Time Out, Coffee ... and Don't Get Arrested

 

Gosh I'm feeling like a time out at the moment.

Inspiration has temporarily dried up leaving me feeling very strange.  I'm halfway through three books and not that inspired to finish any of them.  I should be planning out next weeks rations but haven't even started yet.  

I have hoovered.  😃

But perhaps I'll just wander off and search for a coffee.

Because ...

Sue xx

Oh WOW!! ... Thank You

 

Oh wow ... really wow!!

Thank you so much for the responses to yesterdays post, I did not expect to receive so many immediate answers to my questions or such detailed ones, but they REALLY helped me and I thank you for taking the time to join in with what turned out to be a bit of a survey.

This morning over the cup of coffee you see me making in the photo above, I sat and read all the responses that came after the first two that I had replied to last night.   The photo was taken for a completely different reason but boy has it come in handy to head up this post.  I am now sitting writing this over a bowl of Weetabix ... a proper multi-tasker. 😄

It seems that we are indeed a community of like-minded people that dip in and out of each others lives, sometimes regularly and sometimes more intermittently, but that's just like real life isn't it, we see some people regularly day-in day-out and there's always that friend that we don't see for months or even years, that once we do get together again it's as though no time has passed at all.

This meme sums it up really well, blogging gives me and fellow bloggers a way of entering into peoples lives all over the world and and we find that borders, languages and ways of life do nothing to stop true genuine friendships developing ... and I will always write about everything that is 'good and true and real'.

Don't worry if you can't get into the new blog that is linked on the sidebar, I am currently tinkering with it's layout and 'pages' and while it is flashing around and changing it will remain private.  Once I start my rationing journey it will ... I have decided after reading all the responses to my questions ... be public and available for all to see and comment on and Follow. 😄

Something that came up in a few comments was the inability to see the sidebar when reading on a phone.  What I do to visit people's sidebars when I'm on my phone is scroll to the bottom of their post or page and click on 'View Web Version'.  This will bring up the same page but as though you were on a computer, hence everything will then be visible.  Hope that helps.

And now it's only fair that I answer my own questions, just so that you can see how I view things in blogland.

So, the questions:

1.  What makes you want to read a post on a blog?

A good title can grab my attention and if you are on my sidebar I tend to read your posts most days.

2.  What makes you decide to click on the Follower button?

I always Follow a blog that I read more than a couple of times if I like the content and want to visit regularly.  I see it as being like the Subscribe button on YouTube, it lets the person creating the content know that you are there and appreciating their efforts.

3.  What stops you from leaving a comment?

If the same answer I would have left has been said over and over, or if I have nothing nice to say.  I hope I would never say something that would upset someone.

4.  Do you prefer a blog that you can't comment on?

I don't 'prefer' it, I don't mind it, but it does surprise me sometimes if people don't want to engage with their readers.

5.  Do you like getting a response to your comment when you leave one?

I always check back to see if there's a reply and sometimes to see if my comment is still actually there.  Blogger is being strange these days, sometimes I have left comments on other peoples posts and they just vanish.  I always check my SPAM folder as comments on my blog that have previously published suddenly revert to there, even my replies to other peoples comments.  It's bloody annoying!!

6.  Does being a Follower and a Commenter on a blog help you to feel part of it's community?

Yes.  It shows me that I have found a blog or blogger that I can relate to.

7.  If you are a fellow blogger how do you see your Follower numbers, Comments and interaction with your readers?

Yes Joy I know HOW to check, but thank you!!  😉

I don't check my Stats very often, just occasionally out of interest and they are always surprising.  The statistics on my old blog Our New Life in the Country for example are amazing, it is still drawing visitors from all over the world and each post has now had millions of unique visits ... I had no idea.

It's nice to see Follower numbers rise as it means I must be doing something right to engage with more people, THANK YOU to everyone that joined our little community yesterday.

It's nice to see Comments under a post as it means people want to have a voice on something I have written, give an opinion, offer advice or something similar.  I think we all want to be heard and it's nice to hear other people too. I know I sometimes get stroppy with an reply to a comment, I try my best to be 'nice Sue' most of the time but occasionally 'what the heck Sue' bursts forth.  Those of you who have read way back (like Linda from 2008 and Lavender's Blue ... ) just get used to my at times unique ways and take no offence, others run for the hills and are never seen again.  And Karen ... hold your head up high and comment whenever you want to.

Interaction with readers is part and parcel of blogging and in my opinion is what keeps me and many other bloggers going, gives us inspiration and at times can even be vital for our well being.  It's a shame I have no click here if you've visited  button.  (I will check to see if there is something similar available.)  I remember the post I did when we lost our little dog Charley and I couldn't bear to hear of other losses or even read comments for a few days and I asked people to leave 'two kisses for Charley', that post had 307 comments and meant so much to me then and now.

So to round all this up before I set off to Mum's for the day, I just want to say once again a massive THANK YOU to each and everyone of you who took the time and answered my questions yesterday, it was a really useful exercise and I'm sure lots of other Bloggers will have read your answers and found them useful too.  I didn't realise how long it would take you all, sorry!  The post is still there if you didn't see it yesterday and would like to take part.

It's brilliant that we have such a wonderful community of like-minded souls to bolster each other up, laugh with and at each other on a regular basis and well, to just be friends.

Thank you. 🎕

Sue xx

The News Isn't the News ...

The news isn't the news any more ... on national television things that should and do actually matter get pushed aside for trivialities.  I don't know who figures out what the headlines should be or the running order of said headlines but they really do need to wake up and smell the roses ... and get things in order of actual perspective.

It's just the same when you fire up your computer, the headlines of the day or week are lost amongst things like 'savvy nan turns overgrown garden into an oasis with a gin corner', celebrities that I have barely heard of  have welcomed a 'new addition to the family' ... but don't get too excited it's an animal to their zoo!!   

I mean who decides!!

My 'news' for the week is sporadic and bitty, but something nice that did happen was this little visit from little Mr Bee.  Buzzing around Wendy the Weed and gathering in the food, and giving me time to pick up my phone and photograph the proceedings.

 It was just a little highlight of my weekend ... but if I phoned it through to the BBC maybe they would run it as the headline for tonight, and put 6% interest rates for mortgages next year down to 10th place.

Other news from the weekend, We had a day out minus the dogs yesterday and had a wander around the big car boot sale in Bilsborough.  I went armed with £10 of change from my little wooden savings box but only managed to spend 70p ... I am obviously way out of practice.  😄

 Twenty pence on the little bowl and 50p on the little oak frame which was empty when I bought it, but I knew one of my little pictures would fit in perfectly.

And it just completes this little area perfectly.

And that folks ... is the news.  😁

Sue xx

Rebelling Against the Adverts

 

I'm quietly rebelling against the adverts at the moment.

The adverts that tell me who I am

What I should wear

The foods I must eat.

The adverts that tell me I have to have this, that and the other

That life would be so much easier if I had the right shoes, dress, shopping crate.

The adverts that tell me I should stop spending money on things 

And start spending money on the memories that only they can proved me with.

I am slowly disengaging from the places where the adverts can find me.  Scrolling past them without letting them catch my eye when I am in places where they lurk, waiting to pounce on the unsuspecting formerly satisfied people.

Who says we have to do, be, want, need certain things ... not me, not you, it must be they!!

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

Nectar Ninja ... I don't think so!!

The other day PP over at Small Treasures shared her magnificent Nectar Ninja facts and figures, it makes for such fascinating reading doesn't it, when your shopping is dissected in this way.

Her post inspired me to go into my app and check out my own, which although equally fascinating are nowhere near as impressive.

Seeing it in black and white (and in many other colours) it does make you rack your brains to think back over what you've bought in the past year.  As you can see I do seem to spread the things I buy out over all the parts of the supermarket.  A little bit from each category.

The highest of which seems to have been cupboard fillers.

I think that may be because I always pick up some packs of pasta, rice and sauces to go into the Foodbank box at the exit.  Some things I don't know about at all because Alan has the same Nectar card number as me and he obviously buys his milk there on occasion .. and perhaps some ready meals too!

Between us we only shopped there 28 times over the course of last year, mainly because in our town Sainsbury's is the smallest supermarket so we tend to get most things at Aldi or Booths and use Sainsbury's for specific items or to pick up things on the way to Mum's as it is on the back road out of town.

The veg to fruit ratio seems fair as I eat way more vegetables than fruit, although I do buy the majority of them from Booths now.

It seems I am the number four purchase of Naturli in Garstang!  

This is actually the main reason that I go to Sainsbury's regularly as it's the only place in town that has been selling it up to now.  It's delicious by the way, the nearest thing to Lurpak that is dairy-free.

And yes, it's my top buy.

Closely followed by bananas and Quorn ham (delicious fried as a 'bacon butty').

Now I find all this fascinating as I had been in retail for most of my working life and loved it.  The push for sales and the financial workings out of operating a shop are in my blood.  But we have to remember that these cards are dangerous little things, the Nectar card, Tesco Clubcard et al are the retailers dream and advertisers main source of information about us, the great shopping public.

The Tesco Clubcard was trialled in two towns in the UK in 1993/94, and I happened to live near one of them ... Barrow in Furness, so I have held a Clubcard since the first day it was launched.  I remember my Dad being so excited to get his when they were rolled out nationally in 1995 and telling me about all the benefits, not realising that I had been using it for so long already.

At first I guess we were all so naïve at what this innocent little piece of plastic was actually up to.  Our shopping habits have now been monitored for years and looking back at the Nectar facts and figures above, this gives us just the tiniest glimpse of what the supermarkets actually know about us. 

They know where we live,  what we eat, how often we purchase things, how well we respond to offers and savings and how much money we spend with them.  From this baseline they can plot and plan what to offer us in the future, what to tempt us with and how to tempt us back if we stray.

It can be quite scary stuff if we think about it too much, so I guess if we have the cards we just have to get the best value we can from them and learn to use them in a way that suits us.  We should try not to be tempted to buy things just because we are offered them at a reduced rate ... unless we really need them at that time of course.  But most of all we should consider if we want our information to be held in banks of computers just so that we can save 40p on a tin of beans.

I'll be spending my Nectar points just as soon as I need to more vegetables.  😄

Sue xx

So, What Did My Gousto Box Teach Me

 

So, what did my Gousto box teach me?

It taught me that I much prefer simply cooked and simple tasting meals, and it taught me that I prefer a little dash of mustard in my cheese sauce, and that I love sticky onions.

Was my £15 spend worth it, oh yes.  

It made me think and it made me want to let go of so many of the bad food habits that I've been slipping into just recently.  Now is the time to head back to simplicity and my new Wartime Rationing Challenge ... and what a perfect and at times tasty way to find out.  So, for £15 it was worth it, would it have been worth the full price of £42 ... NO!!

Our evening meal on Sunday eaten in front of the television watching an episode of McDonald and Dodds was the Classic Plant Based Cheezeburger with Sticky Onions.  It was supposed to be served with a side of chips, but we both decided that would be too much.

Instead, I added the small bag of mixed leaves from the pack to a handful of homegrown leaves and one of my homegrown cucumbers, and a couple of extra cherry tomatoes from the plant outside the back door were added to the tomato trimmings that I had after taking off the 4 slices that I needed for the burger.

It was delicious, and the extra salad and no chips was the perfect amount for us both.  Alan is a real salad fiend and will choose salad over chips every time we are out for a meal.  His is the larger salad on the left ... I get jaw-ache with all that chomping if I eat as much as him. 😄

I had saved one of the recipes that was the quickest to make for us to eat during the Queens funeral yesterday, this was the Plant Based Broccoli Cheeze Pasta.  It was absolutely delicious and in my opinion the star of the four meals.  I managed to make it in just over the quoted 10 minutes, while the Queen's coffin was on the way to Windsor.

We had it with a glass of wine and a toast to Her Majesty.

Wasn't it a brilliant day, and in my opinion the only thing that is spoiling it for me now is the constant nit-picking of mostly American 'journalists' who are just determined to fan the fires of old news and create rifts that are mostly not even there.  Here in the UK, we do this sort of occasion so well and I am honoured that this is the second State Funeral to be held in my lifetime, although of course I have no memory of the first one ... did we even have a television in our small family home then?

The meal I had on Saturday was the Tofu Fish, Chips and Mushy Peas.  

The least said about this one the better.  Alan had said a firm no to this particular meal, so it was just for me.

The chips were fine and luckily, I could have both portions, although cooking them in the required amount of oil and in the oven made my little lodge smell like a Chippy for a full 48 hours afterwards.  The peas were lovely not mushed up, oh how I hate mushy peas of any description, slightly squished maybe but mushed ... never!!

But Tofu Fish I did not enjoy at all, I was brave and used the Marmite in the batter and rather amazingly that was the nicest part of it, but I have never been a tofu fan, and this has cured me of any desire to try to get it into my diet.

The final meal should have been this one, but to be honest I just cannot face all the faffing about with the Aubergine Pickle so I will be simplifying it right back to Coconut Dahl and Rice ... and enjoying it my way.

So, getting the Gousto box for that brilliant price was really worth it for the lessons that I have learned this week, and to really bring it home to me that eating simply IS the way forward for me, whether it be wartime rationing as is the plan or simply eating foods that do not require a multitude of steps to bring forward a flavour.

I guess I am just a simple girl ... and perhaps I had forgotten that.  

Sometimes you need a little reminder.

Sue xx

Autumn, Cold Feet, Cherry Cakes and Plans

Wow, it's September!!  

Time for me to turn over yet another page in my calendar and think about a change to what already feels like a whole new season.  The cooler mornings and evenings of the last week have made me start to think of cardigans and cosy blankets for the sofa.  Already my old patchwork quilt has been draped across the bottom of the bed to keep my feet warmer while the summer-weight duvet is still in the duvet cover.

What's that got to do with the photo at the top I almost here you shouting!

Well as most of you are most likely aware if you've read my blog this week.  I have been considering resurrecting one of my older blogs and taking a trip back in time to the days of rationing.  But a more modern style of rationing, mixing the old with the new and doing it my way.

This little shop-athon after my trip to the hairdressers highlighted to me oh so well just why I need to do this.  I called into Booths for some yoghurt and buns, but because I had time to spare I wandered the shelves and somehow acquired a few more things in my trolley.

You'll never guess how much this teeny tiny shop cost me ... go on guess NOW ... I'll tell you at the bottom of the post!!

Of course, I totally blame the cake 😆

I saw it as soon as I rounded the corner to pick up my buns and immediately thought 'that's something Alan will love', so without even a glance at the price tag into my trolley it went.  Alan loves cherries.

I didn't even spot the price of my shopping at the checkout, I waived my magic card over the card reader, refused the paper receipt as it comes through as an email before I even leave the shop and travelled on my merry way home.

Then I left the shopping for a minute while I sat down to rest my back ... and that's when I checked my emails.  Bloody hell I thought they've over-charged me.  Sadly, a quick check through and some basic maths proved that to be wrong ... £4.50 for a cake!!

I mean, I can't even see the makings of a complete meal there ... unless it was a weird pizza-y type thing with buns, aubergine and cheese draped with tagliatelle and smothered in yoghurt. 😝

I could eat for a week or more on the money I spent on this little lot, I could even eat for a week on the money I spent on the cake!!  It showed me once and for all that I have to nip this stupid extravagance in the bud before it gets to be a habit.  So, some modern-day rationing IS on the cards, when I will start I'm not sure but it will be soon, very soon.

It has to be or I'll be going bankrupt.

Alan loved the cake by the way ... and the shopping came to a total of £25.83, did you get close?

Oh yes, and you all know how much I needed the pasta.   😅

Sue xx

Seasons Change, and So Do We

 

Just recently the world feels as though it is ramping up to something urgent, as though there's something we need to do and something that if we don't do it, will make us slide off into a sea of oblivion.

When what we actually need to do is slow down, take a breath, regroup our thoughts ... and relax.

At the moment it feels as though just at the time that many of us are either short of money, or deciding to be more careful with the money that we have, we are being bombarded with advertisements telling us we have to have this or without this item we would fall apart, or our lives won't be worth living.

I completely understand the large and small businesses need to be selling to us, needing to up their profits year on year just to stay afloat.  Being an ex-shop owner and shop manager myself I know the need to grow your business by at least 10% year on year ... but when does it stop?

It stops for each of us when we decide to ignore the hype, the sales patter and the need to  be 'like everyone else'.  It stops when we are happy in our own skin, happy with our own homes and happy to walk the path that we want to walk.

This final declutter of mine that is ticking over slowly but surely is making me very thoughtful.  

There is less to get rid of this time around.  There is not the keep one get rid of the three spares mentality this time, mostly because there are no spares.  Instead this final time it's more thought provoking, in a strange way it's deeper and more final.  It makes me question why I bought the items, why I thought I needed them and how would my life be better or worse without them.

It's enjoyable in a very strange but satisfying way.

But the more I whittle away at what I have, the more the adverts that are everywhere jar my senses, annoy my head and hurt my heart.  There is talk everywhere of the earth having limited resources and the need for us to change and then there are the adverts that tell us we need this and that. 

It does not compute!

Sue xx

A Very Sobering Thought

 

One Week's Food on Ration Challenge Week - less than £3.50

We went to Booth's for some shopping the other day and decided to treat ourselves to a little bit of lunch.  We were economical and we each chose a 50% off toasted sandwich and Alan picked the last slice of Victoria Sponge which also had 50% off, being cardholders we also got a reduction because we had a coffee and a cake.  

As you can see from the copy of the receipt at the bottom of this post it came to £13.69 ... enough cash to feed a refugee for ONE MONTH.

A very sobering thought!!

I'll be back tomorrow to show you my final preparations for the Ration Challenge ... I'm out today to buy garlic and spring onions the only fresh foods I need to get for the week ... and then I will be posting each day afterwards for the whole of the Ration Challenge Week.  Sharing each days food the day after I eat it, so that I can take photos for you to see my masterpieces or mush ... we'll see which it is. 😄

Sue xx

Copy of my online receipt from Booths Café. 👇

Dear Cardholder, Thank you for shopping at Booths today. Here is your email receipt. We will send you this every time you shop with us. You will be able to see details of your rewards, discounts and keep it as a record of your purchases.

---

Product Code Product Name Qty Total 715007 CAFE CHOC/ORNG T EACH 1 £2.60 710133 CHSE/ONION TOAST EACH  Reduced price 1 £3.95  -£1.97 710125 VEGAN MUSH TOAST EACH  Reduced price 1 £3.95  -£1.97 715329 CAFE VIC SOPNGE 1650G  Reduced price 1 £2.95  -£1.47 715247 CHIPS (TRIAL) EACH 1 £1.50 714015 LARGE AMERICANO EACH 1 £2.75 714002 REG TEAPOT BAG EACH  CARDHOLDER CAKE & HOT DRINK 1 £2.25  -£0.85

Discount CARDHOLDER CAKE & HOT DRINK £0.85 Line Discount £5.41 Total £13.69