My Off-grid and need to be frugal diary

AnimalTribe

DH and I have been out most of the day in the city. Neither of us really like going there, but DH needed some new shoes and I needed some new boots. We both managed to find what we wanted and DH bought a couple of things for his hobby. We found a cafe for lunch. So nothing has been happening on the home front today.

AnimalTribe

The fog is so thick that I can only see 1 metre in front of me, so tonight’s walk for the dogs will just be around the garden.

There is a problem with the car. There is a constant drain on the battery. DH is investigating and hopes to find the cause. If he can’t the car will have to go to the garage to be fixed. He is usually pretty good at fixing things so hopefully he will sort it.

Today I’ve finished off a cross-stitch that’s been loitering for a couple of days. I will turn it into a card for a friend’s birthday. Tonight dinner was a store bought pizza so I’ve had a relaxing evening.

daisy_1571

Lovely cross stitch pic

AnimalTribe

Daisy_1571 thank you.

Does anyone know what happened to the preview button? It was really useful to see how large photos were going to turn out.

I try not to waste stuff so when I've finished a project and have tiny ends of embroidery thread left I make things like these. The bears are only 2.5cm tall and the hearts aren't much larger. I use them in multiples. So the bears would be in 3 windows down the centre of a card, with different coloured balloons. I would use the tiny flowers as borders.

AnimalTribe

It’s been foggy again today. Even I’m fed up with the fog now.

DH has fixed an electric extension cable and drilled some holes in some pieces of jewellery for me so that I can make them into pendants.

Another small item has sold on eBay and the DIY pot is steadily filling up. Today I’ve done some laundry and fixed a couple of pieces of jewellery. I’m still learning the best way to fix some things, so I’m still enjoying the hobby.

On the frugal front the only thing I have done is turned some dry bread into mini pizzas by spreading the bread with tomato puree, a little garlic puree and cheese. Cheap, easy, frugal and tasty.

AnimalTribe

Rain and fog again today, but DH and I still managed a day out. He posted his eBay parcel and we did some grocery shopping – just bread, milk and fruit. DH did a trawl around the charity shops but I’m not going in them as I’m trying to get rid of stuff rather than add more. As DH and I had big lunch while we were out, we just had sandwiches for dinner.

I thought there was a problem with the hallway electricity as I turned the ceiling light on but it went out straight away. Nope, DH had changed the lights to sensor ones without telling me. It is a change that will be very useful though.

I’m hoping for a good day tomorrow as someone is coming to look at a glitch that we’ve been having in the battery bank control box. It’s an issue we’ve been able to work around, but getting it solved would be really useful.

AnimalTribe

Unfortunately, the person coming to check the battery bank control box cancelled so it's back to the work around. DH isn't happy but there's nothing he can do about it.

Dinner was soup from the freezer so that's a tiny bit of space made.

I've broken my no spend on the garden rule I made at the beginning of the year. A nursery sent me an e-mail with an offer on 2 fruit trees for £10 (plus postage). I'm trying to grow more fruit at home so it seemed like a good deal. Of course, I also bought some seeds - buckwheat, broadbean, chamomile, artichoke and butternut squash. I'm not sure how well the artichoke will do here but I thought I'd give it a try.

AnimalTribe

It's been snowing here today. Fortunately, it’s melting as soon as it hits the ground. DH and I were going to go out today, but the weather is so poor that we decided to stay indoors instead. DH has been working on his hobby and I’ve started making a cross-stitch of a sewing machine for a friend’s birthday card as she is a keen seamstress.

Tonight, I’ve started watching ‘The Walking Dead’ I’ve seen a couple of episodes in the past but decided to watch it from the beginning.

The two dogs are cosied up together at my feet, which is lovely. It took a while for them to be calm when they were together. The younger one always wanted to play which was too much for the older one.

I’m looking forward to March and being able to get out into the garden. Although, the snowdrops have appeared and they are always such a welcome sight.

foxgloves

I'm looking forward to getting out in thw garden too. I've sown chillies as always do those on the last day of January indoors in a small heated propagator. More seeds will follow later this month.

AnimalTribe

Foxgloves I really should get started on sowing seeds too, as it’s colder here than other parts of the country and the plants need all the extra time they can get to mature. The first things I’ll be sowing indoors are tomatoes, chillies, sweet peppers, cucumbers, and courgettes. I’ll make an effort next week.

I’ve finished sewing the card for my seamstress friend and all I need to do now is mount it onto card. I’m still trying to use up what I have in the house so dinner was jacket potato with cheese for me, and jacket sweet potato with chicken for DH.

Today I had a heating oil delivery. Normally this is ordered during summer when prices are cheaper and the weather is mild enough to ensure that the delivery tanker arrives, but because it’s been so cold for so long the oil isn’t lasting as long as usual and I’ve had to order it when prices are highest.