Put away your purse & become debt-averse

crazy_cat_lady

Morning foxgloves - I've just spent a lovely time catching up on your diary whilst working on the frontline (just about). So pleased to hear that the work is coming along so well, and looks as though the central heating is just arriving in time. Brilliant. 
Your gardening as always puts my rubbish efforts to shame - I managed to get 2 cucumbers, lots of tomatoes and a few onions. I don't think I'm too bothered about repeating the experience next year, because although the food tastes amazing it's a lot of time and effort on top of working two jobs.
Also enjoyed reading the chemistry of putting a banana in to ripen the tomatoes. I have to teach that at school - they give off ethene gas, which encourages other fruits to ripen, which is why you don't put bananas in a fruit bowl.

Onebrokelady

You have got more than me done today Foxgloves,I have been spectacularly lazy today and now feel like a sloth 😀

foxgloves

CCL - If gardening isn't your thing, then it isn't your thing & there's an end to it! All of us have things in which we have absolutely zero interest - in my case, following or participating in any form of sport! Fine to have a little dabble & if it's not for us, then far better in my opinion to spend our free time doing the things we enjoy.
The banana tomato-ripening method is good, but I find just shoving the green ones in a paper bag with a couple of ripe red ones is also a goer. Felt a glow of pride on reading your post that I was doing something sciencey, as am not a very sciencey girl, apart from plant stuff!
F x

foxgloves

OBL - You never sound as though you are being a sloth. You work hard at your job, I know, & don't forget that you are still getting over a nasty lergy.
F x

foxgloves

Hello diary readers,
After yesterday's rain, I thought I'd better have a little look around the garden to check all was ok. Pond has had a welcome fill-up but thankfully had not over-
topped. Water butt usefully re-filled to the brim. Some water ingress into the shed, but not as bad as it often is after a lot of rain, so I think Mr F's ongoing scrub clearance around the back & sides of it is working. Gathered up a couple of lbs of apples & stewed them up to make our fresh fruit stretch a bit further. Mr F has been putting a first coat of paint on the pantry walls today, which involved him folding himself in half to get to the back section under the slope. It's going to look very clean & simple, which is what I wanted. I've offered to wax the shelves so that he can move on to painting elsewhere. 
My aim for today was quite simple - to try & put away or otherwise deal with as many things as possible which are still out of place post-builders or just simply sitting there annoying me, so I packed all my folded summer clothes away into the ottoman, which meant taking out all my winter ones first & putting them away. I saved a few quid by storing first aid/medicine box stuff in an empty drawer freeing up a nice big plastic box for Mr F's lightbulb supplies (which he takes very seriously, lol), as we had intended to buy one. I've also gone through all the books currently heaped in piles on the living room floor & tried to be strict with myself re which I am unlikely to read again or which are not earning their keep. There was enough of a pile of those to try a Ziffit trade & I've boxed up about £12's worth to drop off for them tomorrow. We've also made up 2 big bags of books for the charity shop. Another decent 'shopping from home' win today has been a new shoe rack......or rather a re-purposed little unit which Mr F was using in the man cave. Our old one - a quite nice black metal one with two shelves - will no longer fit in the lobby because of the new radiator. I didn't think the re-purposed unit would fit without blocking the cat flap, which we will obviously need when we are able to adopt a new fur friend(s), but it does & it looks much nicer than I thought it would. I have in turn re-purposed the old rack as it will give me an extra shelf of growing space for my seed trays in the greenhouse. 
Well, dinner is already done - Mr F cooked enough lasagne last night to do us for today as well, so it's just a case of popping it in the oven & putting a couple of corncobs on. I'm going to do a little bit more to my recipe project, then call it a day, as I really want to finish my library book ('Finders Keepers' by Sabina Durrant) & cast on a sock. 
Hope you've all managed to have a decent weekend - I soon became heartily sick of the phrase 'the new normal', but it is what we are all having to adapt to, isn't it?
Ah well, it is all we can do. And it will pass in time, as all things do.
F x
P.S I think I have got to the bottom of the mystery of the Evil Black Fluff - I spent much of yesterday actually being stalked by the stuff, so stripped off to investigate (& before anyone asks, yes, I WAS indoors at the time!)

BalanceBy50

You can't leave us hanging like that 😂 please tell us more about the Evil Black Stuff 😂

foxgloves

Hello Frugal Friends,
Busy day, beginning with a useful trip to town. Managed to whizz 2 big bags to the charity shop, drop off that box of books sold to Ziffit yesterday & post 2 parcels before going to our flu jab appointment. Well, with everything I'm reading & hearing about scarcity of flu vaccine, I decided I wouldn't believe it was going to happen until that needle was actually in my arm. But although we were initially asked to fill out the wrong form (we are not entitled to a free one yet as we have no underlying conditions & I think the 50+'s are due to get the dregs at the end of the process) so once this was discovered, we were given the correct form for a paid one & we have both been jabbed! I don't mind paying at all. I consider it well worth the money not to have horrible flu. I did feel relieved afterwards though - I'd convinced myself that we'd get there & the new supplies wouldn't have arrived, etc, but it was all ok. 
Other stuff today: Mr F put a 2nd coat of paint on the new pantry walls. I had a lot of random jobs to do so got on with those. I picked another 800g french beans, cleaned up all my ceramic pot holders & assigned them to geraniums ready to come indoors for winter - now all in the conservatory or on windowsills. Also put sweet peas into soak for sowing tomorrow. I've managed to get a big load of laundry dry for free outside, which I was pleased about as it was mostly towels  - the first rain drops started 2 mins after I brought everything in - the clouds were on my side for a change! 
I've also updated budgets, made a couple of payments to 'Just for points' credit cards, chased the electrician for a quote (didn't want to sound like I was nagging him, but must have sounded ok as he responded within minutes) & dealt with our Grimsby fish box which arrived this afternoon. All now divided up, labelled & frozen. As usual, I saved all the trimmings & small pieces in a freezer bag too, as with a leek & a couple of hardboiled eggs, they will make a lovely fish pie base, enough for two days when we fancy eating such a thing. 
I got so excited when the post came today, as Postie brought the receipt for my piano. I stood & jumped up & down in the hall. Honestly, if I get this excited when I see a paid invoice, what am I going to be like when the actual item arrives?!  Must not accidentally snog the piano removal man............
Well, the Beloved is cooking tonight, so I am going to sign out & go downstairs to put in a few rows of my knitting. I've got a little bit of a low level headache today, so I'm also going to pour myself a big glass of water.
Stay safe, 
F x

PrawnChorus

Please tell us about Evil Black Fluff! I’ve been refreshing your diary all day you left us hanging yesterday. 

foxgloves

Oh my days..... more 'thanks' for Prawnchorus & Balanceby50's plea to hear the resolution of the black fluff saga than for the post about my riveting daily activities yesterday....... that tells me all I need to know about your priorities, m'dears, lol!
Right well you'll remember that the Evil Black Fluff Saga ended with me having absolutely no idea where it came from. I'd done a couple of laundry loads since then & there was no sign of any more.
Then the other day, I was in the bedroom (pale carpet), looked down & there were several bits of Evil Black Fluff on the floor. And as the day progressed, I kept on finding it.... on the stairs, on the kitchen tiles, around the loo of all places..... yes, this stuff was FOLLOWING ME AROUND!! And this could only mean one thing... that my purple dress (which was in the problem laundry load) was the problem. Stripped it off & examined it. Yes!! Small clumps of black woolly fluff all over it, especially on the inside. Was really surprised as this dress isn't black, it's purple, & the fluff is very definitely black. Anyway (I didn't say this was going to be interesting, did I.....) my forensic investigations revealed (by holding the fabric under a bright light) that the fabric is very slightly marled. I looked at the fabric content label & it is 85% cotton & 15% angora-type wool. It also said 'This fabric may pill'. I think that the black part of the marl weave is the wool & the cotton part is the purple thread..... I'm still surprised because the black content of this purple dress is virtually invisible to the naked eye. Anyway, in the interests of science, I picked off all the pilling & rolled it into a clump & what did it make? Evil Black Fluff!! Sussed it! Conclusion: I love this dress..... had been seriously considering buying one in a different colour.... so will just make sure I launder it separately from now on. I am thinking it should hopefully get to a stage where it has been worn such a lot, it stops shedding.
Now look, there you are. You've had the end of the saga. Happy now? ☺️
F x

PrawnChorus

🕵🏻‍♀️Case Closed! Thanks for the update Foxgloves