Old Style Diary Archive - AUG 05

AussieLass

Hello everyone,

It's nearly beddy byes here. I've had a nice day today. I made HM Pizza's for tea using the yummy pizza dough recipe from OS Collection. It was so nice. Feeling rather full. I didn't get to do my washing today so didn't use my new HM laundry powder.:( Tomorrow. Got visitors instead so had a nice gossipy morning.:D Did some baking this arv for lunches tomorrow. Hope you all have a nice day.

PS. Another warm & sunny day here.

Penny-Pincher!!

Hello Again

Day has turned out nice so both loads of washing on line drying OH decided to get chicken out freezer last night..so no lamb today :rolleyes: never mind-at least he remembered to get something out..lol. So have the same bit with chicken and minus the mint sauce.

DH & DD went off to B&Q to get some deydoe rail, skirting and some wallpaper for her room. We've been saving for a couple of months to get funds together (about £70)...only a few quid to some people (us a few months ago when we were earning!)and he decided to go down today. Anyway managed to get everything both deydoe and skirting their value range (looks the same to me) and 5 rolls of paper in the bargain bin for £3.00 :eek: (normal price £14 a roll)we only needed 2-3 rolls, but can use for wrapping ebay stuff/presents etc. Teaching OH well me thinks :T He was so happy. Also, he bought me a pressy....a solid hammock thingy reduced from £80 to £15. Dont know how the hell im gonna get on it as my mobility is bad, but OH said he will carry me out in garden so that I can have some fresh air and still rest :rolleyes: He's a gem.

So got 5 rolls of paper (would be £70...cost £3)all deydoe rail, skirting boards, liquid nails x 2 and me hammock thingy (normally £80-reduced to £15)

Total £62.00 :beer: £8.00 left incase he needs anything else. Im gobsmacked!

Also, sold a couple of bits on ebay and made £40.00 after postage :j :j

Have a great afternoon.

Penny-Pincher!!
xxx

ancasta_2

i went absolutely mad at the shops today spending about 90 on frivolities, but it came from my "pocket money" which is from sales of hair extensions. i *had* to have some new clothes as im moving away from the whole rockabilly look for work and into suits. got LOADS of freebies in Lush and used some vouchers on some VERY expensive MAC makeup but hey, our skin is well worth a treat.

Home made pizzas tonight then off to catch up with my Best Friend who has also been splurging in the shops.

henhog

Hi everyone,

Like Moggins, we have been out blackberrying this morning - we are now stung, scratched and purple but with a bumper crop of blackberries! Only problem is a lack of jars! Since I have tried to make more things from scratch I just don't have as many jars as before.(empty wine bottles, yes, jars no!) Will look in store cupboard to see if I have any pickles with just one or two left in the jar that I can use.
Went for a long run this afternoon, hard work because it is so hot here when the sun is out, still it is worth it for the peace and quiet!
Roast chicken for dinner - with our own green beans and spuds. mmmmm.
Have a good Sunday everyone,
Henhog.

SnowyOwl_2

Hello everyone

It's a wet day over here in N.Ireland, which just about matches my frame of mind. Came back from a week's holiday in my old stomping ground - London - and am now homesick for it!! I lived there for so long - I don't know what possessed me to return but I am regretting it big style! And to cap it all, tomorrow I have to face the office which is populated by sulky women, one of whom has in Squeaky's words had a "monk on" for about two months, ie that's how long it's been since she had a conversation with any of the rest of us. It's a truly dire atmosphere there.

PennyPincher - I love your posts! I know I yap and whinge about my situation but with planning can (and will) change my lot. You seem to have a permanent smile on your face - that's the vibe I get from you through your posts - and it's heartening to see that while you have been handed quite sh*tty circumstances you are adept at finding the positives. Shame you can't bottle that attitude and share it with those of us who need it!

I'm on my way out now to visit Sainsbury's to buy chocolate..no no, not for me! The friends I stayed with in London were so generous, I am going to send them a gift of organic chocolate - looked into sending a hamper but they are too expensive for what they contain. They are into health food but like to indulge in some plain chocolate heaven most evenings. And yes, I will send it to them rather than scoff it myself...before my holiday I was fitted for a newly introduced uniform at work and I was nearly in tears of embarrassment and shame at having to go "can I try the next size up" about four times. I have been comfort eating whilst wearing stretchy clothes now it has caught up with me.

As for an OS Sunday, I've done some washing and it's drying in the kitchen now, made a casserole last night which will last for three meals, and am making an AllBran loaf to slice up and put in the freezer - I'll take slices to work with me for tea break. I've got a lot of tidying up to do, I am a rather messy person unfortunately. By the time I notice the house needs a spruce up it tends to be quite bad - I'll leave that delight for when I come back from the shop.

Bye for now all, have a great day.

zzzLazyDaisy

SnowyOwl wrote:

am making an AllBran loaf to slice up and put in the freezer .

Hi Snowy... could you let me have the recipe for the AllBran loaf please?

I am diabetic with a sweet tooth.... so always on the look out for high fibre recipes - if I use Splenda instead of sugar I can have a treat without the kick-back!

Lovely sunny day here today... oops.. just looked at the clock... been on this PC way too long :rolleyes:

Daisy

Pooky

Afternoon all,

Started off drizzly here this morning but is now glorious.....only managed to get one wash out on the line!

Took DD's out this morning to the toy shop to spend their earnings (I pay them by the day to help me when I'm working) They bought themselves a mini skateboard each and some hamma beads....something we can sit and do during the week if we get more rain! Had to pop into asda as DH wanted a CD holder...cheapest place we've found them, got a large one holds 144 cd's for £9.99 - bargin.

BM been on all day - wanted to get some loaves made up for the freezer to take with us next week when we have a few days away - none of us can face going back to shop brought papp.

I too have been splurging in the shops.....desperately needed some new trousers... i've lost a stone and a half since the beginning of the summer and nothing fits...been living in my p.j bottom whilst at home and DH told me to go treat myself to something that fits! I sold a load of clothes on ebay last week so didn't feel to guilty....was great to go out and buy 2 sizes smaller than normal....got 3 pairs of trousers a gorgeous long choccy brown velvet skirt and some new knickers (fed up hoiking them up every 5 mins too!! ). That's me sorted for a while for clothes and after a root in the loft I worked out that I don't need any winter uniforms for DD's so that's saved a fortune..got new winter coats in march when they were reduced.

Managed to only spend £19 on food shopping this week, need to get eggs at the farmers market on tuesday and promised DD's crab for tea if the fish van is there but it's still a really good week. Did a bit of a store cupboard/freezer inventory yesterday and we worked out enough meals (breakfast/lunch/dinner) for 16 days....amazing what you can do if you actually plan it! The reasoning is that we're then down to nothing and can defrost the freezer and sort the shelving out in the larder which is all at silly heights.

Hope you've all had a wondeful weekend

culpepper

Yesterday,I went into town and had a good look around the market.
I bought 15 Apples,16 Tomatoes and 7 Peppers for £3 so was quite pleased I had bothered to go
I had to mend the water butt as it had a tiny little split.
Plastic wood did the job.
When the rain stopped on Friday,the water butt was completely full which is amazing considering it is only the kitchen roof (6'X6')gutter doing the filling.
I finished digging the main bit of my veg plot yesterday too.
Today DD made sticky chocolate brownies.OH and I went shopping and discovered Asda now has a can bank (YAY!) for our recycling(no more saving them up for months till we go to homebase which was the only one near enough.The weekly shop cost me £18 as we already had Apples,toms and peppers from the market.I didnt have to buy lettuce either as my Rocket plants are now big enough to start picking some of the leaves:)
I was lazy today so we had bought pasta instead of HM but with HM bolognaise sauce.
There is quite a large Blackberry bush,growing up inside the buddliah in the hedge, so will probably pick some of them for jam.The last lot didnt survive long enough,we ate them.
Useful things I have discovered about blackberrying are; to take a walking stick or a stick with a hooked end so you can pull the branch towards you instead of trying to reach into the brambles,Always wear a hat,If it is a blackberry patch,wear long trousers and wellingtons and a thick coat(not a hand knitted jumper).

SnowyOwl_2

zzzLazyDaisy wrote:

Hi Snowy... could you let me have the recipe for the AllBran loaf please?

I am diabetic with a sweet tooth.... so always on the look out for high fibre recipes - if I use Splenda instead of sugar I can have a treat without the kick-back!

Daisy

Hi Daisy - here is the recipe, copied and pasted from the recipe index (just to keep Squeaky happy!). I have made this quite a few times now, and normally replace the milk with cold black tea. I also play around with the fruit and put in whatever I have to hand - sometimes half a mug of chopped nuts, a quarter mug of sunflower seeds, and the rest dried fruit. Oh and I usually use branflakes instead of All Bran. Other than that I stick rigidly to the recipe, ahem!

Snowy

All Bran Fruit Loaf:

Very easy to do and best eaten sliced with butter.

1 mug SR flour
1 mug caster sugar
1 mug Albran
1 mug mixed dried fruit
1 mug milk

method

Place all ingredients except the flour in a bowl and stir. Leave for at least 1 hour to soak. Add flour, mix and pour into a lined 2lb loaf tin. Cook for about an hour, or until firm to the touch at 180 degrees. Cool and cover as this loaf is better if it is left until the following day to be eaten with lashings of butter!

VickyA_2

:hello: Evening all :hello:

Well, today has been very successful. OH and I packed up our car and headed towards our local car boot sale to get rid of lots of high quality items. We did very well - managed to sell half of it for the princely sum of £64! We made a £54 profit, after pitch fee and the bacon butties that we had for breakfast.......

Once we'd packed up our stuff - minus our choccy fondue set which OH managed to sell for £1 (wooohooooo) - we headed off to Cambridge. We met up with a school friend of mine that I hadn't seen in ages and so spent some of our earnings on lunch - but it was worth it!

Tea tonight will be a cup of tea and a slice of toast!

We visited the place yesterday afternoon that we're hopefully moving to - and it looks gorgeous. One of my missions tomorrow is to phone up the letting agents and put our names down for a house that we haven't seen inside of yet.................. It looks so gorgeous that although my viewing isn't until Tuesday, we don't want anyone else getting in there in front of us.

Anyway, I can hear that my cup of tea is ready (OH is making ), so I'd better go.

Take care
Vicky