From Frugal Foundations to Fortified Family Future

Greying_Pilgrim

RT - is that MrAsd* or MrAld*?  Our one MrAld* has the most rudest staff, and the other is a nightmare to enter/exit.  Our MrAsd* is a small store (former saf3way) and I gave up on them, even for bits and pieces, some time ago, as they are worse than MrL for no stock.  

I wish I could accompany you to the Korean supermercado you're checking out this lunctime tho.  So exciting!  

Greying X

badmemory

I've found a lot of places show prices on their websites but never any stock.  I've always said you can sell as cheap as you like if no-one can actually buy it.  That seems to be proving very true.

EssexHebridean

Now that Lils have given up on offering a decent "reward" for the £50 spend threshold on the L+ app I'm going to be returning to a bit more shopping around - starting this week with a visit to Al's I think - this also has the advantage of being walkable from home, albeit I have to be strict with what I buy so it will fit the two bags I can carry! I'm not going to go to the hassle of getting into the car and driving to the bottom of town, navigating the horrible retail park as well, if I don't have to. The T's store I use is also at the bottom of town but "our side of it" IYSWIM, so mor convenient (and has FF's just across the way too, so I usually head there when I can combine the two) Our Lil's is still pretty good, but it's no better than the alternatives, for the most part! 

rtandon27

@Greying_Pilgrim - Mr Al's is our Monday one - I can confirm that we don't go their for the winning personalities of the staff, though there are one or two who wo/man the tills who are just about bearable!

OH won't go near Mr Asd's with a ten foot pole, the one in our town hosts the absolute worst staff and even worse customers!  TBH they also do not have prices that are competitive for the quality ingredients, our Mr W's which is around the corner wins out every time on all fronts!

You had me mighty confused with the Korean store comment! - I was sure I'd mentioned it on Cheery's thread - and then it dawned on me that you read her's as well!  That was a bit of a daft moment eh?

So the Korean store was lovely and oh so tempting! - My main planned purchases were a giant bottle of Sriracha sauce and some lunch (which was really enough for two so is currently in the fridge).  Somehow a few other items jumped into my handbasket as I was 'browsing'!  Several typess of biscuits, some tiny matcha mochi balls and a bag of wasabi crisps now have to be lugged home!  ...and worse... I have to pilfer from other pots to cover the costs! - I would say it only happens once, but the store is VERY close to the office so I will have to exercise the utmost of willpower going forward!

EssexHebridean

Haha - RT, I have a rather excellent Turkish supermarket near to where I work - I feel your temptation! 

themadvix

Are we in the same town RT (pretty sure not!) - I avoid our Mr As like the plague too - the customers and never having anything I want to buy being the main reasons!

I wonder GP if the person who hoovered up the boxes was taking them for pets - I know when I did Olio, I'd have a few who'd take past it salad for chickens/rabbits/guinea pigs. All better than it going in landfill, although technically not allowed (since the foot and mouth crisis).

Cheery_Daff

As far as I know, buying salad etc for chickens is fine - as long as it doesn't pass through a human kitchen. So shop to chicken coop is fine, as long as you don't take it inside to chop it, but plate to chicken coop is not. Obviously the rules are primarily there for large producers whose chickens are entering the food chain - technically they apply to everyone but nobody polices backyard folks. BSE crisis caused a lot of restrictions on this type of stuff too, and I think was responsible for the kitchen thing (not contaminating with other animal products - used to be ok to pass through a vegan kitchen, but they've even changed that now I think).

No idea about rabbits and guinea pigs though, I've never had either so it's likely you know better than I do. Chickens generally come under agricultural rules rather than domestic ones, regardless of where they live.

I do know that pigs often get fed bakery waste, but directly from manufacturers, not shops. Does rather make a mockery of not being able to give your pet chicken a bit of cucumber from the fridge though.

Sorry GP, hijacking your diary with slightly bizarre in-depth knowledge of chicken-related rules & regulations 😂😂

Greying_Pilgrim

Ha ha - tmv, are you describing my MrA's 🤔 (don't worry, I think not, but ultra depressing that the same comment could be passed about our store....).  Yes, the 'animal fodder' thought crossed my mind about the MrL boxes.  I did wonder if it was perhaps birds, due to the (relatively) high proportion of fruit.  Or it could have been to pass around family members or neighbours who are into 'pot luck' cooking or something.  Clearly they deemed the boxes sufficiently bargainacious for their needs.

Right, The washing was brought in, and was far drier than I expected, but it had started to take on the 'cold' of the changing air temperature, so is currently on the airer.  It's not going to be long now though until the sun won't reach over the roof tops for much of the day, and without a sufficient breeze, the washing won't dry 🙁 But I didn't expect to do any washing today, so I shall certainly see it for the win it is.

I've taken LG to club, and DH will fetch them back later.  

Although I know I am being a fool unto myself, I may well watch the men's senior England football team take on Greece tonight.  As Greece were Euro winners in....... 2016 or 2020????? I expect it to be testing for England.  But let's hope it's anything but a 0-0 draw, eh?

Currently the cricket is knocking spots off footy for interest.......

LG had leftover shepherdess pie filling and pasta for tea.  DH and I had the rest of the mushroom curry, dhal and rice.  DH managed to eat it no problem (not too much chewing involved), and his face is certainly 'back to normal' and as far as I can see, the gum doesn't look inflamed.  Fingers crossed for a full recovery, and that the extraction goes ahead as planned, as we don't need a repeat of this pain and discomfort. 


Ta for popping in and having a natter.  It is much appreciated.  Greying X

Greying_Pilgrim

Cheery - you snuck in whilst I was wittering on about drying me smalls washing 😁  I suspect what rools and regulayshuns say about this, that and t'other are largely ignored, especially for small-scale "anything".  It may well have been that the contents of the few boxes could have been divided up between human and animal consumption.  I don't know whether herbs like basil would taint the taste of eggs, and you might not feed a chicken a leek, but maybe the human got the leek and the chicken got the other greens and the stone fruit.  You might not feed a pig a stone fruit, but may well have fed them the leeks and herbage etc.  

Pity I couldn't make a box work for me, but on this occasion, even £1.50 was better off left in my purse.  

Greying X

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Morning MFW'rs

Least said about the ball-foot (as per Rev. K Bottley), the better.  90 minutes of my life I can't get back........90 minutes!

Snap is all packed up.  Go me getting ahead on a Friday! 🤣

DH didn't have any painkillers in the middle of the night, as he thought he felt OK, but woke up in pain, so...... 🙄 But he's eaten (tentatively) breakfast, and gone into work.  He will be working tomorrow too 🙁

I am going to put a whites wash on today.  The weather isn't conducive to drying, as although we're forecast some sun (YAY!), there is next to no breeze so I'm just going to pitch to get those items washed and as dry as poss.  As it seems to be a theme running through several threads, for the record; i will wash no smalls today....🤣 (Although LG will have a shower later....) **Tish Boom** 🤣

I'm planning ahead to half-term as DH has some time off.  I asked LG if there was anything specific they wanted to do, and they said, "I would like to go 'somewhere' with you & dad, I don't mind where, I would just like to go somewhere".  I thought that quite a modest request, so I've talked to DH and we're going to try to fit in (at least) an overnight stop using Sir Len's gaff - I've got one in mind - and there are plenty of attractions in the locale that we could access either for free with perhaps a bit of parking or totally free.  Plus I spotted a museum, which I'd never heard of, but which might be of interest and we could do that as a day trip, so at least we have 2 possibilities.  The Purple roomed hotel is in a Uni town, which has perplexed us before with it's road network, but I'm hopeful that for one night, we could cope.  There is a MrW there too 🤗If I book a certain night, it should make it affordable too.  So that's the plan at this mo. in time.  There is also a PD day to factor in, which DH will be working on, so I was thinking about possibly LG and I 'going for lunch out'.  It's something that we've never done, but I think we ought.  There is a veggie cafe that we've never tried and an Italian place that does 'set lunch'.  As the set lunch seems to be 'pasta' or 'pasta', I thought that might appeal to LG.  It's more money than I would normally spend on lunch, but if we don't splurge occasionally, then what is the point of taking a pack up lunch every other time we go out?  It's an idea anyway.  Perhaps LG would prefer to 'go somewhere' and the money would be better spent on diesel/entry charges.

Right, best shift-a-tail-feather.  Very cold start with us, so if I get shifting, I'll keep warmer 😁

Greying X