Getting my Old Style mojo back

Caterina

Good evening,

Declaring a £1.40 spend on a truly lovely stash of speciality breads, YSd just before closing time at marks. DH will have some posh sarnies in the next few days in his packed lunch.

On the onion front, DD had 2 spare onions from her job (she packs for an organic goods distributor) and gave them to me when we met today, so no need for onion shopping.

I was given a large bagful of little apples. I have wrapped the bigger ones in newspaper and stored them in a cardboard box in a cupboard, but tomorrow I will cut and process the tiny ones. I have been promised a bucketful of Japanese quinces, the little ones, they will go with the apples to make a few jars of quince and apple conserve.

Good night.

Caterina

Good morning,

Frugal plan for today, hoping for a NSD.

DH was sent to work with a nice brekkie in his tummy and posh bread sarnies in his work bag, from yesterday's stash of YS bonanza.

So I need to sort myself, probably will have posh egg on toast, then free old people gym workout, followed by free sauna then free w8rose tea (note to self, bring own mug so not to use plastic mono-use).

Back home for lunch and hopefully process apples and - if my friend drop them - mini quinces.

This afternoon is back to work, first day of school run, pick up boys, I look forward to seeing them. They sometimes drive me crazy but overall they are a pair of adorable children and I thoroughly enjoy looking after them.

Tonight dinner plan is tofu stir fry with veg from the fridge, still clearing old stock of stuff, then yogurt with stewed fruit, I will save a bit of apple and quince compote for dessert.

Have a good day.

pipkin71

pollys wrote: »

DS arrived home from a musical festival rather smelly from the campfires. Luckily it's stopped raining so one load of washing is now hung outside, second load in, third load waiting to go in!

Polly

My girls spent 5 days at Reading and came back very muddy and smelly, with lots of washing which has only just been sorted now, thanks to the rain

pipkin71

We have had a glut of apples off the tree this year - I think it's the best year we've had but that means lots of apples so DD helped make some crumbles, an apple chutney and apple puree for the freezer, to save wasting any of them.

Caterina

Updating yesterday's frugal plan:

Tai chi, then trip to allotment with DH and my neighbour with her little boy, who will pick up produce for herself and family while I am away. He loved helping picking up beans, what a little sweetheart!

Then we went to a cafe together, I had not realised that she wanted to buy us lunch, but we said no thanks, could not possibly accept. Too much! So we agreed that we would buy our own lunch (£7.25 spend) and she would buy us tea and cake. Deal done. But I was planning for a home lunch, so DH insists that the £7.25 should be counted as entertainment. Ok by me!

Early dinner as the cafe meal was very meagre. I made leftover HM curry and lentils dal turned into an all-in-one soup (yummy), with a side of HM coleslaw, to finish the jar of mayo.

The fridge is looking emptier but more than enough for our next 6 days, perhaps we will still need a couple more onions and half a dozen eggs, our morning staple. Need chickens! See below:

Then I found online an offer for a free Eglu chicken coop, no run, just the coop, and managed to contact the owner in time before someone else got it, and we drove to puck it up. One hour each way and a step nearer the dream of having hens in our back garden! There was a very cheap run on sale on fleabay but I just missed it, sadly. Even if we have to. Up the run brand new, we have saved a fortune as the coop is the most expensive bit. Today we will put it together.

We stopped at the pub for a self congratulatory (entertainment budget) pint of local beer.

Such a happy lovey day!

pollys

Good afternoon

I've just caught up with the posts which I have really enjoyed reading. Caterina, we have hens at our primary school, they produce delicious eggs. Good luck with sourcing a run for them.
I've had a really busy week back at school. I'm pleased to be getting back into a routine but boy, am I tired!
This morning I had a run out to the farm shop, I've put washing out and I'm now busy cleaning. I'm just waiting for the kitchen floor to dry so having a breather.
It's a lovely day but does feel slightly autumnal. I have two pots of flowers on my doorstep which have bloomed all summer but they are looking very much past their best. I think in another week or so I'll be replacing them with some pansies.
I cut the lawns last night so the garden is tidy. There will be some cutting back to do soon, I also plan to plant some bulbs, I love spring and autumn time,, I've always worked in schools (apart from the time when I was lucky to be a stay at home mum) so September feels like the start of a new year more so than January.
The floor has now dried so off I go "see you soon"

Polly

Caterina

Good evening,

Another flat out NSD, I am pleased to report, and overall a good productive day. DH tried to put the Eglu together but we discovered that we hadn't been given the screws necessary, so we are shelving it until we come back, will email Omlet (the company that makes the Eglu) to buy the bolts and possibly even the metal run if we cannot find an used one.

I started processing the Japanese quinces and apples but there were so many that my pressure cooker could not cope and spouted out appley water all over the cooker. Cue: lots of cleaning in the kitchen. A good excuse to get it done. But although I managed to cook and sieve the apples I did not have time to make the jam. Tomorrow's job.

A neighbour asked if I could babysit tonight so after a nice meal of vege sausages, cabbage, peas and spuds, DH and I crossed the road for an evening of babysitting (free, as a neighbourly favour). They left us with tea, carrot cake and a pile of DVDs so we watched "The Imitation Game", great film but so very sad.

Cold today! I wore a few layers and it was good to spend the evening in a heated home while babysitting (they have little kids so can't keep it cold like we do). I can't bring myself to put the heating on at the beginning of September! My usual switch plan is 1st November but I don't always manage to get that late in the year, occasionally we have caved in mid-October. See how it goes this year. Might have students in October and it would mean a bit of heating morning and night.

Good night.

Caterina

Good evening,

What a lovely sunshiny day today, I made the most of it. After a nice breakfast in bed, YS (10p x 4) posh muffins grilled with cheese, courtesy of DH, late morning I walked to the farmers market as we needed a few bits and pieces. £10 spent for a dozen eggs, a lovely chunk of Unpasturised cheddar (amazing taste!) and a few veg, I am still well under budget and should not need anything else from the shops before we go.

After lunch (sardine, green beans and mix veg salad), DH and I went to the allotment to weed the brassicas and the broad beans. While I was there, digging up weeds, I found a stone that sort of called to me (I know, it sounds strange but this stone had something special about it). I looked at it closely and it is a fossil! I am ridiculously happy, I cleaned it and brought it back home. It felt like the loveliest of omens, a connection with millions of years of life on Earth. For the first time I really understood the joy that archaeologists and palaeontologists must feel! It is now on my mantelpiece.

DS came to have dinner with us and I cooked a massive pan of risotto in tomato sauce. We also had cavolo nero and salad.

I am so tired. But really happy. Only 4 more days then we are on holiday, but this weekend felt like a mini holiday in itself.

Good night.

amandaatnumber7

ok this is the second tie I'm typing this lol

I need to have some nsd days, the amount of money I spent leading into Fathers day yesterday - I cant help myself I love buying for people.
We had a lovely cooked breakfast in the morning, then hubby and the boys went on picnic with his family and I went to work. After work I visited my Dad armed with a bottle of wine and his present. I bought him a really nice collared shirt (on sale :P) and some Sticky 9 magnets of the boys - his face just lit up when he saw the magnets

My OS day is really just trying to catch up on housework - its like the never ending story
I need to stew some rhubarb I bought last week and make some sausage rolls and maybe some granola if I get time

Caterina I thought this might be of interest to you http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/slow-and-steady-wins-the-race-153444 I'll admit I haven't fully read through it yet but I like the idea.
I would really like to buy more organic but with 3 kids and one of them being a teenager I find it too costly, I do buy local where I can. I try to get away from buying the cheap imports at the supermarket but to buy all aussie made costs way too much when your trying to reduce what you spend. I buy what I can where I can , make the most of specials and stock up

Have a great Monday

Caterina

Good morning,

Amandaatnumber7 thank you for the link, very interesting ideas.

Re. buying organic, check this link for the Dirty Dozen and Clean 15 about prioritising what to buy organic and what's ok to buy not organic.

http://www.ewg.org/foodnews/

Edited to add a UK based list, as the above one is from the US:

http://thekitchenshed.co.uk/organic-food-the-best-foods-to-buy-organic-in-the-uk/

Today's plan:

Tai chi in the park, lunch at home, visit to my volunteering old lady, then work with the boys. This evening DH and I are going to a dinner organised by a whole foods distributor as part of a Permaculture conference, I have already bought the tickets so if all goes ok and DH does not start wanting a beer here and a glass of wine there, it should be a NSD. If he wants a drink though it comes out of entertaining budget (not that we have a fixed budget, mind, but I don't count the odd drink and treat as regular grocery spend).

Have a good day.