The Year of Less - Less Food - From Full to Empty - May

 

 

The Year of Less - Less Food               Haha....who am I kidding!!

 

At the end of yesterdays post I put the words .... I have a confession to make and I shall have to stand up and admit it, well I have to ..... there's evidence I have the pictures :-)

 

This is not one of the pictures, this is my shopping from Monday after I had completed my budget for April on the £2 House Keeping Challenge page, don't worry I went back and confessed all, and worked out the new figures, it makes for a depressing read ...... or does it.

 

It would seem I've issued myself with a REAL challenge!

 

My confession is that although the budget has been tight, somehow with using the housekeeping budget, the coupons and recommendation fees etc I have once again built up the supplies in the freezer to epic proportions (well epic to me).

 

 

 

The £2 House Keeping tin at the start of April ......

 

 

 

... and then again this morning.

 

Ooops!!

 

 

I now have £106 to last me the rest of the year.

That is a weekly budget of £3.21.

 

So I decided as soon as I got home that I better get cracking and make the very best of everything I had just bought.  It all has to last me as long as possible.

 

 

 

I had done pretty well with my shop, it came to £35.81 which was a bit shocking as I went out for 10 bottles of Sparkling Water which would have set me back £1.70, but hey ho, it's done now.  (I did get the bottles by the way although they are not in that top picture, I always drop them straight into the utility room on my way in there's a lot of weight in a bag containing that many bottles of water).

 

As soon as I had unpacked and photographed the shopping (this is getting very habit forming) I set to to divide the bargains into freezable portions.  I had managed to get quite a few yellow stickered items including free range chicken pieces, salmon, cream, mini quiches and two packs of ten good quality sausages reduced from £4.50 a pack to just £2.50 (Lovely Hubbys favourites) so it was a good shop, just one I was not expecting to make.

 

Preparation

 

The sausages were all snipped apart and put onto trays for open freezing (I also kept the trays they came on, brilliant little trays for open freezing small amounts in the future and totally free). 

 

The chicken portions, thighs, breasts and legs, were all individually wrapped. 

 

The bread was opened and the slices loosened so they can be removed one slice at a time for toast etc, and then refastened. 

 

The bagels (reduced to £1 on offer) were all sliced in half so that we can take out exactly the number of slices we want at a time and pop them straight into the toaster on it's frozen bread setting, so much better than trying to slice through a frozen bagel and potentially losing a finger!!

 

 

 

It was when I came to put it all in the freezer that I realised just HOW MUCH FOOD WE HAD!

 

I was shocked, I suppose I should also be pleased with myself in that I have managed to build up these supplies whilst shopping on such a tight budget, but still!!

 

It's the actually going to the supermarket that tempts me into spending more than I should, so I need to stop going.  I read a brilliant quote yesterday on a Blog that I have just read from start right up to date over the last couple of days, read it for yourself it's called One Pound Per Day.   If you click on the 'Table of Contents' heading you can go right back to the beginning of his challenge, it makes for inspiring reading.  He's currently doing the  Live Below the Line challenge, which is how I found him, his original challenge was done last year for himself.  Anyway his quote was ...

 

‘The main product that supermarkets sell you is not food. It’s convenience.’

 

This is so true. 

 

Shopping for ready made items whether it be whole ready meals, bread, yogurt or even sausages is food bought in convenient form, just ready for us to cook, and it made me think even more of all the foods I have in stock and that I was still buying, even though it was much more occasionally.  Why for instance had I bought bread, I have enough flour and yeast in stock to make enough loaves for the entire year.  Yes it is my favourite bread and is sliced, but surely I can experiment and add seeds and things to my loaves and fish out my electric slicer and slice up a loaf to pop in the freezer in just the same way and for much less money.

 

And that was it, my inspiration for the next few months.  If I am able to I want to pull this paltry weekly average of just £3.21 up by NOT buying any foods for as long as possible.  I have even cancelled the milk from the milk man, we have some in the freezer that will last us for about two weeks or so and then it will come out of my normal shopping money, it's so much cheaper at the supermarket, unfortunately.

 

The New Rules of the Challenge

 

To use up as much food from our stock as possible before buying anything else.

 

Not to shop (even visit the shops) unless absolutely necessary.

 

Everything is to come out of the budget except pet foods.

 

Photograph the freezers and cupboards regularly and post photos on specific Blog page.

(I'm not sure whether this should be weekly or monthly what do you think?)

 

Make another stocktake list of all the foods in the freezers and keep it updated this time.

 

To menu plan where possible.

 

To look to myself for inspiration.

 

*** *** ***

 

 

I did start to photograph the foods in stock yesterday ......

 

..... and confused poor Suky completely. A Pug looks confused/worried/puzzled etc so easily!

 

You can almost read her mind "What is Mum up to now!!"

 

I will finish off today photographing every bit of food in the house and then the Challenge starts in earnest.  Just how much of that £106 will I have left by the end of this month?

 

Sue xx

 

 

 

Half a Slice of Steak =

 

Half a slice of steak doesn't make much - does it?

 

 

Well if you think how you can pad it out it can go a long, long way.

 

Lovely Hubby had steak on Monday night for his tea, he does like his meat that man of mine.  When I opened the pack there were two slices of steak, a really good man sized portion, but as I had cooked lots of lovely vegetables and tasty gravy there was really no need to use all of the steak for one meal so I surreptitiously cut one of the slices in half, once cooled it was popped into the fridge ready for the next day, when I had more time to turn it into something else.

 

 

 

Added to an onion, a couple of sliced carrots from the freezer and a good portion of Bist* it looked a lot more like a filling meal, indeed at this stage I could have added a couple of potatoes and it would have been a lovely stew, but that would only have given me one or two meals at the most out of my half slice of steak and I wanted more, much more.

 

 

Thawing out a pack of the pastry that has lurked in the freezer for I don't know how long and I was in action, I quickly made up three Steak and Veg pies and two Cheese and Onion pies for me (I don't eat meat), and still there was more filling for both type of pies.

 

We had pies and veggies for tea on Tuesday night (I had one, LH was very hungry and had two) with some more Bist* poured over (Bist* gravy although tasting very 'beefy' is in fact vegetarian!).  So that left two pies to be popped into the freezer for another nights tea.

 

And still there was more pie filling over for both types, so I got another pack of pastry out of the freezer to thaw out overnight.

 

 

 

Yesterday I made up yet another batch of pies, three each of Steak and Veg and Cheese and Onion.  So that's four pies of each kind now nestling in the freezer.  As I was baking a loaf of bread these were cooked at the same time so will only require reheating when we fancy them for a meal.

 

So out of two slices of steak that I got on offer (yellow sticker) for £3.40 I managed to get a total of six meals, LH will only be getting one pie each time and more veggies for the next meals, he did admit to being very full after eating two!!

 

In the past I have also done this with sausages when there have only been two left, making a pie with chopped up sausages and beans instead of steak and veg, you could also make good use of a solitary burger or a single pork chop.  It's amazing how far you can make a small amount of food go if you wrap it in pastry.

 

 

I also ended up with some pastry over so I made two more pie bottoms and tops and popped them back in the freezer, naughty I know it does tell you not to refreeze once defrosted but I have successfully done this before and it tasted just as good once cooked.

 

*** *** ***

 

Some of you asked questions about the last post (see HERE), mostly to do with how I freeze my potatoes and veggies.

 

Well it's quite simple I just pop them in the freezer!!  When I first started out on this self sufficient lifestyle I used to religiously blanch every vegetable for the required time, cooling them quickly and then getting them as dry as possible before open freezing them and then bagging them up.  Then I did a little experiment one day when I was feeling very busy lazy, and I simply popped them straight into tubs and into the freezer.  I did remember to give them all a little shake after an hour or so, so that they wouldn't stick together in one huge mass.  And guess what - IT WORKED.  There was very little difference in the properly prepared veggies and the simple 'bung them in the freezer' option veggies.

 

So now usually I go down the simple route.  If I have my own veggies or nice fresh shop bought veggies I will have one prep session, rather than starting from scratch for every meal.  So for instance a bag of potatoes will be used on the first night I have them for whatever meal I have planned  and then the rest will be divided up into groups.  Some will go in the freezer in Stew Packs like in yesterdays post, some will be cut into wedges (with the skin left on), some will be sliced thinly to use as a layer on a pie etc and a couple of the biggest ones will be put back in the cupboard to be used as jacket potatoes.  Of course if I am doing jacket potatoes (or baked potatoes as some call them) I usually do a couple extra and then these are popped into the freezer as 'filled jackets' (simply scrape out the potato with a spoon mix it with some cheese and a bit of onion and a dash of Worcestershire sauce then pile it back into the potato skin and open freeze until frozen solid then double wrap and keep them in the freezer ready for a quick supper).

 

You can do the same with lots of veggies, carrots, cabbage etc, why leave things lurking in the cupboard or fridge waiting to be used and leeching out their vitamins and nutrients as they age, when you can snap into action and freeze them at their freshest.  You don't have to grow your own to eat the freshest food, just buy the best you can find and use them all up straight away.  It's a good way to make use of any bargains you might get especially the 'Buy One Get One Free' that so often happens on fruits and veggies when supermarkets have vast quantities to get rid of in a rush.  Doing this can even work out cheaper than buying pre-prepared frozen veggies.

 

I have a big chest freezer with a fast freeze option so if you have a different style of freezer or have never done this before I would recommend just trying it with a couple of portions to see if it works for you with your freezer.  But I can honestly say I have never had a failure (yet!!).

 

Thank you for all the lovely meal ideas for the Stew Mixes, there are a couple that I really fancy, but I am going to let Lovely Hubby choose his favourite and as my next post will be my 1000th I will let you know which he chooses and how it tasted with the recipe I used.  The commenter that gave us the idea will be getting a little gift to say thank you. So I will be asking for the address of the sender at the end of that post.

 

We are now going away for a couple of days, calling in on family in Preston, Peebles and Manchester over the course of a long weekend and also having a day at the Country Living Fair in Glasgow on Saturday as our Christmas treat to ourselves, so I will be back next week with that 1000th post.  To those of you who have read from the start (or the few of you that have just read it all from the start up to the present day) WELL DONE, I do appreciate you all being there and reading the wild and wacky ramblings of this townie turned country girl.

 

To those burglars out there who are reading this the house will not be empty!!  We are leaving it in very capable two legged and four legged hands.....if you know what I mean....lol!!

 

Sue xx

One Saving and Three Treats

We are starting to scrape the bottom of the fresh foods 'barrel' now and I'm using up whatever I find lurking in the salad drawers of the fridge.  On Friday morning some of the tiredest carrots, the limp centre of the oldest bunch of celery along with a couple of onions and a whole bag of 'Country Vegetable Mixture' (25p from Approved Foods) along with some tomato puree, the last of the Veggie Stock Pots and a couple of pints of water all went into my large stock pot and made us a wonderful pot of Vegetable Soup.  I worked out, rounding figures up in every case, that it cost me just one pound to make.  So that's ten good portions of lovely homemade vegetable soup for just 10p each.  A bargain .... we have eaten two portions each and there are three more two portion packs in the freezer (and yes, I remembered to add it to my freezer inventory).

So that was a 'saving', lovely soup for pennies a portion and this photo shows my only shopping for last week including a couple of 'treats'. 

I bought plain flour, because I had run out completely, a single yogurt to act as a starter for some homemade yogurt tomorrow, two packs of biscuits for just £2.50 to take with us when we went up the motorway to Manchester on Saturday, the first treat (you can pay that per biscuit at Costa Coffee).  So it works out much cheaper than buying biscuits or cakes to go with our Lattes when we stop for a break, yes, before you jump in, we do buy Lattes sometimes when we are travelling, we both absolutely love them and no matter how frugal we get in some areas, a treat of just what you fancy does you the world of good now and then.  Something we both agree on.

The second 'treat' was some ready made Quiche bases, I know I could have made them sooooo much cheaper, especially using the flour I'd bought, but we like to have a ready meal lurking in the cupboard for emergencies and if I have a little stack of these tucked in the cupboard I can take a couple of our own hens eggs and a handful of cheese or leftovers and we have a healthy meal in around 30 minutes anytime we don't feel like really cooking.  As they cost just 65p each I can make up a quiche for around a pound, which gives us three portions, one each for an evening meal and then usually one for Lovely Hubby to take to work the next day for his lunch.  So although I see it as a bit of an extravagance in reality it is still a real money saver, especially if you look at the cost of a fully made bought quiche, which would not have the same quality ingredients that one of our homemade ones has.



The final treat was the Christmas edition of the Sainsb**ys Magazine.  Bought because traditionally I always used to buy lots of Christmas magazines, but last year I decided to knock this little extravagance on the head and now I just buy one.  This one came with a free Calender, so already a saving as we use two calenders in the kitchen, one on the wall for reminders of general things (bins, cat and dog flea treatments, appointments etc) and one for dating our egg boxes each day which lives with the boxes and stickers ready for use.  (We will get our other calender free as well hopefully, as we usually get given one at the Farm Supply shop when we pick up chicken food in December.)

This magazine turned out to be excellent value as lurking inside were a sample pack of Bisto and also a sachet of Baking Powder.  There was also a 50p coupon off something, I forget what it was, as it was something we do like, but not something we needed, so I threw it away before temptation took over!!

So my total spend for last week including all these extravagances was -

Plain Flour - 52p

5 Quiche Bases @ 65p = £3.25

Yogurt - 58p

2 Tubs Biscuits/Flapjacks - £2.50

Magazine - £1.60

Total Spend - £8.45

and 4 Lattes at services (2 journeys x 2 of us) - £11.96

Grand Total of Spending for the Week = £ 20.41

It just goes to show that it's the treats that add up to the big spends!  Good job we don't do it every week, but then if we did it wouldn't be a treat!!

Now I'm off to make up the meal plan for this week, I think I'll do it sat at the kitchen table as the kitchen is a lovely toasty, aromatic place at the moment as there is a tray of Chocolate Muffins cooking alongside the Mediterranean Veggies for tea and you can't beat a warm kitchen complete with yummy cooking smells on a cold November evening.

What do you see as extravagances but enjoy having anyway?

Sue xx

Freezer Stocktake

I had just started to do the usual weekly menu plan on Monday, when I realised that rummaging about in the freezers to see what we had was making my poor little hands freezing cold AND more importantly letting all the nice cold air out of said freezers.  So I hatched a plan.

 

 

Or rather I made a plan!!

 

 

 

It was of course a lot rougher than this until I sat down at the computer yesterday and neatly typed it all out.  Now whenever I am making up my weekly menu or even thinking about what else we might want to eat I have it all there in black and white. 

 

Well green, black and white  ....but you know what I mean.

 

 



 

And of course a good side of this was that now all the freezers are nice and neat and everything is well organised, so when I do go in there for the food for each evening meal I should be able to find exactly what I want within seconds and then close the door again.

 

 

But, of course I must remember to cross things off my list as we use them or we will be very disappointed when I next make up a menu!

 

 



 

What shocked me the most was the sheer amount of food that we have in stock and it has made me resolve to eat our way through all this food before we do anymore shopping. 

 

It is a good job we have all this though as we have seriously gone into 'saving mode' now, and the plan this month is to pay off our credit cards.  We usually do this in full every month but last month our spend was pretty high due to unexpected bills and we only paid off half of one of them so the other half, added to some spending after we paid the bill means that this one is pretty high again and we are simply biting the bullet and paying off the lot, which will take away most of my housekeeping money.

 

You may ask why we have credit cards when we are living simply and frugally, well it's simple the cards we have M&S and T*sco give you points for every purchase in every shop, and when we buy petrol.   They reward you with vouchers every quarter that you can use for shopping or double up for treats, so we tend to put everything on the cards and pay them off each month so we have lots of voucher pounds at the end of each quarter.

 

Well for the next six weeks it's going to be cash all the way, as I want to watch every penny.  I have to sit down and work out how much cash I will actually have, but I know now there's not a lot!!

 

Still it will get me practising for next year and my £2 Challenge.

 

Sue xx

Getting back in the Swing and The Plan

 

Waitrose - Total Spend £15.97

 

 

Now the holiday is over and it's time to get back in the swing.  I spent all my saved spends last week and a little bit more besides, but I had a great time and it was worth it.  Now I am back to my Frugal October but there was some things that I just had to buy. 

 

Lovely Hubby forgot to water my herbs while I was away so an emergency restock was in order.  Once you get used to cooking with lots of herbs you just can't go back to not using them, although all the outdoor ones are fine my selection on kitchen window sill herbs had died a very sad death.  They have all been trimmed right back to soil level and there are already signs of regrowth so all is not lost and I can make do with just some Basil and Parsley until they are usable again.

 

 

 

In town - Total Spend - £7.57

 

Housekeeping left - £ 26.46

 

 

Although I nipped to Waitrose for the shopping I did call to town for a new washing line, the days may be cooler and shorter but I still like to make full use of outdoor drying whenever I can and although I already have a line between the trees near the house, now the sun has shifted in the sky it does not get the sun for very long, so LH has said I can stretch a line from his Man Shed to the climbing frame where the sun shines for much more of the day.  It will be great for drying those big items, sheets etc, that can be stretched out to get the full benefit of the suns weaker rays and even the slightest breeze.

 

While I was there habit lured me into the charity shop and I'm glad I called, I got this brilliant recipe book for just 99p and a lovely pudding bowl for £1.99.  I see lots of frugal winter puds coming up.  I love reading about the way rationing made people really work magic in the kitchen.  I did it myself for real for years and it stands you in good stead for feeding your family in the future on a limited income whenever you need to.

 

And I need to because of The Plan - I'm on a mission to save every penny possible over the next two years, now there's a challenge and a half!! 

 

 We have made the big decision that we will move back 'up North' rather than buying in this area. We will get so much more for our money there, at the moment we live in one of the most expensive areas of the country.  Currently we rent a 1930's two bed bungalow that is believe it or not (with it's 4 acres of land) valued on the open market at almost £800,000, there's no way on this planet that we could ever afford to buy anything even remotely similar if we stay in this area.  Even better we will be closer to our roots and much nearer to all our family.  It does mean that we have to get as much money together while we can, while we live here.  LH's job is really based here and it's here that we can milk the 'cash-cow' for all it's worth and hopefully save enough to almost buy a place for cash.  Any shortfall will have to be made up by LH continuing to work down here and commuting back to our new place for weekends, so my challenge to save every penny matters........really matters, we don't want to be apart for too long.

 

 

 

So I've already started earning pennies and pounds where I can, and yesterday I listed my first 10 items for sale, books on Amazon and other things on Ebay, and good news, one book has already sold, so I'm just off to package it up and get it ready for posting.  Although I will hang on until I have to go into town for something else, saving petrol matters too.

 

 

I'll try and get a link in the sidebar to my Amazon and Ebay pages so you can see what I sell.  After that I'll be looking out ten more things ready for listing next week.  I'm doing the listing every Tuesday so that the 5 day auction ends on a Sunday evening, I've been told by a very good authority (thanks Froogs) that this is the way to maximise earnings.

 

 

Sue xx

The Last of the Toms and Batch Cooking

 

 

Here they are in order of size, the very last homegrown tomatoes of Summer.  I've had a poor tomato year this year, as have many folk.  The weather, combined with me trying to get used to a draughty greenhouse has scuppered my plans on filling the cupboards with jars and jars of tomatoey goodness.  The few we have managed to get have been added to various dishes as and when we've cooked them to enjoy them at their best.

 

 



 

I had a bit of a batch cooking session on Sunday while Lovely Hubby was 'playing' with the computer.  I had some packs of mince in the freezer that had been there for well over a year so I decided to turn them into something for tea and a few future meals.

 

 

 

I always think it's as easy to cook in bulk as it is to make each and every meal when you need it.  The Mince and veggie Quorn Mince was cooked with onions, tomatoes and all the odds and end of veggies that were lurking in the fridge and freezer, with lots of tomato puree and some garlic puree for good measure, Worcestershire sauce and sprinkles of this and that the kitchen was soon smelling very good.

 

Needless to say the portions destined for tea were eaten at lunchtime instead, just popped into the oven for the tops to brown before we tucked in.

 

 

 

The rest were left to go cold, one portion with a potato topping and a sprinkle of cheese for LH to tuck into while I am on holiday with my Mum in a couple of weeks and the others left with just mince, so we can decide on a topping when we thaw them out.

 

It's always satisfying to get a few homemade 'ready meals' tucked into the freezer ready for those nights when inspiration is thin on the ground or there simply is no time to cook from scratch.

 

Sue xx



Spending to Save

Sometimes it's worth spending a bit of money to save in the long term. 

When refuelling the truck last week Lovely Hubby got a coupon from Mr Sainsb**ys that was for £8 off a £40 shop.  Now at first I thought 'we don't need anything', so I simply tucked it into my purse (I never throw coupons away until their date is up).  Then as we ran out of shower gel on Saturday morning I decided to go and see if there were any brands on special offer and to have a look at what other bargains of things that we actually needed were there.

It's a good job I did, although I had decided not to spend for August I reasoned that this was an opportunity to stock us up on things that would save me money for the next few months.

So now my little stash is bigger, although I did spend £47 pounds of my housekeeping money in the process, (I also got some fresh fruit and veg while I was there).

I've decided that once my 'No Spend' August is out of the way I am going to start 'shopping from home', that is stockpiling bargains whether it be food or household essentials when they are really cheap and then instead of shopping at the shops whenever we need something, shop the stockpile instead.

It will mean a gradual outlay each week for certain things, but then we should manage to save even more money.  And as our new veggies will all be ready for picking at a similar time I will also be able to fill the freezer up and have all our own veggies for Winter already tucked in the deep freeze.

We are very lucky in this little bungalow that the spare room has a HUGE bank of fitted shelves, not pretty to look at but extremely useful for storage.  This is going to gradually become my 'home shopping' area.  For now while I am just beginning this idea it is possible to hide the stash behind pretty baskets of things,  and no-one would ever know that this is Sue's Shop but soon I may be mistaken for a mini mart!!

Do you stockpile ....  and if so what?

Sue xx

End of the January No (Low) Spend Challenge

Last month I decided to join in with Carla's January No (Low) Spend Challenge.  I would have loved it to be a 'No Spend' but I need milk in my coffee and I only like fresh milk, so that's a guaranteed spend every week.  I have £50 housekeeping a week to cover the costs of everything for two of us, while my How Low Can You Go challenge is on I'm trying not to spend too much of this, and obviously any money over can go into my other Challenge £2012 in 2012.  Lots of Challenges to keep me very busy!!

So, how did I actually do in January?

1st week - 3 No Spend days - spent £68.91

 (due to us eating out for LH's birthday, deficit carried forward)

2nd week - 5 No Spend days - spent £13.60

3rd week - 4 No Spend days - spent £32.53

4th week - 4 No Spend days - spent £39.79

So that's 16 days out of a possible 31, halfway there, not bad in my humble opinion for someone who's used to just grabbing her purse and dashing to the shops whenever she's ran out of something.

So, out of a housekeeping budget of £50 a week (that's for everything food, toiletries, meals out etc) I have managed to be sitting pretty at the end of the month with a grand total of £45.17 left.  So that's an average weekly spend of £38.70.

Out of my Personal Allowance of £20 per week I have managed to save £22.12, not bad considering I had my hair cut and bought a couple of little pressies.

So all this leftover money will be added to my other challenge 'The £2012 in 2012 Challenge' with any taking from sales and Blog income this month.  A total for that will follow when my Ebay sales are all paid for and I know I have the cash in my account.

My Challenge for February is again with Carla and I'm doing another Low Spend Challenge.   This month she's doing a Double Challenge Month with a No (Low) Spend Challenge and a Decluttering Challenge, but as most of my belongings are now packed away ready for the move there's not much I can do there.  What I am doing once we've settled in and unpacked, is ruthlessly streamlining all our possessions.  Seeing how little we are getting by with using whilst our stuff is packed away is pretty liberating and I intend to go on enjoying this way of living.

I'm hoping to do one more Blog post tomorrow morning, but then our Internet connection at this farm is being terminated, ready for the switch on at our new place, exciting stuff !  I'll miss you all briefly but I intend getting back into action just as soon as possible.  While we are apart I will be taking lots of photos of the new place, general ones and plenty of  'before' and 'afters' for you to have a look at.   One of the best things about Blogging is the ability to chronicle your life in such great detail and be able to go back and read through your successes and failures.

Remember this post anyone?

Sue xx

Taking down and packing away.....

We spent yesterday taking down the Christmas decorations, helped by Suky the Pug, cleaning up the living room, and then we went on to finish packing up the books.  We dug up one of the Apple Trees and put it into a very large pot ready for the move, we're taking the heavy work steadily and slowly as Lovely Hubby has a bad back again.  The plant pot and trays etc in the polytunnel were all wiped down and neatly boxed up. It's looking very bare in there, but there are still spring onions, celery and radishes growing away.

It's hard work all this packing away.....a nap was needed half way through for some of us.

The tree was snipped down branch by branch and put on the fire last night, the house smelt gorgeous with the fresh aroma of pine, better than any artifical room freshener.

Now the shelves are starting to look bare.....

... and the stacks of boxes are starting to get tall.

  First thing this morning we had to take Suky to the vet for her second vaccination, on the way back we stopped at Warborough Village Stores for some milk and some Caster and Icing sugar, it's Lovely Hubby's birthday on Monday and it's traditional for the birthday person to take in cakes for everyone. Now this used to involve a trip to the supermarket and the purchasing of many boxes of Mr Kipling delicacies, but this year we're making four dozen Butterfly Cakes on Sunday ready for him to take in on Monday morning, nice home baking, thrifty, yummy and NOT involving a trip to the supermarket.

So although today is not a No Spend day it is a Low Spend Day

Today we have gale force winds, so we are confining our work to inside the house, after finishing this post I'm off upstairs to help LH take apart the large wardrobe in the spareroom that used to hold all my crafting goodies,. it's the only way we'll be able to get it out of the house!

Sue xx