My Off-grid and need to be frugal diary

AnimalTribe

The party on Thursday was great everyone had a good time. As usual though I made too much food, even though people took some away with them, DH and I will be eating the stuff for a good few days. My sister also took some material she needed to finish a project and a house plant. My brother-in-law took some home-grown chillies and my brother took a couple of jars of home-made jam. It's a lovely feeling when you can pass on things, and your home-made/grown stuff is appreciated.

Yesterday DH and I needed some fresh air so we wandered around a local village. Neither of us could help ourselves so we went into a charity shop. DH bought a few things and I bought 3 cross-stitch kits, some Xmas material and a craft magazine. The cross-stitch was 50p a kit, the magazine 25p, and the material £1.50. I tell myself everytime that I'm not buying any more craft stuff and that I'll finish what I have, and I rarely stick to it. It's not that I don't have the money to spend, it's that the house is running out of space.

Today will be a nice, relaxing day for DH and me. I'm going to spend the whole day crafting, and reading and DH will be spending the day doing his hobbies.

ellenvan

What bargain cross-stitch kits, I can see why you couldn't resist them.
Love a charity shop bargain.

AnimalTribe

Ellenvan I love looking in charity shops. I'm not so keen on the ones where everything is pristine, and they try to look like a highstreet store. I prefer the ones that are a bit untidy, and the books can be a little battered. I think it's sad that lots of books are thrown away by some shops because they aren't perfect. Older, more interesting books are often a little damaged. I find that untidy stores often have more unusual items too.

Today DH has been chopping more wood, and I've been trying to improve my photography around a general tidy up.

AnimalTribe

I've inherited a lot of jewellery from 3 different relatives, but I'm not really a jewellery person. I gave one of my nieces a piece that had meaning to her, but my DD isn't interested in anything else and neither are other family members. Today I've finally started to look through things. Some of the stuff is expensive and a lot is costume (I think). I looked at how much it would cost to get a piece appraised and it's £50 to £70 on average each. So today I've started doing some online research to see if I can separate the costume from the expensive. First thing was to look for hallmarks and assay marks. Luckily, I have a digital microscope that is making things easier. At some point I'll have refined things enough to know what should be professionally appraised, but I’ve still got a long way to go.

Although, it’s a sad job, I’ve also found it very interesting.

AnimalTribe

I've not done much extra today, just the usual housework stuff. I did clean some jewellery so I could read the assay marks, and I've done a bit of craft sewing. I used the last of the "Money Maker" tomatoes with lunch, and spread some of the seeds onto a kitchen towel. When the seeds are dry, I'll just cut the paper where the seeds are into small squares and just plant the seeds on the paper next year. It's too much of a faff to separate the seed from the paper.

AnimalTribe

I've been given a lot of cooking apples so I'll be making a lot of apple pies tomorrow. I have some frozen shortcrust pastry so I'll get that out of the freezer tonight ready to use tomorrow.

DH went into town today and brought back some grapes. They are nice, but had a vaguely unusual but familiar after taste. I finally figured out what they reminded me of – cotton candy. Guess what?  They are labelled candy grapes. I’ve never had them or heard of them before.

DH was very good and didn’t bring any snacks back, as he is on a bit of a health kick. If there are no snacks in the house I don’t miss them, but if I know there are any in the cupboard, I crave them.

I’ve spent a few minutes watching “Andre life hack” he’s quite amusing (or maybe I’m just sad).

AnimalTribe

I made 3 apple pies today, one to eat and two for the freezer. I am still trying to clear down the freezer, but I didn't want to waste the apples. I used the pastry scraps to make cheese and pepper twists (just grated cheese and pepper rolled into the pastry).There are still apples left so I'll have to make something else in the next couple of days. I have some green tomatoes so maybe I'll make green tomato chutney. 

I've been practicing my photography skills today, and I am getting better. Up until now DH has taken all the photos for listing things on eBay and Etsy as he is excellent. I thought it was about time I did my own photography as I've a lot of things ready to sell for Christmas. 

The weather has turned a lot colder here, but I still have lettuce and rocket growing. The kale and cabbage seeds that I planted, a bit later than I should have, are doing well. 

AnimalTribe

I've not done much extra today except to do a bit of price research for selling some of my stuff on eBay. I've loads to get rid of. I thought I'd list some crystal bowls as I think they'll do well as Christmas sales. 

The parts needed to fix the generator have finally arrived. All I need now is a date for the engineer to come out. 

DH has done the final cut of the grass for the year. He wanted to trim some hedges, but it's the wrong time of year. DH will take any opportunity to be outside that he can. He's definitely the outdoors type.

AnimalTribe

It's been overcast and calm here so DH and I have been out for a walk. One of us has been staying in the house all week waiting for the parts for the generator to be delivered. As they were delivered yesterday it feels like we've been freed. 

I've picked the last of the radishes and all of the carrots. Something was burrowing in the soil and I didn’t want the veg eaten from below. I like to grate radish or onion, and carrot and cheese into mayonnaise and use it as a sandwich filling. It makes the sandwich a touch healthier and reduces the amount of cheese (the more expensive ingredient) that you have to use.

I still have salad stuff growing – lettuce, rocket and mustard. I also still have sweet peppers, chillies and cucumbers growing indoors. I’m amazed that I still have salad stuff left.

DH has had a minor fixing day. He fixed an electric drill and a ratchet wrench that’s been on his ‘to fix’ list for a while.

I’ve been cutting out felt shells and seahorses for some sea-side bunting that I’ve already part sewn.