So close, we can smell mortgage freedom!

Karmacat

Yep, what Grey Pilgrim said.  I started to make my own - using waste materials - lengths of wood, offcuts of lino, insulation reclaimed from a skip, a shiny roll of insulation I've had for a million years, and assorted other minimal stuff.  The nails to put it all together were new I did buy a 2nd hand cast iron pan to put in it, as I understand that the heat retention is super duper, but I haven't finished putting it together.

What with the costs of cooking, I'm wondering about my halogen cooker - I think it's supposed to be cheaper?  When I got the new oven installed when the kitchen was redone, I stopped using the halogen, but it's still there.  I need to look out the energy consumption details.

Greying_Pilgrim

greenbee - of course it was mooloo!  Not sure if HardupHester made them too (either from MG's pattern or another), but yes, it was mooloo who did all the sewing and making, you're absolutely right.

Greying X

badmemory

Of course Mooloo how could I forget!

Cheery_Daff

Oddly enough we've ben talking about hayboxes this week too (I guess it's not odd when we're all thinking about energy use!). We regularly just wrap a pan in towels on the worktopand leave for a few hours, which has got to be better than nothing. We do actually have a load of our own hay that we made in the garage though, so I'm sure we should have a go at cobbling together an actual hay box! 

I wonder if we could make one that doubled as a kind of stool, so it wasn't taking up unnecessary space in the kitchen?!

Suffolk_lass

We have a MrD's thermal cooker in the moho which works really well for us (as we are not normally on electric hook up) - 21st century hay box it came 2nd hand from FB marketplace for £30

themadvix

Morning all,

Oooh, lots of lovely chat about hayboxes and bags! Hi GP, lovely to see you! 👋

While I didn't know about MemoryGirl, Hardup Hester or Mooloo's forays into bags, bizarrely I think I've come across them through a foodie facebook group! We've got some wool insulation from a delivery that we could use to make something - I've bunged it on top of frozen stuff before when defrosting the freezer. Not sure we're quite there yet though - it involves a bit too much organisation for my liking - and porridge, which is the obvious choice, goes in the microwave... so I'd have to work out how long it would need in there before hayboxing it!

Cheery, I like the idea of a space-saving stool-!!!!!!-haybox! SL, Mr D? Dyas? Karma, I think your halogen would be cheaper - it's smaller and more directed heat than an oven. I imagine there's comparisons online somewhere.

It is so windy here... fortunately all the fence panels are still up, but we did find a garden chair in the pond this morning! 🙄 The wind is making it rather chilly, which is so annoying as I was still hoping to do some seed sowing - when the sun comes out it's pleasantly warm.

I've done some work, but there are hold-ups (again) with the piece I'm expecting from my main client. In the meantime, I shall make some birthday cards (would be great if I could get them all done until the end of May) and watch some InDesign YT videos to see what it's all about. It can't be that difficult - it's just DTP from what I can tell.

Kitchen is still annoyingly full of bread and the lady who normally takes it for animal rescue is away. Not sure what I'm going to do with it.

MS things:
* Heating off (although my hands definitely need another cuppa to wrap around)
* Clicks done - £1 up on HW 
* £1 Y-live survey done yesterday
* Dinner was freebie stir fry last night. There's leftover lentil soup for lunch, lots of bread and a tub of OOD coleslaw (also from T's). Not sure about dinner yet.

Gratitudes:
* Had a very fun half hour last night when Mum turned up for some pastries, the neighbour came for some and then BIL appeared for some too!
* Free food
* Morning cat didn't hiss at me at all.... we're making progress!

Have a good day all! 

Suffolk_lass

Mr D's is a make of thermal cooker, here is a link - do you want a bread pudding recipe? very easy

themadvix

Oh, not heard of Mr D's before - interesting! I have a bread pud recipe thanks (my Nan's) - and will probably make some, but will wait until I need to put oven on and when I'm not listening to a podcast about the evils of sugar! Unfortunately Mr MV is not a huge fan, so I'll need to distribute some elsewhere or... (you can see where this is going). Imagine it freezes well, but it actually has to make it out to the freezer!

I have decided on an IP recipe for carrot and chickpea pilaf tonight, so chickpeas are now soaking to reduce IP cooking time.

try_harder

That bread situation is exactly what i am afraid of ..My Olio lady puts it outside with free on it if she has lots left and still nobody takes it ,,its a problem

themadvix

Morning all,

@try_harder, the bread all went in the end! There was a second wind for it yesterday afternoon! (My listings clearly give the BBE date, so I assume they have seen it.)

I have just got back from a very stressful cat sitting visit - an alarm was going off when I got there, poor cat nowhere to be seen. Automatically assumed it was the home alarm (which they don't use), owners on West Coast of US (so it's the middle of the night), no answer at alarm company.... called cat owner's mother - she didn't know anything about the house alarm. Alarm man rang me back - took me through some stuff and concluded it was the smoke detector and not his alarm!! Felt like such an idiot (but the noise was so loud I'm blaming that for clouding my thinking). Pressed button on alarm and peace was restored for 15 mins.... and then it went off again. Took ages to get it undone and then discovered it's hardwired. Texting owners who are awake now... I checked the breaker box and it's on a separate circuit, so that's turned off. Poor kitty is nowhere to be seen now - she appeared when I first turned it off, but shot off when it went off again. Have said I'll pop back later to check on her. I feel exhausted now! In the process I discovered that CIAF don't have an emergency number you can call, just an email address! Not great!

In other news, we had a lovely recipe from the veggie IP book for dinner - will definitely do again and very cheap too (especially as spinach came from the garden). Work from main client arrived yesterday afternoon so I've got plenty to be getting on with. Still have those cards to make too! 

MS things:
* Clicks done
* Cat sitting - last visit tonight for my evening client  
* Heating went on for half an hour first thing as the temp was 14 degrees. Warmed us up to 15.8 and it is plenty now.
* Lunches are leftovers from last night and last portion of lentil soup
* Dinner may use IP again
* ETA £7 bank account rewards moved to savings (I do this every month, but rarely remember to report it!)

Gratitudes:
* Cat clients were really helpful and appreciative/apologetic - I really don't mind though, I'm just glad that it's sorted now. (Hoping for a good review though )
* Work
* Sunshine is just about here!
* Meeting some friends for a pub lunch tomorrow

Have a good day all!