February = 28 Days of frugal-ness - except for re-homing the cats with the required "donation" to Cats Protection!
Made our own bread every week
Avoided shopping and spent nothing on 19/28 days
Started knitting dishcloths so that we can stop using the sponge scourers which don't last long.
Read library books for free
2 Free Jute shopping bags from the potato day.
I cut his hair and he cut mine.
Collected a free load of ply and other wood that had been destined for a skip.
Used free wood for heating house/water all month
Used the Rayburn/wood burner as much as possible for heating kettle.
Used the Rayburn oven as often as possible for cooking dinner
Used mainly our own vegetables so spent less than £7 on salad stuff.
Avoided using tumble dryer all month
Ate our own apples and frozen fruit + dried fruit so no spending on fresh fruit all month
Bulk buy of 10kg of Bicarb for cleaning
My personal spending = NOTHING
What news have I got for you from the east coast today?
The weather was bright first thing so I got out to the shed to prick out the seedlings and pot up the largest of the tomato plants from modules into 3inch pots. I then sowed 4 of the frighteningly expensive cucumber seeds.
I had a count up of seedlings/ plants growing so far, if they don't die on me we have
18 Sweet Pepper plants
10 Aubergine plants
75 various Tomato plants
All of the above are for the poly tunnels to produce things for us to sell
And several Parsley plants also to sell
Then I washed all the pots and seed trays that have been used so far this year.
Him Outside has been starting to line out the new gents toilet shed.
Once it started to rain we decided on a lazy Friday afternoon.
I only found out last night that a lady who has just started commenting on my blog is the Nan of our youngest daughters partner. So an extra welcome to Janet!
Friday, 28 February 2014
Thursday, 27 February 2014
Just a dull Thursday
My plan today was to go out to the shed and prick out the latest batch of seedlings, but as it was pouring with rain and very windy I went off the whole idea.
Instead I stayed in and cleaned the bathroom
That was my excitement for the day
Him outside was working in his workshop making doors for the Gents campsite toilets most of the day.
This afternoon I finished a modern crime book by a new-to-me author - Peter May called "The Black House" set on the isle of Lewis. Seemed very similar to the Shetland series by Ann Cleeves which is now being trailed on TV. Made me wonder who had copied who!
Our youngest and her bloke round for dinner tonight - roast chicken and her favourite extra - bread sauce. I had better get it sorted.
Back Tomorrow
PS -Thanks for comments yesterday
Instead I stayed in and cleaned the bathroom
That was my excitement for the day
Him outside was working in his workshop making doors for the Gents campsite toilets most of the day.
This afternoon I finished a modern crime book by a new-to-me author - Peter May called "The Black House" set on the isle of Lewis. Seemed very similar to the Shetland series by Ann Cleeves which is now being trailed on TV. Made me wonder who had copied who!
Our youngest and her bloke round for dinner tonight - roast chicken and her favourite extra - bread sauce. I had better get it sorted.
Back Tomorrow
PS -Thanks for comments yesterday
Wednesday, 26 February 2014
A Warmer Wednesday
Sunshine again and without the strong wind it felt much warmer.
But the front flower garden is STILL to sticky to weed easily, I thought I'd start at the other end hoping that perhaps it had dried out better, but no, each weed still coming out attached to a bit clod of wet soil. I did about 20 minutes , sometime I'll get to the end.
Vegetable curry sorted for dinner, with home made onion bhajis - YUM
A box of kindling chopped.
Letter to penfriend finished.
Him Outside has finally got to the end of the hedge cutting at our neighbours, and has had the fun of a bonfire to burn the prunings, so that's another job done.
The Suffolk Smallholders Society March Newsletter arrived this morning. Someone we know has some Boer ( meat breed)/ Dairy cross-breed goats for sale = £180 each !! Not really the best for milking although we know these people invested a lot of money building a proper diary and getting through all the rules and regulations needed to sell milk. They've now found that milking is a bit of a tie and are giving up after 6 years.
A few weeks ago I was debating going back to goat keeping and I would only consider "proper" milking goats never the silly pygmy goats that are kept for pets. But you can see that cost wise it would be extremely foolish. A good milking goat would be about £200, you can't keep one on its own so either another full grown goat or a younger one needed as well, so between £100 and £200. Then food per month say 2 bags at roughly £10 each. Then hay which we produce ourselves but each bale used here is one less to sell so £2.50 a bale with 2 needed a month. Then there are vet/health costs, regulation compliance costs( ear tags etc) and breeding costs ( no mating = no milk).
Our milk expenditure per month? Less than £15. Conclusion - we would be nuts to keep goats again!
Driving home from our trip out on Sunday we saw Daffodils in some sheltered gardens, it will still be weeks before they are ready to sell here but we have got primroses by the Horse Chestnut tree.
Welcome to Ann James and Lindjemp in the google friends pictures, hope you enjoy reading about our quiet life here.
Back tomorrow, rushing towards the end of the month.
But the front flower garden is STILL to sticky to weed easily, I thought I'd start at the other end hoping that perhaps it had dried out better, but no, each weed still coming out attached to a bit clod of wet soil. I did about 20 minutes , sometime I'll get to the end.
Vegetable curry sorted for dinner, with home made onion bhajis - YUM
A box of kindling chopped.
Letter to penfriend finished.
Him Outside has finally got to the end of the hedge cutting at our neighbours, and has had the fun of a bonfire to burn the prunings, so that's another job done.
The Suffolk Smallholders Society March Newsletter arrived this morning. Someone we know has some Boer ( meat breed)/ Dairy cross-breed goats for sale = £180 each !! Not really the best for milking although we know these people invested a lot of money building a proper diary and getting through all the rules and regulations needed to sell milk. They've now found that milking is a bit of a tie and are giving up after 6 years.
A few weeks ago I was debating going back to goat keeping and I would only consider "proper" milking goats never the silly pygmy goats that are kept for pets. But you can see that cost wise it would be extremely foolish. A good milking goat would be about £200, you can't keep one on its own so either another full grown goat or a younger one needed as well, so between £100 and £200. Then food per month say 2 bags at roughly £10 each. Then hay which we produce ourselves but each bale used here is one less to sell so £2.50 a bale with 2 needed a month. Then there are vet/health costs, regulation compliance costs( ear tags etc) and breeding costs ( no mating = no milk).
Our milk expenditure per month? Less than £15. Conclusion - we would be nuts to keep goats again!
Driving home from our trip out on Sunday we saw Daffodils in some sheltered gardens, it will still be weeks before they are ready to sell here but we have got primroses by the Horse Chestnut tree.
Welcome to Ann James and Lindjemp in the google friends pictures, hope you enjoy reading about our quiet life here.
Back tomorrow, rushing towards the end of the month.
Tuesday, 25 February 2014
Mixed Weather on a Quiet Tuesday
Cold wind, heavy rain, bright sunshine, black clouds, grey clouds, white clouds - we've had all those today.
It's difficult to know what to do on days like this. Him outside worked outside while it was fine, both on our neighbours hedge and on the campsite loo shed then moved into the workshop to repair the loose wheel on our small trailer when it rained.
My plans of doing some letter writing and knitting got delayed because when I took the dry clothes from off the overhead dryer upstairs to put away, I found a whole basket of ironing waiting for me. As it included several of his long sleeved working shirts, I thought I'd better get them done first.
Proper-sized dishcloth number 2 is coming along well and I'm three-quarters of the way through a letter to my penfriend. After lunch and egg jobs I got side tracked into Googling somebody on t'internet then reading blogs and before I knew it an hour and a half had gone, how did that happen?
Kev at An English Homestead Blog asks " what is your thermostat set at?" We've not got one of those!
The Rayburn ( a solid fuel - wood and coal- economy version of an Aga) is lit each morning. It heats the kitchen and the radiators in the bathroom and hall and warms the bedroom over the top (and it also heats our water ). At lunchtime we light the wood-burner in the living room. The room doors are left open and some of the heat goes upstairs. We are rarely cold but often too warm! Sometimes a big bit of wood, the wind in the right direction and the wood burner goes mad. We can be sitting here in a teeshirt with snow on the ground outside. On another day the fire will be a bit sluggish and we need to open the slide at the bottom and put a wooly jumper on until it warms up.
To us lighting a fire, waiting for the rooms and water to heat up are just a simple part of life but I can see how some people used to proper central heating would find it too complicated. A few years back, when we thought about moving, the estate agents said a house is difficult to sell without central heating nowadays. Well, sometime in the future, when we can't manage here anymore, we shall find out.
Todays teeny timid cat news is that now we know they won't dash off we have left the dining room door open all day so they can hear the normal house noises going on and us moving about. I had 5 minutes of normal cat behaviour from Mabel - the shyest of them. I sat in the dining room knitting and talking to them and she came out from her box to look at the ball of wool laying on the floor and tapped it with a paw, so I went and got a bit of string which she played with for a few seconds and watched it moving across the floor. Then I made some scratching noises on the top of the table which she was hiding under and she actually moved to have a look. That's a little improvement on complete indifference to everything.
Here's Mabel in the box and believe it or not Polly is in there behind her. The box is just a cardboard one, laying on its side, with the flap at the top fixed down so they have a small space to get in and hide where they feel nice and safe.
Welcome to Mary White follower 141 on Google friends.( I'm not sure, is this Mary White the one I know or someone with the same name! a mystery to be solved) One person has disappeared from the bloglovin' list - sorry to lose you.
Back Tomorrow
It's difficult to know what to do on days like this. Him outside worked outside while it was fine, both on our neighbours hedge and on the campsite loo shed then moved into the workshop to repair the loose wheel on our small trailer when it rained.
My plans of doing some letter writing and knitting got delayed because when I took the dry clothes from off the overhead dryer upstairs to put away, I found a whole basket of ironing waiting for me. As it included several of his long sleeved working shirts, I thought I'd better get them done first.
Proper-sized dishcloth number 2 is coming along well and I'm three-quarters of the way through a letter to my penfriend. After lunch and egg jobs I got side tracked into Googling somebody on t'internet then reading blogs and before I knew it an hour and a half had gone, how did that happen?
Kev at An English Homestead Blog asks " what is your thermostat set at?" We've not got one of those!
The Rayburn ( a solid fuel - wood and coal- economy version of an Aga) is lit each morning. It heats the kitchen and the radiators in the bathroom and hall and warms the bedroom over the top (and it also heats our water ). At lunchtime we light the wood-burner in the living room. The room doors are left open and some of the heat goes upstairs. We are rarely cold but often too warm! Sometimes a big bit of wood, the wind in the right direction and the wood burner goes mad. We can be sitting here in a teeshirt with snow on the ground outside. On another day the fire will be a bit sluggish and we need to open the slide at the bottom and put a wooly jumper on until it warms up.
To us lighting a fire, waiting for the rooms and water to heat up are just a simple part of life but I can see how some people used to proper central heating would find it too complicated. A few years back, when we thought about moving, the estate agents said a house is difficult to sell without central heating nowadays. Well, sometime in the future, when we can't manage here anymore, we shall find out.
Todays teeny timid cat news is that now we know they won't dash off we have left the dining room door open all day so they can hear the normal house noises going on and us moving about. I had 5 minutes of normal cat behaviour from Mabel - the shyest of them. I sat in the dining room knitting and talking to them and she came out from her box to look at the ball of wool laying on the floor and tapped it with a paw, so I went and got a bit of string which she played with for a few seconds and watched it moving across the floor. Then I made some scratching noises on the top of the table which she was hiding under and she actually moved to have a look. That's a little improvement on complete indifference to everything.
Welcome to Mary White follower 141 on Google friends.( I'm not sure, is this Mary White the one I know or someone with the same name! a mystery to be solved) One person has disappeared from the bloglovin' list - sorry to lose you.
Back Tomorrow
Monday, 24 February 2014
First Grass Cutting
Thanks to Out My Window, Karen, Janet, Bridget and Frugal in Bucks for comments yesterday and welcome to Jennifer, a new follower from New Mexico, who has a blog called "thistlebear".
A lovely spring like day here, as long as you were indoors looking out, but outside there was still a chilly wind. Another good drying day.
Today's Timid Teeny Cat News: Yesterday evening while we were in the living room we opened the dining room door, shut the rest of the doors in the house and encouraged Polly to came out and have a good look round. She really behaved like a normal cat, examining everything, going up stairs and down again and finally sitting on the arm of a chair ready to dash back into the dining room. Mabel is still staying in the box/bed. During the night they must emerge to eat as the food is gone by morning.
Him Outside is getting on well with doing the cladding on the campsite loo shed. It will soon be watertight. Then he will be able to start the inside.
I did my usual Monday morning bread bake, zoomed to Saxmundham for milk ( how did we forget it yesterday - easy- we turned right out of our gate instead of left so didn't go past the T shop- Twits!) and then I went out to have another go at weeding the front flower bed but it's still to sticky so I gave up again.
After lunch Him Outside suggested that I cut the grass on the two areas of campsite, while he tidied up some trees - mainly willow- that had either had branches broken in the wind or were leaning out onto the camping area making it difficult to cut the grass. It seems odd to start grass cutting on Feb 24th but with the mild winter we've had the grass has hardly stopped growing and if we leave it to get too long then the mower just gets clogged up.
Better have a photo for the blog I said, so he obliged.
Back Tomorrow
A lovely spring like day here, as long as you were indoors looking out, but outside there was still a chilly wind. Another good drying day.
Today's Timid Teeny Cat News: Yesterday evening while we were in the living room we opened the dining room door, shut the rest of the doors in the house and encouraged Polly to came out and have a good look round. She really behaved like a normal cat, examining everything, going up stairs and down again and finally sitting on the arm of a chair ready to dash back into the dining room. Mabel is still staying in the box/bed. During the night they must emerge to eat as the food is gone by morning.
Him Outside is getting on well with doing the cladding on the campsite loo shed. It will soon be watertight. Then he will be able to start the inside.
I did my usual Monday morning bread bake, zoomed to Saxmundham for milk ( how did we forget it yesterday - easy- we turned right out of our gate instead of left so didn't go past the T shop- Twits!) and then I went out to have another go at weeding the front flower bed but it's still to sticky so I gave up again.
After lunch Him Outside suggested that I cut the grass on the two areas of campsite, while he tidied up some trees - mainly willow- that had either had branches broken in the wind or were leaning out onto the camping area making it difficult to cut the grass. It seems odd to start grass cutting on Feb 24th but with the mild winter we've had the grass has hardly stopped growing and if we leave it to get too long then the mower just gets clogged up.
Better have a photo for the blog I said, so he obliged.
Sunday, 23 February 2014
Family Lunch
We've had a trip out today for lunch at Him Outsides' Sister and Brother- in-Laws home. His Brother and Dad went as well and our Nephew and Niece were also there so it was nice to catch up on what everyone is doing. And good to have a delicious meal together.
Back home for egg collecting etc and more talking to cats.
Polly( the teeny black one) will come out of the box/bed if I go in and sit on the floor, and she now rubs around me and purrs- a small success. Mabel is still staying firmly hidden away.
Another mild day here without rain but a strong wind which is good for drying up the ground. The chicken runs are starting to recover.
Thanks to everyone for comments yesterday
Back Tomorrow
Back home for egg collecting etc and more talking to cats.
Polly( the teeny black one) will come out of the box/bed if I go in and sit on the floor, and she now rubs around me and purrs- a small success. Mabel is still staying firmly hidden away.
Another mild day here without rain but a strong wind which is good for drying up the ground. The chicken runs are starting to recover.
Thanks to everyone for comments yesterday
Back Tomorrow
Saturday, 22 February 2014
Library Book Photo
Thank you to everyone for comments yesterday about the very shy cats. They came out of hiding during the night to eat but have spent the day hidden in their box/bed. I've been in and out of the dining room to speak to them and to give them little bit of a stroke and tickling under the chin, which cats usually like.
We've had a beautiful early spring day here with almost non stop sunshine. Him Outside was working on the new campsite loos and then he delivered the two IBC tanks to people on allotments at Blaxhall ( a village not far away). So we have the money back for the 6 he bought, £15 profit and 4 more still to sell. We'll put an ad in the Suffolk Smallholders Newsletter and they will probably go quite quickly once the gardening season starts.
I got outside to clear a bit of overgrown old herb garden that had several woody lavender plants and a half dead rosemary with ivy and brambles creeping through. This bit of garden and the small overgrown patio beside it are going to go back to grass as they are beside the old garden potting shed which will come down when the new one is built- sometime.
So, as promised, here is the picture of the library books collected from the mobile yesterday. A good selection with several crime by authors I've not read before, that have been recommended by people on other blogs.
There are three more WWII books that I've not seen before. Third from the right " The Library Book" is short pieces by authors about using libraries. The Trisha Ashley is a bit of light rubbish for a change, while the small book by Angela Thirkell, in the centre is short stories published in the 1930s/40s but never collected together before. Virago reprinted her book High Rising which I enjoyed a couple of months ago and now seem to be doing some more.
Due to the knitting, I still had some January books unread, so now have a massive pile of books under the table by my chair - 22 to be precise! More hours in the day needed please!
Back Tomorrow.
We've had a beautiful early spring day here with almost non stop sunshine. Him Outside was working on the new campsite loos and then he delivered the two IBC tanks to people on allotments at Blaxhall ( a village not far away). So we have the money back for the 6 he bought, £15 profit and 4 more still to sell. We'll put an ad in the Suffolk Smallholders Newsletter and they will probably go quite quickly once the gardening season starts.
I got outside to clear a bit of overgrown old herb garden that had several woody lavender plants and a half dead rosemary with ivy and brambles creeping through. This bit of garden and the small overgrown patio beside it are going to go back to grass as they are beside the old garden potting shed which will come down when the new one is built- sometime.
So, as promised, here is the picture of the library books collected from the mobile yesterday. A good selection with several crime by authors I've not read before, that have been recommended by people on other blogs.
Due to the knitting, I still had some January books unread, so now have a massive pile of books under the table by my chair - 22 to be precise! More hours in the day needed please!
Back Tomorrow.
Friday, 21 February 2014
New Arrivals at the Simple Suffolk Smallholding
I didn't put the photo of yesterdays charity shop bargain on the blog because this is what is was
which would have given away the news of the two new arrivals that have moved in today.
Mabel- under the table! and Polly. Both quite small and about 2 years old.
They've spent the last 4 weeks in a Cats Protection pen and before that they were 2 of 14 cats taken on by a lady when her elderly friend died. The lady realised that 14 cats is probably a few too many and they've gradually been re homed via C.P over the last few months. They are incredibly timid hence the hiding under the table. We've turned the dining room into a space for them to get used to being in a house again and to get to know us.
These are not the first cats we've had here as three came "Free" with the house when we moved in in 1992. One was elderly and but the other two were only a year old so they lived with us for several years until Cooper, who was a gorgeous ginger boy, was the last to go maybe 8 or 9 years ago. Because by then we had a dog we decided not to replace the cats, but Lucy, our lovely intelligent Border Collie Cross, had to be put to sleep over 3 years ago and since then we've been pet-less.
We decided on no more dogs but it's taken us all this time to do anything about getting some cats. I've been waiting for 2 that are used to each other and about the same age since I went to the C.P Homing Fair in the Autumn. These little girls haven't been mistreated but are not accustomed to any attention. They will let me pick them up and seem to like being stroked but I think it will be a while before they start purring or playing.
Back to the CS bargain - I didn't even know about scratching posts until we went to see Polly and Mabel in their pen, our previous cats always sharpened their claws on the back of any handy chair or settee! Him Outside said he could make something but when we saw this yesterday for £4 he said by the time he'd have found a post, stuck a bit of carpet on and screwed in to a base, it would be simpler and as cheap to buy this one. So we did, along with cat food and cat litter. Everything else has been made/found here. An old cushion pad in an old pillowcase in a cardboard box makes a bed, an old plastic drawer which I've previously used for standing flower pots in has become a litter tray. A cotton reel and a small ball for when they start to play, an empty window sill so they can jump up to look out. Some old dishes and plates for food and water and they are sorted. I wonder how long it will be before they lose their shyness?
Other news today; We have a lovely sunny day here but a blustery cold wind. A load of washing dried really well. Him Outside has been getting the frame for the campsite gents loos fixed outside onto it's concrete base and then covered in felt. I thought I would start weeding the flower garden out the front of the house but every weed came up with a huge clod of sticky mud so I gave up on that job and just cleaned up some dead stuff from the the strawberry bed and from the cabbages. I then spent the rest of the day popping in and out of the dining room.
Well done to the Scottish guys for their Silver Medal in the Curling, the Canadians were really on form.
A lovely lot of books from the library van- photo tomorrow.
They've spent the last 4 weeks in a Cats Protection pen and before that they were 2 of 14 cats taken on by a lady when her elderly friend died. The lady realised that 14 cats is probably a few too many and they've gradually been re homed via C.P over the last few months. They are incredibly timid hence the hiding under the table. We've turned the dining room into a space for them to get used to being in a house again and to get to know us.
These are not the first cats we've had here as three came "Free" with the house when we moved in in 1992. One was elderly and but the other two were only a year old so they lived with us for several years until Cooper, who was a gorgeous ginger boy, was the last to go maybe 8 or 9 years ago. Because by then we had a dog we decided not to replace the cats, but Lucy, our lovely intelligent Border Collie Cross, had to be put to sleep over 3 years ago and since then we've been pet-less.
We decided on no more dogs but it's taken us all this time to do anything about getting some cats. I've been waiting for 2 that are used to each other and about the same age since I went to the C.P Homing Fair in the Autumn. These little girls haven't been mistreated but are not accustomed to any attention. They will let me pick them up and seem to like being stroked but I think it will be a while before they start purring or playing.
Back to the CS bargain - I didn't even know about scratching posts until we went to see Polly and Mabel in their pen, our previous cats always sharpened their claws on the back of any handy chair or settee! Him Outside said he could make something but when we saw this yesterday for £4 he said by the time he'd have found a post, stuck a bit of carpet on and screwed in to a base, it would be simpler and as cheap to buy this one. So we did, along with cat food and cat litter. Everything else has been made/found here. An old cushion pad in an old pillowcase in a cardboard box makes a bed, an old plastic drawer which I've previously used for standing flower pots in has become a litter tray. A cotton reel and a small ball for when they start to play, an empty window sill so they can jump up to look out. Some old dishes and plates for food and water and they are sorted. I wonder how long it will be before they lose their shyness?
Other news today; We have a lovely sunny day here but a blustery cold wind. A load of washing dried really well. Him Outside has been getting the frame for the campsite gents loos fixed outside onto it's concrete base and then covered in felt. I thought I would start weeding the flower garden out the front of the house but every weed came up with a huge clod of sticky mud so I gave up on that job and just cleaned up some dead stuff from the the strawberry bed and from the cabbages. I then spent the rest of the day popping in and out of the dining room.
Well done to the Scottish guys for their Silver Medal in the Curling, the Canadians were really on form.
A lovely lot of books from the library van- photo tomorrow.
Thursday, 20 February 2014
1,800 Egg Boxes
We needed a new stock of egg boxes so had a morning out to collect them and while we were out we popped into Diss to do a tour of the charity shops. We took a flask as per usual and had a coffee in the jeep before heading out around the town.
No bargains except one which I will keep you in suspense about until tomorrow!
By the time we had been all around the town and heading back to the car we were getting a bit peckish so bought a couple of cakes from Greggs to have with the rest of our coffee. A £1.15 treat and then another cheap treat - a bag of watercress, which I love, to have with a lasagne for dinner tonight.
The joy of being frugal is that even the treats are not expensive. If bought cakes and salads-in-a-bag are your normal fare then a treat would need to be something for £5 instead of £1!
I once grew watercress from seed as it doesn't need running water but the plants didn't do very well. It needs growing in pots that are stood in a big tray of water so that they are constantly damp. But I think they need feeding to get anything big enough to be able to cut to eat. I'm not sure if the seeds are still available.
This is what 1,800 Egg boxes looks like, what a good thing it is to have a spare room to keep them in!
Each bale holds 300 plain grey boxes for 6 eggs and work out to between 5 and 6 pence each box. This is the cheapest we have been able to find them. We are now selling about 58 dozen eggs every week and this lot should last us most of the year depending on how many clean boxes get returned. Someone left us several the other day but they had obviously put the broken egg shells in the boxes as they were stained and dirty with bits of shell stuck all over. However, nothing is wasted as they are handy for fire lighting or in summer when the fires are not alight dirty boxes get torn into bits and added to the compost bin.
Being out this morning means I missed the Scottish girls winning their Bronze medal in the Curling but hopefully I shall get to see the mens final which I'm guessing is tomorrow afternoon. Tomorrow is also library van day but my book picture will have to wait until Saturday.
Keeping you guessing over what tomorrows photo will be..................................
Back Tomorrow
No bargains except one which I will keep you in suspense about until tomorrow!
By the time we had been all around the town and heading back to the car we were getting a bit peckish so bought a couple of cakes from Greggs to have with the rest of our coffee. A £1.15 treat and then another cheap treat - a bag of watercress, which I love, to have with a lasagne for dinner tonight.
The joy of being frugal is that even the treats are not expensive. If bought cakes and salads-in-a-bag are your normal fare then a treat would need to be something for £5 instead of £1!
I once grew watercress from seed as it doesn't need running water but the plants didn't do very well. It needs growing in pots that are stood in a big tray of water so that they are constantly damp. But I think they need feeding to get anything big enough to be able to cut to eat. I'm not sure if the seeds are still available.
This is what 1,800 Egg boxes looks like, what a good thing it is to have a spare room to keep them in!
Being out this morning means I missed the Scottish girls winning their Bronze medal in the Curling but hopefully I shall get to see the mens final which I'm guessing is tomorrow afternoon. Tomorrow is also library van day but my book picture will have to wait until Saturday.
Keeping you guessing over what tomorrows photo will be..................................
Back Tomorrow
Wednesday, 19 February 2014
Herbs to sell in summer
Thank you for all the comments yesterday, I got around to replying to them at lunchtime.
Woke to a mucky sort of morning - grey and dampish but no actual rain. A Blackbird serenaded me around the field as I went to let out the chickens at 7.30, which was nice, I had heard them singing about an hour earlier so they think spring is on the way. The forecast was for brightening up so I did a quick load of washing and got it out on the line.
Next job was to rustle up a big batch of tomato and herb bread dough which was left to rise in front of the Rayburn.
Him Outside had already gone over to our neighbours for more hedge cutting, It's a very long hedge and she usually gets a couple of lads to do it with a flail on a tractor, but the field is too wet and they are still busy with trees from the winter gales so we have benefited with the extra work.
I was then able to get outside to sort out all my pots of herbs which I will be selling soon. Many years ago when there seemed to be more hours in the day, herb growing and selling was something I did on quite a big scale. Often having around 20 different types of herbs to take to the Suffolk Smallholders Show and to sell at the front gate. Now the greenhouse is needed more for producing plants to put in the poly tunnels and the big herb garden that I used to take seedlings from got over run by the lemon balm so that we turned it all back to grass and now I just have a few herbs in pots. But at a boot sale last year I picked up some cheap lavender plants and also got some rosemary cuttings to strike so have a few things to sell this summer. - Every Little Helps!
The postman came with my small parcel of dishcloth cotton so after knocking back the bread dough and making some rolls I was able to sit and knit while watching the ladies curling semi-final. It was a shame they were beaten but they still have a chance for a bronze.
After lunch Him Outside finished pressure washing the IBC containers and took them off the trailer so he could use it to fetch a load of wood. He had a tip off yesterday from someone he used to work with that some sheets of ply and some big timber supports were about to be chucked out. As he needs some decent ply to do a new floor for the trailer and we are always looking for wood for the Rayburn and Woodburner he was able to say straightaway that he would rescue it.
Eggs collected and sorted it was time for me to sit and watch the mens curling - still knitting. By the way, my first dishcloth was far too big for dish washing so that has gone to be a mopping up cloth in the utility room and I didn't learn from that so still cast on too many stitches for the second cloth.
So I'm making a second big mopping up cloth and then I'll remember to only cast on only 44 stitches as recommended by Ann. I shall attempt 4 knit 4 purl to make a waffle pattern.
I heard more strange things about the States on the radio this morning ( apologies to readers from the USA but there seems to be all sorts of odd things happening in your country). I was listening to some farmers being interviewed about the shortage of water in some places and how water ( in the form of hay) is being exported to China to fill up the empty containers after they have unloaded their load of electricals and tat. China now need more fodder for more meat producing animals and are willing to pay over the odds to get it. Which means that the price of buying in feed stuff for cattle in the dry parts of the States is pushed up.
AND Monsanta are trying to muscle in on seed production in this country by doing some sort of deal with our government. I didn't catch exactly what they were talking about but I didn't like the sound of it. It becomes illegal for farmers to save seed or buy it from anywhere other than Monsanta. Something else for us to worry about regarding food security and self reliance.
On a happier note a big welcome to some new followers; Ellen making 139 on Google Friend and to Deborah, Janet and Sandy on Bloglovin', the total there is now 105.
Hope you enjoy reading about our quiet life in Suffolk.
Woke to a mucky sort of morning - grey and dampish but no actual rain. A Blackbird serenaded me around the field as I went to let out the chickens at 7.30, which was nice, I had heard them singing about an hour earlier so they think spring is on the way. The forecast was for brightening up so I did a quick load of washing and got it out on the line.
Next job was to rustle up a big batch of tomato and herb bread dough which was left to rise in front of the Rayburn.
Him Outside had already gone over to our neighbours for more hedge cutting, It's a very long hedge and she usually gets a couple of lads to do it with a flail on a tractor, but the field is too wet and they are still busy with trees from the winter gales so we have benefited with the extra work.
I was then able to get outside to sort out all my pots of herbs which I will be selling soon. Many years ago when there seemed to be more hours in the day, herb growing and selling was something I did on quite a big scale. Often having around 20 different types of herbs to take to the Suffolk Smallholders Show and to sell at the front gate. Now the greenhouse is needed more for producing plants to put in the poly tunnels and the big herb garden that I used to take seedlings from got over run by the lemon balm so that we turned it all back to grass and now I just have a few herbs in pots. But at a boot sale last year I picked up some cheap lavender plants and also got some rosemary cuttings to strike so have a few things to sell this summer. - Every Little Helps!
 | ||
| A few lavender,thyme,rosemary,lemon balm, chives and mint plus 1 fennel will be ready to sell in a couple of months when they have greened up and grown a bit bigger. |
After lunch Him Outside finished pressure washing the IBC containers and took them off the trailer so he could use it to fetch a load of wood. He had a tip off yesterday from someone he used to work with that some sheets of ply and some big timber supports were about to be chucked out. As he needs some decent ply to do a new floor for the trailer and we are always looking for wood for the Rayburn and Woodburner he was able to say straightaway that he would rescue it.
Eggs collected and sorted it was time for me to sit and watch the mens curling - still knitting. By the way, my first dishcloth was far too big for dish washing so that has gone to be a mopping up cloth in the utility room and I didn't learn from that so still cast on too many stitches for the second cloth.
So I'm making a second big mopping up cloth and then I'll remember to only cast on only 44 stitches as recommended by Ann. I shall attempt 4 knit 4 purl to make a waffle pattern.
I heard more strange things about the States on the radio this morning ( apologies to readers from the USA but there seems to be all sorts of odd things happening in your country). I was listening to some farmers being interviewed about the shortage of water in some places and how water ( in the form of hay) is being exported to China to fill up the empty containers after they have unloaded their load of electricals and tat. China now need more fodder for more meat producing animals and are willing to pay over the odds to get it. Which means that the price of buying in feed stuff for cattle in the dry parts of the States is pushed up.
AND Monsanta are trying to muscle in on seed production in this country by doing some sort of deal with our government. I didn't catch exactly what they were talking about but I didn't like the sound of it. It becomes illegal for farmers to save seed or buy it from anywhere other than Monsanta. Something else for us to worry about regarding food security and self reliance.
On a happier note a big welcome to some new followers; Ellen making 139 on Google Friend and to Deborah, Janet and Sandy on Bloglovin', the total there is now 105.
Hope you enjoy reading about our quiet life in Suffolk.
Tuesday, 18 February 2014
Perhaps spring is around the corner after all
I got a nice surprise this morning when I looked to see if there were any comments on yesterdays post. 15 people had joined in the fruity conversation! That's brilliant, so thank you to Karen, Dc, The Weaver of Grass, Bridget, Sara, Kev, Cro, Em, A Suffolk Girl, Compostwoman, The Squirrel Family, Pam, Out of my Window and Janet.
The temperature has increased a few degrees today and if only we could have a week like this everywhere would dry up enough to start weeding. This might be a vain hope as by 4.30 it had started raining again.
Him Outside has had a busy day, he had a doctors appointment first thing, bought some wood to make the door frames for the gents loo shed, called in to the place that has the IBC tanks to see if they had any more going cheap, came home and unloaded the trailer full of tree prunings onto the bonfire heap, popped up to "the second home across the fields" who owed him money for work done( they are there for the half term holiday), sorted out what other work they want doing. Then after lunch he went and collected 6 tanks - we already have 2 people wanting one each so that will get the money back quite quickly. Then before the rain started he began the job of pressure washing all the tanks.
I've had a MUCH quieter day than him as I was feeling very tired after a couple of nights of strange dreams waking me up in a panic, so decided to take things easy.
Listening to the radio early this morning I heard this "Because China isn't spending as much money on consumer goods as they were a couple of years ago, we in Europe are going to need to spend more to push up production and create more jobs" Uh? I Don't think so - not here anyway. Avoiding jumping on the consumer wagon is the best way to save money.
The temperature has increased a few degrees today and if only we could have a week like this everywhere would dry up enough to start weeding. This might be a vain hope as by 4.30 it had started raining again.
Him Outside has had a busy day, he had a doctors appointment first thing, bought some wood to make the door frames for the gents loo shed, called in to the place that has the IBC tanks to see if they had any more going cheap, came home and unloaded the trailer full of tree prunings onto the bonfire heap, popped up to "the second home across the fields" who owed him money for work done( they are there for the half term holiday), sorted out what other work they want doing. Then after lunch he went and collected 6 tanks - we already have 2 people wanting one each so that will get the money back quite quickly. Then before the rain started he began the job of pressure washing all the tanks.
I've had a MUCH quieter day than him as I was feeling very tired after a couple of nights of strange dreams waking me up in a panic, so decided to take things easy.
Listening to the radio early this morning I heard this "Because China isn't spending as much money on consumer goods as they were a couple of years ago, we in Europe are going to need to spend more to push up production and create more jobs" Uh? I Don't think so - not here anyway. Avoiding jumping on the consumer wagon is the best way to save money.
Monday, 17 February 2014
Success and failure at Self Reliance?
The idea of being self sufficient has appealed to me since reading the John Seymour book in the late 1970s. The reality is that it is nigh impossible but we can be more self reliant.
Which is why this isn't just a picture of some apples.
These are our apples, cooking and eating, and it's February17th and they are still looking OK. That's success! We've never had such good quality, long keeping before. AND we still have several wrapped in newspaper in boxes in the shed.
I checked through the last net of onions today and had to chuck several. We have enough to see us through another few weeks but we've not grown the over-winter type this year after a couple of years of failures so we will have an onion gap over the summer. That's a sort of failure at self reliance.
Aubergine seeds have been sown and popped in the propagator and I came across a packet of sweetpea seeds that were free last year so I've sown them in pots too.
While in Saxmundham picking up Him Outside from the railway station, I nipped into Tescos for milk. As I went past the reduced fruit and veg. section I noticed yellow stickers on some small packs of raspberries and strawberries. You'll never believe what the "reduced" price was -- £2.89! Reduced? I don't think so! and probably pretty tasteless too at this time of the year. I wonder how far they had flown to get here. We will stick to eating our own apples and our own fruit from the freezer until rhubarb season.
Thank you to everyone for comments yesterday. Lovely to hear that people enjoy reading my ramblings from Suffolk.
Back Tomorrow
Which is why this isn't just a picture of some apples.
I checked through the last net of onions today and had to chuck several. We have enough to see us through another few weeks but we've not grown the over-winter type this year after a couple of years of failures so we will have an onion gap over the summer. That's a sort of failure at self reliance.
Aubergine seeds have been sown and popped in the propagator and I came across a packet of sweetpea seeds that were free last year so I've sown them in pots too.
While in Saxmundham picking up Him Outside from the railway station, I nipped into Tescos for milk. As I went past the reduced fruit and veg. section I noticed yellow stickers on some small packs of raspberries and strawberries. You'll never believe what the "reduced" price was -- £2.89! Reduced? I don't think so! and probably pretty tasteless too at this time of the year. I wonder how far they had flown to get here. We will stick to eating our own apples and our own fruit from the freezer until rhubarb season.
Thank you to everyone for comments yesterday. Lovely to hear that people enjoy reading my ramblings from Suffolk.
Back Tomorrow
Sunday, 16 February 2014
One year ago today
One year ago today I started to do regular posts about our simple life here in Suffolk.
It really began a few weeks earlier - Christmas 2012, when our eldest daughter was here. I got her to help me start a blog. Then it got forgotten until February 16th 2013 when I began writing regularly. The problem was the blog was on Wordpress and I just couldn't seem to work out how to do things that other folks seemed able to do on Blogspot, which is why I changed over in April 2013.
So this year I'm having 2 blogging anniversaries! Feb 16th and April 9th.
If you are curious ( goodness knows why you would be!) You can read my early posts on the Wordpress blog HERE
Like a lot of people, I started the blog just as a record of what we do here for family and friends to read. Then when other people started reading and commenting it got more interesting. Now there are over 1000 page views everyday. Amazing! So thank you to everyone who reads, follows and comments, it makes blogging much more fun.
Looking back to Feb 16th 2013 I see that the weather had been very wet, I was keen to get weeding but the beds were still too sticky. Exactly the same as today! Reading back reminds me I've forgotten to put Aubergines in the propagator . Must remedy that ASAP.
It's been a quiet, calm and blue sky day here today. A load of washing dried on the line. Some Broad Bean seeds have been sown, a bit more knitting has been done and Olympics watched.
The Simple Life at it's best.
Back Tomorrow.
It really began a few weeks earlier - Christmas 2012, when our eldest daughter was here. I got her to help me start a blog. Then it got forgotten until February 16th 2013 when I began writing regularly. The problem was the blog was on Wordpress and I just couldn't seem to work out how to do things that other folks seemed able to do on Blogspot, which is why I changed over in April 2013.
So this year I'm having 2 blogging anniversaries! Feb 16th and April 9th.
If you are curious ( goodness knows why you would be!) You can read my early posts on the Wordpress blog HERE
Like a lot of people, I started the blog just as a record of what we do here for family and friends to read. Then when other people started reading and commenting it got more interesting. Now there are over 1000 page views everyday. Amazing! So thank you to everyone who reads, follows and comments, it makes blogging much more fun.
Looking back to Feb 16th 2013 I see that the weather had been very wet, I was keen to get weeding but the beds were still too sticky. Exactly the same as today! Reading back reminds me I've forgotten to put Aubergines in the propagator . Must remedy that ASAP.
It's been a quiet, calm and blue sky day here today. A load of washing dried on the line. Some Broad Bean seeds have been sown, a bit more knitting has been done and Olympics watched.
The Simple Life at it's best.
Back Tomorrow.
Saturday, 15 February 2014
More weather
Blimey! What a rough night.
And then what a blowy day.
I'm here on my own for a couple of days ( as Him Outside has gone off to visit our son and take the opportunity to go and watch rugby at Northampton Saints), so I was glad nothing serious got damaged in the gales. Our trellis arch has collapsed, but that can stay where it is until he is home again.
Dishcloth number 1 is finished.
Marks for evenness of tension = 0/10
Number of odd looking bits with strange loopy stitches = 3
Satisfaction with remembering/relearning a basic skill = 10/10
Usefulness of dishcloth - we will see. To have enough to use/wash I suppose I need about 10 so I'd better have a look out for some more 100% cotton double knitting. There are some balls of bamboo yarn on ebay, would that work?
I've been watching some Curling from the Winter Olympics, I think I'm getting quite into it, may even have to get up at 5 tomorrow morning to see how the men do. Or maybe not!
Thanks to all my bloggy friends for comments yesterday and a big Welcome to Vada Wetzel and Lynn Gill, new followers on bloglovin' and to twintalk2 follower 138 on google friend. Hope you enjoy the news from a simple Suffolk Smallholding.
Back tomorrow, when I must get some broad beans into pots as it's just too soggy to think about doing anything outside.
And then what a blowy day.
I'm here on my own for a couple of days ( as Him Outside has gone off to visit our son and take the opportunity to go and watch rugby at Northampton Saints), so I was glad nothing serious got damaged in the gales. Our trellis arch has collapsed, but that can stay where it is until he is home again.
Dishcloth number 1 is finished.
Marks for evenness of tension = 0/10
Number of odd looking bits with strange loopy stitches = 3
Satisfaction with remembering/relearning a basic skill = 10/10
Usefulness of dishcloth - we will see. To have enough to use/wash I suppose I need about 10 so I'd better have a look out for some more 100% cotton double knitting. There are some balls of bamboo yarn on ebay, would that work?
I've been watching some Curling from the Winter Olympics, I think I'm getting quite into it, may even have to get up at 5 tomorrow morning to see how the men do. Or maybe not!
Thanks to all my bloggy friends for comments yesterday and a big Welcome to Vada Wetzel and Lynn Gill, new followers on bloglovin' and to twintalk2 follower 138 on google friend. Hope you enjoy the news from a simple Suffolk Smallholding.
Back tomorrow, when I must get some broad beans into pots as it's just too soggy to think about doing anything outside.
Friday, 14 February 2014
Living with less?
The joy of reading lots of other peoples blogs is that it can spark a thought or an idea. Jane at Shoestring Cottage did a post with a short list of 30 things our grans didn't use. The idea for her list came from a visit to a museum that included a Fishermans cottage. That's the sort of museum I like - looking at how real people lived. When we went to Duxford years ago it wasn't the planes that I enjoyed but the wartime pre-fab showing how few possessions that people had then.
That made me think about the time in 1983/4 when we lived in a mobile home for a year while we did up an old house. Before that were living in a 3 bed house with our children aged 2 and 4. Most of the stuff from the house wouldn't fit into the caravan so we were quite limited on what possessions we needed for that year. I can't remember a huge amount about the year. I know I enjoyed having virtually no housework because the caravan was such a small space!
It was a very busy time. The work on the old house had to be done in 12 months to get the council grant which was available then for bringing a house that had been declared unfit for human habitation back up to scratch. Him Outside was working for the council all day and then came home and worked on the house until 9 most nights. I remember digging out the earth floors to lower the floor level and at the end putting endless amounts of linseed oil on all the beams.
One thing I DO remember is having just one shelf for books and having to choose which ones to take before all the rest were stored away in boxes at His Nan's house.
That thought led me on to wondering which books would I take now, if I was only allowed one bagful from my book shelves. I would want to take favourites and things that can be read and re-read.
Time for a list!
So I would pack my bag with.......
The 3 Hovel Books by Elizabeth West
The 2 books by Patrick Rivers that are at the top of the blog
(Those 5 are all small so would easily slide into the sides of a bag)
Vere Hodgson - Few eggs and No Oranges.
Juliet Gardiner - Wartime Britain
Frances Woodford - Dear Mr Bigalow
Barbara Kingsolver - Animal, Vegetable, Mineral
( Those 4 are all good fat books with loads of reading)
Amy Dacyczyn - The Complete Tightwad Gazette
( Another giant book that you can find new things in wherever you open it)
Helene Hanff Omnibus.
( The well known 84 Charing Cross Road + 4 others, lots to read there)
One Hundred Favourite British Poems
This is a small book , but full of poems that I ought to read.
Then if there was room I would fill up the corners with as many crime books as possible - things I've not read yet. Or maybe the 5 in the CJ Sansom series, they could be read again and are all huge.
And while I was looking at my bookshelves I spotted a book that took me almost full circle back to the beginning of this blog. It's called " Sucking Eggs, what your Wartime Granny could teach you about Diet, Thrift and Going Green". A book full of information about how women managed their households during the war.
So many things have changed since then that have made us 'need' more of everything. Take yesterday for instance. Because I have a freezer I made 4 pastry cases to store. That means I need 4 flan/quiche dishes to make them in. Without the freezer I would make one at a time.
Because we have 4 bedrooms we have room for all our family who live away to visit all at once, that means I have lots of extra pillows, duvet, covers etc.
Because I have a big built-in cupboard in the dining room I have room for a whole other set of dinner ware, glasses,fruit dishes etc.
Thinking about living in a small space reminded me of a book that has been on my wish list for a while, it's called "12 by 12, a one room cabin off the grid". This is a book from the states and I'm waiting for the price to drop a bit more so I can order it. It sounds interesting.
That's a whole blog about what happens when someones blog sets you thinking!
By the way,out of Jane's list of 30 things there were 22 that we don't have/use/do and if I keep knitting even the disposable dishcloths/scourers would be off the list!
Back Tomorrow.
That made me think about the time in 1983/4 when we lived in a mobile home for a year while we did up an old house. Before that were living in a 3 bed house with our children aged 2 and 4. Most of the stuff from the house wouldn't fit into the caravan so we were quite limited on what possessions we needed for that year. I can't remember a huge amount about the year. I know I enjoyed having virtually no housework because the caravan was such a small space!
It was a very busy time. The work on the old house had to be done in 12 months to get the council grant which was available then for bringing a house that had been declared unfit for human habitation back up to scratch. Him Outside was working for the council all day and then came home and worked on the house until 9 most nights. I remember digging out the earth floors to lower the floor level and at the end putting endless amounts of linseed oil on all the beams.
One thing I DO remember is having just one shelf for books and having to choose which ones to take before all the rest were stored away in boxes at His Nan's house.
That thought led me on to wondering which books would I take now, if I was only allowed one bagful from my book shelves. I would want to take favourites and things that can be read and re-read.
Time for a list!
So I would pack my bag with.......
The 3 Hovel Books by Elizabeth West
The 2 books by Patrick Rivers that are at the top of the blog
(Those 5 are all small so would easily slide into the sides of a bag)
Vere Hodgson - Few eggs and No Oranges.
Juliet Gardiner - Wartime Britain
Frances Woodford - Dear Mr Bigalow
Barbara Kingsolver - Animal, Vegetable, Mineral
( Those 4 are all good fat books with loads of reading)
Amy Dacyczyn - The Complete Tightwad Gazette
( Another giant book that you can find new things in wherever you open it)
Helene Hanff Omnibus.
( The well known 84 Charing Cross Road + 4 others, lots to read there)
One Hundred Favourite British Poems
This is a small book , but full of poems that I ought to read.
Then if there was room I would fill up the corners with as many crime books as possible - things I've not read yet. Or maybe the 5 in the CJ Sansom series, they could be read again and are all huge.
And while I was looking at my bookshelves I spotted a book that took me almost full circle back to the beginning of this blog. It's called " Sucking Eggs, what your Wartime Granny could teach you about Diet, Thrift and Going Green". A book full of information about how women managed their households during the war.
So many things have changed since then that have made us 'need' more of everything. Take yesterday for instance. Because I have a freezer I made 4 pastry cases to store. That means I need 4 flan/quiche dishes to make them in. Without the freezer I would make one at a time.
Because we have 4 bedrooms we have room for all our family who live away to visit all at once, that means I have lots of extra pillows, duvet, covers etc.
Because I have a big built-in cupboard in the dining room I have room for a whole other set of dinner ware, glasses,fruit dishes etc.
Thinking about living in a small space reminded me of a book that has been on my wish list for a while, it's called "12 by 12, a one room cabin off the grid". This is a book from the states and I'm waiting for the price to drop a bit more so I can order it. It sounds interesting.
That's a whole blog about what happens when someones blog sets you thinking!
By the way,out of Jane's list of 30 things there were 22 that we don't have/use/do and if I keep knitting even the disposable dishcloths/scourers would be off the list!
Back Tomorrow.
Thursday, 13 February 2014
Thursday odds and ends.
The Weather, there's no getting away from it is there?
As often happens when the weather is from the South West, by the time it gets to us on the East coast the worst has usually happened somewhere else. So we remain the driest part of the country with few problems. Our rivers are smaller and water meadows that flood tend not to have been built on. The South West winds have crossed land and slowed down before they reach us too. So it's only when the weather is from the North East that we really get to feel it and even then our proximity to the coast can sometimes keep temperatures higher in winter.
I'm not sure how I would cope with a flooded house, probably not very well.
Thank you to everyone for encouragement on the knitting. Him Outside said it's really funny to see me knitting when I've never done it before. The dishcloth is growing, with one or two strange loopy stitches. I don't know how to put things right when I lose a stitch, so that's something I need to learn.
I still haven't decided if I should work for one day in May or not. As Kev ( at An English Homestead) says it's difficult to turn down any chance of earning money when you are self-employed. Although I know that at 5pm when I'm sitting there with backache with 5 hours still to go I shall be wishing I was comfortable at home.
So What's been happening today?
Him Outside was cutting hedges at our neighbours and I made a batch of pastry cases to put in the freezer, some jam tarts with the leftover pastry and pricked out the next batch of tomato seedlings. Next I need to get some more sweet pepper seeds started and some chili pepper seeds too. A load of washing got more or less dry on the line and dinner for 4 is sorted.
I wondered why it was taking a while every day to read all the new posts by bloggers in my blogroll and then counted 61 blogs over there! Better not add anymore or there won't be time for anything else all day.
Welcome to The Simple Living Homestead, a new follower with a new blog.
Back Tomorrow
As often happens when the weather is from the South West, by the time it gets to us on the East coast the worst has usually happened somewhere else. So we remain the driest part of the country with few problems. Our rivers are smaller and water meadows that flood tend not to have been built on. The South West winds have crossed land and slowed down before they reach us too. So it's only when the weather is from the North East that we really get to feel it and even then our proximity to the coast can sometimes keep temperatures higher in winter.
I'm not sure how I would cope with a flooded house, probably not very well.
Thank you to everyone for encouragement on the knitting. Him Outside said it's really funny to see me knitting when I've never done it before. The dishcloth is growing, with one or two strange loopy stitches. I don't know how to put things right when I lose a stitch, so that's something I need to learn.
I still haven't decided if I should work for one day in May or not. As Kev ( at An English Homestead) says it's difficult to turn down any chance of earning money when you are self-employed. Although I know that at 5pm when I'm sitting there with backache with 5 hours still to go I shall be wishing I was comfortable at home.
So What's been happening today?
Him Outside was cutting hedges at our neighbours and I made a batch of pastry cases to put in the freezer, some jam tarts with the leftover pastry and pricked out the next batch of tomato seedlings. Next I need to get some more sweet pepper seeds started and some chili pepper seeds too. A load of washing got more or less dry on the line and dinner for 4 is sorted.
I wondered why it was taking a while every day to read all the new posts by bloggers in my blogroll and then counted 61 blogs over there! Better not add anymore or there won't be time for anything else all day.
Welcome to The Simple Living Homestead, a new follower with a new blog.
Back Tomorrow
Wednesday, 12 February 2014
Learning to knit at age 58!
When I was small I learned to knit, but only scarves for dolls. I know my mum did a little knitting, jumpers, cardigans and hats with attached scarves for me and my sister and I do remember her having an early knitting machine that took forever to set up and tangled easily.
Once I married Him Outside I never needed to knit, as his mum could rustle up things for the children quicker than you could say Double Knitting Wool!
Then about 4 years ago I used to take baking to the Country Market at Framlingham and around then a new knitting shop opened in the town with classes for beginners and several ladies from the market got interested in knitting again. One of them gave me a ball of 100% cotton double knitting and said if I could cast on and do a row of knitting then I could make squares - including dish clothes - which would be very handy. I went and got a pair of knitting needles from the charity shop and then...........nothing. The ball of cotton was put away and the needles stood in a pot on the craft room window sill.
But I've been inspired by dozens of bloggers who knit especially Bridget at Malbridge House who knits as quick as my late mum-in-law. So having found where everything was, I cast on a needleful of stitches and began, just ordinary knitting, although I THINK I know how to purl, didn't want to make things too complicated.
I'd done about an inch or so when I realised I didn't know how to cast off when I got to the end. ( Possibly in about 3 weeks time?) Luckily our friend who comes around every Wednesday morning to pick up her eggs was able to remind me what to do.
So One dishcloth coming up..........................eventually!
A decision needs to be made about a letter in the post this morning. Do I want to work on the 22nd of May for 15 hours plus setting up and packing up time? For £115 plus £10 pay for online training? Do I want to sit in a village hall somewhere for a very long boring day, getting a backache?
Would I earn that amount staying at home - No, but I'm still not enthusiastic.
I'll think about it for a day or two.
Back Tomorrow.
PS - Thank you to everyone for comments over the last few days, welcome to Susan, a new follower via bloglovin' and hello and goodbye to follower number 137 in the pictures who was there for a day and then went again before I had a chance to welcome them!
Once I married Him Outside I never needed to knit, as his mum could rustle up things for the children quicker than you could say Double Knitting Wool!
Then about 4 years ago I used to take baking to the Country Market at Framlingham and around then a new knitting shop opened in the town with classes for beginners and several ladies from the market got interested in knitting again. One of them gave me a ball of 100% cotton double knitting and said if I could cast on and do a row of knitting then I could make squares - including dish clothes - which would be very handy. I went and got a pair of knitting needles from the charity shop and then...........nothing. The ball of cotton was put away and the needles stood in a pot on the craft room window sill.
But I've been inspired by dozens of bloggers who knit especially Bridget at Malbridge House who knits as quick as my late mum-in-law. So having found where everything was, I cast on a needleful of stitches and began, just ordinary knitting, although I THINK I know how to purl, didn't want to make things too complicated.
I'd done about an inch or so when I realised I didn't know how to cast off when I got to the end. ( Possibly in about 3 weeks time?) Luckily our friend who comes around every Wednesday morning to pick up her eggs was able to remind me what to do.
So One dishcloth coming up..........................eventually!
A decision needs to be made about a letter in the post this morning. Do I want to work on the 22nd of May for 15 hours plus setting up and packing up time? For £115 plus £10 pay for online training? Do I want to sit in a village hall somewhere for a very long boring day, getting a backache?
Would I earn that amount staying at home - No, but I'm still not enthusiastic.
I'll think about it for a day or two.
Back Tomorrow.
PS - Thank you to everyone for comments over the last few days, welcome to Susan, a new follower via bloglovin' and hello and goodbye to follower number 137 in the pictures who was there for a day and then went again before I had a chance to welcome them!
Tuesday, 11 February 2014
The view from over the road
Not much you can say about the weather this morning apart from Yuck. More strong cold winds and more rain.
Him Outside even had to resort to tidying his workshop!
I couldn't get up any enthusiasm for anything exciting.
Then for just a couple of hours this afternoon the sun shone and the sky turned blue and I crossed the road to take a photo of the field all the way down to the little river valley and then on again. Long shadows, standing water and the green of a new crop of wheat.
In the dead centre of this photo the white building in the far distance is Sizewell A power station and that's on the coast 4 miles away, so if we were a bit higher we would be able to see the sea. Slightly to the left is the tower of Knodishall church. Knodishall is really just a few houses and a church because the actual village which is way over to the right and out of sight should be really be called Coldfair Green although everyone knows it as Knodishall. Confused?
Perhaps tomorrow will be more interesting.
Him Outside even had to resort to tidying his workshop!
I couldn't get up any enthusiasm for anything exciting.
Then for just a couple of hours this afternoon the sun shone and the sky turned blue and I crossed the road to take a photo of the field all the way down to the little river valley and then on again. Long shadows, standing water and the green of a new crop of wheat.
Perhaps tomorrow will be more interesting.
Monday, 10 February 2014
Purple Sprouting Broccoli Treat
It may be yet another dismal day of drizzle interspersed with heavier downpours but when you can go out and pick the first colander of Purple Sprouting Broccoli then it turns into a good day.
Him Outside had plans to get started on hedge-cutting at our neighbours but changed that to collecting feed and then cutting wood in the shed.
I made the usual two loaves of bread and then boring housework.
Another Monday soon gone.
Thank you to everyone for comments yesterday
After the picture of the Red Hazel catkins yesterday here is a reminder of what it looks like in high summer - lovely red leaves. If you've got room for one, they do cheer up the garden. Before we built the kitchen extension I could see this group of shrubs from my kitchen window. Now I'm waiting for my new potting shed in a different place so the old dilapidated one can be taken down and I'll be able to see them again. This year? Next year? sooner rather than later I hope!
Back tomorrow.
Him Outside had plans to get started on hedge-cutting at our neighbours but changed that to collecting feed and then cutting wood in the shed.
I made the usual two loaves of bread and then boring housework.
Another Monday soon gone.
Thank you to everyone for comments yesterday
Back tomorrow.
Sunday, 9 February 2014
A bit blowy
The wind is very strong and bitterly cold here today although we have had no rain ( so far). I put a couple of loads of washing through the machine yesterday evening so I could get them out early today and I needed 5 pegs on everything to keep them on the line. All more or less dry by 2pm. By having enough clothes so that I can wait for a dryish weather forecast before doing the washing, I have only needed to use the tumble dryer once( for towels) all through the winter. I've seen blogs where people limit the number of items of clothing they have to use, but surely this means doing more washing? with maybe a less than full load?
We got around to watching some of the Olympics live this morning, just in time to see the first ever British medal on snow- according to the presenters. Exciting stuff. I don't know how they do all that leaping about on a board - young and fearless I guess. While watching I got the second bit of cross stitch done of the two I'm doing for putting into 'things' for Christmas presents.
We have had a couple of weeks with no fresh salad stuff from the poly-tunnel but today Him Outside rummaged about and come up the this lot including a few bits of chickweed which is edible but tasteless.
Our lunch is always 'something' and a salad - usually using whatever we have . His 'something' is in a sandwich but |I go without the bread! We are still having beetroot everyday from what was stored in sand and buy celery and sometimes cucumber during winter for added crunch. ( NEVER tasteless tomatoes!). Our 'something' varies; tinned sardines, chicken if we've had a roast, ham when I buy the pack of off-cuts from Co-op, quiche if there is some leftover, hard boiled egg or cheese when we've nothing else in the fridge.
Here is another picture of spring - the pink catkins on my Red Hazel.
The shrub behind is a type of hybrid Holly - I think. It looks like Holly but without the prickly leaves, as usual I didn't make a note and the label was lost long ago.
That's me done for today,
Back Tomorrow
We got around to watching some of the Olympics live this morning, just in time to see the first ever British medal on snow- according to the presenters. Exciting stuff. I don't know how they do all that leaping about on a board - young and fearless I guess. While watching I got the second bit of cross stitch done of the two I'm doing for putting into 'things' for Christmas presents.
We have had a couple of weeks with no fresh salad stuff from the poly-tunnel but today Him Outside rummaged about and come up the this lot including a few bits of chickweed which is edible but tasteless.
Here is another picture of spring - the pink catkins on my Red Hazel.
The shrub behind is a type of hybrid Holly - I think. It looks like Holly but without the prickly leaves, as usual I didn't make a note and the label was lost long ago.
That's me done for today,
Back Tomorrow
Saturday, 8 February 2014
Potato Day
This is where we went this morning
This is the length of the proper British queue to get in at about 9.20, by the time they opened up at 9.30 the queue was even longer, so it's a very popular event.
We've been going to this for many years.They have about 80 varieties of potatoes to chose from and it was good value. But the price per tuber had gone from 12p last year up to 15p, ( which we didn't know until we got there) so we may not go again. Over the years we've tried all sorts of different spuds. This year our very early ones - 16 'Rocket' have gone straight into the bed in the poly-tunnel as soon as we got home. Last year we tried 'Swift' which were swift but tasteless. 28 'Duke of York', 28 'Foremost' and our favourite 56 'Charlotte' are all on egg trays chitting.( which is a word even though blogger says it isn't!). These are all First and Second Early potatoes and will go into 4 beds in the garden. Most will be sold and as we dig fresh each morning they are very popular and sell quickly.
We now have to decide what to do about maincrop spuds which usually go out on the field. Last year we got a half a sack of cheap seed spuds from a friend - he didn't know what they were but they were very poor quality, as were some of our own saved from the year before- 'Cara'. Cold weather early then dry did them no good at all. It was obvious that they were not going to store well so we sold a lot fresh dug during the autumn.
There are other stalls at the potato day too including the local District Council and every year they give away these very handy jute bags
We are not even in their council area but I now have 8 of these in the cupboard, which is why I won't need to make or buy a bag for years.
Then it was time to head home for coffee, planting the Rocket spuds in the poly-tunnel and then, while the sun was still shining, we both did some tidying outside. He attacked some of the low branches on the apple trees and I went round the shrubs. The wind was strong and very cold and everywhere is so wet underfoot that it didn't make for pleasant working and we both decided we had had enough by midday.
Thank you to Helen, Bridget, The weaver of grass, Ilona , Morgan, The Squirrel Family and Jane for comments yesterday.
Right, now I'm off to read what everyone else has been up to today.
Back tomorrow.
We've been going to this for many years.They have about 80 varieties of potatoes to chose from and it was good value. But the price per tuber had gone from 12p last year up to 15p, ( which we didn't know until we got there) so we may not go again. Over the years we've tried all sorts of different spuds. This year our very early ones - 16 'Rocket' have gone straight into the bed in the poly-tunnel as soon as we got home. Last year we tried 'Swift' which were swift but tasteless. 28 'Duke of York', 28 'Foremost' and our favourite 56 'Charlotte' are all on egg trays chitting.( which is a word even though blogger says it isn't!). These are all First and Second Early potatoes and will go into 4 beds in the garden. Most will be sold and as we dig fresh each morning they are very popular and sell quickly.
We now have to decide what to do about maincrop spuds which usually go out on the field. Last year we got a half a sack of cheap seed spuds from a friend - he didn't know what they were but they were very poor quality, as were some of our own saved from the year before- 'Cara'. Cold weather early then dry did them no good at all. It was obvious that they were not going to store well so we sold a lot fresh dug during the autumn.
There are other stalls at the potato day too including the local District Council and every year they give away these very handy jute bags
Then it was time to head home for coffee, planting the Rocket spuds in the poly-tunnel and then, while the sun was still shining, we both did some tidying outside. He attacked some of the low branches on the apple trees and I went round the shrubs. The wind was strong and very cold and everywhere is so wet underfoot that it didn't make for pleasant working and we both decided we had had enough by midday.
Thank you to Helen, Bridget, The weaver of grass, Ilona , Morgan, The Squirrel Family and Jane for comments yesterday.
Right, now I'm off to read what everyone else has been up to today.
Back tomorrow.
Friday, 7 February 2014
Not a menu plan
Lots of people do a menu plan for the week/month ahead, and then go shopping for what they want but after years in the not distant past when we raised all our own meat and ate whatever we had in the freezer, I've always worked the other way round. I'm here every day with time to cook, So we eat what we have in the freezer or cupboard and then shop next month to replace it. I also never know if our youngest and her bloke will be around to eat or not until the day before they come so my way is easier for me. During the winter most cooking is done in the Rayburn which uses free wood and is alight for heat and hot water.
I've noticed there is lots of interest in what other folks have for their dinner so here is a reverse menu plan - what we ate LAST month!
Home grown vegetables last month were potatoes, onions,parsnips, leeks, squash, swede, Brussels sprouts and cabbage. I buy value range carrots from Tesco, celery and a little salad stuff for lunches and we bought a sack of potatoes when our home grown ran out in late January.
Main Meals
Smoked mackerel fillets with baked potato wedges,seasoned with pepper and paprika and frozen peas. (Under £1 per person)
Cheap value pizza but with homemade tomato topping added and mozzarella.(Under 75p per person)
Bacon Chops ( from pack of Sainsburys value cooking bacon) and leek fritters(Under 50p " ")
Neck of lamb stew( Co-op Yellow sticker) including lots of homegrown veg with dumplings ( Under £1 per person)
Herb omelet ( Almost free apart from a little sunflower oil)
Fish Fingers and home made chips and mushy peas ( Under 50p per person)
Cheap chicken and veg pies ( Tesco, small but actually quite good) + home grown veg ( under 50p per person)
Leeks, cheese and pasta bake with home made tomato/herb bread roll ( Under 75p each per person)
Roast Leg of Lamb ( Special treat with 2 guests) Home grown veg Not counting cost!
Shepherds pie - using left over lamb and home grown veg
Home made Tomato and Veg soup then baked potato (Under 50p per person)
Homemade Traditional Beef Lasagne + salad ( with 2 visitors) ( Under £1.50 per person)
Roast pheasant ( free!) with homegrown veg ( Almost free apart from gravy )
Veg curry using all home grown veg ( Under 25p per person)
Pork belly slices in Hoisin sauce with rice and stir fry veg - Mainly home grown ( under £1.50 per person)
Home made Celery soup then baked Potato ( Celery is bought for lunch crunch this soup uses the outside sticks so under 25p per person)
Home made meatballs ( mince and sausage meat and bread crumbs) in spicy tomato sauce ( Not sure of price)
Baked frozen fish in crumbs and home made chips and mushy peas ( Under £1 per head)
Tuna, pasta and calabrese bake ( Under £1.25 per person)
Roast Chicken ( with 4 visitors) home grown veg ( gifted chicken)
Cold chicken with home grown veg
Toad in the hole ( with 2 visitors ) plus Home grown veg( Vegetarian sausages for visitor, not sure of price)
Plus a few days when I didn't make a note
Plus some Sundays when I don't cook and we have scrambled eggs
Plus the Giant Takeaway for 8 people when all the family were here. ( A rare event!)
I've not given much information about our meals before as we tend not to count the cost of food as much as some folk do, preferring to cut back in other areas. I have the housekeeping in cash for food, cleaning stuff,chemist things etc. etc. in my purse each month. I don't spend more than I have!
I've noticed there is lots of interest in what other folks have for their dinner so here is a reverse menu plan - what we ate LAST month!
Home grown vegetables last month were potatoes, onions,parsnips, leeks, squash, swede, Brussels sprouts and cabbage. I buy value range carrots from Tesco, celery and a little salad stuff for lunches and we bought a sack of potatoes when our home grown ran out in late January.
Main Meals
Smoked mackerel fillets with baked potato wedges,seasoned with pepper and paprika and frozen peas. (Under £1 per person)
Cheap value pizza but with homemade tomato topping added and mozzarella.(Under 75p per person)
Bacon Chops ( from pack of Sainsburys value cooking bacon) and leek fritters(Under 50p " ")
Neck of lamb stew( Co-op Yellow sticker) including lots of homegrown veg with dumplings ( Under £1 per person)
Herb omelet ( Almost free apart from a little sunflower oil)
Fish Fingers and home made chips and mushy peas ( Under 50p per person)
Cheap chicken and veg pies ( Tesco, small but actually quite good) + home grown veg ( under 50p per person)
Leeks, cheese and pasta bake with home made tomato/herb bread roll ( Under 75p each per person)
Roast Leg of Lamb ( Special treat with 2 guests) Home grown veg Not counting cost!
Shepherds pie - using left over lamb and home grown veg
Home made Tomato and Veg soup then baked potato (Under 50p per person)
Homemade Traditional Beef Lasagne + salad ( with 2 visitors) ( Under £1.50 per person)
Roast pheasant ( free!) with homegrown veg ( Almost free apart from gravy )
Veg curry using all home grown veg ( Under 25p per person)
Pork belly slices in Hoisin sauce with rice and stir fry veg - Mainly home grown ( under £1.50 per person)
Home made Celery soup then baked Potato ( Celery is bought for lunch crunch this soup uses the outside sticks so under 25p per person)
Home made meatballs ( mince and sausage meat and bread crumbs) in spicy tomato sauce ( Not sure of price)
Baked frozen fish in crumbs and home made chips and mushy peas ( Under £1 per head)
Tuna, pasta and calabrese bake ( Under £1.25 per person)
Roast Chicken ( with 4 visitors) home grown veg ( gifted chicken)
Cold chicken with home grown veg
Toad in the hole ( with 2 visitors ) plus Home grown veg( Vegetarian sausages for visitor, not sure of price)
Plus a few days when I didn't make a note
Plus some Sundays when I don't cook and we have scrambled eggs
Plus the Giant Takeaway for 8 people when all the family were here. ( A rare event!)
I've not given much information about our meals before as we tend not to count the cost of food as much as some folk do, preferring to cut back in other areas. I have the housekeeping in cash for food, cleaning stuff,chemist things etc. etc. in my purse each month. I don't spend more than I have!
***********
We had about 18 hours of continuous rain/drizzle that finally stopped around midday today. Our flat grassy field is waterlogged and big pools of water stand in every low bit. We are forecast more storms tonight, but we won't be flooded or have to move out so we are the lucky ones.
I'm looking forward to watching the winter Olympics over the next two weeks, if the jet stream had been in a slightly different place for the last 6 weeks all the rain that's fallen might have been snow instead, we would have needed skis to get around here too!
Back Tomorrow- Potato Day!
Thursday, 6 February 2014
Another trip to Ipswich
A belated welcome to The Garden Sanctuary - follower 136 in the pictures and Simon on bloglovin.
Two trips to Ipswich in two days is two too many!
Today was my turn for a check at hospital, and all is OK. Then we went to Aldi and Sainsburys and home again just in time for lunch.
By the time I had sorted the cooking bacon into small packs and divided the minced beef into thirds and got it all into the freezer, it was chucking it down with rain again. ( Although however much rain we get we will never have the problems that they have in the Somerset levels). So a quick dash round the field to collect eggs, get them sorted and it's time for Countdown and a cuppa.
How do days dash by so quickly!
Tomorrow we are both at home- ALL DAY, after two days of shopping I've had enough and the freezers and cupboards are full. We won't need to go to Ipswich again until April and apart from a couple of things that I can only get at Co-op, we only need milk and salad stuff until the end of the month. Although we are out on Saturday for seed potatoes, but more about that then.
I see a new series of George Gently starts tonight, I tried reading the books years ago but was never able to get into them,but I do enjoy the programmes.
No other news today and too wet for photos so....
Back Tomorrow
Two trips to Ipswich in two days is two too many!
Today was my turn for a check at hospital, and all is OK. Then we went to Aldi and Sainsburys and home again just in time for lunch.
By the time I had sorted the cooking bacon into small packs and divided the minced beef into thirds and got it all into the freezer, it was chucking it down with rain again. ( Although however much rain we get we will never have the problems that they have in the Somerset levels). So a quick dash round the field to collect eggs, get them sorted and it's time for Countdown and a cuppa.
How do days dash by so quickly!
Tomorrow we are both at home- ALL DAY, after two days of shopping I've had enough and the freezers and cupboards are full. We won't need to go to Ipswich again until April and apart from a couple of things that I can only get at Co-op, we only need milk and salad stuff until the end of the month. Although we are out on Saturday for seed potatoes, but more about that then.
I see a new series of George Gently starts tonight, I tried reading the books years ago but was never able to get into them,but I do enjoy the programmes.
No other news today and too wet for photos so....
Back Tomorrow
Wednesday, 5 February 2014
Busy
Busy day
Me- to physio
Him Outside- sorting poly-tunnel bed and sowing seeds
Early lunch
To Ipswich
Me- shopping in town- Pouring rain
Him Outside- CT scan check up following last years heart thing
Home
Egg sorting
Dinner
Me- Very Good book - Aline Templeton
Blowing a gale Outside
Short Message to blogging friends
Back Tomorrow
Me- to physio
Him Outside- sorting poly-tunnel bed and sowing seeds
Early lunch
To Ipswich
Me- shopping in town- Pouring rain
Him Outside- CT scan check up following last years heart thing
Home
Egg sorting
Dinner
Me- Very Good book - Aline Templeton
Blowing a gale Outside
Short Message to blogging friends
Back Tomorrow
Tuesday, 4 February 2014
A good productive day
You know how some days you can be busy without seeming to achieve much, well today I was busy and I can actually see what I've done.
The day started with my usual walk around the field to let out the chickens from their 3 different sheds, check they are all still upright and collect the eggs. Then a basket of washing was hung out good and early with sunshine and a drying wind forecast.
Next job was to get two loaves of bread started and rising in front of the Rayburn.
After a cuppa, I pricked out the next batch of seedlings comprising of a few of each of three types of tomato and a few peppers. Then the small seed trays were refilled with seed compost and some more tomatoes sown and popped into the windowsill propagator.
Then I got a shout to go over and help put the plastic over the small poly-tunnel at our neighbours. Him outside has now finished the job, the boat has been wheeled inside and our neighbour is very pleased.
I had a tidy up in the shed and then a tidy up indoors.
The postman brought me some books that I'd ordered using my Christmas money. "5 acres and a dream" and "Skeoch - our new life on a Scottish Hill farm". Both look like a good read and both are by people who write blogs.
The bread was baked and turned out well.
The washing dried.
I covered two lots of rhubarb with bottomless dustbins to get them going.
Leeks done for fritters to go with bacon chops for dinner.
But the best job of all, which will make such a difference, is that after 4 dry days with drying wind Him Outside managed to get the middle sized chicken shed moved away from the sea of mud onto fresh grass - AT LAST!
So many weeks of rain had turned more than half of their run into a sticky mud mess.
The shed is on 2 wide metal skids, with a chain attached, they can be moved with the tractor.
A while later after moving water butt, feed bin, straw bin, drinkers, electric fence and the connection to mains electric for the lighting, the chickens are in seventh heaven on fresh grass.
So a good productive day.Our neighbour is happy with her boat shelter, the chickens are happy on fresh grass, Him Outside is happy to have done both those things and I'm happy with two new books dry washing, fresh bread, seedlings growing and seeds sown.
Back Tomorrow.
PS. Just realised this is blog number 300! And they said it wouldn't last!
The day started with my usual walk around the field to let out the chickens from their 3 different sheds, check they are all still upright and collect the eggs. Then a basket of washing was hung out good and early with sunshine and a drying wind forecast.
Next job was to get two loaves of bread started and rising in front of the Rayburn.
After a cuppa, I pricked out the next batch of seedlings comprising of a few of each of three types of tomato and a few peppers. Then the small seed trays were refilled with seed compost and some more tomatoes sown and popped into the windowsill propagator.
Then I got a shout to go over and help put the plastic over the small poly-tunnel at our neighbours. Him outside has now finished the job, the boat has been wheeled inside and our neighbour is very pleased.
I had a tidy up in the shed and then a tidy up indoors.
The postman brought me some books that I'd ordered using my Christmas money. "5 acres and a dream" and "Skeoch - our new life on a Scottish Hill farm". Both look like a good read and both are by people who write blogs.
The bread was baked and turned out well.
The washing dried.
I covered two lots of rhubarb with bottomless dustbins to get them going.
Leeks done for fritters to go with bacon chops for dinner.
But the best job of all, which will make such a difference, is that after 4 dry days with drying wind Him Outside managed to get the middle sized chicken shed moved away from the sea of mud onto fresh grass - AT LAST!
So a good productive day.Our neighbour is happy with her boat shelter, the chickens are happy on fresh grass, Him Outside is happy to have done both those things and I'm happy with two new books dry washing, fresh bread, seedlings growing and seeds sown.
Back Tomorrow.
PS. Just realised this is blog number 300! And they said it wouldn't last!
Monday, 3 February 2014
3 days of Sunshine in Suffolk
It is such a rare thing this year - 3 days of sunshine and blue skies. Lucky us.
I nipped into Saxmundham for the February main shop at Tescos this morning. Must remember not to go again first thing on a Monday morning - half the shelves empty and six things I couldn't get. I thought I would investigate Waitrose for the missing value range SR Flour - that place is a joke. Their Essential range flour 3 times the price of Tesco. Their Essential range weetabix more expensive than proper Weetabix in Tesco. Our stupid Tesco do not stock value range bran flakes or weetabix, yet they do have value range Gin and Vodka! What does this say about the folk of Saxmundham I wonder.
I had a £2 off £10 spend at the Co-op pharmacy - 2 things I wanted they don't have.
I gave up and came home!
Small Rant over. ( please don't reply to this small rant. I know the workers own the place therefore their working conditions are better and I know a lot of people love the store for their own reasons, I'm just astonished at their prices.)
Him Outside was working at our neighbours this morning. He is beginning the job of erecting a small poly-tunnel to cover her small boat. Having sold her holiday flat in Majorca she is planning to get sailing again on the local rivers and estuarys, so wants to keep the boat out of the weather.
He has also been moving more wood from the outdoor heap where it's been seasoning for a couple of years into the shed for cutting. Free heat but lots of work. Look at that blue sky! ( Apologies to anyone reading this where it isn't sunny today!)
My afternoon jobs were the egg sorting - of course- and then boring ironing, a tasty lamb stew for dinner using some Co-op Yellow sticker neck of lamb chops - one of the best cuts for stew I think. Once cheap, now even they are too expensive unless I can find them reduced.
It was lovely to watch Andy Murray winning in The Davis Cup on TV last night. I thought it was odd that I was " allowed" to watch as Him Outside missed the first of the new Top Gear series, should have known it was repeated tonight! I can't STAND that Jeremy Clarkson man- Just awful! Some people seem to find him funny - How weird.
And finally I must say Hello and welcome to another follower in the pictures, number 135- L.J. Lilley. Plus also welcome to Jennie on Bloglovin number 97.
Back tomorrow
I nipped into Saxmundham for the February main shop at Tescos this morning. Must remember not to go again first thing on a Monday morning - half the shelves empty and six things I couldn't get. I thought I would investigate Waitrose for the missing value range SR Flour - that place is a joke. Their Essential range flour 3 times the price of Tesco. Their Essential range weetabix more expensive than proper Weetabix in Tesco. Our stupid Tesco do not stock value range bran flakes or weetabix, yet they do have value range Gin and Vodka! What does this say about the folk of Saxmundham I wonder.
I had a £2 off £10 spend at the Co-op pharmacy - 2 things I wanted they don't have.
I gave up and came home!
Small Rant over. ( please don't reply to this small rant. I know the workers own the place therefore their working conditions are better and I know a lot of people love the store for their own reasons, I'm just astonished at their prices.)
Him Outside was working at our neighbours this morning. He is beginning the job of erecting a small poly-tunnel to cover her small boat. Having sold her holiday flat in Majorca she is planning to get sailing again on the local rivers and estuarys, so wants to keep the boat out of the weather.
He has also been moving more wood from the outdoor heap where it's been seasoning for a couple of years into the shed for cutting. Free heat but lots of work. Look at that blue sky! ( Apologies to anyone reading this where it isn't sunny today!)
It was lovely to watch Andy Murray winning in The Davis Cup on TV last night. I thought it was odd that I was " allowed" to watch as Him Outside missed the first of the new Top Gear series, should have known it was repeated tonight! I can't STAND that Jeremy Clarkson man- Just awful! Some people seem to find him funny - How weird.
And finally I must say Hello and welcome to another follower in the pictures, number 135- L.J. Lilley. Plus also welcome to Jennie on Bloglovin number 97.
Back tomorrow
Sunday, 2 February 2014
February weather sayings + a book reading link
Today, February 2nd is Candlemas Day, a church festival which happens to coincide with the Celtic feast of Imbolc, a day to linked to lambing and new life.
There are many weather sayings for Feb and the best known is probably
February Fills The Dyke
Be it Black or Be it White
This year the dykes ( rivers/ditches/drains) are already full with plenty of black(rain) and no sign here of any white(snow). Half term week is sometimes very cold and snowy so we shall see what happens. Several rhymes tell farmers to check their stores because
In the barn on Candlemas Day
Should be half the straw and half the hay
In other words there could be half the winter still to come.
And
If Candlemas Day be fine and clear
Then half the winter's to come this year.
At the beginning of January I did a list of what food of our own we have available so for the beginning of February this is the list
From Store - Beetroot, eating apples,cooking apples,onions,squash
From The Garden - Cabbage, Brussels sprouts, a little chard, parsley, parsnips,leeks and a few tiny swedes.( purple sprouting broccoli soon)
From The Freezer - Broad beans, sweetcorn, peppers, cooking apples, pears, gooseberries, small amounts of other fruit.
Jam and chutney - As Last Month see here
I started reading a new-to-me blog called The Quince Tree ( another lady called Sue- how common we are!) I'm not sure why I haven't added this lovely colourful blog to my reading list before. She has a link to another site- The Circle of Pines - Year of Books. 70 bloggers have linked into this so that means 70 new ideas for reading each month. Sue very kindly explained how to add the link onto my blog - over on the right. So I shall be doing a post about my favourite book that I have read each month - although I think I might find it difficult to choose!
These are the books that I brought home from the library van just after Christmas, so these are what I read in January.
My favourites were
James Oswald - Natural Causes, because this is a new author and well written crime.
Angela Thirkell - High Rising, because this is a reprint of a book from the 30's and is very witty.
Jacky Hyams - The bomb girls, because this is the story of the girls who made munitions during WWII and something I had not read about before.
Below is the picture of library books brought home in January
I have already read and enjoyed Love Nina by Nina Stibbe. This is non fiction and are letters written by Nina in the early 1980s when she was a Nanny in London. She writes to her sister in Leicestershire, very amusing letters about the children, their mother and the visitors to the house including the playwright Alan Bennett who lives close and comes around for supper quite often.
I've also read The Anne Perry and the Carola Dunn which are both new historical crime fiction in a series. Anne Perry writes well and seriously whereas Carola Dunn's books are much lighter slightly frothy books.
I've already picked up ideas for two other books to order from the library from the Year of Books link, which is good.
We have now had 2 sunny days in a row- good gracious, a rare event!
There are many weather sayings for Feb and the best known is probably
February Fills The Dyke
Be it Black or Be it White
This year the dykes ( rivers/ditches/drains) are already full with plenty of black(rain) and no sign here of any white(snow). Half term week is sometimes very cold and snowy so we shall see what happens. Several rhymes tell farmers to check their stores because
In the barn on Candlemas Day
Should be half the straw and half the hay
In other words there could be half the winter still to come.
And
If Candlemas Day be fine and clear
Then half the winter's to come this year.
At the beginning of January I did a list of what food of our own we have available so for the beginning of February this is the list
From Store - Beetroot, eating apples,cooking apples,onions,squash
From The Garden - Cabbage, Brussels sprouts, a little chard, parsley, parsnips,leeks and a few tiny swedes.( purple sprouting broccoli soon)
From The Freezer - Broad beans, sweetcorn, peppers, cooking apples, pears, gooseberries, small amounts of other fruit.
Jam and chutney - As Last Month see here
I started reading a new-to-me blog called The Quince Tree ( another lady called Sue- how common we are!) I'm not sure why I haven't added this lovely colourful blog to my reading list before. She has a link to another site- The Circle of Pines - Year of Books. 70 bloggers have linked into this so that means 70 new ideas for reading each month. Sue very kindly explained how to add the link onto my blog - over on the right. So I shall be doing a post about my favourite book that I have read each month - although I think I might find it difficult to choose!
These are the books that I brought home from the library van just after Christmas, so these are what I read in January.
James Oswald - Natural Causes, because this is a new author and well written crime.
Angela Thirkell - High Rising, because this is a reprint of a book from the 30's and is very witty.
Jacky Hyams - The bomb girls, because this is the story of the girls who made munitions during WWII and something I had not read about before.
Below is the picture of library books brought home in January
I've also read The Anne Perry and the Carola Dunn which are both new historical crime fiction in a series. Anne Perry writes well and seriously whereas Carola Dunn's books are much lighter slightly frothy books.
I've already picked up ideas for two other books to order from the library from the Year of Books link, which is good.
We have now had 2 sunny days in a row- good gracious, a rare event!
Saturday, 1 February 2014
Review of the month - Looking Back At January + todays news
It's the first of February so here is my usual look back at the month to see how things have gone - The Good and the Not so Good.
I think you can sum up January in one short sharp word - WET or two words VERY WET or three words Absolutely, Awfully WET!
But I have to look at the positives first.
- Unexpected and very good income from County Council work.
- We have enough money for February's Budget
- We managed to get all three children and all three partners here together.
- All spending ( except food) was very low
- We are still eating our own stored apples, pears etc from the freezer and dried apricots and prunes so only £1.50 spent on fresh fruit.
- The butternut squash stored in the craft room are still OK
- We still have cooking apples stored in the shed
- Plenty of our own fruit still in the freezer
- Still eating leeks, Brussels sprouts,parsnips, cabbage from the garden
- Loads of lovely library books
- Just over £100 added to an ISA
- Total savings towards the Roberts Red Retro Digital Radio = £50 ,so I'm a third of the way there.
- The chickens are laying very well - over 8 dozen eggs to sell every day.
- Friends came to visit for the day.
- I got one small bit of cross stitch done and made some papercraft cards.
- We used a voucher to get multi-purpose and seed compost for the year.
- More wood has been added to the log pile.
On the other side of the coin
- Everywhere is so very wet, a very depressing month
- I went down with a flu type thing just when the family were here.
- Food spending over budget but that was because of the traditional giant takeaway when the family were here so I don't begrudge it at all.
- We finished eating our own potatoes so had to buy a sack = £6.40
- County council work now finished - no more income from that job
Today's news
We had another huge rainfall last night - it seemed as if it was all night long. The beds in the garden are now all surrounded by water and as for the chicken runs - Oh dear.
But this morning we had blue skies and sunshine so Him Outside went to help our elderly friend with some tree pruning at the second home across the fields from us.
There was some shooting going on in the wood near us yesterday and when Him Outside went onto our field later he found a pheasant - still warm - so sorting that out was one of my jobs this morning. That makes 3 we have in the freezer. I rootled around outside to find a few herbs ready to make omelets for tonight's dinner. This is all I could come up with
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| Parsley, a few tiny new fennel leaves and even fewer new shoots of welsh onion. |
This afternoon we popped out for 15 minutes to a jumble sale at the Guide Hut in Leiston, nothing very exciting there really. Him Outside found a small kit containing car light bulbs and fuses for 50p.
Then it was time for a cuppa, a biscuit and the beginning of the 6 Nations Rugby.
Welcome to follower 134 - The Vintage Kitten, she lives somewhere on the north of the UK where they had snow overnight . Also welcome to three more followers on Bloglovin, Phylis, C Gunn and Lesley, taking that total to 96. I hope you enjoy my ramblings from Suffolk.
Back Tomorrow with February Weather Sayings
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