Resourcefulness: The budgeter's friend

Sun_Addict

One of our cats disappeared for a few days then reappeared. Not the current cats, this is a past one. One of DS’s cats disappeared recently and sadly never returned despite adverts and several local people keeping an eye out 😢

I bet you’re giving Soot lots of cuddles tonight ❤️ 

Elisheba

So glad he's back, the rascal! It's do awful, when you know there must be something wrong, imagining all the horrible things that could have happened to them. 

Blackcats

So pleased to hear that the wanderer has returned.  Such a relief.

I recently listened to The Appeal and really enjoyed it.  A very different format and a good storyline.  I haven't read the Twyford Code yet but The Alperton Angels is in my wish list and will be my next read.   

Well done on the weight loss.  That's a lot of lbs you've shed.  

foxgloves

That's on my list too, @Blackcats..'The Twyford Code' has a similarly unusual narrative structure in that it is told entirely in transcriptions from audio files. It's quite a complicated story, but soon had me hooked. 
F

foxgloves

Well....today, Money Savers, was as though I'd untied a bow on a big parcel & Spring fell out! Only last week I was heading into the city centre in sleet. This morning, I'd intended to have an extra hour in bed with a coffee & my book, but the blueness of the sky & actual sun....plus wanting to make the most of my 8-10am key fat burning window...hastened me forth to the garden. Frugal wins?
*Roughly 4 hours of free fitness, including clearing, weeding & forking over this year's lettuce bed.
*Free plants added to borders - lots of apricot foxgloves grown from seed last year (seed saved by my friend). They may not come true to the variety, but are good sturdy large plants & it'll be interesting to see what colours emerge at flowering time.
*Self-sown foxgloves (will be purple, pink or white) transplanted to wilder area around shed & 3 self-sown aquilegias moved to fill gaps.
*Mr F continued levelling the narrow area at the back of my herb bed & got on with turning some very rubbish old broken paving slabs into a pathway. It looks way better than before, which was a real trip hazard for me trying to water & pick things with nowhere to put my feet. The problem has been solved cost-free, just from using old crud we already had.
*Planted out 2 autumn-sown parsley plants.
*Mr F opened & loosened up 2 compost bins & oooh, it's bloomin' good stuff! 
*Two baths from one fill of hot water.....motivated by spotting that the smart meter was only registering £1.94 of gas used by lunchtime. The more the warmer temperatures & sun on our front windows hold the thermostat at 18 degrees or above, the more those smart meter figures will fall.
*Synchronised our diaries for the week ahead to help with food planning. I don't know how many times I've said it, but being organised always saves us money.
It's feet up with my book time now. Mr F is roasting a chicken & I'm eyeing that for at least 2 further meals, probably 3, & hopefully a sandwich.
Enjoy the rest of your Sunday -
Love F (& snoozy boys Soot & Ash)
xx

foxgloves

@Cheery_Daff - Yes, exactly that! Am really looking forward to setting up my 'Shopping from home boutique'. I may start it this week, depending on how I get on with various other things, & I want to combine it with packing away my more wintery gear.
F x

Humdinger1

Wonderful @foxgloves! What is this 8-10am fat-burning zone?! I thought I'd read that exercise in the afternoon was good from a diabetic viewpoint but I'm standing by to be educated.   Onwards and upwards love Humdinger xx 

foxgloves

Hi Friend Humdinger,.
Here at Foxgloves Manor, we are back on the weight-loss wagon. We are adhering to the 'Traffic Light Diet' (Judith Wills) principles for meals/nutrition, as we know we can lose weight with her plan. In addition, we are trying TRE ......not the 16:8 diet, but the very similar 14:10 (as per Jeanette Hyde's book, which I borrowed from the library). Our 'eating window' is from 10am to 8pm. For the remaining 14 hours, we are fasting, so just water & we have a black coffee when we get up. So after 12 hrs of fasting (& much of that is spent asleep in bed), one's glycogen stores have pretty much been used up, which means that any activity between 8am & 10am will need to draw on fat stores converting to ketones, etc. I did wonder if not eating till later would make me feel wobbly, as I did develop noticeable low blood sugar wobbles during my long & difficult perimenopause, but now that's behind me, I seem to be fine. I've not wanted to waste fat burning potential of those 2 hours, so have had a walk, vacuumed the house, put in a gardening session, etc. TRE is not something we've tried before, so it will.be interesting to monitor continued weight loss. Hope this answers your question, @Humdinger1. 
F x

Humdinger1

Thanks @foxgloves it does.  The TRE deffo helped me reverse diabetes but I didn't know the detail re 12 hrs of fasting and glycogen use though thought I'd memorised the writings of Dr Moseley! Fascinating love Humdinger xx 

foxgloves

@Humdinger1 - Yes, Mr Moseley a prolific writer on weight-control. We enjoyed the 'Horizon' TV programmes he did a few years ago..I found one about exercise really interesting - the one which involved an experiment with 3 couples to look at their calorie burn. One couple, I think, went to the gym, another did their usual household chores & I can't remember what the 3rd couple did. The interesting thing to me was how many calories the 'household chores' couple burned. I suppose the gym people burned lots while they were there, but then that was their activity done, whereas the people shopping, cleaning & pottering about were not as high-intensity, but remained active for a lot longer (NEATS, as MM called this kind of calorie burning) Anyway, I found it motivating because I have zero interest in gyms or anything high intensity, sport-based or reminiscent of PE, but I am generally active, especially in the garden.
F x