Put away your purse & become debt-averse

HairyHandofDartmoor

It is a mystery. It's even odder that they are peeled :think: :huh:.

foxgloves

I know, HHoD, that certainly makes it weirder. Even more peculiar...... I'm just having a coffee break, looked out of the window & the potato pile on top of the drain has gone, but it looks like they have moved further up the road.
Am fetching compost, trowel, etc, from the shed shortly, as I want to use this (probably very short) break in the rain to plant up the two big containers by our front door & to lop our winter jasmine back a bit....... so I shall have a little look down the road to ascertain where the potatoes have gone.
I hoped to do my planting first thing but it was too rainy, so I made some soup & apple muffins instead in the hope it might dry up later.
It's looking very black out, but if Im quick, I'll hopefully get it done.
F x

PurpleFairy26

How bizarre FG when I first read it, I thought they were unpeeled and gifted which wouldn't be quite so odd. Particularly if they were in return for some pears or similar. But peeled, on a drain that have now gone walk about.... can't wait to find out where they are tomorrow

foxgloves

I know, Purple Fairy... it is indeed weird!

foxgloves

OK, so the latest with Potatogate.
Went to have a look....... The big heap of potatoes on top of the drain has gone - just 3 or 4 left, but there is a trail of soggy potatoes leading up the street to nowhere in particular, as it kind of stops between two houses. Some have been walked in & squished onto the pavement.
Two theories:
1. Something has eaten them. A dog? Would a dog wander up mid-morning & scoff around 3kg of dodgy raw potatoes? It doesnt seem likely, & I can't see a dog distributing the remainder of them down the street. A rat? I think it would have to be quite a potato-eating rave going on to get through so many, plus it was broad daylight.

2. Whoever dumped the potatoes there in the hope that they might suddenly shrink sufficiently to fit through the holes in the drain cover woke up today, saw them & decided they had been a numpty. Said numpty then came to gather up the potatoes but didn't bring an adequate receptacle, thus dropping several & leaving a soggy potato trail on their return journey.

Further analysis revealed a lot of tile spacers all over the pavement. Four houses on our end of the street are currently undergoing significant building work/home improvements, but I fail to see how any of these could possibly involve several pounds in weight of peeled, cut up potatoes.
So the upshot is that most of them have disappeared....... but the mystery remains unsolved & I still think it's pretty weird.
F x

HairyHandofDartmoor

Perhaps a passing person played football with the potatoes which propelled them further up the road? Perhaps they were originally being carried in a bag, fell through the bottom and the person couldn't be bothered to pick them up? It still doesn't explain why they were peeled though. Peeling potatoes is a lot of effort so why dump them afterwards?

I think we need Sherlock Holmes on this one :rotfl:. The explanation will probably be disappointingly banal .

foxgloves

Ah, well I now know how most of them came to disappear. Apparently the council roadsweeper truck/sucky thing has been round our village this morning. It must have done its usual & hoovered up some of the potatoes in the gutter while also spinning some of them down the street. But I've still not the faintest clue how they got there. There were a lor of them & all peeled & cut into neat chunks.
Oh well, I expect I'll never know now. It can be this week's mystery!
F x

foxgloves

Looks like we're in for some more rain today. I did manage a dry couple of hours yesterday morning to get the big pots outside our front door planted up for winter & to hack the winter jasmine back to a manageable size.
I've mentioned before that planting up containers used to be a very spendy activity for me, but this was very low spend. Each pot had a mini conifer & ivy in it which still looked good, so I left those in situe. I saved some of the daffodil bulbs I bought a while back & underplanted each container with six of those. For the top I used the primrose divisions (both our native pale yellow ones & a pink variety) which I've been potting up while clearing the flower borders & a tray of six pansies, which at £2.75 is the only thing I went out specifically to buy for planting those containers. Back in the day, a £40 to £50 spend just for a couple of containers was not unusual.
I've just watched the weather forecast & it is looking like rain this morning, but dry & brighter this afternoon. I think I will go & mix up a sourdough, then sort out my annual Christmas present planning list (I've got quite a lot of things already, but need to remind myself what they are & for whom).
Then I could do with a round-up of any 'use-it-ups' which could go in my cottage pie later on today.
I'm not doing any more of a list/plan that that, or I shall find my time disappears on heaps of smaller tasks & the bigger ones then keep falling off the end.
Have a good day all,
F x

foxgloves

Such a useful couple of hours unpacking the Presents Stash & revisiting exactly what is in there, what we still need to buy. We don't buy for many people because my family is so tiny & we have a significant rift with some of Mr F's family. Nevertheless, I was really pleased to find that one relatives gifts are entirely bought, I just need a couple of smallish items to add to my sister's bag, & apart from nephews, I have at least something for everyone else. What did surprise me is that I need to buy cards! I thought I'd got heaps, but I'm about 30 short. I know you can get nice & clever e. cards, but they just don't do it for me. I love getting real post, writing a letter to pop in with my cards & hearing cards land on our doormat on December mornings. I shall keep an eye on O2 Priorities in case they do the free packs again this year. If not, I've seen a good range in Oxfam so will get some from there.
I've now made a list of what I still need to buy for people & jotted down ideas where I'm not sure yet. I've also used a B*dy Shop code to get £10 off a £30 spend today, which apart from one item Mr F asked me to get for him, are all for gifts.
And finally...... I strained & bottled my Gingerbread Gin. It's been infusing away on my kitchen dresser for a while. I haven't tried this recipe before - Oh my giddy aunt..... nom nom slurp. It's like Christmas in a glass! Half of it is for gifting & half for us. I can't see our half lasting very long!
And now I must go & see if my cottage pie is done. Have made a big one so that I shan't need to cook tomorrow.
Cheers all,
F x

HairyHandofDartmoor

I like getting proper traditional cards too, in fact I'm quite traditional all around when it comes to Christmas . I envy your level of preparation and hope to emulate it soon.