Resourcefulness: The budgeter's friend

PennysIntoPounds

Happy solstice foxgloves. Here's hoping for a healthy and satisfying winter for all of us x

milann

Good news that you’ve been discharged back to the GP. Always nice not to have hospital appointments hanging over you.

milann

Love the cake it’s beautiful.

foxgloves

Morning all, & thanks for your nice comments on my cake. 
Yes, I was pleased to be discharged from hospital, just a (hopefully) final blood test from the other clinic after Christmas, then should be discharged from there too. I do have an IBD which needs managing, but have so far not had a further flare-up which the consultant thought was positive.
Re cutting open tubes & bottles. I agree about the usefulness of those free wooden coffee stirrers & often pick up an extra one for this purpose - about the only implement I can fit down the neck of my glass foundation bottles to extract the week's worth of product always left languishing out of reach of the pump.
Today will be a no-spend day, unless Mr F pops out for a paper. I intend to do a small amount of budget updating, but we have friends coming over for lunch so have planned a day of entertaining/leisure.
Later, I must make a list of everything that needs to come out of the freezer so I can get stuffings, devils on horsebacks, etc, made tomorrow. That will free up more space for major batch cooking on turkey dismantling day. But I'm getting ahead of myself - today is to be a relaxing one spent with friends. Off to sort out my witchy hair. Wishing everyone a pleasant & productive day,
F x

Sun_Addict

Sounds like you’ve got a lovely day planned - enjoy 🎄

foxgloves

Thanks, @Sun_Addict . Our friends have had quite a stressful few months, & I've had a bit of a rum year with all those medical investigations, so we are just aiming to make today festive & fun. I have set up my big Christmas jigsaw in the conservatory so we can have a wander in there to put a few pieces in, & we have plenty of Christmas specials to choose from for afternoon entertainment, as well as music & chat. I wish I'd arranged for my friend to learn a festive piano duet as we both play, but I didn't think of it until this morning & unlike her, I would defo need the practice.  Maybe next year - should be fun with a drinky! (although my playing probably mostly sounds as though I've been on the gin!) 
F

foxgloves

Yesterday, Mr F announced an imminent 'crisis'. It transpires that there may well not be sufficient cornflour left for his legendary Christmas gravy!!!!! I thought it was something which was going to require a summoning of the Cobra Committee at the very least! Mr F makes fab gravy & his Christmas turkey gravy, as his 'best gravy of the year' is given much love & attention. He is fretting that this usually unctuous substance may now be festooned with unwelcome lumps. Being a practical type of gal, I added 'CORNFLOUR' in big letters to our Waitbl00m list yesterday, but horror upon horrors, they had sold out!! He is popping out to collect the turkey tomorrow morning, so has a back-up list of establishments to visit to try & save his gravy. I, on the other hand, am going to check the cornflour box in the pantry to see just how much we DO have left & assess whether this is in fact more of a 'gravy panic'. I suggested he just make up the quantity with normal plain flour (pre-sieved), which I would do as a matter of course, but was treated to a withering look & more mentions of demon lumps which he seems sure are just waiting in the wings, ready to leap centre-stage into the pan singing a rousing chorus of "Step into Christmas!".
F

rtandon27

FG - your gravy 'episode' has both the OH and I in stiches - we have had many similar exchanges in the past and undoubtedly will have many more 🤣🤣🤣

On the subject of digging out every last drop out of glass foundation bottles - I too scrape the sides through the narrow openings and extract at least a week's worth out of the dregs.  A make-up artist acquaintance of mine said that it is quite acceptable to add a few drops of water to the bottle and give it a shake, rendering the product more viscose and better able to pour out of the bottle and onto a make-up sponge.  The only caveat is that you may have to apply a second coat as each one is marginally thinner than the full strength product.  Alternatively, I have in the past used one of these swizzle sticks with a small spoon on the end to fish out the last drops.  The are readily found in many charity shops, if you don't happen to have a fully stocked home bar 😉

Makingabobor2

I will think of you and Mr FG when I make our gravy on Christmas day...which I must say will probably be quite plain and simple compared to yours. 
Enjoy your afternoon with friends. 

weenancyinAmerica

When I was young, there were products that got the last bit out of your tubes - looked like keys with a slot across the long part that you put the end through and then rolled it up. I think they are still available. They were in wide use during World War II. I have a couple of little heads from my childhood also that you add to your toothpaste tube end to make it squeeze out less. The toothpaste comes out flat from the mouth of the little person.