Birthday presents

 

Isn't it funny how your presents change as you get older and wiser?  I always say don't get me anything as I genuinely don't need anything.  But I think because I'm not well and off work, my work besties came to visit me and brought flowers, Prosecco and this beautiful picture.  It's my allotment!! You can see Old Stirling Bridge and the Wallace Monument plus the rugby club.  It's just fabulous!  My friend J loves to draw and paint.  She made this for me because she knows how much I love my allotment! 💕

My Lovely Mum gave me potting compost and money to buy top soil and compost in bulk for the garden and the plot.  She also got me a subscription to Kitchen Garden magazine HERE.  You can get it digitally but the actual magazine comes with seeds and gifts every month.  It's one of my favourites and a real treat 😊

I absolutely love my presents, they all have a garden theme!  I'm a very lucky girl! 💕

Vouchers, points and bonuses

 

I was woken up early this morning by an unexpected delivery.  I say unexpected as it was meant to arrive next week some time.  6 bottles of prosecco from my 'wine club.'  A few years ago I used a voucher that gave me £50 off a box of 12 bottles of wine.  Without realising, this meant that I was automatically 'signed up' to a 'wine club' and a monthly payment had been set up using the credit card I used 🙄 It took me a while but I worked out out how to pause the payments when I wanted and built up a nice balance that I could use at Christmas to buy wine for gifts (and to drink of course!) It was also convenient as you can't buy alcohol in supermarkets before 10am in Scotland so my early visits to avoid the crowds meant I couldn't buy wine.

So at the start of this year I paused the payments as usual but a few had managed to slip through.  They also give you 'bonuses' and vouchers every now and then.  As I've been going through all my spending this year I found that I still had £75 in my account!  So I logged on to see if I could get anything and found this 6 bottle deal and still have a wee balance left.  Free delivery plus they'll leave it in my safe place if I'm out.  Excellent!  I now have 6 bottles of lovely fizz (not free but feels like it!!) to gift in the coming year.  

I'm planning to make some fabric bottle bags and I'll reuse some bags I already have in my stash.  I'm also planning to make some liqueurs using up the fruit still lurking in my freezer.  I could fill wee bottles and gift with the fizz to make a cocktail! 💡 I'll add a wee recipe gift card to the bag.

It made me wonder how many vouchers/points I've accumulated in other places.  I've got £40 worth of points available on my Nectar card, I've got 101 Tesco clubpoints (worth £1!!) and the M&S credit card that I use for everything usually earns me a £3 to £5 voucher per quarter.  I've got a plan for the Nectar points 😉 so I'll report back on that next week hopefully.

I also asked for M&S vouchers for Christmas.  As I'm not buying any new clothes in 2023 I will probably need new underwear at some point!  Thanks to my Lovely Mum 😘  My sister gave me a Dobbies voucher so that's earmarked for seed potatoes or onion sets in the Spring!  Thanks sis! 😘

I had some leftover mashed potatoes so made a big batch of tattie scones to use it up.  I say leftover but I always make more than I need any way! Recipe HERE

And Emma has picked up a nasty doggy virus that gave her bloody diarrhoea 💩 Normally I'd just give her scrambled egg or chicken and rice for a few days but the blood made me take her to the vet.  £105 later plus a ton of drugs and she's feeling a bit better today.  I just need to deep clean my cream carpet again...

Playing with fire

 

Well, playing with candles really!  As if I needed a new hobby 😂

But I've had great fun today playing with soy wax, dyes and scents.  It seems simple enough, melt the wax add the colour and scent and pour into a jar.  I'm already obsessed with creating the perfect candle and I'm loving it!  My house smells amazing!!

Easter Monday

I had to go into town this morning with The Teenager to sort out his contact lenses contract.  I needed a few bits n bobs so had to look round the shops while I was there.  I had a £5 voucher for M&S so went to have a look at their ballet pump style shoes as I need a summery pair for work.  I like their Footglove shoes and they do half sizes (I'm a UK size 4 1/2) so know they fit me.  I saw these and really liked them.  Ok they're an animal print but they're actually pretty neutral and very comfy. They have a wee wedge so aren't completely flat, which I really like.  I ended up paying full price as my voucher had just expired!  GRRR!! Note to self *check voucher dates*

OH is off on holiday to Australia on Wednesday and this baby blanket is going with him as a gift for an old friend's wee girl.

I started this ages ago for another friend's baby and never finished it as I made her a quilted play mat instead.  It was going to be a Tweed Baby Blanket which is a modern twist on a traditional Shetland  Hap Shawl I didn't have enough yarn (I used it for other baby knits) to do the feather and fan lace edging, so simply crocheted a wee edge.  Yarn is Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino in Clotted Cream and Mocha.  It is currently blocking on a damp towel so I hope it will be dry in time to be wrapped and packed tomorrow night! I'm glad I've been able use this as the yarn was pricey.  It's not cost me anything as I had already bought the yarn ages ago so is a sunk cost (one of the few accounting tricks I picked up from the ex!!!)

Yesterday I made a roast dinner and tried this mix for GF Yorkshire puddings.

Looks a bit different from the packet!!!  This is the second time I've tried to make a dairy and gluten free version and both times it didn't rise.  Might give up.

I had lots of leftover veggies so they got turned into soup.  One serving for today's lunch and one to take to work tomorrow.  Officially I am now job sharing but I agreed to do some extra cover tomorrow and Wednesday.  So over the next few days I'll be teaching 5 different classes then my own on Thursday and Friday.

Then I'm on holiday for 2 weeks!  WOOHOO!!!!

Things making me smile today

 

I had a visit today from 2 of my oldest friends.  I've reached the stage where I find I can count true friends on the fingers on one hand.  I have many 'friends' that I've not seen in the last 5 years.  Guess they're not really friends then.  This couple are the kind of friends that you might not see for ages then when you do get together it's like you saw them last week :-) Although we've met up a few times in the last few years they hadn't seen my house so they came for lunch today and brought me a housewarming present.  A purple teapot and butter dish to match my purple tiles!  They know me so well :-)

 

And something else that made me smile.  These are some of The Teenager's toiletries.  I discovered he's cut off the top of the Nivea tube to get the last of the cream out.  Chip off the old block ;-)

Busy busy busy!

 

Thank you so much for all the lovely comments on my last post.  I'd love to be able to say it's been a better week but that would be a lie.  We have a young probationer teacher who lives near me so I've been taking her home some nights.  This week she admitted that she goes home exhausted every night and just cries.  That tells me something is very wrong with our profession.  She should be perky and full of annoying enthusiasm, not demoralised after just 3 weeks.  Everyone I know who's not in teaching keeps telling me to change jobs.  It's not so easy at my age and frankly the salary is too good compared to everything else.  However, I am applying for another job in a different school.  Maybe a change of venue will help.

 

Meanwhile I'm keeping busy.  OH and his teenogre are away all weekend doing boy stuff so I've been busy doing house and garden stuff.  I let the chickens out to free range round the garden.  It was a lovely autumnal day here.  They were a bit timid at first but were soon pulling up my weeds!

 

The view from inside

Ha ha, the view of Emma from outside!! She's still inclined to 'rush' at the girls so for their first outing I kept her inside.  Lucy stayed out though.  She didn't even bat an eyelid.  She's so chilled. 

 

There's not much colour left in the garden.  But my Echinacea plants are in flower.  Sadly no bees though. 

 

A lone flower

 

And a wee splash of orange in the corner

 

Today I've been busy baking.  Some banana bread (left) and Helen's Brilliant Bread (right)

I used up some shop bought eggs to make Broccoli and Goat's Cheese muffins and Sweetcorn muffins.  No flour, just eggs, veg and cheese.  Even The Teenager liked them!!  I'm going freeze what's left (!) for lunches next week.

 

I also started some blackcurrant gin using this method. My lovely mum gave me a bottle of gin ages ago but I seem to have 'gone off' gin.  Weird, huh?  Waste not, want not.  I had some blackcurrants in the freezer so started a batch today.  In a few months it'll be ready to bottle.  That's some Christmas presents sorted already.  I read about Karon's strawberry gin jam this week so think I'll have a go at Blackcurrant Gin Jam too.  Double waste not, want not!

 

Today's quick pop in to Sainsbury's resulted in a box of ripe mangoes.  I haven't decided what I'll do with them yet.  Maybe just blitz and freeze for smoothies.  Or mango chutney.  Decisions, decisions ;-)

Re gifting

Do you re gift?  A quick straw poll with friends suggests that this question has a clear yes or no answer. 

Some people consider it rude but on a practical (and frugal) level it makes sense to pass on gifts you know you won't use.  The tricky part is not offending the gift giver or, as in the extreme cartoon above, the recipient!!

For example, I was given lots of lovely gifts from the children in my class, many of them edible things that I cannot eat.  So when I was making up some Christmas baskets with my marmalade and chutney I was able to add in some posh biscuits and chocolates as well.  Win/win!

I was also given red wine.  I've never been able to drink red wine (it triggers a migraine) so I took it to my lovely mum who does like it.  And I told her it was a gift I couldn't use.  She doesn't mind, she likes nice wine!

Other presents I know I won't use I generally pass on to the charity shop.  They might be just what someone else wants and the charity benefits too.

In recent years I have told my family not to buy me anything.  I genuinely don't need anything. I'm still sorting through the last of my boxes from moving house over a year ago which is full of stuff I've been given.  The easiest way to avoid clutter is stop it from making itself at home in the form of unwanted gifts!

Whisky Marmalade

At the start of the year OH bought 2 bags of oranges only to discover when he got them home they were Seville oranges.  He figured I'd be able to use them so they got popped into my freezer and stayed there until my clear out last week.  So, today I made marmalade using a combination of recipes.

 

Whisky marmalade

 

1kg of Seville oranges

1.6kg of preserving sugar

juice of 1 lemon

2 litres of water

3 tablespoons whisky

 

 

I used the recipe on the bag of preserving sugar as my starting point.  It said to boil, cover and simmer the oranges whole for 2 hours.  To save energy I put them in my slow cooker with the lemon juice and water for 5 hours on high then left them overnight to cool.

This morning I scooped out the flesh, pith and pips and put it all in my jam pot with the cooking liquid.  I boiled it for 6 minutes then passed it all through a sieve back into the pan.

 

I added the finely shredded peel to the pan with the sugar and stirred it on a low heat until the sugar dissolved.

It was then boiled for 20 minutes until it reached setting point. I left it to cool for 20 minutes before adding some Glenfiddich whisky.  Then I potted it into sterilised jars.

It made a lovely dark caramel tasting marmalade and only cost me 12p for the lemon (note the bottle of Pear liqueur!)

The oranges were a gift as they were a mistaken purchase by OH, the preserving sugar was included in my free food shop and the whisky came from my stash of miniatures that I collected from many black tie dinners in my old life. 

I'm going to make up some food baskets for Christmas presents.  They'll have some marmalade and Apple and plum chutney and maybe some crackers or biscuits.

I was in Lakeland today when I spotted this gluten free bread mix.  At £4.19 it makes 2 loaves which is cheaper than the other bread mix I use  and has recipes ideas for a few other items.  I bought several things including the lovely bottle which now contains the finished Pear Liqueur (which is rather delicious) and spent enough to get a £5 voucher off for January.  If the bread mix is successful I'll use it to stock up on more mixes.

First present delivery is scheduled for tomorrow so looks like I need to get wrapping!

Forward planning

While I'm hopeful that things are about to happen I'm not counting my chickens yet.  But I can't just sit and do nothing so I'm planning ahead.  I'm trying to use up stuff in my freezers so they can be moved empty.  I found 2 bags of blackcurrants from my mum's garden at the bottom of one.  While I like them they're a bit too tart for me just using them on their own.  So I decided to make some cassis which I can use for gifts.

 

Blackcurrants plus sugar and topped up with cheap gin or vodka.  Shake once a day until all the sugar has dissolved and then store for 2 months to mature before straining and bottling.  I did these last night and already they're turning a glorious blackcurranty colour.

I scored some great bargains at Sainsbury's last night.  Fish pie with salmon for 10p!! Popped it into the freezer for a lazy supper next week. The Teenager loved the fancy yogurt.  It's a new luxury brand The Collective and costs £2.39 a tub. I'd never pay that much so I was pleased I got it for 59p. 

I feel a potato related post may be next as that's a big bag for just 2 of us!!

Dye and chives

This is a blouse I've had for at least 10 years.  Nice fitted body but sleeves and collar are too manly for my taste.  Although it's in good condition it wasn't quite as white as I'd like.

So I chucked it in the washing machine with few white cotton t shirts that had seen better days and a packet of Tulip Red fabric dye that was given to me.  Now that's pretty red looking!!

I'm rather pleased with the result!  But I'm not finished yet.  I'm going to remove the floppy collar and do something with those sleeves.  Watch this space!! (and I still have 5 other packs of dye in different colours!)

Elaine over at MF reminded me I wanted to make chive flower vinegar.  Last year I had hardly any flowers so didn't bother.  This year I have several clumps of chives in flower so started a batch.  I checked this morning and it's already taking on that lovely purple colour.  That's a litre of white vinegar so there will enough for me to use and some to put in pretty bottles to gift.  A really easy frugal gourmet gift.

***quick how to make chive flower vinegar now on my other blog***

Approved

This wee lavender heart was my first handmade gift of the year.  It was for OH's mum who gave it a big seal of approval! Very pleased that I've started my handmade gift giving with a positive response.  It's my nephew's 19th birthday next week and I have to confess I'm stumped for a handmade gift for him that meets his approval.

I need to do a big supermarket shop today or tomorrow so am working on a weekly meal plan.  I used to do this when there were 5 of us and there was lots of coming and going with after school activities and evening events.  Then it was to make my life easier but now it's all about saving money.

I forgot to post that the 'cost' of my Christmas dinner was just over £42 :-) Well within my points value.  And there was enough leftovers to last several days.  I've even got some of them in the freezer for future use.  This convinced me that with careful planning I can do this on a regular basis.

Last night I placed my first order with Approved Foods (AF) They sell discounted food online.  It's usually out of date, short date or just surplus end of lines.  I've been looking at them for ages and was registered but since I rarely buy packaged foods I didn't place an order.  Until I saw they had sports powder at £2.99 for a 1.170kg tub!  It's normally £18.99!!! I got 4 so I'm hoping this will last the teenager all year and save me a small fortune buying sports drinks.  I'll work out the numbers when it arrives.

One day into the new year and I've made a good start :-)

It's beginning.....

.....to look a lot like Christmas! :-)  I was feeling very Christmassy yesterday when I found my box of cookie cutters so I knocked up a batch.  They're just flour, sugar, butter and golden syrup.  So easy to make and taste yummy!

 

I might make some gingerbread ones next week.  I'd love to hang some from my tree but I suspect the dogs would be too tempted!!

I bottled my blackcurrant vodka yesterday (see my snow out the window?)  The blackcurrants were from my mum's garden (I had hardly any this year) and had been lurking in the freezer before I added them to vodka and sugar.  They've been steeping quietly in a cupboard for a month.

I also have a bottle of toffee vodka on the go as well but I'm not happy with it yet.  Think I'll need to add more toffees to it to get the desired consistency.

I like to make up gift baskets containing jams, chutney and a wee bottle of something alcoholic for family and friends.  Easy, inexpensive and always appreciated by the recipients

Tartan remnants and marinade jars

This unpromising bag of remnants caused great excitement when it arrived this morning.

After a little bit of sorting out and colour coding this is what was in there.  £8 worth (half price in their clearance sale) of Scottish tartan remnants from a bespoke kiltmaker.  Most of it is 100% wool and can be felted for use in my Etsy projects.  A small amount has silk in it so I'll need to find a use for it too.  Total weight 1kg.

There are 32 different tartans.  I've sorted them into reds, blues, pink/purples, greens and browns.  I'm planning to make an advent calender for a Christmas Fayre so can make the 24 wee pockets all different.

A quick pop into M&S found these wee jars of marinade reduced from £1.55 down to 40p.  I tried one the other day and used it like a stir fry sauce (yummy!)   But when I washed out the jar I thought it was the perfect size for filling with a festive preserve to add to a gift basket.  So I bought 10 and used my £4 vouchers so effectively I have 10 free stir fry sauces and 10 jars to recycle into gifts.

And reduced local strawberries never go to waste round here!!!

Babies

Not everyone appreciates a handmade gift but the exception seems to be a gift for babies.  What's cuter than a teeny babe in a soft hand knitted cardigan?  It has been suggested to me that I knit baby items to sell.  But people are not prepared to pay a fair price for the labour involved.  Take the wee cardigan below.  It took me around 6 hours to knit and finish off.  Even paying myself minimum wages and adding in the cost of the yarn would make the price tag around £42.  Not enough people are prepared to pay that amount for a garment that will only fit for a month or 2 and needs to be washed and dried frequently.

But the pleasure for me is in the knitting so when the gift is handed over it's out of my hands if the recipient appreciates it or even uses it.

Baby cardigan knitted in Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino, colour mink, size 0 to 3 months.  It's beautifully soft!

Cuddle bunny blanket also knitted in Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino, colour clotted cream

Baby vest knitted in Sirdar Snuggly, colours navy and lime green. Size 6 to 9 months.  Machine washable and tumble dry-able!

All 3 items were knitted from my vast stash of yarn so cost nothing in monetary terms.  And I loved knitting them :-)

Keep Calm

Well what else can I do?  I am not going to waste time and energy on something I can't change so I'll carry on as normal.  I'm going to keep saving money, after all it will be useful for moving house.  Then when I'm in my new house I can reassess my plans and re name my blog.

So another late night raid on the supermarket scored some reduced raspberries, cherries and a large pineapple.  Not massive amounts but enough to make a couple of jars of yummy jam.  Some to use and some to gift.

And I've added a few more things to my Etsy shop, some wee Scottie Dog brooches.  They're about 5cm/2 inches in size.  They're perfect for using up all the wee end bits of tartan.  Bit fiddly but I can make one from scratch in 30 mins now.

I've sold a couple of things and have 2 special orders.  Like I said it won't make me fortune but I'm loving it and it's all mine :-)

Pickled beetroot

I've gotten into the habit of visiting my supermarket just before it closes.  I'm in Stirling a couple of times a week for the teenager's sporty activities so we pop in on the way home.  Sometimes I'm lucky and pick up some bargains, sometimes there's nothing usable.  That's half the fun!!

Last night I picked up some reduced beetroot.  2kg for 40p!  I love beetroot, roasted or pickled.  Since I'm looking ahead to making gifts for Christmas and for hostess gifts I decided to pickle this lovely lot.

I used:

2kg of beetroot
1 litre distilled vinegar
1 sachet Schwarz pickling spice
100g sugar (optional but I think it takes the harshness off the vinegar)

Trim the beetroot but leave some stalks on to stop it bleeding.  Bake wrapped in foil for 90mins.  Test beetroot is soft and remove from oven.

While the beetroot is baking put vinegar, spices and sugar (if using) in a pan and bring to the boil.  Remove form heat and leave to infuse.

Let the beetroot cool enough to handle and peel.

Wear gloves if you don't want people to think you've murdered someone!!

Slice or quarter beetroot and pack into sterilised jars.

Pour strained vinegar to top of  jar. Label and store for at least a few weeks.

Beetroot cost 40p and the vinegar cost £1.48.  I already had the pickling spice and sugar so 7 jars of pickled beetroot cost less than £2.  Some for me and some for gifts :-)