Resourcefulness: The budgeter's friend

Sun_Addict

Great news about Soot. Sounds like he’s making up for lost eating time. 

Suffolk_lass

It looks as though there are more than one colour if my screen capture of g-search is right...

honeybee1234

Awww am glad Soot is looking better, and I continue to be impressed at your "this is what I accomplished today" list! Which surveys do you do? 

KajiKita

Great news about Soot ❤️ 🐈‍⬛ ❤️

KK

foxgloves

@honeybee1234 - I don't do many survey sites now we are solvent but have stuck with YouGov, Prolific Academic (most of my survey earnings come from this one) & also Ipsos i-say. I am also on a panel called Taste Nation which is based on repetitive questions about buying meat in supermarkets. 

@Suffolk_lass - I've had a look at your screenshot of different Guatemalan Blue Squash photos & ours look most like the ones in the bottom right corner. They start off light green, then progress to a sort of dull grey-bluey-green. Although they are rugby-ball shaped, they are generally much larger than that. 
Yes, they are very rampant plants & I do chop additional vines off ours if they are getting silly, because once the fruits have set, I'd rather than energy went into growing those, not putting out loads more triffidaceous greenery which will soon sprout more baby fruits which once we get into August, are probably not likely to reach a viable size or to ripen. 
Although I haven't had a situation with them like you describe in your fruit cage, I did have a year where one of our plants made good headway into producing a squash, then for no reason I could think of, died back from the roots meaning that the fruit couldn't get any bigger. I cut it off (nowhere near the usual size, more like a small butternut) & left it on our sunny conservatory windowsill. It was fine to eat in early Autumn when we harvested the full sized ones from the other plants. If I was you, I think I would keep the squashes & simply see what happens. They may be a greener strain than my grey/bluey-green ones, idk, as until I saw your link, I assumed they were all the same, but pumpkins aren't, are they, so I think if you go through a windowsill ripening process, then when you cut one open, it's orange butternut colour inside, I think I'd go ahead & roast it to check the flavour. GBS chunks are delicious roasted with garlic & rosemary & Mr F makes a fab macaroni cheese recipe with them which I think is a Waitb00m recipe. I also used them in the Hairy Bikers' butternut & lentil curry, another nice recipe which freezes well.
I haven't taken a photo of my plants, but I could still do so over the weekend if you think it would be at all helpful.
F x

foxgloves

Hello Diary Readers,
It has turned into another of those days which simply disappears. I can't believe it's getting on for 4.30 pm. I suppose having a late lunchtime grocery delivery has sort of distorted my time today. Anyway, an old-style day here at Foxgloves Manor. Soot is still eating - thanks for all your good wishes for him. @weenancyinAmerica - I told him he'd even had a virtual hug from America! Right.....onto today's frugal efforts:
*Groceries arrived on time & were sorted & put away. No lemons. I mean, lemons!! That's a basic, isn't it? Never mind, I can get some from the market on Saturday, but it did mean that this afternoon's planned jam making had to be postponed......so I......
*Froze the kilo of blackberries I picked yesterday.
*Dealt with the rest of yesterday's pickings. Weighed out sufficient jalapenos for my next batch of sauce, prepped & froze another bag of french beans & sliced the tromboncino & some courgettes for serving with tonight's meal.
*Today's pickings: More blackberries (enough for my lunch), courgettes, 2 strawberries - I thought they'd finished!
*Went for a walk to boost my step count. A woman stopped to ask me if I am a member of a local walking club & if so, did I talk to her husband yesterday.....er...."no" & "no" were the answer to that. I am not likely to be a member of ANY group involving exercise. Walking around the village noseying at what people are growing in their gardens & talking to any cats I happen to meet is about my limit of engagement with exercise.....though I did have a little detour down towards the sweetcorn field today to see how my good foraging spot is progressing. Elderberries not bad, loads of blackberries (I don't need those, but what a shame they are not being picked & used when people spend out so regularly on high food-miles supermarket blueberries), rosehips not ready, nor are most of the haws so will keep checking.
*Watered the veg. Tested a grape. As I suspected, not sufficiently ripe yet but getting there.
*Used the free products I was recently sent to test.
*Froze half the loaf I baked yesterday as we are not eating as much bread atm & I didn't want it to go stale.
*Typed up the sewing notes I made at the weekend when my sister explained how to make my simple easy tunic dress pattern into a tiered maxi-dress with different sleeves. Will keep these notes inside the pattern folder so I can make the dress again if I like it (& make a decent job of it).
And apart from it being my cooking night, that is today's tasks done.
I shall try to keep my mind occupied tonight to stop me getting into anxious thinking about my dentist appointment tomorrow. I need 3 fillings, 2 are repairs to existing ones & the 3rd is to repair a tiny sliver of tooth which has broken off. I am trying to remind myself that I am lucky to have an NHS dentist & that Mr F is off work so can drive me into the city for my appointment & calm me down while I'm there.
Love to all.....& keep those pennies in your purses. Or at least stop & think whether you can shop the item from home? Amazing how many times this turns out to be possible!
F x

PennysIntoPounds

Hope all goes smoothly and quickly tomorrow.
Glad Soot is seeming okay.
I wonder what the woman in the street comment was all about?! Nice to know you look enough like a temptress vixen to be stopped and asked if you'd been speaking to a random's husband!

Makingabobor2

Good luck at the dentist. 

foxgloves

Lol, PiP...I've no idea what it was about. It did feel very random.

KajiKita

Sending gentle dentist vibes ….

KK