Put away your purse & become debt-averse

Alchemilla

@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.

Absolutely! Mectoo.

foxgloves

Hello Frugalistas, 
I have barely sat down today - finally having 15 mins on the sofa with Soot, after 15 mins of (hopefully) confidence building strokes & fuss upstairs with Ash.
Productive day in which I made this year's first batch of marmalade from yesterday's soaked fruit, prepped the sevilles for the 2nd batch, prepped, blanched & froze the last of our home-grown cabbage, baked a sourdough & sorted out the financial & insurance admin for changing our car this weekend. The news stories re poor new car availability are entirely true from our experience. We put a deposit down on a car at the end of August. The dealership staff were expecting it the next week & we were told it was ours. The manager then had to ring & apologise profusely because the company had prioritised another customer in another part of the country. We were then told it'd be October. Nope! Then December 'definitely before Christmas'. Our MOT was due at the end of Dec so Mr F booked it in as we both had the feeling we'd not be seeing this car until 2022. Finally, it's arrived, so I am finally able to get all the associated financials sorted.
I've digressed a bit there..... back to kitchen witchery...... I've also been swearing at troublesome pinto beans. I've made this slow cooker recipe for fat-free refried beans 4 times. Twice the beans have cooked through properly & twice they were nowhere near cooked. Today they were like bullets so I had to tip everything into a pan on the hob to get them finished. Now zizzed up seasoned & rtg for veggie fajhitas tonight plus 4 containers for the freezer.
Well, it's dropping chilly so I'm going to go & close all the curtains & light the stove.
Keep your hands on your pence, 
F xx

Alchemilla

Stay cosy! Do Soot and Ash get on?

foxgloves

@Alchemilla - Yes, they seem fine most of the time - a couple of minor fisticuffs but Soot is always just checking that Ash isn't being given more than him, whether it's food, treats or fuss. Reminds me of when we were children. My Mum would hand me or my sister two identical chocolate bars & we'd always measure them & keep 'the biggest', even though they were exactly the same! I swear Soot was actually counting biscuits earlier (rolls eyes.....)
F

Sun_Addict

I also wondered if they got on both being toms. Good that they do generally. I used to have a tom cat and he was a devil with other cats. 

foxgloves

Yes, @Sun_Addict, all our other rescue toms have been the same & wouldn't even tolerate another cat in the garden, let alone the house. Soot is used to living with another tom (though not this one) & the Rescue said Ash likes other cats. Doubtless we will find out fully in time, but they seem OK. 
F 

ladyholly

foxgloves said:

@Alchemilla - Yes, they seem fine most of the time - a couple of minor fisticuffs but Soot is always just checking that Ash isn't being given more than him, whether it's food, treats or fuss. Reminds me of when we were children. My Mum would hand me or my sister two identical chocolate bars & we'd always measure them & keep 'the biggest', even though they were exactly the same! I swear Soot was actually counting biscuits earlier (rolls eyes.....)
F

My sister and I used to check the sizes of pieces of cake, etc and then complain hers is bigger than mine. We did this even into being adults just to wind Mum up.

try_harder

That did make me laugh ..My children and there are five all did that when they were young and would measure between them with cries of his /hers is bigger , you love him /her better than me ,its obviously very common ,i always thought it was just mine

Alchemilla

try_harder said:

That did make me laugh ..My children and there are five all did that when they were young and would measure between them with cries of his /hers is bigger , you love him /her better than me ,its obviously very common ,i always thought it was just mine

MIL (God rest her soul) cracked that. One kid could divide the spoils, the other choose their bit.

You cut and I'll choose. We do it with wine when it's not dry January.

scandimore

Thanks for the marmalade advice foxgloves
Hopefully the more confident kitty of the two will help the more shy one come round eventually. We have two rescues, one of which acts quite normally and the other who is scared of his shadow, absolutely petrified of strange men especially workmen wearing boots, and has some funny habits which aren't at all what you'd expect of a cat. He's come round over the years and he drives the other mad by following her around when he doesn't know what to do with himself. They do love each other really though.