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Thursday 18 September 2014

Stacks of sewing and some savvy shopping.

Another gloriously sunny day here in Wales, I managed to get some more HST,s sewn, cut and pressed. I think that I have enough now I am only making a small quilt.


All the squares are in sets of 4 and ready for me to lay out and start chain piecing. It takes an age to get them pressed and paired but it makes the next stage go so fast that it is worth it.

I had to do a shop today so I slipped off to Ponty and went to Lidl and Home Bargains.


From Lidl £7.96p comes from the food budget.


From Home Bargains £3.36p, giving me a spend of £11.32p, I still have milk to buy which will be another £1. Those Egg Noodles are bought for the store cupboard, 59p a pack, they are over £1.60 in Tesco and almost £2 in the village shop. I have some from a previous shop otherwise i would have bought 4 packs. The cheesy biscuits were also a bargain and have also gone into the stores. 

The greenhouse is almost there, I am waiting for 2 bits to be delivered, hopefully today, then it is an hours work at most.


The polystyrene box has young beetroot plants in it, that I hope will give me some late roots.


There is just some filling in to be done on the right side of my slate steps and I can plant up on the left. I have some ground cover plants, some cyclamen and primroses along with a load of bulbs to put there. We have rain forecast for overnight, if that happens I will get planting tomorrow.
The area behind the greenhouse will be cleared and I hope to have some first early potatoes in there next year, followed by brassicas of some kind.

 I am falling far behind in my self imposed challenge to make 100 items by the end of September, it will not happen. My aim is to use as much fabric from stash as possible and by making the Building Block quilt I will be clearing quite a lot, once that is done I have 3 tops to layer and quilt. This will also use a deal of fabric, I will be starting on Seasonal stuff in October, I do have quite  a bit of That Sort of fabric as well, some of which has been mentally earmarked for some padded trees. I also have the blocks ready made for Fran's Quilt.

Reasons to be grateful.

1.  A real gentleman stepped up to the mark in Ponty and stopped a bully from browbeating the checkout girl.

2.  The sun is shining gloriously.

3.  I have had lots of no spend days and today was a Low spend.

4.  My new sourdough starter is so vigorous that I will have to split it again today, I will make a sponge tonight and bread tomorrow.

5.  The smell in my kitchen is earthy, rich and sweet with just a hint of yeast.

I am really full of anticipation about this sourdough, It is only the third starter that I have made and is, so far, the most promising. I will feed it tonight with some organic rye flour which I hope will make it richer and deeper still.

It does take almost 2 days to make a good loaf but it also keeps well so there should be no problem.

I am off now to potter in the garden, more sewing later and a quick flick through my library books, Wednesday is library day, to decide what order I will read them in.

       TTFN                                                            Pam













18 comments:

  1. What a difference on the noodles, thats why I am going off Tesco, 100 items a month is a big challenge, you have been very busy lately, don't go over doing it, take care x

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    1. I did start my challenge in August, then the blackberries ripened and I started making jelly. A day slipped by here and there, I made some things with new fabric, which did not count. The main thing is my stash is shrinking.....isn't it.

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  2. Looking forward to seeing your quilt. I have got to cut my pieces yet, the worse bit for me!

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    1. I don't mind cutting, I like seeing all the bits laid out like a regiment on the parade ground.

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  3. Your greenhouse is looking fab! Am I the only person in blogland who doesn't have a Home bargains?

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    1. When I was at Tydd my nearest was Spalding, and as I hardly ever went there I only discovered it about 6 months before I moved here.

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  4. Hope you feel better today, Pam. The greenhouse will be wonderful, hope you post a 'finished' pic! Julee, I didn't think we had one either but today I found it!!! I couldn't find anything I wanted to buy but at least we have one :-)

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    1. ...............walks off to sulk

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    2. I am much better thank you, I managed to get out into the garden for an hour or two, once i had got all my HST,s pressed and stacked and done the shopping.

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  5. I love your steps, they are so quaint. :-)

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    1. They are just slabs of slate and stone dug up from the garden and a range of rocks and stones that we unearthed as well. Once there is a bit of planting to soften them up it will start to look even better.

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  6. It must have been a Lidl and Home Bargains day today. The greenhouse is looking fab, I bet you are itching to get going with it. I have been trying to buy some winter cabbage plants.....none anywhere, serves me right, I should have grown my own in my greenhouse!! Lesson learnt :-) x

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    1. Have you looked on line, there should be some about. You could ask around the allotments if there are any near you. I am ready to get started, I have a square foot bed planned and a long bed for corn and squashes as well as a fruit bed.

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  7. I can't believe how much cheaper your veg is in Lidl.
    Yesterday in our local Lidl in France - rough prices -
    Broccoli - over a euro for one head
    parsnips - not often in the shops but nearly 2 euros
    peppers - 1 euro 50 or more
    cabbage - between 1€50 and 2 €
    I did get potatoes cheaper last week 10kgs for 1€49

    Sue

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    Replies
    1. Between Aldi and Lidl I can get all the fruit and veg that I can use at rock bottom prices. The local market is much pricier and the quality is not as good.

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  8. Lidl seems to be featuring quite heavily in b logs today! We go there now quite often, impressed with cost and quality. I hope they keep it that way!
    I did enjoy this post - I haven't baked for AGES and I should but I'm doing other stuff for now and I don't seem to be able to get a happy medium, I'm all or nothing. Hyper-focus, I think they call it!! Lx

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    Replies
    1. I am getting to like Lidl more after each visit, mind you I did putter all the way home because one thing that I wanted was not in the store. I checked my flier from them and found out that it is not on sale until Monday. I have stopped making cakes and cookies but am still making bread.I want to make some Rose hip jelly but goodness knows when I will find the time to get out and gather the hips.

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  9. The garlic baguettes in the frozen section in Lidl are the nicest ones I've ever had. I've had a lot!

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