A Power Failure and a Bargain Purchase

Last night turned very wet and windy indeed and we were just winding down before sleep when we were plunged into darkness...a power cut.  Oh crikey, it was pitch black inside and out.  Poor OH had to get dressed and go out in the pouring rain to check how much of the locality was in darkness in case it was just us.  The power cut was widespread so all we could do was to search out torches and candles (thank you, Marlene, for the lovely tealight in a holder you sent in the gift swap!) and await the return of power.  I rang the electricity supply company and they already knew there was a problem and were dealing with it.  Nothing else to be done.  The difficulty was in trying to remember what had been switched on before the cut...TV, router, table lamps etc   We went to bed by torchlight and it was quite cosy reading as best we could for a while.  This morning I was amazed to receive a courtesy call from the supply company apologising for the power cut and asking if everything was now ok, wow!, that was the first time in all our married life that someone had called us back after a cut.  Hats off to Western Power Distribution!

On our trip into town yesterday I saw this lovely coat.  I had had my eye on it for a while but at £90 it was out of the question....

Yesterday I was amazed to see it on the reduced rail at £27  :)

I had just returned a faulty item to another shop and got my £10 back so it would only effectively cost me £17.  Now I know I am de-cluttering but it was, as they say, a no-brainer....I now have a new Spring coat :)

Thanks everso for popping in.  I think I might have a new follower whom I have missed greeting.  If so please forgive me and make yourself known, my lovely x

Why I Could Murder My Husband....

Hello, welcome to my new followers thrift deluxe and Jan :)

Well, today started off white over with snow so we had a lazy morning then decided to go into town for some exercise and a bit of fresh air once the sun broke through.  It was still bitterly cold but very pleasant walking in the sun.  Everyone we met seemed to be smiling which was very uplifting.  When we got home OH laughingly asked me what I had done to my jumper...

OMG! I had been wearing it inside out all day and, to make matters worse, I had removed my coat when we went into a pub in town for a warming mug of coffee.  This must have been in full view of anyone sitting behind me ://

 Now my clothes come in all sizes from a twelve to a sixteen depending where I buy them from.  Guess which one I was wearing today?  No prizes for guessing it was the biggest.  He might have noticed what I had done, the swine....

I will get my revenge somehow...mwah...ha...ha ;)

What was your most embarrassing moment my lovelies?  Please tell me I am not the only numpty ......

As usual, thanks for popping in and reading my nonsense x

Hot Soup & A Giveaway

Hello and welcome to my new follower, Kelly.

Whilst doing my shopping yesterday I noticed that Morrisons have once again reduced the price of their 12.5kg bags of potatoes to £2.  This time they are Sylvana but I actually bought a bag at full price last week as I had run out and they make brilliant mash.  This photo is of my last but one bag purchased.  The full price is now £4 so even more of a bargain....

 

As the weather has turned cold and windy my thoughts immediately turned to soup.  I can't make anything too complicated so I just sautéed 4 small bendy leeks in a drop of olive oil....

Added 2 medium sized chopped up potatoes ..... (although I'm never too fussy about the weight ratio of the veg)

Then one litre of  hot veg stock made from two value cubes plus a good grind of black pepper.  I simmered for 15 minutes and voila...good hot soup for lunch.  It can be blended with a stick blender to make it smoother but OH likes it chunky.  You can also add a drop of milk or cream to make it richer (and creamier looking) but I don't bother adding extra calories, my waistline can't take it ;)  It made about 6 servings so I put about a third of it in the freezer for another day and we still had enough for lunch for the two of us two days running. A chunk of crusty bread made sure OH was full up.

GIVEAWAY

I mentioned in my last post that this is the year of clearing out and that I have already taken two bags of books to the CS, well I have re-discovered this lovely book.  It was based on a TV programme which I was following some years ago and is fascinating to read if you enjoy archaeology and the like.  It originally cost £17.99 and is still in fab condition.  I wondered if someone on here would like it?  I'm afraid that it's quite heavy so I can only post it within the UK (second class post).

 

If you fancy it please just tell me in a post and I'll put the names in a hat and draw one out at 9am on Friday 16th Jan  If nobody likes it, it will go to the CS in the next batch of books.

I am conscious that I do have visitors from overseas who miss out on various blog giveaways due to the high cost of postage so I will endeavour to find something small and light to offer at a later date so that they too can enter the draw.  Keep watching this space :)

Thanks so much for popping in, I do appreciate not talking to myself..... x

A Birthday and a Sort Out

Friday was OH's birthday.  He is now 65 years old too and, yes, I did marry a toyboy, all of 9 weeks younger than me ;)  He started the day opening his cards and presents from our DD and friends.  He had a lovely new sweater from DD and gift vouchers from my brother and some friends.  Another dear friend and my Sister both sent him scratchcards, they weren't winners but gave us both a frisson of excitement as he scratched the coating (must get out more...lol)  Then we went out for a lovely carvery lunch at our favourite place.  I drove so that OH could have a birthday drink but it was lovely :)  He has now declared that this is our year of minimalism.  Regular tidying up, getting rid of stuff we don't need or never use (I'm still not sure that this includes his shed...I will keep you updated with that little problem...) but he threw out his holey socks declaring that he is too old to wear socks with holes...good grief...that is a first!

So, yesterday I cleared a couple of cupboards out and took two big bags of books to the charity shop along with bits of pottery and china which have been sitting in the cupboard for 5 years, unused since we moved here.  There was so much that it took two trips to and from the car as they were too heavy for me to carry all at once.  I sorted my music CDs too and have a package ready for Music Magpie to collect tomorrow.  They will, hopefully, give me a little cash for them.  When I did the reverse Advent I struggled to find things to give away towards the end so it shows I am being more ruthless when pushed.

Starting tomorrow I will sort out clothes and recycle or donate as appropriate. Watch this space....

Who else is clearing out this year? Minimizing?  And don't you feel better for it?

Thanks so much for popping in x

Juggle It January, Car Booting & Stretching Finances

As it's a fresh new year I intend to go through my cupboards methodically getting rid of any stuff we no longer need or want.  I thought I was pretty organised but looking at other blogs I realise that I have a lot to learn :)  Quite early on in 2014 I decided to stop buying 'bargain' toiletries and to use up what I have. OH buys his own although he usually gets enough for Christmas and birthday to last the whole year anyway! We are into a new year and I still have bits to use up. 

 

These two have been used, squished and rinsed out until there is nothing left....

 

 

These are all that are left.... and there are only tiny bits left in most of them....but I intend to make them stretch for as long as possible.  I do like to alternate shampoos but don't really mind if the conditioner doesn't match.  Let's see how long I can go before I have to buy more....

Strangely enough I was given absolutely no toiletries for Christmas so I must smell ok :)  But what I did have was these...

These were the wonderful gifts in my gift swap with Marlene from Simple Living.   The kitchen notepad is already in use.  It's hanging in my kitchen with my menu plan on and an on-going shopping list on the second page.  I can only plan one week ahead as I'm not organised enough to do a monthly one and I like to use up stuff from the freezer as we go. I shop on Mondays so the menu plan covers Monday - Sunday then I can tear it off to reveal my shopping list for the following week...Simples!

Thank you so much, Marlene, the lovely charms and buttons etc will be used in my crafting.

The title Juggle It January refers to juggling finances to enable us to save a tiny bit each month as a safety net in the event of one of us being left alone (as mentioned in my last post)  I have discovered that I would need an additional £2,000 per annum to enable me to stay where we live now (and we do live in a modest home with a modest income) and that would leave no money for general spending let alone a holiday or repairs to the car or home.  I'm not going to let it worry me but I am going to put aside some cash if at all possible.  eBay-ing and car booting could well be on the plan for this year! That will help with clearing some more space too.  OH has boxes and boxes of tools in the shed but he can't bear to part with them.  Each time I suggest sorting them out his reaction is " step away from the shed...step away..."  lol...He hasn't used them in almost 10 years so why would he now?

Is anyone else planning a clear out soon?  Any suggestions how to get OH to sell his tools? In theory he is open to selling them but can't bring himself to even look at them at the moment. ....
Give me strength.....

Thanks so much for popping in  and have a lovely Sunday (frosty and foggy here ....) x

New Year, New Budget, and A Shock

First of all a big welcome to my new follower, Tatiana,  thanks so much for clicking :)

The decorations are down and packed away. I always like to start the new year with a nice clean and tidy house so, despite having come down with the dreaded lurgy (cough, sore throat, aching limbs etc) I packed them away, dusted, polished, vacuumed and then collapsed in my comfy chair to watch a bit of TV whilst drinking my lemsip :(  

Pam, from My New Life in Wales, has explained that some bloggers have chosen a word of the year but she has chosen the phrase 'Have Some More Fun'.  Having more fun should be on everyone's agenda as we never know what life will throw our way.  Over the Christmas period hubby and I got talking about the 2015 household budget and how we could trim it still further as lots of things seem to be going up in price including the phone rental, broadband and insurance.  Having time on our hands we shopped around and arranged the insurance with a new (well known) company which saved us £70! Not a sum to be sniffed at. Thus inspired I have done a projected spend and we can see at a glance how much we are likely to spend during the year and if a particular item has increased enough to tip us over budget.

I then got thinking about what would happen if one of us popped our clogs ( morbid I know....) so I made another list and to our horror realised that hubby could just about manage to keep going financially but even with halving the food budget and taking the Council Tax reduction into account I could not.  Outgoings would outstrip my income because hubby's pension would obviously die with him.  There would be no money left for food let alone fripperies.  We have decided that we must try to increase our savings a bit so we both have a safety net if the worst should happen.  Then last night my best friend phoned to tell me that a female mutual friend had died on Boxing Day leaving her husband distraught and now not having enough income to pay the rent.  She would have been 66 years old on new year's eve.......

Thanks so much for popping in x

Looking Forward...Not Back....and Inspirations

Happy New Year!

2015 has arrived in a shower of sparks and celebration all over the world.  Can it already be 15 years into the new Millennium? You know the one...when we were told that computers would crash and the world would be in chaos.  In many ways it is in chaos but not because of computers.  As usual, it is humans themselves who are causing chaos with greed, intolerance, and war surfacing all over the world.  At the end of every year people tend to look back and see what they have achieved. TV producers go over old news and produce review programmes.  This year I will not look back but forward.  I have bought a new Inspirations calendar and every day I will look for my own Small Treasure with renewed vigour.

The quote for January is:

Live your beliefs and you can turn the world around.

Henry David Thoreau

I might not be able to change the world alone but I will certainly do my best to make my personal bit of the world a nicer place to be, for others as well as myself.  I don't make new year resolutions because I can never keep them.  This is more a new way of looking at things, a new 'mind set', if you like.  Please come along with me because I love the company :)

 Do you make resolutions? Do you keep them?  Any great plans for this year?  Do tell....

Whatever your plans for the new year may health and happiness be with you and your families in all you do.

Welcome to my new follower, Joy, it's lovely to have you join me :)

And thanks everso for popping in x