Simple living in the country - back to basics

badmemory

Suffolk_lass said:

badmemory said:

Not yet I believe it has been postponed to July.

You mean the stamps, don't you? not the mortgage rates...

I wish for everyones sake it was the mortgage rates!

Cheery_Daff

Well, today has been a bit of a mixed one. I wasted much of the morning 🙄 But finally, after Mr Cheery left, I did get my act together. Had a little trip to the cafe to sort my life out, and had a nice chat with some of the women who work there. Then nipped into town, got a couple of things from the zero waste shop, and a new hand blender - I ruined the old one months ago making soap. 

Supervised chicken bedtime when I got back, and made sure they were all tucked in nice and cosy.

Did a Flylady home blessing hour - went slightly off track but got a surprising amount done and the place does feel pretty reasonable now.

Then I intended doing some batch cooking, but thought I'd just try my newly serviced flute out first... Started at 7.30 and Mr Cheery was due home at 8 so I figured I'd stop then. But he didn't come back at 8, or 9 🙄 and at five to 10 I finally got slightly concerned... but he rang just as I was about to ring him and is finally on the way back.

Anyway, a long way of saying I spent 2.5 hours playing my flute this evening and didn't do any cooking at all 🙄😂

So, a list for tomorrow

* sort out an outfit for tomorrow's musical performance - this is a priority! It has to be some kind of theatrical bird-themed thing, or at least bright colours...

* Check the gauge reading on the LPG online account. Checked the tank today and it's close to 30%, which is when they put an automatic order in. Need to check the online estimate is also 30%. Usually takes about a month for delivery, which is fine - means payment won't be taken til mid May. There'll be plenty in the pot by then (there's already nearly £600, and the last tank was £850). Hoping that tank will then last til the autumn, although they sometimes come round with a top up in the summer if they're in the area.

* sort out some flipping clothes in the craft room - I keep saying it but have so far failed to do it!

* text the plumber - the boiler has showed a fault code a few times this week 🙄 We've managed to reset it each time, but it's every few days and clearly isn't going to get better on its own. Internet says it's an easy fix rather than replacement boiler - fingers crossed.

* bit of batch cooking?? At least some hay box soup to check out the new blender?!

Maybe some other things, but that'll do for a list 😊

Cheery_Daff

Right, checked LPG account - it says the gauge estimation is 0% which is clearly just a glitch as they've not generated an order, which they should have done well before now if they really thought we had nothing. Have updated it.

We're doing alright in terms of consumption I think. We had deliveries in 

Late Dec 2021
Mid March 2022 (1800 litres)
Mid Aug 2022 (968 litres)
Mid Jan 2023 (1600 litres)

Last winter we needed almost a full tank by mid March, but we're at 30% now, and I think use will tail off from now. My reading will likely trigger an order for delivery mid April ish, maybe a bit later now it's getting warmer - will keep the readings updated so they know when we're getting properly low, but partly it just depends when they're in the area with the small tanker (the big one can't get down the drive).

Anyway, hopefully the April delivery will last til at least September going on last year's use, although given they only delivered half a tank, we probably didn't need a delivery then and could have managed an extra couple of months at least, so we'll see. I think they like to get everyone topped up before the winter whether they need it or not, so they're doing less running round, which makes sense. Maybe we'll be able to stretch the next one til Feb (although possibly not, given most of those will be colder months).

There's £570 in the pot, and an April delivery will mean a May invoice, so 2x£170 monthly payments to add to the pot, which will give me £910. Last delivery was £850 so about right!

Can't remember when our two year fix runs out - I think we've got 18 months left. Just clicked on the 'contracts' section of the online account and it says our last delivery was 1st Jan 1970 so there are definitely gremlins in their system tonight 😂😂

KajiKita

Love the fact that you ended up playing for 2.5 hours! 😊❤️ I’m sure the flute appreciated it. Was it nicer to use after its service? 

Well done on all the LPG tracking etc - I feel like that would do my swede in if I had that to deal with on top of everything else but I guess you just adapt to it?

’Clearing craft room’ (I can call it that now as at least the bed, bedside table and a lot of the bedding has gone!) is on my list too tomorrow, if the forecast is wet. 

I take it that the old and new hen-ladies are getting on okay?

KK

Merlin's_Beard

2.5 hours lost in music sounds like a blissful way of spending an evening, and well worth not doing anything else.

Cheery_Daff

Merlin's_Beard said:

2.5 hours lost in music sounds like a blissful way of spending an evening, and well worth not doing anything else.

Hello Merlin's Beard 😊 It was indeed! Although I have to say it was at least partly inspired by fear - I've been shifted from second to first flute in the band I play in and it's most definitely outside of my comfort zone and needing a lot of practice 😂 It was still enjoyable though! 

KK, it's mostly better after the service, but there was something slightly wrong that I couldn't quite put my finger on... I've figured it out this evening though - one of the keys is catching on something, it's not pressing all the way down but it's moving when it shouldn't, so it'll need to go back, annoyingly 🙄 

Oops, Mr Cheery just called - we need to go evict a mouse up to the mouse lay-by 🙄 I'm already in my nightie but I'm not getting dressed again now so let's hope nobody catches me up on the moors...

******

Thought I'd pressed post but apparently not. Gosh, it's exposed up on the moors when you're only wearing a nightie and a dressing gown with no tie 😮😂😂 raining quite a lot more up there than at home too! 😮

Anyway... 

Cheery_Daff

Yesterday was good. I have an Internet free (ish) day - I make exceptions for the Happy wheel and videos about practical things but that's about it. I got loads done! Cooked a shepherds pie and a pasta bake for the freezer, so there's six meals in there now even after I ate some last night. Also made some green lentil soup in the haybox, so there are two portions in the fridge. 

Felt good to be stocking up on meals again. 

I've attempted sauerkraut today with a red cabbage that's been lurking for a while. I've tried sauerkraut before and it failed miserably, but that was years ago. I've followed instructions this time so fingers crossed! 

Oh, and I dried some courgettes and spinach in the dehydrator. Courgettes for chucking in stuff, because they have a slightly chewier texture when they're rehydrate, which i like, and I can just leave the jar by the cooker and throw some in whatever I'm making. And the spinach I've powdered, and will throw into smoothies etc for an extra nutritional boost. I won't buy spinach just to do that, but it's definitely an option if I end up with a massive kale glut again! 

Last night's musical performance was fun, but it was a late night so it's been quite a gentle one today. A little excursion, a cafe trip, and a wander along a canal.

Oh, and we've made good progress sorting out the craft room! Got all the clothes hung up yesterday, and we bought four clear boxes to go under the bed, as we currently have nowhere to store bedding 🙄 Also got a couple of vaccuum bags which will house the spare duvet for the sofa bed etc. 

Today we got the old kitchen table out of the garage and lugged it upstairs - that's going to be my sewing table 😊😊 

Oh, and I started sorting out my shoes! Embarrassingly, I counted - 32 pairs 😱😱😱 In my (slight) defence that includes everything from sandals to running shoes to wellies, but seriously, who needs that many?! I've identified eight pairs for either bin or charity shop, and a couple of duplicates - not exactly duplicates, but eg two knee high black pairs that are interchangeable, so I'll put one pair aside until the other breaks, in a kind of Shoe Pantry 😂😂

Elisheba

Oh, Cheery. I have this image of you now wandering barefoot on the moors at night, in a long white nightie, dressing gown flying behind you like a cloak, hair long and soaked. Like a character from a gothic romance novel. 

KajiKita

Not sure about gothic romance but I can imagine gossip running if you were seen! 😉😂👏 Brilliant! 

Bravo on all the cooking activity 😊 I keep wanting a hay box after reading your posts! 

The clear boxes that are bringing order to your craft room …..? Please tell me more? Sizes, source etc?

KK

Cheery_Daff

Hope you got your craft room sorted too KK! 

New chickens are indeed getting on ok 😊 they seem a little confused about bedtime still 😂 All tucked up nice and cosy now though.

As for tomorrow... it's meant to not be raining... so we're planning to get all the posts for the chicken run temporarily in and measured, so we can cut them to the right size. I anticipate this will be quite a fiasco, and will take much of the day 🙄 So, a small list 😂

* posts in and measured (and maybe cut, although this will involve setting up the chop saw, so we'll see)

* finish sorting shoes and get them all put away

* get table set up in craft room

* vaccuum pack spare duvet 

* bit more flute playing

* text woman to arrange to take flute back to fix 🙄

* band rehearsal

That'll do I think. I forgot to text the plumber, so I'll probably do that on Monday, and I did actually make a meal plan this week which has risotto on for tomorrow, but I might switch that round to something quicker since I'll be out for several hours over teatime.