Living on next to nought - is that the key?

mothernerd

Sorry for going awol but I found the (a) crumble recipe in my old address book (was looking for something else at the time).

Anyway it is 1lb fruit (454g0
2oz soft marg (50g)
3oz porridge oats (75g)
3oz no added sugar muesli (75g)
Rub marg into the porridge oats until well blended, then mix with muesli. Scatter over fruit. Cook at190 degrees C (375F) gas 5 for 25 minutes.

I found it a bit loose when I did it (may need more marg) but as I covered it in custard (birds from powder, no sugar, semi or possibly skimmed milk) it was excellent - especially after 3 weeks of saying 'not allowed' to everything I was offered.

Hopefuljoy

Hello Greying and chums!! I have been absent recently due to general malaise and trips to a lovely friend in harrogate. What a beautiful town! My GCSE and AS/A level pupils did very well so at least I shall start my new job with a good track record but I am quite nervous about the new start. My last position ended in a very upsetting and deflating way so I am apprehensive. Some employers seem to be very afraid of anyone with depression and I am hoping this school will be more enlightened. They know about the domestic abuse and didn't flinch so I am encouraged. I don't want to be a poster girl but neither will I hide my experiences so I do somewhat invite a reaction!!

DD and I have a very finite amount of money to last til the first pay check so I have decided to do a month of the lovely Jacks recipes. I'm also fretting about the roof a little as I need about one thousand pounds repairs on it! However, the CAP course means that for the first time since leaving HIM I at least have some savings cover emergencies. Life is slowly getting on an even keel and I am not so scared of the future now!

I hope you will all have a lovely weekend. It's my adventurous fathers 81 birthday on Saturday and we are going out for a meal. Love my daddy!

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Morning :hello:

Oooo, my. Visitors, how luverly

INOD and Upsidedown Bear - thank you, we had a very 'full' day and on the whole, greatly enjoyed ourselves

giblet1979 - I recognise you from lilt's thread - Hello :wave: and Welcome

mothernerd - always good to see you here We got some freshly picked plums from the NT property that we went to yesterday (highly envious of the gals 'MontyDon-esque' triangular ladders, so could use one of them ) and they are destined for crumble. DP was asked whether we should have a 'treat' of an ice-cream at the venue, or plum crumble and the last of the vanilla ice cream at home - crumble won

Hopefuljoy - lovely to see you Go Teach! - your experience is showing in your results, this is a new start. Nerves are all part of being a human being, but you can do this. So; New Term, New Team, New Adventure. Fresh Start.

Great to hear that CAP are building your confidence, financially and........

Ah, now well, isn't that a coincidence? You're planning a 'Month 'o Jack' and I'm planning something vaguely similar in September...... wanna compare notes? Were you on the thread when I cooked meals from Jack's book earlier in the year? I think I did a week/7 days of Jack's meals...... um, can't remember what month it was.... April? Has she provided meal plans in her book? I haven't actually got a copy, so can't look it up.

And now c'mon, where ya going for your meal? And what cuisine?

Right, well, now, our day out yesterday went well. We were all but at our destination, when DP decided to ignore the instructions of his navigator and go 'orf peaste' and follow the 'brown signs' rather than verbal instructions....... *sigh*. What this meant was that we got to drive through the town centre of the town local to the NT property.....

:eek:


My, how the other (considerably richer) half live.......................

I'm still pondering whether to write to the NT about our visit yesterday, so forgive me for skirting over detail. I think I would have been hopping had I paid to get in - especially to the one part - it was ruined by NT 'top brass', literally 'getting in the way' of this visitor's experience However, some parts were excellent - and our picnic lunch was brilliant, we found a lovely bench and watched the world, and a mouse (yes, really) go by

I'm glad that we went, I'd had it on my list of 'want to see' since last year, but it's not somewhere I would bother returning to. But that's just me, I'm sure others would (rightly) sing it's praises

Dinner last night (we didn't get back until late) was sweet potato jalfrezi, rice and the last peshwari naan. It was dusk by the time we ate, so no pic I'm afraid, but from an MSE perspective, I am glad that I pre-prepared something. It would have been so easy to have gone down the takeout route ...... Especially since our local takeaways seem to be in all out competition for custom at the moment - and seem to ignore any 'no flyers, circulars or takeaway menus' instructions on your letter box.......... Still, I'll admit, it has been quite interesting to see how much takeout is these days ..... :eek: :rotfl:

Dinner this evening will be cheese and tomato pizza and plum crumble. IF we finish off the decorating................

So, I spent £1 on plums yesterday, and also picked up a couple of bits for next month's donation to the foodbank, so I'm not claiming a nsd. We're donating a little more to the foodbank this month, as we can't make a fundraiser that someone is putting on, to highlight world poverty/hunger, so we decided to try to do our bit to tackle the hunger on our doorstep, in recognition of their efforts. Today may snag me a nsd by default, we'll see.

So, I'd best get up and at it I suppose. Shift my tail-feather and get me overalls on So Glam my life

Thank you for popping by, reading and joining in. Greatly appreciated. Always

See y'all later.

Greying

wishus

Good to hear you had a fairly nice time yesterday GP. Sounds mysterious about the 'top brass'! I am picturing every time you try to look at a painting, an annoying man pushing the bottom of a slide trombone in front of it! :rotfl: oh officious types, eh... hope they didn't spoil your day too much.

Hopefuljoy, I was also a teacher once, but got bullied out of it. So good that you have a good place to work now. Wishing you all the best xxx

I am away from OH this week as I'm doing my house up and he's got work stuff. I'm letting my house out but it needs a lot of tidying up and I haven't got many beans to do that with. Got some free paint and of course help from Dad. May have to paper. Eek....:eek:

Karmacat

The NT can be very dodgy sometimes - I still remember going to a local place that asked us to become members, rather than pay for a one-off visit. I said no (the other two members of the party were visitors, who wouldn't have been able to use the tickets) and the NT person just pushed and pushed. I can't even quite remember *where* it was now, but I remember that woman, and how unpleasant she was, which is a shame, really.

Anyway, your tailfeathers are shifting (I do love that phrase) and so are mine now ... have a great day

beanielou

One of the reasons my ma left NT as a volunteer was the pressure she was under to push membership to visitors.
Not a fan.

Karmacat

How sad that they're losing *volunteers* because of it! I can quite understand your ma stepping back, beanie.

Upsidedown_Bear

It's Friday night

Planning a trip to a NT property soon so we'll see how they behave :cool:

Shortie

Hehe, I love the bonkers-running man Upsidedown Bear! I'd be running like that too if I could muster the energy lol

Greying, trying to catch up on diaries aa we've been away and then things since have been mega busy. Plus I rarely have much interesting to contribute but am still avidly ready / drooling over your food piccies

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Evening :hello:

Just a quick post from me whilst the pizza and wedges finish off cooking

We finished :j

OK, so there may be tidying to do, but we finished :j:j

:rotfl::rotfl:

wishus - I've a feeling that a trombone player would, on the whole, be less distracting than what we had to run the gauntlet of - 3 times! - yesterday - :rotfl:

beanie - I think it utterly cr*p that volunteers are *pressurised*. The NT plays the 'charitee' card a little too much - when, of course, they are not playing the 'hard-nosed business organisation', or 'big hitter with political clout'........ However, I must admit, it was not volunteers, that were at fault yesterday - well, if the one fella was a volunteer, he was just following 'orders'. This had all the hallmarks of being devised by 'office staff' who do not spend anytime on the 'shop floor' and who think that their 'event' takes precedence over visiting plebs. Ta love, remember that it is us 'visiting plebs' who fund the NT, who pay bills, including salary costs........ And for the record, the 'interpreters' who may have been volunteers, were excellent yesterday - talk about 'know their stuff!' and also, the gardeners (probably volunteers), were doing a grand job, so kudos to them

Karma - you have reminded me of the only time that I have found a volunteer 'wanting' - well, I assume they were a volunteer, they could have been the regional director for all I know. We went to a NT property in Cornwall, we were hard up at the time and were camping. One of the broadsheets had a coupon to get free admittance to certain NT properties, if 1 adult paid. We went to this property and I tried to pay the 'normal' admittance. The very snooty assistant said, ' actually, as you are getting discounted entry, we prefer that you pay 'gift aid' price'. I had to make a split second decision whether to argue over 25p, I didn't and paid the 'extra'. However, a) nowhere in writing did it state that that was NT policy b) it cast a shadow over the visit, and c) the NT actually lost out. We'd decided that after days of camp cooking, we'd have something to eat in their cafe. Dear Reader, we exited via the gift shop - under the steely gaze of the assistant - purchasing nothing. We exited the car-park, not bothering to visit the 'stables' restaurant, or whatever building it was.

We went off on a twisty Cornish road in a huff.

Only to come across....... a lovely farm tea shop. Offering cream-teas for a super competitive price. The scones were baking as we walked in, you could smell them. We sat at a table with a view out to the coast. The farm was a supplier to R0dda's. We had the last laugh...........



Right, I can't claim a nsd, I bought tatties and a bottle of red - because we're 'w0rth it' and it goes with pizza........

The pizza is done, so I'd better vamoose.

Today I am grateful for these 3 things;

the prospect of chuckens to fuss over - thank you MWC

that the decorating is done! - Halleluiah! :rotfl:

that we've plum crumble and ice-cream for dessert - :j:j

Thank you so much for popping in, reading and commenting. I greatly appreciate it.

See y'all later.

Greying

EDIT: Hey Shortie :wave: