EH - Keeping on track. (AKA focus Woman! FOCUS!)

Enjoying_life_more

so sorry to read about your car experience ! Enjoy your trip to Leeds

EssexHebridean

Thanks Greying & ELM. Dangerous driving would be a great thing for them to go after him for Greying - potentially carried either a hefty fine or a prison sentence (or theoretically both, although not likely in this case) but more importantly a 12 month mandatory driving ban. I quite like the idea of him being off the road for a year...

Leeds has the most amazing market - in fact it was that which made me think about heading there when I realised it was an option on the cheap tickets. I've come back with serious market-envy! I also had the most amazing lunch from HERE streetfood at its absolute best - Greying you would have loved it! Apart from £5 on lunch (well spent, I have to say) there was a tea at Kings Cross this morning, £1.40 on a bargainous stall selling all manner of things - I got a new strap-clip for the rucksack, two notebooks and a greek cookbook for that money!) and some other foody bits - oven cakes (bread rolls that have been sat on by the baker, by the look of it?) and fruit teacakes mainly. Oh, and 3m of cotton muslin for use in culinary adventuring - draining cheese and the like. :T At £2 a metre that was a fraction of what it would have cost even had i been able to get it down here!

MrEH has been paid and I have done the money shuffling. I've also (thanks Pippi) remembered to transfer the council tax/water rates money over to the mortgage overpayment account for this month - if I don't leave them sitting there they can't get frittered!

Tomorrows grand challenge will be to see how I can make half a tub of mulligatawny soup stretch to feed two people for lunch rather than the one it was intended to feed - the rugby is off as the pitch is waterlogged so "himself" will need lunch. Hmmm...!

EssexHebridean

Well, the half-tub of soup was stretched admirably using a finely chopped onion caramelised in a little butter, a carton of chopped tomatoes, and a few drops of peri-peri sauce. 'Twas delicious too!

The weeks shopping is done - Tesco this week. Got all the odds and ends on my list, actually thought properly about what was needed, and quantities, passed on anything "impulsey" and uneeded and after vouchers were used the actual cash spend was 24p :rotfl: Great start to my Frugal Food February challenge, not least as I got given a voucher for 62p off my next shop as well. :T

Other than that, a fairly lazy day - up late, two rugby matches watched, and the only thing I've achieved all day that was even vaguely constructive was cleaning down the damp wall in our bedroom - a job that desperately needed doing. Just one small stretch left to do now - which MrEH will be doing.

Plan for tomorrow is that if the weather is fine we're going to walk our next stretch of Thames Path, so sunshine vibes this way please!

Enjoying_life_more

EssexHebridean wrote: »

Leeds has the most amazing market -QUOTE]

I'll second that ! it's brilliant isn't it - I don't get as often as i'd like but always get bargains when I go!

EssexHebridean

I tell you, if I lived nearer I'd cheerfully turn my back on supermarkets altogether!

Greying_Pilgrim

EssexHebridean wrote: »

Leeds has the most amazing market - in fact it was that which made me think about heading there when I realised it was an option on the cheap tickets. I've come back with serious market-envy! I also had the most amazing lunch from HERE streetfood at its absolute best - Greying you would have loved it! Apart from £5 on lunch (well spent, I have to say) there was a tea at Kings Cross this morning, £1.40 on a bargainous stall selling all manner of things - I got a new strap-clip for the rucksack, two notebooks and a greek cookbook for that money!) and some other foody bits - oven cakes (bread rolls that have been sat on by the baker, by the look of it?) and fruit teacakes mainly. Oh, and 3m of cotton muslin for use in culinary adventuring - draining cheese and the like. :T At £2 a metre that was a fraction of what it would have cost even had i been able to get it down here!

I am GREEN with envy dear thing! I love those sorts of places. That would be a real 'day out' for me. I mean, castles and museums are great, but give me a bustling, vibrant, diverse, fairly priced market anyday of the week

Oh, the muslin is a steal! I agree, where I am it would probably cost £10m or something stupid. I need to get some for making labneh - it's too heavy on kitchen roll and Pippi would be cross with me if she knew Definitely happy to go 'recyclable' for that process

Greying

kissjenn

Hi EH,

Happy new diary...sorry I've been a bit slow on the uptake.

Market sounds fab...nothing that good around here

EssexHebridean

Thanks for popping by Ladies! Always nice to have visitors!

I've got serious, proper market-envy - I'd LOVE to have something even half that good round our way, but no chance. When we lived in Walthamstow we had the market there, and loved it, and made a heck of a lot of use of it too. It's a prime example of when things like that get used though, they stay and thrive, and when they don't...the opposite.

Did another section of the Thames Path yesterday - 8.5 miles this time, took our eye off the ball a little food-wise though as we left home without eating and were absolutely STARVING by the time we got to Richmond - so bought a sandwich to share in Sainsbugs by the station there, went for the meal deal as that got us a bottle of water and a Bounty Bar too - then found when we opened the Bounty that we'd won a free bar with that, so exactly "money saving", but every little helps. right?! :rotfl:

I suspect today is going to be a testing one...the resident stress-bunny in the office is already doing what she does best....*sigh*

EssexHebridean

Small Money Saving thing to declare - on Sunday while we were walking I became aware that the sole was peeling away from the toe of my right walking boot. Not very impressed, as had a feeling I'd had them no more than a year, and they've only had light use until recently. Anyway, tweeted Mountain Warehouse - the manufacturer of said boots - yesterday, they tweeted back with their email address, and I emailed yesterday explaining the situation. Got a response back this morning apologising, and saying that if I'd like to take the boots back in to any of their stores along with proof of purchase - and CC statement will do - they'll take a look and should be able to do something under their 1 year guarantee. :T I was intending to buy an additional pair in any event, as I like to have 2 pairs on the go, but didn't really want to have to buy TWO additional pairs, so hopefully they'll do a straight replacement.

NSD yesterday, and should be another one today too. MrEH's car needs feeding but that can wait until tomorrow which will mean she's done exactly a fortnight on the one tank - quite happy with that. Tomorrow's fill-up will probably also get us another £5 Morrisons Voucher ready for me to do a weekly shop there at some stage during the month. Aiming for another NSD on Thursday too - we'll see.

Food for this week is under control - the slow cooked chicken from Sunday yielded enough beautifully fragrant stock (I threw carrots, leeks, star anise, peppercorns, cloves, ginger & garlic into the water it cooked in) to cook the rice we had with it on that night, and 4 more pots for the freezer which MrEH shoved in there last night. The chicken itself will do 4 full meals - I'll freeze what's left of that tonight and we've already had 2 off it. Tonight will be sausages, sweetcorn fritters and one of the never ending supply of Approved Food coucous sachets.

Glancing back I've just recalled the free choccy bar we won...must check with MrEH what happened to that...:think:

starnac

Yay, glad you got a positive response from the boot maker. Much better than buying a new pair.