Ginger's Pouffe ... and a Final Link

I bought myself a pouffe to use as a footstool sometime last year.  I rarely put my feet up on it, there's usually a book open on it waiting to be picked up and dipped into.  But about a month ago Ginger discovered it.

 Now it's Ginger's Pouffe  😸

He obviously loves the warmth that the polystyrene beads hold onto and sleeps there for hours.  He moved over to the littlest dog bed for a while yesterday when the sun shone briefly through the glass on it, but the minute the sun went behind a big black cloud he was back on his pouffe.

HERE's the link to the Challenge blog and the final End of Challenge post.

I'm sorry there's a few of you having trouble accessing it, I have checked all the settings on both blogs and they are identical.  I can only assume that because the other blog was dormant for a couple of years some of the anti-virus thingies are seeing it's resurrection as a threat.  Sorry, but there's nothing I can do.

Sue xx

Wise Advice from a Farmer's Wife ... and a Link

 

Wise Advice from a Farmer's Wife.

Whenever you return a borrowed pie pan, make sure it's got a warm pie in it.

Invite lots of folks to supper. You can always add more water to the soup.

There's no such thing as woman's work on a farm. There's just work.

Make home a happy place for the children. Everybody returns to their happy place.

Always keep a small light on in the kitchen window at night.

If your man gets his truck stuck in the field, don't go in after him. Throw him a rope and pull him out with the tractor.

Keep the kerosene lamp away from the the milk cow's leg.

It's a whole lot easier to get breakfast from a chicken than a pig.

Always pat the chickens when you take their eggs.

It's easy to clean an empty house, but hard to live in one.

All children spill milk. Learn to smile and wipe it up.

Homemade is always better than store bought.

A tongue's like a knife. The sharper it is the deeper it cuts.

A good neighbour always knows when to visit and when to leave.

A city dog wants to run out the door, but a country dog stays on the porch 'cause he's not fenced-in.

Always light birthday candles from the middle outward.

Nothing' gets the frustrations out better than splitting' wood.

The longer dress hem, the more trusting the husband.

Enjoy doing your children's laundry. Some day they'll be gone.

You'll never catch a running' chicken but if you throw seed around the back door you'll have a skillet full by supper.

Biscuits brown better with a little butter brushed on them.

Check your shoelaces before running' to help somebody.

Visit old people who can't get out. Some day you'll be one.

The softer you talk, the closer folks will listen.

The colder the outhouse, the warmer the bed.

 These are not my words, they popped up this morning on my Facebook Memories.  You can tell a few of them are from experience can't you. 😄

 Oh, and none of my chickens ever ended up in the skillet!! 

HERE is the link to today's post on my Challenge blog ... Days Six and Seven. 

Sue xx

Challenges

 

I was sorting through my notebooks the other day, pulling one out to use as 'spare paper book' that I can grab when I'm on the phone and need something to write on, and I came across this one.  When I opened it up it had lots of interesting stuff in.   I vaguely remember buying it from Asda as part of a stationery pack during a Challenge over on my other blog ... Challenging Myself

Anyway what should I find written in the back of it but the plans for a different Challenge ... a £1 a Day for a Month Challenge.  I thought it was THIS one.

But none of the foods matched up!!

So perhaps it was for a Challenge that I never quite got round to doing.

Which seems a shame as I obviously put quite a bit of work into the plans!!

I wonder how the prices would compare to those in the shops now?

Now that's food for thought ... and perhaps a Challenge in itself 😄

And while I was over on the other Blog I ended up going down a rabbit hole of immense proportions and reading about lots of my other Challenges, including one of my more unusual ones that saw me splashing out on things every day of the week.

Challenge Three in 2019  'The Shopping Hauls Challenge'.

Which was a really interesting one to read through again and I spotted lots of things that are still in daily use that I bought over the course of that week.  So those few people in the comments who said that I was buying useless things and wasting money should perhaps come round and have a look at all the things that I still actually have.

I have only used about half of the pens and pencils up to now though!!

Anyway I need to get off the computer now, I've been on here for far too long 😀

Sue xx

Sending Letters By Pigeon Post

 

On her blog, Tracing Rainbows the other day, Angela mentioned receiving a Pigeon letter and my curiosity was spiked.  I just had to go straight over to the website ... and wow I fell in love with the designs.  Just look at this one from one of my favourite artists, original Angela Harding artwork just beautiful in every way.

Of course if this had been 'normal times' I would have picked out a couple of designs and ordered some straight way but it's my year of No Spending, so I had to bite the bullet and simply add them to my Wish List.  At least Alan might have a clue about what to buy me for my birthday!!

Summer Meadows Design, just another of my favourites and there are lots to choose from.  If you are as interested as me why not nip over here to read all about The Pigeon Story.

💖💖💖

This is not a sponsored blog post ... none of mine ever are if you are wondering ... but I have acquired quite a few new readers recently so I thought I would just point this out. However, I do like to shout out about useful and beautiful things that I come across in anyway in my day to day life and leave a link for you to discover more about them yourself if that is what you would like to do.

  

Sue xx

Blogmas - Advent Day 7 - and an Offer

 

Ooh err ... socks with lovely little Robins and a little Vitamin C Serum thingy, one can only hope that these things work 😉

Every year since 2008 Alan has received a lovely Christmas food hamper from a company he works through, I say Alan as although it's a gift to a company owned by both of us the hamper rarely contains anything I can eat.  I think last year's one dairy or meat free option  was a packet of Chilli Kettle crisps ... and I don't like chilli crisps!!  So when I was on the Vegan Kind website on Saturday night and I spotted a vegan hamper bundle I just couldn't resist treating myself.

It came yesterday morning  😀

Lots of lovely goodies, all of which I can eat and some of which will make up my Christmas dinner.  Although I have never had a Yorkshire Pudding on my Christmas dinner before ... it seems to be a popular addition these days,  when I was growing up Yorkies were only served with Roast Beef.  One with our dinner filled with gravy and one for dessert sprinkled with sugar.

I've also never had this and really fancied trying it.

The ingredients don't seem too bad ...

... and it's got a lot of protein per serving.

I've also seen these vegan cheese gift packs advertised by a lot of the supermarkets and had decided that I would buy one, although I hadn't seen them in any of our local branches.  I was a bit shocked when I slid them out of the cardboard outer to put them in the fridge and saw how thin they were.

This is a block of the Applewood that I already had in my fridge ... it is twice the weight at 200g as the ones in the gift pack.  So be warned folks, unless you don't mind the smaller blocks it might work out better value gram for gram to buy four individual blocks of these cheeses instead of the pack of four.

Anyway while I was ordering my hamper I thought I might as well make a few additions, some of my favourite 'Crunchie' type bars, a couple of tins of Squirty cream ... I've not been able to find any at all around here ... and a bag of bacon flavoured crisps.  Something I can share with Alan while we watch a Christmas film.

Then I spied another treat.  

It's not really an offer as it worked out quite expensive.  But the one thing I have really missed since having to be dairy-free is buying a tin or two or three of Roses, Quality Street, Celebrations etc etc.  This is a fill-it-yourself selection of wrapped sweets and a nice Christmassy tin to put them in.

Normally I might have seen the idea and replicated it myself, buying a tin from a charity shop and then lots of wrapped sweeties from various shops, but this year I just cannot wander around the shops at all, as much as I would love to.  So this was a nice easy option and then next year, fingers crossed, I will be able to buy bargain packs of sweets from here, there and everywhere and do it myself.

While I was checking out and paying for all my goodies I noticed I had a £10 voucher available to redeem.  Seemingly last time I shared a link on my blog one of you lovely lot used it and got herself (or his self) £10 off their shopping - and that meant that I got it too.  Thank you whoever you were, it is very much appreciated.  

No sooner had I paid for my order than I got an email saying that if anyone of my Friends ... and yes you are all my Friends ... wanted £10 off a first order all they had to do was enter my name in the voucher code box as they checkout to get £10 off any order of £40 or more.

So if you were going to do a bit of dairy-free or vegan shopping this Christmas, and they have toiletries, gift sets and normal shopping items too, you could have a browse of The Vegan Kind Supermarket and if your order comes to more than £40 take advantage of the discount code Sue Hall. 

I've never been a discount code before!!

And if you're slightly more restrained than me and spend on or just around the £40 mark it means you are getting 25% off your shopping bill.

Sue xx 🎄

Weekend Watching - 4

 

I've been a real home-bird this week.  

My back is very sore and although I am trying to keep as active as possible sometimes you just have to give in and vegetate in front of the television.  I've been watching quite a random selection of things, so I thought I'd do another little taster selection for you.  Do let me know if you are finding this boring, but it's nice for me to have a reminder of what I've been watching too.

Stay Warm on A Cozy Day 🍁 | Pumpkin Soup /Cheese Corn Toast/ Tomato Egg Soup | Relaxing Vlog ♡ - YouTube

Sunny's videos are a really calming way to spend five or so minutes, and I love the unusual foods she sometimes prepares ... and Mavis LOVES her rabbit and watches fascinated as it munches it's way through a bowl of lettuce leaves.

Flying to Africa to Rescue our Abandoned Van - YouTube

Eamon and Bec make for happy viewing with their positive outlook on life and all the adventures they get up to, there are no nice pets for Mavis to drool over but lots of happy times and good vegan food thrown together effortlessly by Eamon for me to watch.  

I've watched all their videos right back to them kitting out Trinity and travelling for the first time.  The cabin in Canada renovations were outstanding and they really do seem to work so hard to get themselves to where they want to be.  No wonder they are now heading towards a million subscribers.

Unexpected Guest | John Lewis & Partners | Christmas Ad 2021 - YouTube

This years John Lewis advert, I hadn't seen this on the television so I had to look for it on YouTube.  I don't think it's as good as previous years but it's nice in it's own way.  However ... I much prefer this one  ↓

John Lewis Christmas Advert 2021 ALTERNATIVE - I Wanna Grow Old With You - YouTube

Which is also raising money for charity.

And finally let's get back to some food ...

CREAMIEST VEGAN BUTTER CURRY | OMG! - YouTube

The Happy Pear's Vegan Butter Curry, now I really have to try this one, it looks and sounds delicious ... well apart from the mushrooms but I can substitute something else for them ... it was the idea of the sauce that grabbed me.

I hope you have a lovely weekend and manage to stay warm in the forecasted colder snap we are heading into here in the UK.  Me ... I'm staying cuddled up to a certain little Pug with some good television, copious cups of coffee and maybe a few little treats.  

Sue xx

So ... Which is Your Favourite Blog

Which is your favourite blog … at the moment?

I say at the moment  because if you are anything like me it can change.  It can be dependant on your mood, or the writers mood, on the time of year, on what the writer has been writing or publishing recently about their lives or occupation etc etc

I ask not because I want anyone to say yours, yours, yours ... indeed I do not want you to say that unless it perhaps, by any stretch of the imagination it really, really, really, most definitely is.  

But because after looking through my sidebar yesterday and deleting some very old, and now dormant blogs, deleting some which no longer held that much of an interest to me, and deleting a couple that I don't remember why they had ended up on there in the first place.  I realised that it's been a long time since I have found a blog that I have wanted to read from start to current day. 

You know the way you find a new-to-you  blog on someone else's sidebar, you read a post and scroll back going Older Post, Older Post, Older Post, until you realise that it would be so much better to go right back to the begining and read it like a book in totally chronological order.  You sink into their words, photographs and images ... and totally lose a couple of hours out of your life by accidentally falling into theirs.

It's not happened to me for ages.

I tried to read my old blog Our New Life in the Country from the beginning, but I found myself wanting to edit it ... and you should never edit a life, even if it is your own ... so I stopped before the urge got too strong.

Now I want to find some new blogs to read.

So will you help me?  

All you have to do is to name the favourite blog on your sidebar, or in your 'Blogs I Follow' list or simply from your head, the blog you turn to as soon as you switch on your computer, knowing they will have published something that will resonate, or entertain or just make you relax, hands luxuriously tighter round your mug of coffee, back pressed deeper into your chair.   Just the name of it if you can't manage a link, and perhaps a line or two about why you like it so much

 Just promise me folks that if your bestest blogging buddy in the world doesn't pick your  blog you won't be offended.  We're all in this wonderful blogging world together, the writers, the readers, the Followers and the lurkers ... let's stay friends and simply spread the blogging love.

♥♥♥

To start this off ... and put myself on the line ... I will say that my current favourite blog is Gillian's Tales from a Happy House with it's beautiful, picture heavy tales from her life and her home.  It's like sitting down with a good magazine and losing yourself in images … with just enough words to tell a story. 

♥♥♥


I'll call by and visit and Follow all the blogs that are either yours (the commenters) or the ones recommended by you.

Sue xx

What if All I Want is A Mediocre Life?

What if All I Want is A Mediocre Life? 

A link to a blog post from 2016 that pops up on my Facebook page regularly has this title.  Every time it appears I read through it again.  I can't express enough how much this resonates with me.  I really can't say it any more perfectly than Krista has.

Here is the link to the post

Sue xx