Much Less Spent This Month - And An Explanation for Ana and Others

 After the expenses of April with several annual bills falling due plus dentist and heating oil, May was much better. The only known extras above the normal monthly spending were ED and EGS birthdays and car breakdown insurance.

The normal outgoings are Council Tax, Phone and broadband, monthly electric bill, charity donation, diesel for the car (two lots this month as I've been out and about) totalled £375 and food of course. 

Then there is always something that needs buying in a house- this month I needed new AA batteries and some mastic to redo around the shower enclosure base. All was going well with not too much spent until the cold tap in the en-suite started drip, drip, dripping. BiL looked but said it's one of those new ones without a washer but with a 'cartridge' thing instead, and you have to have the right one. He didn't fancy the job - so I had to call in a proper plumber! Got a recommendation for someone local and it was soon sorted but cost £85! Yikes. - and that was someone reliable who didn't rip off old people!

Garden spending totalled £9.38 for parsley from aldi, courgette plants, bean plants, trailing thyme and a clay flowerpot  from car-boot sales.

A wide top small clay pot for the plant stand to replace one that was starting to be frost damaged

Food spending was up this month, after two lower spend months. Mainly due to replacing items that had been used up to restock the freezer and cupboards. Although prices of things like milk and other dairy products have gone up. I had a pensioners discount Fish and Chip meal for £5 as I'd not had one for a few months and coffee out three times. 

A few frugal notes for those who like to read the list.............

• Gift of bundle of  Rhubarb from my sister. Mine is not doing well.
• Big bundle of asparagus for £1.50 from boot sale, made me two meals with poached egg and wholemeal bread.
• Eggs from roadside stall are still just £2 a dozen
• Found a really good quality t-shirt for £3.49 from charity shop. Lovely jade green and looks hardly worn.
• 4 x 25L bags of free compost from District Council giveaways
• BiL had a small bag of tile cement in his garage which I borrowed so I could re-attach some of the quarry tiles on the front step.
• Reading library books for free
• Home made bread from the bread-maker - 50/50 wholemeal/white this month
• Dishwasher used only every 2 or 3 days
• Washing machine used twice a week only
• Tumble dryer not used all month
• Lights not needed until 8.30 in the evenings for reading.
• Two big bags dishwasher salt for £2 from boot sale
• New kitchen sieve from boot sale 50p
• No flowers bought - I've been bringing in a few roses from the garden.
• Given up feeding the birds for the summer as the huge starling family are clearing out the mealworms and fat balls in 10 minutes. Just leaves the starling proof sunflower heart feeder.
• Free referral to physio appointment for next month to look at my knee problem.
• Made 4 x Two cheese, onion, spinach puff pastry bakes  - instead of buying more 'vegetarian taste test' products.
• Cooked up a big batch of Quorn and vegetable korma curry - 10 meals total
• I put the refill filters for my water jug on my Amazon wish list and keep an eye on the prices because they go up and down. This month they went down by £3 to £9.99 for the pack of three so I ordered, I've still got one filter left in the cupboard so OK now for a year of good filtered water for the coffee maker and to drink with no limescale.
• I use Sensodyne small head toothbrushes and found packs with buy two get one free, so got two packs, 6 toothbrushes should last me a while. Sensodyne toothpaste is cheaper at Aldi than anywhere else.
• First few strawberries from my few plants and  handful of  Very early raspberries - they were a surprise find.

 Personal spending included the first  book find of the year from a boot-sale for £1 and then another for another £1, the old scrap book, mentioned earlier in the month. A much needed hair cut, exercise group, jigsaw puzzle and a new Puzzler Magazine. I also printed out a couple of grandchildren photos for my frames. The £10 spent at Sibton church for 5 books, a birthday card, coffee and sausage roll was added to the charity part of the accounts (clever accounting!)

Finally a special treat..........a   subscription to Discovery+ TV so I can watch the French Open Tennis. Just have to remember how to cancel after a month. Discovery+ has amalgamated with TNT Sports, and cost a lot more than last year , but I decided I'd rather have this than an outing to the Mid Suffolk Railway for their 1940s day, which I'd pencilled in the diary - especially as it was wet and chilly and I don't bother with the big Suffolk Agricultural Show now, so that's a saving of nearly £30 anyway. After the first 3 days of tennis there were still 6 Brits going into the second round of matches and Cam Norrie and Jack Draper both played well to get through. By Thursday evening all the women were out and just  three British men left, apparently that's the first time since 1968 that there have been three British men in the third round. There will be at least one of them in the 4th round as Cam Norrie and Jacob Fearnley play each other today. Still several Brits in various double matches which never get as much publicity.

Looking forward - June is usually a good low-spend month, the only extras above the normal are the annual payment for the Garden Waste Bin. But whenever I say it's going to be a low spend month something usually happens to upset that plan so I didn't ought to mention it - ooops too late! 

Have a good weekend and I'll be back soon. 

And here is my explanation of why I use the mobile library-

The mobile libraries (3 in Suffolk) travel around all the villages so that people can go on and choose books or collect books they have reserved on line, especially useful in villages that are many miles from a physical library building and especially useful for elderly who can't drive. We can reserve books on line and ask for them to be sent to any Suffolk library or to the mobile library. I have read so many books in my 70 years that most of what I read are new books by favourite authors and I rarely find books I want actually on the shelves.
If the books go to a library building they have to be collected within one week of arriving there whereas the mobile saves them up to bring all at once. Also I can keep books for up to two visits (that is 8 weeks) where as people borrowing from town libraries have them stamped for just 3 weeks.
Yes I could drive to a library but it seems silly to do that when I can stroll up the road once every four weeks to collect my books. If I was to use a town library I would need to drive to town (10 miles or 20 minutes) every week to collect my books.
The mobile library service is always under threat of stopping as it is gradually used less and less. When I worked on one we had 5 mobile libraries covering the whole County (several 100 villages) and visiting every two weeks. Now there are just 3 visiting every 4 weeks.
The mobile libraries have depots in 3 different parts of the County where they park and where all books waiting to go on the various routes are stored so my books are not actually somewhere where I can go and collect them at the moment. Hence hoping that the delivery van (a small van that takes reserved books and new books around to all 40 libraries in the County) will bring my books to my nearest library before the next mobile visit at the end of June.
For the last 20 years I have been using the mobile libraries as it's a case of use them or lose them.
.

Most People are Good People and The Missing Library Van but It's OK.

When you read about the terrible things some people do to others it's lovely to know that on the whole most people are good people. That's what everyone agreed after yesterdays post. Thank you again Lisa.

The grandchildren were here yesterday and very excited to visit the library van with me  - except it didn't turn up! Later I found out that due to illness it was off the road. They had emailed but the connections were so bad yesterday morning that the email didn't get to me until late afternoon. I should have been collecting 15 books - aaaaagggghhhhh .....NOTHING TO READ!

 (Poor connection might explain why the French Open tennis on TV wasn't working properly most of yesterday too) 

But as Granddaughter said "Nanna you've got about 5,000 books at home!" - she's exaggerating........... ..................fortunately or unfortunately?!

However there are four more than there were a week ago as these were the books I found at the charity book sale at Sibton church last Saturday.

 

Top of the pile is book by local author Olivia Laing it's all about her new garden and other gardens. I could borrow it from the library but then I'd probably not get round to reading it as there are usually so many crime to read and I have to be in the right mood for non-fiction, so it will be waiting for when I'm ready.

Pleased with the copy of Seal Morning by Rowena Farre as I wrote about re-reading her other book in March, its years since I read this book and the library don't have a copy.

From the cover Eve's War looked like fiction but it is a genuine WWII diary - another to add to my collection.

Someone somewhere - probably one of the book bloggers - mentioned The Far Country by Nevil Shute quite recently and I checked the library but they didn't have a copy. I read all his books way back in my early library days but that was 50 years ago. I looked on abebooks and even put a copy in my 'saved for later' list. It was £4 plus postage and I thought I'd wait a while and what a good thing I didn't buy it.

The book at the bottom I picked up as it has photos of hundreds of small metal things found by Metal Detectorists - Bronze age through to Tudor times, I though Son might like a look at it - it might not be something he wants or he might have seen it already. (He hadn't seen it before so was very interested to take it home yesterday)

After conversations with someone in the library office in Ipswich I'm hoping that my 15 books can be put on the delivery van and dropped at Stowmarket library for me to collect. Otherwise it's going to be a long wait until the end of  June. 

 

Back Soon

Sue

The Kindness of Blog Readers

When I said that I was searching boot sales but  without hope for a Denby Azure Coast mug to replace one that fell in the sink and broke recently , I didn't expect a mug to travel here all the way from  The States with a blog reader and then be posted in Hertfordshire to arrive yesterday!

I'd looked online for the mugs and they are no longer in production, none for sale locally but many on ebay were in the US for some reason (postage from the US is £25!+). But then blog reader Lisa said she could get one in the US bring it over as she was coming to the UK and post it here- How brilliant! 

 

When I unwrapped the parcel  it contained not just the mug but some other lovely things too.

Some notecards and a pretty sun-catcher , all handmade from crafters near to Lisa.(NC)

 I had just got home from having a filling at the Dentist when the postman rang the doorbell - so it was a really happy surprise making the day much better!

So a Huge Thank you to Lisa. 

We agreed that I would make a donation to a charity rather than try and get money from one place to another so next time I'm in town I'm making a donation in the St Elizabeth Hospice shop. They cared for my Mother-in-Law at the end and are always needing funds.

Back Soon

Books and Bric-a-brac in Sibton St Peter's Church

Seemed like a plan - a church visit and a book sale - two blog posts in one visit!.

 This is where I went on Saturday morning. Sibton is a very small village that almost joins Peasenhall  on the A1120. There was once an Abbey there but the ruins are not open to the public.

 There is  a book and bric-a-brac sale every now and again and I know I've been to it before but can't find any mention of it.

St Peter's Church is unusual because for many years it has been leased to 'The Friend's of St Peters' and they have concerts as well as these sales. The main part of the church nave is usually unfurnished. The burial ground is a conservation area and it is full of wild flowers.

The lych gate is also the village war memorial

East window and altar

 Crowds looking at books which are everywhere on tables and on the few pews that remain.

Amongst the bric-a-brac someone was obviously clearing out a collection of Motto ware

At the west end of the church is a kitchen area and tables, so I sat for a coffee and sausage roll and took two photos

Of course what I didn't take into consideration was how busy the book sale was with very little room to move and not a lot of space for taking photos. So for more and better information and photos have a look at the Suffolk Churches website here.

Back Soon

Sue

In Which I Try Out My New Binoculars and Fail at Phone Photos

 Please can someone invent binoculars with a camera that takes a photo of what you are looking at! 

I've just googled and they seem to have been invented already!

Decided I couldn't carry my new binoculars and my big camera around the Wildlife Trust Nature Reserve - bad mistake as  my phone photos are hopeless.

There's a neck-less swan!

All sorts of ducks, geese and waders- but too far away to see on the phone photo.

and an Egret also too far away.

 I thought at first it was a Little Egret but it had a yellow bill so was a Great White which are not so common and if only I'd taken my camera I would have got a good photo.

I also saw a Red Kite and heard a Cuckoo several times so it wasn't a completely wasted morning.

But all in all my photos are Hilarious! 

However,  the new binocs are brilliant, (thank you family for a wonderful unexpected birthday present) I can focus properly and really zoom in well, so that's good. Next time I'll know to carry both big camera AND binoculars.

HERE's a link  to a short video of a Great White Egret for a better look.

Back Soon

Sue

The Church of St Michael, Occold

 Occold is a village not far out of the small town of Eye. I'm not sure why I'd not thought of calling there before but anyway I drove the extra couple of miles and found I was four days too late for a flower festival and fete!

Luckily many of the beautiful arrangements were still in the church.

It was a dull morning with grey skies so the photos are not the best. St Michael's is a very typical Suffolk church - tower , nave, chancel, sanctuary and entrance through a porch.

The font is plain having had all imagery removed but there are some interesting tiles around the base (I discovered afterwards when looking at the Suffolk Churches Index) that are covered by the flower arrangements

Stuart Coat of Arms

The pulpit is heavily carved with a sounding board above

On the window ledge to the right of the pulpit is the tiny stairway that would have gone to the rood loft. 

View down the nave to the altar

The theme for the Flower Festival was Special Days and this below is for Christmas

Altar

Only a couple of windows have stained glass, this one below has some modern glass to remember Nerissa Jones, a children's book illustrator who lived next door to the church and died in 1985. Plus some pieces of the medieval glass smashed on demand of William Dowsing- the man sent round the churches in the 1640's to destroy all catholic imagery 

More pieces of rescued glass in this window

Unusual flower arrangement here, I think the yellow roses are for the sun in blue bottles for the sky

An almost Puritan message on a memorial board from the 1840's

'Be ye always ready for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of Man cometh.'

In the churchyard is this Huge Horse Chestnut

Back Soon

Sue

This Weeks Happenings

 Not so warm this week, and Thursday was positively chilly, although still fine and dry all week except for a few minutes rain but it might be all change - just in time for the Spring Bank Holiday weekend and school  half term week- Typical!

(That shower of rain was full of sand or dust, either from the Sahara or the nearby fields and my car looks like it's been on a beach!)

After sowing twice and no sign of growth I gave up and bought some French Climbing Bean plants from last weekend's car boot = 12 modules, about 16 plants for £4. My bean seeds germinated OK last year but I also had no growth with cucumber and courgette seeds this year - might be the difference in temps in the greenhouse between day - unusually warm - and night - down to 4 or 5 degrees C some nights? Don't usually have this many fails in a season. I was talking to the man, from a local nursery that isn't open to the public, who was selling them and saying how nasty some compost is now and apparently trade can still buy compost with peat - no longer available to home growers to try and retain the important peat bog habitats. He said compost without peat either doesn't hold water which runs straight through leaching out goodness or holds water too well so that seeds stay too wet.

I've decided there is something wrong with me (actually everyone who knows me has known that for a long time!) but this time my reason is that I just can't watch some you-tube videos without shouting "just get on with it". especially when vloggers just sit there thinking what to say! aaaagh  - I have to turn off and why are some people so 'glass half empty?' Must be depressing to find something miserable to say everyday.

Five year old grandson - the dinosaur expert- has now turned into a bird watcher and history buff! I had him and his sister here last Sunday and he spotted and recognised two Goldfinches on the sunflower heart feeder and told me all about The Wright Brothers and their plane. He's taking after his Daddy who has always been interested in all sort of different things. 

Now here's an odd thing. On Monday afternoon, just out of view somewhere to the west, there was a fast plane circling quite low and loud. After hearing it for several minutes I decided to look on the Globe Airplanes live website - and although it was tracked as circling - dozens of times-  at 9,000ft, the details of it were..........Nothing. No registration or description - very strange, as usually there is info as to what the plane is and what country it's registered in - so no information is very mysterious. Spies?! Although if so they were a bit too obvious! 

The same noise on Wednesday so another look at Globe and this time it did have a name - A McDonnell Douglas F15E Strike Eagle from USAF Lakenheath. Nice to get the 'just out of sight mystery' solved. The people living near Lakenheath and Mildenhall get this all the time, but not  for much longer - The US is withdrawing them from here back to there. - I thought they were having a Golden Dome for protection!....there's more to this story I'm sure.

 

That just about sums up the week -  nothing much happened. I didn't even go to Keep Moving group as I woke up with no energy, I've discovered that a couple of bad nights and busy days then take another three days to recover! Oh the joys of getting older but thank goodness it's easy to have a quiet week nowadays....plenty to read.....always.

Have  a good weekend - lots of Bank Holiday things on everywhere although Mid Suffolk car-boot sales might be rained off - whatever- I shall be back Monday.

Oh, one thing to add............ look at this - I'm on Wiki  (3) .Thank you to Hadassah for the comment on the getting away from it all book post.

An Easy to Find and Delicious Cheese

 I got this to use in some home made cheese/onion and spinach bakes but tried a piece and decided it was too delicious to hide inside pastry and then had to try another chunk and then remembered it could make a blog post!

This is Red Fox, a vintage Red Leicester - matured for 18 months . Three generations of the Beckett family have been farming and cheese making at Belton Farm, Whitchurch in Shropshire since 1922.

Its a lovely colour with a  strong and nutty taste.

More about Red Fox HERE. My piece came from Aldi but I think it's available in several supermarkets. £2.29 for 220g at Aldi. (£3.15 at Waitrose - that's quite a difference) Much nicer than many very more expensive cheeses I've tried  for the 'Cheese Tasting' blog posts.

Back Soon

Sue

Miki's Blog Is Dangerous!........

 ............but only to my bank balance!

Miki, from The Netherlands writes a lovely blog called ' .Farms on My Bookshelf'. She tracks down books by people who've got away from it all, usually moving to the countryside, and writes about the book as well as trying to find out more about the authors.

These sort of books are something I've been reading since the 70's - starting with John Seymour and his books on self sufficiency. Many I've owned at one time or another and they've gone in house moves or downsizing and many I still have but Miki keeps coming up with titles I've never heard of and that's what's dangerous.

Her last post had a fantastic list of books she hasn't read yet

Neil Ansell: Deep Country

Diana Ashworth: Iolo's Revenge

Dave Atkins: The Cuckoo in June

Lillian Beckwith: The Hills is Lonely

Teleri Bevan: Guardian of Snowdonia

Teleri Bevan: They Dared to Make a Difference

Dan Boothby; Island of Dreams

Sally Borst: Self Deficiency

Hope Bourne: Wild Harvest

Mark Boyle: The Way Home

Kate Bradbury: The Bumble Bee Flies Anyway

Steve Brown: A Song for Ewe

Hilary Burden: A Story of Seven Summers

Nancy Campbell: Thunderstone

Cassels and Baer: Our Wild Farming Life

Mary Clifford: Hill-Farm Hazard

Janet Corke: A Hidden Home in the Gwydyr Forest

Elisabeth Cragoe: Cowslips and Clover, a.o.

George Courtauld: An Axe, a Spade and Ten Acres

Molly Douglas: Going West with Annabelle

Monica Edwards: The Unsought Farm

T.Firbank: I bought a Mountain

J.A.Fitton

Frank Fraser Darling: Island Y ears, Island Farm

Mary Elizabeth Fricke: My Life on a Missouri Hog Farm

Joyce Fussey

Carol Madeline Graham:  A  Shoulder on the Hill

Charlotte Gray: Sisters in the Wilderness

E.M.Harland: Farmer's Girl, a.o.

G.Henderson: The Farming Ladder

Mary Hiemstra: Gully Farm

Pam Houston: Deep Creek

Sue Hubbell: A Country Year a.o.

John Jackson: A Bucket of Nuts and a Herring Net

Deborah Kellaway: The Making of an English Country Garden

Rachel Knappett: A Pullet on the Midden

Patrick Laurie: Native

June Knox-Mawer: SA Ram in the Well

Margaret Leigh: A Spade among the Rushes

Jackie Moffat: The Funmy Farm

C.Munro: Ponies at the Edge of the World

Elaine Penwarden: It's the Plants that Matter

B.Plummer: The Cottage at the End of the World

Sue Powell: Holding on a Hillside

James Rebanks: The Sheperd's Life

C.Reynolds: Glory Hill Farm

Patrick Rivers: Living on a Little Land

Cecil Roberts: Gone Rustic

Rebecca Schiller: Earthed

Ken Smith: The Way of the Hermit

Lalage Snow: My Family and Other Seedlings

Tina Spencer-Knott Fools Rush In

E.Pruitt Stewart: Letters of a Woman Homesteader

Mark Sundeen: The Unsettlers

Derek Tangye: many books

Thelwell: A Millstone Round my Neck

Iain R.Thomson Isolation Shepherd

Marjorie Hessell Tiltman: A Little Place in the Country, a.o.

Catherine Parr Trail: The Canadian Settler's Guide

Sally Urwin: Diary of a Pint-sized Farmer

P.Waling: Counting Sheep

Terry Walton: My Life on a Hillside Allotment

Janet White: The Sheep Stell

Henry Williamson: Tales of a Devon Village a.o.

a.o. = and other

 She also has the details of all those she had read. Many off both lists I know of and have read. But the problem is others that I've never heard of but they sound so interesting I'm tempted to  hop over to abebooks or amazon to track them down and end up saving the details or ordering. 

Oh dear!

So far I've resisted from this new list.....but......................

Back Soon

Sue

First Art Exhibition of the Year

 I didn't get to the big  art exhibition in Needham Market at Easter as the family were staying but on Saturday I popped out to a small one a bit nearer. Last year they had a shortage of  artists exhibiting but there were many more this year and several artists who I don't think I'd seen before.

I didn't take my proper camera which was a mistake as my phone photos are pretty awful! And reflections from windows don't help - apologies.

Reg Siger is definitely an artist I know, he always has his work at various local shows in Mid Suffolk. It was interesting to read more about him.

Stowmarket and the church with very old buildings by Reg Siger

Part of Haughley Village with the moat and church

Helen Maxfield's linocut prints - she always has her work here and at other shows and I always take a photo - apologies to you and to her for chopping off some of the top two!

I like these two below- views of the Lake District by Linda Seager. Pen, ink and watercolour.

Not seen these below anywhere before. They are by Rebecca Rix-Meo and described as Plaster and Pigments

Lovely painting below by Susan Baldrey, Acrylic on Canvas- gorgeous colours but the frame does nothing for it - in my opinion, but then, what do I know, as someone had bought it already!

Abstracts by Leigh Driver, lots of colours but not something I would have.

This little one below I found very appealing ' Cat Going Home' by Chris Lawson. Watercolour

Couldn't buy a painting but I bought a couple of greetings cards - I tried to pick those suitable for sending to men as I'm always short of these.

Orford Ness Impression and Norfolk Tranquility from original paintings by Malcolm Wallis

Back Soon

Sue

More Dishwasher Salt and a Jigsaw Puzzle

Last summer when I didn't know I was going to get back to jigsaw puzzling through the winter, every other car boot seller seemed to have jigsaws for sale. Of course sods law this summer I've been looking and only found 1 so far, until last week when I found this one called 'Penny Buns' it's another House of Puzzles nostalgic jigsaw and looked quite a good one to do. 

Then I picked up 2 more bags of dishwasher salt from one of the house clearance people for £1 each. I've still got the full bag that I got from a March car boot sale and had to find somewhere else to put these two new bags. It would have been silly not to buy them, they'll be used and I may not find more this year - who knows. With 7kg in the cupboards I won't need to but any at full price for ages.

I've just had a quick count up and this is about the 13th 'Car Boot Bargains' post this year - already! and it's only May with 5 months still to go. The fine weather is to blame - hardly any rained off.

I know someone commented that they like to see what 'treasures' I find but I'm sure many other people just think "OMG all this woman does is spend money at boot sales!" Which is true, but saves me spending anywhere else and 'Car Boot Bargain ' posts are very handy for filling up the week of posts!

Back Soon

Sue

Red Campion

It's a really good year for Red Campion  (Silene dioica) there are large patches of them all along the road verge not far from home.

(the camera seems to turn them from dark pink to light purple for some reason)

 At primary school we had  a nature table and when we got to be the oldest girls in school we had to find names and write labels for the things brought in, that and going for walks up to the woods and round the fields taught us all the names of the wild plants to be found but I don't remember Red Campion from childhood just the white variety.

Red Campion has much folklore surrounding it, often associate with fairies, snakes, and even death. In some traditions it was believed picking red campion would bring bad luck and in other places it was associated with fairies guarding honey store or protecting them from discovery. The plant's seed were used medicinally for snakebites.

It's very good as a source of nectar for insects and attracts pollinators.

And as usual with the wild plants we have here, there is a picture from the Complete Book of Flower Fairies by Cecile Mary Barker to include.

There is always a poem or song to go with each of the Flower Fairy illustrations.

Here's a cheerful somebody,

By the woodland's edge;

Campion the many-named,

Robin-in-the-hedge.

Coming when the Bluebells come,

When they're gone he stays,

(Round Robin, Red Robin)

All the summer days.

Soldiers' buttons, Robin Flower,

In the lane or wood;

Robin Redbreast, Red Jack,

Yes, and Robin Hood.

Cecily Mary Barker doesn't give any mention to White Campion so perhaps that wasn't so common back in the 1920's, then maybe the red vanished through the 60's, being replaced by white, with red making a comeback in the 21st Century. Someone ought to do some sort of scientific study to find out why!

Back Soon

Sue

Random Bits..................

 ....................from this week.

• Haven't had flowers in for a while, it's been so dry there are a shortage in the border but the white rose was blooming well so I cut a few for a small posy.

• After 4 years here I discovered the Bosch induction hob has a child lock, don't know how it got switched on but  I had to search for the instructions for how to unlock it.

• There is a film of The Salt Path book by Raynor Winn. Released on the 30th. Do I want to watch it? Yes, because the book was good, but no because there's a lot of terminal illness involved.

•  Sitting out in the sun was wonderful earlier this week, not too long at a time but even half an hour is so good for mental health. This is what I saw on just one afternoon ...........Way overhead a buzzard circled before disappearing, lower down  swifts were flying round and round - hopefully finding lots of insects, there were several gulls, a housemartin and crows and pigeons of course, a pied wagtail sat on the neighbours roof, a female blackbird came and had a very splashy bath in the birdbath, the sink-pond and then back in the birdbath and then something I didn't recognise stopped on the guttering of my bungalow. Had to get the bird book and decided it was a garden warbler. Only one butterfly - an orange tip but the Ceanothus is covered with bees.

• Why hadn't I had a home made curry for a while? - because there were none in the freezer. I needed to make a batch and had korma paste and coconut milk in the cupboard and a bag of Quorn pieces in the freezer. I started with onions, added potatoes, spinach from the freezer and bought a pack of mangetout peas for some colour. It made enough for 10 meals -  9 boxes to restock the freezer and one to eat straightaway - it was very delicious.

• Next door neighbours cat was hit by a car and killed this week. Their daughter is distraught as Crumble was her cat and followed P up the road to the school bus stop every morning before coming back when P met her friends. Crumble was a lovely cat but her favourite place for hunting was over the road in the new part of the burial ground and I've held my breath many times when I've seen her dashing back across the road not far from a passing car. 

•  I've just finished  a crime fiction book set in wartime Cambridge (Jim Kelly- Night Raids) and it mentions a lady using a tea-bag - now I'm sure (well I was sure until doubting) that teabags weren't around in the UK until much later. I googled of course and it says "Tetley introduced teabags to Britain in 1939 but paper shortages meant they didn't become common until the 50's and not in general use until the 1960s".  What was used in the first half of the C20, for making one cup at a time were infusers - holding loose tea . My mum said that during wartime rationing, tea was used many times for a cuppa until it tasted of nothing much except hot water.

• Eurovision Song Contest on TV tonight. I half watched the semi-finals - good grief there's some rubbish this year - but people seem to be having a really good time out in Basel and if it brings together people from many parts of Europe and makes a lot of people happy then it has to be a good thing. 

And that's the end of another week. Thank you for reading and  comments  and have a good weekend.

Back Next Week

Sue

Possibly the 16th Vegetarian Taste Test?

 As mentioned on last Saturdays post I came across another 'new' vegetarian oven bake to try from Aldi. I like the way they state "I'm New" on the packet so you know you haven't tried it before and dismissed it as rubbish!

Three cheese and tomato lattice. The cheeses are listed as Cheshire, halloumi and 'medium fat semi hard cheese' - whatever that is! They are mixed with a tomato sauce and inside puff pastry with a sprinkling of dried parsley.

They look very good on the pack and just as good on the plate after cooking. But as happens so often it didn't have a lot of flavour.

 £1.99 for a pack of two but quite high in calories and fats. Good to try but after I've eaten the other one I won't be buying again. 

Eating this and writing the post has nudged me back to making my own oven bake type things, which I've not done for a while for some reason, so puff pastry has been added to my shopping list.

That's almost the last of my Sweet and Sour Pickled Cucumber on my plate, I've been eking it out - must make a lot more this year, it's lovely as an extra vegetable through the winter. The recipe is on the separate recipe page.

Back Soon

Sue

 

Big Spender at the Car-boot Sale

 I went mad at last  Saturday's Car-Boot sale and spent the grand total of £6 plus 75p on two giant tomatoes - forgot to get tomatoes when I was shopping and there was only one vegetable seller at the car boot with only these giants.

I was pleased to spot another of the Little Toller Books Nature Classic reprints and paid £1 - I've now got a collection of 10 - whoops!

The packs of  grow your own cress seeds for children  were 3 for £1 (2 grandchildren to be entertained here next Sunday) and the handy set of measuring cup/spoons were also £1. I've never had a full set like this before.

But my favourite find was a very old scrapbook full of all sorts of pictures and cuttings going back to the 1930's/40s. I had to pay £3 as it wasn't in one of the house clearance boxes but being sold by more of an antique seller lady - a lady who sells antiques rather than a very old woman!

It's got some interesting pages. I'm going to take out my favourite pictures and add them to my own scrapbooks.

Had my first-of-the-year whippy 99 ice cream too. It was a bit odd having ice cream for breakfast at 8.30 am, and will probably be the first and last time - but the sun was shining and it seemed like a good idea at the time!

Back Soon 

Sue