Put away your purse & become debt-averse

foxgloves

That's a nice thing to say, @Whatlifeis. I must admit I do love words. I always have. I could read before I was 4 years old (which did not go down brilliantly with my teacher once I started infant school, I can tell you!) I read voraciously as a child, my books, library books, my Mum's books, my Grandma's books, newspapers, the backs of packets of washing powder, cereal boxes, etc, so I did gain a good vocabulary & no doubt peed a great many people off trying it out. I found a good arsenal of words came in useful for putting people down & employing stellar levels of sarcasm. I remember a maths teacher saying to me in the 2nd year, which would of course be Year 8 now, "Foxgloves, SARCASM IS THE LOWEST FORM OF WIT" & I don't think I can have done any more maths that lesson as I remember just sitting there, thinking "How can it be? That was a fantastic insult full of really great words!" I wish I could recall what it actually was. Unfortunately, I said it in dulcet ringing tones just as the class went quiet. I am still very sarcastic. Mr F is too. That's probably one of the main reasons we hardly argue, it wouldn't be worth it as would just turn into a 'Who can deliver the most withering piece of sarcasm?' contest & we'd just start laughing.

Re energy saving - I think we're all thinking about that at the moment. I hope everyone who reads my diary will feel welcome to kick in any little tips. I bet there are still heaps of things I could be doing.
F  

foxgloves

And so for today's post, the most exciting part of which has been the crazy weather. Rain, sun, 3 big hailstorms - one of which when it started was so loud, I actually thought it was somebody rapping at the front door & went to look. Then a huge sleet shower & on & off rain ever since. No gardening today, in fact I seem to be spending a lot of time covering up & uncovering plant babies to keep them vaguely alive. No builders either, after a visit to check that supplies had arrived. The next part of the work simply can't be done in wet weather. I'm fine with that, have said to let me know if they are not coming tomorrow so that I don't end up waiting in. 
Everything else v routine again. Baked bread, got a big batch of bolognese sauce into the slow cooker as we both loved the recipe last time I made it. My slow cooker isn't big enough to make the 16 portions stated by the recipe so I halve it, which gets a few homemade ready meals into the freezer plus some to eat tonight.
Did meal plans for next week. We spent a bit more on groceries last week as we also did a pantry re-stock at A*di & I'm aware that the week after next will include some Easter goodies, so I have kept it tight but tasty:
Sat - Roast chicken, potatoes, veg, cranberry & apple jelly* (*because I made heaps of the stuff last year)
Sun - Cold chicken, home made jacket chips & salad.
Mon - Chicken & vegetables with stir-fry sauce & noodles.
Tues - Jacket potato night (topped with whatever we fancy that we've got in)
Weds - Leftover ham, cauliflower & chickpea stew (from freezer) with basmati rice
Thurs - Red lentil & spicy sausage hotpot with home made garlic flatbreads (new slow cooker recipe to try)
Fri - Posh fish finger cobs & coleslaw
Have written grocery shopping list based on that & the general stuff like eggs, yoghurt, coffee, etc. The cats saw me rather parsimoniously counting Fel*x pouches & instantly thought that their dinner was coming out at 11 am. They were really dis-chuffed when I just wrote a number on my list & put the box away in the pantry! Oh & I knitted a bit mroe sock for the presents stash.
Energy saving - The main thing is not having turned the thermostat up because I am feeling cold today, despite wearing a layer under my long-sleeved tunic top plus a jumper over that. Last night, Mr F suggested we light the stove. I was about to say 'Oh go on then' when I noticed he had gone back to his two-tee-shirts solution to warm layers. I said 'Let's light it if you put a proper layer on & still feel cold'. It didn't go on, as no sensible extra layer was forthcoming. I've decided to try & remember to make extra dough & bake 2 loaves together in future to save on gas. I did this today & worked out that it saves about 55 minutes of gas each time - 10 mins to heat the oven up & 45 mins baking time. I usually bake at 2 loaves a week (sometimes more depending on bread use for packed lunches, etc) so should save a minimum of 55 mins of gas per week, which if my quick calculations are correct, adds up to an annual saving of between 47 & 50 hours a year. That's got to be worth doing. 
Well, I've gone rambling on again. Every so often I think I MUST reduce the length of my diary posts, then it lasts for all of about 3 days before I go off on a verbal barrage again. Time for a few late afternoon jobs to get the place feeling cosy for our evening & must squelch down to the greenhouse to put the plant babies to bed.
Nearly Friday,
F xx

DawnW

I like your long posts Foxgloves

I was a fellow pre school reader whose teacher was less than impressed. Not sure why, as less work for her, surely  

QueenJess

I remember at school getting a list of books to read for my year and ignoring it as I thought “Why would I read that when I read that level of books 3 years ago?!”. Probably was because I had an older sister and so I always assumed we were the same and so I just read the same level.

Anyway, please let me know when you are planting out your sweet peas. I can’t decide whether to wait until almost May or if I could do it a bit earlier and regain my window sill. It’s so hard to predict the weather!

foxgloves

@DawnW - I remember that was the first time I really experienced the fallibility of grown-ups. I'd just moved up into the first infant class from kindergarten. I was only 5 & was absolutely flummoxed when my new teacher absolutely refused to believe that I could read. It became a battle of wills with me trying everything to get her to believe me. She did in the end because I insisted on taking reading books 1 - 6 up to her desk & proposing that I read them one by one out loud to her, which I proceeded to do. She was very cross & took me roughly by the hand & dragged me off to the top juniors class. She barged in trailing a worried little me behind her & said to the teacher, "This is Foxgloves & she can already read ALL the reading scheme books AND the follow on one too, apparently (still looking at me as though I'd made that last bit up) so she has permission to come into your classroom every week to borrow books from your shelves", before dragging me back to my classroom where it was about a minute to home time because her refusing to believe me had wasted most of the afternoon. It's funny how these injustices stay with us, isn't it? I have never forgotten it because it was my first experience of an adult being demonstrably wrong & I found it very unsettling at the time to have it implied that I was a liar.
Ooooh, I know how to bear a grudge, don't I?!
F

foxgloves

@QueenJess - It will depend a bit on whereabouts in the country you are - I'm vaguely north-east midlands. My autumn-sown sweet-peas are hardened off in their pots outside & will be planted out properly as soon as this cold snap is over. My spring-sown ones are still in the greenhouse as they are too small for planting out as yet, but I will start the hardening-off process on those as soon as this spell of frosts & sleet has passed. My friend already has her autumn-sown ones planted out on her allotment, but I know she stands a few old panes of glass around them for protection while we are still getting these cold nights. Sweet peas are hardier than many bedding plants, but they will still complain if they don't like the conditions.
F

DawnW

@foxgloves it would have been easier to deal with I think had I come from a solid middle class family. As it was my family were very humble and working class, knew their place etc (oh dear how badly I have gone on to fail in that respect  ) I am older than you, grew up in a very rural area, and such prejudices were much more entrenched. So I had to trail through the 'scheme' while strangely still allowed to borrow 'proper' books from the school library and reading Swallows and Amazons at home. But they were very quick to show my brother and I off when the HMI schools inspector came to call

Sun_Addict

I’ve always been an avid reader, like you I could read long before I started school. By the age of 7 I’d exhausted all the school’s reading books and they allowed me to read my own or ones from the library. Sometimes teachers would bring me books to try. I still love books and reading. My son followed in my footsteps in that respect. 

I’ve made Mr SA put on long PJ bottoms and long sleeved top at night instead of sitting there shivering in his usual shorts and T-shirt. 

cbsexec

Another one here who could read before I went to school.  My mums favourite complaint was that I always had my head stuck in a book 😂.  I read anything and everything too.   Ps love your diary foxgloves

savingmore

please don’t stop your long verbage.  love it.   i remember my brother taking his almost four year old for first eye test and the optician said it was waste of time as niece wouldn’t know the letters to say.  she then went on to read all the small print sentences at the bottom of the eye test chart.  my brother said it was priceless that the optician didn’t know what to think of a)she could read or b) that her eyesight was good enough to read such small print.  he says it’s still one of his favourite memories.