Autumn Days

 It certainly feels like autumn just now! Although the weather hasn't really led to a need for the heating to go on much, which is good...

Firstly a bite that I really ought to take notice of myself...

Month 9 - Bite 16

I am constantly distracted by my emails! Many of them are fine and necessary, some are nuisances and others are offers I need to ignore. So, today's task is to double check my inboxes and begin to turn off the temptations that keep appearing. Not just general shopping (have you noticed that everyone always wants your email address 'to send your receipt' and then constantly bombards you with tempting offers?) Well, enough. I'm going to spend some time going through and blocking some of the more annoying ones to make sure they don't even get to me, unsubscribe from the reliable lists of companies and individuals that I know aren't scams and then try to get into the habit of deleting all of the others every day instead of keeping them 'just in case'.

Now I've got that off my chest it's time for some free and cheap pleasures...

Month 9 - Bite 17

Time for an autumn Treasure Hunt -well a walk anyway. This is one of those free activities that always lifts the spirits. While out and about I want to collect some treasures for use later - pine cones, leaves and so on .. just to see what I can find while I scrunch leaves underfoot and generally breathe in the nice fresh air.

Month 9 - Bite 18

Some of these were laying around so they are ready for drilling holes and attaching strings. Today's free activity is a conker competition followed by helicopter winged flights...

 

Month 9 - Bite 19

Very happy to have found a ready supply of these.. 

  

especially the ones with very pronounced shapes, edges and ridges.

The next free-ish activity for me is to produce some leaf prints ready to mount onto greetings cards to add to my collection all ready for whatever celebration comes along.

Month 9 - Bite 20

Now these need some time to dry out and open up. Today I'm going to check for any insect life that needs releasing and then lightly brush them. Next they can be placed on kitchen towels in the airing cupboard and saved for later - a decoration idea comes to mind, but this is one for another date.

                                             

Month 9 - Bite 21

Another find!

 

A new day, another preparation task. The Ferns I picked need to be dried and pressed - I'm using kitchen towel rather than blotting paper and heavy books instead of a flower press. I've got something in mind for another season, but like the pine cones they need time to dry before I can use them.

Quite a lot from one enjoyable walk...

Hair Raising

 During the pandemic, like lots of others, my hair grew and grew! I quite often in the past have been through times when I visit the hairdresser loads and others when I can't remember which one I visit! I'm lucky with my hair, it's thick and relatively healthy and grows really fast. This means that I can get away with trying different things knowing that any mistakes will grow out quickly!

Time for a few hairy bites then...

Month 9 - Bite 12

I was getting fed up with the amount of time and shampoo my hair was eating into! When I began looking at how much energy it took (mine and that coming out of the sockets) to keep it all looking good or even to get it dry enough to carry on with everyday stuff it was time to claim back some.

I know that going to the hairdresser's costs hard cash, but balanced against the cost of blow drying, styling and the fact that it took so long to deal with a cut was in order. I'm listing this as a money saving tip here because I'm sure a shorter, easier to manage cut will definitely fall into this category - that's without even considering the spending on shampoo, conditioner and so on!

So that's today's task - off to the hairdresser.....

Month 9 - Bite 13

A while back when I'd started swimming again I decided something needed to be done with my dripping locks. I saw an advert about a magic towel and was tempted to try one. Now, it may be that I was lucky or even that towelling my hair more efficiently and then wrapping it up for a short while helped. Whatever I then started doing was working in starting the drying process so well that I was able to cut right down on hairdryer time, thus saving spending on electricity.

I'll have to dig it out and start using it again.

Month 9 - Bite 14

I chatted to the hairdresser about shampoo and conditioners during my visit (and yes I'm very happy with my much shorter hair!) From our conversation it's very apparent that I'm using too much shampoo. Even when my hair was long I didn't need as much as I was using. Apparently, a blob about the size of a ten pence piece will be plenty - another saving to be garnered. Oh and conditioner, well I don't need it every wash - especially as I'm cutting down on heat drying and styling. This hair thing gets better and better!

Month 9 - Bite 15

When I was in my late teens I had a friend who was most concerned about the state of her hair. She couldn't get it to look anything less than greasy however much she took care of it. She did tell me how envious of my hair she was and wanted to know how often I had to wash it. 

For many years when I was little, hair washing was done in the kitchen over the sink using a jug to rinse everyone's hair and hot water from a cranky Ascot boiler over the sink. It only tended to happen a couple of times a week - rather like the baths we had in the old tin bath that had to be lifted off the outside wall and filled from saucepans and kettles!  When I was twelve or thirteen our landlords put in a bathroom! It was a huge luxury, especially as it meant hair washing no longer had to be fitted in around cooking, washing up and laundry - all of which had relied on the one, old Butler sink previously.

Anyway, back to my friend.. I admitted to her that I only washed my hair a couple of times a week because of the practicalities of the situation but added that I'd read that washing it too often stripped it of natural oils and so made the body produce more to make up for this ending in oily or greasy hair. I was also able explain that putting my hair up or French plaiting never worked well straight after washing as it was too flyaway at that point.

My friend decided that she wanted to work on washing her hair less frequently to see if the idea of more washing being a bad thing was correct. Accepting that the start of the experiment might well see her hair get worse before it adjusted, we worked out a schedule. We planned out when she would wash her hair, starting with every other day, then every two days and so on. To our surprise, after a time her hair did improve. She settled on every third day as ideal for her hair, which got shinier and softer as time went on.

I'd forgotten all about this until recently and have got used to washing my hair just about every day and yes, it's looking a bit lifeless and dull. So from now on I'm going to repeat what we did with my friend's hair all those years ago to find out my optimum gap between washes. Less hot water, less shampoo and less drying time - got to be good!

Harvesting the Garden

 Now's a good time to turn my attention to the garden to organise things ready for next year! Plenty of money can be saved if you tidy and check the shed/greenhouse/tool store now to preserve the cash for next year. So with thinking ahead in mind here goes...

Month 9 - Bite 8

A big shed sort out is on the cards. I need to double check that all the tools are clean and hung up or stored where they can be accessed quickly and safely. The left-over compost, etc. needs stacking and the bags securing so that the contents don't spill everywhere and ger wasted (some nice large stones to sit on them usually works well). Then I must double check the dates on any seed packets that haven't been entirely used up.

I'll record the seeds I've got in the back of my diary, I can then add this list to next year's diary so I know and don't go buying more next spring!

Month 9 - Bite 9

We've got a few flowering plants around the garden that are setting seed so I'm off out with some brown, paper envelopes to gather what I can - antirrhinums, poppies, that sort of thing. The envelopes need labelling and careful storage for next year - oh yes, and adding to my list for the diary.

Our neighbours do the same and we can have a seed swap in the spring to make the most of the free seeds we've gathered.

Month 9 - Bite 10

The other way of getting free plants is by taking cuttings. Our main 'crop' is geraniums. It's actually the one big memory that lots of people have of my dad! He used to dig up and bring in the geraniums over the winter. They lived on the tallboy on the landing and oh, how we used to avoid brushing past them so that they didn't release their pungent smell into the air!!

Anyway, we luckily have a shed so that's where they are going. Last year we saved the actual plants, but they have grown into giants so cutting it will have to be. Totting up what we've saved by keeping the plants going was eye-watering when we looked at the local garden centre prices earlier in the year. I know the cuttings might not get to quite the same size, but the savings will be just as good.

 

I've also just read in the last week that basil can be propagated from cuttings, so no prizes for guessing the next job...

Month 9 - Bite 11

Last year we visited a local farm for their pumpkin festival. While walking through the crops there were plenty of pumpkins and squashes that had split open so I was able to gather some seeds from them as I was curious as to how they might 'take'. 

This year, with very little care just lots of water this happened...

Will I be repeating the process this year? Definitely!

One of my neighbours has tried using the pips from a tomato that she bought and enjoyed so I think that needs trying too..

What can I say?

 I'd got all up to date with Bites to 7th all written and posted and was going to settle down to some more on Thursday, but events sort of overtook things and writing the odd blog post about saving pennies didn't seem very urgent somehow!

I don't really know what to write that won't seem a bit trite or repetitious of what others have said in the past few days, but the death of the Queen can't go unmarked even in a little frippery such as this.

I first made a promise to the Queen as a Brownie, then as a Scouter just like so many others. I learnt the National Anthem and facts about the Royal Family and passed them on.

I used to do a bit on a National Board, so a few times have helped out with the National Scout Service at Windsor which is where I met her. Just like my Dad and Mum had before me - only they were there for awards, I was just introducing people! I was also lucky enough to be invited to a Buckingham Palace Garden Party. My sister has met her twice - once through Scouting and another time through work and one of my nieces was part of the Royal Household for a while. My other niece's 5-year-old was only recently, very excitedly, showing everyone the card she'd had from the Queen to thank her for the letter sent for the recent Jubilee. I expect there are many families like ours with memories to match.

It's very strange to think that's she's no longer here - however expected it might have been that time would catch up and the inevitable would happen. She seems somehow interwoven into the fabric of life and I've never known a monarch other than the Queen.

I was spinning at an event this weekend where we had our silent moment for remembering and for the first time sang God Save the King. It felt weird, but we'll get used to it.

I'll be back with my nonsense in the next day or so, just wanted to add my two-penny-worth.. hope you don't mind.

Never look a Gift Horse in the Mouth

 Month 9 - Bite 4

We were out visiting and were offered some plums as they were going to be wasted. What an offer! The answer just had to be yes. So we drove home having picked about 8 pounds of ripe Victoria plums, all from one little tree.

One year we even got to go to the local community orchard apple day and returned with pockets stuffed with lots of different varieties along with some rather nice apple juice that we'd seen being pressed.

Fruit presents like these are always welcome and get preserved (as long as they're not eaten first) for later consumption.

We put our bounty to one side as there was another plan for the following day...

Month 9 - Bite 5

Hedgerow picking today then. The blackberries on one of the coastal lanes are plentiful and just begging to be picked. The lane is very lightly used by traffic, so pollution isn't a huge issue. We went in search of sloes too, but they weren't quite ready so that'll be another afternoon walk later on.

Some of the blackberries got frozen on a large baking sheet to keep them separate, before being packed into tubs for the freezer. I've got plans for the others!

Month 9 - Bite 6

A long hot day of jam making, but oh, won't it be worth it. First those plums, followed by the brambles.

Yes, the sugar had to be bought - I don't use quite as much sugar as the recipe states as the jam is more fruity and less sweet that way while still setting well. The gas for cooking needs to be paid for too, but the cost and taste are both in our favour when compared with shop bought!

Some pots are destined for gift giving (to the owners of the plum tree for example or for hamper presents at Christmas). The rest are sitting waiting in the cupboard.

Month 9 - Bite 7

Before I leave the subject of food for now, I'm setting myself one last task for today. I want to start trying some new recipes with less meat to make the money go further. So tonight, I'm going to have a go at a Moroccan lamb type casserole/bake. Most of it will be vegetables and fruit which I've got in the fridge (although I have bought some sweet potatoes specially) and I'm going to use a couple of small lamb steaks that are left from another meal to see if I can stretch them into a couple of full portions.

From now on this needs to be a regular occurrence with me trying something like this more often. I've got plenty of recipe books gathering dust as I think I've shown before, so they need to start earning their place on the bookshelves!

 

Meltdown

 Just what I didn't want.. a
meltdown - in the freezer.. aarrgghh!

Month 9 - Bite 2

decorating at the moment which involved himself switching off the electricity in order to remove light fittings for easier ceiling painting. The only problem was missing flicking a switch to turn it all back on again. Only one switch. But sadly the one controlling the power to the freezer. That, coupled with the fact that we were out all the next day means that we've come home to  a soggy floor and a dripping freezer.

Still, it does mean a complete clear out and taking stock of what was in there.

Some stuff can't be saved, some can be eaten immediately and the rest needs cooking. That's not been a bad thing as I've managed to cook up a number of meals that can now be safely refrozen and used for quick meals later. I've also double checked what else we had that could be batch cooked and frozen to save time and money. After all, if I've got the cooker and hob going I might just as well make the most of the energy use. That and the freezer is now fairly full so must be running more efficiently.

All that and I won't have to defrost it again for a while - well, you've got to look for the positives haven't you?!

Month 9 - Bite 3

During the freezer incident it struck me that there were other things that needed gathering ready to freeze, so I've done those too.

The runner beans are cropping well and we can't eat them all. So it's prepping and freezing for them.

Then there's the herbs - the giant parsley has truly taken over.. and the oregano and basil have done well...

 

There's plenty left even though I've picked and frozen lots too.

     

Another Month, Another Elephant...

 

This month is a bit of a motley collection - a random harvest of ideas to save that extra bit of cash..

Month 9 - Bite 1

This first task for me takes me right back to where I started this year of financial elephant eating... It's time to take stock of where I am and how far I've got. So, the top job on my list has to be recording my spending every day. I want to see whether all the things I've done have had any impact on my spending patterns and how much changes in the cost of living have hit my cash flow. Then at the end of this month I can revise my budget to see how far I've come.

So, app ready and off I go...