Put away your purse & become debt-averse

foxgloves

I definitely need to do that, @Honeysucklelou2. I know I have seeds leftover, plus some saved seeds in pretty handmade packets which my friend popped in with my Christmas gifts. If I go to the garden centre without checking my supplies first, I am likely to be very tempted.
F x

QueenJess

I felt bad throwing away some yogurt a couple of weeks ago and only remembered your flatbread recipe after I’d done it. I was very annoyed with myself (twice over for missing the date in the first place).

Remembered this week and made some today. Works just as well with vegan yogurt (in case anyone wondered) and it has the thumbs up from my nearly 10 month old who swiped it off my plate and dispatched it very quickly! 😂

foxgloves

@QueenJess - It's certainly a useful recipe for using up yoghurt before it reaches the iffy stage. They freeze well too, so come in useful if bread supplies unexpectedly run short or to pad out a meal.
F x

foxgloves

Hello Wednesday Pence-Wranglers,
I feel as though I may be shaking off post-Christmas inertia a little & starting to return to my usual levels of productivity. Mr F's morning off, so we'd intended to go to town, but in the end, I decided not to go...partly because I knew it'd involve a little coffee shop trippette & I am very low on Personal Spends until they are topped up on Budget Day. Mr F decided he'd pick up both the A*di pantry stock-up list & my marmalade oranges on the way to the car wash. I'd decided on 2kg of seville oranges (v short season - blink & you miss it!) as although I've often made extra supplies to sell for charity, it's time consuming as logistics mean doing it in separate batches. Mr F arrived home with 3 kgs as they were on a '3 for 2' offer, & he said he knew I wouldn't want to miss out on a free box! So it's extra prep after all. I made a start this afternoon by prepping the first kg of fruit & putting it to soak overnight ready for jamming tomorrow. I cut all the peel by hand as I think it makes a better product than chopping it in the food pro so it takes a while & I was grateful to have an interesting audiobook on the go.
Other things: Another call with my sis about the 'might-have-to-go-legal-but-we'd-rather-it-didn't' issue we are trying to resolve atm, did meal plans for next week, wrote grocery shopping list, did the ironing (a deliciously tiny amount), soaked pintos for making refried beans tomorrow, did a survey & some piano practice. Also squelched down the garden & cut the rest of the cabbage. I've been putting that job off as it is so muddy, but do you know how long it took me? 23 minutes!! And that included lacing my boots on & collecting up the brassica collars ready for storing away for next time. Honestly, I don't know why we put some of these undemanding tasks off, as they are often surprisingly speedy once we've got off our backsides!
Very little effort required for tonight's meal, as it's jacket potato night. Mr F is making Epic Man Stew & I am using up the last of a bag of king prawns on mine, with some coleslaw & salad. 
The newbies have had a decent day - although I did have to resort to a cordon sanitaire of body spray around the vicinity of the litter trays first thing, which allowed us to get sufficiently close to deal with them without recourse to hazmat suits. Soot is settling in well as he is very much the more confident one. He was certainly in very fine voice at 5 am which is clearly when his tummy clock kicks in. Ash responds well to strokes & a fuss but is still very nervous. He is getting a teensy tiny bit braver each day though, so we are hoping this continues. I am going to have an hour with my book now & will knit & watch TV later. My new socks are coming on - the lace panel isn't difficult, it's an 8-row repeat pattern, but like a lot of these things, the alternate rows are easier & the others only require the knitter to be able to read instructions & count. I only lose this ability if the News is on & I hear members of the Government wilfully continuing to take the country for absolute planks - as I am both a committed news junkie & a Lefty, this naturally means I am losing my stitch count on an extremely frequent basis atm!
Well, that's my humdrum contribution for today. Hope someone somewhere has done something exciting.
F x

Chrystal

 Hope you weren't watching PMQs today, at least not whilst knitting your lace panel

 Lovely to hear the furry ones are settling in.  Soot sounds like a real character and hopefully will encourage Ash to soon join in. 

foxgloves

I was indeed watching PMQs today, @Chrystal, but had the foresight not to be knitting lace panels for the duration!
F x

marionmgcars

Foxgloves you sound like you are back to your industrious self.  Well done.  I’ve paid off my credit card bill from Christmas which was on budget and no surprises.  I Need to cut down on my petrol spending so aiming to use my bus pass & train pass more.  Planning to knit from my stash this year too.  Feeling hopeful for a good year 👍  

Alchemilla

Love a lefty and I think Ash is my favourite kitty.

I always root for the under...cat

scandimore

Not exciting but made some seville orange marmalade at the weekend, 1.5kg oranges made 10 jars using Delia's recipe. My hand was like a claw at the end of all the chopping. Does soaking the fruit soften the skin at all so I know for next time (please say yes!)
I agree about the news, it's rage inducing. 
Similar to you, had a squelch down the garden today to sort out some raspberry canes. They've been gloating at me for ages as I ignored them and it took all of 30 minutes to prune them, why did I bother putting it off?! 

foxgloves

@marionmgcars - That's great re Christmas spending on cards all paid for. So lovely not to be dragging it into 2022 like a ball & chain, which of course is exactly what I used to do back in the day. Agree petrol is getting so expensive. We are really considering things like weather now before a long drive.....i.e we like to go up to North Yorkshire for a day out, but to get our money's worth out of the 164 miles round trip worth of petrol, we want to know that we can have a walk & enjoy the place while we're there. If it's rainy & just turns into a long drive for a coffee shop, then I think petrol is way to expensive for that now. I am knitting up my stash too.

@Alchemilla - Your're in the right place here then. Am distinctly un-brexitty Lefty. I disagree with the presumption that people become more right-wing as they get older, as if anything I'm going more the other way.

@scandimore - Yes, all that peel-slicing is hard work esp as I have arthritis in my hands. It isn't too bad atm though, so I am going to press on with all my marmalade. Re your question - I always soak all the peel, fruit, juices overnight prior to jamming when making marmalade. It's something that was suggested in an old 1970s recipe for grapefruit marmalade I sometimes make & I use it for all types of marmalade now. I do think it helps soften the peel a bit, although it does still need to be simmered for 1.5 to 2 hours. As you'll know, the test for whether the peel is sufficiently cooked is to take a piece out, let it cool, then see if you can rub it away to nothing between you thumb & forefinger. Hope this helps.
f x