Put away your purse & become debt-averse

foxgloves

P. S You see..... you are another person who remembers Russian Slice! It was quite popular in the bakers shop where I worked. This may partly have been because they were quite big!

foxgloves

Hi Diary readers,
I felt I hadn't the energy to post today - not for any bad reasons, in fact we've had a very pleasant day out using two free tickets we received - but Mr F has just brought me half a slice of sourdough toast & peanut butter & I feel quite revived!
I bought 3 lovely little stocking fillers today - one each for sis, sis-in-law & best friend. I put bits & pieces away all year if I see things I know people will love & at around this time of year, I get this stash out & make a proper list of what's there. I think I will definitely put this task on my list for the coming week. It's quite a showery weather forecast (except Monday, apparently) so I don't think I'll get much done in the garden. And I need to plan the contents of the big hyacinth jars I'm gifting more fully too...... especially as I'm planning to use found pebbles or pretty broken pottery pieces & moss raked out of our own lawn. No way am I paying out cash for bags of moss while simultaneously raking a free supply into the compost bins, lol!
The broken big freezer (I can almost hear the cries of 'noooo...... she's still droning on about bloody freezers......') has now been completely emptied, disconnected, defrosted & moved ready for collection tomorrow when the new one arrives. That will just leave us with the old fridge to get rid of. We will try it at the end of our drive for a couple of days..... there's been nothing except an old wheelbarrow which we've failed to shift by leaving it outside in a hopeful manner.
Oh well, I must just pop & close the greenhouse.... I don't trust that polecat not to return & he might eat all my grapes & peppers if he gets in there! Then I will enjoy a nice healthy eating book I borrowed from the library...... though the chances of me adding a big spoonful (or indeed ANY spoonful) of coconut oil to my coffee is a big fat zero!
Peace & love,
F x

foxgloves

Hello Sunday readers,
Feeling a bit stymied today, as waiting in for 2nd fridge freezer delivery but their online tracking isn't working, so no idea whether it'll be arriving imminently or right at the end of the delivery round.
Never mind, I'm managing to get a few useful things done. Truly gorgeous day yesterday while we were out in the sunshine, but different today. Cooler, grey & we've had some brisk showers. Autumn now feels as though it's truly on its way. We try to keep the heating off for as long as possible, so there's no way that's being switched on yet, but I've started a few preparations for the colder months: Have changed to the winter duvet today & put one of Mum's hand-crocheted blankets on the ottoman ready for the chillier nights. I've also moved my hand-knitted blanket (which I made from leftover self-patterning sock yarns a couple of years ago) & a fake fur throw downstairs, where they're folded up on the old chest-!!!-coffee table in readiness for snuggling up on the sofa for movie nights. As the weather looks so showery here for much of next week, I think I'll continue with this theme by getting out my winter clothes & packing away my 'definitely summer' ones. Cat hasn't been forgotten! His crochet blanket has been washed & is in his cat bed next to the radiator in 'Foxgloves HQ'. He won't deign to use it until the radiator goes on though, so a bit of a wait yet, Matey!
I've dodged the showers today to pop out to pick a bowl of beans, but that's it for garden tasks today.
Mr F is roasting a chicken tonight so I'm going to crack on with my knitting. It's a major part of someone's Christmas present so it will be good to get it finished.
F x

Dottles1

That sounds like a plan Foxgloves. I've noticed it has been a bit cool here in the evenings of late and was thinking of getting out the throws again. I have the quilt folded at the bottom of the bed so I can pull it up if needed but I find it is still a bit warm with it and a bit cool without so a blanket instead might be the answer.
I like the idea of autumn preparations and sorting my clothes out though did resort to a fine jumper last week to walk Tilly my little dog. I tend not to put the heating on until I need to as I'm quite warm blooded and would rather snuggle with a throw first. Once the nights draw in a bit I will start lighting candles in the evening and making soups for lunches. Think I might be coming round to the idea of summer ending at last

foxgloves

Dottles- Yes, I'm just the same! I've just shut the curtains & lit some candles on the mantlepiece. I must recharge the batteries for the little cluster of fairy lights around the over-fireplace mirror too, as well as check my candle supplies. I even fetched the draught excluder out & hoovered it the other day. Preparations are now very much heading into Autumn & the colder weather.
I have plans to make a batch of lovely Cranks lentil & tomato soup from some of our home grown tomatoes, & I've two parmesan cheese rinds saved in the freezer for chucking into the pan next time I make golden lentil soup. That one's a real rib sticker...... it even succeeds in filling up Mr F & he's a big bloke with a.huge appetite. In fact, on one occasion when I did him a portion of golden lentil soup in his microwaveable mug to take to work, he complained that he was too full afterwards to eat his crisps! What a result!
I'll also be checking both my wind up torches are charged & accessible. We had a power cut fairly recently at around midnight & it was so dark, I was pleased the 'kitchen torch' was in a place I could locate by feel.
But at the moment, it doesn't feel cold. I'm not a chilly mortal really - the only problem is that if my feet get too cold, they just never seem to want to warm up. Never mind though, lots of pretty pairs of warm handknitted socks in my drawer ready to go as soon as the weather turns.
F x

foxgloves

Look, I know I said I wasn't going to mention freezers again, but I'm going to do just that. The 2nd new freezer arrived yesterday. It's mostly a fridge with two decent shelves of freezer space above it. So our freezer capacity is that, plus the under-the-counter one we bought last weekend. These have replaced our tall broken freezer & a very old fridge. We had hoped to get more freezer space than we've ended up with, but there were only two options which would fit in the available space. I'm boring myself here.......
So today, a nice job. Sorting out freezer contents to decide what will be kept in the small one. Decided the most useful thing for me would be to have all the odds & sods/ingredients & frugal pots of this & that in the small one so it is easier to find. Transferred it all over, all looking good, & remembered I'd need space for the pots of pear & blackberry compote I shall be divvying up later, as I've been simmering a big cast iron pot of dark pink loveliness today for topping our porridge, to have with yoghurt, etc. But I've just kept going......cut all the remaining basil before it goes over & turned it into more pesto......so more pots for the freezer........then popped down to the shed to fetch something & noticed that the sweetcorn silks looked a lot darker, so stopped to test a couple of kernels for ripeness. Yes, a good proportion of the corn cobs need picking in the next couple of days, so that will be several foil parcels to add to the freezer. Was still confident everything would fit in with a bit of space to spare. Oh........then the savoury smells wafting from the slow cooker reminded me I'd got a particularly good chicken stock on the go (two carcasses so will be nice & concentrated).......so 3 or 4 more containers for that. Never mind. I can get it in today & Mr F, the King of Freezer Tetris can have a go at it another night. <Goes back to audiobook, coffee machine on, feeling happy in my frugal activities>.........
.......then my phone rang. It was the Grimsby fish box people. Ordered one of their lovely fish boxes. Made a note in my diary of the delivery day, what's in it & the cost. Also (in a very organised mood today!) made a note that the next delivery after this one will be the pre-Christmas one if I want to order some smoked salmon, etc.
Drank my coffee. Then the realisation dawned that this will mean a LOT more stuff going in the freezer early next week.
Aaaaaagh!!!
Two rice cakes & peanut butter to help me think.......
The way around this as always is going to be meal planning. I will prioritise stuff from the freezer as planned for the rest of this week, then aim for as many freezer meals as possible between Saturday & Fish Delivery Day, including some soup for lunches. Hopefully that should do it.
But I do know we couldn't have bought a bigger freezer. The space we needed to fill is underneath a fitted kitchen cupboard. The only other spare wall space would involve re-siting my beautiful dresser, which is too big to go anywhere else. All but two tall fridge freezers we looked at were just too tall. As one of the two models we considered was out of stock in three different places, I can only assume that plenty of other people are having the same problem. Fridge freezers have become massive since we were last in the market for one & we cant easily alter a fitted kitchen to accomodate this.
I promise not to mention freezers tomorrow. If I do, I will type 'F-word' & you'll know I mean 'freezer' & not the other one!
OK, time to get the bread out of the oven & see if this compote is cool enough to start potting up.
Bye for now,
F xx

foxgloves

P.S - I don't know if anyone is familiar with Garrison Keillor's novel 'Lake Wobegon Days?' There is a chapter in it where everyone in the community has been so busy bottling all their home grown produce that they can't give it away, & some of them start creeping out at night & surreptitiously leaving it on people's doorsteps. I am slightly starting to feel like this about pears. Good job I don't know where you all live, as if it was in our village, you would almost certainly be waking up to a bag of pears by your front doors!
Ah well, I don't mean to sound as though I'm complaining. These things are a blessing & it is good to know our food is organic, as we use nothing that would risk harming our cat or any of the wildlife in our garden. Pest control here largely done by birds, frogs & hoverflies.
Lol, actually, I think anyone on here would see anonymous food turning up on the doorstep at night as a positive bonus, actually. I think I would.........as long as it was something different to pears!
F x

HairyHandofDartmoor

Could you fit another freezer into your garage? Or will you be able to manage with your current arrangement? We have a larder fridge and a tall seven door freezer and boy do we need them with five of us in the house! It certainly makes life easier and you can stock up on special offers if need be. With all your homemade fruit and veg you must need plenty of freezer space.

I hope your weather was drier today. We've had heavy rain most of the day.

I would love food to turn up on my doorstep .

foxgloves

Hi HHoD,
We don't have a garage. Or a utility room. I'd have had a chest freezer if we had a garage. I think we'll manage. It's just that this time of year is a bit of a pinch point, as I'm still dealing with our garden harvest. It is coming to an end now though. Courgettes are very slow now & I think I'll maybe get a few small ones then the plants will be done. Same with tomatoes - about another 2 or 3lbs I reckon. Sweetcorn will need freezer space but I wrap them individually like little torpedoes so I should be able to squidge them into the gaps. I think having all the small things/little pots/stock/pesto/compote/odds & "ends for topping pizzas, etc, in the smaller freezer at eye level will result in a better turn over too.
LOL at you liking the idea of secret night time food gifts appearing on your doorstep. One year, our pear tree had so many pears that everyone we went to see or anyone who visited us got a 7lbs carrier bag of them to take home! It's not that much of a glut this year, but still plenty. I am planning to try making fruit leather this week - that should use a few!
F x

HairyHandofDartmoor

Fruit leather?