When Wheelie Bins Come Knocking

 

The 'plastics and glass' wheelie bin came knocking on the front door at five o'clock this morning.  He had his lid entangled with the blue lidded paper recycling bin and he had somehow managed to mount the door mat and get right up to the front door.  I sorted them out and pushed him back into place then grabbed a glass of water and went back to bed for an hour.

When I got up he was back at the door again, although this time waiting quietly.

I know the weather has been atrocious over the last few days, but you know it's bad when even the wheelie bins want to come inside.  😄😁

My first job today was to turn the pack of Meatless Farms Mince that I bought the other week into shepherdess pie bases.  I call them that in my head although I use this mince/carrot/celery mix for lots of other purposes too.

The shape and portion size that I freeze makes for a good pasty filling, or once thawed out and with peas added a good topping for some pasta, and it's nice to have a little stash in the freezer.

I freeze them like this as if I am making a shepherdess pie I like to have A LOT of mashed potatoes and if I added the potatoes before freezing I just wouldn't be able to get the lid on.  I could quite happily live on mashed potatoes with lots of salt and pepper and slightly too much butter melted in so I pile the buttery mash on and then just cook for 25 or so minutes at 180 degrees.

I'm having an easy day today as we went to visit my son and his girlfriend yesterday and a whole day of sitting in the car and then in their house has really seized me up and made me sore.  But it was well worth it, it was so lovely to see them and their doggies again.

I hope you are all safe from this awful weather.  We have lots of lying water in and around town and while some of the roads need care to travel on and the river and canal have both risen dramatically, we have gotten off relatively unscathed considering the sheer amount of rainfall we have had.  Much better than some people near where my son lives who have been flooded out of their homes and businesses yet again.

Sue xx

Shopping, Bagels and a Frugal Tip

Alan gave me a lift to the opticians yesterday morning, I had to sign an NHS form to allow them to claim for all the emergency tests they did on my eyes last month.  The were brilliant considering I hadn't even been signed up with them yet since we moved into town.  I got a same day emergency appointment and had every test possible run on my eyes and temporary glasses prescribed.  

Anyway I digress, while he was waiting for me Alan picked up a pie for his lunch and a ham hock for his tea from the pie shop a few doors down, and then we both called into Sainsbury's as we have to pass it on the one way system to get home.  Three birds with one stone ... it just had to be done while the rain poured and we were out anyway.

I bought a few things that I had run out of and then I spotted the Meatless Farm Mince, I've not had that since I did This Challenge in June of last year.  I remember it being very good and as it was on offer I decided to buy myself some and make a few meaty dishes,

I was also tempted by my favourite bagels being on special offer and bought a bag.  When we got back I gave one to Alan for his elevenses ... well you have to pay the ferryman and all that 😀😄

I popped one for me into the toaster and while the kettle boiled I sliced the others to pop into the freezer.

Sliced first and then frozen you can then take out as many halves as you want for a snack and you don't run the risk of slicing through your finger while trying to halve a full frozen bagel.  And if you stack them this way they don't stick together while they freeze.

This is one money saving tip I have given a few times over the years, but I was recently asked by a new reader to repeat some frugal tips ...  so here's the first one, I'm happy to oblige.

Well the goods just had to be sampled didn't they, so it was time for a second breakfast 😄

Something to watch over a nice cup of coffee and a bagel, that might help you understand why I don't eat meat.  I love Those Vegan Guys, it must be the accents reminding me of my roots. 💚

Sue xx

Fences, Sheds and Sticky Backed Plastic

 

Yesterday the fencing guys came, and in the space of one day almost completed the fence in the back garden, quite a feat considering that they had to jack-hammer out the concrete blobs that had held the last fence in place.  

Our neighbours have been brilliant in letting us remove one of the fence panels from the old fence during all the works, which enabled us to take everything we needed to the back of the house and remove everything we didn't need via their driveway and back garden.  Having the annexe attached to the house means that we have no access to our back garden from the front ... which is great from a security point of view but a bit of a hindrance when you are completely renovating both a house and a garden.

So to thank them for this we are paying for the new fence at the back and they are just sharing the cost of a matching but lower fence at the front.  Very fortunately, and completely coincidentally they have been away all this week, so when they get back tomorrow all the fencing will be finished.  The guys have been very careful not to disturb any of their garden on the other side ... which is mostly grey stones anyway, but it is nice to see how carefully they peeled back the membrane leaving the stones ready to be raked back into position once that final panel is in.

The old fence panels are not being wasted at all as they are going to form the back and sides of my new tiny shed ... and Dave our handyman has been steadily acquiring used pallets to form the front.  I really wanted it to look rustic after finding this photo online ...

... so hopefully it should look a little bit like this once it is done, minus the side window and the raised front porch.

While all this was going on yesterday and Alan was busy working in the office I spent an hour lining the drawers of my bedside cabinet.  I used the Radio Times to make a template so I didn't risk wasting any of my precious wallpaper.

It turned out quite well, and once the paper was cut to size it was covered in clear sticky back plastic that I had found in the charity shop at just £1.50 for a whole roll, just to give it a little bit of longevity and make it wipeable.

It's the little touches that make a home feel complete isn't it ... even if it isn't quite complete yet!! 😄

Sue xx

The International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste

 

I didn't know that today was the International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste ... gosh what a mouthful ... and I wonder who decides on these days?

Anyway as I am about to head home to Wales for a couple of days, before I had even found out about today's 'title' I had already set too this morning to turn all the bits of food left over in the fridge into things that will keep better until my return, which has turned out to be very in-keeping with todays ethos.

An onion, a bunch of spring onions, some garlic, a sad lonely carrot and about half a lettuce went into the soup make along with some water, a good grind of black pepper and some stock powder.  Thirty minutes later I had over a litre of soup.  I'll have some for lunch and maybe see if I can squeeze some into the freezer ready for my return.

Currently in the oven is this tray of onions, tomatoes and peppers, along with a few cloves of garlic, a dash of oil and some dried herbs.  This, once it's roasted long and slow, will be whizzed into a nice pasta sauce.  Although as there is no room in the freezer it might have to travel with me tomorrow.

While I had the garlic out I decided to break up all the bulbs and put the cloves into a bag to go in the freezer.  It lasts ages in the freezer and the good thing about doing this apart from there being no mouldy old garlic to throw away, is that when you get a clove or two out to use, the skins slip off so easily.

I hate the very thought of food waste and I can honestly say that I rarely waste food ... perhaps just one or two items a year, and even then I kick myself for it.

What would your top tip be for avoiding food waste?

Sue xx

Just Bloody Well Do It

I've been umm-ing and ahh-ing over sorting out my clothes for weeks now.

Do I want this, do I want that.  

Earlier today, with just five minutes to spare before I went out into Llanrwst to go to the Post Office, I opened my half of the wardrobe, took off the hangers everything that last time I wore it was too tight, too baggy, crumpled up too quickly, just didn't feel right etc etc folded them neatly and added to them to the small pile of already sorted clothes.  

I put them all into one of my shopping bags and dropped them at the charity shop on the way past.  I didn't look on the rails for any replacements, I just collected my now emptied bag and went off to post my parcel.

Gosh that felt good.

There's a few empty hangers now and a lot more space, of course I still need to have a proper look at what's left and make sure that I have a good working wardrobe, but just having made some space feels so much better.

Top Tip of the Day

Just Bloody Well Do It

Sue xx

Jammin' on a Monday Morning

Well not really jamming … but marmalading didn't have the same ring to it   😁

I was upset this morning, it was icy cold and everything was frozen solid,  I was out topping up the chickens and wild bird drinkers with warm water when I found a poor little mouse drowned in a bucket of icy water.  I immediately went round checking for more accidents waiting to happen but once I had tipped his little body out of the pot and left it on it's side I couldn't get his icy perfection and sad demise out of my head. 

Luckily last night I had put my sugar packets and marmalade mix tin to warm in my jam pan on top of the Aga, so once the dogs were walked around the white frosty paddock I kept myself busy filling the kitchen with the aroma of cooking lemons and sticky marmalade.

While the marmalade was slowly brought to a boil, and then left bubble away on top of the Aga ...

... the glass jars were sterilising in the bottom oven,

and the lids were in a bath of boiling water in a jug.

Fifteen minutes later I had ten jars of lemon marmalade cooling down on the rack.

After taking the now empty marmalade mix tin out to put into the recycling bin I wrote out enough labels to put onto the jars once they are cold.  Not a bad bit of work for a cold Monday in January.

 I have three more tins of marmalade mix in the cupboard, one more lemon and two orange.  Rather than moving house with the tins of mix, empty jars and bags of sugar I intend combining the three and just moving with filled jars of marmalade.

Top Tip of the Day

Fill your jam pan with hot slightly soapy water and leave to soak while you sit on the computer with a cup of coffee.  Everything washes up so much easier after a soak … and I'm much nicer after a cup of coffee  🙂

Sue xx