What small DFW things will you do w/c 26th March?

Happy_Kitties

Typical......i start to wind down and get a cold:mad:. My left arm is also hurting-a sign of stress so I am determined to enjoy Easter.

CLF and everyone else-enjoy those days off, I'm determined to!!

Went to bed early last night for leg elevation and to listen to favourite radio shows and ended up falling asleep which meant when I woke up I couldn't sleep later on.

Even though DD eating me out of house and home, still have plenty in:j. Glad I meal planned for when she came home.

Would like to do another leek and potato soup, could just do with another leek and more potatoes, the soup flies out of the house.

Haven't much planned today. Need to tidy up esp the kitchen and get the floor washed later.

Planning on balancing my month end grocery book later on. Can't believe I have been doing this for a year now, it's so useful to see where monies are being spent.

Took one cat for boosters this week. Have booked the semi feral oldest cat in next week for a check up as she has a slight limp and just want to be on the safe side. Boosters budgeted for, oldest cat not so monies will come out of emergency funds

Planning on getting eBay parcels packaged up tonight so if I get payment tonight when they finish they can get sent tomorrow.

That's about it from me, have a great Easter everyone:EasterBun:easter_ba

allydowd

News:

From 6 April, a new 'Sugar Tax' levy will be introduced. All drinks with a total sugar content above 5g per 100ml will be taxed at 18p a litre, while sugary drinks with more than 8g of sugar content per 100ml will be taxed at 24p a litre. Buy now, save later!

The National Minimum Wage is going up from 1 April. (Link)

The Income Tax Personal Allowance is rising on 1 April from £11,500 to £11,850.

foxgloves

Hello Friday Folk,
Busy day today....most money saving aspects were from me continuing to make/finish stuff for our Easter family day.
*All home made foodie presents now wrapped & labelled.
*Easter cake marzipanned & decorated. Found a ribbon I'd bought from a sale box & never used. Now adorning cake.
*Pork pies finished with gelatine pacjed ready to go.
*Easter biscuits baked.
*Mr f did the grocery shop....Aldi, Waitrose & local market.....he came in about £11 under budget.
*Cashed out of Yougov for £50. Yay! Shall be looking for its arrival.
*Mr f volunteered to clean house...usual minimal products & washable cloths.
Relaxing evening now as long drive tomorrow.
F x

FatVonD

Hi all, another late one for me.

Had another no spend day today, I'm getting quite good at them

Lunch was a couple of the veggie sausages with the last of a bag of chips and a couple of eggs and tonight I did a roast using some YS hunter's chicken but whipping the sauce out as soon as it had defrosted enough. I actually had mine sans meat (I was vegetarian for 13 years and got used to roast dinners without meat and actually prefer it) so still have one cooked chicken breast left in the fridge to do something else with tomorrow.

I cooked a double batch of cheese scones, one for us and one for the doggy charity who are having an Easter coffee morning. I used a pack of the cheap cheese I bought which I don't like (a first for me) so I have defrosted the other pack of that brand (Co11iers, I wouldn't recommend it) to take down for the dogs.

I've been reorganising my work station, it's so frustrating that everyone else is off for 4 days because I have two different print jobs I'm really excited about but I just have to wait.

One of the things I learned at my short-lived supermarket job was that a system doesn't have to be sophisticated to work. I was really surprised to find that their stock checking system consisted of two plastic olive pots with stickers on saying 'in stock' and 'out of stock' and the counter tickets just got moved from one to the other, simple but effective! So, I have borrowed the system for my own stock taking, I have sliced up some duff cards to make tickets and I have a three jam jar system for fully stocked, last 24 (the minimum amount I can send to Amazon) and reprint.

I finally carried the portable TV downstairs to rep,ace the duff one and, when I reached down to unplug the duff one realised it had been switched off at the wall and is in fact still working The remote still doesn't work so it's all a bit old school and I have set the portable one up in the bedroom, I don't think it will work as there is no aerial point but it will be okay for watching DVDs.

The new fish have been accepted by the Platys even though they are a different breed, in fact they seem a lot happier and more active. I read somewhere that you should have at least six of any school-type fish which is what we now have, maybe they need a certain number for formation or something. (One part of me thinks 'God, I'm boring, talking about fish' while the other part thinks 'Ally will know the answer to this'

Night/morning all!

PurpleFairy26

Morning all :hello:

Rainy and grey here, which kind of matches my mood I woke up to. Hope they both improve :rotfl: we're out today using our annual passes, so no entry or parking fee. Will take a picnic.

So to do:
Make picnic
Get something out of freezer for tea
Quick tidy round
Washing shuffle
Drink the not so nice coffee to use it up
Stay strong with cat, thought he might trick me into fresh breakfast when he'd not eaten previous. Dodged him weaving in and out of my legs for 15 minutes, including on the stairs :eek: in the hope I'd cave. Nope. He's eaten it
Make sourdough and leave to prove whilst we're out and bake tonight so we can have for breakfast tomorrow
I think I've found DH car insurance for £200 cheaper than last year :eek: have slept on it, will check again later. If so, £300 will go straight to LPDF as we have saved last years cost and their renewal quote was already £100 cheaper.

Hope everyone has a good day. Purps.

determined_new_ms

Morning purps Jeeps that's a crazy saving on the ins! Did your oh have an accident to cause it to be so high?

day 3/4 off Today we are off to an Easter event at a farm better wrap up warm! I will take drinks, snacks and sandwiches - although we are going out with dd so she may buy madam food...

While I am passing through town I will stop at A1di and pick up super 6 veg and then call in at L1dl and get 20 packs of cofffee (they are on offer £1.49 instead of £2.39 just worked out that is £18 savings over 3/4 months )

Load of washing & hang out - it's bright if a little chilly today

Hopefully my fabric will come in the post and I can cut it out and start making my quilt. I just need some white fabric now. Will go and raid the airing cupboard to see if I've a quilt cover/sheet I can use

knitting! (I must finish my 2nd sock before Carrie finishes hers!)

check meal plan and get something out of the freezer

[STRIKE]check banking & pay for singing lesson yesterday[/STRIKE]

Photo and list 5 things on fleabay/facebay

Do singing exercises - I have to find 15 mins per day to do exercises/practice

Ok that'll do! Have a great day everyone

DawnW

Morning all
PF, I reckon your cat must have had a word with Foxgloves' cat :rotfl:
It is raining again, so it is a struggle to get the dog to go outside, let alone go for a walk According to the BBC weather App on my phone, there seems to be rain forecast for all the next week, except perhaps Sunday Really fed up with cold, wet weather!

Anyway, enough moaning - today's plans look like this:
Last brown banana eaten for breakfast :T
Go to post office with ebay parcels and RM surveys item Done
Need to do a small shop, will go to Mr S, as I can get everything there, and there isn't enough to bother with going to more than one shop in the pouring rain. Done, also took £18 of shopping vouchers I had been saving up (from RM surveys) and bought lots of on-offer frozen fish in Icyland - I got big packs of smoked haddock (2 packs, because it is so useful in recipes), white fish fillets and cod loins
Will also go to sales unit shop, as it is their 4th anniversary, and it seems rude not to pop in. I am sure my unit could do with a tidy anyway! Will take a box of chocs for the lovely ladies who own the shop Done
I have food prepared for lunch and dinner today
Need to do some housework though
Do exercises
Check for surveys
Update spreadsheet totals etc, as it is the last day of the month Done
And get a joint of meat out of the freezer for dinner tomorrow Done
Pulled a big double handful sized bunch of forced rhubarb from under an upended large plastic tub We love this, it is an annual treat, and forcing it early each year helps to keep our rampant rhubarb in check a bit! And have you seen the price of the stuff in the shops? :eek: All I did was to put a bit of compost over the rhubarb crown in the raised bed, and pop the plastic tub over it. When we had chickens, I would protect it a bit with straw, but I didn't get round to buying any this year. Despite the cold weather we've had, it was absolutely fine. I have put the tub back over it to encourage a few more stalks, then will remove it, give the plant some more compost and let it grow naturally for the summer Apparently you shouldn't force a rhubarb plant every year, but it helps contain this one a bit!
Cooked said rhubarb
And I have a slow cooker full of braised red cabbage with apple and onion on the go atm, I will freeze what we don't use tomorrow. Made it with the 19p red cabbage from Aldi

Very boring list! We could go out, but the weather is so bad (and I don't suppose the traffic would be great either) that I would rather wait till we get a decent day!

allydowd

FatVonD wrote: »

The new fish have been accepted by the Platys even though they are a different breed, in fact they seem a lot happier and more active. I read somewhere that you should have at least six of any school-type fish which is what we now have, maybe they need a certain number for formation or something. (One part of me thinks 'God, I'm boring, talking about fish' while the other part thinks 'Ally will know the answer to this'

:rotfl: My reputation goes before me.


Yup, 5-7 Platys are ideal as with many for schooling fish if your tank is big enough. Too few and they feel vulnerable, too many and they get on a power-trip and attack everyone else like piranhas.

I'm a mine of useless info.

allydowd

FatVonD wrote: »

I finally carried the portable TV downstairs to rep,ace the duff one and, when I reached down to unplug the duff one realised it had been switched off at the wall and is in fact still working The remote still doesn't work so it's all a bit old school and I have set the portable one up in the bedroom, I don't think it will work as there is no aerial point but it will be okay for watching DVDs.

Have you checked the batteries in the remote?

Also check that the spiral battery terminals where the batteries go aren't brown and oxidised. If they are attack them with a nail file or sandpaper.

Once you have good batteries, you can test with a digital camera by pushing the buttons and having camera on and pointing to the infrared LED light. You should see red light if the remote is working. If no light comes up you obviously have a dead remote that needs further work.

Often it's the buttons that are sticky. Take a photo of the remote. Then take the back off and remove the buttons. Wash the buttons in a bowl and dry thoroughly. Reassemble using the photo you took of the button layout.

Clean the infra-red sensor on your tv.

Try the camera test again. If no luck, and you fancy playing with the circuitry go ahead. Otherwise....

If it still doesn't work you have a couple of options:

• Buy a replacement remote on eBay.
• Buy a one-for-all universal remote from the usual shops. My local Poundland often does them. Keep the receipt in case it doesn't work with your tv.
  
• Use this new-fangled device for changing channels. (Link)

allydowd

DawnW wrote: »

According to the BBC weather App on my phone, there seems to be rain forecast for all the next week, except perhaps Sunday Really fed up with cold, wet weather!

It's possible to get a more accurate forecast using sites like raintoday.co.uk which show you a moving map of the rain/snow/cloud coming over your town. As weather forecasts are a generalisation you'll sometimes get a wet forecast for the week on the BBC but RainToday shows the rain will be missing you all together. Fingers crossed!