Simple living in the country - back to basics

themadvix

If you did want to offload some bulgur wheat, remember thank you can put things past their BB date on Olio. Given your remote location though, it might be better to list it a collection from work? Reckon students might snap it up!

Pollie

I often throw a handful of bulgur wheat into stews/casseroles instead of lentils.

Cheery_Daff

Thank you both - they're excellent suggestions! Never occurred to me to put things on Olio, or that you could use bulgur wheat in a stew. Always something to learn on MSE! 

News here - strikes have been called off for a fortnight while they negotiate. Fantastic news - that's 7 days of strikes averted. There's more planned for March but hopefully the negotiations will mean they'll be called off too - let's see...

greenbee

I bulk cook bulgur wheat then freeze it in portions and get it out as and when I need it. I do the same with pulses and pearl barley. 

Stop ignoring the light in the car or you'll be doing what I've done and buying in a hurry... I drove to see a friend today and the whole drive there and the one back were incredibly stressful as I just don't trust the car. I pick up the new one on Monday (and get rid of the old one!). I must remember to sort out insurance... 

EssexHebridean

Cheery_Daff said:

Thank you both - they're excellent suggestions! Never occurred to me to put things on Olio, or that you could use bulgur wheat in a stew. Always something to learn on MSE! 

News here - strikes have been called off for a fortnight while they negotiate. Fantastic news - that's 7 days of strikes averted. There's more planned for March but hopefully the negotiations will mean they'll be called off too - let's see...

That’s good news about the strikes then - and will definitely help the finances I guess! 

I’ve not had bulgar wheat in ages. Did stock up on another couple of pouches of the microwaveable “Winter Grains” in @ldi earlier mind, that’s a bit of a favourite round here at the moment. 

Cheery_Daff

greenbee said:

...

Stop ignoring the light in the car or you'll be doing what I've done and buying in a hurry... I drove to see a friend today and the whole drive there and the one back were incredibly stressful as I just don't trust the car. I pick up the new one on Monday (and get rid of the old one!). I must remember to sort out insurance... 

I'm not ignoring it - I said Mr Cheery was in favour of ignoring it - not that that was what we were actually going to do. Not trusting the car is rubbish - been there before and it's no fun, especially not out here!

EssexHebridean said:

That’s good news about the strikes then - and will definitely help the finances I guess! 

I’ve not had bulgar wheat in ages. Did stock up on another couple of pouches of the microwaveable “Winter Grains” in @ldi earlier mind, that’s a bit of a favourite round here at the moment. 

Yep, will definitely help the finances, although there's still another 5 days booked for March, and the possibility of more later. Lots of people not pleased about the timing though - 6pm on a Friday, with Tuesday the first cancelled strike, means a lot of scrambling for babysitters in half term week, and a lot of preparing for things that we didn't think were happening... It's a fine line - you end up preparing all your teaching just in case, but also preparing to be away from work for several days in a row just in case. 

Anyway, bored of talking about all that now! 

In more cheerful news, been to see some friends for tea which was lovely 😊😊 And got some friendly neighbours coming here for tea tomorrow, which is also lovely 😊😊 And I've managed to donate a few of our tree guards from when we had our new 'woodland' planted to a local community group - they don't need many, but it will be nice to have them go to a good cause. Need to go round and see how many of our trees haven't taken, but checking all 1000 is quite a daunting task 😱 So I'm starting with finding 25 spare tree guards, which feels far more manageable! 😂 I found 10 the other day, which will do for tomorrow, but if I get up early enough in the morning I might try to find another 15 before I go. A nice little task 😊😊

Karmacat

Friendly teas, and passing on the treeguards to a local community group, are both lovely things  

badmemory

I had to laugh when I read Mr Cheery just wanted to stick something over it & ignore.  That is exactly what a friend of mine has been doing for at least 2 yrs now, not recommending it as it makes me worry every time I'm in that car.  But in the dim & distant past he used to be & I suppose still is a mechanic, before he became the boss.  He just says it is a problem with the light not a problem with the car.  Does that stop me worrying - no it does not.  The garage's diagnostic tools should be able to identify what it is & personally I would find the peace of mind worth it.  Driving, especially out of town, is just not worth the worry & stress.

scandimore

How are the trees getting on Cheery? 
Such a lovely investment in the future.

Cheery_Daff

Evening chums 😊

The trees are doing well, thank you Scandimore 😊 Some are taller than me! I was pleased last week to see how many of them have buds already this year 😊

I'm sure you'll all be delighted to hear that the car has been to the garage today. All sorted for £40, and hopefully that'll be the end of it.

Sadly the same is not true for the foldy bike 🙄 £430 😱😱 Gears have gone, and on a Brompton they're encased in the back wheel. Bike is over 20 years old, and they don't make those wheels any more, so I'd need a whole new brake and gear system as well 🙄 He charged me £45 for giving it a good look over and sorting the gears as best he could, and now it can go back in the shed for a while 🙄

For various reasons I've ended up working all five days this week 🙄 It hasn't felt too bad at the time, but I confess I'm not impressed at the prospect of a mere two day weekend 🙄 😂