The Simple Bare Necessities feat. Gratitude & Recipes

Greying_Pilgrim

apple_muncher wrote: »

Sorry to witter on.

You are not love. You are sharing valuable information, of which all of us should be aware. And as I said, you don't have to be 'old' to breath your last. Co-incidentally, I read the death announcement of someone locally today - they were in the year above me at secondary school. They have left 'young' (school-age) children behind. They may or may not have got their affairs in order before they passed - although the death may have been more 'expected' than sudden/accidental. The gaping hole of their passing is bad enough, without associated arguments over assets.



We certainly should, as parents, get our affairs in order. No matter how much I love BG, no matter that I want to be 'mumma' for many, many years to come, I should and must prepare for the worst, whilst fervently hoping for the best...................


Greying X

greenbee

Just dropping in from .... erm... Auckland? ... I'm on a bit of a tour of Asia & ANZ for work at the moment and have reached the 'where am I and who am I?' stage of the trip. But I wanted to say that the LPA conversation is very sensible.

We registered my mother's a few weeks ago (she'd had an EPA, but it had my dad as an attorney so needed changing), and I started mine several years ago but the solicitor still hasn't done it properly so I'm going to start again. With the amount of travel I do I think it's important - and I need to have a 'health' one as well as a financial one, with a letter/living will explaining what I'd want done in the event of anything happening to me while I'm away.

These things are important to take the strain off family - and for those of you with kids, you need to think about who you would want to look after them (and their finances) if anything happened that meant it was needed. As you say GP, it's uncomfortable to think about, but it's part of your responsibility as a parent to think about 'just in case'. Obviously as they get older they can offer and opinion as to who they'd want to live with (my brother and I were involved in making that decision at around 14 when my parents updated their wills), but when they're tiny you need to think about it differently.

Hope you all have a lovely bank holiday weekend... I'll drop in again sometime. THink the next stop in HK...

badmemory

Just to mention that if someone dies without enough funds then the LA or hospital (depending where they die) is responsible for burying them. A perfectly respectful cremation BUT you have no input. I saw a few whilst my mother was in a care home.


Mine is all bought & paid for & organised (thank you co-op) including something to say to my son. It wasn't easy to have to think about it but I am so glad I did. I wouldn't touch those insurances on TV with a disinfected bargepole.


Doom & gloom over lets enjoy this weather whilst we have it.

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Evening :hello:


T'as been a funy auld day. DH has worked like a trooper, not quite from dawn to dusk, but a pretty good innings. I have mostly supervised BG and stopped them climbing up, jumping down and getting into mischief. It was easier to look after them once they went for a snooze.......;) They did manage to eat most of their lunch today, before falling asleep in their chair - which I'm not sure DH has seen before, so we both had an inappropriate (for parents) giggle, before DH took BG upstairs to the comfort of their cot


We have the 'new' - to us - piece of furniture in the house It looks even better than I had hoped It does need a darn good clean and polish though. It is scratched and dinked, but hopefully those will disappear 'into the background' when it is up and running and being used for its original purpose.



Tea this evening was Asparagus with gnocchi in a lemon yoghurt dressing. I used conventional sized gnocchi - mrAl, £1.09 for a 500g bag of chilled, fresh gnocchi. And clearly I omit the panchetta. I also grill my asparagus first, and cook it in lemon juice so that it caramelises and adds to the flavour. I wouldn't make this dish with anything other than British Asparagus, and it is only a once or twice a year dish. I also use greek yoghurt, rather than creme fraiche, but that's because I'm too tight to buy CF, and greek yoghurt works perfectly fine


Today I am grateful for these 3 things;

for a cwtch with BG this afternoon - dunno what was going on in their little head, but in mumma's arms was where they needed to be

for my hard-working DH

for 'food for thought' conversations on this thread.


Ta for popping in.



Greying X

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Morning :hello:


I do hope t'weather is better with y'all............................


I've just realised, we achieved a nsd yesterday :j But there is a ton of things that we need to buy either today, or tomorrow, so..................


So there will be no excuse not to clean the new bit o' furniture today. And there is washing to fold and put away.



We might get out and about, but I think pants weather is forecast for mucho of the day, so it might not be worth it.


Can't really think of owt else in a :money: vein, so best shift-a-tail feather and find some brekkie to munch.


TTFN, Greying X

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Afternoon :hello:


'Tis a good job that I am a lassy happy to count my blessings, as by gosh I've a load of 'em to count Clan Greying are being 'looked out for' on the QT, by a load of angels, masquerading as chums


We've been out and about to see how far and how hot it was. It was just far enough, but too blessed hot is my qualified verdict :rotfl:We popped over to a nearby market town to get some bits and pieces, as the parking is easier to navigate than that of Greying Town. I paid for a ticket - 50p for an hour - but wasn't sure if it was free, being a BH. Still, the fine for not paying was summat like £40, so I took the road of least resistance. And the sign only said parking was free on Sundays, so......


We got most of what we needed/wanted from the likes of W1lk0s and HB. I ducked into a couple of chazzers but didn't spot what I was specifically looking for. I did see ever such a nice piece of furniture in a (closed) chazzer. It was quite a fine, old (but not antique) table with 2 drawers at the front; that you might have in a hallway or perhaps a dining room. Absolutely no point in buying it for the towers, as we'd of had to purchase a sky hook to put it anywhere, here :rotfl:But you know when you see things, and they appeal to you. It was a shame that we didn't know that a vegan joint that I have always wanted to try was open for business. Normally it is closed when we visit (on a Sunday), but we'd bought a picnic lunch with us, so couldn't have justified eating out too


Tea last night was cardboard box fish, sweet potato 'chips', marinated green beans and a handful of marinated rocket. For us pack-up today, we had egg mayo sangers :j And some grapes And a toddle about to see some boats and a swan I did ponder if the swan was on nest patrol (didn't spot anything), as it didn't hiss, but looked uncomfortable if we looked like we were going to get closer (we weren't/didn't).



Tea this evening will probably be a totally inappropriate curry :rotfl:As I've an aubergine to utilise.


I've spent a stack of money over the past couple of days. And I've busted my £200 grocery budget I don't know what to say to that, really. We're eating the 'sort of' food that I want us to eat - although BG could vary their palate a bit more I trawl the shops to get fresh food at affordable prices, I don't know what else to do. Perhaps June needs to be a 'stock-take'/'use-up' month. Make sure I'm not getting excess/surplus around the edges, stocked up in cupboards etc. Although as you'll have surmised, you don't store fresh stuff in the cupboard - you eat it! Oh the british asparagus in the HB we went into today looked dreadful - there were about 3 stems in the pack, of 200g - which gives you an indication of how 'tree-like' each stem was.................


Right, BG is snoozing after getting a little bit over-tired with all their walking and adventurising, and I suppose I best get a bit done.


Greying X

rtandon27

Hello GP - sounds like the GP clan had a fabulous bank holiday, with chores & adventurizing in equal measure! Always so lovely to hear BG's daily developments & growth!

Greying_Pilgrim wrote: »

...Perhaps June needs to be a 'stock-take'/'use-up' month. Make sure I'm not getting excess/surplus around the edges, stocked up in cupboards etc. ...

GP - it was a five week month!:eek::eek::eek: perhaps a contributing factor being over budget?

I too have blown our monthly grocery budget - by 40 pounds!!! - heaven forbid the car needs attention before the end of the month as that is the pot I stole it from - and we too have been eating frugal but healthy meals...:o:o:o

We periodically do a store-cupboard challenge - to use up the weird and wonderful - and make sure staples are in rotation - not going stale or being forgotten. Makes for a frugal week when we do that!

We had some creative meals from the stores this holiday weekend & I've used the day to advantage, prepping self-catered bf & lunch for work. Only one working lunch this week & I'm being treated in exchange for a perceived good deed so no additional food spends should happen for the rest of the week!:cool:

OH will be preparing our now standard meatless monday meal for dinner - asparagus season is almost over, they are getting fatter and tougher - whatever can I convince him to cook once it's done? Must have a think...

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Evening :hello:

rtandon27 wrote: »

GP - it was a five week month!:eek::eek::eek: perhaps a contributing factor being over budget?


OH will be preparing our now standard meatless monday meal for dinner - asparagus season is almost over, they are getting fatter and tougher - whatever can I convince him to cook once it's done? Must have a think...

Ah ha! Maybe now I don't feel so bad rtandon - we've had a couple of special bits and pieces already this month, so that has contributed. Yes, it's amazing seeing BG's development - and i'm sure we miss stuff being so 'close'. And yet I suppose we shouldn't be surprised in a way - i was constantly surprised at the pace of the embryo development during pregnancy, and followed a site that told you the 'approximate' size of the baby each week - going from a kidney bean, to a banana to an aubergine, to a watermelon... (t'was an american site) Hard to believe, and yet fun if you looked at a walnut, or a lemon, or a mango


Broad bean season is just around the corner! Bit expensive to buy in the shops, but if you drop on a roadside garden stall....... Delish! Have you had a glance at the recipes on the Meat-Free Monday website - any inspiration?


So tea ended up being Baingan Bharta, which made spiffing use of the aubergine, and a half jar of passata that was lurking in the fridge. I used some turmeric (fresh) that a very kind friend had bought for me as a pressie, and a spice mix that was in the cupboard. So that finished off that jar. It was accompanied by my normal lentil dhal and some steamed basmati. Just hit the spot - despite the warm weather. Haven't had curry in a little while. And it worked tonight, so....... :T I used the NYT Mark Bittman recipe for my Baingan Bharta, but unfortunately, I can't link to it, as you have to (now) have an account to access the recipe. Pity.



Today I am grateful for these 3 things;


helpful chums who go above and beyond

my supportive husband

a nice day out mixing chores with leisure


Ta for popping in. Appreciated.


Greying X

beanielou

Hurrah for great chums :j :j

MatyMoo

I have been eating mainly from cupboards and freezers in May and have only been in a supermarcardo once.........and I appear to have missed most of the British asparagus season

May have to make a visit tomorrow to see if they have any!

To be fair, I was away last weekend staying in a hotel with a friend and our dogs so was being thrifty for the rest of the month

When I was a teenager I tasted asparagus rolls as part of a wedding buffet and loved them. Then realised it was expensive and so told my Mum, who adored it, that I hated it so that she could buy a bunch and then gorge herself :rotfl: A little white lie, but with a very special single Mum it was worth it! Not sure she ever knew I liked it