being delivered this weekend. I was expecting it coming in dribs and drabs so only budgeted for half of it this month, but now I will be paying for the lot. It doesn't really matter, the £30 emergency fund means I only have to find another £25 and I reckon I can nick that out of the petrol tub and still get by, and I won't have to pay for it next month now.

My mobile hairdresser coming this morning. £30 for a cut and colour, and again the money is sat in a tub waiting for her! I'm going quite grey, so I need it doing every six weeks to hide my roots. I had considered just accepting nature and letting the grey come through, but have decided that's a step too far and I'm not ready for that yet.

Hopelessly_Hopeful

Morning Happy

Embrace some nature and resist the rest I say. Great you had the money for the hay, thats the embrace, enjoy resisting with the hairdresser!

Rice pudding in the slow cooker is fool proof I promise.

HHx

PinotGrigio41

Hope the haircut goes well and you look suitably gorgeous and glam a=by the time she's finished !

Totally agree with not letting nature take its course yet, I will fight that battle myself for a few more years if I am able !

Hopeful1

Mmm I observed an extra sprouting of grey this morning. I have NO intention of growing gracefully. Will be slapping some dye on as soon as I can afford to have my hair cut!!

Enjoy that special feeling that a only a good hair cut can give you

Dolphin1

Hi HappyNow

I have been reading these boards for a long time and picking up lots of useful advice but finally felt it was time to register so that I could subscribe to your excellent diary. I have just read the whole thing to date and it's very inspiring! Good luck with your journey!

Dolphin1

Box_of_Fluffies

I thought about letting nature take it's course a while ago and let my hair colour grow out. I don't have a lot of grey, I think it must be something to do with being blonde oh and having good hair genes, but it actually wasn't the grey that got me. It was the dullness in my hair. It made me feel dull too. So I relented and bought an organic hair dye from the health shop and it came up a treat. That was 6 months ago and I'm just at the stage of needing to dye it again. So I'm with you. Anything to keep us looking beautiful eh?

HappyNow

PinotGrigio41 wrote: »

Totally agree with not letting nature take its course yet, I will fight that battle myself for a few more years if I am able !

Hopeful1 wrote: »

Mmm I observed an extra sprouting of grey this morning. I have NO intention of growing gracefully. Will be slapping some dye on as soon as I can afford to have my hair cut!!

Box_of_Fluffies wrote: »

I thought about letting nature take it's course a while ago and let my hair colour grow out. I don't have a lot of grey, I think it must be something to do with being blonde oh and having good hair genes, but it actually wasn't the grey that got me. It was the dullness in my hair. It made me feel dull too. So I relented and bought an organic hair dye from the health shop and it came up a treat. That was 6 months ago and I'm just at the stage of needing to dye it again. So I'm with you. Anything to keep us looking beautiful eh?

Well the consensus seems to be that we don't like the 'natural' look . I am now de-greyed and back to looking [STRIKE]gorgeous[/STRIKE] brown-haired. She also straightened it and put some products on to make it all shiny. Not that anyone saw it, Mr Happy was working and I spent the afternoon mucking out horses and walking the dog in the rain . Then I fell asleep on the sofa for two hours which is why I am wide awake at 5 am! Grrrr.....