<<<out of cheese error>>>

Seasidegal58

Well done on the extra cash, but:eek: to the lukewarm bath!
Glad to hear about OH's pension savings. I keep mentally kicking myself for not sorting this out sooner!

And have to agree about the white school shirts! Nice black or navy would be much more practical!

redofromstart

Hurrah for empty green waste bins - how fast can I fill them up again? This time I'd like them to be full of nettle roots.

Yesterday I took the top few inches of compost out of the 4 elderly pots on the drive wall and replaced it with new. I trimmed back the miniature ivy so they just need some colour. MrM obliged with 8 decent sized lobelias for £1 so will put two of those in each pot. As long as I actually water them they should do well. They are aluminium half buckets that screw to the fence, bought in Woolworths clearance many years ago which dates them rather!

The plug plants are doing really well. I note that Van Muewen have free P&P again this weekend, not sure if it can be combined with the lavender plugs in the MSE email but I must remember to check if there are any decent offers on perennials. I have no money and a lot of space to fill after all.

On which subject, OH has left me his parking permit so I can go into the city for the day if I want to. Its very tempting, its raining a bit which means it should be fairly empty. Can I resist the lure of TK Maxx? Mmmm egyptian cotton bedding, and cookware. Its fatal to just go and look isn't it?

Who wants to run a sweepstake in my absence? Can I:

1) Stroke everything, buy nothing. Collect freebie oil in Debns
2) Get suckered into its a bargain and buy more bedding? Both the main and spare set are wearing thin after all. Ooh thats a nice cast iron dish, etc.
3) Go mad, buy nice chocolate (to make up for G&B), buy more jumpers and generally play who cares about finances?

greenbee

If the bedding is wearing thin it's worth having a look, but set yourself a budget.

What can you grow from seed to fill the space in the garden? You have a greenhouse and a polytunnel after all...

LadyDee

redofromstart wrote: »

That's enough background, so what have I done today that is MSE?


I worked an extra shift, so 5 hours pay which will hit the bank next week.
I chased a contested refund that has been rolling on for weeks. I think they try and get you to drop things out of sheer exhaustion sometimes.
I've done a couple of hours of the tedious home based thing.
Bought reduced bread so that the boys have some for toast instead of raiding the cupboards tomorrow
Fed myself and the boys on scraps of the roast chicken rather than drag something out of the freezer. Luckily they like couscous so its easy enough. Must also remember that they happily eat pasta too.


I'm slightly embarrassed at how minor my problem is compared to what some of the other diarists are dealing with but I need something to help me focus.

Just started reading this thread. Don't forget the vegies! Homemade lasagne with vegetarian mince goes down well, with homegrown side salad, cheap, nourishing and filling.

sashybo

Well redo, I know I can't resist rifling through the homeware section in TK Maxx & rarely leave empty handed. :whistle: I think if you visit & leave without buying you will deserve a medal.

Sounds like the garden is doing well. :beer:

greenbee

LadyDee wrote: »

Just started reading this thread. Don't forget the vegies! Homemade lasagne with vegetarian mince goes down well, with homegrown side salad, cheap, nourishing and filling.

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

See, it's not just me that thinks you should eat veggies redo!

redofromstart

:hello: hello LadyDee

Its a great suggestion re veg lasagne, etc but just as an example of what I am up against:
OH wouldn't eat it, he hates veggie mince. He was vegetarian for years and does not approve of things that are just texture or that try to taste like meat. He will eat it with vegetable layers, aubergines etc but still complains about the lack of meat. he then expects lots of garlic to make up for the lack of meat. I don't like garlic and I don't like the smell of it afterwards so I have to eat the nasty stuff so I can't smell it.
DS1 loves lasagne, but any trace of vegetables must be really well hidden. He will not eat side salads, cooked veg on the side, or any thing that looks suspiciously like it has vegetables in so OHs veggie slices version would be a no. He will eat raw vegetables - but only certain ones.
DS2 wont eat anything that is touching other things, or sauces. He would happily have a plate of uncooked lasagne sheets, grated cheese and the cucumber as long as it isnt touching.
I hate pasta, always have. I don't like cooked tomatoes, and am on restricted grains and dairy. I'd make myself eat the nasty side salad and leave everything else.

I was forced to eat things I didn't like as a child. I do sympathise with my parents but the solution is not force, or nagging, nor will I send them to bed hungry. Food should be a pleasure, not a punishment.

The choice then is to cook four meals, or one that at least half of the family dislikes, including the person who would spend hours cooking it. What I try to do instead is make something that everyone then has a variation on - so last nights mash (inside of jacket potatoes) and sausages was for OH and DS1, which they had with plenty of veg - carrot sticks and sugar snap peas for DS1. I had a jacket potato (microwaved and finished in the oven with the sausages) with cheese and (oven roasted) bacon, and salad. DS2 had bread, cheese, bacon, sugar snap peas, rocket, cucumber, carrot and radishes all carefully not touching. One set of food into the oven, a little extra prep but four separate balanced meals that everyone enjoyed.

A&C have sent me a £10 off a veg box for 3 weeks voucher, think I will do that to get us through till the crops start producing.

I did do TK but didn't buy anything. Spent a huge £4 on a two pack of thin fabric snood type scarves in primani in a nice pale pink and a vintage pale floral pattern. I wear my black swan one all the time so it'll be good to have some variety. Collected the free body oil from Debns, my first ever use of their beauty card thing.

Seasidegal58

You have made me feel exhausted just reading about your meal routine!:rotfl:

The snood purchases were very MSE. Well done!

redofromstart

Seaside it sounds exhausting but it isn't actually that much extra effort or I wouldn't do it.

Tonight we had lazy dinner of chicken curry (jar sauce - Aldee dopiaza), rice and lentils from the freezer. DS2 had rice, nuts and carrot sticks - not touching. Obviously :cool:

It's rained, rained and then rained a bit more. Nothing much done, bit of wasted day really. DW is full for the morning and a load of washing is on ready for tumble drying on 'free' electricity Sunday. The weeks are just rolling past at the moment.

Another £10 ordered on SB.

greenbee

I've got nearly £40 in Quidco and under £10 in PA ... I need to work out the best way to get the money out of Quidco - I think Starbucks vouchers give me the best return, but don't really get there much nowadays except in the US, and I have no US travel planned at the moment.

I also need to find out whether work cover me for travel insurance or not... if they don't then I need to find a policy that will cover me for business travel (which seems hard to find out).

I've bought food. I have lots and lots and lots of veggies... Now I just need to plan so I use it rather than watch it rot in the fridge ...