Away From The Madding Crowd

~FlowerPot~

humbolt, i dont doubt for a minute you will continue to cope with the reduced income, your begeting skills and simple lifestyle are to be congratulated and many admire you for your ways. I think a blog sounds like an amazing idea!!

mark55man

thank you Humboldt - I haven't seen that quote in a long time topical as doing some financial planning trying to work out if its better to have spent all your money before you pass or vice versa.  On a related theme my Scottish OH will quote me

"yer a lang time deid"

When checking the spelling I came across this site which I loved - https://www.scotland.org/inspiration/scottish-phrases-thatll-get-you-through-life - my favorite is 

“Whit’s fur ye’ll no go past ye”.

Humboldt

Thank you for your kind words Flowers.  

@mark55man my MIL is Scottish and has some great quotes.  I will see if she knows those shown on the link.

Today's simple pleasure - I saw and heard curlews. 

Humboldt

Hello and welcome.

Motivational quote of the week.

Spring adds new life and new joy to all that is – Jessica Harrelson.

Money saving.

Our monthly grocery budget for me and my DH is £250.  Week 3 spend for March was £72.08.  Total spend to date for March is £177.61.

I bought a couple of books of 2nd class stamps before the price increase on 7 April.  A rise from 85p to 87p.  It may not seem much, but I have long since learnt that every little helps.

Took advantage of Bo0ts £10 Tuesday, buying 2 items and saving £21.99. Click and collect was free and they were ready for collection within 2 days.

£33 made via my side hustle (crafting), which had been added to the Christmas/Birthday account.

This week’s main menu.

Monday – Leftovers from the freezer.  

Tuesday – Spanish chicken (H@iry D!eters recipe). To fully utilise the oven, I will bake a sourdough.

Wednesday – Bacon and butter bean soup  (from one of my recipe scrapbooks), with homemade sourdough.  I will cook the soup in the slow cooker.

Thursday –  Bean and vegetable chilli (from one of my recipe scrap books) and a small portion of brown rice.

Friday – Spatchcock peri-peri chicken, sweet potato wedges and salad.  Chicken was reduced in price and frozen until required. To fully utilise the oven, I will also bake another sourdough.

Saturday – Sweet potato and lentil soup (from one of my recipe scrap books), with homemade sourdough.  I will cook this in the slow cooker.

Sunday – Visiting family for Mother’s Day.

Healthier lifestyle.

Last week’s step count was 47,049.

Completed 3 free online meditations.

Completed 0 free online workouts. 

Simple pleasures.

The company of friends and visiting new places together.

Visited a farm and saw an abundance of new-born lambs. You could not help but smile and feel privileged to be able to witness new life.

Watching a blackbird enjoying the birdbath in the garden.

Tea and cake.

Thank you for dropping by and taking the time to read my diary.

 

Humboldt

Hello and welcome.

Motivational quote of the week.

Do what you can, with what you have, where you are – Theodore Roosevelt.

Money saving.

Our monthly grocery budget for me and my DH is £250.  Week 4 spend for March was £59.45.  Total spend for March was £237.06.

Christmas shopping! Took advantage of the Mother’s Day offers available on Bo0ts £10 Tuesday.  Bought 2 Ch@mpney’s slumber bundle gift sets, saving £24.  Purchased with my accrued Advant@ge points.  Delivery was free via click and collect.

Took advantage of S@insbury’s buy 6 bottles of wine and save 25% offer, saving £9.45 (alcohol is not included in our grocery budget).

Spent over £50 at B+Q on paint, and was able to use a £8 off code received via the B+Q’s Members Club.  It is free to join and I often receive money off codes. Check the t&c’s, but the codes cover most items (obviously also check if you can buy the item cheaper elsewhere first). Free delivery via click and collect. 

Bought DH a pair of jeans from M+S, saving 20% via an offer in my Sp@rks account. It is totally free to create a Sp@rks account. Free delivery via click and collect.

Dug up and replanted strawberry runners that had rooted and a small clematis plant.  All kindly gifted from our established plants.

Due to my DH now working part time, we can take advantage of the discounted Sunday overnight stays available in many hotels/pubs.  Our recent overnight stay cost us a total of £150 and included a delicious Sunday roast upon arrival, a comfortable double room, and a very generous full English breakfast the next day.  Given that most bookings end on a Sunday, these offers are a great way to discover new places at a discounted rate. 

This week’s main menu.

Monday –  Salmon with chilli ginger sauce (H@iry D!eters recipe), with stir-fry vegetables and noodles.  Salmon was reduced in price and frozen until required.

Tuesday – Breaded fish, roasted carrots, broccoli, peas, and parsley sauce.  Haddock was reduced in price and frozen until required.  To fully utilise the oven, I will bake a sourdough.

Wednesday – Creamy tomato, bacon, and spinach pasta (Pinch of N0m recipe).

Thursday – Slow cooker chicken with apricots (P!nch of N0m recipe), and whole-wheat couscous.

Friday –   Turkey and gammon pie, roasted carrots, broccoli, and peas, with Christmas gravy.  Pie and gravy are homemade and from the freezer.  To fully utilise the oven, I will bake a sourdough.

Saturday – Slow cooker smoked fish soup (P!nch of N0m recipe) with homemade sourdough. Smoked basa was reduced in price and frozen until required.  The recipe states add fish pie mix, but I will just be adding smoked basa.  I will replace the kale with the leftover spinach.

Sunday – Eating out with friends.

Healthier lifestyle.

Last week’s step count was 43,296.

Completed 5 free meditations last week.

Completed 0 free online workouts last week.

Simple pleasures.

I have prepped the kitchen/diner ready for redecorating this week.  To be fair, not really a pleasure, but I am glad that its done (hangs head in shame at the thought of how desperate the top of the kitchen cupboards were for a clean).

Time spent with family.

Tiny violets that are now flowering in all the shady areas of the garden.

Books read 5/25 – Our Wild F@rming Life ‘Adventures on a Scottish Highland Croft’ by Lynn Cassells and Sandra Baer (a charity shop find).

These ladies met while working as rangers for the National Trust and soon realised that they shared a dream to live closer to the land. They bought Lynbreck Croft at the edge of the Cairngorms in the Scottish Highlands in March 2016 with no experience in farming, but a huge passion for nature and the outdoors.  Now they raise their own animals, grow their own produce and are as self-sufficient as they can be, alongside producing food for their local community and hosting educational tours and running courses.

I was initially introduced to these ladies whilst watching BB(2’s This F@rming Life and very much enjoyed reading their story.   Below are a couple of extracts from the book below:

Nature, as a system, is not broken, it is just wounded by the continuous dominance that we inflict on it.  Nature doesn’t need to be rewilded, people do.

There are three certainties in life which ring true to this day: we are born of the soil, we live by the soil and will return to the soil – the very word human coming from the word humus, which means earth or soil.

Thank you for dropping by and taking the time to read my diary.

tiddles

Humboldt - thank you for the information regarding the B&Q Members Club. The discounts will come in very useful, as we have a lot of painting to do!

Humboldt

Morning @tiddles, you are most welcome.  I hope that you find it of use.  

Today's simple pleasure - feeling the warmth of the sunshine streaming through the window this morning.

Willow1983

Hi Humboldt, I follow your diary and find it really interesting 😊 just jumping in with a tip for the top of kitchen cupboards - once you clean them put some newspaper on top then all you need to do is replace it - makes cleaning them soooo much easier. Willow x

Humboldt

Morning @Willow1983, a very big hello and welcome.  Thank you for your kind words, and for taking the time to share your excellent tip.  Needless to say, that is exactly what I have now done.  

Today's simple pleasure - the blackbird that has recently taken to sitting on my neighbours roof in the late afternoon and sings so beautifully.

Humboldt

Hello and welcome.

Motivational quote of the week.

Beware of little expenses. A small leak will sink a great ship – Benjamin Franklin.

Money saving.

Our monthly grocery budget for me and my DH is £250.  Week 1 spend for April was £37.04.

Interest on savings accounts for March was £141.78.

April premium bond win was £100 (2025 total to date is £275).

With the aim of making the most of what we have, DH and I attended a savings review with our bank.  Over the next week we will be making the relevant changes.

Negotiated a much better deal with our broadband and TV services provider.  Shame we must go through the process of cancelling at the end of each contract before we gain a better deal. 

This week’s main menu.

Monday – Cottage pie (H@iry D!eter’s recipe) with lightly steamed cabbage.  I used a small pack of 5% beef mince and added a tin of green lentils to not only reduce costs, but to also make the recipe a little healthier and more nutritious.  The cabbage was homegrown and kindly gifted by a friend.

Tuesday – Ping meal (as above).  Cook once, eat twice (saves on time and energy bills).

Wednesday – Tuscan bean soup (slow cooker recipe) and warm whole wheat pittas. Rosemary is homegrown.  I will adapt the recipe and use leftover cabbage rather than kale.

Thursday – Smoked haddock fishcakes, a small portion of oven chips, with peas and sweetcorn.  Fishcakes were reduced in price and frozen until required.  To fully utilise the oven, I will also bake a sweet treat, which will be portioned and frozen until required.

Friday – Homemade wild garlic pesto and goats cheese pizza.  Pesto is homemade and from the freezer.  To fully utilise the oven, I will also bake a sourdough.

Saturday – Cassoulet (an adaptation of a Sh!rley Go0de recipe).  I will use up a couple of chicken thighs and chipolatas from the freezer, and whatever vegetables I have left.  I will cook this in the slow cooker.  

Sunday – Beans on homemade sourdough toast (just me to feed today).

Healthier lifestyle.

Last week’s step count was 45,874.

Completed 4 free online mediations last week.

Completed 0 free online workouts last week.  Redecorating has taken priority over workouts.  On the days that I am redecorating my Fitb!t registers that I have done 9 of 9 hours activity, which I feel is a good compromise.

Simple pleasures.

I have now finished repainting the kitchen/diner.  DH helps with the heavy stuff, but I am happy to paint on the days that he is at work.  Although it has been hard work (especially the ceiling), I do feel a great sense of achievement now that this room is done.

Finally planted my seed potatoes. 

A cuppa and a natter with friends.  Always good for the soul.

An abundance of wild primroses in local woodland.

Thank you for dropping by and taking the time to read my diary.