The Storm has landed.

At some point in the night the storm landed in Wales, the wind is hurtling down the valley from the south west and various bits of debris are being arranged along the way.
The road is now a shallow ford and cars are creeping along, well the majority are. The odd idiot is ploughing through at a rate of knots and causing small tsunami,s to rush over the pavements.
I had to winkle Ben out this morning and he made all of 10 yards before stopping for the necessary and turning tail for home.
I have finished the sleeve for my wreath and started making flowers. The daffodil tutorial from Lucy at attic24 is so simple to follow and very effective. I will get some more done and attached before I share.
Dinner is done, ready to reheat. Chicken Tikka, Sweet Potato and Butternut Squash curry and I will make flatbreads later. I plan on feeding 2 tonight and having enough leftovers to make an awesome Oggy for the weekend, again to feed 2.
This comes from the legs of a cooked chicken, half price in Tesco. The breast meat has already made 3 meals and 2 sandwiches. The bones and skin are in the slow cooker with some garlic, celery and carrot. The stock will go into a batch of broccoli and Stilton soup, also for the weekend.

Thanks to Ilona, Mean Queen of the world, I now shop very savvy. Ilona is vegetarian, while I eat a small amount of meat and fish, but since I started shopping as she does I have cut my food budget savagely. I am eating far better health wise and it shows. I can walk  for well over an hour, slowly with Ben but at route march pace on my own, with out getting out of breath in the slightest. I am running up and down the stairs easily.

I have never been the kind to throw money, or food, away but never consciously set out to look for rock bottom prices. The odd times that I scooped up a 90% reduction were serendipitous. Then I started to mooch around Tesco on  Friday evenings to while away an hour. I started to pick up bargains on a regular basis and now this is the basis of my shopping routine. I still do not buy vast amounts, just what I can use or freeze but the savings are fantastic.

This weather will keep me in doors today but as soon as the wind drops a bit I will be out. The rain is no problem, I have the correct clothing and will not get wet at all.
I took some raspberries out of the freezer last night and made some jam this morning, just 2 jars and the rest into a dish. The fruit cost me 55p and the 700 gs of sugar works out at 35p, so my jam cost 90p for 2 1/2 jars and is over 50% fruit. I call that a real bargain. It only takes 5 minutes boiling so even the gas cost is minimal.

I have some out of date milk, it needs another day or two then I will make a batch of scones using some of my bargain basement butter. They will freeze well and will supply weeks of treats spread with the jam. I can almost taste them.
Right, time to gear up and get Ben out for a paddle,he is snoozing on his cushion but needs must and all that.
Before I go I just want to grovel a bit to all my new, and newish, followers. Blogger has been changing numbers and the little pictures appear and vanish rapidly. Welcome to one and all, I hope that I can entertain you, albeit briefly, and perhaps make you smile.

                     TTFN                                                   Pam