Pounds out, Quids in.

Well it has been a little while since I filled you in, but i have not been idle. I emptied cupboards and corners, turfed out drawers and glory holes. I filled the car with all manner of things and took myself off to a couple of boot sales. My purse is now brimming full.
As is my fuel tank.

My glory hole and some cupboards now look like this





I feel good after my sally into sales, I was in the middle of Wisbech yesterday and it was grey, cold and windy. 
Today I was here, and the feel good factor is high.





Not perched on or skulking under the sign but in the town at a well established seasonal boot sale. The sun shone although it was a little breezy and there were lots of folk around, locals and visitors alike.

I am happy with my two excursions into the world of "Car Booting"
and weather permitting I will have a repeat performance next weekend. I will be inland somewhere as yet undecided on Saturday and back in Sunny Hunny on Sunday.
I didn't make a fortune but I am happy with the result and enjoyed myself enormously. Michael was there in full support mode and Ben took charge of greeting potential customers. I should have charged 10p per fuss and I could have made a mint.

Reasons to be grateful.

1. A bootfull of clutter has gone.

2. I can see my sitting room floor.

3. I have a sunny glow to my face.

4. Ben proved himself to be a perfect gentleman.

5. I had the pleasure of meeting lots of interesting people.

There was an odd 1 or 2 who almost wanted me to pay them to take things but on the whole everyone was polite and friendly.
I took squash but will take a flask of coffee next time as a hot drink was definitely required after an hour.
I bought a bag of lovely crisp apples for £1, 14 decent sized Braeburn and some glasshouse grown new potatoes for £1.20 lb.

I did get one unexpected bonus, halfway through this morning I turned quickly and had 2 loud cracks from my ankle/foot, I felt it and the people I was serving heard it as well. The pain and stiffness has gone and I am no longer limping. My support bandage is off and I walked Ben with no problems. I am going to be wary as I have had a compression wrap on it for a week but fingers crossed all is now well.
Apart from walking Ben and making tea I have changed my bed and put a wash through the machine. I have also had my feet up and indulged in some crochet. dinner will be a salad with eggs and grated cheese and some new potatoes.
I was a lazy slug yesterday when I returned. I only did what was essential and then sat on the sofa and watched both of the Hobbit DVD,s with a break for walking Ben and making and eating dinner. It was heavenly and I will be itching for the last in the trilogy to be released.

Tomorrow will be mainly gardening and breadmaking and a little ironing thrown in for good measure, I may make some marmalade as my last jar is almost out and I do like it on toast and under a sponge pudding.

I feel that it is time for a quick cuppa before I throw a salad together and I need to feed Ben soon.

     TTFN                                                      Pam

A Busy Sort of Day.

First things first, I would like to welcome Paid in Chickens,M Stevens and Daisy Jones aboard, lovely to have you with us. As you all must have realised I can be a bit of an airhead at times, I have 2 other new followers,Tracey Webb and Vadam Wetzel. I may have welcomed you already, if so then ignore this, if not then you are most welcome.

Now for some joyful news.................. I have some valuations arranged for this week, 3 estate agents have been booked, I can hardly wait. I have done my research and have a fairly good idea of what my cottage is worth, I also have a pretty decent idea of what I will get for it without waiting for months. 
I did buy at just about the peak of the market and property has plummeted since then, prices are rising but slowly here and sales are also very slow. My friends a few houses away have had their house on the market for 5 months, they have dropped their price twice and have had a handful of viewings. The house that they wanted has sold and they are resigned to staying put for a while.
I have no intention of getting stuck in that quagmire. I bought this property with the profit from another house and a business, therefore in my eyes it owes me nothing. While I do not intend to give it away I do not have to pursue a high end price.

I have emptied cupboards today, while the rain trickled down the windows, and have a small mountain of things to sell, donate and dump. I have my fingers crossed for fair weather at the weekend so that I can do a car boot sale. Lots of things will be in the small adds in the local paper for the next 2 weeks.

I intend to only take the bare minimum with me, my plans do not include piles of possessions. Frost free fridge freezer anyone.

More happy talk, I have been edging my Granny Squares with the glorious red yarn.

The colour reproduction is not good, it has been so dull that I had to use electric light. I have 24 done, just the ends to weave in and another 150 or so to do and my blanket will be a reality.

This morning my new copy of Sew Magazine dropped through the letterbox.

The dress pattern came free and I like this shift style, I wore it a lot in my late teens. I will make the sleeveless version as, to me, the sleeves do not look as if they really belong to the dress.

I will not make this Table Runner but love the simple pattern that lets the fabrics sing, I have a thing about bright colours.

I have not been through the whole thing yet, I am saving it for a bit later, feet up, tea at my side and an hour to browse to my hearts content.

Reasons to be grateful.

1. Lots of jobs crossed off my list.

2. Estate agents booked to value the cottage.

3. 2 large cupboards sorted and emptied.

4. 1 shed cleared, contents gone.

5. The rain stopped long enough for Ben to have a decent walk.

I am now looking at the kitchen and dreading having to whittle it down. I know that I have too much stuff, too many tins and pyrex dishes, enough tea towels for a small hotel and so on, but it is going to be difficult deciding what goes and what stays.

On that mournful note I am off to make tea and cheer myself up. I would have a slice of cake but am stuffed from dinner. I made a salad and then a bread and butter pudding with custard, it was delicious but I will not need (or be able) to eat till late tomorrow.

                TTFN                                                Pam

Saturday Sunshine and Monsoon

What a day of contrasts, we started off very cold with grey skies. That went, kicked into touch by bright sunshine and a brisk breeze. I took Ben out and he romped around the field. Meanwhile I got a load of washing on the line. I brought it in,ironing dry, and it is now done and tucked away. We have just had a thunder storm right overhead, with streaks of lightning and torrential rain. 
I have continued picking my way through the house and filled some bags and boxes for the CS. It seems as though the more I turf out the more there is to go through. Yesterday I opend a top cupboard, moved a box and found a bundle of fabric that I had obviously stuck up there and then forgotten.
I need to allocate a few days to just sew, I haven't done much in a few days but do have the urge to sew tonight.
Yesterday I managed to clear some things from the garden, broken pots, odds and ends of netting and fleece, empty compost bags and so on. I do grow potatoes in compost bags but these had been used 3 times and were disintegrating. This has all been put into rubble bags and is heading for the recycling center during the week. I must dive right into the shed and remove a dozen or so paint pots, these have also been planted up in the past but I have too many.
I have been watching a run of repeats of Doctor Who and enjoying vegging out and doing a little stitching. Nothing remarkable, just trying out some new stitches and getting used to doing some hand sewing other than patchwork.
I have been reading back through some of the blogs on my list and clicking on comments and exploring further afield. Some bloggers seem to have three times the hours in the day that I do. Perhaps they just move at top speed all day, every day. I like to be busy but I do have Ben to walk, cleaning, washing and ironing and so on. Having said that I start my day with a pot of tea and go through emails and then spend a half hour,at least, on blog reading. Naughty? maybe but now that I do not work my time is my own and I am enjoying it.
No photo,s today, I haven't taken any for a few days and my batteries are on charge, both sets! I can not think how that happened.
Fish and chips for dinner last night, it is ages since I cooked them it hardly seems worth it for 1 but I had company. Tonight I am having  Cottage Pie with cauliflower and cabbage and lashings of gravy.

Reasons to be grateful.

1. I am off to visit Jeannie next weekend

2. Washing done and dusted for a few days.

3. I am planning a trip to the big garden center just outside Spalding for next week.

4. 2 Duck Dynasty books to read.

5. My new Quilting book from Camille Roskelley arrived. 

I feel for those in flooded areas, more heavy rain is forecast and the ground is at saturation point now. I still need to contact the British Red Cross to donate my quilts, I intend to wait until they are all finished and ready to go. I need to get a wiggle on as my next projects are at the planning stage.
I managed to develop an infection which has had me running backwards and forwards to the loo. I am so glad that I no longer pay for prescriptions as I was given 6 little pills. I just have to drop another urine sample at the surgery on Wednesday. Don't you just love those dinky little containers,  obviously designed my a man with no imagination!

Right, I am off to make tea and cook dinner, well cook the potatoes as I made a batch of minced beef and veg in gravy earlier.
     TTFN                                             Pam.

When Less really is More.

When I was in Beckenham on Saturday I had a wander round Mr S's store, just checking it out you understand. I saw these and pounced.

The magazine is called "Live well for less" and there was a display of recipe cards with it, as you can see the key ingredients are mostly ready prepared or tins and jars. The most expensive was the Moroccan Lamb with chickpea spiced rice at a massive £3.36 per person. The lamb is meant to be 300g of leftover roast, I expect that they costed it with Leg, there was a long list of ingredients including courgettes, a tub of pomegranate seeds and prepacked flat leaf parsley 1.4 of a pack. Who buys those little packs uses a 1/4 and saves the rest, not me. if it wasn't in the garden I would buy a growing pot and keep it for as long as I could. Pomegranate seeds, I would buy 1 fruit and squeeze the seeds out.

The next was Beef, vegetable & ale pie at £2.97 per person, this calls for a 700g prepared casserole veg pack, a jar of cook in sauce and ready rolled pastry.

In my life it would have been breast of lamb, and herbs from the garden, chickpeas soaked overnight and 10 minutes in the pressure cooker and there may have been Pomegranate if I found one RTC.

The beef pie would have used a selection of veg from the fridge and home made pastry prepared by my own fair hands, I use a can of cheap bitter for beef in ale and freeze what I do not use. The 300g of left over roast beef would have been slow  cooked brisket and probably RTC.

With careful shopping and a meal plan you can live well for less but not from this magazine. What you need to do is go and see Frugal Queen, MFin3, and all the other thrifty blogs out there. Most have recipes on a regular basis, I am making new meals all the time from my blog list, tomorrow I am cooking Hoppin John and corn bread from Helen the frugal knit-wit. I have cooked recipes from Foster Mummy, Mum, Sue and The Iowa Housewife to name but a few. Now I am as tight as a duck,s bum, and they are water tight, and all these bloggers know how to make a pound do the work of 3 or more, and share their knowledge freely.

I think Mr S. should hang his head in shame, perhaps he needs to read a few blogs.

I missed this from my blog post yesterday, it is a stack of 5" charms and some fussy cut squares, oh Patty you are truly a star.

I emptied my penny jar into the counting machine at Asda today, I walked away with a voucher for £8.20, not much maybe but it was all 1 and 2p coins. With this largess I purchased, 3 fillets of River Cobbler reduced to £1.40, a pack of 3 Salmon steaks reduced to £2.30, 2 pints of whole milk 79p, a head of broccoli 28p and a cauli 30p. That left me with £3.13 so I treated Ben to a box of Bonio on offer at £1 and spent the rest on tins of chopped tomatoes, puree and boxes of passata for the pantry.

Now that is how you live better for less, There are 3 fish pies in the freezer, 2 serving size. Ben has some salmon for the next 2 days, it is good for his skin, and 4 cauli and broccoli cheese dishes are waiting to be frozen. My tomato shelf is groaning and I am a happy bunny.

To put icing on the cake I popped into the Co op and picked up some mature cheddar half price, that is grated and frozen down as well. I do not miss the copper coins and regard my shopping as almost free. I had to go to the bank so even my petrol was used to save money.

Reasons to be grateful.

1. Almost free food, tucked away for future meals.

2. A foggy start to the day that cleared to bright sun.

3. Laundry and ironing done.

4. New recipes to try out.

5. An evening free to wallow in blog reading, and maybe a double choc chip cookie to enjoy.

There is no maybe about it, I made a batch on Friday from  Baking Made Easy by Lorraine Pascal. They are super indulgent and very chocolatey, I keep the cost down by chopping up 2 bars of chocolate from the supermarket, much cheaper than buying choc Chips and make no difference to the end result. I get 10 big cookies from the mix and manage to only have 2, the rest I share.

I will have to cost the recipe out, I have been told by everyone who tries them that they are the best cookies in the world.

I haven't managed to sew a stitch so far this week, but the cottage looks quite tidy and I have donated a pile of stuff to the CS giving me lots of space. I do have a stack of blocks next to the machine ready to sew together in the morning. I need to earn my sewing time and can not enjoy it if there are jobs that need doing in the house.

Fran turfed out a stack of books, all in very good condition so I took them to the Library, some will stay there, some will go to other branches and some may be sold. I take books out regularly and like to support my local branch. Many of my friends do the same and we have an excellent range of books to choose from. I am sure that it all helps to keep it going.

Time for a brew I think.

TTFN                                           Pam.

Two Step Forewards, One Step Back!

Oh my  we have been busy, after the skirting board discovery, much scratching of heads and ifs and ands talking a decision was made to crack on with the decorating.
The coving could be done, the cupboard doors, the 2 doors out of the room and most of the skirting could all be glossed, leaving a stand alone wall that joins the rotten bit to be done once replacement has happened.
So a start was made, Saturday all went well, I even gave the windows a thorough clean inside and out, nets down and washed,shiny shiny.
Today all started well, then it went belly up, while scraping down some loose paint on 1 wall a little plaster fell away. On investigating a bit more fell and then some more. I now have a semi circular cavity right down to the brickwork 2' long by 18" wide where, I think, the plaster was too dry. It is all in hand and should be made good next week. The joys of living in such an old house.

On the other hand I have sorted through the CD,s and the DVD,s and have a large bag of each to dispose of. I haven't summoned up the will to go through my cookbooks, it will be painful.

Reasons to be grateful.

1. 2 jobs knocked off my list.

2. Sparkling windows, inside and out.

3. Two sunny days side by side to walk Ben.

4. An offer of some well berried Holly for my mantelpiece.

5. A long chat on the phone with Fran later.

I changed my bed and vacuumed as usual and I am amazed that Ben has any hair left, that was all that was picked up. 
I have linen on the bed that has been buried at the back of the cupboard for months if not years.
I have a delicious dinner cooking and the smell is driving me mad, add to that the fact that I spent an hour watching the sublime Nigel cooking yet more Festive food, and it is no wonder that I have "the Rumblies in The Tumblies" and quite a bit of mouth watering going on.


               TTFN                            Pam