Growing in the Fens

I spend money when I'm....

2012-02-13T21:53:00.002Z

I spend money more when I am angry! I feel hard done by tonight, as I wanted to watch the BBC programme about the Queen which Andrew Marr has made. It is a three part programme and this is week 2.

I missed it last week as the FH was watching a programme about soldiers in Afghanistan, which the girls didn't want to watch, so they were in my bed watching something else on that tv. Exactly the same scenario has developed tonight.

The options which would enable me to watch that programme about the Queen would all cost me money. I could install BTVision, so I could record it; I could upgrade my internet package so that I could watch it on iPlayer without exceeding my monthly limit; I could buy it on DVD; I could buy another TV!!

I am cross that I feel like my choices are the least important, and that makes me feel like spending money to make me feel more important. BUT I won't, because although that would help me win the battle, I wouldn't win the war. The war is on spending unnecessarily, and all of those options are unnecessary, so instead, I need to work on my feelings. Easier said than done.

Away days

2012-02-12T21:37:00.003Z

The storage cupboards were looking very depleted after the challenge in January, so I have been doing some re-stocking this week.

A delivery arrived on Thursday from the lovely people at www.rosspa.co.uk which was excellent - including three huge Savoy cabbages for a pound! All that has had to be found a home, as well as the things I bought from Sainsbury's.

There has been a lot of gym going on (Tues, Wed, Fri & Sat), some school meetings, a lot of taxi-ing children around, and some cooking. Some, not a lot!

This week is half-term and the children are off all week. We have a day out planned on Tuesday when we will probably go to see my dad, and maybe pop to the cinema as well as he lives within shouting distance of our local Cineworld. We haven't planned much because of the interesting weather we are having here at the moment.

My lovely Fabia is ill. The windscreen wipers died overnight; they were working fine yesterday but this morning they are as dead as the proverbial Dodo. Cue a trip to the garage tomorrow because we have done all we can to sort it, which amounts to checking the fuse! Fuse is fine so it is beyond us.

Mount Washmore is piled up on the landing. Three loads have been done tonight, and two are decorating the airers near the fire, but the third will have to wait for morning and hope for sunshine so I can hang it out in the verandah. More will have to be done tomorrow.

I read on someone's Facebook status yesterday that it is just six weeks until we change the clocks - I can't wait!!

I've been tagged!

2012-02-12T21:18:00.004Z

Dreamer has tagged me on her blog and now I have to answer some questions! Apparently I have to tag more people and post a set of questions of my own for them. One set at a time, so I'll start with the questions I have been asked:

How many siblings do you have and what was your position in the family? For my mum, I was the elder daughter, and for my dad, I am the middle daughter. In my family, I have the position of the elder daughter. I'm not taking the lid off that particular can of worms.
Do you still keep in touch with your best friend from school days? Yes, I do. I met her when I was 9, so this September marks 30 years of friendship. We kept in touch through attending different secondary schools, being together very intensively for 2 years whilst we did A levels at the same school, and then going to universities at opposite ends of the UK. Now she has a boy and a girl, and lives about 20 miles away. We talk on the phone every couple of months, but she needs me a lot less now than she did back then, and the pattern of our relationship has changed, although I love her no less.
Girly shoes or walking boots? Walking boots every day.
What would you choose for a last meal? Chicken and bacon casserole with root veg and mash followed by self saucing chocolate pudding. No question.
If you could go back in time which era would you like to have been born in? I would have liked to have known my great grandfather, and to have known my grandmother when she was a younger woman, so the early part of the last century - the 1910s to the 1930s.
What is the one possession you would think about running back into a burning building for? You know, I don't think I would. I hold my memories in my head, and everyTHING else is replaceable one way or another. I'd be in there like a shot for my family though, if they were stuck.
What is your favourite colour to wear? Royal blue and navy blue
What is your favourite colour to decorate with? Pink and green
Do you like to grow flowers or vegetables in your garden? Vegetables - you can't eat flowers. BUT I was harangued for not having flowers for the bees so I planted a lavender hedge about 5 years ago and now it is in desperate need of a drastic trim!
Are you a cat or a dog person? I would be a dog person if I got the chance.
Who would you like to be stuck in a lift with? I don't do lifts if I can help it all, and I definitely wouldn't like to be stuck with anyone in particular!

I'm not sure what Blogger is up to with those colours changing from blue to black, but those questions are actually quite challenging!

I shall consider my own questions and post those this week, and tag some of my favourite blogs too. It's all good fun!!

Dads are special

2012-02-06T22:12:00.002Z

(image from www.onewed.com)

I've been having a chat with my dad tonight. He almost made me cry telling me how proud he is of me for what I am doing in the church these days, and how he thinks of his grandfather and believes that he would be pleased to see his great granddaughter follow in his footsteps.

I don't think I have ever really fallen out with my dad. There haven't been any long silences between us, no real periods of discord. It is a very different and more placid relationship than that which I had with my mother - that was definitely more volatile, but no less loving.

Dad is a peacemaker, like me, and forgiving, like me! We want everyone to get on. He was in his forties when I was born and he wasn't a particularly hands-on Dad, but he has developed a different and perhaps stronger relationship with me as an adult daughter, and one which I cherish. Not having Mum around for the last 14 years has been hard on all of us, and I think that a lot of things would have been different if she had still been alive, but we have a positive outlook on life, and those of us who choose to spend time together enjoy doing so.

Dad is also building strong relationships with his granddaughters. I see that he is also immensely proud of them, of the young ladies that they are becoming and the achievements they are making all the time. He is impressed with the EFG's grasp of technology, and he is amazed at the YFG and her gymnastic ability - no one in the family has done gym before!

Diamond Queen

2012-02-06T08:14:00.001Z

(Photograph from telegraph.co.uk)

Today is the actual day, 60 years on, which marks the Accession of HM Queen Elizabeth II to the throne.

Whether you are a royalist or not, I don't think you can doubt this lady's devotion to her duty and to her countries. Her popularity has waxed and waned over the years, but I think that people will turn out to support her in this Jubilee Year.

I remember her Silver Jubilee back in 1977 when I was just 5. She came to Cambridge to open Wolfson College and the whole school trekked across Cambridge to "see" her - I got a glimpse of a shiny car and that was that!! We did spend time making Jubilee scrapbooks that term, and we all had an emblem of something royal on the front - a crown, a state coach, etc - as a silhouette.

We are going to be on holiday in June when all the official celebrations in London take off, and I don't know whether anything is planned here in the village, but we will be in Bridlington, so we'll have to see what is going on up there instead.

Struggling through the snow

2012-02-05T17:27:00.003Z

When I woke up this morning and peeped through the curtains, I saw the blanket of snow covering the ground and thought how beautiful it was. It was pristine, with just one set of tyre tracks on the road where someone had left the estate earlier. The tracks we made coming home last night had been long covered up.

The YFG came downstairs when she heard me about, and her first question was about the snow, "Is it still there?" as she had been too afraid to look out herself in case it had all disappeared in the night - that would have been a tremendous disappointment to her!

Since I really don't like to drive in the snow, and we have got 4 or 5 inches here, she and I decided that we would walk to church this morning. The FH thought we were mad and declined to join us, but it felt wrong to stay at home when I knew that the preacher was going to come out from Wesley House in Cambridge. If he could make it through the snow all that way, I was jolly sure I was going to make it a mile up the road even on foot. We managed, and it took about 25 minutes as it was quite hard going through the deep snow. We had a good service and it was worth going. A gentleman with a 4x4 kindly gave us a lift home to the top of the road so that was easier coming home.

I cooked toad in the hole for lunch and then promptly fell asleep for about 90 minutes! Later on, the YFG and I cleared the snow from the front pathway and around my car in case I need to go anywhere tomorrow - although I really hope I don't!! The EFG has been out with a friend on the green, snowballing one another, and the YFG is out now at a friend's house, making a snowman. It is dark now though, so I hope she'll be home soon.

An excellent evening on the tv tonight with Countryfile, Call the Midwife and Wild at Heart, just perfect to accompany a heap of ironing. Keep warm and I'll pop back tomorrow.

Snow is falling - again

2012-02-04T22:39:00.002Z

Apparently I have already called a post, "Snow is falling" so I have added the "again" this time. We have been out to church to a family concert in which the FGs took part with some other girls from the congregation. As we left the house at 6pm, snow flakes were just visible in the light from the streetlamps. When we came out of the church at 9.30pm, there were several inches of snow on the ground!! I had to drive home and so we crept along at a very sedate 20mph - very good job we weren't going very far...It was a lovely evening, and now we are all round the fire, getting warm before we head off to bed.

It is still snowing.

Weather

2012-02-03T07:46:00.002Z

I am loving this cold, crisp, sunny weather which we are enjoying at the moment: the sun is heating the verandah beautifully and so the washing is getting dry, the freezing cold is solidifying the mud and so the chickens are better off, and the sun is shining! That makes everything better.

But there is snow on the way....not sure about that! Apparently, there might be 5 to 10 cm of snow overnight on Saturday. I am not quite as keen on snow!

What is the weather like where you live? Are you coping with the big fffffrreeeeze?

End of the month

2012-01-31T23:01:00.002Z

We made it to the end of the month - hooray! I will have a proper round up of the finances tomorrow when I have had a look through them. I am very pleased (and the FH is extremely chuffed) that we have bought the car and are financially no worse off really, which is a major achievement for us.

The car is a pleasure to drive, goes really well, and I hope it will prove to be economical to run - the tax disc is cheaper, to start with, and the diesel should outperform petrol in the miles per gallon stakes.

The storecupboards are looking bare, though, and I will have to re-stock them over the next week or so - it is typical of me that I had those cupboards groaning before Christmas, absolutely full of food to get us through a tough winter, I believed, when the snow would lay thick on the ground and I would not have to traipse to the shops! The winter has been really mild, the stores have been depleted - and guess what? Those really cold days, with the chance of snow? They are coming this week!!

I am still trying to use stuff up, but the staples like rice, pasta, UHT milk, jam, etc are running out, and so the shopping list will have to go up on the board, and the trip to the shops made. But which shop? I'm not sure that I want to darken the door of Tesco again, but do I cut off my nose to spite my face, so to speak, by not taking advantage of the offers they have? Perhaps I should travel a few more miles and support Morrisons and check out their new M range...don't know yet. Will think about this one more - what do you think?

Hope you are all OK and warm in this chilly weather - we have the fire alight and it is warm and cosy in the sitting room. About to go and dive into a hot-water-bottle-warmed bed now.

The rules don't change

2012-01-30T07:44:00.003Z

I have just been having a look through one of the issues of the Tightwad Gazette compendiums which I bought years ago - I have all three of them although I know that a bind-up is available as a single volume. The one I was looking at had been published back in 1995, about 17 years ago.

Amy Dacyczyn wrote a newsletter for six years on a monthly basis, whilst raising six children. She had a clear set of goals in mind, and the books are well worth reading (from the library, of course!). I found her books inspirational at the beginning of this journey to live well on little, and still have them all together on the bookshelf; they are invaluable for a boost now and again.

The thing which is so useful is that whilst there are plenty of tips, AD talks about the bigger picture. She is more of the "teach a man to fish and he can feed his family for a lifetime" school of thought, so the ideas are broad reaching and fundamental. The recipes are few and far between, for example, but the Master Muffin recipe is excellent. She puts together a guideline for how to balance a selection of ingredients in order to create your own muffin recipe, based on what you have in stock, what is cheap where you live, and what your family likes.

Watching an interview with AD here, made after she retired from the newsletter to concentrate on family life, she seems content and happy, her kids are older and some have left home, but she is still passionate that this is the best way to live.

Putting it at its most simple, I gleaned these rules from our earliest studies of her work, and these are the ones we still use:

Save money - save as much as you can, as often as you can!
Spend less than you have - set a budget and live within it - don't spend what you don't have.
Watch what you spend - record your spending, and keep track of what you are spending on what. Look for patterns, change the patterns if they are not good ones! Check for deals on everything, buy when sales are on!
If you can do it yourself, it will save you money - so we would grow vegetables when we can, not buy prepackaged vegetables and salads, no ready meals, no takeaways; we also decorate the house ourselves (although it tends not to be that often!). The FH and UJ also practise this principle in their gardening and DIY, saving screws from salvaged wood, recycling items for new purposes, etc. Making cakes and bakes from scratch is a given - I wouldn't buy a packet mix for a cake.
Combine to save - combine journeys so that each mile makes the most use of the petrol pound, so to speak. Do all the shopping, library and banking visits on the same day that you have to go to town for the piano lesson, for example, rather than going back on a separate occasion. Combine ownership with relatives - we have the use of a cement mixer, a set of draining rods, a holiday home, and a rotavator, even though we don't actually own any of them. Similarly, we would lend out anything that a friend or relative needed to borrow if we had what they needed. Combine uses - don't acquire gadgets which only do one thing! Multi purpose items are far more cost effective and useful.
Get creative - make things. Make gifts individual and special so that it doesn't matter that they are home made, they become hand-crafted! Don't pander to snooty relatives and friends who turn up their noses at such offerings. If home made jam is acceptable to HM The Queen, it is good enough for Aunty Joan...
Make your own rules and stick to them: Rules can vary between the price you are willing to pay for a family holiday, and how often, to your take on overnight school trips (they are a no for us - saves arguments and shocking prices for short trips). But it is key that they OUR rules and we are not swayed by either the media or so called friends trying to persuade us to do something we don't want to do. The girls know that we have a family rule that they do not go on school trips which involve overnight stays - so they have not been to a gallery trip to Liverpool, on a New York half term trip, on a battlefields trip, etc. We have done galleries in Cambridge instead, and she didn't study History at GCSE so the battlefields wasn't missed, and New York? Well, New York will still be there when they are old enough to decide for themselves. And that rule is not entirely financially motivated.
Don't automatically buy it new. Look for a bargain. When we lived in a town and walked everywhere, I was always popping into the myriad charity shops that were everywhere! I dressed the girls, myself and the FH mostly in charity shop finds, as well as buying other bits and pieces like duvet covers, bedspreads, books, jigsaws, etc. The FH has a pair of Church's shoes worth over £200 which set him back about £4 from a charity shop. Those were the days. Now we live so far from town that when we go to town, we are usually armed with a list of things to do already that there is no time to potter around the half dozen charity shops. That sort of thing is best done several times a week, I found, popping in on the off-chance to see what had come in. That doesn't work for us now, so our charity shop finds are fewer, although I love a good browse when we are on holiday. Our shopping strategy has changed somewhat: I now keep a mental list of who needs what, and I watch online sales closely. When Hawkshead announce a sale, I know that perhaps the EFG needs a new fleece, and I look to see what might be on offer; I remember that Asda's George trousers fit the YFG well, so we notice when they have a sale on and pick up a pair on offer. Shoes are our biggest problem with their wide feet and I am still working on an effective strategy for those, until we move the beach somewhere hot and they can go barefoot permanently!!

These strategies and rules have kept us in the black for the twenty years we have been together. I am fortunate in that I married another tightwad-type and not a spendthrift. Perhaps having a similar attitude and outlook on life has helped more than anything else, because it has meant continuous support and encouragement in the whole project all these years. If I had had to do it alone, and been fighting someone who wanted to spend as much as I am driven to save, I think it would have been impossible. Well, perhaps not impossible, but much much more difficult.

Do we live a miserable, small life, though, with no joy and not a scrap of fun? No. Not at all. We have holidays and days out, we go to the cinema (Tesco Clubcard vouchers), we buy DVDs and have technology (ipod and Kindle, laptops etc), we do gymnastics, the EFG is starting Hockey club this week, and none of us starve! We run two cars, live in a 4 bedroom house, and support too many chickens and half a dozen rabbits. There are other ways we could cut back but choose not to at the moment.

It is all about moderation, appropriate behaviour, and keeping it all in perspective. It is a challenge, a game, on one hand, but I do not in any way make light of the seriousness of the situations of people who have to do this to scrape from one week to the next. Part of me is saving like mad to keep a safety net in the pot so that I can avoid that situation when the time comes. The plans are in hand but things take time to happen and we can't see the future - we have to trust that we are doing our best for the people we care about and love.

Welcome

2012-01-30T07:43:00.001Z

A warm welcome to new visitors and friends - lovely to have you popping in!

I can do it!

2012-01-26T07:44:00.001Z

There is no Council Tax to pay in February and March, so the £154 I would usually be paying out can go straight into the fund to put us back in the black! That's the £144 sorted already...

Savings success

2012-01-25T20:08:00.002Z

Tomorrow we are going to pick up my new-to-us Skoda Fabia (a black 2005 version of the car above) and I have just been doing some calculations to see what its purchase has done to the family fortunes.

I sold the Vectra for £500 so that is in hand to go towards the Fabia. The Fabia is costing me £1500, so a balance of £1000 has been required to be found.

Today I went to the bank to withdraw that money, so that I can pay the owner the cash in the morning. Tonight, I have been looking at the figures, and have just given the FH the good news:

Due to all the savings, the challenges, the sales of the DVDs, the YouGov contribution and the scrimping I have done in January, although I have just withdrawn £1000 from the bank, we are only actually £144 worse off than we were at the beginning of the month.

Result!

I am fairly sure I can recoup that in February....watch this space!

Catching up

2012-01-25T08:39:00.004Z

Life gets in the way of blogging, occasionally! Sorry to have kept you hanging on...

The confessions? Well, last weekend I went to Tesco. Personally, that feels like a failure in the challenge, as it meant that I spent way more than the £21 a week limit, and there were lots of offers on! The spending on groceries amounted to £29.20 and brought the total for last week to £55.34 - whoops indeed.

What did I buy? What were the temptations? Why did I even go in?

There were some certain feminine products we needed, and at 8pm on a Friday night, there are a limited number of places to buy them. We ended up buying a selection of other things of which we had run out:

S R flour 52p

squash (3 bottles) £3.74

Weetabix (offer - £1/box) £2.00

sunflower oil £1.39

Baking margerine £2.89 (1kg)

UHT milk (4@49p) £1.96

Frozen mixed peppers (2) £2.00

Pack reduced bananas 28p

Bacon (2 for £4) £4.00

Pink salmon (offer - half price) 4 @ £1.34 = £5.36

Mango £1.50

Sausages £2.56

Twix pack £1.00

The thing with doing these back-to-back challenges is that one runs out of standard stock cupboard items, and then only replaces them if absolutely necessary. There is no budget for stockpiling this cupboard, and this affects the long-term budget. For example, the salmon in the list above - I can make a selection of dishes which will feed us for a main meal with the salmon as the main ingredient - that is cheap at £1.34 when compared with, for example, a meat-based dish which could easily cost £1 per person or more, just for the meat part of the dish. By stocking up on salmon when it is on offer like this, I am able to put together these cheaper meals and reduce the amount spent on meals those days. If I don't buy the salmon because it is a challenge week, I am hampering myself on those other days. Do you see?

We have just 6 days to go to the end of the month, and I am still convinced that these challenges work, since the amount I have spent overall on food this month so far has been less than £97. This is still a success, even though it is a few pounds over the £84 which would have been 4 times the £21 set. I anticipate that by the weekend, I may have spent about another £5 on fruit and veg, but we'll see!

Being given a lot of leeks this month has helped no end as we are eating a lot of leek and potato soup for lunchtimes at home, and I have served it with baguette as an evening meal twice. It has also set me back on the straight and narrow as regards my breakfasts - there is a huge container of oats in the pantry, so I am enjoying porridge for breakfast each day - lots of goodness in there!

It has also been a boon this month that the hens have begun to lay again, so there have been no purchases of eggs. I am not "buying" them from myself, although that might have been a consideration in some methods.

Confessions!

2012-01-23T20:29:00.001Z

Well, I am afraid that confessions will have to wait until tomorrow now - I wrote the title then was called away, and now I am away to my bed.....Night all xx

Prayer community

2012-01-20T12:39:00.001Z

I know that there are those of you reading who are Christians and I want to ask you to pray with me. As people become known to me, in real life, in blogland, wherever, I will add them to a new list on the right hand side of the blog. Perhaps you would join with me in adding these people to your prayers. If you would like your name, or that of someone you know, added to the list, please let me know through the comments - I won't publish details if you don't want me to.

Getting lonely here

2012-01-20T12:07:00.003Z

Reading about the problems others have been having with their comments, and wondering why no one had absolutely anything to say about my sunsets or baking, I thought I might be having the same issues - so I have been fiddling around with the settings! Perhaps now I will get a comment or two?!!

Totting up again

2012-01-19T22:06:00.002Z

I didn't get to stay at home today, as I had to go out unexpectedly - the FH was going to go on the piano run but then it turned out that he wasn't able to do so.

I nipped into the Co-op for more bits and pieces, because the natives are getting a little bit restless about the lunchboxes! There was a huge stash of things from AF and Rosspa which came before Christmas which were "lunchbox-designated" and they have now munched their way through it all. They will take home made things in their boxes, but they do like a packet of crisps now and again. Or a KitKat, perhaps, especially when in need of a chocolate hit!! I don't want to spend a big lump of money on the delivery of an AF/Rosspa order this month, so I am plodding along, picking up bits for them here and there. We had run out of carrots as well - and the YFG does enjoy a chopped carrot in her lunchbox (she can't bite it because of the braces she is wearing).

So, it looks like this:

Crisps (2 multipacks on offer) £1.80

Weetabix (chocolate ones) (24) £2.00

Loaf 0.83

Red Leicester cheese £2.97

Carrots (reduced) 0.35

Bananas £1.26

The total is £9.21 - which would have been within budget if I hadn't bought the sack of potatoes, so I am saying no more!!

A morning in the kitchen

2012-01-19T20:34:00.003Z

This the culmination of some of the cooking today - the girls had the salmon quiche, the baguette and some baked beans for their tea.

They love the baguette, and like the flavour of the quiche, although they mentioned that they weren't so keen on the texture. It was a crustless quiche.

These are the little sticky buns I made with a sweet dough for the after school rush to piano. In the car I have the two FGs but also the YFG's friend who also has a piano lesson, so I always take three of anything and she is very appreciative of home made goodies. They all like these! There were 12 to start with, and I have managed to stash 4 for tomorrow....

Baguettes came out beautifully as usual.

A dozen plain scones to the fab Paul H recipe I mentioned last week or so.

I've hidden them away - some in a tin and some in the freezer. They are fine for a couple of days, we have found, if they are slightly warmed before serving with lashings of raspberry jam!

And this was the salmon quiche, cooling on the windowsill so that I could put it in the fridge!

Have you baked today? Do you bake at all? I know some people don't have the time during the week so perhaps the weekend is their baking time...

Happy baking! Good for the purse, if not the waistline.

Wide Fen skies

2012-01-19T20:27:00.003Z

Driving home from dropping the YFG at her piano lesson today, I was very glad I had popped the camera into my bag! These sunset views really give you an impression of the size of the landscapes out here, and those huge Fen skies. On a clear day, we can see across the fields for miles! This one is on the edge of the village.

This one is out of the village on the road to the town. We pass through about 6 miles of this kind of open space before we get to a slightly more inhabited area for a couple of miles before we hit town. Plenty of fields - several full of leeks at the moment, although there are lots of hard working people out there in all weathers up to their knees in mud, picking them this week! The air smells of leeks as we drive along the road.

Grocery Challenge update

2012-01-18T19:10:00.002Z

Today I had to make a trip to town to take a friend home who had come out to the village on the bus. The EFG hitched a ride as she wanted to buy a small gift for a friend's birthday, so we went to Sainsbury's.

I could kick myself as I forgot to buy the self raising flour which was too expensive in the Co-op!!

I did make some purchases though, and just about used up this week's money, but do bear those potatoes in mind, and be kind! I may go over this week...but I am going to really try not to.

Spending:

Gluten-free flour £1.75

Clover spread £1.00

Mushrooms £1.00

Parsnips 0.63 (for two parsnips for tea tonight)

An organic cucumber £1.30 (The YFG wanted it to go in her sandwiches for school - I only let them have home-grown or organic because I don't like the way normal cucumbers are grown)

All that comes to £5.68, leaving us £4.07 - I think the Sealed pot may go hungry from this week's grocery challenge money!

How's your week going?

Keeping a lid on expenses

2012-01-18T06:37:00.003Z

Watching meters is an integral part of what happens to monitor spending. There are some purchases that we don't make in a shop over a counter with a handful of cash. Such transactions include our buying of water, electricity, piped gas and broadband.

It is that last one which I am having the most trouble at the moment!

We have a package with BT which allows us 10GB of download each calendar month. That has been fine each month since we joined back in the summer - we do usually use about 7 or 8GB a month, but not the full amount, so I thought we were doing fine with that package.

Unfortunately, I received an email from BT to say that we had used 15GB in December, which was very surprising. I also had another email from them to say that already in the month (on the 8th) we were projected to exceed the limit again this month! Oh dear!

So I have to start digging around. I started with the HomeHub and found a device listed which was not one of ours - as it was called "neighbourandhiswife" (insert their names) it was obviously theirs - so I phoned BT. These people are not friends of ours, and they haven't been inside the house in the last 5 years, let alone the last 6 months since we have had this HomeHub, so there is no way that they could have seen the Hub stickers with the passwords on them. So, passwords have been changed to longer configurations, and that device is on Access Control to limit the availability of the internet to them, should they get past the passwords again.

I thought we had the situation under control, and I have been monitoring the usage daily with the handy meter on the website. That was going fine, and we were back to 0.19 - 0.22GB a day which is fine. Then last night's reading from the night before had shot up to 0.6GB!!!

We have downloaded "live" meters to watch what uses the most, and we are checking the meter on the website daily, we are also trying to think about which websites may have been used on particular days. The YFG has had a load of homework set on a website which the school uses, and she had 85 English exercises to do - we are wondering about this as she had done a chunk of them on the day we recorded the 0.6GB, so I have sent an email to the school's IT dept to see what they know about it....I'll let you know as the investigation continues!

I really don't want to have to upgrade to a more expensive package but we have had the warning for going over the limit in December so we will be charged this month and every other month we exceed the limit.

Tuesday twitterings

2012-01-17T21:29:00.002Z

Gosh, today has been a here, there and everywhere kind of day!

I had to take the YFG to the doctor's this morning about her lovely ganglion which has sort of disappeared, but the advice was minimal and almost a waste of an hour and a half.

I have done some shopping, since I was in town, and passing the potato merchant:

25kg sack of Picasso potatoes (highly recommended) £5.50

At the Co-op:

Two bags of apples (Russets, and Braeburns) £3.50

Loaf of bread 0.83

1/2 lb mince, reduced £1.42

The total grocery spend for today is £11.25 although it includes a bag of potatoes which will probably last us a month or more, but I am not going to get into a complicated system of "buying" a smaller quantity each week. A chunk of this week's money has been spent and that is that!!

That leaves £9.75 for any other spending needed this week....

AND Mrs Mac's prize is on its way - it should make it to you within 7 working days, I am assured by the lady at the Post Office. Sorry it is a day later than I had hoped getting started.

Money in my pocket

2012-01-16T22:35:00.002Z

Just popping in to say that I have had two "No Spend Days" in a row, and that the bank balance is looking healthy because most of the shopping I am doing is in a small Co-op rather than a large Tesco! Less choice but less temptation...

Having said that, I refused to pay over £1 for 1.5kg self raising flour the last time I was in the Co-op as I know that I can get it for 52p in Tesco - even Sainsbury's is likely to be cheaper that the Co-op! I am therefore going to have to make a trip to one or t'other later this week.

More chocolate traybake made today for the girls and their lunchboxes. Mind you, I think that the YFG has had a couple of slices already. She has been at home today with a headache and a pain behind her eyes - she used to get a lot of migraines so it was better to keep her off because once it develops, she gets pretty bad very quickly. Thankfully she slept it off this morning, and when I came home from a meeting at school, she and the FH were watching a DVD and she was feeling better, so she will be back at school in the morning.

Hope you are all doing well.

Menu planning this week

2012-01-15T16:39:00.002Z

Keeping to the theme of eating mostly from the storecupboards and freezers, the menu for the week ahead is looking good. There's plenty of food around, and lots of inspiration available from books, magazines and the internet.

Monday - Fish and home made chips, peas

Tuesday - Beef and vegetable curry with rice

Wednesday - Chicken thighs in casserole with root veg, roast potatoes, green veg

Thursday - Salmon quiche, baked beans, baguettes.

Friday - Leek and potato soup, apple crumble and custard

Saturday - Homemade lasagne/enchiladas from freezer

Sunday - Roast pork, roast potatoes, vegetables.

The shopping list? Well, so far I know I need to buy another sack of potatoes, which is going to cost me £5.50. I am sure that there will be a need for lunchbox fruit as well as some veg.

Do you menu plan?

Counting the cost

2012-01-14T21:41:00.002Z

I've made a sponge cake this evening, filled it with strawberry jam and put a sprinkling of caster sugar on the top. It tastes scrumptious. This is made with dairy free margerine and gluten free flour. There are 8-10 portions here, depending on the portion sizes.

Here are the two portions which the FH and I have just enjoyed - he does enjoy sampling the baking!

So, I have thought tonight about the cost of making this cake. All the supermarkets now do extensive (and expensive) ranges of "free from" bakes and cakes, biscuits, pasta, bread, etc. These are very tempting and quite handy sometimes, but I have been trying to avoid them this month especially, because of the cost implications - for example, in the Sainsbury's range, 4 cherry bakewell cakes are £2 (50p each, obviously) and 4 chocolate brownies are £1.93 - 48p each for a tiny slice of (heavenly) chocolate cake that can be downed in three mouthfuls!!

My sponge has cost me in the region of £1.85 for the ingredients:

Vitalite dairy-free margerine @ £1.20 for 500g - I use 200g at 48p

Caster sugar @ £1.79 for 1kg - I use 200g at 36p

Dove's Farm gluten-free flour @ £1.70 for 1kg - I use 200g at 34p

Eggs - this varies widely from 10p each for value ones to 25p each for Free Range, but I sell my eggs to friends and neighbours at £1 for 6 so this costs 67p for this recipe.

Making this with "normal" ingredients for the family would only alter the margerine price to 36p, and the flour price to 7p based on Tesco value self-raising flour at 52p for 1.5kg.

A sponge made for the family with these ingredients would cost £1.46.

Today I filled my sponge with "free" strawberry jam which UJ gave me - it is lovely!!

So I can compare a one-tenth portion of my cake costing me about 18.5p with a cherry bakewell for 50p - and I know which I'd rather have - the home made one every time!!

Giveaway Winner!

2012-01-14T18:28:00.002Z

And the winner is................

(drum roll!)

Mrs Mac

Congratulations!

The prize will be winging its way across the pond this time.

(Please send me a comment which I won't publish to tell me your name and address)

I'm not going to spoil the surprise for Mrs Mac by telling everyone what I am sending, but I will take a photo and once Mrs Mac tells us that she has received it, I will share the photo.

THANK YOU all for entering - it has been wonderful to "meet" the new commenters - welcome!

Giveaway Day

2012-01-14T08:57:00.002Z

The target of 30,000 was hit sometime overnight - when I checked first thing this morning, the hit counter was at 30,002, so today is the day.

Any comments left between now and 6pm tonight will still be entered into the pot for the draw. At 6pm, I will put all the names in a basket, and I will ask one of the FGs to choose a slip. Good luck, and if you stop by here today, just say "Hi" for a chance to win!

Grocery challenge end of the week update

2012-01-13T23:06:00.002Z

I called in at the local Co-op on the way to pick up the EFG to go to gym this afternoon, and I bought the fruit and veg that we needed, as well as a few other bits.

Rounding up the week:

Orange squash £1.55

Baking margerine 2 @ 0.89 = £1.78

Sliced white loaf 0.83

Iceberg lettuce (reduced) 0.50

Bananas £1.26

Clementines £1.20

Grapes £2.00

Carrots 0.70

That all comes to £9.62 so added to the earlier spend of £6.60, we have a total spend for this week of £16.22, leaving a little lunch of £4.78 for the sealed pot this week.

We still had some apples, and there are plenty of green vegetables (broccoli, asparagus, green beans, sprouting broccoli or calabrese, etc) in the freezer, along with a bag of frozen mixed peppers which I find far more economical than fresh ones. We also have some potatoes and onions left, and plenty of tinned beans and tinned tomatoes, so please don't think that we aren't eating healthily on this challenge! We have frozen cooked apples, pears and peaches in the stores as well, so they make great crumbles now and again.

Meals we have eaten this week have included Shepherd's pie, boiled ham joint with veg, home made pizza, curry, tuna pasta bake - there hasn't been a lot of chicken this week, but there is plenty in the freezer so that is bound to be on the menu this next week.

If you are doing this sort of challenge, do let us know how you are getting on!

Come on, folks!

2012-01-13T13:58:00.001Z

I have decided that the giveaway will be something frugal in one way or another, but a surprise!

There have been very few comments, so there is a good chance YOU might win - so come and leave a comment - the hit counter is getting towards the 30,000 and might get there this weekend. Leave a comment to be in with a chance of winning a frugal surprise....

Just what I need today

2012-01-13T07:11:00.002Z

A quick check of the emails this morning revealed one from Facebook with my "verse of the day" which was just what I need this morning. 1 Peter 5:6-7:

"Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, so that He may exalt you in due time. Cast all your anxieties on Him, because He cares for you."

Must do that!

Giveaway coming up!

2012-01-12T13:01:00.001Z

My hit counter is approaching the 30,000 mark, but I don't know when it will actually hit it, so every comment made between today and the day it hits will receive one entry into a giveaway. I'll have a rummage and see what I have/can find that is suitable to commemorate the occasion.

If you comment 5 times, you will get 5 entries, just to be clear.

Bonne chance!

Tea's ready!

2012-01-12T12:59:00.002Z

Leek and potato soup made, to use up some leeks the FH was given yesterday, and a couple of French sticks are at the proving stage, just about to go into the oven. That will be the basis of the tea tonight, with some kind of cake for pudding as I am going to make something to make use of the heat of the big oven whilst I have it on as the baguette tray is too big for the new mini-oven. I think that I might make some chocolate tray bake.

Hope you are all well xx

Time and money in the freezer

2012-01-12T08:15:00.002Z

Last week the YFG wanted tuna pasta for her tea, so I made rather a large batch - bit too much really! Before starting this Grocery Challenge, I would have chucked the leftovers to the chickens, perhaps, or put them in the bin. But this time, I divided the leftovers between two little foil containers and stashed them in the freezer.

Cue last night. Two hungry girls coming home from Guides after everyone else had eaten, and it was easy to pull the two portions from the freezer, zap them in the microwave and their tea was ready! Saved money - saved time - result!!

Now I need to turn my attention to perking up their lunchboxes - the YFG has gone off this morning with a Special K bar, a chopped apple, a chopped carrot, a frozen Frube and a packet of crisps. The crisps and SK bar came from AF so didn't cost a lot, and the Frubes were bought cheaply as they were close to their use-by date, but I froze them so they are OK. I wish that there wasn't so much "bought" stuff in there, and that she would take a sandwich or a wrap or a roll, but she doesn't seem to want those and always moans about them :-( There's definitely work to do in that department! The EFG isn't quite so bad but is stuck in her ways a little and likes the same things day-in day-out so gets huffy if I run out or don't buy the same things. I need to talk with her about variety being the spice of life and all that!!

Getting back to normal

2012-01-11T07:11:00.002Z

After the girls were briefly at school for a couple of days, it was the weekend again, and felt like we were right back in the holidays! Gym hadn't resumed and there was still little pressure on us to be anywhere or do anything specific.

Monday morning brought life back to a more normal schedule with a bit of a bang! School is really cranking up the gears as the EFG approaches a season of GCSE exams all coming together, with final assessments due to be completed and exams on the horizon, so she is working harder than ever. She's always worked hard but they are really piling it on now, and she has to stay to a couple of after school sessions now and again, to help with the time available to complete art and English assessments.

The YFG is back at gymnastics as of last night, and piano lessons, so her extra-curricular stuff is also off the ground again. She is struggling with a ganglion on her hand which hurts a little when she does handstands and cartwheels, so she is wearing a support on her hand and we have another appointment with the doctor next week. Last Friday we were at the orthodontist in Cambridge and she was happy to hear that the braces will be coming off within the next two appointments, so the light at the end of that particular tunnel is definitely in sight.

I am really trying to get into a housekeeping routine which is getting off to a little bit of a slow start although I did spring clean the ensuite on Monday, so I guess that is a place to start, and something to build on. I am trying very hard to make sure that the kitchen is clean and the surfaces clear before bed each night.

And the Grocery Challenge? Yes, I am still keeping up with this; there was a small spend yesterday so that I could restock a couple of items we were out of so here we are:

Skim milk powder (an ingredient in my baguette recipe) £2.25

Buttery spread £1.35

Vitalite (Dairy-free for me) £2.00 (for two, on offer)

Tea bags £1.00

So that total was £6.60, leaving £14.40 for the rest of the week.

There is still loads of meat in the freezer so there will be no need to buy any this week and the large sack of Picasso potatoes is half-full. The store cupboard is still looking healthy so I am fairly confident we will make it through the month on this regime.

If you are doing a similar challenge, do share how you are getting on, and what problems you are encountering. For me, now that school and all its associated activities are back on, it is finding the time for all the baking and cooking from scratch that has to be done. I do enjoy it, but this afternoon I have school meetings and then the EFG will be volunteering at Brownies from 6pm and then the YFG will be out as well as she goes to Guides at 7.30pm - both need to be picked up at 9pm so there are only small windows of opportunity to get things done.

Economical energy

2012-01-08T19:58:00.004Z

We bought the new mini-oven in Lidl's on Thursday because I had seen it recommended on Frugal Queen's blog, and having had the energy monitor for several months now, I have become aware of how much electricity the main oven uses.

This afternoon, I cooked the scone pudding, some roast potatoes and a half-batch of scones for tomorrow's lunchboxes. Whereas the energy monitor would have been up in the high 40s or low 50s if I had had the main oven on, the mini oven never pushed the monitor beyond 18p/hour. And it wasn't the only thing on - there was a tv, 2 laptops and a couple of lights on as well!

The roast potatoes were pretty scrummy!

And there are just enough scones left for the lunchboxes as they have been tested!

Recycling scones

2012-01-08T19:38:00.003Z

Friday night was baking night here in the Fens, and I cooked up a storm, as they say! A sponge cake, the French baguettes, pizzas, and Paul Hollywood scones (two links there - one to tell you who he is, and one to the recipe).

The scones are pretty good, the folks say, but they do need to be eaten the day they are made, and since I didn't make them until the evening, they didn't all get eaten. Today I have recycled those that were left to make a type of bread-and-butter pudding but with the scones as the base instead of bread.

They had risen up quite well, so I was able to slice through each one to make three pieces, which I then buttered and put a layer in the bottom of a dish.

A handful of mixed dried fruit and half a tablespoon of brown sugar finished the first layer off.

Another layer of buttered scones and then more fruit and sugar.

I sprinkled a sachet of the instant value custard powder over the base and then poured over some ever-so-slightly out-of-date double cream which had been mixed with four beaten eggs and a drop or two of milk. This made the custard.

I thought this would be ideal for trying out the new mini-oven, and it fitted just perfectly into the oven space. 200C for about half an hour and it smelt gorgeous!

And this is the finished product. The folks have eaten half of it for supper tonight, and then the rest is stashed in the fridge for tomorrow.

These Grocery Challenges do concentrate the mind on reducing waste and maximising every penny I spend!

Grocery Challenge update

2012-01-07T22:17:00.002Z

Today I had to get some more vegetables as I had thought I would have to.

Today's purchases:

punnet of grapes £2.00

Iceberg lettuce £1.00

punnet mushrooms 0.82

Bag Russet apples £1.50

Bag Carrots 0.70

So the total of £6.02 is the second spend of the week for this challenge, and brings the total for the week to £19.89 and a little bag of pennies for the Sealed pot challenge!

French sticks recipe

2012-01-06T20:44:00.002Z

When I do these challenges, I do more baking and cooking from scratch! Today we have run out of bread, and rather than go and buy a nice sliced loaf from somewhere and using at least one of my challenge pounds, I decided to make a couple of French sticks. The original recipe came from a post on the MSE forums, and works every time. The dough comes out of the bread machine, and I knead it a little.

Then I divide the dough into two pieces, as the recipe makes two sticks. Each one is rolled out to a rectangle about 10" long and 3-4" wide. I fold them over into thirds and place them on the special baguette rack with the overlap underneath.

Then I set them in the living room where the FH had helpfully lit the fire and they rise in about 4 5 minutes.

Perfectly puffed up and I sprinkle with a little more flour for a rustic look!

After about 20 minutes in the oven, I wrap them in a clean tea-towel so that they don't overdo the crustiness!

The ingredients:

300ml water

1 tsp salt

2 tbsp milk powder

2 tbsp oil

1 tbsp sugar

500g strong bread flour

2tsp yeast - I use Dove's Farm quick yeast.

The baguette tray came from Amazon a few years ago.

Grocery Challenge update

2012-01-05T18:53:00.003Z

We haven't spent the whole of this week's £21 yet, thank goodness!

So far, I've spent:

Crisps £1.00

Weetabix £1.99

Squash £1.53

Clementines (big bowlful off the market) £1.00

Cheese (2 for £6 offer) £6.00

Peperami for pizzas £2.35

Total so far £13.87

That leaves £7.13 in the pot, which will go into the sealed pot if it doesn't get spent. I do think more will be spent at the weekend on vegetables, though.

Cheese scones

2012-01-05T11:32:00.002Z

Fresh out of the oven last night

The girls love these cheese scones, especially warm spread with a little butter! Naughty but very nice, apparently. The YFG had a few last night and they both had them for breakfast this morning - I doubt that there are many left in the tin this morning!

I have had this recipe handwritten in my recipe notebook for some years, and am afraid that I do not remember where it came from - it may have come from a book, a website or a blog.

First:

Put 1lb of self-raising flour, 2 tsp baking powder, a pinch of salt, and 1 tsp mustard powder into a large bowl and mix them together. Preheat the oven to 200C, and get out two baking trays.

Rub 8oz of cold margerine into the dry ingredients, and then stir in 8oz grated cheese and finally mix it all together with 8fl oz milk.

It will come together into one large ball of dough. Make sure it is all incorporated, but do not over handle it.

Cut the ball into two pieces, and take one out and put onto a floured surface. Pat it down with your hands into a large flat circle, about 3/4 of an inch thick. Using a sharp knife, cut the circle into 8 wedges and place them onto a baking tray. Use a little more grated cheese to top them, and then bake for about 15 minutes. Do the same with the other ball of dough.

Allow them to cool and then keep in an airtight tin. They have never lasted longer than a day or two here, but they can be frozen.

No Spend Day

2012-01-04T21:59:00.002Z

I haven't ventured out today, so I am pleased to record a NSD. The FH will be taking the YFG to her piano lesson tomorrow and whilst she is in there, he will need to pop to the shops as I am building up a little shopping list of things I am running out of which we need to replace!

I have made cheese scones tonight as the YFG wanted them for her lunchbox tomorrow - but she has scoffed at least three since she got home from her Guides meeting tonight. Because I made those, I need more cheese...

I watched a new cookery programme tonight which was amazing - The Fabulous Baker Brothers. It was on Channel 4 at 8.30pm, and I would definitely try to see it again next week. Click on my link and it will take you to an info page from where you can go to the recipes as well - they made some really yummy looking "sticky sticks" which are like long thin doughnuts which they fried, rolled in sugar and then dipped in fresh chocolate sauce!! Kind of wish we lived in Gloucestershire!

Stocking up storage

2012-01-04T19:11:00.003Z

The store cupboards in the garage are well stocked and look a little different now from how they did back when we first put them there. This picture is the bottom of the second one, and has lots of home made pickles, as well as tinned fruit and peas, enchilada kits, biscuits, crisps, cat litter and a few sweets.

This is the top half of that second cupboard, and has most of our home made jams, marmalades and pickles here. The tinned meat and fish are also in this area, as well as noodles, sauces and spreads.

This is the first cupboard that featured in the original post. This one houses the various flours in those storage boxes, UHT milk, icing sugar, rice, pasta, squash and juices, spare spices, pasta sauces and suet, and soups. The baked beans, vinegar and Camp coffee also find their home here.

I think we are fairly well stocked in this kind of goods, and I buy things when they are on offer, when I find them on the Approved Food or Rosspa websites, and I really try not to run out of things! We have a mini blackboard in the kitchen and the idea is that once we start using the last of something, we write it down on the board so that we know we need more. Saying that, I try to keep a handle on what we have and how many we have, so that if I see something at a good price, I know whether it would be good to buy a few, even if we haven't actually officially run out!

I do keep the garage locked up as the chicken food is also stored in here, and I would hate to lose any of it all!!

Spring clean

2012-01-04T19:02:00.002Z

The kitchen has had a spruce up over the weekend, and I was so pleased, I took some photos!

Just a few of the cookbooks are stored here - the ones I use the most often - and the huge pink folder is full of recipes downloaded from my favourite websites. I use it a lot!

The gas hob is very useful - there is no mains gas in the village so when there is a power cut, I am one of the few people on the estate who can cook and boil a whistling kettle so some of my friends come round for a cuppa occasionally. What with the gas hob and the woodburner, power cuts don't bother us too badly!

Budgeting for 2012

2012-01-02T21:50:00.004Z

I've spent an hour or two this evening working on our household budget for the year. I've been realistic in all departments and based this year's figures on what we spent on each thing last year. But I am hoping to make more savings in some areas this time, and be able to save some of the budget, so each figure should be a maximum for the year, and the aim would be to have some left over to transfer to savings.

I have set up a big spreadsheet so that I can keep track of the monthly spending in each area of the budget, and I have a new diary where I am recording every penny we spend this year. Today has been a day at home so I have been able to record a No Spend Day.

So, in accordance with tradition here, January is a Low-Spend month. I will be doing four back to back $21 challenges but changing the amount to £21 - this is the amount I am allowed to spend each week to supplement what we have in stock for the menu - it is usually spent on fresh fruit and veg, cheese and things like that. There will be no spending on frivolities and luxuries and it will really be a month of living on what we have got! Hopefully it will kick start the savings.

My aim is to save £5000 this year, as I fell short of this target in 2011 by quite a way.

We have made a start on the decluttering by packing up a load of old DVDs to send to musicmagpie and I donated 10 items of clothing I no longer want to a recycling bin yesterday! We have to start somewhere!!

And so 2012 begins...

2012-01-01T22:30:00.002Z

Happy New Year to all my blogging friends and readers!

There are lots of things I want to do this year, but tonight I have been sorting out old DVDs to send to MusicMagpie, so my thinking is not clear about our goals and aims!

I am going to think and post about that tomorrow, when I do the regular Monday review of my finances....and I'll see how well 2011 went!

Let's keep thinking positively as there is a lot of doom and gloom in the papers, but I think that people who live below their means will get by, perhaps by the skin of our teeth, but I hope we will all make it through the year! Good luck!

See you tomorrow xx

Enjoying the break

2011-12-28T22:25:00.003Z

We had a fairly quiet day on Christmas, but then the visitors started coming!! UJ was here by 12 on Boxing Day and the FH wasn't even up - lucky for me, I had been up a while and started on the chores. Lunch was just going to be cold meat and mash with pickles anyway, so there wasn't a lot to do. In the afternoon, the first gang of cousins came - three of them. I made some French sticks to add to the spread for tea - it was a kind of buffet affair, with bread, cheese, crackers, ham, pork pies, crisps, lettuce, tomatoes, dips and side salads, pickles, etc, and then mince pies and fruit cake for the sweet course. We had to have crackers too!

That was a fun evening, and we didn't have the tv on all day until we watched The Borrowers on BBC at 7.30pm. The cousins left at about 9pm after telling us lots of new (and not so new!) jokes, helping the FH with his puzzle and enjoying lots of chatting and catching up. It was good.

Yesterday (Tuesday) another family - my cousin and aunt and uncle - came in the afternoon and UJ came back to meet up with them, since the visiting uncle is his brother and they rarely see each other! My mum was their sister - one was older than her, one younger. We had another similar spread for tea, but they left slightly earlier at just after 7pm. UJ stayed a little later, helping the FH with the puzzle again, and it was another good day.

Today, the FH had been planning to take some of his lunch club mates out for lunch somewhere as the lunch club is closed for two weeks, but one of the mates is in hospital after a fall on Monday (he's nearly 90) and another was feeling under the weather with a heavy cold, so they didn't go this week. He has inspected the inside of his eyelids a lot today, although he would disagree!! The puzzle is coming along nicely, though, and that keeps him occupied but I know he is itching to get back out into the workshop and get on.

I have prepared this Sunday's service today; I'm a bit nervous about this one as I haven't even attended a service at this particular chapel, let alone led a service there. I have spoken to a lady I know there who is a Worship Leader there and she is being very helpful and will meet me on Sunday and show me where everything is. She promises me that they are very laid back there, so I hope that they are forgiving too!! I just need to ring someone else with the hymn numbers tomorrow and I'm all set. This is the last service I will need to take until February so I will have January to get started on the 4th unit of the Faith & Worship course - I had a look through it today and it is heavy going. I will definitely have to set time aside to get on with it. A unit a month as the tutor suggested looks overly ambitious to me at this stage.

Frugally speaking, I want to sort out the budget for next year this week, but time is slipping away from me. The girls want to go to Wisbech tomorrow for a look around at Asda and Morrisons - there is a new Morrisons there, and they both have a little cash to spend and ideas as to what they "need" already. Half the money they have been given this Christmas is safely put away in the bank, so they don't have a lot - I think that they have about £25 to spend on some clothes each, so they will be looking for bargains and good value! It will take a while to get there, so I hope for harmony in the car and not too much disagreement between them....

At 4pm we are going to see a friend and her little girl, so we will have to be back by then. Friday morning is the Craft club at the chapel, and then I think peace will reign again until I have to go out on Sunday. The girls realise that the days are rushing past now towards them going back to school and they are enjoying the holidays too much to be looking forward to that, although the EFG has had me on Amazon this afternoon buying revision guides for her GCSE English texts. We can't find one anywhere for Blood Brothers, though, so she is a bit worried about that one.

I do hope that you are all enjoying the break from normal routine - I know I am - I have read my three Christmas books that I was given, and done some knitting too.

Christmas 2011

2011-12-25T20:57:00.006Z

The start wasn't too early at 7.30am, but the girls piled onto our bed to unwrap parcels straight away. The FH was delighted with his new cap, braces, Maltesers, body care products and Fred Dibnah DVDs. I unwrapped some new books, truffles, a spice rack and some new bamboo knitting needles in a very fancy Cath Kidston wrap case - it is gorgeous! The girls had the modest little heaps of things they had asked for and chosen so they were happy.

We went to church for a 10am start, and it was lovely to share a couple of hours with close friends from the village, and there was a lot of chat and fun to be had. We all share opening one of our gifts together, and we had taken along a little box of chocs for the 95 year old lady to open, and another friend had brought her a plant pot of hyacinth bulbs which pleased her immensely.

Lunch was served at about 2pm - beef for three of us and a turkey leg for the YFG. Pudding was some time later! Then I think I fell asleep for quite some time - I certainly missed out on the Queen's Speech. The girls watched some films, and then I remember watching Ratatouille, which is fun! Some light snacks have been eaten tonight, mostly tea and mince pies, the girls have watched Dr Who and now the FH and I are watching Downton Abbey's Christmas Special, although he has one eye on the puzzle he is doing, and I have an eye here!!

We have UJ coming for lunch tomorrow and then cousins joining us in the afternoon, so we are in for a day of company tomorrow. I hope you are all having a very peaceful Christmas x

Merry Christmas, one and all!

2011-12-24T21:57:00.003Z

Just a couple of hours to go! The FH took the girls to the Christingle service this afternoon, and they have spent the evening watching TV - Merlin and Top Gear, but now the FH is in control and it is Les Dawson so they are off to have a bath/shower. I am tired after all the preparations I have been doing today, so I am about to put my feet up with a new book for half an hour!

Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas!

Welcome, friends!

2011-12-23T23:05:00.003Z

Just to say a warm welcome to the Fens for our new followers - lovely to have you, and do leave a comment now and again, please! The blog will hopefully liven up a bit now that I have a working camera again - how I have missed it xx

Yesterday in numbers

2011-12-23T14:46:00.002Z

Thursday 22nd December

6 chicken pens cleaned out

5 dozen mince pies baked

4 loads of washing washed

3 bottles of sloe gin bottled up (and a wee taste enjoyed!)

2 Christmas cakes made

1 service prepared (at last!)

And today, a new charger arrived for the camera battery, so we can have photos again!! Just in time for Christmas!!

I may be able to come back and edit some appropriate photos into this, but don't hold your breath!

The mince pie recipe

2011-12-22T19:11:00.003Z

I found the original version of this recipe on the Moneysavingexpert website back in 2008 and have since adapted it slightly to increase the amount it makes, so I am now sharing my version of the only mince pie recipe you will ever need. Forget Delia, Nigel and Nigella - this recipe comes from the next door neighbour of an MSE poster called Researcher!

It now makes 5 dozen mince pies - and you won't have any hanging around!

1.5 lbs of SR flour (yes, SR!)

8oz Trex (white vegetable fat)

4oz lard

6oz caster sugar

2 eggs

100ml cold water (exactly 100ml, not a drop more or less)

I find that this quantity of pastry requires 2.5 jars of mincemeat.

Place the flour and sugar in a large bowl and rub in the fat until it looks like breadcrumbs. Beat the two eggs together and mix into the flour/fat with the water using a knife.

Then use your hands to knead the mixture and pull it all together into a large lump of pastry.

The pastry is very pliable and soft, so I find there is a need to be gentle with it!

Use plenty of flour to roll out a fifth of the piece, and cut out large circles to line the tins. After adding a teaspoon of mincemeat to each, pop on a smaller circle for a lid, and then make holes with a fork in the lid, and brush with beaten egg. Repeat until you have used up all the dough.

I cook these in a fan oven at 180C for about 10 minutes until they are lightly golden.

When I remove them from the oven, I leave them to rest for about 10 minutes before I attempt to remove them from the tins. The original recipe tells you to put a wire rack over the tin and tip them out, but I found that the lids fell off when I tried that, so now I ease them out extremely carefully with a palette knife, but they are fragile when they are hot, so it is better to leave them for a few minutes. I do have the odd casualty which the FH hoovers up, but in making 5 dozen tonight, I released them all whole!

A little sprinkling of caster sugar before serving finishes them off beautifully.

They can be frozen!

Snow is falling

2011-12-20T22:18:00.004Z

No, not really! But we kind of wish it was, so we made some of these giant snowflakes for Christmas decorations tonight. The YFG and I sat at the table tonight and made three between us.

Do take a look at the link - they are SO simple to make!

End of term!

2011-12-16T07:14:00.002Z

The girls are getting their bags packed this morning, taking gifts and cards and treats for their friends....term is ending today and holidays just beginning - hurrah!

I am really looking forward to this break from routine and the opportunity to be a little less bound by time, appointments and commitments. It is always good to have some change occasionally!

Cracking up

2011-12-14T14:19:00.003Z

Marriages, that is. I am so sorry to have to say that another one of my friends' marriages has broken up, and I just don't know what is going on.

In the past year, I have had this news five times, and not one of them was a marriage that anyone could see was in serious trouble. OK, one of them had been grumbling along for a long time, but it seemed like it would go on like that for ever.

Is it a sign of the times we are living in now? Is it a symptom of the financial crisis? Is it that people are realising how short life is, and that they don't want to live in miserable relationships? Do modern couples lack staying power, as the FH seems to think?

In a light-hearted way to conclude this post, these are the FH's top tips for making this marriage of ours last with my notes in brackets:

Love your wife and make sure she is your best friend. [Works both ways!]
The woman is always right....
If she changes her mind, go along with it!
Don't complain about the state of the house - she will soon find you a list of things you could do to help.
Let her control the money and ask for pocket money regularly. [Only do that if she is good with money! Insist on regular reports on the financial health of the family - he gets a weekly update.]
Pull together in the same direction - share common life goals and outlooks. [I wouldn't have got on with a spendthrift!]
Present a united front to the kids - and communicate often about the kids.

Powerful words

2011-12-12T12:12:00.003Z

In Christ alone my hope is found,
He is my light, my strength, my song;
this Cornerstone, this solid Ground,
firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
when fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My Comforter, my All in All,
here in the love of Christ I stand.

In Christ alone! who took on flesh
Fullness of God in helpless babe!
This gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones he came to save:
Till on that cross as Jesus died,
The wrath of God was satisfied -
For every sin on Him was laid;
Here in the death of Christ I live.

There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain:
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave he rose again!
And as He stands in victory
Sin's curse has lost its grip on me,
For I am His and He is mine -
Bought with the precious blood of Christ.

No guilt in life, no fear in death,
This is the power of Christ in me;
From life's first cry to final breath.
Jesus commands my destiny.
No power of hell, no scheme of man,
Can ever pluck me from His hand;
Till He returns or calls me home,
Here in the power of Christ I'll stand

I think that this is by Stuart Townend and Keith Getty, but I found it in Mission Praise, number 1072. We sang it on Saturday at the Recognition Service and I found the words so powerful and moving that I just had to share them.

I also want to share the full text of a verse I found a reference to on Fostermummy's Beautiful Life blog. The Bible I am using is a different one, so it is a slightly different translation.

Exodus 14.14

The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to keep still (NRSV)

So the song mentions of our devotion to God, and the Bible verse reminds us of his powerful love and care as he watches over us.

Sounds good to me!

Getting into the spirit

2011-12-12T08:19:00.004Z

I spent some time on Saturday and Sunday evenings writing Christmas cards, so I have to head off to the Post Office for stamps today! There are also some wee parcels for a few folk which will need to get posted soon, too.

This weekend has really helped with the Christmas feeling. Saturday was lovely, as I went to a Recognition service for a friend who has managed to make it through Faith & Worship and become a fully accredited Local preacher. The service was very moving, and it was good to catch up with some other friends from across the circuit. I sat next to an older gentleman, who has been a LP for over 50 years, I believe, and he was telling me how he manages to take a service every week, without ever actually writing a sermon down on paper. He puts all the preparation time in, but it is all in his head! He is a retired baker, and whenever he comes to our chapel, he brings along the most beautiful hand made cream creations - eclairs, etc!

After that, I came home to find that the others had had a good afternoon at the village bazaar and managed to find a few customers for books. Then we got together again to go to a friend's house for a drink and a few nibbles and a chat. It was a good hour and a half, and the FH actually stayed a bit longer as he was very interested in the alterations that the family has recently done to their house. The girls and I had to nip off as I was babysitting for another friend, so their children came to stay for the night.

The girls and the other two had a lovely evening, playing on the Wii and watching DVDs - the FH and I soon retired upstairs to watch TV in bed with a cuppa!

Yesterday morning, I quietly got up and went to church, and left them to it!

In the afternoon, I made a Christmas cake - a very simple one which I got from here - with just three ingredients: SR flour, dried fruit and chocolate milk. It is going to be wrapped up and stored for a week now, and then I will attack it with some marzipan next weekend. I have used that recipe before, and it was well received. [Edit on Monday afternoon to report that the cake has stuck irretrievably to the paper and when we attempted to remove the paper, huge chunks of cake came away too. I may now have to go back to the Christmas cake recipe I have used with reliable results since 2000, and this concoction may have to become Christmas cake truffles - I have seen a recipe somewhere!]

I have also written all the Christmas cards this weekend, ready to get them in the post today. The girls have wrapped all the parcels, so I need to have a rummage through them to find the ones I need to post!

Hope you have all had a good weekend, but don't ask about the tree - that's next weekend's job!

Fudge recipe link

2011-12-09T08:40:00.001Z

I was asked on Wednesday night whether I would be making fudge for Christmas again this year, and I have had to search websites this morning to find the recipe - and found it here on the blog, posted last Christmas time. So for ease of finding it again, I am linking to it here! It is a fab and easy fudge recipe, so do give it a go for teacher gifts, and little offerings to friend!

Friday slowdown...

2011-12-09T07:51:00.002Z

The term is winding down a little now, and I am looking forward to an even slower week next week. Today just holds a brief visit to the Knit & Natter group at church, then taking the EFG to see the dietician at the local hospital, home for a while and then gym tonight. Definitely a slower day than yesterday or Wednesday. I was very tired yesterday after the concentration of the two meetings and driving to Cambridge and back.

Next week's diary is less full, and I am really hoping to get the house tidied and cleaned before the girls break up from school, and to get some Christmas baking in the freezer - not too much for us but a few mince pies to share at church, for example, and to have out when we have company over the holidays, which I know we have planned in on a couple of days.

The job interview for the position at school was interesting. I'm saying no more at the moment, as we haven't quite decided about the person yet! She also has a number of considerations we have asked her to think about so that she is ready to decide if she wants the job should she be offered it.

I have joined in with Sft's sealed pot challenge, although I haven't sorted out a pot just yet, but I have one in mind that I have seen in a shop - a cheap 99p one which has to be opened with a tin opener. I feel that this level of security might be useful, as people here have a tendency to raid my wee tins for change and I don't intend this one to be raidable. I could hide it, but if I do that, I am less likely to actually put money in it, and I really want to fill it up!

Spending this week has been reduced in some ways - there has been less spending, as I intended, on bits and pieces and stocking up on things we have run out of and just can't wait for! On the other hand, I have had to pay £45 for a new pair of glasses for the EFG and £10.50 for the YFG's piano lesson, neither of which I have begrudged as I know exactly where that money has gone and why - it's the odd bits that disappear on a drink and a snack when we are out and about that we must stop! I am working to eliminate that by making sure that I take along drinks and snacks - so it is largely down to me to work on that one. Staying strong about staying out of the shops is also my job, because I have two girls who love to poke around the supermarkets, so I have to keep them out of them!

Wind and travel

2011-12-08T06:28:00.003Z

The weather forecast is rather wild and woolly all over the UK today but particularly so for those in the central belt of Scotland, so I'm hoping everyone I know up there makes it through the day without any significant damage to their establishments.

Here is not too bad at the moment, but I know that the wind was bad yesterday and we are looking at a lot of rain here today.

I have to be in Cambridge by 9.30am today so that is an early start for me as it will take me just over an hour to get there; I am heading for a venue on the outskirts, so hopefully the traffic won't be too bad. Should be over by 12.30 and I have to dash back to school for interviewing for a fairly senior position so I am required to be there. Course this morning is on Child Protection so I think it will be fairly heavy going - must get brain into gear!

Better go and get the girlies up and at it! Hope you all have a good day x x

Online shopping

2011-12-07T08:11:00.002Z

I have had my first delivery from a company called Rosspa which is an online grocery shopping store. It is different from the Tesco/Sainsbury/Asda etc deliveries, because this comes overnight by City Link tracked delivery.

Knowing then that it comes by courier in an ambient temperature van, you wonder what they can bring, but they bring fresh meat, fish, yogurts, cheese, etc, as well as fresh fruit and vegetables, cakes, bread, eggs, etc.

I placed the order in half an hour on Monday morning, and it was here by 10.30am yesterday morning! I was very impressed with the quality of the fresh fruit and veg - the broccoli, courgettes, apples, bananas, plums, carrots and sprouts which I ordered are all beautiful, fresh and in the case of the bananas, not over ripe as they are just tinged with green.

Everything was extremely well wrapped and packaged - the bananas were wrapped in cushionwrap and then in a bag whilst the eggs were all individually wrapped in kitchen roll, on a tray, with more kitchen roll over them before another egg tray was placed over them, elastic bands all round and placed carefully in the box with more packaging around them. They made it here without even a crack.

The meat, yogurts, and veg were all packed in polystyrene boxes with ice packs, which are all re-usable here! Everything was still cold, and I was impressed with the system.

Prices are very good - heads of broccoli weighing between 600g and 800g were 39p each, and I was very pleased that I ordered 6 so they are all chopped up and in the freezer now. Bloomer loaves of bread were 59p, and tins of Highlanders Broth, from Baxters, were only 79p. That stuff is difficult to find in normal supermarkets, and over a £1 a tin when it is found, so I was happy to stock up and stash 6 tins away with this delivery. The girls love this, and it makes a good meal with a hot pudding occasionally, although they would eat it daily if they could! They discovered it on our trip to Baxter's Highland Village in Fochabers, and have been enjoying it ever since, whenever I can source it.

Drawbacks? Delivery costs £5.50 for each 25kg package. That is the only one I can find. And there is plenty of justification for paying that: the convenience of the system, the speed of the delivery, the quality of the goods (they are good!), and the prices of the goods, as well. It has been recommended that a good idea would be to place a monthly order, to minimise the costs - I accept that I wouldn't have weekly order, the way that some people have a weekly supermarket delivery. It would also be possible to share a delivery with a neighbour if you each wanted a smaller amount of produce.

It is also a moneysaver in that one is not tempted by all the other distractions of the supermarket!

Loving blogger friends

2011-12-06T08:09:00.002Z

I was gobsmacked last night to have been tagged by Silversewer over at her blog as a blog award winner - she has nominated me as a winner in the Liebster Blog award. It's a kind of "passing on the good feelings" award, where each winner nominates 5 more, but I think it is a lovely thing to do, as it shares links to blogs for readers and you the reader find out more about the blogs that I like, and why I like them!

So first of all, I have to say a huge thank you to Silversewer, over at her blog - do pop over there and check out daily life in Scotland, sewing and gardening, and cooking on a budget.

And now to nominate my top five picks:

This is a little difficult, as I don't want to re-tag people who have already won, and we are limited by the rules to blogs which have less than 200 followers, so there are some blogs which I would have chosen but which have too many followers! There is another I would have chosen too if I could have had a longer list, but that blog is private, and there are a couple more who don't accept awards! This isn't easy...

BUT my top five blogs which fit all the criteria:

Wannabe Sybil's Witterings where WS talks about her son, Little Bear, and what he is up to. He is an endearing little chap, and the tales are lovely. Family life in a big city, on a budget, using public transport - I love it!
A Trifle Rushed is a predominantly cooking blog with some fantastic recipes, and it is beautifully written.
my beautiful life is one woman's journey through life, the ups and downs, and she is frugal, spiritual, and shares the trials and joys of life. Well worth a read.
The Thrify Garden/Home I enjoy because of the cooking, baking and gardening posts. Mrs Mac shares family life and frugal times.
The Farm at the Back of Beyond 2011 is Gentle Otter's tale of life as tenant farmers in deepest rural Perthshire, and she writes so eloquently of the struggles of life as well as the positives that it makes me cry at times, but my love for Scotland makes me deeply ashamed that people would have to live in these conditions in the UK in 2011, and I support her quest for Land reform in Scotland, and I have written to MPs and MSPs about their situation.

I have to share the rules now:

Thank the giver and link back to the blogger who gave it to you.
Reveal your top 5 picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blogs.
Copy and paste the award onto your blog.
Have faith that your followers will spread the love to other bloggers.
Have fun!!

Come on over and pick up your awards, and readers, please have a look at the blogs I have nominated - they are all great!

What a day!

2011-12-04T18:57:00.002Z

I can't begin to express the range of emotions I have been through today!

The service this morning went well - the sermon went down well and the service was well received, and some of the congregation from the village came along to the service as well, as there was no service here this morning due to there being a carol service this afternoon. It was lovely to share the service with the two congregations, who mingled well.

We had taken the EFG to help a friend with some painting scenery for the Guides Christmas performance before we left, and so we went to collect her on our return to the village. Our friend opened the door and I thought something awful had happened by the look on her face - and I was right: she and her husband have split up. We spent some time with her and her little girl, before coming home to grab some lunch, and then dashed back to the village to pick up an old lady of 95 to go the Carol service. That went well, and all 9 readings were done beautifully - we had a microphone out so that the children could be easily heard, as some of them have quiet voices. Tea and fruit cake/mince pies afterwards made in that bit more special, and we were there until nearly 5.

I heard today of another friend whose marriage is looking rather rocky due to financial struggles and strains, redundancies and strife in general.

It's been a very up and down kind of day, and I feel rather useless in that there is little I can do to help these friends, apart from being there for them. I've got to start thinking of the week ahead now, and that begins with ironing the school uniforms, as usual. But my prayers will be a little more fervent tonight and for some time whilst I know that these dear friends and their families are in such turmoil.

It's ready!

2011-12-03T22:56:00.002Z

Yes, finally, I've written it and I am off to bed now! Toodle pip - sleep well.

Sermon ponderings

2011-12-03T09:39:00.002Z

I went to Sainsbury last night and bought some trashy magazines, the sort covered in stuff about losing weight for Christmas, what to wear for all those Christmas parties, making the best Christmas cocktails, 200 presents under £100 etc - food for thought for the sermon I still have to get down on paper.

The gospel reading is John the Baptist, wandering the wilderness, preparing the way for the Lord, so I am thinking about the way the world is preparing for Christmas, and whether we as Christians are preparing the World for the coming of Christ.

Still more thoughts to ponder, as it will be this evening before I get a clear slot to get this on paper, but it is coming together!!

Frosty start to the day

2011-12-02T08:28:00.002Z

It's definitely getting colder here now. I'll be bucketing the water down to the chicken runs this morning as the hose pipe will have frozen up overnight...must think of a plan to avoid that, somehow.

Today is looking busy - craft club at chapel this morning till 12, then our first Worship Lunch from 12 -1 which I am helping to run. Got to help the FH sort and pack books for a sale at a local school this afternoon - setting up from 2.15pm, and then I'll pootle off to pick up the girls and go to gymnastics until 7.30pm. Thank goodness they have left over enchiladas for their tea tonight, so I don't have to cook. The EFG might get dropped off to help the FH instead of coming to gym, but I'm not sure what she is doing yet.

Last night's plans went awry and the sermon didn't get written. It obviously isn't going to get written today either, because there just isn't going to be a block of time spare. Unless I do it late tonight...unlikely. BUT I do have ideas going round in my brain so all is not lost; there WILL be a sermon by Sunday, never fear!!

Better get started on those chooks - see you later :-)

Making progress

2011-12-01T14:20:00.001Z

I have a service outline, I have hymns and prayers....just need the sermon now! Tonight's work.

Brain freeze

2011-11-30T21:52:00.002Z

I am going to bed very shortly, tomorrow will be Thursday, I have a meeting all morning at school, AND I still have no service planned....brain is completely frozen in that respect!

I have to set aside a couple of hours tomorrow afternoon between that meeting and taking the EFG to the optician's when I have to come up with at least a service plan and choose some hymns, because the lady at the chapel will want the hymns tomorrow!! Nothing like a deadline...

Monitor success

2011-11-29T12:19:00.002Z

I am hoping that the monitor continues to have a positive impact on our electricity usage. I take electricity readings at least fortnightly but mostly weekly, and have been doing so since May. This past fortnight has had the lowest weekly average usage since I began keeping the records, and it can only be that we have all had an eye on the monitor. If we can keep it this low, I will be pleased, but if we can go lower, I will be ecstatic!

Wild, windy and wet weather in the Fens this week - it is quite warm today although there is a wind. I have cleaned the chicken house out this morning, which has been quite an effort, but they are all happily pecking and dust bathing in the new fresh bedding that I have put down.

Sunday was our wedding anniversary - we have been married 15 years, although we have been together just over 19. We kept the day frugal and just had a sponge cake at teatime with the girls to celebrate. My dad was right when he said that it is the Marriage that matters as the Wedding quite often goes by the wayside. The wedding cost us less than £250 back then, but I remember a lovely day spent with friends, and the memories are worth a lot!

I am preaching on Sunday so I have to get a service together - I think the theme might be Waiting, but it might also be to do with Shepherds, so I need to think about it all and make my mind up, as there are a number of other things that have to get done between now and then, so I don't have a lot of time to make the decision because I need all my spare time to actually prepare it all...

Hope you are all well, and I will try to get back sooner this time!

Monitoring

2011-11-23T09:34:00.002Z

It has been very interesting and a source of some excitement (sad, but true!) these past few days. What is it? An energy monitor!

We don't know where it came from, but it appeared in the post at the weekend, addressed to the FH, which is where the mystery begins. If I had ordered it or even bought it, it would have definitely been addressed to me, not him, so that narrows it down a little - most likely to be something to do with the FH. There are two options left - that the FH put his name down for it amongst other offers at the local flu jab tea and cake afternoon that the surgery organised, which is possible, going on the fact that he came home from that afternoon with an energy saving plug, so there must have been people there from companies or charities to do with helping older people save money and energy. Option 2 is that the EFG put his name down on a freebie website she frequents - samples of strange teabags turn up occasionally, the odd pack of shampoo arrives in the post, that sort of thing. An energy monitor doesn't seem to be in the same league, so I am in favour of option 1.

So, we attached it to the electricity wires in the meter box as instructed, and got it all set up. It hovers around 4p/hour most of the time when we are not doing much, so that is covering the three freezers and two fridges, and the air pump in the sewage treatment plant - all of those are on constantly, although I know that the refrigeration equipment will cycle a bit. When we put the kettle on, it leaps up to about 43p/hour, and the dishwasher and washing machine are each putting it up to about 37p/hour - I haven't had them both on at the same time yet. I haven't dared see what the oven does to it, yet, although that will happen later on today when I do some baking. I have been using the Remoska instead of the oven more often lately anyway, and that hardly used much at all.

So thanks go to whoever sent it as it is educational and motivational as well; it is in the kitchen where we can all see it when we pass, and it is helping us to be more aware of our energy use. There are buttons where we can get it to tell us how much power we have used in the past hour or 12 hours, but I haven't read that section on the leaflet yet - I'll get to that soon...

The other side

2011-11-20T12:11:00.002Z

We came through! We made it to the other side, and now I have done it once, I have a better idea what to expect next time Ofsted come calling. Can't say any more than that, but I am very grateful for all the support I have had from friends, in real life as well as blogging friends - thank you!

Lesley - I would have taken more people in there with me if I had known that I could, but I managed! He kept me waiting for an hour, which added to the tension but I don't know that many of the others would have known any more, and a very experienced Chair that I know has confessed that he would have had to bluff his way through a question I floundered on as he wouldn't have known either!!

And so life resumes: if you remember, I spent the week before this rather poorly and not doing an awful lot, and then this week has been spent in panic mode, so I haven't done a lot at all at home. The girls and I blitzed the lounge yesterday at tea time, so that we had somewhere more pleasant to sit for the evening - Saturdays are tv and knitting at the moment - Strictly and then Merlin. Last night we also tried to watch a Nicolas Cage film called Knowing, but towards the end the screen kept pixellating, so we attempted to retune the tv twice and then gave up - the ITV transmitter out in Norfolk is having some work done to it, so we hope that the issues will be resolved when that is finished.

The school washing is done, and is drying on the airer, and we have been to chapel. The EFG is at school [yes, on a Sunday] preparing for her art exam. They have to do 5 hours tomorrow and another 5 on Tuesday, so today they are spending 4 hours at school preparing their boards and refining their ideas. The FH dropped her off earlier, and we have to pick her up at 2pm.

The weather here is atrocious today - thick fog, and very chilly so we have the fire alight. The FH and YFG are watching a film version of "A Christmas Carol" as she is reading the book at school as a class text - she'd much rather watch than read and I am a little bit cross about that as it is the lazy way to do it! The EFG and I have read all the Harry Potter and Twilight books, but the YFG just watches the films and we cannot get over to her how much of the stories she is missing out on...The latest Twilight film is out now, Breaking Dawn part 1, so we have to get some Tesco vouchers exchanged for Cineworld tokens so that we can go and see it soon.

Hope you are all having a good weekend :-)

Just popping in

2011-11-17T06:56:00.002Z

I am as ready as I can be!

I am going to be at school for the chaps from Ofsted arriving at 8am, and then I am going back to be interviewed at 3.30pm.

I know about our plans, our aims and our targets; I spent yesterday afternoon checking through our Governor policy folder and helping the secretary with some stuff, as well as talking with the Head for about an hour. She has had the pre-inspection interview on the phone and the pre-inspection report came through so she had some data analysis to do last night when I left at 6pm. It is her first inspection as our Head, of course, but she is experienced in these things as a Deputy Head, so I know she will let them know exactly how things stand.

Had better go and let the chooks out soon, find some posh clothes to wear, and then, when I have some time after I have greeted them, I am coming home to think through what I think our strengths and weaknesses are, and what we do well, and then I have to make a few cakes - it is the FH's birthday today, and there is a Christmas Coffee morning at chapel tomorrow so I need to do some baking to get ready for that - life has to go on, Ofsted or not!

Excuse me

2011-11-16T08:10:00.002Z

We heard yesterday that Ofsted are coming to the school later this week. My first inspection as Chair of Governors. A little intimidating. Quite scary. Lots to read up on and remember all of a sudden. Staff feeling a little queasy in places. Nervous smiles. Late nights.

Hope to be back at the weekend....

Christmas in the Fens

2011-11-14T22:11:00.002Z

Let's just face this head on. Christmas is coming, and fast. The EFG knows to the hour how long it is until Christmas and frequently tells me...she is obviously keen on Christmas.

But we are a fairly frugal family, so what has she got to look forward to? What is she so keen to experience?

I think she is, like me, looking forward to spending some time at home, with the family, with nowhere to go and not a lot to do, where we can spend time together, watching DVDs, knitting, chatting, snuggling by the fire, and enjoying having relatives visit us for meals and chat. We'll be in church a couple of times - I am taking the service Christmas morning, so we'll all be there then for sure!

There will also probably be a jigsaw to do - I always spend money on that, I am afraid, as I buy a new "Christmas" themed jigsaw each year, preferable a Ravensburger one. They are excellent quality, and in about 5 years time, I guess we will have a serious collection and stop buying them as we will be able to go around again and not remember them!

There may be snow...there may not! There will be good food, maybe a glass or two of wine or home made sloe gin, and there will be some presents. Some. Not obscene amounts. Not enough to cause debt problems which would take me months to pay off.

Christmas for us is never about spending a lot of money. We have had our little 5ft Christmas tree since 1992, making it 19 years old this year. It works fine! We love our collection of decorations we have acquired and made or been given over the years - there seems to be a red/green/silver theme going on, but it is purely accidental. The FH made a wooden shelter for the knitted nativity figures to stand in - they were made with love by a lady who has known me all my life and was a great friend of my mothers, and a great knitter. And a candle bridge stands in the window, glowing each evening to welcome people to our door.

And then there is the food. Probably a turkey, but perhaps a nice piece of beef. Or a large chicken. We haven't quite decided yet, but I will rummage in the shops and see where the best deals are. Roast potatoes, in goose fat, some roast parsnips, broccoli, cabbage perhaps, and carrots. Lots of gravy and stuffing. Then the pudding and brandy butter - home made, of course. The girls sometimes prefer to have a Vienetta ice cream as they don't like pudding. I don't buy Vienettas during the year, so although they usually cost about a pound, they are still a treat as they are not usual fare here. They might like a self-saucing chocolate pudding, though, so I shall have to consult them. At tea time (more food? Really?) it will be fairly simple as we are usually still quite stuffed from lunch - perhaps a sandwich or roll, some crisps, a jelly, and maybe some cake - Christmas cake, or something lighter.

And that is usually that. Christmas is a fantastic time which we are all looking forward to, but I am not about to go mad with the credit card and cheque book!

We really won't forget

2011-11-12T15:30:00.002Z

I have been reminded today about the friends and family we have in the services, and the part they are playing in today's military.

The FH's cousin's grandson is in the RAF, and his fiancee is in the Navy - we heard today that they have just had a baby boy, so the family has grown overnight! Not quite sure what relation we are to that baby, but it is a big family! The father is serving in south Wales at the moment, so is very glad to have been able to combine a fortnight's leave with a fortnight's paternity leave to enable him to spend a month in Aberdeen with his fiancee and son. They will be getting married early in 2012 and then should be able to get married quarters and be together properly. The father has recently returned from a tour in the Falkland Islands.

The EFG's godparents' son is serving in the Navy as an apprentice/trainee engineer, we believe, working on helicopter engines. He has just spent six months in Afghanistan and we were hugely relieved to hear of his safe return.

At this time of year, we are remembering those who have fought and died, as well as those who are still serving and giving their all.

Armistice Day 2011

2011-11-11T08:10:00.002Z

My summer photo of the local poppy field

We remember.

Sneezles and wheezles

2011-11-10T13:48:00.002Z

When I was a child at a school in Cambridge, we had Speech Day each year at the city's Guildhall. Apart from the memorable time I got locked in the loo during the morning practice session, I most clearly remember the time my class recited the AAMilne poem about Christopher Robin having sneezles and wheezles. I found it for you here so do read and enjoy!

I have had the sneezles, and have now progressed to the wheezles with a chesty cough...

The EFG has been to two more Open Evenings for 6th form this week, but neither place has topped the one we saw last week, so that is still her top choice. Now we hope that she might be able to go there for a day or half a day to see what it is like on a day-to-day basis. That is next week's mission.

On trial - nearly there

2011-11-07T22:30:00.002Z

I have been training, doing the first part of the course to become a Local Preacher in the Methodist church. It is quite a challenging course, and I am only just at the beginning! I have had to do three units of work and then on Sunday, I took the service at the local chapel and two people came along with notebooks to assess me - very nerve wracking! And with this cold that I am suffering from, it was quite a challenge. The two assessors were very kind, and the feedback mostly positive, so I am very relieved!

The next step is that they will report to the Local Preachers' Meeting, in early December, and I will also be interviewed at that meeting. If the community of Local Preachers likes what it hears, they will recommend that I go forward "On trial" so that I can take services, whilst I continue with the studying - a further 17 or 18 units of work! The tutor I have just met in the last week seems to think we might manage a unit a month, but I am not so sure - there are only so many hours in a day...we have 5 years to do it, but I hope not to take that long.

Here we go on another journey - another strand to this life! Can't wait to see where it will take me, really!

A quieter day

2011-11-07T12:43:00.002Z

The days have been chasing by, and I have hardly had time to stop and gather myself. Unfortunately, I have come down with another cold, or perhaps I never really got rid of the last one, but I struggled through Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I have given up with today so far and allowed myself a bit of a duvet day so far! I have to go out for 3pm, but only for a short while, and then I will be home again. I lit the fire early this morning before the girls went off to school, so the temperature in here is quite warm.

Nasty Netball

2011-11-03T22:22:00.002Z

We don't mean that really - we girls all actually enjoy netball (well, I did when I played it!) but the problem is that it has caused us injuries! I broke my toe when I landed after catching the ball when I was about 10, and yesterday the EFG broke her finger when she caught the ball and the ball bent her finger badly.

She has had it examined and x-rayed today and strapped up, so I have to take her to the hospital to the fracture clinic for follow up on Monday. Having it in a sling for elevation has helped the pain, she says.

So, if she broke it yesterday, you are asking why it only got examined today? I thought it was only badly bruised, so I didn't take her yesterday. However, the PE teacher had her again today, and although the EFG had wanted to play again today, the teacher wouldn't let her and recommended that she get it looked at, hence the trip to the minor injuries unit after school today. The bone is not broken through, but it has chipped a little off the side near one of the joints.

We made it home from the unit and then went out again almost immediately to go to the 6th form evening at a nearby college. We quite like this college environment, and the EFG asked a lot of questions in the various departments - she is interested in Biology, Chemistry, Art and ICT. One of the computer department staff explained the difference between ICT and Computing qualifications and she has begin to consider Computing, I think, whereas last time we talked about it, it was an absolute no.

Long day, longer one on the cards for tomorrow, so off to bed now, and taking honey and hot lemon drink as I can feel a sore throat coming on, and the sneezles have already begun. The wheezles have yet to ensue!

Sticky Toffee Pudding

2011-11-02T22:21:00.002Z

A new group is trying to get off the ground in the village, an active retirement society. Although I am not old enough to be a member, the FH is, and several of my friends from the Knit and Natter group are supporting this plan, so I am being helpful too!

Tonight they held a "Pudding Evening" as an initial fundraiser and publicity event, so I made a pudding to take along. I couldn't stay to the evening as there was a Governors' meeting but I made a Sticky Toffee Pudding, and dropped it off.

I made this one from the Good Food website. And I made two! Well, never having made it before, I had to double the recipe so that the FH and UJ could do some quality control and make sure it was fit to give to the pudding-eating public! They declared it acceptable, so I allowed it to go to the party.

I couldn't eat it, but it and the sauce really do smell lovely!!

Welcome, Romania!

2011-11-01T11:45:00.003Z

All of a sudden, in the last month, the stats report 246 page views from Romania, and that is all that there are and they have all happened in the last month - so whoever is out there, welcome to the Fens! Do say "Hello" sometime!

RIP Jimmy Savile

2011-10-29T23:03:00.002+01:00

I was really sad tonight to come home from the party and read of the death of Sir Jimmy, aged 84. He was a British legend, and I have many happy memories of Saturday nights watching "Jim'll Fix It" on tv when I was a child. He sat in a huge red chair, I think, smoking enormous cigars, dripping in gold! He "fixed" some amazing things - and he did an astounding amount of fundraising, for Stoke Mandeville Hospital as well as for other things. He ran marathons, too!

He was inspirational, and the world will be poorer for his loss.

Keep smiling!

2011-10-29T14:45:00.002+01:00

Great plans don't always come to fruition, do they? I had hoped to be able to post more often here this week, but what with one thing and another, I just haven't had the time. As I have said before, reality has to come first!

I was delighted to read a list of the top 30 things that research has found make us happy. I want to share the list, so I have it here to come back to now and again. I am also really pleased that a lot of these things are cheap or even free!!

Finding a £10 note in an old pair of jeans (well, I went one better the other week and found a £20 note in the pocket of my bodywarmer but made a note to be more careful with my cash!)
Going on holiday (roll on next June)
Getting into bed with freshly washed sheets (totally wonderful!)
Swimming in the sea (not sure about that one - perhaps abroad but not here...)
Waking up on a sunny day :-)
Sitting in the sun (yep - even in the winter it's good if you are in the verandah)
Being surprised with a gift of flowers (just last Friday!)
Getting a nice message from a loved one
Cuddles (All the time )
Receiving a thank-you card in the post (sent my dad one last week for the lovely Sunday lunch)
Seeing an elderly couple holding hands
Driving a car with the window down on a sunny day
Winning £10 on the National Lottery (well, you have to be in it to win it..)
Booking your holiday (done that!)
Hearing your favourite song
Finding a bargain (my favourite sport)
Seeing an old friend
Picnic in the park
Getting a promotion
A romantic night out (must have a word with the FH about that)
A song that reminds you of your past
Looking at old photos
Making a new friend
Having a quiet moment to yourself
Walks in the country
Hearing a baby laugh (26/30? This one should be Much Higher on the list!)
A girlie/lads night out
Waking on a Saturday morning and realising it is the weekend (yes, but I still have to get up...)
Chocolate
Eating cake

Not sure how many women they polled for this research, but perhaps there were more men than women or else why was chocolate so low on the list?? This list was published in the Daily Mail today on p11. Worryingly, it says, "The hustle and bustle of everyday life means that the average person is only happy for half the week." I don't like the sound of that!

We have had a good week: the girls have each had a friend round on different nights for sleepovers, and one brought along a boxset of Merlin DVDs so they had a massive Merlin marathon! The YFG has been to the cinema twice, once with a birthday party gang, and the other with just one friend. She has seen Dolphin Tale and Monte Carlo, and reports enjoying them both. I think that Dolphin Tale is quite a tearjerker though. We have had some time at home, but the culmination of the week's activities for the girls must have been last night's Guides sleepover - I dropped them off at 5.30pm at a church hall in a neighbouring village, and collected them this morning at 11am. They have done an incident hike, apple bobbing and all sorts last night and then had a campfire this morning and toasted marshmallows. We have a closed Guiding group on Facebook so the leaders were able to share photos of the events as they progressed - they look like they had a load of fun, but they are shattered today. And we have a party to go to tonight, so they will have to find their second wind before 7pm...a friend in the village turns 60 so she is having a wee hoolie, and we are invited!

My achievement of the week has been completing a piece of knitting - a twirly scarf. I am quite pleased with it, but I did it in a multicoloured yarn and with hindsight I think it may be better in a solid colour, so I might do another one...so wish I had a camera working so I could show you!!

Sloe, sloe, quick, quick, sloe!

2011-10-22T21:54:00.002+01:00

The sloes are in the gin, and are being shaken up occasionally. One litre bottle, one 75cl bottle and a kilner jar with what wouldn't fit back into the gin bottles. Never having made it before, I went for a middle of the range gin - not the Value/Basics version, nor a branded gin, but a Sainsbury's own brand at a respectable price.

I have sold three GPO pullets and a Cockerel to one of the FH's beekeeping mates for his sister's birthday present - he came and collected them this afternoon, so that was a little money in my pockets towards the £70 feed bill I will have to pay on Monday! I am going back to buying it in bulk as the feed shop's deliveries have been unreliable - it has been very frustrating the last twice I have been in there to find that they haven't had sufficient delivered and have sold out already.

We have watched "Strictly Come Dancing" tonight - and the two favourites are Chelsee and Jason at the moment - and there doesn't seem to be anyone else coming close! The rest will have to buck up their ideas and fast!

The girls are on Half-term holidays now - so I'll try to post a bit more often. Hugs to all out there, especially those with heavy loads to bear. xx

A day in the life...

2011-10-18T21:16:00.003+01:00

There is a great post here on Rhonda's blog about "Selling our brand" which is about Home-making as a "profession" or a way of life.

In the spirit of that, I am sharing the day I have had today. Although I am "at home", I am obviously not sitting on my backside all day watching the television!

So, alarms went off today to wake us up, and I got up to wake the girls at 6.45am. I pottered downstairs at 7am, made a cuppa and turned on the Breakfast news programme. The girls came downstairs and made their breakfasts, and lunches, and then, once all their stuff was ready for school, they turned the channel over to watch part of "One Tree Hill". I drank my tea and did some knitting. Quite a bit of knitting - until about 7.55am when the girls left.

I started on the day properly then! Quick tidy round in the lounge, and a swipe of the kitchen. A quick swipe! I then put on my coat and wellies and went outside at 8.30am to let out the chickens, feed and water them, and check them over generally. This takes about half an hour.

Once I came in again, it is time for another cup of tea, and a slice or two of bacon for my breakfast - the FH has surfaced and he has some too. Time to turn on the computer, check the banks, emails and blogs I check through. By 9.45am I am back outside, booting up the washing machine in the workshop, hanging the last load done yesterday, and having a quick tidy round in the verandah where I hang the washing.

At 10.30 I started cooking the tea - shepherd's pie, cabbage and peas. All cooked and chilling for later. In between that, I get a message that another Governor needs a reference for something, as he has put a note through the door earlier whilst I was outside! I phone him, check my emails and find the form he needs me to fill in has come through, so I make a phone call to the agency that wants it to briefly discuss it, and then I fill it in and email it back. I also print off a copy to sign and send back.

By 11.30, I am preparing some paperwork for tomorrow evening's Governing Body meeting. It takes a while, and then we stop for lunch at 12.30.

After lunch, I slice up a fruit cake I made yesterday and arrange it on a platter. I also wrap another one in clingfilm and write a label with the list of ingredients on it. I stick that on the bottom!

You may have noticed that I haven't got dressed yet!! I am still in the fetching pair of leggings I pulled on when I got up, so I go and have a shower now. I put on some older gym clothes, and start to load up the car. At 2.15pm, I leave the house with spare clothes for later, the cakes, the snacks for the girls, etc, and head off.

First call is the chapel where I leave the cakes, the sliced one for the Harvest Supper refreshments and the whole one for sale in the Auction of produce. I then nip off to the Co-op in town, where I grab some potatoes and cauliflower from the Reduced section, and collide with some very old friends in the car park. We have to chat for a good while to catch up on the news since we last met, and I find out that their daughter is in an interview for a job as we were speaking - I wish her lots of luck! I then leave, at 3.20pm to nip in to see a friend from chapel who I know is going through some tough times. There is just time to have a chat and give her a big hug before I am off again to pick up the girls at 3.35pm, luckily not far away.

The girls get in the car and we head off to gym where we help the Head Coach to finish setting up the gym for the evening's sessions. The girls have a Mug Shot for their "tea" and I catch up with the Head Coach. The other coach arrives, and I get changed to move on, again! Normally I would have stayed and coached but tonight I had a meeting, so I had to leave.

I set off at 5pm to work my way through the evening traffic to a big town about 20 miles away. I arrive at the offices for a 6pm meeting and I am a little early. My colleague from the school arrives and we have a meeting there for an hour and a half. She talks and I take notes. At 7.30pm, I leave that office and call in to Tesco - the EFG has a huge blister lingering from the marathon walk the other weekend, and she needs some special blister plasters, which I eventually find.

Arriving home at 8.20pm, I find the FH here, lighting the fire, but the girls nowhere in sight. I had expected him to fetch them home from gym so I am a little puzzled but then he explains that a friend who also has a daughter at the gym class will bring them all home. Sure enough, they all turn up 5 minutes later.

We are all eating the previously prepared Shepherd's Pie by 8.45pm and then the girls start having bath/shower time. The FH watches "The Body Farm" and I am listening whilst I am typing. Still to do is the washing up and shutting up the chickens for the night - we are very lucky never to have been troubled by foxes here, or this would be too late.

This has been one of those days where I have been constantly on the go, and not at home. Other days are similar, but sometimes I get to spend more time here, when I can do more house work, ironing, etc and some gardening. Yesterday morning I spent all morning cleaning out the chooks and then spraying the shed for red mite again - then I enjoyed some time in the school, doing French conversation with some Y6 children, which was fantastic.

That would have been a better post with some photos, but the camera is still out of action! I can't charge it up because we have lost the power cord so I either wait until I find it, or can buy another one cheaply..haven't found one at the moment..

PS

2011-10-15T09:05:00.001+01:00

GO WALES TODAY!!

Winter preparations

2011-10-15T08:48:00.002+01:00

I have just updated the Winter Preparations page with a few more of the things I can cross off the list - we have had the oil tank topped up, I have sorted some candles and matches and torches out, and I found some hot water bottles and bought two. Just have to knit or make some covers for them to make them more cosy to cuddle...

We managed to get a couple of pence per litre off the price of the oil by arranging a delivery jointly with our neighbour who also needed to top up. The company, Goff's of Kings Lynn, also allowed us to apply the OAP discount that the FH is entitled to, to the whole delivery, so I was very pleased, as the neighbour was as well, as he is only in his late 40s, I think!

We haven't had the woodburner alight yet this year, although temperatures are definitely beginning to drop in the early mornings, like now, and in the evenings. I can see it being lit soon, perhaps this weekend. We are still being careful and using rugs and jumpers - there is no point using energy if we are not taking some measures to get warm as well - I see houses where the heat is clearly on and windows are open because it is too hot inside, and people are walking around in the house half naked! What a waste of energy and money....

And with Winter comes Christmas! I am beginning to make more efforts in my preparations for that too. I have plans for some presents - and I even have some presents organised already, which is a relief. I am fully stocked with Christmas cards, wrapping paper and tags, but I may need sellotape! I have one present ready for the YFG as she has mentioned something and I bought it when I saw it. I also have a stash of Tesco Clubcard vouchers, and going by the tally on the receipts, I should be getting a pleasing amount in the next round of vouchers, so they will go towards Christmas too - not necessarily in grocery shopping as I may be able to use some of them for presents in Rewards - I know of at least one subscription to a magazine I can get for one person, and then I will get some cinema tickets for the Christmas holidays too. I have built up the balance a little with the extra vouchers that they have sent me for acquiring bonus points, and taken advantage of an offer to get 500 points on ink cartridges too! I need the ink, so why not get the points too?

I am also planning to reduce the number of chickens I have to reduce the costs of overwintering them whilst they are unproductive. Plans for my life have changed and breeding chickens is no longer a big part of them, so I will be gradually moving the chickens on to new homes, or the freezer, over the next two years, and I don't plan to breed more, or buy more either.

On another topic entirely, it is a bright but chilly morning out there, but as I type I can see a young lady who has turned 12 today, quite literally flying around the estate on a new bike she must have had for her birthday. The huge grin on her face tells me that she is clearly delighted with her birthday gift, and her brother is having a hard time keeping up with her as she pedals like mad! The YFG is going to her birthday tea tonight, so I am sure we will hear all about it. Happy Birthday, T :-)

Taking time for me

2011-10-15T08:40:00.002+01:00

As I posted months ago, the doctor had recommended taking time to do something just for me, and I am happy to report that I have been doing just that!

I have knitted two pairs of wristwarmers, and I am now knitting a twirly scarf, which is coming on nicely, but may not be ready for this winter! I have to knit a whole 50g ball of wool into it, and there are only 20 stitches on the needle, so I spend as much time turning as I do knitting.

I have also helped to set up a Knit and Natter group at the chapel which meets fortnightly, so I am able to pop in there for an hour or so, turn off from everyday life and sit and knit and chat with friends - and get some help with my knitting if I get stuck! It is lovely, very relaxing and a bit of an oasis of peace when the rest of the week is busy.

I do get some knitting done at home as well, sitting in bed before I go to sleep, and occasionally when there is something good on the tv.

Pastors' wives

2011-10-12T20:24:00.003+01:00

I found this on a pastor's wife's blog - and it is so true! I must remember not to use my husband and children as examples too many times or someone will be trying to get their own back on me before too long... it's a great clip - just click on Play!

One day at a time

2011-10-10T20:43:00.002+01:00

I've plodded along through these past few days, taking it all one day at a time!

Thursday was a busy day with the Headteacher's performance management meetings in the morning and then a book sale at the school in the afternoon - lots of books to lug about. Came home and collapsed.

Friday was Knit and Natter at chapel and then gym - the last session I had to run without the Head Coach.

Saturday we were up at 5.45am to get everyone ready as the girls needed to be at the start of a long walk at 7am. They were walking laps of 6 miles to raise money for the Guide unit in the village - the day dawned cold but dry, but the EFG got wet later on. She managed 13 miles, and the YFG did 10. By the time I got home from gymnastics, the EFG was fast asleep on the sofa and the YFG was tucked up in my bed watching a DVD.

Sunday was another very early start, as we loaded up three trios of GPOs and took them over to Peterborough to the showground where the Autumn Show was held. They were penned up early and then we met up with UJ and later with my cousin, and we walked around, did some shopping, chatted with some people we met up with by accident, and had a picnic in the car. The chooks all sold by 1pm, so I collected my share of the profit after the poultry society had taken their cut, and we toddled off home. UJ took the FH with him, and they came straight home whereas the girls and I had to do a little shopping for some tea. We had done some shopping at the show - the EFG chose a beautiful wind chime with a dragon on the top of it. The dragon is jointed and moves gracefully.

And then today - I have been on a Safer Recruitment training course for the whole day. My brain is slightly fried, and I am quite tired from sitting still and lack of fresh air. I am glad I don't sit in a classroom all day any longer...some of the tales we were told today are quite harrowing to imagine, and it has given me a lot of food for thought about how we protect children in schools today. It is a Huge responsibility...

And tomorrow - back to school in the morning and then gym in the afternoon. I am looking forward to some time at home on Wednesday, although I have to attack the red mite problem again. I have bought some Poultry Shield to spray around, as it comes highly recommended. Fingers crossed xx

Three down

2011-10-05T08:43:00.002+01:00

The Head Coach went away last Thursday night, so we have managed three sessions without him so far - just one more to go! Last Friday and Saturday's sessions were OK, but yesterday's was the most challenging as my voice has diminished to such an extent that I have to use a very deep tone to make any noise at all, and that was a surprise for the girls to hear such a deep voice! There were just three of us last night to run the classes, but we did OK, and the girls worked hard. We always run the classes slightly differently when he is not there, as we work co-operatively, rather than doing as we are told by a boss, and so there is a change in the atmosphere. Not that it is bad when he is there, it is just different - I am sure that you will know what I mean - two women running things are going to do things in a different way to one man....I will be glad to have him back on Saturday though, as I have had enough of the responsibility this week, feeling as rough as I do.

The FH had to take the EFG for a routine hospital check yesterday and she saw a new consultant with some different ideas. He thinks she might have some of the symptoms of PCOS, and is also concerned about her insulin levels, so she has to be taken back to the hospital Monday morning before 8am to the ward for a blood test. Hope we get somewhere soon with all of this.

I have booked a holiday for all of us next June half-term - in Yorkshire, on the coast near Bridlington, and I am so looking forward to it. I have had to check with UJ that he is OK to come and house sit here for us whilst we go, and he is fine with that. The holiday home is a log cabin, and looks lovely - two twin bedded rooms, each with an ensuite shower room, and a lovely open plan kitchen/dining area/lounge. Enough room, but not huge. Bridlington is about four hours away, so it won't be an arduous journey, and it is close enough to Filey, Scarborough, Whitby even, that we have lots of places to go - and I am sure that there are loads of things to do in the area. Hopefully in June the weather will be decent - I am going to say "decent" rather than "wonderful" because going on this year's record, it may not be that great, but it should be OK! I have paid the deposit now, so it is all systems SAVE for the rest of the costs!

Today: a couple of meetings at school - 11am and then 1pm. Tomorrow: a meeting with the school inspector at 9.30am for a couple of hours, and then running a book sale in the afternoon. Fingers crossed that the FH's foot is OK today so that he is able to do the piano lesson run tomorrow; he had to go to the nurse yesterday for some acupuncture for gout in his toe! Seems to have worked but he is going back next week for a top up appointment.

Off to get started on the day now that the honey and hot lemon drink has done some good.

Positives and challenges...

2011-10-02T20:21:00.002+01:00

Sounds better than Ups and downs!

The positives are that we raised £133 for Macmillan at the coffee morning - so I am very grateful for everyone who supported us.

The challenge is that I have come down with an absolute stinker of a cold, with sore throat, runny nose/blocked nose (it alternates!) and a temperature....but with the Head Coach on holiday, I still have to run the gym club this week, so I am feeling a bit sorry for myself.

I am going to iron just the bits of uniform that the girls need for tomorrow and then I am off to bed to watch Downton Abbey. Hope you are healthier than me tonight!!

Baking bonanza

2011-09-29T22:34:00.002+01:00

Tomorrow morning, I am hosting the Macmillan coffee morning at chapel, so today I have been baking, baking, baking.....

Tonight, I have been over the border into Norfolk for a Local preachers' and worship leaders' meeting, which was my first experience of such things, and very eye-opening!

Given that I have to get up again quite early to get the coffee pot on in the morning, I am off to bed now! Apologies for the brevity of the post - love to all who are reading, and just keep your fingers crossed that lots of people come and donate for Macmillan!

Hafdy Birfday!

2011-09-28T08:16:00.002+01:00

That is a weird title, but the EFG couldn't say "Happy Birthday" properly when she was little, so along with "epitephs" (elephants) that phrase has become one of our particular family words!

It's my birthday today - 39 at last! Must get that list of things to do before I am 40 sorted out as now I have just a year to do them...

I have had a cup of tea brought to me in bed, along with gifts (new oven glove, new hairbrush, bath items and a fancy telephone number flip up thingamy) and cards. Birthday wishes have also appeared on Facebook this morning from friends who get up earlier than I do!

I don't intend to do an awful lot this morning - I am going to go and let the chooks out, and then I may retire back to bed for an hour or two, read a new book I bought myself (well, you have to make sure you get the right one! The Lady of the Rivers by Phillipa Gregory) and then a bath..... School meetings this afternoon, so I am having the morning "off".

Have a good day, everyone - I intend to!

Do I have rights too?

2011-09-25T20:49:00.002+01:00

I have heard about the BBC changing BC and AD in their programmes, and then I was reading in the Mail on Sunday about all the other things happening to Christians and it just gets worse. The UK is becoming so pc that it is unbelievable, and the powers that be are bending over backwards to accommodate all the other faiths and cultures that are making their homes here now that they risk alienating the Christians, but we don't seem to matter.

A Sikh bus driver often comes through the village at the wheel of a Norfolk Green bus - I know he is Sikh as he's wearing his turban. Muslim girls attend the college in a nearby town - I know they are Muslim because of the way they are dressed and their headcoverings....but how would anyone know that I am a Christian? I might choose to wear a cross on a chain at my neck, but hold on, I might get dismissed from my job if my employer decides that it is against the uniform code; I can't show silent DVDs of the Bible on my tv in my cafe in case they incite violence; if I am a Relate counsellor and say that I am unable to counsel gay couples because of my faith, I will be sacked; if I am a Registrar and refuse to officiate at civil partnerships because of my faith, I will lose my job. But if I am a Muslim and want to pray at work, they will provide me with a room to do so, and I am allowed to nip off at the appropriate time.

As Lord Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, has said, "No one wants to deny homosexual people rights, but can a way be found for Christians to have rights as well?" and I would add to that that I am perfectly happy for Muslims, Sikhs, Buddhists, humanists, atheists, etc etc to have their rights, but I don't see that they have to be at the cost of ours as Christians. I have also noted that whilst the Queen is "Defender of the Faith" as Head of the Church of England, I have heard that perhaps Prince Charles will choose to be "Defender of faiths" which is quite different. Things are changing...

Another Mary Berry cake, and busy days

2011-09-21T22:03:00.003+01:00

Yesterday was UJ's birthday so when he came over for lunch club today, I made him a fruit cake to take home with him. I looked in Mary Berry's Baking Bible and found her "Quick Boiled Fruit Cake" - there's a link to it here but this person has added bicarbonate of soda and brandy, which aren't in the recipe in the book. It turned out well, and UJ and the FH thought that it would make a good Christmas cake. They had a taste with a cup of tea this afternoon and then I wrapped it up and he took it home to enjoy this week. The FH hopes I will make another one soon!

This week I have been investigating the A level options for the EFG. There are a limited number of places she can go that are accessible from here, and so I have been looking to find out when all the Open Evenings are in order to be able to take her along to get a flavour of each venue and the courses available. We have about 6 to go to already! Most are in November.

Yesterday evening she and I attended an Art GCSE evening at school to find out how she needs to progress her art - she is in line for a good grade, but the teachers invited all of the children along last night to look at work from last year to inspire and encourage them. It was a very useful and informative evening.

Today I have entered some of my chickens in to a sale of chooks at the Autumn Show at the East of England showground. We sold some there last year, and so we are hoping for a good day this time. We enjoy the show, and UJ is interested in coming along with us this time.

My cousin turned up quite out of the blue this evening, in quite a distraught state. She had had to call in at a local bridalwear shop to cancel a fitting for a wedding dress as the wedding has been cancelled. It is a long story and not one to share, but needless to say it has come as a shock to her and of course, to us to a lesser degree - still a shock but much less impact on our lives, if you see what I mean.

Quite a few things to reflect upon this evening, and I have to take the service at chapel on Sunday, so I am thinking about that tomorrow too. Blogging has had to come second to real life at the moment, and I am sure that you will all understand!

Weekend plans

2011-09-17T21:06:00.002+01:00

The weekends just aren't long enough to get over the weeks in between, it feels! We never get a lie-in as we have gym on Saturday mornings, and an early church service at 9.30am on Sundays, so we don't sleep till noon anytime...so I should really be getting some sleep earlier in the evenings, and not be doing things until 11.30pm - note to self: go to bed earlier!!

The FH has been doing things in the garden - moving chicken fences around, and sorting out the garden shed to rehouse some chooks too. We have also stripped the greenhouse out pretty much, and are getting ready to replace the benches in there for the winter. A friend up the road has a polytunnel just installed, and I am quite envious of that, but I am not so keen on all the work involved in digging trenches around it to get the cover buried! She's welcome to all that!

There's a bit of a party going on at one of the neighbour's tonight - there are hordes of cars in the road, disco lights flashing in a marquee in the back garden, and people mooching about - but all is peaceful and I can't hear any music, so it is not bothering me. Hope they have a good party!

One of the FH's friends has been here for a cuppa this afternoon, chewing the fat - and he and the FH have been talking about a home made dehydrator - sounds good! I have been doing a bit of research on the internet tonight and found a few ideas for them to copy, so we could be looking for odd pieces of this and that to use to put one of these together; I'd love to be able to make some fruit leathers and dried apple or banana chips, for example. I could dry some of those chillies too!

Hope you are all well tonight - I'm off to do some more knitting as I want to get these wristwarmers finished soon....

Faffing around

2011-09-14T16:11:00.001+01:00

I've been playing with the stats page again, and a l0t of traffic seems to come to the blog to look at a picture on a gymnastics post from ages ago, so I've deleted the picture, just to be contrary and see what happens!! I think the ratings will fall...I may put it back again later!

Getting things done

2011-09-14T07:26:00.003+01:00

Morning all!

Wednesday here already - we are well into the swing of the week now, and more things are happening today. The FH's lunch club meets today, the girls' Guides group resumes tonight (subs due for the term too, so have just been scrabbling around in the egg money box!), and the Governing Body AGM is tonight as well.

Last night gymnastics started up for the term again too - the first week is always stressful what with all the parents trying to pay their subs for the term, thrusting envelopes, cheques and wadges of cash at me to register their payment. Last night was worse because of the renovations which have been done in the sports centre which meant that all our equipment has to be stored in a slightly different way, and it is a challenging jigsaw to get it all back in the cupboards which have been built now - it took us a little longer than usual, but hopefully we will get used to it quite quickly. I did feel quite tired after it all last night, but I always do for the first few weeks!!

Blue skies this morning, so I am planning to get some more washing done. The wind has died down a little, so more gardening work can progress too. The FH went to the wood yard yesterday to buy more gravel boards to raise the sides of my vegetable beds, but somehow didn't buy enough wood, so will have to go back for more at some point! Our list of "outside" jobs grows longer as we think of them, but we are working through them all steadily - getting the chickens into their winter quarters is top of my list at the moment. Those chicks in the photo are partly sold off now, and some of them are in their winter home. Others may yet get sold, but a few are cockerels which may be destined for a casserole.

We are having a little knitting festival here at home at the moment - the EFG has joined me in knitting wristwarmers as she wanted a pink and green stripey pair, and now she is knitting at every opportunity! She is sitting here now in the minutes before she has to go for the bus, knitting away. I'm quite impressed with her stripes, and she is doing quite well. I have finished the initial pair bar the sewing up which is waiting for a needle to use, and have also completed the first of another pair in a plain denim blue wool. I am enjoying knitting them as they are practical items which I know we will use, and they are also relatively quick to complete.