Resourcefulness: The budgeter's friend

foxgloves

Right, garden tasks accomplished once the frost had melted, although the ice on the pond took longer so I bet the frogspawn was chilly!
I know my diary posts get rather garden-focused from around now, as we are aiming to have another good year of home grown food. I shan't be offended if readership drops off because I know that not everyone will be interested in the more self-sufficient elements at Foxgloves Manor (which in case anyone hasn't picked up, is a mid-30s semi, not a piece of historic cruck-beamed loveliness). I always think when I hear ML talking about MSE issues in the media that I am much more at the old-style end & less the card-tarting, interest-rate chasing number crunching end of things. Oh look, I'm going off at a tangent already - let's get cracking with today's budget-friendly activities:
*Planned meals for next week.
*Wrote grocery shopping list.
*Baked the sourdough loaf I made yesterday.
*While the oven was on, I rounded up a variety of use-it-up veg & roasted it with garlic. Now in freezer with half a can of butter beans & some l/o bottled tomatoes. That will be next week's crumble base sorted. Will only need to make a cheesy crumble topping, chuck a few pumpkin seeds over the top & job done. It'll feel like a free meal.
*Made tomorrow's packed lunch & breakfast.
*Watered greenhouse seedlings.
*Potted up first lot of tomato seedlings (Roma) plus aubergines. My growing-on system involves a lot of salvaged materials.....i.e Potted in cream/yoghurt pots as well as flower pots which are re-used every year, then they each stand in a little saucer made from the cut-out base of a large yoghurt pot, label cut from empty butter tubs, finally I top them with a home made bottle cloche. They wouldn't look at home in a lifestyle magazine, but all I am interested in is growing healthy food with no pesticides, while adding as little new bought plastic to the planet as possible.
*Sowed cucumbers, basil, coriander & the first tub of carrots.
*Gave all my potted agapanthus a thorough soaking as I can see they are starting to sprout into growth. They should be ok to go back outside next month & as the October-sown sweet-peas are looking sturdy, I think I will plant those out reasonably early in April too. I have some old glass shelves which I saved from an old bathroom cabinet & fridge & they are really useful sweet-pea protection propped up against the wigwams, in case we get chilly nights later into Spring.
*Mr F opened up one of the compost bins for use at the weekend & I've trugged some of it out today to add to the carrot-growing container. Carrots don't like lumps, so I sieved it & it is lovely friable stuff, not soggy at all. I love that nature turns all those veggie scraps & garden cuttings into such a useful thing - it's sustainability in action, isn't it? 
*Cancelled printer ink subscription. Oh my life, I signed into my account thinking it would basically be a couple of clicks, job done, but by the time I'd read everything that must now happen, it began to feel as though I was dealing with some sepulchral organisation which I must never be allowed to leave! Well, I HAVE left, so (as my old Nana used to say), they can "stick it up their jumper!"
*Did 1 survey. 
It's my cooking night. Nothing too onerous as am making kedgeree. I like meals where everything can be prepped in advance & I can just knock it together for dinner. I'm looking forward to reading a few chapters & catching up with Mr F. He has applied to change his working hours & is wating to hear if it has been approved.
Soot has been keeping me company in the garden. Ash came out for a fight with a smoky grey interloper I hadn't seen before. He duffed him up so he had to hide behind the compost bin until he had a chance to escape up the ivy & across next door's fence. Ash immensely pleased with himself - thought he was the knees of an actual bee! His tail was puffed up like a cone! Hope this won't be a regular thing.
Right, time for a little tidy & to bring some more plant babies upstairs.
F x
 

DawnW

My vine weevil nematodes have arrived and have taken up residence in the fridge till it warms up a bit, reputedly from tomorrow. They won't work in frosty compost. I use them in spring and autumn each year, and I must admit I find very few now when I redo the strawberry pots / baskets. I no longer grow primulas in pots (they seed themselves all over the garden instead) and don't have heucherias (sp?), but some years before I discovered nematodes  I have lost every single strawberry plant! The little horrors don't seem to occur in the garden beds - I assume that any there make a tasty lunch for ground beetles etc, as I never find any.

Blackcats

Your veggie crumble sounds very tasty.

I find it funny how cat tails can really puff up.  Even our cat who has a very long, thin tail can make quite a show when interlopers appear.

foxgloves

@DawnW - My primroses are mostly in borders, just a few in Spring containers. Worst affected by far are my container heucherellas.but the nematodes do help.
@Blackcats - They are so funny with their puffed up tails. Ash was pleased with himself for the rest of the day.

Aftermoon Frugal Diary Friends,
Just had an hour on our sunny bench with my book, but heading for a nice bubble bath shortly, as am feeling distinctly composty.
Part of dinner is in the slow cooker, I just need to butterfly a couple of chicken breasts. Productive garden.session. Have sown.containers with radish, 2 types of spring.onion & rocket and also.decluttered a few shed items..
Mr F's request for a change to his work hours has been approved & I am expecting.it to have a positive effect on Project Surbiton - the new schedule doesn't start yet, so I shall have to wait & see how it translates into fuel savings, but I do know it will save a few days of car parking.costs.
Right, I'm.off to de-compost my hair.
Cheers, F x

Sun_Addict

That’s good news about Mr F’s change of hours. Does this mean no more late shifts? 

foxgloves

@Sun_Addict - No, but he wasn't particularly looking to avoid those very late shifts as they are fewer than one a month & he gets TOIL at unsocial hours rate. Basically, he requested to compress his working week into 4 days instead of 5.
F

Makingabobor2

Good news about Mr FG's working hours. My DH would love to work less days, and less hours....lol.  But its not going to happen any time soon while we are still paying off debts.  His current week is 8-6 M-F and every 3rd Saturday 7-11. Also I don't think his job could manage on less days, but maybe he'll one day get to retire early....we can live in hope and dream. That is the problem with me being older than him..

foxgloves

@Makingabobor2 - He won't be working fewer hours, as he will still be full time, but he will start earlier & finish later so as to compress his contracted amount of hours into 4 days instead of 5. He is only called on for weekend working to cover big events or crises. He was looking for better work-life balance & more sustainability in terms of petrol use, so the new working pattern should deliver on both as it will be work 2 days, day off, work another 2 days, weekend. 
We also have an age gap but are looking at it as a positive in terms of pensions as if Mr F is working, we know we are reasonably comfortable on his salary, so when I get my pensions (4 or 5 years earlier than him) I should be able to save a really good proportion of it.
F x

Humdinger1

@foxgloves all your writing is fab! I don't always comment but always read. I sit in the same part of the MSE spectrum as you; can't bear the thought of stoozing though I'm sure it makes sense in some ways.  It depends on previous experience I think.  Love Humdinger xx 

Suffolk_lass

I used to do compressed hours, with 9/10 out of a fortnight. I did every other Friday off, and was allowed to do the alternate Friday WFH which let me think a bit, catch up on anything I had not managed when dealing with staff, and made me more productive. I do realise how fortunate I was to have this option