Away From The Madding Crowd

jwil

Enjoy your time with family 😊

Humboldt

Hello and welcome.

Motivational quote of the week.

Gratitude turns what we have into enough – Aesop.

Money saving.

Our monthly grocery budget for me and my DH is £300. Week 2 (10-16 Aug) spend for August was £81.89. Total for August to date is £166.92.

Took advantage of a Wh!stlefish offer, buying 12 greetings cards for just £12, saving £21.99. I got free delivery via my rewards points (it’s free to join their rewards club).

When sightseeing on an open top bus with family in a nearby city, the bus driver kindly allowed us all to travel via a family ticket (even though we didn't fit the criteria), saving £26. A kind gesture, that was very much appreciated.

This week’s main menu.

Monday – Paneer korma (G00d F0od recipe), with naan bread. The remainder of the large bag of spinach will be used in tomorrow’s recipe.

Tuesday – Lazy summer pasta (an adaptation of a G0od F00d recipe). I will use whole wheat pasta, add homemade tomato & basil sauce, and more vegetables than stated in the recipe (spinach & sweet peppers), plus a splash of balsamic vinegar.

Wednesday - Spanish chicken (H@iry Dieter’s recipe). I will replace the new potatoes with sweet potatoes and carrots. To fully utilise the oven, I will bake a homemade sourdough loaf.

Thursday – Moroccan fish & couscous parcels (from one of my recipe scrap books). Salmon was reduced in price and frozen until required.

Friday – Macaroni cheese. I will add chopped sweet peppers & small tomatoes. To fully utilise the oven, I will bake a courgette and lemon drizzle cake.

Saturday – Breaded fish, oven chips and minted mushy peas. I will cook this meal in the air fryer.

Sunday – Prawn pad Thai (from one of my recipe scrap books).

Healthier lifestyle.

Last week’s step count was 58,923.

Completed 0 online workouts.

Completed 4 free online meditations last week.

Simple pleasures.

Lots of chatter, laughter and new memories made with family last week.

Several loads of bedding washed and dried outside on the same day that family left.

A day out to a local town with DH when family had gone home. A relaxing lunch in an independent café and a leisurely wander.

Delicious British strawberries, only £1 a punnet from S@insbury's (Nect@r price).

Cooler temperatures.

Eating homegrown salad leaves, basil, spring onions, mint, and carrots from our veg boxes.

Books read 19/26 – Way Back – Sara Cox (library book).

Josie’s life is fine. Absolutely, completely fine. Her gorgeous house in London is fine. Her husband is fine. It’s the life she wanted – isn’t it?

Sara Cox is a radio presenter; this is her third book. A light, fun read.

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

Humboldt

Waves frantically at @bluenose1 ☺️

Humboldt

Hello and welcome.

Motivational quote of the week.

Fill your life with experiences, not things. Have stories to tell, not stuff to show – unknown.

Money saving.

Our monthly grocery budget for me and my DH is £300. Week 2 (17 -23 Aug) spend for August was £62.05. Total for August to date is £228.97.

Saved 15% when booking a hotel room for the night before our holiday, with car parking for the duration of our holiday in November.

Bought this year’s car insurance via TopCashback and claimed a £45 pay out this week.

Saved 10% when booking a trip for our holiday in November.

Freebies.

My hairdresser offers a free fringe cut in between hair appointments.

We were gifted homegrown apples from a friend and plums from a neighbour.

This week’s main menu.

Monday – Prawn pad Thai. This is a meal swap from Sunday, when we enjoyed summer minestrone (C0oksmart recipe), with homemade sea salt & rosemary focaccia from the freezer.

Tuesday – Warm potato and smoked mackerel salad (from one of my recipe scrap books), with a fresh tomato salad. Basil and spring onions are homegrown.

Wednesday – Spinach and chickpea curry (G0od Food recipe), with naan bread.

Thursday – Chachouka, also known as shakshuka (R!ver C0ttage Veg recipe).

Friday – Sweet and Sour chicken (H@iry Dieter’s recipe), with a small portion of rice. We have family visiting this weekend and they have chosen what they would like to eat.

Saturday – Macaroni cheese and sausage. This is a meal swap from last Friday, when we had the remainder of the couscous salad, with some added extras (chicken, chickpeas, spiced yogurt, and mango chutney). Sausages were reduced in price and frozen until required. To fully utilise the oven, I will use the apples kindly gifted to me, and bake an apple crumble, and serve with custard.

Sunday – BBQ chicken (slow cooker recipe), sweetcorn, and chips (cooked in the air fryer).

Healthier lifestyle.

Last week’s step count was 35,297. A sedentary week, but I did catch up with lots of admin.

Completed 2 free online workouts. One was a yoga session and the other a walking workout.

Completed 5 free online meditations last week.

Simple pleasures.

We have more family visiting this weekend.

This week I hand washed our sofa seat covers, plus cushion covers, and managed to get them dried outside.

DH and I enjoyed a walk in local woodland and along country lanes. Noticed a slight shift towards the new season; hedgerows laden with blackberries and trees heavy with apples.

I listened to another Rosebud podcast - Martin Clunes: Losing His Father, Boarding School & A Love of Animals. Another great podcast. Such a gentleman, who states that he has never strived, or been driven in life, but has bimbled along, and everything has come to him. A relaxed interview that I would be happy to recommend.

DH continue to binge watch the BBC series Race Across the World. We have just finished Series 5. We have never visited China, but have enjoyed a walking holiday in Nepal, and been lucky enough to visit India several times. Enjoyed ‘revisiting’ these places via this series.

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

Nebulous2

Very interesting once again Humboldt.

I've been walking in woodland quite a lot and have been foraging occasionally. I've had some wonderful wild cherries (geans) and the blackberries are just starting here. We would be much further North than you, but it is scary to see them that early. I more often associate blackberries with late September.

I'm paying more attention than normal, but I'm surprised at the different stages of ripeness for plums. We've had a few really nice ones to eat from a local tree, and they are largely past, but a family member has an orchard with four different plum trees and they aren't nearly ready yet. Once they are I'm hoping to make chutney…

bluenose1

Hi @Humboldt , a lovely update and many thanks for the wave.
I haven’t been on MSE for so long, not sure why. I suppose i defected to Mumsnet as they had good support threads about losing weight on Mounjaro and I got a bit fixated with losing weight etc. Then I think I just got out of habit and forgot about going on MSE. No excuses as I hate it when people just disappear from Boards.
Quick update- Still loving retirement, walks in woods most days, meditate every day and go gym couple of times a week, honestly don’t know where time goes!!! Have gone mostly plant based, though still eating some fish. Been eating a lot of Deliciously Ella recipes and started listening to her podcast The Wellness Scoop. Like that chick peas, cannelii beans etc are so cheap. Never heard of Rosebud podcast, will check that out.

Went blackberry foraging the other day in the woods near me and made apple, pear and blackberry crumble on my return. Lucky to have inherited apple and pear treees in our garden. Have a glut of tomatoes so need to do something with them.

Loved Race Across The World and currently enjoying Ludwig on BBC iplayer. Looking forward to Bake Off starting again.
Going to get back into the good habit of following your diary as it definitely feels good for my soul.

Humboldt

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82113508#Comment_82113508

Morning @Nebulous2, sorry for my late response. It has been a bit hectic here and I am just catching-up.

I wasn't aware that wild cherries were actually called geans until you mentioned it. I used plums instead of apples when making a crumble last week. I thought that the apples would keep longer and intend to use them to make a tart tartin when we have more visitors this weekend. I think the plums that our neighbour kindly gave us were Victoria plums. I don't think that they have had their tree for long, but it has produced prolific, delicious fruits this year. Thank you for taking the time to comment, and I hope that you are enjoying filling your days at a more relaxed pace now that you have retired.

Humboldt

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82113809#Comment_82113809

Hi @bluenose1 it was so lovely to see your name in the comments section. Thanks for taking the time to share your update, but no pressure to comment.

So pleased to read that you are still enjoying walks in your beautiful local woods and that meditation is still a positive focus for you. Interesting update on your diet. I have just discovered that M+S now sell pulses in jars. At only 55p a jar they are a lot less expensive than B0ld Be@n Co, and in my view, are better quality than tinned. Sadly my tomatoes are still green, so I have placed some in a box with a banana in the hope that they will ripen. I have also lined a few up along the kitchen window sill. Green tomato curry and/or chutney is next on the agenda. We have the last of our summer visitors this weekend and then DH and I can watch the final series of R@ce Across the W0rld. Enjoy your week x

Humboldt

Hello and welcome.

Motivational quote of the week.

A vegetable garden doesn’t just feed your body. It also feeds your soul – Doug Green.

Money saving.

Our monthly grocery budget for me and my DH is £300. Week 4 (24-30 Aug) spend for August was £70.34. Total spend for August is £299.31.

Took advantage of S@insbury’s wine buy 6 save 25% offer – saving £12.08, plus £9.25 via Nectar price savings. One bottle is a gift.

Recycled 5 empty toiletry containers at B0ot’s, spent over £10 and gained £5 worth of Adv@ntage points.

Took advantage of further reductions in the F@tface sale, buying a shirt for DH and top for myself.

Freebies.

A packet of sour watermelon C@ndy K!ttens sweets via my mobile network provider. Not something that I would choose, but I know someone who will very much enjoy them.

Friends kindly gifted us a homegrown marrow from their allotment.

This week’s main menu.

Monday – Spaghetti Bolognese. I will use a small pack of beef mince and add a tin of green lentils. I will use whole-wheat pasta rather than spaghetti. This will make 4 portions, so 2 will be frozen and used as a stuffing for peppers at some point.

Tuesday – Vegetable Bhuna (an adaptation of Chicken Bhuna, H@iry D!eter’s recipe), with naan bread. Vegetables include homegrown courgettes.

Wednesday – Rocket & courgette soup with goat’s cheese croutons (Go0d F00d recipe). I will swap the goat’s cheese croutons for a hunk of homemade sourdough. Courgettes and rocket are homegrown. I will add the rind of an Italian cheese for extra flavour (remove before blitzing the soup). Baking potatoes for tomorrow’s meal will be cooked at the same time as the sourdough.

Thursday – Baked potato with chilli con carne, and a side salad. Chilli is leftovers from the freezer.

Friday – Homemade wild garlic pesto, rocket and goats cheese pizza. Homemade pesto is from the freezer. Rocket is homegrown.

Saturday – The men folk are out this evening, so probably a vegetable omelette for me.

Sunday – I am eating out with friends. DH will have homemade sweet and sour chicken from the freezer with a small portion of rice.

Healthier lifestyle.

Last week’s step count was 42,824.

Completed 1 free online workout.

Completed 4 free online meditations last week.

Simple pleasures.

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

DH and I had a day out at a local walled garden. During our previous visit, we paid an additional £1.50 for a 12-month membership, so no cost on this occasion. We had decided to visit during each season, but had clearly missed the summer display, because everything had fast forwarded to autumn. That said, there was a wonderful display of several varieties of apples and pears, pumpkins, squashes and autumnal flowers.

Time spent with family who visited us over the weekend. We treated our visitors to a cream tea in a local independent café. The vintage crockery added a wonderful sense of occasion. A delicious treat for a reasonable £7.50 per person.

A bunch of deep orange crocosmia from the garden. Despite growing with abandonment, I think that they add a touch of modern elegance when placed in a simple tall glass vase.

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

Yorkie1

Now that's what I call coming in on budget!!