Living on next to nought - is that the key?

Upsidedown_Bear

Hello Greying, friends, followers, fans and lurkers :wave:

Glad the cc finally arrived.
Maybe you could do this?



With a "gratuitous turnip shot" photo?



Have a good day all

Greying_Pilgrim

Ha ha ha! Oh Upsidedown Bear you have just given me a 'laugh out loud' moment - thank you so very much

Actually, the price of turnips, neeps and swedes is such that we'll need credit to buy them just now - £1.50 a kilo MrmandS - I don't think so...............

Right, DP has just suggested taking the flask and couple of homemade buns with us to the local park for a little bit of a walk, so i'd better make scarce.

I've decided what to make for dinner, using avocados bought on holiday (hope they are ripe enough).

Best shuffle off.

See y'all later folks.

Greying

Mara_uk7

£1.50/kg for turnips !! Eeek , I just climb over the fence & pull them out of the ground ... when the neighbours not looking ! Only kidding, Its a huge field, and he will turn his sheep on it shortly,but in the meantime Im helping meself as he always says to do ! Theyre not really good yet tho, They need a frost to become sweet

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Evening :hello:

Yes indeed, Mara_uk7 when we went into a$da today, the Swedish turnips were £1.20 per kilo. DP spotted them and enquired how much per kilo I had paid - which was 50/55p per kilo. DP then proceeded to stomp up and down the veg aisle proclaiming it a 'disgrace' and a 'rip off' :rotfl::rotfl: And frankly, as a former country dweller myself, who was part of the farming community, I cannot get images of 'neeps', 'tatties', 'sugar beet' and 'carrots' being utilised as stock fodder out of my mind........ Any waste tatties were sprayed with veg dye to stop them being sold into the human food chain and they were either spread out in the fields for the sheep or beef stock or fed to the piggies. Now we're paying a premium for them???

I bought some YS'd mushrooms today, and processed them immediately. But I'm not convinced they were such a bargain. By the time you'd cut off the compost covered stem (I'll eat the stem, but it is impossible to get the compost off some) and discarded the ones turning to mush..... there ain't a lot left. Out of 2 x 650g punnets (because a$da have reduced the punnet size.....) I guess I easily discarded 1/3rd of the weight - which is crazy - it never used to happen when the mushrooms were cut, rather than wrenched from the compost. I bet some bright spark has heard jaymee or someone say 'there's flavour in the stems' and figured they could pass off more 'product' to the consumer for less buck........ Anyone else have a feeling of 'emporer's new clothes' when it comes to the food industry?

We had a lovely wander in the local park and enjoyed watching the antics of birds and wildlife whilst we ate our crisps (MrSbasics from hols), and our bun (HM lemon and blueberry) with a cup of coffee. I think DP has finally got this 'simplicity lark' as a favourable comment made as we left the park just about summed things up..... all you need is 'a bun, a drink, pleasant weather and the right company'....... A great final day of our hols......:D

For dinner this evening, I made a dish new to me. I had some avocados that I bought on holiday (2 for £1), as well as some potatoes (bought on hols - 40p a kilo) and some carrots from the gardening parental. So I made a version of THIS dish. I've linked to this gal's blog before, and I must admit, it's my kinda cooking - just a shame we don't get the Andalucian sunshine here....... I didn't use mozzarella, as our a$da doesn't stock reasonably priced stuff, so I improvised with SP feta instead (and then read that the blogger has made the dish with feta too). I also made a tomato sauce that was 'chunky' rather than smooth as I incorporated; carrots, courgettes and spinach (HG at Greying Towers) into it, to utilise the veggie mountain. There is sauce left over and this will be a useful pasta sauce for another day. I also used the last of the lemon thyme that I bought the other day. The blogger used basil, but I no longer have any fresh and it was rather ££ in the supermarket. What do you think?



If you're wondering where the feta came from, DP very kindly put up £5 'leftover holiday money' (from his wallet) to be used for our last day. This not only bought the feta, but also the YS'd mushrooms, a YS'd cauli, some SP garlic bread (when I thought I was really going to emulate the blog recipe) as well as some bananas and one or two other bits and pieces. Golly I made that £5 sing!


Rather than talk about 3 things that I'm grateful for today I'd rather just take time to reflect on things that I'm grateful for this holiday if you don't mind.....

volunteers - in addition to the 'usual' NT volunteers (and you're an extraordinary bunch - ta :T) this holiday, we went to a 'private' museum that was heavily reliant on volunteers. The museum was OK, the entrance fee :eek: but the volunteers made a difference to our visit. I would like to thank volunteer 'Sheila' for valiantly continuing with her informative spiel about what we could see within and without the museum, despite the best efforts of a noisy 'local' child who was not being parented (and was bored), as their parents obviously came here all the time (free multiple entry when you've paid once) and saw it as their little darling's play ground....... (and no, Dear Reader, it was not the child's fault - they were far too young to be stimulated/interested in the contents of this museum. We'd seen the families earlier, this was a 'nice' venue for yummies to meet up and have latte, whilst their children ran amok.......)

the invention of the picnic - we've eaten outdoors in the sun, in the car (in a howling gale) and in gardens. Sat on benches, rocks and in an Edwardian covered terrace. Overlooked the sea, garden terraces, a reservoir, a railway line and a spoil pile....... We've enjoyed home-made bread and cake, a friend's beetroot chutney, 'cheap' crisps, garden tomatoes, li*l fruitjuice and 'free' coffee (from our 'foodparcel'). Gosh, we've had a ball..............

for DP - adventures are even better when shared. Thank you

Thank you so much for popping by, reading and joining in. I continue to greatly appreciate it.

I have an early start tomorrow, so I am unlikely to make an early post. If I am on here - tell me to get off!!

See y'all in a bit.

Greying

Greying_Pilgrim

Addendum:

As the oven was on, I made pudding..... Filling was the same, foraged blackberries and gifted apples, but I thought I'd rather a sponge topping, than crumble again, but had no eggs.

No matter, looked on the wunder web and got an eggless sponge recipe, courtesy of these guys. It worked well - looked like sponge, tasted like sponge..... I also flavoured it with vanilla extract and cinnamon.

Resultant pudding without custard....



and with custard......



I really am outta here now.....:D

Greying

beanielou

:drool: is all

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Evening :hello:

Well, today, in football pundit 'parlance' has definitely been a day of 2 halves.......

This morning started out ok enough, but then I got talking to someone, who, at best, views the world from a 'glass half empty' perspective. They really are hard work, but unfortunately I needed to deal with them. It wouldn't be so bad if the stuff they spoke about, they actually had an opinion about - but most of it is either a repetition of what they have heard on the TV (without the knowledge about how 'spin' works these days....) or is the opinion of their spouse - regurgitated. So by the time I'd finished, the day was beginning a bit of a downward [STRIKE]nosedive[/STRIKE] spiral.

Add into the mix I was beginning to think about an end of month 'progress report' with my key fund endeavours and the day definitely started to take on a cerulean tint!

However, I was having a think on things and one or two 'similarities' began to fall into place, and one or two ideas began to emerge. No folks, I'm afraid I've not cracked the invention of the ever full pound coin pot - nothing so useful, so you may want to stop reading at this point. But with dealing with the parentals so much recently and the person today, it sort of coalesced in my mind what I need to do in the next few months. As it happens, I'm thinking that the final 3 months of this year will provide a good 'test' point. If things work, it will be easier to adopt them in 2014 - rather than announcing on 1st Jan that I'm going to do X, Y and Z as my new year resolutions.

As you know, we at Greying Towers are not currently in debt, but a couple of 'spanners in t'works' definitely threw us off our equilibrium in 2013. Although not out of the woods yet - we've still no emergency fund for a start - we are, today, in a better position than we found ourselves in in July. I've already changed quite a bit - chronicled in this diary, so I'll not repeat, and whilst I'm sure there is still more that can change, I think the 'thing' that has hit me today is - prioritisation - and that we've got to be better at it basically. Um, what do I mean by that? Well, I've been dealing with people who are afraid of change (for whatever reason), are resisting change and who are making themselves unhappy - and anyone else in hearing distance - moaning about change.

The one thing that is guaranteed is that things are going to change. Who has a job for life anymore? Who finds that they get into their 'retirement age year' only to have the goalposts shift 3 months before their birthday? Who saves scrupulously for a Christmas feast with a savings club, only to find the company goes bust 2 weeks before they were due to get back their savings?

Whether we like change or not, it happens and it will continue. So it struck me that instead of always trying to do 'the done thing', it was about time that DP and I prioritised doing the 'right' thing.

I didn't mention about our holiday at the time, but DP and I did end up having 'words' - in a city centre at one point DP couldn't unwind properly during this break - I'm still not totally sure why, but it did slightly mar things. Certainly by the time we came back, DP was better, and that is why I was so delighted - following our trip out to the local park - that DP had finally 'got' what can constitute contentment/happiness/pleasure. And, if we have to talk money, how little it can cost.

Therefore, a big part of this 'new thinking' is to have loads more 'picnics in the sun' and not lose a second of our lives moaning that it is 'so unfair that the washing machine has broken down'. Probably poor examples, but you get my drift. After all, washing machines will breakdown. That's a given. So get an emergency fund in place, so that when it does, you have the wherewithal to repair or replace it. I can do that, that is within my capabilities.

I've not been following ninjasavingcat's (or is it Kat?) September challenge on DFW, but it got mentioned on another thread, so I popped over and had a read through the first post. I think it's a really good challenge. And not only is nsk a very inspiring person, but as ever, folk on DFW/DFD are such a supportive and knowledgeable bunch, the challenge participants are being cheered on and helped no end. I'm not going to join the October challenge (I don't think I am eligible) but the 'rules' have made me think a little.....

For one, although we are not big drinkers here at Greying Towers, we do spend money on alcohol - it is in the budget - theoretically up to £40 per month is available. I began to think well, what would happen if instead of spending x on a bottle of wine - say £5, where could you drive to (and back ) for £5? Could we visit a NT property - could we have a picnic lunch and make a day of it? Could we make a day of memories, instead of sitting watching trashy TV maybe with the promise of 'brain fog' the next morning? So I proposed a 'no alcohol spends' for October to DP this evening. DP is (seemingly) up for it. I'm getting ahead of myself here, but I suggested to DP it would possibly be something that we could replicate at other times of the year. For example, an alcohol free January would be no biggie (not that we ever over indulge at xmas anyway) but it may mean that we could buy some good real ale to watch the 6 nations rugby with in February....... Or go alcohol free in August to have a few extra £'s holiday spending money in September.

I have a feeling we're going to enjoy a few day trips 'out and about' far more than we ever really enjoy a glass of beer or wine - and if I'm wrong, then we can always resume consumption in November

I'm also minded to have a look at our food stores/menu planning and food budget. But I have to say, I can see both sides of the argument with 'Armageddon cupboards' versus 'JIT stocking'. However, longer term I think it would help to have another freezer - and if I can convince myself as to why, then I will start a savings 'pot' for it.

Much longer term, both DP and I don't like where we live. We don't fit in here and the property is not serving our needs. It isn't simply a case of selling up, I'm afraid there are complications I would rather not debate on a public forum. However, we have no long term strategy to 'live elsewhere and live otherwise'. The next 3 months will start to see a plan of action take shape.

I intend to continue with this diary to chronicle progress. I do hope, if you've followed this far, you will continue along for the ride - because you know how much I appreciate it

So after a ropey start, I think the day has had rather a strong finish

I did take a pic of our dinner, unfortunately, it was stew and dumplings. Try as I might, I have been unable to make it look like anything other than a plate of baked beans with 2 lumps of cork on top! :rotfl:It actually tasted fine just looks like nothing. I'm more than happy to post a pic if y'all want, but it doesn't sell 'Vegetable packed, pearl barley, haricot bean and wild mushroom stew with herby dumplings' at all. The 'recipe' was just a made up thing with what veg etc was available - so I can't even blame a TV chef! :rotfl:

Today I am grateful for these 3 things;

opportunities - I've got them. I should use them. And if I can help others in the process, then even better.

the art of argument and debate - I'm not talking breathy 'rows' so beloved of those TV soaps, I'm talking ideas and constructs. Even if you are having the debate with yourself, it helps to work things out, sometimes helps you to find inspiration and can yield a plan of action that you can choose to follow or no, adapt or no, or learn from.....or no.

for contributors - of course you all know I value your contributions But I mean in a wider sense - take MSE and all the people that run challenge threads or support threads, those that take the time to offer advice, or lead someone through a process step by step - or organise 'meet ups' of complete (sometimes) strangers. What a world it would be if no-one contributed positively to the lives of others. I'm grateful for those that step up and contribute.

Thanks so much for reading this diary. It is continuing to help me and I gain so much inspiration from contributions here and from the wider MSE community.

See y'all later.

Greying

beanielou

I just love your diary & your reasoning.

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Morning :hello:

And Beanie I love that you pop into my diary (and others) and always have an encouraging word to say. Thank you

Urg - wired and wide awake at midnight, a slug to the world at 6am. Need to have a word with my body clock. I got more sleep on hols!

Today will be 'up and at 'em'......... eventually

We need milk, so unfortunately I can't claim a NSD - I'm definitely going to get more organised about that too. I'm sure recording NSD/SFD will help.

Dinner this evening will hopefully be pizza, using some of the last 'garden' tomatoes we bought off the 'wonky' stall on hols. But I'm a little bit worried about the cheese I found in the freezer - it seemed a little 'fossilised'.......mmmm. Served with HM chips from the pots we got on hols too - yum!

Thank you for dropping in, reading and commenting. I greatly appreciate it.

See y'all in a bit.

Greying

Pippilongstocking

Oh I do like a good plan. And look forward to the new adventures.

Sorry to hear your body clock is being pesky.

I do enjoy a good neep.

Whether in a basket or over the dyke before the sheeps get them!

Have a good un - loved the look of the avocado dish.



I'm still exploring ways with marrows. *sigh*