Grey Sea, Library Book Photo, House and Health

Col had to go to the doctors again yesterday so I went too and then we went down to Aldeburgh to see the sea. The wind was blowing along the beach so some big waves were crashing onto the shingle, although it was fairly calm further out

The weather was dull so there isn't a lot of difference between sea and sky, just a hint that the sun is up there somewhere.

Biked down to the village for the library van, hardly any books waiting for me this time,

  good job I have four left from last time and plenty on the bookshelves, but Novembers visit will be the last until January so I spent a while searching Fantastic Fiction to see if any of my favourite authors had new books out, then perused Amazon for more ideas and ended up ordering another 12 books ( thank goodness it's free) some will be ready for me in November but I may have to wait a while for the new Bill Bryson - The Road To Little Dribbling ( Good title). My request was number 143! Although they do have 60 copies so I might get it to read in January.

There may be news on the house selling, although not before Christmas and on the health front Col has to see someone at hospital next week to be told what they will do next with the blood problems, he is being fast-tracked - Just In Case. He was fit and well for 56 years but for the last 2½ years bit's of him have been going wrong all over the place!

Many thanks to people who commented yesterday.Sorry I've not replied individually

Welcome to Jeanneke, a new follower. Glad to have you along.
It's no longer possible to click on the picture of new followers to see if they have a blog so if any new followers write a blog that they think I would find interesting please leave a comment.

Happy Halloween to all ghosts, witches, warlocks and other scarey beings, it still strikes me as odd how Halloween hardly existed before supermarkets!! Work that one out.

Back in a day or three
Sue

Lemon and lime marmalade, mystery solved and other stuff

One tin of cheats lemon  Mamade marmalade and the 4 limes I got for 10p each from Aldi several weeks ago made these.

 I covered the limes in water and cooked them for a couple of hours until they were soft. Then I cut the peel into small slivers and added them and the juice to the tin of mix. I used a pint of  the water that I'd cooked the limes in instead of  ¾ pint and then followed the rest of the instructions on the tin. It sets very quickly and smells delicious and it tastes pretty good too.

*       *      *       *      *      *

There is a new Hugh FW  programme called 'War on waste' on Monday BBC1 at 9pm. It sounds much the same as has been on before - about the food thrown away because it doesn't fit the supermarkets strict veg descriptions. I just wish the supermarkets  would give us a choice, no one has ever asked me what length I want my parsnips! ( although we've not had a parsnip failure for a while so its several years since I bought any).

*      *      *      *      *      *

 Thank you for suggestions about the mysterious appearance of £2.50 in our kitchen while we were on the living room. The mystery has been solved - it was payment for a small part for a lawnmower that Col had collected for a neighbour weeks ago, Col had forgotten that he hadn't been paid and the person guessed we were having lunch so just laid it on the worktop. What a boring solution! A money fairy would have been much more interesting :-)

 *     *     *     *     *     *

 I've been in the craft room doing a bit of card making, several on the theme of a ginger jar. Must find some new ideas for cards for men.

I've just been down and collected my books from the mobile library, haven't unpacked them yet so Library book photo tomorrow.

Welcome to Laurie a new follower, hope you enjoy reading

Back Tomorrow
Sue

Notes from my October diary

 I've not really done a proper diary post since the beginning of the month. Time to remedy that with notes on what we've been doing when we haven't been off gallivanting to the Lake District and Norfolk.

The middle poly-tunnel has had another good weeding - again. We have carrots and beetroot growing and swede leaves - they should be swedes but there's nothing under the soil! and can now add radishes to that harvesting list I did the other day.The runner bean canes have been taken down and stored away. I picked off a few of the remaining beans and brought them in to dry out. I wonder if we will be somewhere to sow them next year?

A family who were caravanning here in the summer asked if they could come back at half term so we swept out the loos, cleaned the spiders and daddy-long-legs out of the basins, turned the electric back on and Col cut the grass again, then we had another phone call so we also had  a motorhome in for 2 nights - all unexpected income is gratefully received.

When we sold secondhand farming books at Country Fairs we always took a trip down to Colchester every October for the big Save The Children book sale. We hadn't been for years but decided to pop down there this year to see if I could find any books off Furrowed Middlebrow's Blog WWII booklist. No luck on the list books but I managed to find a couple of books to add to my Home Front shelves. 'Jambusters' by Julie Summers and  'Don't panic, Britain Prepares  for Invasion' by Mark Rowe. These were £1 each. Col was also pleased as he found 3 canal books to add to his collection.

I've been reading every spare moment because it's library van day on Friday and the pile of to-be-read is still rather high.  The Norah Lofts book which was suggested to me in a comment had teeny print so is going back unread. Those that I have read have been added to the separate books page.

Apples are featuring large everyday because we are picking to put out for sale. Eating one for lunch and then Col has another helping of apple something for his desert after dinner. Apple crumble, apple pie and apple puffs so far. Thanks to Bovey Belle for lots more ideas HERE . We've also picked, wiped and wrapped in newspaper lots of the best cookers and stored them in a box in the shed.

The feature in the local paper brought us 3 viewings for the house with yet another couple very interested but with a property to sell before they can buy. We are thinking about taking the house off the open market and just waiting for whichever of the 3 couples comes up with the dosh first! It's not so good showing people around when everywhere is damp and grey and as it's getting late in the year we are might as well stay here for winter.

We've been cutting wood every now and again so the wood heap doesn't get too low and I've been chopping kindling and bagging it up.

 I made a double batch of Tomato and herb rolls after going to the freezer before dinner one evening and finding there were none left. I usually know when I'm running low - must do a freezer check to see if we are short of anything else.

The Christmas book has been retrieved  from the drawer and filled in with the few ideas I've had for presents. Once again it's Col's Dad and Brother that cause me the biggest headaches.  I've written a list of predicted spending and will aim to come in below.

Splashing out one whole pound I bought some fairy lights from Poundland and fixed them along the top of the dresser. It will cheer up the kitchen on winter afternoons. And as we didn't grow pumpkins this year due to Col not being well enough to prepare the field in May I splashed out another £2 on 2 small ones for display and to use later and yet another £1 went on a Pumpkin shaped tea-light holder from the charity shop. I'm blaming fellow Suffolk blogger Sadie for this mad extravagance! her photos of the lovely seasonal things she uses in her home have given me a new way at looking at our home  - ideas I hope to carry on with when we move.

Col has had a couple of trips to the doctors because a regular blood test ( a year since the heart 'event') showed up a possible problem that may need treating with yet more tablets. Good Grief - he'll be rattling!

And Finally
You've heard about people who are robbed by someone coming in through the back door when they are in another room, well after lunch yesterday I found £2.50 laying on the worktop just inside the back door. Who? Why?  That is the question.

Back Soon
Sue
PS Thanks for all the comments on the late October harvest - much appreciated 

Late October Harvest

How many things can we harvest in the second half of October?

1. We are still picking a few AUTUMN RASPBERRIES. Earlier this month before we went away to Cumbria I'd been picking about 1lb every other day so after 6 days there were nearly 4lb waiting - and much to my surprise all were still in good condition. Returning from Norfolk and picked nearly 2lb - such a treat. Yesterday's three-quarter pound may be the last.
2. I've harvested the SQUASH - 12  small but valuable- (in a useful rather than monetary way) butternuts.
3. The COOKING APPLES are looking well. I picked several straight away for a crumble and now we have started putting them out for sale.
4. I also harvested the conference PEARS - it took just 2 minutes as there were only 14, and they were small. They've been peeled cored and frozen for 2 future pear crumbles.
5. I pulled some LEEKS and made 3 chicken and leek pies using just 1x 8oz chicken breast and a tin of condensed chicken soup. One pie was eaten and 2 for the freezer.
6. POTATOES are still being dug as we need them - we really need to dig up all we have left  soon. A few also went into the pies.
7. I'm going to run out of ONIONS before Christmas this year because we had such a poor crop but one of the few we have left also went into the chicken pies.It might be cheating to count these as they were "harvested" from the net bag in the shed.
8. The EATING APPLES on the early tree have been picked and are being eaten.Some from another tree are on a tray in the craft room.
9. We still have plenty of TOMATOES in the poly-tunnel, though the plants are looking very sad.
10. And the last few CUCUMBERS are hanging on - just.
11. The LETTUCE plants Col set out in the poly tunnel are growing well, enough for just a few leaves each.
12. I'm going to make a quiche with tomatoes and CHARD next week.
13. A saucepan full of BEETROOT has been cooked up again. We have some everyday with our salad/sandwich lunch. We are still pulling them as we need them but will put some into a box of sand soon.
14. We  have a lot of PEPPERS in the poly-tunnel, the plants just didn't get going during the early summer but then had more flowers late in the season. I don't think many of the peppers will turn red now and once we have a hard frost that will be the end. I've already put lots in the freezer and a few in the fridge salad drawer.
15. I've brought some BAY LEAVES indoors to dry in the Rayburn oven. I'm hoping to take our small Bay Tree in a pot when we move.
16. We tried the first PARSNIPS last week, they need a good frost to sweeten them up a bit but even so it was nice to get round to parsnip season again

16 crops from the garden and I haven't counted the KALE which I'm not keen on so it's for winter emergency use only.

Back in a day or 2 or 3 or maybe even tomorrow
Sue



 

Something prickly

About 5 years ago we bought a small Sweet Chestnut tree from a local Nursery,and planted it in the corner of the campsite. It's about 6 feet tall now and this year it has it's first chestnuts........all 4 of them - but very small, not enough to go with the Brussels sprouts for Christmas dinner that's for sure.

We knew where we can find some more so we took a detour along a small back road and there were lots on the ground already.
A carrier bag full brought home, now they need shelling and cooking up before being popped in the freezer for Christmas.I'll need to search for the book that tells me how long to cook them for.

 Thank you for comments to Angela, now enjoying Cornerstones, Morgan, Joanne, Cro, Ilona, CT, Bovey Belle, Sadie, Pat, Sadie, Frugal in Essex, Pat, Lisa, Lilly's Mom and Rachel who,like me, has never had a pen from Cats Protection.
I'm thinking that actually the copper pans were at Felbrigg and the volunteer with the standing-in-the-kitchen job told us that they are polished just once a year during the first weeks that the house is open in spring so that people visiting can watch them being polished.

Welcome to new follower Siobhan.


Back Very Soon
Sue

Over the Border to Norfolk

We have had  a few days away in the caravan again and popped over the border into Norfolk, our aim being to visit a couple of big National Trust properties and get our moneys worth of the years membership within one month.
Once again we stayed on a small 5 van campsite like ours ( but again, not as nice!)

 We went to Blickling Hall above, and what about this for a kitchen below.

 Also went to Felbrigg Hall but didn't take photos there. After Felbrigg we went to the North Norfolk Coast. Here is Cromer Pier from down the coast at West Runton. We took Scouts and Cubs to camp here in about 1977 and spent several hours on the beach just here. Back then it had big shingle ridges which have now been completely washed away.Each year another part of the cliffs fall into the sea. Then Cromer Pier from much closer, where a lot of work is going on to protect the town from the sea.
 At the end of the pier is the Lifeboat Station

 Also had a day in Norwich, where the Royal Anglian Regiment were having a homecoming and freedom of the city parade. An amazing coincidence happened in Norwich. We we walking down a little lane beside Jarrolds Department store  and turned to look because we could hear someone knocking on a window. And there was my sister sitting in Jarrolds restaurant. She lives in South Norfolk and had driven into Norwich for an appointment.  She had no idea we were there but had just been reading my blog post on her phone, looked up and looked again and couldn't believe her eyes!What are the chances of her noticing us in a city amongst thousands of people! very spooky.

Blickling Hall and Felbrigg Hall both have secondhand bookshops but I found nothing of interest although Col picked up a book about railways for £1.
 We looked around charity shops wherever we went but all I found was this plate for £3. I recognised it straight away as someone from the States had one on their blog just a couple of weeks ago. It is part of The Friendly Village collection and they were made in England by Johnson Brothers mainly for sale in the States. This one - The Schoolhouse -will make a wonderful addition to my Christmas dresser display

That's the end of our holidays, we did both well within budget but now we must stay at home and get some gardening work done.

Thank you to everyone for all the comments about unwanted Charity freebies. I'm feeling quite left out because I've never had any pens etc from Cat's Protection! even though that's where our 2 cats come from.

Big Suffolk welcome to 2 more people following on Google -  Cheryl and Rambler.

Back Very Soon
Sue

Why I don't donate to The Red Cross

I'm sure The Red Cross do good work both here and around the world but I do so wish that they wouldn't keep sending out these bits that the postman delivers several times a year.

Last week there was a pen, a card and envelope, 2 coasters and a bookmark. Plus of course the begging letter and prepaid envelope to send back your donation. And if you donate £5 or more they will send you a cotton shopping bag or  a notebook. I'm sure bulk buying means these gifts don't cost much to produce but it must be between 50p and a £1. I've heard all the discussion about why they do this and it must be worthwhile for them but it would be good if they saved the 50p+ to get these to me and used it towards something useful.

Thank you to everyone for comments about the editorial in the newspaper. I reluctantly added a link so you can read the article (I hope you avoided looking at me in the baggy shorts in close up! Not a pretty sight)

Nearly forgot to say welcome to Dani and Patricia - new followers in the little pictures on the right

Back Soon
Sue

Me in my baggy shorts in the newspaper

Several weeks ago I mentioned I had contacted a man who writes editorial pieces for the Thursday property section of the The East Anglian Daily Times our local regional daily paper to see if he would do a bit about our smallholding in the hope it would help with the sale. He called round one Saturday morning in September and chatted over a coffee and we had been expecting the piece to appear ever since.
Finally it was in last Thursdays edition......READ HERE  Go to page 27 

Wish I hadn't been wearing those baggy shorts!

I wonder if it will do any good for finding a buyer who is actually ready to proceed, so far the only people interested have had houses to sell and that means a long wait. Hey Ho........... it'll soon be Christmas - and nobody wants to move in December.

Thanks for the comments about birthday coincidences, seems we are not the only family with birthdays on the same day.

Back Soon
Sue

Birthdays

When I was in hospital having our son M - on October 17th 1981 - our next door neighbour at the time - Nita- was in hospital having her son, he arrived a few hours earlier than M so had a birthday on the 16th.
 Our neighbour's eldest son was born in 1980 on April 16th, my birthday. Nita herself had her birthday on November 4th  and in 1987 our youngest daughter was born on............ yes you guessed - November 4th. Which is also Col's sisters birthday.
We have friends in Essex. He has his birthday on April 15th - the day before mine and  she has her birthday on November 1st, which is also the date of Col's brothers birthday.
Confused?
I once heard this question years ago on a Radio 4 Numbers programme - " how many people - made up of your family and friends -  do you have to have in a room to have two people with the same birthday? You would think it would be 366, but they said it's only 16.
It's certainly right with our friends and family, but is it just coincidence?
I really need to know!

And a PS -  Happy Birthday son, poor old fella is 34 today.

Back soon
Sue

H.A.I.S.L.O.S

Do you remember the acronym YUPPIES - Young Urban Professionals and then there was DINKY - Double Income No Kids Yet. Well, we are HAISLOS - Hardly Any Income So Living On Savings!

Virtually all our income streams have now finished or diminished to a trickle so now is when we start to live on the savings we tucked away all through the summer. We had a good season on the campsite, we sold loads of smallholding equipment and I had the unexpected pension pot payout, all this  spare cash  being put into an instant access account which, if we are careful, should see us through without having to touch the larger amounts in bonds, or what we put into ISAs in 2014.

I've purposely not mentioned much about house selling and viewings as it would have got a bit tedious, but there has been some serious interest  over the last few weeks. However no definite offers as they also have a house to sell and whoever buys their house will probably also need to find a buyer and so a chain builds with lots of potential pit-falls and delays. That's why we plan to be the upper end of the chain by either renting, buying an empty property to move into and prepare it for renting out or living in the caravan. As the cheapest place to live this winter is here on the smallholding we are not too worried about the wait, although if it gets to next spring without any signs of progress I may be tearing my hair out!

 I first wrote about our budget way back in 2013  and I find it very helpful to look at this budgeting list  every time circumstances change so I know exactly what will be needed.  My most recent  update was  in August  when we knew more about what was happening after health issues made us decide to sell-up. Now once again every item has been scrutinised to enable us to know what we can spare for travelling this month and what we need through until April - Surely the house will be sold by then...........



The first section - Council Tax and Water Direct Debits, both of these miss the months of February and March, The water bill for the campsite is due later this month. Electricity Bills are due December and March and the TV Licence is due in April.

The second section - The Campsite and Smallholding business - was an outlay of over £200 a month, now this will decrease to just petrol for the chainsaw and mower and diesel for the tractor.

The third section - The Car - MOT and Tax due in February, Insurance due in December. When we are at home  the amount of diesel we use is very little. Obviously it's more for pulling the caravan and having holidays but nowhere near what we used to spend on the Jeep Cherokee.

The fourth section - Everyday Expenses - I've cut the food spending by about £25 - £40 a month.
 We have enough coal and wood for heating and hot water and enough bottled gas for the hob to last us through until we sell.
 Cols prepayment prescription card isn't due until next May. House Insurance due in March. I'm still using postage stamps stockpiled before the price went up last April but I will need stamps for Christmas cards.
There are 2 of our Children's birthdays due before Christmas and then I will need money available for Christmas pressies for 3 Children, 3 partners, 2 sisters, 1 brother, 2 brothers-in law, 2 nephews and 1 niece and one Dad plus small gifts for a few friends.
 We won't need to spend anything on things for the house unless something breaks down.

The fifth Section - Extras that make life interesting - We joined the National Trust while we were away and I'm looking at this as an investment for the year ahead as it will allow us access to lots of interesting places without anymore expense - if we feel in need of a day out locally during the winter/spring we have several fairly local NT sites. I don't need any craft materials or books and we bought sacks of peanuts and bird seed mix from the feed mill when we last got chicken feed - enough for most of the winter. Christmas treats will be kept to a minimum - no extra decorations or tree needed, just a few bits of different food.

When you have a limited income it's vital to know what outgoings there will be and where you can shave bits off if necessary. Yes, we are lucky we have a home worth a lot of money, we have the back up of savings but we also have several years before we get a regular pension.

Back Soon
 Sue

Quinces both large and small

Our 2 quince trees have small round fruit but at a house across the fields there are trees with very large pear shaped fruits. Although I didn't need them we were given a bag of the large ones. I've arranged ( heaped) them artfully  (any-old-how) into an old basket where according to things I've read they should give off a lovely fragrance . I tried this once before and all they did was gather dust!

I will make some apple and quince jelly later in the month but will only need a couple of pound of each to make enough for what we need.

I found a comment on an old post asking about sterilising jars before making chutneys and jam. I always give jars a good wash in hot soapy water, then rinse out and pop on a tray in a hot oven for half an hour at least.

Thanks for comments about the Cumbria photos

Back in a trice
Sue

Cumbria

We've just got back from a weeks holiday in beautiful Cumbria. It was our first try out of the caravan that we bought off Ebay in the summer and it towed well and was good to live in and comfy to sleep in.

We left home at Silly-O'clock!

  We stayed on a small 5 van campsite ( like out own - but not as nice!) in Ulverstone, down on the south of the county and had trips out around the coast as far as Ravenglass and to several places in the South Lakes.
The weather wasn't good, often threatening rain so we didn't get to do much walking. This is our 4th visit to The Lakes and there are still so many other interesting places to visit  that we will go again.

Walked up a hill over-looking Ulverstone. The water is Morecombe Bay

Saw the original  Amazon in The Ruskin Museum in Coniston

And The Steam Gondola On Coniston Water - and below the mist or low cloud rolling over the fells

 The Dock Museum at Barrow-in Furness was brilliant ( and free) Loads of history of shipbuilding but I was more interested in the social history of the dock workers and owners. So no photos of ships just pics of house interiors.

Not a good photo of kite surfers off the coast as I forgot to take my big camera that day

 We had a look at The Ravenglass and Eskdale narrow gauge preserved steam railway

Here's Col having a close look!

 It's almost obligatory when in the lake District to visit Hill Top - The Farm that belonged to Beatrix Potter

We searched for Peter Rabbit and Mrs Tiggywinkle in the garden, but they were hiding!

 My Favourite place was Townend . A farm that had been in the same ownership for 400 years. No photos allowed inside which is full of all the original features from the last owners. The farm never had running water or electricity, and was given to The National Trust in 1948. Amazingly this small farmhouse has the third largest collection of books of any NT property. Pictures from the internet HERE 
I could have spent ages here but they were running 1 hour tours so we  would have had to have waited until after the last tour to have another look round.

 If you've got children then Wray castle on the western shore of Lake Windermere is a wonderful place to visit. As far removed from the usual national Trust property as you could possibly get, it is full of surprises for children of all ages.See more here

Wray Castle- A Victorian house built to look like a medieval castle

That's our holiday in pictures but what I've not got photos of is the lovely colours of the trees up there. Autumn is a beautiful time to visit, although we were surprised how busy it was especially on the narrow winding roads - it must be hell getting about in the middle of the summer season.

  It was a good test for the caravan. We've got a list of things we need to take with us next time and some things that we don't need to take. There are one or two small jobs to do - like adding some hooks and making sure the water pipe to the washbasin doesn't become un-connected again- turning all the towels in the cupboard below into a soggy heap!

The books I read while on holiday have been added to my Books Read 2015 page. I can really recommend  Love and War in the WRNS by Vicki Unwin which is a book full of letters from a young girl who joined up at age 21 to her mother and father.

A warm welcome to Katia and Lee Ann and thank you to everyone for Mango Chutney comments.

Now I had better get some washing and caravan sorting done so that we can go away again later in the month!

Back Soon
Sue

Another thing for the hampers (and the cupboard)

Just occasionally, I see something with a yellow reduced sticker in Tescos that is actually worth buying.  Last month it was 4 mangoes at 50p each and thought a-ha - mango chutney.
 Ages since I made any, back in the days when Col went to the office in Ipswich and I got  a lift to town and the chance to look at proper market stalls where they often had mangoes at 4 for £1. Now they are £1 each or even more.
Straight home and fetched some jars in from the shed to wash and got the ingredients into the preserving pan.
An hour and a bit later and 6 and a half jars were made.

 The recipe is on my recipe page. This is a mild fruity recipe to make a contrast when it is served with curry unlike some I've seen which are hotter than the curry. If you wanted it hotter some chilies could be added.

Welcome to Victoria -  a new follower but  not a new follower! and Greta, there may be someone else too but I'm not sure who. Hello anyway

Back in a day or 3
Sue

The Three Craft Books

 When I did my usual library book photo last month someone asked if I could share what was in the 3 Craft Books. I took a photo at the time, wrote the post a couple of weeks later and then forgot to post it. Better late than never!

Granny Chic, well what can I say about this. If you think having a curtain at your window made from random bits of net, tray cloths and doilies stitched together any-old-how is a "peachey" idea then this is the book for you! The authors were bloggers to start with but after the book seem to have given up blogging.

Have Yourself  A Very vintage Christmas is a book from the States. Taking a look at what was in fashion there for Christmas decorations for each decade from 1920s to 1960s. With ideas to copy and recipes too. There is an Art Portfolio at the end so that you can photocopy some things to make postcards,stickers or seals. The history bit was interesting - seeing which ideas made it across the Atlantic but the only idea I liked was  a Yuletide Shelf Edger, I could do this for my dresser if I find myself with a hour or two to spare before Christmas!

The third book is Vintage Craft by Pearl Lowe published in 2013.
Some nice ideas in this book if you can find all the vintage bits and pieces. My problem with vintage decorating is that when you have a wood-burner everything soon gets covered with dust and many of the items used would be difficult to wash or clean.

I'm glad I only borrowed these from the library and didn't shell out the huge total of £50 for them!

Welcome to John, a new follower and many thanks for comments last time.

Back Soon
Sue

October - The first two days

Here we are sneaking into October and whisper it quietly but the weather is still good.

 Thank you for comments on the last post. I had no idea that  without a licence bats shouldn't be touched - even a dead one. We have loads of bats swooping around here most evenings, especially out on the campsite so I've not really considered them as anything special.
 Here's another bird photo - A Charm of Goldfinches. Up until this autumn we used to see them in ones or twos but suddenly they are here by the dozen

We've been walking, enjoying the sun and clearing more things outside and inside. Another bag of odds and ends went to the charity shop and all the things Col sold on Ebay have now been collected. I've also been chopping kindling and Col has been working for a neighbour.

 We went to Tesco for the main October shop and had a bit of luck because as I was looking at the Yorkshire Teabags, a lady looking at coffee beside me said that the teabags were half price over the road at Waitrose. I thanked her for the tip and after finishing at Tesco crossed the road and picked up my bargain saving. We regularly get a special offer leaflet through the door from the local independent hardware store and they had fat-balls for the birds at less than half price of the ones in Wyevale garden centre. A bucket of 50 should last at least until Christmas unless we really do get "the worst winter since 1963" like the newspapers are saying - I'll believe it when I see it! I've got plenty of salt for slippery paths because months ago when I last ordered from Approved Foods they had cooking salt at 5 x1kg bags for £1. I thought I'd share it round the family - but nobody wanted them, so I'm stuck with a cupboard full of salt!

 The library van comes twice this month so no shortage of reading matter -actually Never a shortage of reading matter in this house! Here is what I brought home today.

 Not a very good photo I'm afraid but I'm not trying again as the connection today is sooooooo slow that it's taken me nearly an hour to get these two photos onto the post! And people are complaining about slow connections of 2Mb  - if they had just .75Mb speed like we have here then they really would have something to moan about!

Back Soon
Sue