Anybody out there?

Heloooooo





Yes I know it has been a while but life kinda took over again. I have been decluttering the house like there is no tomorrow and May I add feeling oddles better about it.
Repurposed a whole heap of furniture got rid of some that was serving no purpose at all other than taking up space. I can see light at the end of the tunnel. and I never knew what a good feeling it would be to go to a cupboard or drawer and actual have confidence that I would find what I needed, ‘ark at me I sound all giddy lol.
We have a wonderful thrift shop here called Little Camden Market run by the irrepressible Dawn where I never really fail to find something of worth.



So far there has been a small oak side table in STUNNING order for £6.also found a set of bedroom drawers for £30 and a smaller set for £20. One oak book case £10. Managed to find a chair also for£8 and with some t.l.c like the rest of it. It will look fab well the book case came up a treat. For me though one of my very favorite finds as an old wooden 2 tier cake stand £15 folds flat and I thought it would be good to use when temporary storage was needed as it folds flat and can slip behind the sofa. got really lucky a while back and bought a very large curtain lined and padded out with bumf to help keep out the chills in the most stunning autumnal burnt orange (I think it’s a silk or silk mix) for a fiver, Sadly not big enough for my window (I took a hopeful punt on that one) but I will get an outfit out of it for my friends eclectic steam punk wedding.



So I will use the padding for a quilt I want to make as our new bed is a super king. Looked at the price of bedding squeaked a little and then decided to re jig what I have as the flat seem will be in the middle all will be good and I can start to re save some pennies.
The reasons for doing this mass turn out are several. I was fed up of never ever finding anything I needed and the place was beginning to look tired and I was getting to the “can’t be arsed stage” not good when there are 6 cats one dog a parent and my dearly beloved to keep an eye on!




Still ploughing on at the gym but it’s been more maintenance than anything else needs to get arse in gear for weight loss. So the chap I see has started to be mean again lol. Thing is I can’t argue he practices what he preaches and has thighs 36 inches each to prove it and that’s not when he’s in training for a competition! Dear lord all I want is to lose some lardy butt! Lol back on the chicken and rice I go lol.




I have had a few craft projects on the go still making granny squares out of old tapestry skeins think I said some were found for as little as 5p in a charity shop so went mad and bought them as the colours were rich and earthy. All of them are pure treated wool and come winter I will be glad of a snuggle blanket. Have been thinking about putting some detachable lining with it so it’s easier to wash and means that the heating can go on a little later if at all. However if D.B says he needs it on, on it will go can’t have another stay in the local hospital the last one was HOURENDIOUS!





The spare room needs a rug now we can see the floor lol went looking to see what was about and either didn’t like what I saw or didn’t like the price. To heck with it I thought and decided to make one out of all the proper rag ends of wool. I deliberately didn’t think of the colours I was using to the blend of fibres as long as they shared a similar thickness was good enough for me. Love the way in which it has turned out and has cost me sweet nothing. Well if I think about it and do a very rough costing maybe a couple of quid. Not sneezing at that. Oh that reminds me will need to do some sums for the chair I am to recover. Can’t see it costing much initially, as I have most of the bits here.




Next thing on my agenda is to sort out our paper work. We do have a system it’s called shove-it-in-a-basket-and-hope-for-the-best! But then I have always procrastinated about paper work. This is something I need to concourse as things will get very messy in the future.



One thing I will be doing this week is tackling the kitchen cupboards seeing what I have and where some changes can be made. Anyhow need to go through the freezers at least. Haven’t put the meat order in yet at the butchers so want to be sure that there is room for it all. D.B and I were chatting the other night and decided on half a pig half a lamb and a good mix of beef. I know it sounds extravagant but by doing it this way it saves so so much money lasts forever and I will make it stretch like its elastic!. Prefer doing this in the winter though as I am a stews soups and casserole type of girl love the fact that I kinda have an idea of what it will turn out like but only kind of.



Dad has been a sweetie and started to sort out the garden. He tool down the hanging basket brackets and painted them up with the hammerite type paint we got from Aldis (love that place) also a while back we picked up some mini garden logs on a role for 1/3rd the asking price in Wilkinson’s as they too were having a clear out. This will help retain some of the soil we have in a small sloping area of the garden. Dad did say he wanted different garden furniture, and he does have a pint the table is too big and will need to be re homed. But I would like to keep the benches and the chairs as they are generous in size and strong. The small pot bound apple tree I have will need feeding as this year it blossomed. I do hope we get some apples. All of a sudden the honeysuckle has taken off Whoosh! Be grand to see that mixed in with the buddleia and roses.


Right that’s enough of me and mine. How are you and yours? What have you been up to? Are you well? Happy and life not treating you too badly?
Would be wonderful to hear from you
All the best
Rachel
Xxx
P.s
I really must learn how to upload and post pics as I would love to share what I am doing and not find some on the net. Think for me good to see the progress I have made.

The paradox of our age

I came across this and thought some of you would enjoy it.

by Dr Bob Moorehead


The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers; wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints. We spend more, but have less; we buy more, but enjoy less. We have bigger houses and smaller families; more conveniences, but less time. We have more degrees but less sense; more knowledge, but less judgment; more experts, yet more problems; more medicine, but less wellness.
We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom. We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often.

We’ve learned how to make a living, but not a life. We’ve added years to life not life to years. We’ve been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor. We conquered outer space but not inner space. We’ve done larger things, but not better things.

We’ve cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul. We’ve conquered the atom, but not our prejudice. We write more, but learn less. We plan more, but accomplish less. We’ve learned to rush, but not to wait. We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less and less.
These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion; big men and small character; steep profits and shallow relationships. These are the days of two incomes but more divorce; fancier houses but broken homes. These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morality, one night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill. It is a time when there is much in the showroom window and nothing in the stockroom. A time when technology can bring this letter to you, and a time when you can choose either to share this insight, or to just hit delete.

Remember, spend some time with your loved ones, because they are not going to be around forever.

Remember to say a kind word to someone who looks up to you in awe, because that little person soon will grow up and leave your side.

Remember to give a warm hug to the one next to you, because that is the only treasure you can give with your heart and it doesn’t cost a cent.

Remember to say “I love you” to your partner and your loved ones, but most of all mean it. A kiss and an embrace will mend hurt when it comes from deep inside of you.
Remember to hold hands and cherish the moment for someday that person will not be there again.

yep still here!

Wednesday 17th April

Well, where to start been a bit all go here. Decided to get some help in and move furniture around I have good stuff and as much as I would love to go shopping for some more it’s not an option. Also it’s cheaper to do things this way.
I have however reserved a little cash to try and find a pine chest type box for extra storage and to double up as a coffee table.


Thursday 18th April
It’s also a good opportunity to have a final clear out and decide what it is I want to use for my wedding and what has really had its day here.. Talking of my wedding I went and was measured for my dress pattern and have bought the fabric and all the bits necessary for it so I can pop it in the loft and sewing can start next year. Managed to get a really good deal thought the fabric was £11 per meter read the wrong label it was only £7 it a Good weight and will drape well. Included in the price was all the netting buttons zip lining and a twal fitting for £230 not including cotton as I will need to order that later. I have decided on my florist and helper also we have pretty much decided on a venue. As for catering and the like not too sure. Went to my one and only wedding fair dear god never ever again! I went from being mother of the bride to marring my lesbian lover in one step to a different stall. All I can say is this marry who you love but please don’t make an assumption to my orientation!!!! So I WILL be baking my own cake and finding someone else to pretty it up.




Saturday 20st April

Dad and I put out back into the garden yesterday did a huge clear up and ditched oodles of junk decide we wanted a smaller table and to change the hanging baskets. I asked if we could compromise keep the baskets and maybe change the chain or hamerite it and the same for the base of the sun brolly as it looks tatty but is solid. He reluctantly agreed and we will (I hope) just change the table and re use the seating think we need to see what’s about first though
Also I have been so complacent about my diet of late and it shows me lardy arse is rubbin out me foot prints so back on the wagon I go. I know I can do it I’m just lazy lately.
Any suggestion people have for a bread substitute or some way of diverting my craving I would be very pleased to hear from you.




Sunday 21st April

Today is lots of scrappy jobs prepping lunch and making Yorkshire puddings. We will be needing a desert and I have already put laundry on the line. Packed my bag for the gym and will after this do a very quick pick up of the house and pack a few boxes. Hope to do this before Dad is back from church save him a job as he’s tired and also a friend of his who was married for over 50yrs lost his wife to a stroke last week. I try and imagine a lifetime of such a close relationship and I am in awe of him and his generation I know we in more recent times have weathered our own trials and they are not too dissimilar on occasions to those that have passed before. Theirs was a life of witness, war welfare state and its now faltering demise. So many things that we have always known. I know grief is not exclusively theirs but it makes me think, that’s all. Different time, different way of being.
Right the house is calling me and I need to get a wriggle on.

Hope you all have been well and happy.
Take care


Rachel

Fridge picnics.

Today is going to be a bit of a busy one have lots of odds and ends to sort out and a hospital appointment to go to as well as the usual bits of life to also fit in. So I went for a trawl through my fridge came up with this.




I had some leftover mash and mushroom that began to look a little wan in my fridge and decided that I needed to use them up. So I went on a wander and cobbled together this recipe. Regarding the mash it doesn’t have to be it can be left over cooked spuds just smash um up a bit and season to your liking. As for the mushrooms I would go with at least half a dozen reasonable sized ones. Though the older they are the stronger the flavour. For the onion bit I use either one or a combination of the following. Celery, leek or onion.



Potato and mushroom soup

Sauté off you onion, celery or leek and add chopped mushrooms gently cook for about 5 mins.
Add the potato and gradually mix in a pint of stock beef normally works quite well. Cook for a couple of mins more. Then if you have a blender pop it in there and blitz to your liking. I serve this with sandwiches and if there is blast all in the fridge I make up a sandwich filler of egg/ cheese or both. if you want you can add a splodge of plain yogurt, sour cream or milk.


Sandwich filler

1 egg per person or 2 between 3.
Any leftover scrap cheddar or the like (not compulsory but helps)
If you want you can spice it up with any flavours you like or add a little raw onion finely chopped.
Boil the eggs until the yolk is just cooked (if you can do this fab as it saves on you binding with butter, salad cream or mayonnaise)
Mash down using a masher. If the egg is a bit dry add some of the butter mayo or salad cream if you want and then any “extras” like spices herbs and mayo’s. This goes a surprisingly long way if you need to stretch it out a little further you could do so by adding some bread crumbs or any salad veg you have. And then I pop it in a sarnie with or without basic salad it really is a case of what do I have in the fridge.



Leftovers bake or cauliflower cheese with or without broccoli.
This is a low fat version.

I use Sainsbury's Low Fat Natural Yogurt, Basics 500g
2 eggs
Some cheese
2 teaspoons grain mustard Aldi 45p per jar (last time I bought it)
Season to taste. Now you can use cauliflower and or broccoli pre cooked with this pored over and a grating of cheese or any leftover veg, meat bacon always seems to work well and I buy a lot of scrap bacon Sainsbury’s cooking bacon £1.09p for 200g a little can go a very long way
Bake in the oven at 150-175oc until you like the way it looks. This served with leftover salad or a jacket spud works well.
I use Sainsbury’s basics stock cubes 10 for 15p. (1.5p per cube)
Eggs (for me) average at 10p each

Talk is cheap aint that grand!

Today I finally made the call to change providers for my internet and phone. I went with Talk Talk (T.T). We have used them before in the old property but on moving in here we were compelled to be with Bt as we needed a BT line so for 18 long long annoying months W put up with paying them £45 per calendar month and then on occasions a few pounds extra if we made chargeable calls.



The internet was playing up never did like the system BT had this is just my opinion and no one else’s. So we called T.T not only was I able to get a call anytime package with broadband there was no connection fee£30) nor were they going to charge me for voice mail. They also had a half price package £3.50 and if we wanted to pay a year’s line rental in advance we would save another £65.40 so the line became £114.00 for the year. However there was an option if we were unable to pay upfront it would bring it to around the £20 per month can’t remember the exact amount as I went for the upfront payment. So now we will pay £8.25 per calendar month. Not just a little saving but MONUMENTAL! S DB will have an extra £26 (aprox) a month in his pocket. Yea us xxxxx



Also had another good day finally got a family member to agree to get someone in to move around the furniture as I feel we will get more mileage out of it. So will ring the removers in the morning and see when they can fit us in as I’m not designed for moving very large bulky things in tight spaces the family member concerned really doesn’t want to do it but I had a firm put polite moment when I realised that one of the cats had anointed my sewing machine with personal water! ARGH!!!!! Its gonna be hell but worth it so so worth it.




Next week we pay off the last of the vet bill so that will bring my debts down. I do owe DB some pennies as he made ma a loan for my part payment to dads birthday present and I was caught short for some pennies regarding my glasses. Had no choice but to agree to vari focals and now I have joined the rest of the family wearing glasses permanently. Thank god there not as bad as they were when I was a kid! Vain I know but fear god they were just awful and stigmatising.




And lastly I bought some bits from eBay and used DB card for the last purchase of a gift for someone and failed to change the card back. So there I was merrily shopping and he was being charged! Eeek



I would much rather bite the bullet and pay in two or three chunks and get it done with. Luckily I am not in desperate need for anything and if something crops up I will find another way of dealing with it. After that I’m sorting out my funeral and savings. Won’t feel settled until I do.





Lastly Dad was so sweet he bought home some stunning tulips (and on offer)so my old large ewer I am truly lucky to have those I do in my life.

Right you wonderful lot how’s your day been and life in general?

Love to hear from you.
All the best
Rachel

On reflection

It’s been a funny old couple of days Next week I will pay the last instalment of the vet bill and essentially be debt free, apart from the usual bills and I will be looking at how I can reduce those a little further.



It also got me to thinking about the lack of savings I have. What’s been happening is I would save some back things would get iffy or a bill would come in. I would then use it to square away that problem and end up back where I started. OK but not good.


I have no plans for a funeral or even a will. Morbid I know but look to this I must.

Savings what is affordable and feasible ways of earning a little extra.

Formalise some of my wedding plans and act on the results

Organise my wardrobe. Do I need all I have? Make repairs.

Thin out my stash of craft stuff and re home what is no longer needed.

Continue to sort out the freezers and food cupboards.


I also came across a link to a blog called A girl called Jack about the struggles she has had and the way in which she dealt with them.
This is no flaky look-at-me-I-can-pretend-to-be-poor-but-I'm-not-really-blog. Like me there are many of you out there struggling to find a way through this seemingly never ending time of recession. This is beautifully written and compellingly honest.

I found myself responding to her post regarding this daft (in my opinion) of what social group you think you belong to and in truth (supposedly) you belong to. This is my response...


Hello
Apparently according to this I am Precariat (whatever that means) it does not take into account that I am a full time career or that I withdrew from university( got there under my own steam despite being very dyslexic and having dyscalculia) to be so. My fiancé is the foster son of the retired world authority on Ben Britten who stipulated on his demise he should be given (foster father) first refusal to purchase his home from the estate. I am also a house wife user of the library go to what I can for free and pay my way by giving back appropriate to the situation. I barter and cook from scratch love the theater and the arts but can’t afford to go. I have been on the verge of homelessness twice and could only afford to buy into a shared ownership property that it is unlikely I will ever be able to move from this. It took every single penny we had and then some from the compulsory purchased ex local authority home we bought . Me I see life this way. I am me slightly lumpy from life (aren’t we all) and I love the life I have. Glad to see you are up and running again Jack love the blog and recipes thanks for continuing to share.
Rachel.

http://agirlcalledjack.com/2013/04/04/i-am-the-lowest-of-the-low/#comment-4115


SOOOOOO this silly calculation of class bracket doesn’t have a category for me (thank god)! And if you are ragingly normal like the many millions of us are you will thankfully not fit into their box either. (Welcome to the dark side)



So I am going to take my socially low self off and cook in a semi rented oven in a semi rented house in the charity shop pans that I bought with my careers money and scrounge up a leftovers meal of quiche and a budget collage pie I can afford to do as the mince was reduced and so were the spuds. Lol

So tell me what floats yer boat or makes you exasperated? Speak soon

Rachel

Yesterday was a much better day. I was speaking to DB just about life in general and we go to talking of housekeeping and what I do and where it goes and I was able to let go of some of my concerns. I try not to burden him as he isn’t well but as he said “darlin” what the (bleep) do you think I’m here for.



So today we are going to go through all the cupboards and the freezers and make an inventory see what we have and where we can go from there. I said that I was feeling overwhelmed and that if there was any leftover food the need for me to use it up and cook different for him and my Father. We discussed also how some days he starts the day wanting one thing but goes off the idea by the time he’s ready to eat and I have already cooked it. This isn’t because he’s an awkward sod it is to do with the condition he has. So we will find a better way of how to combat this. The weight he has lifted from my shoulders is huge I feel truly up lifted and able to achieve so much more regarding the house and our life in it. I am good at some areas budget craft and other frugal bits and my cooking is fine. Just with moving house DB and myself re adjusting to a change in his heath I got lost.



Dad was really kind yesterday (not that he isn’t) He came home with not only a pressure washer but a new hose and real for the garden. Is a small space mostly laid to patio and after all this rough weather we have been having he has offered to spruce the garden up. Even suggesting a different garden table as what we have is really too big. I didn’t like to suggest it as I made a bit of a song and dace about finding the patio set we have now. I did say to him about the cost but the delicious rotter has be secretly saving pennies back and wanted to surprise me. I will treat him to a good lunch today I have a small joint of beef in the fridge I was going to stretch 4 ways, bleep it roast n yorkies it is think I will go mad with a rice pudding as well!




How do you make your Yorkshire puddings I use the following recipe but if you have one that is successful and a little more cost effective I would love to try it out.


9oz plain flour
4 large eggs
1/2 pint full fat milk
Seasoning
Beet the living heck out of it and leave to stand for a bit. re beat it and then ladle into searing hot bun tins half filled with hot hot oil.

What are you doing with you Sunday? Would love to hear from you
Have a wonderful day
Rachel