From Frugal Foundations to Fortified Family Future

kayannie

We had a metal detector many years ago when our two DC's were young. We never took it seriously,  just detecting in our family's gardens. We never found anything older than a Victorian 'bun' penny, but our little ones got very excited, scrabbling about in the soil when we heard the bleep!

At about the same time, my DH began digging on Victorian rubbish dumps ( no refuse collections in those days!).  He often came across broken clay pipes, some of them had really intricate designs. I think the pipes were treated as disposable which is why so many are being dug up. 

KA

Greying_Pilgrim

Oooh, kayannie how exciting.  We went through a phase of watching all the videos of a lass called Nicola who mudlarked in the Thames.  She was a claypipe magnet - even complete ones, 2, 3, 400 years old.  She was as interested in the ones that were just the 'pipes' and gave a makers mark, as she was with the ones that had intricate 'bowl' designs.  And yes, super disposable - but I still find it amazing that she could wander along and extract a whole clay pipe from the mud, which was like 300 years old - as pristine as the day it went plop over the side of a boat.  Some even still had a plug of baccy inside!    LG & me got quite good (due to her teaching) on spotting 'approximately' how old a pipe was by its size of bowl and length of pipe.  Sooooo interesting.  

Yes, it's a 'bun' penny they found and it was struck at the Heaton Mint (Brum) as it has a 'H' under the date, below Britannia - rather than at the Royal Mint (London) which had no letter under the date (I goggled all that - didn't know it before).

We had dhal and rice for tea (LG's request) and then strawberries and yoghurt.  The strawberries were very fragrant - it was a nice treat.  There was lentil dhal left over and I've got two cartons to freeze once they are fully cooled.  

Not too sure what DH has planned for tomorrow, but I have suggested a day trip out on Saturday and he's agreed to it - possibly because it is something of interest to him...... 🤔  LG will like it too, so it will only be me that is not 100% interested, but I'll be there as official navigator, chronicler and provider of picnic snap 😁  

Today I am grateful that with the exception of apples, I got everything on my list, plus a couple of 'treats' and it was all within budget.  I had forgotten to say - that whilst I spent £17/£10 today of the bulk fund - which appears to have 'bust' the budget, I actually hadn't spent any of the bulk allocation for something like 3 months, so, in theory, it's £17/something like £40, but bulk buying is so hit and miss, I would rather record it as an overspend this month.  Some months I spend - ie if red lentils are on offer, and then other months I need nothing, so don't spend.  If it changes drastically, then I think I will have to consider having an annual pot or something.  

Ta for popping in and joining in the conversation.  Appreciated.

Greying X

rtandon27

ooo - Mud-larking in your own back yard - how exciting for LG!!!

The crumble you inspired went to good use today, as we helped feed the gardening volunteers at our veg box place.  We made the apple/strawberry version with a nut & oat crumble - used up lots of ends & was super tasty with a cup of coffee!

kayannie

I read an article in a magazine recently about a Thames mudlarker called Lara Maiklem. She's recently published a book 'A mudlarking year'. I've tried ordering it from the library but as it's so new they've not got it yet. It should be available soon - I'm looking forward to reading it. 

I love this kind of thing - if I lived in London, I'm sure I'd be on the banks of the Thames, up to my knees in mud!

I didn't know about the Heaton Mint, you've taught me something new!

KA

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Morning MSE'rs

Ooooh RT - how kind of you to make a crumble for the volunteers, sounds scrummy too!  

kayannie - that name rings a bell, I'm not sure if Lara hasn't been a guest on Nicola's channel.  I know that quite a few of the Thames mudlarkers got into it because they went on a session with a licensed mudlarker and got bitten by the bug.  Some of the finds are just amazing - virtually complete glass bottles from the 1600's, which look like truncated modern champagne bottles.  Some even have the pub/brewery mark on them (same with stoneware ale flasks).  I hope I'm not making this up, but doesn't Sir Ian McKellen own a pub in London that is on the Thames and is ages old.  I'm sure that one of the bottles/flasks Nicola or Si(mon)finds got was contemporaneous with IM's pub (hope I've not just dreamt that up!).

So I was reading that MrA have decided to not roll out anymore self-service tills and plough more money into staffed tills instead.  They say they've reached peak self-serve and need to reverse declining sales.  In our local store (which is only a smallish one - former sAf3way), it isn't so much how you are served - there are all 3 options to shop in-store, but the fact that in recent times, there has been no stock on the shelves to buy.  The store was no better/no worse than other shops in the pandemic - they went through the same outtages - but since the global turndown and various shortages, they have failed to bounce back, even when commodity markets have smoothed out the wrinkles.  I am less likely to waste petrol going there, as there is no guarantee they have the stock in place 😕 Perhaps they would have more customers to serve if they had stuff to buy?

I need to do some cooking today.  I need to prep something for tea tomorrow, so that we can heat and eat on our return from a long day out.  I also need to make cake, as the tin is empty and a bit of cake on a picnic is nice.  I'll plump for fruit cake I think.  

DH has agreed to take LG out on the bikes today.  They may even call in at a community cafe too, which would be a nice treat.  I've washing to peg out - had to re-wash some items from the other day, thanks to birds leaving their 'calling cards' 😡on several items - my clothes, of course 🙄Then I need to pop another load on - good chance of it drying today.

Well, best crack on I suppose.  Ta for popping by.

Greying X

Cheery_Daff

Ooh, this is very exciting finding ancient relics in your own garden! 😊 Hope you enjoy your day out today 😊😊

debtfreewannabe321

We rotivated our last garden as it was full of nettle when we moved in and the kids were still quite small and needed it to play in safely (the nettles were taller than them 🤣)..we found a Belfast sink (sadly smashed ) a scythe, a whole tonne of marbles - someone clearly lost all of theirs 🤣 and a load of lovely old bricks that we used for a bug hotel. We also found medicine glass bottles which the kids probably still have. They thought it was amazing finding all this treasure buried. No buried money though sadly ...

rtandon27

Cycling with Papa will be the highlight of the week for LG - I think you two are doing a stellar job of building good childhood memories for the little one! 

Most of us who grew up in frugal households had no idea they were frugal until we grew up and saw it in hindsight!  Our treasured memories are of spending time together, even something so simple as straightening nails, hulling strawberries or pitting cherries made lasting summer memories!

ETA - I must admit that OH and I are two of the 12 volunteers so had ulterior motives for providing a snack with our morning coffee! 🤣🤣🤣 - that and using up the apples🍎, cherries🍒, broken nuts & last chunk of aging butter🧈 from the stores.

themadvix

rtandon27 said:

Cycling with Papa will be the highlight of the week for LG - I think you two are doing a stellar job of building good childhood memories for the little one! 

Most of us who grew up in frugal households had no idea they were frugal until we grew up and saw it in hindsight!  Our treasured memories are of spending time together, even something so simple as straightening nails, hulling strawberries or pitting cherries made lasting summer memories!

You are very right about this RT, but I'd exchange 'frugal' for 'simple'. Nothing wrong with either in my view, but simple is more accepted by wider society. Doing simple, enjoyable tasks together (that usually have some element of purpose/learning) is the key to a good childhood I think.

Greying_Pilgrim

I'd heartily agree with the sentiment behind either frugal or simple upbringing, and you're all right, it is that sort of childhood/upbringing that we want for LG - mostly by choice, partially by circumstance.  I had a very frugal upbringing, as the household was poor - no getting around it, we were in the lower (but not lowest) wage percentiles for families.  Our household today is not rich, but we are significantly better off than (certainly) my childhood household - we own our own home for a start, my childhood was spent in tied-accommodation and then LA housing stock. 

But in my childhood, there was less disparity, more people were on low to less than average incomes. We literally had no idea that we were poor - everyone was like us (well, the vast majority, anyway).  I think the difference today is that there is more disparity, and social media plays up to people's feelings of lack, or wanting what others have.  Heck, there are people who make their livelihoods out of showing us 'look what I have/am doing/where I am/who I'm with......'

It wasn't all rosy, and the other day, when we went past a factory that uses fibre glass - the smell took me straight back to watching my dad do bodywork repairs on our various old cars with fibreglass kits ........ LG had no concept of what I was talking about - you wouldn't be able to get a car through it's MOT nowadays with such home bodged repairs...... But I remember all the parents around used to garden (veg growing over flowers), make furniture, mend cars, knit sweaters, sew/repair clothes, homebrew etc etc depending on their various skills and abilities.  

I still marvel when LG is excited or happy with some simple pleasure or other - we are very lucky, and I still implore DH to enjoy this time, as it won't last forever, and the screens and brands and expectations will all start to creep in.  That's the way life is.  It doesn't matter how much I dislike the way the world is going, it will go on in that direction long after I've popped me clogs, and it's future generations who will have to navigate technology etc etc.

Greying X