Thank god we paid the mortgage off

Jessy103

So sorry for your loss ❤️ We lost one of our dogs last month and it is heartbreaking x

Humdinger1

Dearest @ladybird1106 sending love to you all. I've heard that when the time comes, our pets escort us across the rainbow bridge. Then there are no more partings. Love Humdinger xx

ladybird1106

Thank you everyone for your kind words. She had a massive stroke and the vet agreed it was for the best that we have her put to sleep. I miss her so much and keep bursting into tears. But I’m trying to imagine she off somewhere playing in streams, chasing squirrels and eating her fill (bottomless pit) of her favourite foods. She got me through some really rough times and walking her always helped me to destress.
Anyway since the world won’t let me get off, life continues. Yesterday I decided it’s time to take the bull by the horns and get back on the frugal wagon as I have a vets bill-£365, on the cc to pay off. So yesterday I did a meal plan factoring in what is on the allotment and in the cupboards etc. I’ve started a budget book to see where our money is being spent. Cash is queen instead of a tap here and a tap there. I made another sale on V. Once that goes through I’m going to put it on holiday mode for a while. I’m also going to look at listing frugal wins for the day as that hopefully will focus the mind.

FRUGAL WINS so far today.

1. The arm on my glasses came off, so I’ve super glued it back on as a temporary measure.
2. We had home grown apricots with pancakes and yoghurt for breakfast
3. I have requested lots of bread and vegetables via olio, so will be collecting that soon.
4. Tea will be ys chicken.
   
   

Time to focus the mind on real life and sort out the youngest wheelchair 🦼

Love 🐞

Cherryfudge

Sending hugs, @ladybird1106.

Your frugal plans sound spot-on, and I now hove home-grown apricot aspirations that won't come to anything due to lack of space, but what a lovely crop to produce! One of the helpful things about other people's lists is that I find they nudge me in the right direction.

I've just taken side shoots off a Black Russian tomato and put them in water to root - it's such a vigorous plant that I want more. I just hope they are as tasty as they are rampant! Is that one that you've grown, and if so, what did you think of them?

ladybird1106

I’ve not grown Black Russian tomatoes before cherryfudge, keep me updated what them are like. This year we are growing 4 different types of, 3 of which I’ve never grown before.
Chiropractor is happy with my progress, so we are going for 4 weeks instead of 3. So a small saving, although they have put their prices up. Had my B12 injection, so hopefully energy levels will improve.

FURTHER FRUGAL WINS FOR YESTERDAY
• used nature’s tumble dryer.
• stretched a packet of mince to make 9 bolognaise meals using lots of lentils and veggies to pad it out (used homegrown onions, garlic, basil and carrots. Olio mushrooms and courgettes).
• before adding the meat, I took out enough mixture to make 3 veggie pasta bakes.
• made leek and potato soup ( homegrown leeks and potatoes).
• made 5 veggie gratins ( used homegrown peas, broad beans, carrots, leeks, onions and garlic).
• chicken was divided up into 7 portions.
• chopped up and froze all the damaged homegrown apricots to use for future breakfasts.
• bought 2 vest tops ( I only have black T-shirts and I’ve seen the up and coming weather forecast) £2.00 from age uk chazzer.
• I resisted buying sweets yesterday. 🥳
•borrowed library books and ordered a few books to fill in the gaps of a series I’m reading.
• car, wm and dw programmed to come on when cheap electric is available.
• bath water saved for today as the pots in the garden need watering and all the butts are empty. We have a special hose pipe that sucks the water out.
• ordered bokashi bran ( put on subscription as it’s 50p cheaper )and got 10 free wool pots (worth about £8ish) .

Set up the shelves ready for the potatoes we are going to harvest this week. We usually have them scattered about the house in trays when they’ve been washed, to dry. This way they are in one place. I need to remember to put the sage I have in my dehydrator trays in the sun today to speed up the process.

Time to 🧘🏻‍♀️

Love 🐞

greenbee

Could you share details of your bath water syphon set up please? Butts here are also getting empty and I’d love to be able to refill this way (I don’t fancy carrying buckets through the house!).

ladybird1106

Hi greenbee we’ve had ours for at least 15 years and the company we got it from no longer sell it. However, if you put water siphon pump into google it come up with loads ( usually for getting fuel out of cars), we adapted ours so we could attach a longer hose pipe to it.

Looks like this https://www.manomano.co.uk/p/siphon-pump-manual-portable-hand-liquid-transfer-tool-set-kit-for-fuel-oil-water-gas-213635170

I’m not sure if it can be adapted. Sorry I can’t be of anymore help.
love 🐞

greenbee

Thanks! That makes sense. I remember my dad using something similar when I was little 🤣. I’m sure if I get one I can adapt it with garden hose on one end down to a hose reel that I can relocate to the various water storage areas.

Cherryfudge

I was so confident you would have grown Black Russian! So far, it's a very vigorous plant though just in a pot (needs more space). Quite a few flowers and popular with my beloved hoverflies.

Your clever use of a veggie base for so many meals is really good. Much healthier than traditional Bolognese, I suspect, and will mean a bit of summer when the days are shorter (if it lasts that long). You must have a big freezer!

Am off to look at the bath water siphon now - the garden is getting very dry and it feels bad to use the hose on grass even though said grass is in a dire state where the trees have drunk all the moisture or light had been excluded when pots were put on the lawn to keep them away from building work. (I know it will grow back eventually but at this rate there will be noticeable gaps).

teapot2

Hi @Cherryfudge, over on the DFW board I seem to remember that @foxgloves and @Suffolk_lass have discussed growing black russian toms on their respective diaries so you could ask over there maybe?