Resourcefulness: The budgeter's friend

milann

Weenancy….bet you can’t wait to get coordinated eyes agai. The world will seem so bright for you.

foxgloves

Hello Sunbeams,
Talking to you from the bottom of the garden where I'm enjoying a coffee on my reading bench. Busy productive day:
*Stripped bed linen & put a wash on first rhing, followed by a second. All pegged out & already dry in the breezy sunshine. Perfect. And free.
*Mr F atoned for buying bacon (which was not on the list) by freezing the amount I require for a slow cooker recipe later this month.
*Potted on chard plants as their bed isn't ready yet.
*Planted out french climbing beans & pegged mesh around them until they are a little bigger so as to be safe from naughty beaks.
*Planted out courgettes & half the squash plants - team effort. Mr F digging the holes & enriching with garden compost & me plopping the plants in & watering.
*Mr F weeded 2 veg beds & mowed the lawn.
*Moved agapanthus pots to their final positions - using them to fill gaps.
*Discussed next A*di pantry stock-up shop - we think March, July & November are still viable in terms of basic store cupboard ingredients lasting us for 4 months. 
Still to do:
*Mr F is roasting chicken for tonight. I am eyeballing it for at least another 3 dinners & sandwiches.
*Watering veg & feeding cucumbers & first tomato plant to show signs of teensy fruits.
*Synchronise our diaries for the week ahead. Being organised always saves us money one way or another.
*Finish knitting heel flap, turn heel & start instep shaping on the yarn stash sock I'm knitting.
*Sit & have a calm, realistic think about what I'd like to achieve over the coming week.I am expecting to hear from the Consultant at some point this week, so keeping myself steadily busy should help quell my shocking ability to overthink.
Cheers for now,
F x

Starlight_at_Sea

I too love hearing about your gardening and cooking endeavours Foxgloves. We have a vine with smallish seeded grapes (well, actually our neighbours do, but its well and truly trailed over both sides of the fence now!). I freeze them whole and use in breakfast smoothies, pip and all. 

foxgloves

I love 'gifts' which encroach from next door, @Starlight_at_Sea. I have a lovely acid green euphorbia which I 'encouraged' through the hedge from an adventurous stem. Also, on the other neighbour's side, we get some beautiful honeysuckle flowers poking through. I know he is planning to put an outbuilding there, so I'm intending to cut a few pieces & see if I can root them. Not so happy about weed thugs from next door though.....all our goosegrass, bramble, white briony & bindweed are a result of a previous neighbour leaving his garden fallow. The white briony is a particular pest this year.
Glad you enjoy my diary. Stepping up 'old-style' activity was a self-imposed condition of me taking VR. 
F x

Elisheba

Sending you hugs @foxgloves for all the waiting and worrying you are having to do. Good to get the smear out of the way, and as you say, bit of a moneysaving win as well! 

milann

It’s great when you see the first fruits appearing 👍

Sun_Addict

We have a blackberry bush courtesy of next door 😆

amber03

Catching up with your diary Foxgloves, hope you hear from hospital soon and things are all sorted out, it’s the not knowing that I hate, as long as I know and can plan for whatever I’m fine. My OH is waiting for investigation into the bowel C, hopefully what the screening picked up was a “one off” but until the experts give you their opinion you are left in limbo. 

Also going forward with meal planning for the next few weeks. So fed up with not doing this and ending up going back and too to the supermarket, I’m spending a fortune which needs to stop. Decided if they don’t like what is in the cupboards, fridge, freezer then they can go and buy their own stuff.xx

Suffolk_lass

Another one here with various periodic investigations. According to my GP I am polypy, but the right sort that get removed before they go rogue. It does mean a dreaded intervention every three years to guard against colon cancer (which my Mum had) and a less frequent gynaecological intervention too. It is always a worry and I guess at some stage they may find something more serious. I do take the view that it is better to be in the system and have these checks and minor removals though. 

I completely agree about white Bryony - it is prolific this year, growing over and around many shrubs. DH waded in and removed two armfuls of it yesterday. The aggregate bag on the grass has looked full for a fortnight now, but our increased bee activity has meant it has lost moisture and made room for more. It is bound for the compost bin today I hope, as the overcast morning may result in the grass being cut for the first time this year!

My squashes are all languishing in the greenhouse and I need to make room by potting on the small annuals in the trays I want for the chillies and cucumbers. In the meantime the tomatoes are starting to flower and we need to net things as the pigeon (who scoffed about 5k of gooseberries last year) was sitting eyeing up my veg garden yesterday

foxgloves

@Suffolk_lass - We have to keep an eye on greedy woodpigeons here too, but the worst offenders are sparrows. We have quite a lot of them, which is nice, but they are terrible shredders of plants, especially young ones which have recently been planted out. They don't even eat them, just sit in small groups pecking bits off & spitting them out.
Re white briony....I can't get to the big solid roots easily because it grows in the centre of a hedge & also invades from next door. I am currently removing what I can reach to weaken it.
F