My Off-grid and need to be frugal diary

AnimalTribe

So today everyone's been out and about in a couple of local villages. Lunch in one village and dinner in the other. It's been a nice day and fortunately, the villages streets have been gritted or else it would have been a bit iffy. Dinner was particularly good.

AnimalTribe

Today was a trip into the city with the family visitors. They seemed to enjoy it. Tonight, they are meeting up with friends so DH and I have the evening off. DH and I just stayed in and watched a film. The family are travelling back tomorrow, so things will be back to normal. It has been lovely to see them, but it will also be nice to get back to normal. Thankfully, the reasonable weather has held out while they’ve been here.

Rhyddid2026

What was the dinner that was particularly good?

AnimalTribe

Rhyddid2026 I didn't eat it as I'm a vegetarian and I loathe cream sauces, but they all raved about it. It was free-range, organic chicken stuffed with black pudding in a cream peppercorn sauce with truffle and parmesan fries. Followed by a variety of desserts including lemon cheese cake, banoffee pie, pavlova. I just had pizza. Everyone seemed to have a good time and they’ve phoned to say they got home safely. They were happy to take some home-made jam, some jewellery and a felt animal that I’d made. It’s nice to have my hand-made stuff appreciated.

Today I tidied up a bit, did my usual catch up phone calls and then just did some crafting and reading.

AnimalTribe

I got another job lot of broken costume jewellery delivered today so I've been sorting through that putting it into separate piles depending on the fix that it needs or putting it aside for pieces.

There is an airlock in the hot water supply so DH is trying to fix it. The hot water supply does get airlocks now and again because most of the system is low pressure. Usually, DH can fix it straight away, but he’s been trying for an hour now - poor soul he is not happy.

AnimalTribe

The hot water is back to normal so that’s great news.

DH has been busy fixing things. He’s made a 5-tier shelving unit with wood he already had and fixed plant pot saucers to the bottom of some bird feeders to catch the seed rather than it falling on the ground and encouraging rodents.

I’ve not done much extra today just chopped and frozen some veg that wasn’t going to last much longer. I’ve also taken apart some diamante jewellery and used the stones to repair other pieces. The glue dries quickly but I’ll leave the pieces laid out overnight just to make sure they’re completely set. I’ve also cut out some felt pieces as I’m in the mood to do doing some sewing.

AnimalTribe

It's rained most of the day and it's very cold. So it's been a lazy indoors day. I've done some sewing, made some rocky road and an apple pie and that's about it. 

DH has been busy with work all day but he's ordered some plumbing parts that are needed to cut down on the chances of an airlock happening again.

AnimalTribe

DH & I have been to town today. We took one of the dogs to the vets for her annual vaccination. While DH was at the vets I did a small grocery shop. We also managed to pick up the plumbing supplies DH ordered and took some things to the recycling centre.

It’s been very windy all day so all the batteries and power packs have been topped up via wind power.

I’ve bought another jewellery job lot that should be delivered in the next few days. I’m very excited to see what’s in the bag (like a kid at Christmas). So far, all the job lots I’ve bought have been worth it, and I’ll make a profit. I’m also enjoying fixing things.

AnimalTribe

I was like a zombie yesterday. The wind was so loud during the night that I didn’t get any sleep. I did manage to wash the dog beds though, with the electricity the wind generated, and that was about it.

Today DH has built some shelves for me and fixed a problem with the car. He can fix about anything which is a skill that’s really needed here. I’m fairly good at fixing things too, so we complement each other well.

Today I’ve been sorting through the latest job lot of jewellery I bought and deciding what is OK and what needs to be repaired or repurposed. Thank goodness it arrived via Royal Mail as we now have so many parcels that are extremely overdue that are supposed to be delivered by Evri. It’s gotten to the point that we will now have to check with online sellers who they use for delivery and if they say Evri, then we will have to look elsewhere. DH and I buy a lot online. Mostly, small parts to fix things, but they are generally things we need to move forward on fixing up the house.