I have lost my OS ways, help!

CyclingLondonSaver

Good evening all! I am absolutely shattered, long long day - only just got home.

amandaatnumber7, it's really good to be thinking about prepping for Christmas now. So many people leave it right till the last minute and don't plan which means spends can be high. Worrying about it now means you're more likely to have it all under control by December.

I had dinner out again today although thankfully this time it was with my Dad, so he paid It was only Pizza Express and I used my free 1-month trial Tastecard, so got it quite cheaply.

I did have a browse of Waitrose and picked up a reduced free-range chicken - £4 for a huge one, down from £8.50. It's cooking in the oven now so that'll make me 4-5 meals I think, and then stock from the carcass. So I'm seeing that as MSE :T

I'm off to chill and watch some TV while my chicken cooks. Hope you have all had an excellent day!

villagelife

Had to work today but is double time so money will go towards retirement fund.
Been too cold and windy to do much in the garden but I have done a small amount of digging.
Sorting out cupboards and decluttering old wires and chargers etc. I had no idea what most of them charged! I even sorted out all pens so all should work now which is a rarity.
I also have so much fabric conditioner but rarely use it so I may start using it. I have my cloths/rags sorted and easy to find so should use less kitchen roll.

Caterina

Good evening,

CyclingLondonSaver you are not far from me and the jam is ready! Will pm you. Re. £20 spend, for a Japanese restaurant that's cheap, unless it is Wagamama (which used to be cheap and lovely but now has become expensive and a bit carp!). Way to go with YS chicken, make it rubber and let it streeeeeeeeetch!

Amandaatnumber7 I agree, it is good to prep for Christmas from now, have you got one of those supermarkets saving schemes where you can pay a little bit each week and then find yourself with a nice pot of money at the end of the year? Or save points/coupons, to be able to spend a bit more at Christmas? Good luck with your garage sale, I am sure you will do fine, you are so very organised and a great OSer!

Villagelife it sounds like we live parallel lives: digging, 2 boxes in the allotment dug and covered in manure - SNAP; millions of chargers and wires and cables in a box, mystery what's their use, SNAP; pens and pencils sorted in an old yogurt tub, SNAP, the only one I cannot match is your fabric conditioner as I do not buy any.

Today is DH's birthday, 64 years old and looking good on it (bless!) and I prepared him a posh brekkie, DS and I gave him nice gifts, a bottle of port, a posh shaving cream and old fashioned shaving brush and a Japanese teapot (rather expensive but oh, so beautiful!). He was most chuffed.

He went to do his martial arts in the morning and I walked to W8rose with my friend, had my free tea but spent nothing.

Back home, DH was tired, so I tidied up a bit and made some fresh yogurt, and some cream cheese with the old yogurt, while he had a little sleep.

I made him a really nice Ploughman's Lunch, lots of different bits of veg, homemade pickled onions (thank you Dippy Pud!), nice mature cheese, pickle, sourdough bread (not homemade) and I attempted homemade mayonnaise but with sad results, it was a bit liquidy but he liked it anyway. I need to find a homemade "Branston" pickle recipe, any ideas please?

After lunch we walked to the allotment and I helped him dig up two boxes, 9 to go now! And while he did most of the digging I went up and down the place with the wheelbarrow and collected loads of manure to cover the fresh boxes, it will keep the earth warm underneath and keep the weeds from growing. It will need digging in when the time comes for planting but for the time being it is a nice blanket for our veggie boxes.

Then DH drove me to a shop where I needed to finish one of my mystery assignments, nice and easy, then back home where he is now watching rugby on catch up (no TV at the moment as the downstairs rooms are still being refurbished), and I have a nice pan of lentil and veg soup on the fire and a laundry load in the machine, nearly ready to hang.

Tonight is going to be a quiet evening indoors but tomorrow we will go (with DS as well) to celebrate DH's birthday in a posh restaurant on the river, it will cost quite a lot but I really don't mind, he asks so little and gives so much all the time that when it comes to his birthday I really want to go to the ends of the Earth to make him feel special.

Hope you are all having a great OS weekend.

CRANKY40

Happy Birthday MrC. Is he Japanese obsessed too? The karate kid is and his sensei has promised to take him to Japan when he is 14 or thereabouts.

Caterina

Thank you, Cranky, yes he is, totally, but so was I when i met him, in an Aikido dojo! I impressed him because I was a total beginner (but very fit) and he was a couple of belts up. When it came to partner with him, he was all super-gentlemanly and handling me very gently, so I told him that I would like to be thrown harder...the rest is history, this was in the Autumn of 1987!

We were planning to travel to Japan together and had saved a fair bit of money for it, when I found out I was pregnant with twins, it sort of changed the priorities, somehow!

He still dreams of going, but I no longer fly (nor do any martial art, and am 3 stones heavier, sadly!) so it might be very hard to go with him, unless we do the Trans-Siberian to Vladivostok and cross to Japan by boat!

ginnyknit

Busy week or so, managed to shift some stuff on fleabay then Hubby found me some more to sell :j Did all my parcels this morning so they are ready to go. Need to call in the poundshop for more posting bags must remember to take a tpe measure to work out the difference between small and large - dont do centimetres

Just decided to turn my empty office into a sewing room :j:j so I can set up both sewing machines and just go in and sew when ever I want. Im going to empty it and start from scratch and even paint the walls. The walls are painted brick so will have to decide if Im going to plasterboard them for warmth. Bonus is I can put all my fabric together and threads etc on the shelves - my life will be so much neater and easier - just need to resist buying fabric now :rotfl:

Caterina

Hi Ginnyknit, well done on shifting stuff on Fleabay, good luck with creating a sewing room (my long term dream, too).

Next weekend I am traveling North, hope to pop in to see you and SmileyT if I can! xx

villagelife

Belated happy birthday to MrCaterina. Enjoy your meal out today, a celebratory meal out is needed at times and all the more special if not done very often.

My plans for today involve the garden and may go to the cinema later as we were given vouchers for christmas from a friend.

Caterina

Good morning,

Thank you Villagelife! Enjoy your gardening and cinema outing.

Amandaatnumberseven, I forgot to add, if you like Call the Midwife etc, have you come across the books by Nella Last (Nella Last's War, Nella Last's Peace and Nella Last in the 50s) and the lovely film adaptation of her first book, "Housewife,49" by Victoria Wood? They are really worth seeking out.

So, today is going to be taken up by our restaurant outing, we need to leave by 11 as the journey is rather long, all the way to Richmond. We decided not to bother with breakfast and just have a long lie-in, which is great for a change. DH and DS are both still sleeping and I am planning a pot of tea very soon, then back to bed for another hour or so.

I doubt that we will do much after the restaurant as I am sure we will have a bottle of wine. 2 small glasses are enough to flip me over, so that puts pat to any plans of activity for me!

Really looking forward to a lazy decadent day for a change. These days I am up at the crack of dawn, doing things, saving and scrimping, cooking, looking after kids...today I am just going to enjoy myself and let my hair down, so there!

Have a good OS day, with some treats!

ailz95

I used to be married to a gardener and he taught me the thumb to finger measure. You use a tape measure to measure the top knuckle of your thumb - usually about an inch, thumb to index finger - mine is about 7 inches etc. He had learnt this at agricultural college as useful for measuring distances for planting seeds.

Then tip of the nose to tip of your finger is a yard and if you turn your head away from your hand then tip of the nose to tip of the finger is a metre.

Not exact but good for quick measures of things like envelopes - though saying this I always carry a tape measure with me.