Put away your purse & become debt-averse

foxgloves

What a squally evening! The wind is rattling down our chimney, clanging at the stove pipe & I am glad to have shut the curtains on it.
Hello m'dears, How have your Sundays been? Ok, I hope. Too showery for garden jobs today, so I got on with sorting out my wardrobe. I wanted to improve clothes storage without spending any money & I have achieved this by getting rid of a few things (2 for the bin, 2 for charity shop box & 1 to try on ebay) & moving all my seasonal clothes from an old ottoman to a large storage bag which will fit in my wardrobe. While I was doing this, I packed away a lot of my winter clothes & hung up my Spring/Summer ones. I also improved storage for shoes & bags. Once that was done, it occurred to me that the Resident Brick Outhouse might as well smash up the old ottoman for tomorrow's wheelie bin collection, rather than waste petrol taking it to the tip. Well, he fetched a hammer & he bashed it & bashed it but it just wouldn't break! He finally wrangled it into submission & the sheer effort it took made us think about how much sturdier furniture was back then (this was 1930s) whereas Mr F's wardrobe - not a cheapo one at the time of purchase in the early 2000s - is falling to pieces in several places.
I have also enjoyed my leisure time today - started learning a Chopin piece from scratch as I fancied playing something new & finished reading my book. Looking forward to 'Line of Duty' too, as well as the lovely gardening weather which is supposed to be arriving tomorrow & Tuesday.
Enjoy your evenings,
F x

savingmore

well i hope today is the end to lockdowns, winter weather, low resilience and here’s to happy monday, lovely warm tuesday and life on the up!!!!

foxgloves

I hope so too, Savingmore. I look at Europe, poised on the brink of a third Covid wave & I think 'there's our warning'. I hope people will be sensible because there are very many people yet to be vaccinated.
Re nice weather..... have already got laundry on to make the most of free drying opportunity & am wondering which outdoor tasks to prioritise today. I am feeling positive about getting a decent amount done today.
F x

Tescodealqueen

When I saw the weather forecast got the laundry ready also. Line dried sheets and towels give me so much pleasure. Getting hooked on Line of Duty once again, it really is a favourite. Looking forward to getting out in the garden now the clocks have changed and weather starts to get better 

foxgloves

Me too, Tescodealqueen. Just pegged out first big laundry load & the second is churning. We are also getting well into 'Line of duty' & I am also watching 'Traces', which I didn't see when it was on. I like gritty dramas where there is a mystery or crime, as I always want to see if I can crack it.
F x

scandimore

Hi Foxgloves et al, it is so windy isn't it! I would peg washing out but it keeps raining off and on so won't risk it. Does everyone manage to get soft towels when dried on the line? Ours always end up crispy! So I tend to tumble them as well as all my son's clothes as his can't hang outside (various allergies to the world). Have had a bit of a glum and therefore unproductive weekend with that feeling of losing control over what needs to get done and time/ power to do those things. Feel a bit better today but it's been a stressful day already. Really hope we can all enjoy some garden time tomorrow in the sunshine (I have to work too but will carve out some vitamin D gaps). We still have the whole raspberry bed to sort out, its been taken over by some awful thorny bramble from next door and what can only be described as a thriving community of Boston ferns. So if I manage that I will be happy!
Glad you got your wardrobe sorted Foxgloves, sounds very ready for spring and I must do the same asap, to ward off the temptation to buy new things I probably already have somewhere knocking about!

foxgloves

Scandimore - I always line-dry everything whenever I possibly can. I've never owned a tumble dryer....never even been tempted. I used one in a holiday cottage once. It seemed to be running for ages to get our thick winter clothes dry & I thought they had an odd frowsty smell afterwards. I have a tall heated airer for drying stuff in winter. I think older towels sometimes feel a bit crispy when pegged out on the line, but tbh it doesn't bother me, as long as they look ok & are functional,
Hope you get some vitamin D time tomorrow.
F 

foxgloves

Hello Sunbeams,
What a lovely bright day - windy, but I'll take that if it means we get some sun. Well, my feet feel like two lumps of raw liver tonight. I have only sat down to eat my lunch & to do my Monday morning budget updates. I feel happy with what I've achieved though. I've tidied, baked bread, done 2 loads of laundry (all line-dried & just fetched in), swept courtyard again (thanks to jackdaws chucking clumps of moss off the roof), complained about an item I bought which arrived broken, made tomorrow's packed lunch, watered all the veggie babies, potted up 5 trays of echium 'blue bedder' (bees love these) & 4 of cornflowers - all free seed. Also went down behind shed & sifted through Mr F's wood pile to find a bunch of twiggy branches for my Easter tree. Have stood them in a big vase, festooned liberally with Easter decorations & green ribbons. I've also added a small string of tiny battery-powered lights this year as I think it will look pretty as darkness falls. I've started meal plans for over Easter & the following week & got halfway through writing the shopping list. No real cooking required tonight thankfully. Mr F made enough lovely quorn chilli yesterday to feed us for two days so I just have a couple of jacket potatoes to lob into the oven.
An even warmer day tomorrow. I definitely have gardening plans.
But feet up tonight for sure!
F x

Deni_debt-free_dreamer

Hi foxgloves, just delurking to say how much i enjoy reading your diary and i too have never owned a tumble dryer!!  I knew i wasn't the only person in the world ...  I line dry items from February - November, can't beat the smell of laundry that has been drying outside
Deni x

foxgloves

Hello Deni & welcome! Always nice to see 'de-lurkers' joining in. I actually enjoy pegging the laundry out. I know that sounds a bit mad because it is just a chore, really, but we live in such a breezy country that it really annoys me if I have to pay to dry washing! I know my heated airer isn't very expensive to run, but pegging it all out on the whirlygig is free!
I've another two loads lined up for tomorrow.
F x