Resourcefulness: The budgeter's friend

foxgloves

Hello & thanks for all your lovely comments. I've enjoyed reading about your bird sightings. We are not birdwatchers as such, but we enjoy wildlife spotting generally when we are out & about, as well as in our own garden & then of course, we always want to find out about species we've seen. Have had a beautiful cinnabar moth in our garden this last fortnight, despite us having no ragwort - its caterpillar food plant. I am wondering if the jungle garden a couple of doors down has some. If not, we are pretty close to the river & village wildlife area & there's bound to be some there.
@EssexHebridean - I have reported our swift nests in the past via a BTO website. I think that is important with a red-listed species. I'll have a proper look at your link. I can see swifts logged for our end of the village but no nests so I will add those as we know we defo have 3.
 Honestly, we have seen the number of swifts declining here since we first moved in 20 years ago. They still arrive every year, but what has changed? Well, I'll tell you, as it is what motivated us to install swift boxes. Our end of the village consists mostly of 1930s houses with the traditional tiled roof & wooden fascia boards. And as with all older houses, things need replacing, so the new PVC soffits & fascias have gradually gone in, meaning that the village swifts can no longer squeeze up under the pantiles to nest. Before we had our old wooden boards replaced, in a good year, we would have as many as 6 nests. They weren't in our loft, just the little space under the tiles. We'd have 2 nests at the back of the house, 2 at the side & 2 at the front. I used to love the early summer mornings watching them swoop down then fold themselves up into the nest above our bedroom window. Eventually, we couldn't ignore our shoddy falling-to-bits fascias any longer so we too had the more affordable PVC. However, when sorting out a quote, I made it clear that installing swift boxes for us was going to be a deal breaker in terms of who got the work. I duly bought 3 boxes & as the installers were up ladders anyway, they fixed them up & actually, I don't think they charged me anything extra in the end. So yes, they weren't cheap - £39 per box, but they have been in use even from the first year, so we both feel it was only a relatively modest amount of money to ensure at least some of our beautiful swift families - who head back specifically to their previous nest sites from Africa every year - wouldn't be homeless. We get such a lot of pleasure watching them that every penny was worth it.
F

foxgloves

@badmemory - I have been thinking about your question today & I am not sure it's an easy one to answer. I haven't been involved in things this time around, but I have in the past & have also been a local party secretary & a local councillor. So I've been thinking back to times I have been involved & applying that to your query if you see what I mean. 
No, they don't know......that is, unless you tell them. For instance, if a canvasser were to knock on my door now, the only way they would know my voting intentions would be if I told them, or if I was displaying a campaign poster in my window. Same goes for a postal vote. These are absolutely confidential, but sometimes campaigners know a bit more because voters willingly share that information. All voting is completely confidential & should not be influenced in any way. Some voters when engaging with campaign stalls say things like 'Ooooh, I've done my postal vote & I'm voting for you', but this is random information as they you don't know who they are, plus they have already voted so it's irrelevant. When activists are campaigning, if they knock, say a few doors on a street & the residents say 'Oh yes, I'm definitely voting for you', they may make a note of those addresses & just check on Election Day that the person has been out to vote.....for instance they might require a lift to the polling station or they might have forgotten. This is what's known as 'getting out the vote'. Even then, there is no obligation. My Nana regularly used to take up the offer of a lift from one party & happily cast her vote for the other side! 
As for lists of people who are members of political parties, I think that anything in this line would run foul of GDPR. I have been involved in politics in this area so if certain people knocked on my door canvassing, anyone who served as a councillor at the same time as me would know what party I support, but apart from that, aside from obvious campaign materials being displayed or me telling them, there isn't any way I can think of that they would have that information. 
Hope this helps at least a bit. It's difficult answering such questions impartially, but I hope I have succeeded in doing so.
F

foxgloves

And now for today's post. Just a few budget-helping bits & bobs today, as I've been thinking about relaxing into the weekend. Anyway, such as they are:
*Did a few minor budget updates. This was mostly grocery budget-related. Very good supermarket shop last night - the only deviation from the list was to buy a very large size peanut butter because it worked out so much more cost effective, & one item which wasn't on the list, but was yellow-stickered & will provide a meal (now in our freezer). This means that even though our target spend for this week (Week 4 of June's cycle) was over £20 less than it should ideally be, we still have £30 left to cover bargainaceous BBQ items from the butcher tomorrow, as well as a couple of outstanding items from the C**p. I have met Mr F halfway with his beer - half from grocery budget & he says he'll kick in the other half from his (still healthy-looking) Personal Spends. It was a good deal, but a much bigger box than he'd usually buy on our weekly grocery shop. 
*Baked a crusty loaf for the weekend
*Cleaned the house - usual minimal products & washable cloths. Must go & take the vacuum off charge in a minute, as can't have that vampiring away when I'm trying to build up a decent wodge of energy bill credit.
*Entered 2 competitions.
*Did 3 surveys.
*A bit more knitting progress for the presents bag.
*Checked veg for any further pests of problems.
Was reading some tips from Anya Lautenbach (author of 'Money-Saving Gardener') & the one that resonated with me the most was 'Think differently' because I think it applies to all areas of money-saving, not just gardening. Not just the attitudinal stuff - the re-training of one's mindset, accepting a longer game than instant gratification, etc, but the re-purposing of all sorts of free or otherwise thrown away objects which turn 'stuff' into 'resources'. At its simplest in money saving terms, I guess for me, it was initially that change from 'I want it & I want it now' to 'I'd like it, but that doesn't mean I have to race to acquire it at this moment, especially as I don't have the money put aside, so would have to use someone else's'. And of course that 'someone else's money' is usually the bank's or other lender.......& on goes another blob of debt! I'm going to try the mental application of 'Think differently' to all the issues that arise over the next week or two & see if it results in anything that I feel 'stuck' with being moved on.
I can hear Soot grumbling that he hasn't had his afternoon treats, so had better go & do that too!
Enjoy your Friday nights all,
F x  

badmemory

Thank you so much for your response which was exactly what I expected especially re GDPR.  I am going to have to find someone to address this with as my DS has had a letter that included the fact that he has a postal vote & I haven't but then I am a member of another party.  He would never tell anyone especially as he never speaks to anyone.

savingmore

Lurking to harp back to an old conversation about peeling onions.  I wear a pair of swimming goggles, bought just for peeling onions.  Works a treat and absolutely no tears.  Just remember to take off if the door bell goes!  I once forgot and didn’t realise I had them on, not sure what the person thought as my hubby later told. !!  Always makes him laugh when he sees me peeling onions.  I sometimes get my food processor out and do a lot together and freeze in small quantities, find that too satisfying really!

foxgloves

@savingmore - Lol, I have heard of people wearing goggles for peeling, but I haven't tried it because I just know I would have a similar experience as you & open the door while still wearing them! I do sometimes use a food pro if I'm chopping a lot for chutney or sauce-making. 
F

foxgloves

Morning Campers!
Not made any proper firm plans or an actual written job list, but I am thinking that the budget-helping elements of today will be:
*Mr F off to market early for picking up BBQ bargainaceousness from butcher. Can't beat his prices.
*Old lawnmower (apparently) to be fired up for a final mow,if this proves to be possible so as to use up the last bit of petrol in the tank. Mr F more optimistic about this than me, but I don't blame him for trying with fuel being expensive.
*Plant out tuscan kale plants which are big enough now (free seed sent to me by kind person), followed by joint effort at covering them with insect mesh/canes.
*Side shoot & tie in tomato plants again! (You can tell some of this list is about looking after future food pickings)
*Thin out grapes for fewer but better bunches.
*Respond to YouGov survey invitation.
*Bake biscuits.
*Boost compost nutrients with a trugful of duckweed from the pond. Is it nutritious? I don't know, but it is very green & looks as though it should be. The tadpoles like chomping it. Tedious task netting it out so I will make that an early job before I talk myself out of it.
*Sort out a random selection of pots containing various things I've grown from cuttings. Get rid of the unsuccessful stuff & think about where best to plant out the others.
*Pot up some hollyhocks seedlings. I sowed these ages ago but they have been sulking. I will see if I can get a dozen decent ones - if not, no problem, it was saved seed from a pod I liberated from a plant in a local supermarket car park. I also have a new packet of hollyhocks seed free on my latest gardening magazine, so nothing lost if these sulky seedlings don't want to play.
*Pick a little posy of free blooms for my purple flower bottle.
*Carry on looking for snail hiding places. I FINALLY found the baddie in the greenhouse who had been helping himself liberally to my pepper & basil plants. I've been searching for ages, but he got cocky last night, didn't he, & fastened himself to a pane of glass above the aubergines in full view. He has now gone on holiday to a challenging area behind one of Mr F's log piles. He was later joined by a few friends who were found lurking suspiciously close to the french beans.
I'd go & get started on the tomato tying in now as I enjoy early mornings, but I am waiting for 2 parcels, so it can wait until after breakfast. I've had my mug of ginger tea, but my main interest now is firing up the coffee machine.
Wishing everyone a lovely Saturday. It's cooler here & cloudy after yesterday's sunshine, but it's early in the day & tbh, I will achieve more if it doesn't get too hot.
F x

Suffolk_lass

Lol, I love a good anecdote @savingmore! Over here, I cut the root part off the onion, then peel the outer layers of brown, then cut it in half vertically, cut side down on the chopping board. I slice away from just belowthe growing top (vertically) to the root, then horizontally, holding the top to stop it slipping. This minimises exposure to the juice-producing surfaces and combined with wearing my spectaculars, minimises tears. I also breathe through my mouth if it is a particularly strong onion. I used to be a cover chef in a restaurant (duty manager, jack of all trades) and was shown this by one of the chefs, and it works well.

thriftmonster

I'm also a fan of swimming goggles especially when doing pounds of little ones for pickled onions. The other tip I heard is to sit at the table if possible to do them. You are further back rather than leaning over the kitchen counter. 

Blackcats

Including nesting boxes was such a thoughtful thing to do and has paid dividends.  

At our local Indian restaurant the metal cigarette stubber out and disposal box on the wall outside their door has been adopted as a nesting box.  It's now labelled up "do not use" and one of the waiters told us that he feels like he is responsible for a new family.  You can hear lots of birdy sound effects when you walk past which is sweet but incongruous coming from an ashtray.