Two Pennies Left

beanielou

Have a great day tomorrow

lulabelle1

Have a wonderful time!

brizzledfw

Hi

Have just sat here on the sofa next to a blazing stove and read all your diary from the start. It's great :T a fantastic blend of MS, spend, food ( especially yummy baking) chickens, woodburners, wine and socialising! Landies also figure..it's all good hun!

We have chickens too.. 4 bantams..one of whom goes broody a minimum of twice a year. Apart from losing one to a fox about 2 years ago fingers crossed they have not been ill. Not sure how I would cope otherwise.

Anyway it's a really entertaining read. Will subscribe and pop in from time to time

Brizzle

Fortune_Smiles

brizzledfw wrote: »

Hi

Have just sat here on the sofa next to a blazing stove and read all your diary from the start. It's great :T a fantastic blend of MS, spend, food ( especially yummy baking) chickens, woodburners, wine and socialising! Landies also figure..it's all good hun!

We have chickens too.. 4 bantams..one of whom goes broody a minimum of twice a year. Apart from losing one to a fox about 2 years ago fingers crossed they have not been ill. Not sure how I would cope otherwise.

Anyway it's a really entertaining read. Will subscribe and pop in from time to time

Brizzle

Hello Brizzle and welcome to my world. Nice to meet another log burner and chook fan. Half of me is missing the chickens and half of me is relieved not to have the worry - it was such a difficult decison to give them up. Thank you for your kind words - we really are a fortunate household at the moment and I intend to enjoy every minute of the good times while they last. Hope fortune is smiling on you too.

Fortune x

Fortune_Smiles

The Country Living Fair was a fabulous day out yesterday with plenty of laughs to boot. I haven't added up the full cost yet though so (holds breath) here goes:

• Mr F gave us all a lift to the station and back - no cost
• one friend has a rail card which we'd intended to use for the train tickets but discovered they were cheaper to buy without - £11.20
• stopped for a snack when we arrived; hot chocolate and a mushroom and cheese croissant for me - £5.60
• bought a bottle of water at a corner shop rather having to buy overpriced water at the show - £0.80
• shared a bottle of Cava at lunchtime - my share £5.00
• went to the food area and filled up on tasters instead of having lunch
• bought 3 bars of the most amazing white chocolate with lemon and poppy seeds - £6.00
• bought Mr F some Cornish Blue Cheese Pate with Pears and Walnuts - £5.00
• shared a second bottle of Cava mid afternoon along with a slice of Lemon Drizzle Cake - £8.20
• bought two hand-made, absolutely stunning, decoupage photo/picture frames just for me. I fell in love with them the moment I saw them and nothing else at the show caught my eye. £65 :eek: and that was with £6.50 off because I haggled Feel a little guilty about them but didn't William Morris say "Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful" and I do believe they are truly beautiful
• Cafe Rouge for dinner. One friend generously contributed £30 in T£sc0 vouchers to the meal so my share only came to £23.00 and that was for 2 courses and 3 bottles of house red I contributed a bar of my white chocolate for desert.

So that's a total of ..... £124.80 :eek: Not at all MS then. We've definately blown the entertainment budget in the last few weeks. Although the overall budget is still in tact - just nothing going into savings. I tend to ignore November and December in terms of savings for just this reason so I'm afraid you may have to suffer my non MS ways for a little longer before normal service is resumed :rotfl:

Mr F marched in our little village Remembrance Parade this morning. There were about 10 ex-service men in total but that's a really good turn out - there were only 6 last year. The British Legion treat all of their members to drinks at the local pub after so we had a lovely community social for an hour or two. Mr F and I stayed on to have a Sunday lunch and, as the drinks bill had been met, the meal cost us £24.30.

It may not seem like it but this diary is helping me to reign in the spending. In previous years the seasonal damage would have been far heavier.

We are settled down now in front of the log burner sharing a bar of my special chocolate and deciding which of the Fleabay DVDs to watch. Cornish Blue Pate with baguette toasted in front of the fire for supper tonight. My Halcyon Days continue and I hope they are finding their way to you too.

Fortune x

susiejq

Just finished reading your lovely thread.

No log burner here, just a "pretend" fire in a pretty hearth. We don't have a chimney and are mid terrace. Still the house is lovely and cosy and I shall light some candles soon. Dinner currently cooking, a big baking tin of roasted veg, some donated by my very generous neighbour and will soon put some minted lamb chops under the grill.
We have had our eyes off the ball with the money saving since the beginning of September. Daughter went off to Uni, with all the expense that involved, boiler packed up, both showers had to be replaced, elderly dog very poorly and then put to sleep (was insured but insurance didn't cover all of the bills due to excess etc), our old Volvo developed a serious problem and had to be sold to one of those companies that seem to buy any car and finally hubbie hasn't been paid since August. The latter isn't unusual as he is a sub contractor and it does take a while to come through.
Still, we have now sold our other car and yesterday picked up a low carbon emission Volvo estate that will save us £470 a year in road tax (only running one car). The savings did take a dent but we had managed all the other bills without having to dip in to them.
However, need to get focused now. Still have one shower to pay for, also hubbie's tax bill due January. Also our new puppy will arrive just before Christmas and will have to be paid for (not cheap).
Despite all this I'm feeling really postive and looking forward to getting back in to it.
Thanks for the inspiration.
xx:beer:

lulabelle1

Fortune, that sounds like a truly wonderful weekend!

beanielou

Glad that you had such a good time.

brizzledfw

Glad you had a great time at the Fair. I think as long as the purchases are 'thoughtful' that's the main thing. You are conscious of your spending..

Susie..keep going hun. We all have blips when all the troubles come at once..well done for keeping positive!

No eggs from the chooks for a few days. Unlikely to be much now until Feb/March. You gave yours away at a good time Fortune!

Brizzle

Fortune_Smiles

Thanks everyone - it was a weekend to remember and will keep me going for a long time.

brizzledfw wrote: »

Glad you had a great time at the Fair. I think as long as the purchases are 'thoughtful' that's the main thing. You are conscious of your spending..

No eggs from the chooks for a few days. Unlikely to be much now until Feb/March. You gave yours away at a good time Fortune!

Brizzle

Thanks Brizzle. Although I feel as though I'm spending a lot at the moment, keeping the diary makes me much more aware of how much and on what. I'm sure I'd be getting more carried away without it and we are spending the money thoughtfully.

I was quite lucky with my chooks and they laid all year round - just a little bit less in the winter. I am missing the eggs

susiejq wrote: »

Just finished reading your lovely thread.

Thank you Susie. I'm sure your luck is due to change soon, I'll be sending positive vibes your way. And a new puppy to look forward to - that will make Christmas amazing.

Fortune x