Put away your purse & become debt-averse

foxgloves

Yes, the 'almondless bakewell' did sound a bit odd, CCL.... kind of a jam tart with some sponge on. I've had a better day re tech & gadget performance. Only the slow cooker has p*ssed me off today & I suspect the problem was my bag of pinto beans really, rather that the slow cooker, which is usually my friend.
F x

foxgloves

Greetings diary readers,
Have had my day in the kitchen as planned & the only thing I didn't make was the sourdough loaf because I ran out of time. So I made:
*A Mexican-style chicken pizza
*8 wholemeal bread rolls
*8 spicy chickpea burgers (a Delia Smith recipe)
*A big pot of refried beans, which I will divvy up for freezing tomorrow.
*5 portions of chicken & leek soup
*A cake
Now the cake turned into quite a use-it-up opportunity. I have a recipe for a sort of basic loaf-type pear, cinnamon & walnut cake which I've been baking ever since the early 1990s. But the odd thing is that I hardly ever end up making it with the stated ingredients. I use the correct quantities of basics - an egg, milk, butter, etc - but it depends entirely what ingredients I've got. I've used different flours, all sorts of different types of fruit, both dried & fresh, & swap out the cinnamon for alternatives if I think something else will be a better match. So I've made all sorts of versions - rhubarb with ginger, blackberries with cinnamon, apples & leftover candied peel with mixed spice, etc. Today I discovered quite a few odds & ends of packets of things in the baking cupboard so I used a mixture of 3 different sugars, 2 different flours, two apples from the fruit basket & some chopped dried apricots. I rarely ice this cake but I'd got an annoying bit of old icing sugar that had been hanging around in the larder since the dawn of the neolithic era, & the juice of most of a lemon left over from the chickpea burger recipe, so I made some lemon icing & squidged it over the top. And it's actually a pretty tasty cake! Apart from just getting that sourdough mixed up tomorrow, I intend to concentrate my efforts on the garden - more specifically the greenhouse.
Not a no-spend day as cat had a vet appointment, but it was only £12, so the only worry really was his sad grumpy face, as he hates being in his carry-box. Luckily Mr F took him, as vet visits stress me out way more than taking myself off to the Dr's!
OK, jumper knitting time now...... hello gorgeous purple yarn......
F x

foxgloves

Morning diary readers,
Just watching the weather forecast - more rain due overnight & very heavy rain predicted for tomorrow. That will please Mr F, who has just set off for work early to meet his team for flood clear-up.
I want to progress a few things today, but before I get caught up with indoor activities, I must go out & sort the greenhouse, plant out 3 dozen baby lettuces (well, they're teenage lettuces really by now) & sort out the worm composting unit, so as to get it under cover for winter. I've found that I lose a lot of worms if I leave it outside in the coldest months & those which do survive go into a kind of catatonic state. If I move the unit to the greenhouse, they do very slowly continue to make compost & have usually produced a trayful ready for spring gardening season. So I shall collect what compost is there this morning, top them up with plenty of scraps, give them a new moisture mat (I cut several of these out from our recent fridge/freezer purchases) & they should be good to go into the winter.
So m'dears, I've seen a bit of ice on the cars this morning, so am wearing 3 layers, am caffiened up, have had my toast & am ready to go!
Wishing everyone a peaceful & productive day.
F x

wishingthemortgaheaway

I do admire your approach in this weather - I keep looking at the straggly pots outside the front of our house thinking I need to do something with them. I might get some bulbs tomorrow and have that as the motivation I need to sort them out.

Have a good day - keep warm.

Wish.

foxgloves

Wish - I think the trick is not to overthink these things into bigger tasks than they are. Once you've got some bulbs or whatever else is going in these pots (I managed to salvage my two tiny conifers & ivy plants as they were fine, just needed a good water), realistically what does the job entail? For mine, I plucked out dead summer annuals, scraped off around 10 cms of old compost, put my layer of bulbs in, topped up with new bagged compost & planted my cheapo pansies on top along with a few primroses I'd previously divided from overly large plants out the back. A jug of water over the top, job done - barely an hour of work. I think we get tired of seeing jobs which need doing & they become bigger in our heads than they actually are in reality. Once I'd got my tatty summer pots dealt with, I found myself feeling happier simply coming in through my front door because I wasn't having to walk past a long outstanding job. And you know it'll be lovely when your bulbs start to poke their heads through.........
F x

foxgloves

A useful day & a huge mood booster not to be looking out at endless rain for a change! I did get my worm composter unit sorted out & it is now in the corner of my greenhouse until Spring. I harvested a tray of rich worm compost which went on my herb bed & also a jug of liquid plant feed which I donated to the pear tree to say thank-you for all the lovely pears we had this year.
I also got all 36 lettuces planted out. Their roots had reached the base of the modules, so they were well ready to go into my greenhouse bed.
No more mystery poo. This is pushing my thinking towards it being a binge-eating hedgehog who may now be in hibernation? I'll see if any more appears.
I've done a bit of financial research about setting up a transfer facility on our current account for paying into a savings account with another provider (not a DD or SO as can do those already). I discovered the easiest way by far of doing this is actually logging straight into the savings account, which is an online only one, & there is a very straightforward facility for making a payment using visa debit. I made a test payment of £1 (did I ever tell you about the occasion when I accidentally transferred 3k into a complete stranger's bank account?) & it seems to have gone through correctly.
Mr F has been flat out today implementing flood clear-up. Lots more rain forecast for tomorrow right in the zones which are already struggling/still underwater, so I do hope it isn't so much extra rain that it makes everything much worse. Anyway, he's had a very physical day & although I'm sure he will have motivated his team with his usual humour & charm, he texted me a while ago to say he's 'knackered & starving' & not in that order. I hope spicy chickpea burgers in cobs with salad will suffice. He has the appetite of a herd of oxen - more so when he's been busy doing physical work. Luckily there is some cake left and crisps as back-up. And if he smells of flood water, he can get straight in the bath!
I've started trialling Duolingo on my laptop today to brush up my German which I haven't done since o'-level all those moons ago. It seems too easy but I will carry on with it as I'm sure it will get more difficult as the stages progress & I do very much need to go over the basics. I like German films & TV series so I can practise with those too.
OK, I had better crack on. Hope you've all had a decent day.
F x

foxgloves

After an entire day of relentless heavy rain yesterday, our village has flooded again. I am so thankful the water has not reached our road, but we are only just outside the 'at risk to properties' area on the map by about a whisker. Those people up in Doncaster who have homes full of water really do have all of my sympathies.
Tomorrow we had planned a city centre visit to do a couple of important financial tasks, as well as other things, but our usual route in is flooded & impassable, as is our main alternative route. We will see what the morning brings. The city also flooded yesterday, but looks like a drier night & day have improved matters.
Anyway..... apart from floods: No, actually I have to mention them again, as Mr F woke up very early worrying about his work being re-flooded as the river guage was close to overtopping again last night, so I was wide awake at 5.20am & got up half an hour later to start my day. I've done my usual big Friday house clean, updated my Christmas presents planner, made a big inroads into Christmas wrapping & got everything ready for the bank, etc, if we do go into the city. I've also done today's online German practice. Mr F won't be at his flood damaged workplace for a long time, so arrived home with lots of his office stuff to store in our spare bedroom, as well as all the stuff he'll need to manage his team remotely. So our spare room looks really weird, as one side looks like an office sale & the other, where I'm stacking wrapped Christmas gifts as I get them done, like Santa's grotto!
So it's been an odd week, really. I'm not unhappy, but would very much welcome some drier weather now. You start not to feel safe when constantly being advised 'not to travel unless absolutely necessary', & a good few hours of fresh air carrying on with garden clearing would do me a lot of good.
I'm going to finish my book now, by the fire, toasting my toes.
Take care all,
F xx

crazy_cat_lady

I had been thinking of you again with this dreadful weather Foxgloves and I'm pleased that you are warm and dry, and most of all safe.
By the way, I did this :eek: at the thought of you shifting 3 grand into someone's bank account...

foxgloves

CCL - I wish I could say I was joking, but I did indeed do that. £3K!! It did turn out OK, but oh my days, it could have been bad.
F x

carrielovesfanta

I hope the weather dries up for you foxgloves - it must be quite scary

I've been catching up with your diary - did you say you were making sauerkraut? Or did I read that somewhere else?