A word on potatoes

 

We keep getting told there's going to be a shortage of fresh British vegetables this year especially field grown veg because of the really wet weather.  Some farmers haven't even bothered to plant anything at all.  I'm a bit concerned as I didn't get any veg or potatoes planted at the allotment this year so I know I'm definitely going to be lacking in spuds.  So I'm exploring other sources.  I've tried tinned potatoes in the past and they're ok but they use calcium chloride to keep them firm.  I do have a couple of tins in my storecupboard just for emergencies.  They're fine in soups and casseroles.

I've been trying the instant mashed potatoes as another storecupboard standby.  This Tesco one doesn't have any nasty additives although it does have palm oil.  I 'think' most palm oil is responsibly sourced now but I need to look into it a bit more.  I made a 'deconstructed' cottage/shepherd's pie with some turkey mince I had in the freezer.  It was actually very nice although I did add extra butter and salt to the instant mash.

I had some leftover instant mash so made some tattie scones.  There are only 2 left so that tells you they were quite good!  These 2 will go in the freezer.  You can't beat fresh potatoes but it's good to have a back up just in case.

My DIL scooped up some reduced baking potatoes for me last night, 87p for 7 potatoes.  I'll bake these, cut them in half and stuff them with cheese and butter.  They freeze well so I'm stocked up on potato ideas for a wee while 😋

I got a Tesco delivery yesterday.  I'm starting to build up my stock again on a few storecupboard and bathroom essentials.  There's no alcohol or high value items in there but those 2 bags cost £98.  I don't drink bottled water as I'm lucky enough to have excellent soft drinking water but I like to keep some for emergencies.  Twice in the last few years I've had no water due to burst water mains and was caught out!  See HERE!

I can't believe we're almost at the end of June. I've given myself some grace on my finances as moving house always throws up unexpected costs.  But starting 1st July the serious business of living on just my pension begins.  I have very little savings left so it's a bit scary.  This was always the plan.  I've talked about it for so long now it's time to actually do it!!! 

Painting and digging

 

I'm a bit at a standstill until I get my new shed put up as all my main DIY stuff is still packed away in boxes buried deep at the back of the spare bedroom.  But I ordered some paint any way and managed to find some random paintbrushes.  Yes that's bright pink kitchen cupboard paint! 😉

The bookcase has had one coat of Annie Sloan chalk paint in Giverny blue.  It's much brighter in real life.  It'll get another coat and then finished with wax to protect it. The inside and shelves will be orange.  Barcelona orange to be exact! But I'll need to decant all the books first 😂

I'm using some old cast iron bed supports as book ends so they've just had a first coat of orange. They're really heavy!  I love chalk paint as there's no prep and you can literally paint anything!

Outside, I've been digging out the existing border in my back garden.  It was so full of weeds and no plants at all!  The right hand corner wasn't too bad but as I've got over to the other side I've found some old rotting membrane under the weeds.  I knew it was there as Luna has been ripping off the bits sticking out and chewing them!!

Both my brown (compostable garden waste) and black (non recyclables) bins are now full so I've laid the offending membrane on some cardboard to dry out so I can maybe pull off more of the plant material.  If the bins are too full or too heavy they won't get emptied!! 

I'm planning to fill the border (once I've painted the fence) with the plants I brought from my old garden and maybe just a few from bargain corner too!!

My poor allotment

 

My plot is a mess 😞 I haven't been over since Easter when it was so wet and muddy I was advised by a seasoned plot holder it was too wet to plant my potatoes.  Obviously moving house then took priority and in those 2 months, it's turned into this! 😳

I had more or less resigned myself to getting a warning from the committee although I have kept them up to date with the changes going on in my life.  Then unexpectedly a kind wonderful committee member offered to help me get it cleared enough to get planting.

She messaged me on Saturday to say she'd 'made a start.'  Omg I went over this morning and it's more than half cleared!!  I was so overwhelmed 😭

I had Luna with me on a long lead and despite having been a long walk, she went crazy!  I think it's all the smells, Emma was the same.  But using just one hand I was able to plant out my surviving shallots and threw netting over my fruit bed.  Last year the birds ate all my berries (see HERE) so I'm taking no chances this year!! 

Long term I don't know what to do about the allotment.  I can't work it when I have Luna with me and she can't go back to doggy day care until August (3 months after her season has finished and she's been spayed.)  She's not used to being left on her own in the house although I'm working on this.  I'm going to try taking her there as often as I can in the hope that she'll eventually calm down a bit.  But I'll not be able to work it properly while she's there.  Fingers crossed I can keep it ticking over until August at the very least.

Best yellow sticker bargain ever?

 

I can't claim credit for this one.  Now that my son and DIL live right in the town centre they can nip into M&S and the Sainsbury's Local just before closing and scoop up any bargains.  This is an Indian meal bag for 2 reduced from £9.25 to 10p.  Yes, 10p!!!!

My DIL froze it for me in their freezer and I picked it up when I took my son to work.  It's now in my freezer and will make 2 very nice treat meals for me at some point.  Since we all lived together we know what each other likes so we're always on the lookout for good bargains to share.

I don't think I've ever had such a good yellow sticker bargain on it's own!!  She's an expert now! 😊

Another birthday!!

 

I am terrible at remembering dates and often mix up days and dates.  When I was teaching I always made a point of double checking I'd made a note of the correct date against the correct day.  Well, true to form I mixed up Luna's birthday 🙄🙄🙄 TODAY 11th June is her 1st birthday!! 😂😂😂  She doesn't mind!!

She absolutely loves her new garden, mainly as it's all grass atm.  I have plans 😉  I'm loving all the daisies and buttercups.  Seeing all the daisies reminded me of Frugal Lizzy Bee on YouTube making daisy balm.  Check it out HERE

So I picked some from the edges of the grass where I know for sure Luna hasn't peed there!  I've previously made salves/balms from my calendula flowers so this is a new one for me.  They're currently drying out on my bedroom window.  I'll keep you posted! 🌼

EDIT:  Another of my favourite knowledgeable YouTube channels on foraging and herbal stuff is Home is Where Our Heart Is.  They also show you how HERE

Cheese scones

 

I'm a bit obsessed with cheese scones at the moment.  I made a batch yesterday to test my oven for baking but remembered too late I didn't have a rolling pin any more (DIL took hers with her.)  So I gently patted the dough out into a round and cut it into wedges as I remembered seeing triangular scones before.  It worked out really well!  I'm doing it this way from now on!  Quicker and less faff than cutting them out 😋

Recipe loosely based on a BBC food recipe.  I'm writing it down so I don't have to keep searching for it!!

• 225g plain flour
• 3 tsp baking powder
• pinch of salt
• 1/4 tsp cayenne powder
• 55g chilled unsalted butter
• 100 to 120g finely grated cheese (depends on how strong it is!)
• 90 to 100ml milk

Sieve dry ingredients together.  Rub in butter until breadcrumb consistency. Stir in cheese. Add about 90ml milk to form a dough.  Add more milk if needed.  Gently roll/pat dough into a round and cut into 6 equal triangle pieces.  Brush tops with remaining milk and put on baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Bake at 200C/180C fan for 15 mins.

The weather here has been very cold for June.  Last night we had hailstones for a full 10 mins!  The sky was black on one side and brilliant sunshine on the other!  Luna was bemused, as was I!!!

A quick bathroom fix

 

The shower screen in the bathroom is useless.  It has a 1cm gap at the bottom and just isn't big enough to stop water splashing out all over the floor.  And I was being really careful!  So I decided to get a shower curtain instead.  Isn't it pretty?!  I used one of those tension no drill rods so we'll see how long it stays up!!!

I did try to take the glass screen down but the screws are so rusted in and it just wouldn't budge.  I can swing it out the way against the wall though.  It just fits neatly beside the heated towel rail which was once chrome but someone painted white.  Badly! 🙄

The sealant around the bath was very dodgy so I've covered it up with a sticky caulk strip.  It looks better but again I'll see how long it lasts.  Just a few quick DIY fixes so I can have a shower or a bath without flooding the floor!! 🚿🛀

Costs: shower curtain £11.99, shower rail £20.87, sealant tape £7.99 for 2 x 3m rolls (I only used 1 roll)

Happy 1st birthday Luna!

 

Luna is one year old today!  It's hard to believe that she's completely healthy and all grown up.  She's now 26kg which is about the average weight for a female Lab her size/build.  She's booked in for her wee op next month so there will be no wee Lunas running about!!

Today she 'helped' me build a flat pack bookcase.  I've made a mistake putting a bit at the top that should be on the bottom and vice versa.  But to undo it would mean me taking the whole thing apart and that ain't happening for a decorative piece of wood!!  I'll maybe add a trim over it and call it a hack!  My plan is to paint it a bright colour, maybe orange or turquoise.  Paint samples are on their way!

But I have too many books and not enough space to build another bookcase anywhere else.  I need to cull some (I've already culled them by half before moving!) or find other ways to display them.  I have at least 2 more boxes upstairs plus the ones in my bedroom 😮

How much???

 

Have you seen the price of sheds???  Oh my goodness I went down a rabbit hole and know more about sheds than I thought I ever wanted to know!  I need a 7ft x 5ft shed.  That's the size of the slabbed area where the previous one stood!  At least I don't have to pay for that!  They range in price starting at around the £400 mark.  That's just for the shed.  Sometimes you need to buy the base and the floor separately.  You might need to pay extra for delivery.  And if you want someone to build it obviously that's extra too!

I considered a cheap one and I considered putting it up myself (I've built a small one myself before) but in the end I took Groatie's suggestion (huge thanks!!) of using a local company that build bespoke wooden structures.  Shed, delivery and construction in my garden is costing me £890.  I could have bought one from B&Q for a similar price so I'm really happy I'm supporting a local family run business.  My Lovely Mum gave me some money as a house warming present so I'm using that to pay for some of it.  It should arrive in 3 weeks!

Once I have a shed to store things, I can start to play Tetris with all the 'stuff' in the back bedroom then I can get started with the serious DIYing.  In the mean time I'll be stripping the wallpaper in the lounge and painting something in the kitchen 😉

I'm in!

 

I'm in my new house!  The move went fairly smoothly despite a bit of hanging about in town for a few hours waiting for money to be transferred and collecting keys.  It took longer as there were 2 properties I guess.  

Luna survived her first stay in kennels.  She was confused as to why we were somewhere different but all our stuff was here.  She loves her new garden especially the grass, which she'll wreck in no time! 🙄

As expected the house needs completely redecorated from top to bottom.  There's random wallpaper ripped or hanging off the walls.  They've badly painted many rooms where you can clearly see the previous colour and even painted over drawing pins left in the wall!!

They took the lightbulbs AND the wee ring that holds on the lightshades.

They left the curtain poles but took all the rings and finials.  Luckily I had a pack of rings (only 10 though) so I could at least get my bedroom curtains up.

They took the shed and rotary washing dryer from the garden, one of the French doors is missing the key so it can't open and the gate wouldn't shut.

Before I collected Luna I went to B&Q and got some bolts so that was the first DIY job done 👍

I also popped into Tesco to get a few basics and picked up 4 new mugs to match the 2 I already had.  I'm quite particular about mugs and these are big with a fine edge.  Plus they were only £2 with my Clubcard.

The kitchen deserves an entire post to itself!!!!!

My friend came over yesterday to help me unpack some boxes and I've moved the living room furniture around a few times until I got a layout I think will work.

I've got my broadband up and running so I can start ordering stuff I need, like new light fittings!! 💡

Despite all the work this wee house needs, it actually feels good.  I think I will be very happy here for a long time 😊