More Than Half-Past January

January seems to be speeding past, some years it's a drag.

My spend-nothing-extra-just-in-case-I've-done-my-sums-wrong month is going OK. Greatly helped by eating everything in the freezer and both of us being ill! So far this month food spending has been about £50 and not much more needed except milk, fruit and veg.

But spending plans slightly mucked up by getting 2 pairs of thick, lined curtains cleaned. They are a weird heavy material - heavens knows why I bought them (except for the fact they were exactly the right colours) and I realised when we took them down from the living room that it must be over 5 years since we got them and Oh Goodness - they'd never been cleaned before, Whoops.
The living room at the cottage has 3 windows including the double doors into the conservatory so I've been looking for another pair that will be a match or co-ordinate with what we have. Finally found a pair of full length in the Hospice charity shop that will go well  for £5. Also thick and lined and unfortunately dry-clean only again - damn, but I'll worry about that later.

We went into the town centre early in the week to sort out our money ready for buying the cottage and ran out of time for anything except nipping into Poundland. All their Christmas decoration stuff was 5p and there were several people filling their baskets with a ton of junky looking tat. Then I spotted two boxes of 6 crackers so that was a grand total of 10p added to the Christmas part of the accounts.

Quite nice crackers containing snap, hat, joke and mini jigsaw puzzles for less than 1p each!

We've packed almost as many boxes as we can for the moment and we're living around them.The cat is puzzled - poor thing, any box left open has to be examined. When we had the glass door panel here replaced to take a cat flap we kept the old panel so after we've moved we'll get the same man to come and replace it. Col has measured up the panel of the back door at the cottage and all being well the one with the cat flap in should fit there, which will save a bit of money. I'm not sure how Polly will take to country life again as she's turned into a cat who doesn't venture far.

Went to Hobbycraft this morning been meaning to visit ever since we got one in Ipswich......... which was many months ago. Had a nice look round and could have been tempted by loads of things - they had die-cutting machines on offer at.......... £60! .......much more than I could justify spending on a hobby, even if I had £60 to spare. What I did get that I needed were some foam pad stickers for 3D decoupage cards and then I spotted something that might be an idea for this years Penny Pincher friends Christmas presents. In  past years I've cross stitched key rings, needle-cases, Christmas tree decorations, lavender sachets, coasters and notebook covers and made heat resistant pot stands and birthday books. I've given dried Bay leaves and chilli peppers and pretty jar labels, wooden dibbers and bean seeds, so always looking for a new idea that's not too expensive, mainly homemade and not too big to send.

Just watching 1 O'clock news about "Courgette wars!! and drastic Courgette crisis!!" Blimey, if people ate local and seasonal they wouldn't be eating courgettes in January anyway and then they wouldn't need to "take to social media to voice their anger at the shortage"! Have to say this "Crisis" hasn't affected us.

Welcome to someone new on the followers bit, hope you enjoy reading

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Sue