It's getting tough out there. Feeling the pinch?

Auntycaz

If anyone is looking for advent calenders, Morrisons have the cadbury ones for £1.35. It's the cheapest I've seen them this year.

YorksLass

Well, we have even more rain but no wind - yet.  There's still time!  Where we are we're generally lucky and tend to miss the worst of it, although it's still dull and miserable.  I get the feeling we could be in for a long winter.  

Today we've been for our annual health reviews and both need to go back again.      Me for high blood pressure and diabetic blood test results and DH for an ECG since he seems to have an irregular heart beat.  I also had my flu jab so may well be nursing a sore arm tonight.  The nurse was running late so it took longer than we thought it would - hardly surprising as the waiting room was packed.  While I was waiting for DH, I collected his repeat meds from the next door pharmacy but my prescription had run out so I didn't get mine which means another trip out for them.  At least the weather forecast for tomorrow looks better.  I think I'll go back to ordering it myself instead of relying on the pharmacy.

A small grocery delivery from Sainsburys arrived after we got back.  It didn't take long to put away and I got everything I'd ordered, including their own version of Head & Shoulders that's been missing for quite some time.  I honestly can't tell the difference and think it's pretty good value at £1.50 for 500 ml.

Easy tea tonight - egg & chips with fruit and yogurt for afters.  There was a little bit of curry left from last night, not enough for a meal but there's sufficient to have in a wrap for tomorrow's lunch.

Toonie

We've had rain almost all day today in London. The worst of the wind was overnight, I woke up to it at 3am, and struggled to get back to sleep as I was achy. I ended up downstairs with a cuppa and checked to see if the semi-stray cat who visits was in the garden. He was, and he was drenched, so I got him in and found an old towel to dry him off. He's been curled up on "his" blanket most of the day (an old fleece blanket).

@YorksLass we had egg and chips last night for tea. Such a satisfyingly simple meal. Takes me back to childhood.

I'm currently drinking a hot chocolate as it feels rather dreary. We have chicken wrapped in bacon for tea tonight. DP has his with pasta and pesto, I have mixed roasted veg (in the air fryer). Then there is an apple crumble for afters. Definitely into the autumn cooking.

London_1

My eldest granddaughter Katie came today with my two little great granddaughters so a nice afternoon.She also brought me a portion of spag bol left over from their last nights dinner, ( her OH does a mean spag bol and always cooks too much which gets passed to me to finish up  so I didn't have to cook just whizz it into the microwave.
I peeled and stewed three large apples she brought as well so I have a dish of stewed apples which I topped with some custard so pudding for a couple of days taken care of.

Still very wet and windy here in kent the local shopping centre in Chatham apparently was ankle deep in water as well as Chatham library and the theatre got flooded as well.. Glad I'm tucked up indoors in the dry for a few days now

JackieO xx

thriftytracey

I remember working in pubs in the early 1980's and you had to total up a large round of drinks in your head!  Customers were always quick to point out if you had made an error, so they were savvy.  

YorksLass

@Toonie - Yes, we always enjoy a simple egg & chips tea (not too often though  ) - especially after Xmas & New Year, it's our "go to" tea then!

I eventually got my meds from the pharmacy - I say eventually because it was a bit of a palaver when they insisted they hadn't sent me a text message to collect them.  They most definitely did because otherwise I wouldn't have been there!  Grr.  Anyway, I'm sorted now for another 6 months.

The flu jab didn't give me any problems, just the usual slightly sore arm for a few hours, but where I had blood samples taken turned into a very large spectacular black/blue bruise - not had that before.

We've had fireworks going off on Friday - not too many and finished fairly early, more last night that went on much later which surprised me as it was raining quite heavily.  Just tonight to get through.     They don't bother us too much and we don't have nervous pets to deal with but I sympathise with those who do.  If only they weren't so noisy.....  I've no idea how much they cost nowadays but I can't imagine they're cheap.

ladyholly

I have no idea what fireworks cost now but remember being shocked when I saw the prices in the supermarket 2 or 3 years ago.

Longwalker

ladyholly said:

I have no idea what fireworks cost now but remember being shocked when I saw the prices in the supermarket 2 or 3 years ago.

I gave up smoking as it hurt to know my hard earned money was going up in smoke , so not letting it go on fireworks. !!!!

actually , it’s a mute point as here in NI you have to apply for a licence and if you are buying off a back of a lorry - buyer beware 

We celebrate Halloween here , it’s HUGE with the biggest party being Derry/Londonderry. So all the councils have a huge parade and fireworks and the shops stay open late with sales and there’s something for everyone.  The shops open because they need the footfall , I think I read a decrease of 5% this month. Still we rely on tourism and visitors so we make hay whilst the fireworks are going off

it’s cold and wet and whilst not as cold as it should be , the wet makes it so much colder so the heating is on. I’ve to go out tomorrow to get smokeless prices and we have found a tree fallen on landowners land I know so hope to be able to snag that. Heating and electric are our biggest expenses. Everywhere else I can cut back but mum needs the heat and light all day 

still got some excellent bargains in Lidl today. , a couple of packs of 5% Aberdeen Angus Steak mince for £2 each and a couple of 1kg chicken breast packs for £2 each ,  so freezer is looking healthy. 

Christmas around the corner. We don’t spend on each other here but do spend on the kids and grandkids. Last year we got them a fill of oil, an airfryer and coats for the kids. We don’t have it this year so I have to think hard and come up with something 

Gotta love Christmas - not lol

retiredinfrance

Love hearing about life in NI - where we are from.

MrsStepford

I was a vegetarian for over fourteen years. When I started doing it, I had to cook from scratch. Only processed things were savoury rices, pot noodles, TVP stuff to bulk out meals, some pizzas or baked beans. Gradually more and more veggie processed food became available. Quorn, Linda McCartney, Birds Eye Veggie burgers, veggie bean burgers at Burger King.

Eating vegetarian or vegan food is not healthy if you live on processed rubbish. 

I eat more chicken and fish than I used to (organic chicken, wild fish) and more organic eggs. Fewer organic and nitrate free sausages and bacon rashers. Far less ham, gammon and Parma ham as it's all too salty. 

I bought Chris van Tulleken's book on processed food. Informative, but so depressing that I couldn't finish it. 

Lidl has Liverno Home microfleece blankets for 7.99 at the moment. 150cm x 200cm