Resourcefulness: The budgeter's friend

foxgloves

Hello Diary readers,
Not a no-spend day as had to pop out for spread (I missed it off yesterday's grocery list) & then decided I deserved a gardening magazine. Noted that this year's Co-op divi is already up to almost £27, which is encouraging, as we always use it for Christmas groceries.
Made apricot & coriander stuffing for Easter lunch tomorrow..Could NOT get Mr F even to contemplate me making just a half-quantity. Apparently, he's 'factored it in for various dinners". Hmmmm. I'll be interested to see where it ends up (down his face on Sunday night, that's where!)
Another pleasant couple of hours in the greenhouse pr i cking out cosmos double-dutch rose & echium blue bedder. Rescued several tawny mining bees which had become entrapped in the sweet-pea fleece. They turn up every year & make little nests in our lawn. They are the most lovely creatures - they look as though they've been made by a miniaturist from the finest orange velvet. 
All the yoghurt pots I saved have made excellent modules for growing on seedlings. I can fit 15 to a roughly A4-size seed tray, which keeps them stable. I've planted up 3 trays of these this afternoon.
Nothing else for me to do today, apart from covering the veg babies at sunset. I've just fetched a big glass of water & I'm going to read a bit more of my library book - "Wrong place, wrong time" by Gillian McAllister.
Mr F's cooking night, so bum/sofa interface time for me.
F x

foxgloves

@Four_Seasons - You'd be welcome to some rhubarb if you lived closer. I seem to think you are in an adjoining county, but on the most distant side from us. I might put a few bundles tied in newspaper out on our front, on the basis of "Help yourself for a small donation through the letterbox for our local cat rescue charity'. I'm thinking if our rhubarb is already a triffid at the beginning of April, we are probably looking at glut levels as the season progresses.
F x

Makingabobor2

That's a great idea for the rhubarb. I'm sure you'd get lots of interest. Sounds like you had a good day. X

Pink12345

Long time lurker, I stew 5 or 6 stalks of rhubarb in a pot, no added water or sugar.  When rhubarb is stewed I sprinkle a packet of strawberry sugarfree jelly over it, mix well, divide into 4 portions, let it set, and serve with natural yogurt.  Being diabetic it let's me enjoy rhubarb without all that sugar.

foxgloves

That's a good idea, @Pink12345. I am not fond of the taste of artificial sweeteners, but I'm thinking that the sharpness of the rhubarb might deal with that in this instance, so I may well give this a try. Thanks.
F 

foxgloves

Good morning dear readers, & Spring blessings to you all on this Easter Sunday. Alas none of the promised sunshine yet, but I think this murk will probably burn off later - enough to enjoy a spell out on our coffee bench, anyway.
Mr F brought me breakfast in bed this morning & announced he was already 'doing things with lamb'. As you can imagine, I'm already eyeing it up for leftovers opportunities..I have planned to make lamb bhuna tomorrow, but anything else will be on a 'wait & see' basis. 
We had invited friends over for the day today, but have postponed this for a couple of weeks or so because we just didn't know how I'd be feeling. I'm feeling quite a lot better, apart from bad IBS, which I'm sure will just be the stress of it all. 
I think I mentioned we had a potential boundary issue with a neighbour who is making changes? I hated his initial proposal & we submitted an alternative solution to him (Mr F's idea) which he loved! The work went straight ahead & the new stretch of fencing which ensued has, if I'm honest, solved a couple of garden problems we had too. I'm looking forward to getting nest boxes up, re-siting a new bee box & planting the area up. I propagate most of what I need from divisions to save ££ but I might treat myself to a dahlia, as I've seen a rather lovely one called 'Cappucino'. Have also taken some firethorn cuttings in case I decide to go that route with some climbers at the back.
Well, you don't need to start your Easter celebrations with my extended gardening ramblings, so I'll wish you all the blessings of Spring & leave you to your chocolate.
F xx

Suffolk_lass

Have a lovely Easter, to you too. We are off out for tea. I need to go and get some cream (maybe clotted) and strawberries. I made scones to take at 06.00 this morning. And blue skies are poking through now. Happy days!

Makingabobor2

Have a lovely day FG. Hope the IBS settles. As a fellow sufferer, I know what you mean about stress making it worse.  Mr FG is lovely bringing you breakfast in bed, think my DH could do with taking a leaf out of his book. Even when I had my arm in a sling with a painful broken shoulder the other year, DH would just dash off to work in the morning without any thought to what I might have trouble doing while he was out....lol.  He's not one for thinking of others. You obviously got yourself a good one there...lol

Sun_Addict

Apparently the nice sunny weather is in the west of the country today. Hopefully it will brighten up later for us eastern folks. 

CRANKY40

Spring blessings to you too. I'm happy to see that you're feeling better. I have today earmarked for another cut of the grass (first cut after winter was the day before yesterday) and some weeding. Actually a lot of weeding if I'm honest. I like seeing your garden info. If you hadn't said about miner bees I would be none the wiser.