Put away your purse & become debt-averse

HairyHandofDartmoor

I do understand Foxgloves. It's because you don't want to waste the opportunity this money brings and you want to spend it sensibly and not fritter it. I would be exactly the same. I'm sure you will make careful decisions about how to spend it and will put much thought into it. Also I think money from your parents feels like something that should be spent wisely out of respect for them.

carrielovesfanta

If it makes you feel any better foxgloves, I got stuck with a dress over my head in the charity shop and I had to hop out the changing room and get the assistants to extract me.

A vote here for flake test over jam thermometer any day. I have never made good jam trying to follow it. Once you've made a few batches, you can kinda tell when it's ready to set.

foxgloves

HHoD - That is exactly how I feel. I think because we've known this money was coming, we have waited before replacing large items because we hate to borrow now if we can avoid it. So I know we'll be buying these things, plus we need some work doing on our house & because I don't have it all written down (because I don't know exact amounts) & have not yet been able to apply my trusty little free trade union calculator to it, it all feels a bit alien & outside my control at the moment. And you're right too about me not wanting to fritter Mum & Dad's money. I honestly do think those bad money habits have gone though. I am far happier with my simpler lifestyle & buying less stuff x

crazy_cat_lady

Oh poor you Foxgloves - the bra and the tent. I hope it can be repaired without too much expense (the tent) and good luck with the bra - I've never successfully fixed an escaping wire as yet.
I'm doing blackberry and pear gin this year. I've just ordered some sugar with my online shop and will get that on the go this weekend. Plus raisins for the chutney. It will be a busy weekend prepping, then I will do the 'Baileys' and rocky road in the run up to Christmas. Sorted.

foxgloves

CLF - Nice to know it's not just me, then!
Totally agree about the old-style jam tests. I always do the cold saucer wrinkle test first throughout the jamming process, then when it's getting ready, I start doing the flake test too. You get used to knowing when it is ready. It doesn't matter how many recipes say 'boil for 10 mins' or 15 or whatever. That's only a guideline & experience tells me that it's ready when it's ready. You can even tell by the way it starts plopping more gloopily onto the saucer ready for a wrinkle test.
F x

maryb

I laughed at the bra story but ruefully. I almost had a panic attack once when I was halfway into a sports bra and absolutely stuck. Reminded me of 'We're Going on a bear Hunt' (we can't go over it, we can't go under it. Oh no! We've got to go through it!')

There's a cheapo paperback I swear by for jams and preserves. It's called The Right Way to Make Jams and if you look in Smiths it's one of the ones they usually have on the bottom shelf of the cookbook section

foxgloves

Lol, Maryb, it was exactly like 'We' re all going on a bear hunt'...... but I guess the good thing about not asking for help is that the situation didn't develop into 'The enormous turnip', where extra people keep joining in to try & pull the turnip out of the ground when it's completely stuck!

CCL - I think you are further ahead than me with festive foodie gifts. I've done a few different chutneys so will choose from those for a couple of little hampers, but I haven't bought any gin or vodka for my fruit liqueurs yet & I must get them on the go. I will probably do blackberry & pear as I have berries in the freezer & a pear tree in the garden. It's a really nice combination, more mellow than using apple, though I like both. Can't decide whether to make that coffee cream one or to try making limoncello. Must decide this week.
Agree re bra wires. I can't see why it is so difficult to replace them, esp if the point at which the wire poked through is sewn closed & re-inforced. I will have a go, anyway.
F x

Sancti

Thank you for such a brilliant reply!

Definitely agree RE teaching kids where food comes from. Hoping that once baby is 2-3 years old I will have gotten the hang of it all a little better. Unfortunately I only have a front garden so I'm a bit nervous about theft, but I'm thinking that if I weight down a big plant pot with bricks, I can probably grow some blackberries out front (I don't mind people pinching some berries, but I'd be upset if the whole plant + pot did a runner!).

Laughed at your bra/tent stories (annoying, but funny for everyone not stuck or flying a** over t** in a field). Reminds me of the time I fell over outside my house into my neighbours car, pulling his wing mirror down with me :eek: Thankfully he was lovely, and it was about to be scrapped so I didn't have to pay for it, but absolutely mortifying!

Thinking about these homemade fruity vodka's/gins etc... Do you think they'd be fine if I poured a little edible drinks glitter into the mix? Just thinking as gifts it makes them a little more exciting... Yes I'm that person :rotfl:

foxgloves

Sancti- I don't know anything about edible glitter, except that it exists, so I don't know whether it would be a suitable addition or not. I like to jazz up bottles I'm giving as gifts, but I just make nice labels, add ribbons from my stash, etc. I did hear of a nice idea which was to look in charity shops for little vintage shot glasses & to attach them from the top of the bottle with ribbon, but I haven't done that yet myself.
F

foxgloves

A busy day in the garden today, having got all the tediosity (laundry, kitchen tidying etc) out of the way first.
Sowed winter lettuce & a tray of flower seed, also spinach & rocket, which have gone into the grow bags previously used for cucumbers. Moved chilli plants into a better position for sunlight as they should fruit for a bit longer yet. Staked a floppy pepper plant, picked more beans, basil & grapes.
The sun was out by then, so divided up an agapanthus (free plants are now my favourite kind) also a geranium which I bought for £1 from the plant hospital shelf last time I went to the garden centre. It was quite a big geranium & my suspicions that it was in fact 3 separate plants crammed into one pot turned out to be correct. Separated them so I can keep one & give the others to my sis & best friend.
Then onto clearing a section of flower border. Three more self-seeded foxgloves potted up for Autumn replanting & a large crocosmia dug out. I'm getting rid of that completely. It doesn't flower well, it just spreads its little corms out so rainwater can barely penetrate the soil. Filled the gap with a pretty pink dahlia I received as a gift a few years ago.
Really enjoyed the fresh air & exercise, as well as all the bees, butterflies, our robin, frogs & a couple of awesome hairy caterpillars! I love that there is so much life in our garden. The blackbirds have been busy too, gobbling mushy windfall pears, which is fine by me, as it means less for me to pick up!
I put a ham hock in the slow cooker first thing & it's smelling lush. I've just prepped a tray of home grown tomatoes with a drizzle of olive oil, salt & a few grinds of pepper & some chopped basil from the greenhouse. Serving with Mr F's home grown potatoes, our beans..... & the only thing we haven't grown... some carrots. For some reason, I have no luck with main crop carrots. I can grow little tidsy ones in containers but as soon as I try any in the ground, they simply fail to grow.
Anyway, I must get those tomatoes in the oven now. Hope you've all had a decent day & kept your mitts on your pence!
F x