Resourcefulness: The budgeter's friend

Suffolk_lass

I wrote to my MP last year asking why new-build warehouses, diy sheds, and other industrial and retail builds are not required to have a monotilt roof, covered in PV-solar, facing south. 

The answer from BEIS was full of preferring not to regulate, encouraging best practice and more tory-speak policies for doing nothing.  The government of do nothing. Impose no obligation on our friends and party donors. 

foxgloves

And now for today's post (before I embark on a one-woman protest march, lol!)
Well, I'd earmarked today for a nice busy gardening session, but of course when I pulled the curtains first thing, everywhere was  frozen white again & the last of it didn't thaw until the sun really got going on the back garden after lunch. I'll see what it looks like out there tomorrow. Anyway, I've still had a useful day indoors & some leisure time too. A few small wins with the money saving:
*Laundry had thoroughly dried by this morning - certainly didn't need as much heated airer time for big towels when they've been pegged out. Even though they only part-dried yesterday, it was a help. 
*Only 2 items required ironing - so very little electricity needed there.
*Chased workman (not literally - that would be terrifying for him!) & discussed the most likely week for the work. I am keen to get this sorted as I am working blind with the cost atm & would like to know if I will have surplus money to via to the savings pots after he has finished. He has a genuine reason for the delay, so I'm not complaining about the wait from that point of view.
*Baked a sourdough & a standard 50:50 loaf together. I'll freeze one of them - the idea was that I need to make better use of the oven to save a bit of gas. If I can get into the habit of baking two loaves together, I will save about 50 mins of gas each time. I did start doing this last year, but stopped because it's difficult to synchronise the different proving times for the different types of loaf. It worked today though, as I mixed up the sourdough, then weighed all the ingredients into the mixer for the other loaf, but waited 3 hours before I mixed it up. It's easy enough to do on a day when I'm at home. 
*Continued ongoing clear-out. Today I've done my stationery/cards stash, my in-box & the cat cupboard. Good to have things neat & tidy, but a knock-on effect is the stuff that is found when clearing out. For instance, I have discovered sufficient Easter cards for this year so won't need to buy any, a pack of nice notelets with seaside paintings, which could double-up as cards if necessary, a pile of unwritten postcards from the area we just happen to be holidaying in later this year, 2 cat toys they haven't played with for months so I've put those out for a change, 1 bag of cat treats they had for Christmas & I'd forgotten about because they'd slipped to the back of the cupboard, my Mum's big Denby vase which I can never find when I need it, so have relocated it, a useful-sized jam jar which has been washed & added to my stash, an empty ice-cream container which with a few holes punched in the base will be an excellent free seed tray & the outdoor cat/hedgehog bowl, which I had lost! At this rate, I'll soon be finding that slow cooker trivet! 
*Did a couple of surveys. All my earnings in Feb are going to the savings pots, which is providing additional incentive.
*Have cast off the pair of socks I'm knitting for Mr F for the presents stash. Will also knit a bit more of my friend's wrap tonight.
*Tonight's meal a v easy one in the slow cooker - smoky sausages & beans. It will feed us today with some chunky freshly-baked sourdough bread & also provide 2 microwave mugs for packed lunches, which I will freeze.
*Oh, & the rice pudding I tried making last night on the hob was fine, so I've added it to my regular recipe folder to remind me to do it this way in future. Mr F is the rice pudding fiend & he actually said he preferred it, while I was really only motivated by tight-wadding it with the gas-use!
Right, I can see another survey has landed, so I'll get onto that, then crack on.
F x

Makingabobor2

Another very productive day by the sound of it. 

foxgloves

@Suffolk_lass - That is exactly it. Look after themselves & their donors before the needs of the country. No need for the current shower to waste the paper on writing a manifesto, as that is all that needs to be said. I think that if each political party was state-funded (very modestly) according to their vote share of the last general election, & the ONLY other party funding could come from individual membership fees, that would eradicate this country's toxic 'donations for policies' (or 'buying influence' as you & I would call it if we were trying to avoid the actual word 'corruption') almost overnight. I would support that in a heartbeat. Nothing decent, green & fair ever seems to get off the blocks here because the housebuilding giants, oil & gas industry, etc, have to be kept happy. We will never be a progressive modern country without big change. I used to think I would see it in my lifetime, but I am now thinking that I probably won't, as the spew from some of the right-wing ideologues seems to belong to another century & it too plays its role in keeping ordinary people poor. Mr F nearly spat out his coffee the other day when I told him who would be our MP, if we were in a position to move to Suffolk now, rather than later, lol. I had to remind him that it wouldn't make a lot of difference, seeing as we currently live in Toryville where the incumbant has a very large majority. Anyway, I am winding myself up now, so will go & see what the cats are doing - they went crackers earlier as I gave them one of those stinky licky treats, 3 licks each, then swap, until it was finished!
F x

foxgloves

@Makingabobor2 - I do like to be busy. I enjoy reading, so am happy to have an hour so with my book, but apart from that, I get quite fidgetty if I am not well occupied during daytime. I definitely couldn't sit & watch lots of TV in the day. I often watch just one episode of some or other series over my lunch hour, but if I tried to watch an extra one or binge-watch something, I'd soon lose my concentration & be thinking of other stuff I'd rather be doing. It's just how I am, I think.
F x

Makingabobor2

I agree, FG, sitting watching day time TV is mind numbing...lol.  TBH, even in the evening I normally only watch Emmerdale and then we'll find something to watch for an hour before bed. At weekends we often watch a film, but too much TV in one day drives me mad. Sitting still gives me pain in my hips and back as well, so like to keep moving. I'm typing this with the laptop on the kitchen worktop and I'm standing up doing some steps and hip circles as I type....lol   Will be glad when evenings are lighter and days are better for getting in the garden and going out more. 
Agree about reading as well, if I don't have at least 2 things to read on the go, I feel lost and I'm currently knitting my blanket in squares for my GS, but its seems to be a slow job...lol. I'm no where near as expert at knitting as you are. x

foxgloves

@Makingabobor2 - If you can cast on, cast off, knit & purl, then you can pretty much knit anything as most patterns are just variants of that, esp the textured ones like rib, moss stitch, basket stitch, etc. Even cable is just knitting certain stitches in a slightly different order to make twists & ropes. It's confidence to have a go more than anything.
F x

Makingabobor2

foxgloves said:

@Makingabobor2 - If you can cast on, cast off, knit & purl, then you can pretty much knit anything as most patterns are just variants of that, esp the textured ones like rib, moss stitch, basket stitch, etc. Even cable is just knitting certain stitches in a slightly different order to make twists & ropes. It's confidence to have a go more than anything.
F x

Yes indeed. My mum used to be brilliant at knitting all sorts, but despite her trying to teach me, I never seemed to master it all. Think maybe my problem is lack of patience and I don't want to have to concentrate on fancy cable stitch and stuff like that. I just want it to knit up quickly and that means plain & purl....lol.  I can do basket stitch and rib etc. Which is moss stitch? I am trying to make all the squares of the blanket different stitches. I need to go to charity shop to look for more bags of odd wool again as well. 

weenancyinAmerica

Sounds like politicians are the same everywhere in the world. And so are builders. You could be talking about any city in the United States too.

lucielle

Just to add my bit to the renewables. I was approached to go back to my old company because they regretted not listening to the dippy hippy in 2014 to get solar panels installed. Currently looking at lots of things, who knew you can get PV glass. I’m going through the motions but tbh I’ll be impressed if anything does get installed. 

L