Something's going on underground

Hello. While out on our morning stroll through the churchyard we were greeted with an abundance of freshly dug molehills. Rocky loves to sniff these. One or two have appeared over the last week, and the soil has been moved away, but look at it now, there are a lot more. Mr Mole has been very busy. 

The mole has been digging among the memorial plaques. By the look of the position of the loose soil it must have found it's way blocked and has come up to the surface in between them. Oh dear.

I don't know much about moles so I've been looking at some yooootooob videos. They are cute little furry creatures, and they lead solitary lives. There are a lot of videos on how to trap them, and sadly it seems the norm to kill them. I expect someone will call a pest controller soon to deal with ours, personally I would just leave it alone. What's a few mounds of earth, and a few underground burrows, it isn't hurting anyone. People should watch where they walk. Rocky says, leave Mr Mole alone, and so do I. He will move on when he is ready.

Remember when I did a post about pollarding the trees in the churchyard? This is how they look now, lots of bushy short branches and the leaves are starting to go brown and fall off. I had a surprise when I checked my emails today, someone had found my post about this while they were doing some research. They have some trees which need to be pollarded in their village and they asked if they could use my photo's to put the case before a committe to get their trees cut back. I am amazed at how people find my blog, when they are looking for all kinds of topics. I had another email from someone asking about the heavy haulage lorries I used to drive. I am chuffed that I can help with a broad range of subjects, not just frugal living and shopping and cooking and crafting. I like to write about allsorts.

I've been busy collecting bricks today. My friend had some she didn't want, and I found some in a skip. That's 50 more to add to my pile, 165 in total. Still more needed, but no rush. I'll find some before I start the job. keep looking in skips.

Hey, look at this. I've just turned round in my chair and seen this. Rocky was laid down there first, and Mayze has joined him. These two are the best of pals. I had to put another cushion down, because Bugsy has decided that he wants Rocky's cushion. Aaaah, sweet.

I'm off now, want to watch something on catch up. Thanks for popping in. See you soon. Toodle pip

I've just come back to add a PS here. There are some late comments coming in on the two previous posts, you might like to go back to them and catch up. Some smashing comments and interesting stories. 

A lazy start, then sunshine :o)

Howdy. This was the state of play at 12 noon today, all the kids were snoozing. Not surprising, it was lashing it down outside. Mayze ended up on my legs sometime during the night, and didn't stir when the rest of us were waking up and starting to move about. She missed breakfast. 

Rocky was up with me at 7.30am ready to go out on the garden. After breakfast he went back on his cushion for more shuteye.

Bugsy was up early, yawping for food. He stays in the living room now, he has his food tray close by, and the litter box next to his chair. After a good feed he was back to sleep on the chair.

Heidi had a snack first thing, took one dash outside and came straight back in again. Her favourite spot is on the kitchen window sill at the moment.

I got on with some craftwork while it was raining. Eventually it stopped and brightened up. C'mon Rocky time for a walk. Look at his face, I like to imagine what he is saying. 'You don't expect me to walk through all these squishy berries do you?'  The wind was blowing his ears up. 

'That's better, a sheltered spot, I like these crunchy leaves'.

The sun makes it look beautiful, but don't be deceived, although it was warm it was blowing gale.

After lunch it was still warm and sunny so I said, c'mon Rocky, let's go to the park. We drive there so we can take the pushchair. I took two photo's of this pretty tree from different angles. 

Nice to see the ducks in fine fettle, and chattering away.

His little tail was wagging excitedly when we arrived. 'That was smashing, I like it here', says Rocky. Yes, so do I. It's a nice big open space with squirrels, ducks, deer, and peacocks. Plenty of paths to walk, through the woods or around the walled gardens, or around the Hall, or through the courtyard. It's beautiful at this time of the year, and not very busy, only a few people about.

Back home to another pan of soup. I started it last night, it only needed five minutes on the hob tonight. Onion and Brussels sprouts, no photo, looked much the same as last night. A big chunk of wholemeal bread with it. Couldn't be better.

Right back to the craftwork, if I get my finger out I can get it finished by tomorrow.

Thanks for popping in. Enjoy your Sunday. Toodle pip

A few dipsticks about tonight

Hello. Haven't we got a lot of Autumn colours around us at the moment. This is the Lime tree near my house, the one that smells gorgeous when the flowers are out in the summer. It's a bit of a funny shape, lop sided, the electricity board had to chop some branches off because they were growing very close to the overhead cable. As you can see there are a lot more leaves to come down. It's not very often that someone sweeps them up, they are just left to blow around. 

This is the time of year when you have to watch very closely where your dog does it's poop. Take your eyes of it for a moment and you have to search for the deposit in the fallen leaves, ha ha.

This afternoon I made a three day big pan of veggie stew. That's the last of the potatoes out of the garden. The carrots are yellow sticker, 6p. Frozen broad beans, the last few in the bag. Two Quorn fillets cut up into pieces, they were on special offer, six for £1. I had a tub of not very nice soup in the freezer, made from yellow sticker chopped veg, that went in as well. I use porridge oats to thicken it. Chuck some spices in, and it's wonderful, warms the cockles of your heart.

I am making cotton shopping bags at the moment, the ones you can fold up and put in your handbag. Finding some nice colours to use up.

This afternoon I went to town, first popped in at the cash and Carry on the way. They had some jars of tartar sauce and only one day out of date, 20p each. I had some of those. Whiskas pouches were £2 a box so I had some of those, a good saving.

A few essentials from Aldi. I found a bag of bananas with nine fruits in it, the price is 68p whether there are seven, eight, or nine in it. Cheese is a good price, £1.55 for 350grms, and the veg specials were 39p so I got broccoli, potatoes, and a big swede. No wine or cider bought, I'll give it another week before I treat myself to a tipple. I also managed to completely ignore the cakes, biscuits, sweets, and chocolate. I have to confess I bought some chocolate brownies last week, but only because they were on a yellow sticker. It's hard to say no when they were only 15p.

I watched the first episode of The Apprentice last night, only because I was curious about what Claude Litner was going to be like as Lord Sugar's right hand man. He has been in previous episodes where he grills the candidates about their CV's and he has been pretty cruel to them. The lad that got chucked off was a bit of a dipstick, a likable chappie but more of a joker than a serious contender. I think I may continue to watch it, I can do a bit of sewing at the same time.

The High Street in the village is closed tonight, they are digging the road up to lay new gas pipes. There is a ruddy great sign on the approach to the blockage warning that it is closed and an arrow for the diversion. I've just been out with Rocky, what do people do, totally ignore the sign and go steaming past it. I'm sure some people must be blind, or daft. What dipsticks they are, ha ha. They have to do a three point turn and go back the way they came.

I'm going to get Bugsy cat down from upstairs and sit him on my knee while I watch the second episode of The Apprentice. Thanks for popping in. Catch up soon. Toodle pip

Walking to stay fit

Hello. Twas such a lovely day today so I packed a couple of sandwiches, filled a bottle with diluted fruit juice, and put a banana in my little day rucksack, and off I went. Rocky was looked after by Janet, the walk was going to be too long for his little old legs, and taking the pushchair was not going to work. I couldn't be bothered to drive anywhere, so I stayed local. It's ages since I last walked in my corner of North Lincolnshire, so it was about time I rediscovered my local area. 

It was very misty when I set off down the footpath high above the River Trent. The bushes were covered in hundreds of spider webs, all wet from the mist. 

There should be good views across to Yorkshire from here. Not this morning, can't see a chuffin thing. The pylons appear to be floating in mid air, it looked very eerie.

At last the sun broke through and cast shadows across the path ahead, strewn with Autumn leaves.

I reached the first village in just under an hour, and walked past this cottage on my way to the Tea Room. Bought a bar of chocolate because I wanted to use the toilet to change into my shorts. A friend of mine was in there, supping tea and scoffing cake. Had a quick chat and went on my way. 

Aha, at last the mist has lifted and there are some nice views. Now I can see Yorkshire.

I left the river and came inland down a long track. looks like the harvest is all in now.

Just the stubble left on this field. Thank goodness they don't burn it any more. Now it's just ploughed back into the ground. It was lovely and peaceful, surrounded by big open spaces, hardly any sound at all. Not a soul about. 

The whole end of this house was covered in red leaves. looks very pretty but it must play havoc with the bricks and mortar.

 I found a church, but it didn't have a bench to sit on for lunch. Not to worry, I sat down in the graveyard on a lump of concrete.

I have seen this bench before, ages ago. It's half way along the edge of a very big field. Looks as though someone is looking after it. The grass has been mowed, and the planters have little bushes in them. There's cut flowers as well. A nice memorial for a loved one.

Oooh, a field of sun flowers, how nice.

Six and a half hours after I set off, I arrived back. Passed through five villages, and 13 and a half miles walked in the glorious sunshine. Just what I needed to stop my legs from seizing up.

It's the weekend again. I hope you have a good one. Catch you soon.
Toodle pip

Wednesday's Witterings

Hello. Let's have a natter. That's my way of saying not much has happened today, stuck for ideas, but I will cobble something together, ha ha. 

I bought these two packs of muesli from the Cash and carry, they were 50p each, which I thought was a good buy. The labeling looks like it is in German, and they have two dates on, presumably the September 2014 is the sell by date, and the June 2015 is the eat by date. I've looked for something similar on the Tesco website to compare prices but can't find anything in the 370 grm weight. The nearest is All Bran muesli 450 grm at £2.99, and a new one on special offer, Nature Valley 360 grm at £2 instead of £2.49. Either way, my purchase is a bargain. It works well in the mini chopper, as a topper for my bran flakes.   

What about this poor little fella then, I found this beetle dead in the garden this morning as I was poo picking. I make an inspection every day for little deposits of both dog and cat poo. What a shame, look at it's beautiful hairy legs.

And look how big it is against a 10p piece. I wonder what it is and where it came from. I have not seen one that big before. So sad that it's snuffed it, I wonder what happened.

This is what I am working on at the moment, a note book cover. I have sewn some fabric strips on a felt backing with the machine and now I'm adding the embellishments. I'll post a picture when it's finished.

My credit card statement came today, it has the charges for the two campsites I stayed on when I went to Devon on holiday. The total was £76 for five nights. It also has the charges for the Youth Hostels I will be staying at next month in Norfolk, so these will be paid for in advance. The cost is £94. The biggest expense is the petrol, but still two very cheap holidays. I shall be self catering again to keep the cost down. Buying food as I need it and cooking in the hostels. If anyone wants to meet up with me at Hunstanton, Wells next the Sea, or Sherringham please email me and I will tell you the dates. Two people did express an interest but I haven't had emails from them.

Talking of emails, I have had some lovely complimentary ones from new readers, so I thank you very much for those. It is heartwarming to know that people want to read my wafflings. You are very welcome, I'm chuffed.

Hey, my cooking skills leave a lot to be desired, simple and minimal is the word in this house, no cooking is even better. Today I managed to burn water, yes, burn water. I had a pan on the stove with my steaming basket in it and some veggies. I also had a couple of veggie sausages under the grill. I tend to flit about doing other things while the dinner is cooking, and keep going back to it to check. There was a slight smell of burning so I turned the sausages over. A few minutes later I thought that's funny, the burning smell is getting stronger. It wasn't the sausages, the pan had burnt dry, not enough water in it. Oh gawd, luckily the veg was cooked so I ate it, but the pan is blackened. More time wasted because I wasn't paying attention, tomorrow I will have to scrub it.

Janet came round this morning to help me bathe a sore spot on Heidi's face and neck. It had healed up when it happened before, but it's back again. She was ever so good, let us bathe it with warm water and a mild antiseptic. I will keep her in a few days until it heals. Old boy Bugsy is still fine, camping out on the bedroom windowsill. He goes out into the garden when it's warm. Always very vocal when he wants something to eat. Good news from the cat rescue. The people who were on holiday and said they would adopt two cats when they came back, came for the cats they had chosen, and also took a third cat as well. A nice family who live in a village near Gainsborough. Lucky cats.

There's a lot of work going on across the road. The man who owns the house hasn't lived in it, he has rented it out. Now he is going to move in with his family so he is doing it up. A big machine came yesterday and ripped out all the front hedge. Today they've been digging out a load of soil. Looks like they are going to level it off for car parking. It's a bit noisy at the moment with the machinery working on it. A huge tractor and trailer came and took a load of soil and rubble away. He must be spending a fair bit of money on it.

My neighbour had a go at trimming his front hedge yesterday, when I was trimming mine. Whereas I am a methodical and tidy worker, he was going at it like a mad man with a machete. I had to laugh, he made a right pigs ear of it, in other words, a right mess. He's a good neighbour to have though, we rub along nicely.

I think that's all the gossip for today. It's a bit late so I'm off to bed.
Goodnight and Toodle pip

How to grow chairs

Hello and Good Morning.
I've been at the yooootoooob again, there is so much good stuff on there. I urge all of you to ditch your boring old TV, stop watching the goggle box, and explore around the tooob.

This caught my eye on the BBC web site. There is a short and very interesting video to give you a taster of an amazing concept in furniture making.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-32977012

Something told me to explore further, and I found this longer video of 15 minutes.



I like this man's way of thinking. It takes 40 years to grow a tree, which will get chopped down, transported at various stages, from the forest, to the factory, and shipped thousands of miles to the shops which will sell the finished furniture. He can grow his chairs on the Derbyshire hillside in six years. We need inventive people like this, and we need to explore new ways of creating things.

Thanks for reading. Have a nice weekend. Toodle pip

The beach hut that isn't on the beach

Hello. No two days are the same here, weatherwise. Yesterday sunny, today cloudy, overcast, and cool with a breeze. That didn't stop me from working in the garden though. First off, a few photo's that I didn't post yesterday. I took Lady dog for a walk in the woods. I haven't been for ages, and it was nice to see it all fresh and green with the sunlight filtering through the trees. It's only a few minutes from where I live, I really must start walking here more often.  

There is a lot more wild garlic around, more than previous years.

Lady has to stay on the lead because she would run off and not come back if I let her loose. 

Tons more wild garlic. I am pleased to say there is not much litter about, previously I have had to clear out bags and bags of the stuff, mainly bottles and cans after a party. The kids seemed to have moved on to other hobbies, lets hope it stays like that.

The results of my labour today, we now have one yellow door and one dark pink door. Both these colours are the result of mixing paint. The yellow was too dark so I added white, the pink started as dark red which was too dark, so I put a little bit of it into a tin of white paint. I might try and make orange tomorrow, is that red and yellow, I think so.   

While I had yellow on my brush, I thought it was a good idea to jazz up the pots a bit. Dull brown pots are so boring. I think these look nice.

Dinner tonight was a microwaved home made soup, couldn't be bothered to to cook. I was a bit late finishing, due to gossiping over the garden fence with my neighbour at the back. They can't see the summer house due to my tall hedge, so I invited them round to have a look.

Thanks for popping in, I'll catch you tomorrow. Toodle pip

Foraging for cheap food

Hello, It's been a beautiful spring like day here today, I've washed the bedding it's all ready to put back on, and I've filled the brown bin with clippings from the bushes on the front garden, it will be collected tomorrow. It all looks tidy again. 

Did you see the fabulous sunset last night? I took off down the road to the church to get some shots. Our village is high up overlooking the River and across to Yorkshire. I just stand and stare in amazement, and get quite emotional, it's so magical. The pictures are not enhanced, this is exactly how it was. The blood red slick is the reflection on the river. This one I took without a flash. 

This is the same scene, taken with a flash. I like the way it lights up the conifer hedge.

It's hard to choose a favourite, but I think I like this one best. 

Then I stepped back and put the trees into the picture. No flash used on this one.

Then I did put the flash on. It's a shame that the green on the left is fuzzy, I left the camera to focus automatically, not being familiar with setting it manually. Still a nice picture though. Did you get a good view of the sunset last night?

Then of course I went shopping. I wanted to use a voucher for £4 off, and my fresh food stocks were low anyway. Simplesista asks to see what I bought.

Here is a run down.

4 tins of chick peas, on offer at 4 for £1

4 tins tomatoes, on offer at 4 for £1

2 tins rice pudding 15p each

1 tin peaches 40p

Pack of frozen leeks £1

Danish Blue cheese £1

2 packs cream crackers 27p each

Bottle of Chardonnay £4.49 I deserve a treat

All the rest was yellow stickers. 90% off.

Potatoes, Brussels Sprouts, Salad, Mushroom Pasta Salad, Sweet Potatoes, Cucumber, Spring Onions, Yogurts, Rice Noodles, Cous Cous salad. My fridge is full once more. There wasn't many people there, the trolley was wheeled out from the back and everyone dived in. It was good humoured, we all got what we wanted, with some left over for the late comers. 

I know a lot of my readers can't get the yellow stickers where they are. If I couldn't get them I would still make finding the best prices my priority. Trawling the shops for the bargains, planning journeys to visit several places at the same time so no extra money is spent on petrol or bus fares. Or, calling in places when I am passing on the way back from a trip out. I call this foraging. I can't be bothered to forage in the hedgerows for berries, I don't eat jam anyway, my foraging takes place on supermarket shelves. 

So, a lot of money saved, enough to buy myself a new landline telephone. With my hearing not so good the only phone I can use in the house is a BT Big Button phone, it has an amplify facility, and this is positioned on the landing at the top of the stairs, when it rings I can usually hear it. Sometimes I miss it though, so I wanted one on my desk in the front room, because that's where I spend most of my time now. I bought another Big Button with amplify, so that's great, now I don't have to run up the stairs every time it rings. 

My meals will be quite simple for the next week with all this food, most of it doesn't need any cooking at all, or just the bare minimum. You might have guessed I don't meal plan, I buy what is cheap, and hopefully healthy. I don't know what I am going to eat, until I open the fridge door and see what needs eating first when I check the sell by dates. Lunch today was rice noodles cooked in a splash of oil, 3 minutes on the hob. Served on salad leaves, and topped with mushroom pasta salad. Yummy.

Dinner tonight was more rice noodles, this time with two eggs added and scrambled, they needed eating up. Served on a bed of more salad leaves, and fresh mushrooms. Gut busting great.

That's all for now. Can the other three ladies who won the bags send me a photo, please, thank you.

Thanks for reading, Catch you tomorrow. Toodle pip.