Put away your purse & become debt-averse

crazy_cat_lady

Sorry, but 'fell through the tent'? :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:
I had a taste of my gooseberry chutney yesterday - it still tastes very tangy after 5 weeks, so hope it mellows out a bit more. I, too am planning on starting the alcoholic gifts and tomato chutney over the next week.
How long does it take you to make a pair of socks? Just curious as to whether or not it's realistic I could make socks as gifts. I do find knitting a bit boring but am coming to the end of my first ever sock. It doesn't look that bad so far, but obviously I need a second sock to go with it :rotfl:

foxgloves

CCL - Well some chutneys are tangier than others because different fruits & veg vary in their amount of tang, but it may mellow a bit more in storage. And of course, some people like a tangy chutney.
Re sock knitting. It probably helps that I know the pattern by heart so don't need to refer to it. I can knit a pair of socks in a week, though I take longer if there's no pressure. I've also been stash busting so have been knitting socks for the presents box on & off all year. I've done a pair each to wrap for my best friend, my b-in-law, my sis-in-law and Mr f's b-in-law. I also have a pair to knit for Mr F but will work on those in the day time when he's at work.
I think your feelings about knitting are probably similar to mine about crochet, although in my case, a lack of all but the most basic crochet skills means I get bored with it. For instance, the double bedspread I started crocheting several years ago in a shell pattern (which I could do, but just lost interest)........ ended up as a little blanket for our cat's bed!! He likes it though.
Last summer, Mum & I had planned to make some pretty tea light glasses. I saved several small jam jars with straight sides & Mum saved Nutella jars. I'd seen a pic of these in a craft mag & they looked really effective. You just knitted (Mum was going to crochet hers) a little lacy band in sparkly cobweb by type yarn & fitted it around the jar, added a few beads or sequins & popped a tea light inside. Of course poor Mum ended up in hospital & never came out, so we never got round to making these, but they did look very effective in the mag & I think a little knitted holly leaf or poinsettia would have made nice Christmassy ones too.
What a ramble that was..... you only asked me about socks. I'd better go & pick beans and make myself useful.
F x

Sancti

New here and just subscribed Love your diary! I have a little one on the way next year and I'm really interested in growing some low maintenance herbs and fruits/veg and making it a bit of a habit, I think it's a fab thing for kids to learn (and me haha!). Your mention of blackberry gin/vodka has piqued my interest massively! I'm tempted by blackberries as I love jam and it would be amazing to make my own, but I know zero about gardening and even less about making products. Will be following for tips and giggles, you have a great way of writing!

foxgloves

Hello Sancti, & welcome!
Thank-you for your kind comments. Glad you've enjoyed reading my diary. Being a spendy madam & all the debt it entails can stop at any time we choose to change. I think that's what I was hoping to show.
Growing a few herbs would be a nice gentle start to food-growing & I agree it is excellent for small children to learn where their food comes from.....& that 'from the supermarket' is not the correct answer! Even if you just started in Spring with a few things you can snip from to make salads, it would be a start, wouldn't it?
I learned to make jam from my Mum when was about 12 & have made it ever since. Blackberry & apple is one of the nicest jams in my opinion as it tastes of autumn. I give jars of it for gifts (sometimes instead of buying wine or chocs when visiting friends for a meal), I use it to fill home baked cakes, it makes a quick little not too naughty snack on a rice cake, it can be used in several desserts, etc, it's just generally a useful thing to get into the pantry. Blackberries are of course free, & still plenty on the hedges. They also freeze for a year so can sit & wait till I'm ready to deal with them. Jam does need a little bit of kit (thought not as much as some kitchen catalogues would have you believe!) but fruit liqueurs are simplicity itself. Vodka or gin (buy the cheapest as you are tarting it up), a large leak-proof jar, blackberries (I usually add an apple or a pear too) & some ordinary white bog-standard sugar. Then it really is just a case of shaking the jar every day until the sugar dissolves then every few days after that. Then just strain & bottle into the original bottle you saved from the gin or vodka plus it will usually stretch to another half bottle too, so you can save any nice little bottles which come your way, especially if you want to gift some of it. That really is all there is to it.
You'll have a lot on with a baby on its way, so I expect any help with the presents or food budget will be appreciated. The prices still seem to be going up in the supermarkets & despite all the stories in the newspapers about wages growing at a decent rate, they really aren't! Virtually no change to our household income for several years.
Anyway, really I was just saying welcome.
F x

foxgloves

Hello Diary readers,
I'd intended to tell you all about this morning's seed sowing for winter salads today, but I can't, because there hasn't been any! Seeds all at the ready, but it hasn't stopped raining yet. I think I'll do it tomorrow instead. One day won't make any difference. So indoor jobs today, starting with updating budgets as haven't looked at them since we returned from our camping trip. Feel quite angelic now I've done that. Halo shining like a shiny thing!
I suppose I'd better come onto the 'bra incident'. Oh my days, I did feel like a twit. A wire came out of one of my bras just before we went on holiday & I needed to take that particular bra because it's a skin tone one. I prefer bras in dramatic colours but have a nice tunic top which is quite floaty fabric meaning that a black or bolder colour bra would show through. No problems......I knew we'd be passing a huge supermarket branch on route and I knew they sold bras. Problem should have been solved. OK. Arrived in bra department. Now, I'll admit that the Foxgloves boobs are not the most co-operative of things, but there were absolutely heaps of bras from which to choose so I didn't think it would be an issue. Except all of them except two styles were underwired & I'd decided that I was going to buy a non-wired one this time. Hmmm. That left me with a choice between a rubbery-feeling one with distinctly more padding than I would ever need.....the women in my family having been more than amply blessed in the chest department........& one which was little more than a cropped vest with some lace. As the latter looked to have all the support of a couple of tissues welded together with spit, I took the other one into the changing room, where I found it to be the weirdest bra in the world. Once I'd got it on, it looked like I'd applied a comatose jellyfish to each boob. Off it came & I went to see if there was anything else. Nope! Some really nice styles & colours but everything underwired. Oh well, decided I'd have one of those instead, so found a natural coloured one in my size (I've got to be fair here & say there was not a lack of bigger cup-sizes) & trotted back to the changing room.
Now, apart from the very occasional purchase from other purveyors of lingerie, I usually buy my bras from M&S. They have a good choice, but the main reason is that I know if I choose one of their bras in my size, it will fit. So, back in the changing cubicle, kit back off. Like most people, I put my bra on backwards, then turn it round the right way, so I did this, but the bra was obviously sized a bit differently to my usual ones, as I got it round half-way then it stuck! I couldn't move it either one way or the other. I tried all sorts of semi-yogic manoevres, but it just wouldn't budge. It was just bizarre. True it was much, much tighter than I'm used to, but the hooks just wouldn't come undone either. If there had been an assistant in the changing rooms, I'd have requested help, or even another woman trying stuff on, but the other cubicles were being used by kids & men. Must have been a unisex one or maybe the men's one was out of use for some reason. I don't have a lot of inhibitions but bouncing (literally!) out of my cubicle with my boobs on full display to announce 'Hello, I'm stuck in this bra' was not a choice I felt I could make without a lot of embarrassment to myself. I could have phoned Mr F & asked him to get himself in to un-stick me, but I knew he'd say 'Baaaaabe.......I can't go in there, it's for ladies'. I considered phoning to tell him to go to the customer service desk to ask for an assistant to help me, but didn't fancy that tannoy announcement!) so I went through my handbag for any item which might free me. Screwdriver (can't even think why that was in there) - no use, as although I could technically have used it to bend back the hooks, I couldn't get my arms round to a position where I could get at it (& too much pressure on my thumb joints is painful as I have arthritis starting in both of them) Oooooh, scissors.......I decided to have just one more massive wriggle & yank to move the bloody thing & finally it gave sufficiently for me to get at the hooks better. If that hadn't worked, I would have cut it off.
So I didn't buy a replacement bra for the one with the wire poking out. I wore my floaty top on holiday,, but with a lightweight black top underneath so didn't even need to buy a new pale coloured bra. Bloody hell, what a stupid palava. And can you believe, when I got undressed in the tent that night.....I'd actually got line of bruises! What was it made from, tungsten steel??
Anyway, I suppose you could say it was a few quid saved. I'm going to have a go at mending the casing on my existing one, where the wire comes poking through. This isn't generally very successful, but I shall attempt it anyway & may try to re-enforce it with a tiny patch or something.
But for those who asked.......that's how I got stuck in a bra.
F x

foxgloves

CCL - Well, yes, unfortunately, I did manage pretty much to fall through our tent on the last day. Oh dear, the language.......I have to admit to swearing like a docker, as was so mad.
You see, there is a bit of an uptick in our financial circumstances on its way.......not for nice reasons, but it will allow us to replace a few things which have been on our list for a while. One of these was to choose ourselves a nice new tent. We were so sure this was going to happen that Mr F was making plans for us to go to the big NEC camping show in the new year to do some serious research & probably buy one at 'show prices'. His budget for this was set at £500, although I had mentally increased this to £600 because mr F likes kit & I know he was wanting to get a bigger tent with an extra or two that ours doesn't have.
HOWEVER.............(Big change of heart coming........)
On the last evening of our holiday, we went to our fave pub for a meal & had a long chat about various financial priorities, what might change when the mortgage is paid off, what we really do need to replace, etc, & we both kind of raised the question at the same time of whether we actually need a new tent at all. And we both decided that we don't. He keeps saying that we've had it for 6 years now & that's 'quite old for a tent', etc, etc, but we discussed it & of course a tent isn't like a pair of shoes, we might have had it 6 years, but for most of the time it's been safely wrapped up in our camping cupboard. It's actually been in use for about a week (occasionally two weeks) per year. Also, we took up camping because when I took redundancy (we had discovered budgeting by then), we knew we couldn't really afford to rent an old picturesque holiday cottage every year, so camping became a cheap way of making sure we could get away affordably every year, while we just booked a cottage every two years (& saved for it, unlike in the Spendy Years). Once we've got shot of the mortgage, we will be able to have an off-season holiday cottage each year if we decide that's what we want to do. So we talked it all over & decided the sensible thing would be to look after our existing tent & use it for the foreseeable future, rather than spaffing £500 to £600 on a new one plus kit when we have lots of much more essential stuff on our 'ready for replacement list'.We had another drink & felt happy with our grown-up decision.
The next morning, we were putting the tent down to pack for going home. I stepped over one of the front guy ropes, but didn't bring my other foot across far enough & put it down actually on the rope, which got caught in the cleat of my walking boot sole. Guy ropes are very taut to keep the tent stable, so I couldn't actually get that foot onto the floor. I toppled into the tent, & both heard & felt the seam rip significantly. A tiny tear I would try to repair on my sewing machine, but this is a BIG rip, right along the seam. We had just decided to keep the tent & look after it & there was me on my a*se looking at some pretty bad damage effing & blinding like you wouldn't believe. (I sound quite sedate on here, don't I, but can be a bit of a drama queen IRL). I was so disappointed. It was a pure accident, though. Once I'd trodden on that rope, I just couldn't stop myself falling & the only direction of travel was being flung in the direction of the corner of the tent, & although I'm still a good few stone lighter than I used to be, I'm no delicate little fairy.
Ah well, since we got back, we've found a company in the next county which will send a courier to pick up tents, awnings, sails etc, for mending, so we think we will get a quote next year & sort out a repair if not ridiculously expensive. But we won't be changing our minds re the big camping show. We both know that if we go there, we will spend some serious money.
That was two posts with a lot of typing, but I've caught up now. I shall put the kettle on now, & get back to today's job list.
Cheers,
F x

Kantankrus_Mare

Im just having an afternoon cuppa break after making tonights tea for when I come back from Step class, tea for tomorrow night as am at work all day and a pile of ironing.

Laughing at your stuck in bra antics especially as Ive been there...sort of.:rotfl::rotfl:

Ive tried many a sports bras on in various shops and I swear they make them for contortionists or women without actual breasts!!

The ones I try in my size make me feel like Im not normal. They go nowhere near me and most you have to pull over your head and then be massively supple to get your arms round the back to do up. Then you have to take a breather as its took all your energy and you have a right sweat on. :mad:

I took to ordering on line and usually a size bigger than I am.

Out of curiosity, what winter salads do you grow? Ive sown some courgette seeds late in the season as a trial and planted them in the greenhouse to see if I can get courgettes through the autumn.

Never read of this working but thought Id give it a try. Plants are in greenhouse border and look really healthy. The summer ones have nearly done.......might get one or two more pickings off them.

Tomatoes still coming and raspberries have been fantastic this year.

Have never made jam. Really must have a go. Do I need a thermometer or is it like chilli jam, which I can judge when its ready? (Just reading that back :rotfl: so I HAVE made jam of sorts just not fruit jam)

foxgloves

Hi Kantankrus, Ah so I'm not alone in having experienced bra contortionist!
Re winter salads... This year I'm sowing winter lettuces, rocket & spinach (all in greenhouse). I've also successfully grown September showings of lambs lettuce & mizuna.
Great idea to try for late courgettes in your greenhouse. I'll be interested to know how that goes. I've successfully overwintered the occasional chilli plant & I sometimes do a November sowing of broad beans, but mostly I don't get going again until February.
You definitely don't need a sugar thermometer to make jam. I do have one, but only acquired it in the last few years, whereas I've been making jam since I was 12. The standard tests to see if it's set are the 'wrinkle test' & the 'flake test' & I still use these. In fact, I've noticed that my jams have often reached setting point before the 'jam' mark has been reached on the thermometer, so they're not foolproof.
Blackberry & apple is a good jam to start with as with a bit of lemon juice to get the right mixture of pectin & acidity, it usually sets nice & reliably. Plenty of blackberries still on the hedges & folk are often looking to offload windfall cooking apples. Go on, have a go.....
F x

HairyHandofDartmoor

The stuck in bra story is fabulous Foxgloves, I can just picture you :rotfl::rotfl:.

A shame about your tent mishap but I do agree with your wise decision not to buy a new one if it's not absolutely essential. How sensible you are now with money compared to your spendy years, it gives us all hope .

foxgloves

Thanks, HHoD, I am indeed a changed person around money. In fact, you will probably know from me having lost both my parents in the last couple of years, that I'm due to inherit some money. And do you know what? I actually feel really quite nervous about it, even though I don't think there is ANY WAY I would ever revert back to my terrible habits of the Spendy Years.
Even when we've both decided to buy something (like a new tent), we continue to review the decision. We just felt it wasn't a priority when we have a fridge, freezer, oven & laptop on their last legs and a TV which is behaving as though it could broadcast its final 'pffft' followed by blank screen at any minute. And all those replacement items will be properly researched for value for money & longevity.
F x