Shopping

Thank you for your comments about the foul mouthed person, fortunately there were other people around who were obviously on my side, so I wasn't as upset as I could have been.

I went to the butchers/greengrocers and the supermarket today, I spent about £20.
I bought:-
Lamb shanks for lunch tomorrow
Pork belly, liver and sausages for next week.  We'll have liver and onions, sausage and mash and slow roasted pork belly.
I also bought mushrooms, onion and a huge leek.
I shall make a big pot of leek and potato soup for lunch next week.
I also bought a loaf of bread, baked beans and a large mans shirt.
I'm making a nightshirt and nightcap for a forthcoming play at work.

Road Rage

Yesterday we had a very brief flurry of sleet/snow, it arrived just as I left work, it took me 30 minutes to travel a mile. 
When I got to a junction I couldn't turn in as there was already queue of traffic trying to negotiate the steep hill.
A queue of traffic soon built up behind me and after a few minutes someone started to honk their horn, after a few more minutes someone came over to yell at me.
It seems my attempt to reach home was making her late for an appointment, she repeatedly requested that I 'move my fucking car'.
By now the traffic was at a standstill on the opposite side of the road blocking the entrance to the turning I needed.
Then a bus up ahead skidded and blocked the road ahead of me, all this time the same person continued to scream invectives at me.
Eventually, when there was a pause in the tirade so I asked her exactly where she expected me to go as the road was now blocked in all directions.
I explained that I was trying to reach my home, it seem I had chosen a 'fucking stupid' place to live.
If I had realised ten years ago that I was going to cause her all these problem, I would, of course, chosen to live elsewhere!

More budgie smuggler tightness

The heating at home is set to frost setting to ensure no damage occurs if we get a sudden cold snap. If it's very cold we'll turn the thermostat up a bit, but  if hubby is comfortable in a short sleeved tea shirt, then I put an extra cardigan on & make a hot drink before turning the heating up & when I'm sitting down I have one of my home made quilts or crochet blankets over my knees, but I refuse to walk round looking like the Michelin man just to keep warm. Part of my problem is not being able to wear tights or trousers; it makes it harder to stay warm wearing just dresses.

We are going to a wedding reception in February, I've been looking in the local charity shops for something to wear, but nothing so far. If I don't find anything I'll team up one of my work dresses with a jacket to smarten it up. I've had another clear out of my wardrobe, I had a few dresses that I wasn't comfortable wearing with hold-ups, so they have gone in the bin, so now I've just 3 winter dresses, 3 jackets & 4 cardigans in my wardrobe. I certainly cuts down on the 'deciding what to wear' time.

I'm spending an hour or so every evening decluttering & sorting, I have one item to ebay & I'll list some specialist books on Amazon, but the rest I will donate to  the local charity shop.

Tighter than a pair of budgie smugglers

I don’t often write about the fact that our lifestyle could be seen a quite frugal. We don’t go out on a regular basis, rarely drink, neither of us smoke & unlike some of our colleagues we don’t shop as a hobby. Yes we buy things but only when we can afford them & never on a whim.

This is just our life & we are happy & comfortable, we aren't on the breadline by any stretch of the imagination but it does mean our life could be seen as boring.

We are no longer as skint as we used to be, but old habits die hard. Last weekend for instance I defrosted a chunk of turkey left over from Christmas. We had roast turkey for Sunday lunch & the rest was used in turkey sandwiches & turkey supreme. I served the turkey supreme on Saturday with vegetable rice using up half an onion a couple of bruised mushrooms and a handful of frozen peas. Last night I used up the last of the potato from Sunday, added some spinach & made bubble & squeak which I ate with a poached egg.

Our diet tends to be fairly monotonous, not through lack of money but because hubby is a fussy eater & a creature of habit, this actually makes things easier as I don’t have to make many decisions on what to eat as it tends to be the same 10 meals in a repeating cycle. And at least everything is cooked from scratch.

Hubby & I have helped a young couple we know start to cook proper meals for themselves & their toddler, they no longer feed the child on sausage with bought in mashed potato every day. They now make sausage casserole, spaghetti Bolognese & chicken casserole every week and they are gradually adding to their repertoire of recipes.

I delayed my pension for a year & then requested a lump sum, this is still in the bank & has been added to, we were intending to pay it directly off the mortgage, but Santander are proving very difficult & with a possible move on the cards we’ll keep the money tucked away for now.

It’s payday on Thursday, hubby & I both pay an amount into the joint account to pay the bills, what we have left over is ours to spend on what we want/need.

As of next month my reduction in hours means, obviously a reduction in pay so my left over cash is going to be a very small amount but as all I buy is a little yarn occasionally I’m hoping this won’t be a problem.

If I told hubby I was short I could of course reduce my contribution, but I tend to be a bit obsessive about paying my way, so I won’t say anything unless I’m really struggling.

What Nanna & Norah made today.

Firstly we made a load of mess when Norah tried to balance my button tin on a pile of carrier bags!

My button tin is actually 3 large Celebration tins, Norah only tipped one of them over.
My button collection contains the contents of my Mum's and my Grandma's button tins and also those of a few friends and relatives mum's.

We finally managed to make this, Norah chose the most slippery fabric I had so it wasn't the easiest thing to make.

But Norah was happy with the end result.

News

Finally, finally, I have agreement to reduce my hours, from February I am finishing at 2pm every day. It's only a reduction of 7 hours a week, but I hope it will help and I hope I can manage on the reduced money. 

Thank you Margie & RQ, I'm not specifically unwell, just a bit meh. Helen, I did nothing but granny squares for years and have only ventured onto other patterns thanks to Attic24 and then youtube.

This morning the kitchen table is covered in drinking straws, glue sticks, paper scraps and glitter. This can mean only one thing, one of the DGD is visiting, so, much crafting is happening. I'm dropping my L&M at work at 8 when I do I going to sneak into the staff room and 'borrow' a book. We have a selection of books left by the Book People, I've ordered a copy of one of the books on bag making, but it won't be delivered until Wednesday week. DGD can't wait that long, so I will borrow the staff room copy this morning and return it when I collect my L&M this afternoon.

After I drop my L&M at work I'm collecting DD and giving her a lift to work  and then DGD and I will shop at the bakers and butcher, then home to make a bag. I will teach her to use my sewing machine as I did her brother last week.

I need to speak to my other DD as well to arrange for the other DGC to visit soon, they too are itching to learn to sew.

One Stitch, two WIP's

My two current WIP's, both done in the same stitch, I found it on Youtube, it's called basket stitch.

This is for hubby, who has asked for a blanket of his own. It's done using a size 9 hook and I'm using up all my oddments of Aran weight and chunky yarn, I will edge it in black.

This is for a baby due later this year, it is the same stitch as the previous blanket but it's done using a size 4 hook using Stylecraft dk.

Sorry my blogging is a bit sparse at present, I'm not feeling too well, everything seems to take a lot of effort.

Fun weekend

We had a good time this weekend, a visit from DGS, I taught him to use my sewing machine, he made two Pokemon figures, a Diglet (I think it looks like a penis, but that's boys for you!) & something that looked like a star. Next time he wants to make a messenger bag, I have a book of projects so I'll have a look at what we'll need.

Hubby has asked for a crochet blanket of his own, I'm going to use up all my aran weight yarn on it I think, I have quite a bit and most of it is in dark colours.

Hubby has put his plastic greenhouses up in the spare room & has started off some seeds, we had soil warming upstairs for a few days before he did the planting.

More makes

A blanket for a dolls pram

Arm knitted cowl in pale blue, lavender, white & pale green.

Arm knitted cowl in brown, beige & cream.

Arm knitted cowl in shades of blue.

Arm knitted cowl in blue in pink.

Oooh & Oooh

Two bits of exciting news.

Number One. We've had our house valued at £250k, much more than we expected.

Number Two. We've had an invitation to a wedding reception! It's an evening event so we've booked a room in the hotel where the reception is being held. They have a deal on for the wedding guests so it's £60 for the room & breakfast, a little treat to look forward to.

Gritty slippers

My slippers were gritty so I emptied them out & they were full of cake sprinkles, the result of baking with DGD who is nearly 4. 

She is now asleep in the spare room surrounded by a pile o 'Sharpe' books.

She can't even read yet!

Some ups, some downs

Let's start with the downs, just one big one really Sensodyne toothpaste have changed their range and their packaging. My beloved is as fussy about his toothpaste as he is about his food and I purchased the wrong toothpaste, ye gods what trauma, much wailing and gnashing of teeth ensued!

The ups? Firstly I have almost finished another rainbow blanket.
Secondly I have been asked to knit a couple of arm knitted cowls for money, woohoo.
Thirdly, I've mastered the art of going to the toilet whilst arm knitting, it was suggested to my by a work colleague when I explained my dilemma. I now take my knickers off before I start knitting.

Another Oh Bugger

Today at work someone was showing me the arm knitted cowl she made over the holidays, I was so impressed, especially as it looked so warm and the heating had failed yet again at work, I was desperate to get home to try arm knitting for myself. The instructions suggest using 2 strands of super chunky, but the nearest I had was various odd balls of ordinary chunky, so I used 4 different ones, this is the finished result, I know it looks messy but it looks good on and it didn't take long to make once I got started. It took me ages to master the casting on, so by the time I was half way through the cowl I needed the toilet (too many cups of tea when I got in from work). Well anyone who has tried arm knitting will know that once you make a start you are, in effect, 'handcuffed'  by the yarn.
Can you imagine the struggle I had to carry the cowl and the 4 balls of yarn, with my wrists tied together, if I'd had any sense at all I'd have waited until I got to the end of the row, but truth be told, I had been so engrossed in my work that by the time I realised I need the toilet, the need was urgent so I struggled on, it is incredibly difficult to oick up a dress & pull down knickers with no free hands, so afterwards I got dry knickers on and wiped the toilet seat!

Not so much ta-dah, more Oh bugger

My Rainbow blanket is finished.

I took these pics before the daylight waned and it was before all the ends had been woven in.

Here is the 'Oh bugger' I ran out of violet on the final border, I finished it with a nearly matching yarn.
As my Grandma used to say, 'No-one's going to stop a galloping horse to look at it.'