He's a bit of alright :o))

Hello. Just a quick one tonight. Who's this dodgy looking geezer lurking in the street outside? I'll give you a clue, it starts on Friday night on Channel 4 at 8pm.  

Hey William, you're on the wrong side, it's over here.

I'll be back tomorrow.
Toodle pip.

Not yet.

Hello. Thank you all for your comments yesterday, it's comforting to know that there are so many kind hearted people who understand. When Rocky has a sad day it makes me sad too. I think, is it too much for him, is now the time? He can still walk about, we go into the garden, but don't go any further. He does his toilet, everything is working ok. 

Rocky has had a good day today so I'm feeling a bit better. He was up early wanting to go outside. I have moved his food and water into the living room so he doesn't have to go to the kitchen for it. The hard lino floor in there is too slippery for him, he walks much easier on the carpet. Today he was keen to eat. I think it was the heat over the last few days that he was struggling with. I have given him a hair cut, and I put a fan heater set to cold near him to help cool him down. It hasn't been so hot today so I think he is back to normal now.

It looks a bit messy in here. Bugsy's litter box is in the corner, there are newspapers around Bugsy's bed because he has been known to be sick sometimes. This morning he scoffed his food down far too quick and it was lucky I was sitting here, because immediately the wretching started  I jumped up and held him still over a few sheets of newspapers while it all came up. After that he went back to bed for a couple of hours before he asked for more food. Bugsy tends to eat more during the night so I always put some in his bowl before I go to bed. 

A redundant Pyrex casserole dish is re purposed for a dogs water bowl. Old curtain on the floor to catch the splashes and dribbles.

I've kept myself busy working on the picture, and now it is finished. I'm very pleased with it. I had a frame in mind but now I find that the glass has a long scratch in the middle, so it's either get a new piece of glass, or look for another frame at the car boot sale on Sunday. Probably more cost effective to get a cheap frame and buy it for the glass.

We're supposed to be getting some thunderstorms, so I don't know whether to water the flowers or not in case it chucks it down during the night. The ground was slightly damp this morning so there was a sprinkling last night. I've had a man round to clean the gutters out. There wasn't much debris, but a down pipe was blocked. Should be alright now.

Bugsy is next to me scoffing like there is no tomorrow, I gave him a small portion so it should be alright. Lucky so far, nothing coming up. He's looking for more, but he isn't getting any. He's now washing his face. The sun is going down so I'm off out.

Thanks for popping in. Have a nice weekend. We'll catch up soon.
Toodle pip

Please tell me when you're ready

 Hello. If only our pets could speak. They could tell us when they are happy and when they are sad. They could tell us when they are having an off day, or when they are feeling better. They could tell us when they are tired, or when they want to go out. Young dogs could probably tell us these things, but older dogs cant.

Older dogs slow down naturally, they don't wag their tales as much, they don't get up as early and stay in bed longer. They don't tell you when they want to go to the toilet you have to remind them and lead them outside. They don't listen to your chat any more because they have gone deaf and can't hear your voice. If you leave the room they wonder where you have gone and start to worry when you are no longer there.

Older dogs move a lot slower, they can no longer play, they don't want to play, they just want a quiet life. They become picky with their food and we look for food that they will like. Because they are old they should have nice food that they like.

If only our old pets could speak. They could tell us when they are struggling, that they have an ache here or a pain there. They could tell us when they are too weary to go on, and say it's alright mum, I'm ready to go now. There's going to be a massive hole in my heart when the time comes for this little fella to bow out. Who knows when it will be, one week, one month, several months. I think within this year. I hope I can spot the signs when he is ready.

Feeling down, but I'll pick up. Thanks for popping in. Toodle pip

Plenty of flies on me

Hello. It's been a day mainly indoors today, with a walk and a bit of hedge trimming when it became a bit breezy. More sewing, so not a lot to post about. Here's a little taster of this picture so far. Still a lot more to do, it's a slow process. 

The flies in the house are annoying me at the moment. I've had most of the windows open to get a bit of a breeze going through. Anybody got a solution to get rid of them other than keeping all the windows and doors closed, and swatting them with a rolled up newspaper. I can't spray anything because of the pets, and I have tried those sticky papers but the flies don't seem attracted to land on them. I hate the critters.

Thanks for popping in. We'll catch up soon.
Toodle pip

Not just supermarkets

Good morning. For those who are wanting to cut their spending on their every day living expenses, especially food, here's a little tip. Get into the habit of checking out the chiller cabinet in every food shop, discount store, supermarket, and corner shop, for stickers like these. At some point all food will go out of date. It will be sold off cheap or dumped, and with the publicity surrounding 'Love food, hate waste',  more and more shops are eager to get at least a few pennies for their products before writing them off at a loss. 

Think of your eyes as a scanning machine. Don't walk around the shops bleary eyed, with your mind elsewhere, concentrate on what you are doing. Make it a game, a challenge to pick up at least one item that has a reduced sticker on it. It might seem too time consuming, too much of a hassle to do this, but a few pennies saved here and there, and you will be quids in at the end of the year. 

Check out the chiller cabinets for dairy, salad, veg, and meat. A quick glance is enough, you don't need to spend time searching. Eventually these stickers will jump out at you because you are ignoring everything else around them. 

I go in Wilko to see if they have any offers on pet food, I walk past the chiller. This is what jumped out at me on Saturday. Now I wouldn't normally buy fresh milk, and definitely not semi skimmed, but at this price it would be daft to leave it on the shelf.  

I walk through the car park in search of cat food at Poundstretcher, and I know they have a couple of baskets of reduced near the tills. Most of it sugary sweets but worth a look. Weight Watchers choccy drink. I don't watch my weight, but I can still buy their products, 25p for five sachets, that's 5p a drink. Would be daft not to buy it.

I do this scanning in every shop. I get to know the layout of the shop and make a beeline for where I might spot a bargain. It doesn't take hours of trawling to do this, it's just a controlled way of shopping and can be done quickly. Now this is a contradiction of my usual advice of not impulse shopping, only buy what you set out to buy. Budgeting your finances is not only about controlling spending urges, but also taking advantage of big reductions in price, which would be beneficial in longer term planning.

The key to savvy spending is only buy what you can realistically use before it becomes inedible, or you become bored with it. Looking for reduced stickers can become an obsession, no need to take it to extremes. Yes, I get a buzz when I empty my bags out in the kitchen, and I feel like I am beating the system, but I would not be saving money if half of the food had to be thrown away. I buy what I need, what I can eat in the time scale, and no more. By the way, I am still eating strawberries, but I also gave some away.

Make savvy shopping your new hobby if you need to cut your food bill. Aim to beat the supermarkets by shopping around, by spotting these reduced stickers in all the shops. If you can't find any ask an assistant to direct you to the right section. Don't be embarrassed to ask for bargains, it's your money, you decide what you want to spend it on.

It's going to be a hot one today, so I am just off to do my walk now, before it gets too hot. I have started taking a bottle of watery juice with me to keep me hydrated.

Thanks for popping in, we'll catch up soon.
Toodle pip.

Monday's musings from Tightwad Towers

Hello. I'm waiting for it to cool down a bit before I go and do my walk. It's been so chuffin hot here, I've been indoors for most of the day. This morning at the Village Hall for the Crafty Club, we are three years old today, and Heather very kindly baked a cake with a raspberry and cream filling. We are planning ahead and thinking about what decorations we are going to make for our Christmas tree, and we have chosen a date for next years Art Exhibition. When I came home I carried on with sewing, because it was too hot to go outside. 

I have some flowers, some of them are a bit floppy but it all looks nice. Pictures taken from inside the summer house, looking out. The grass is growing nicely up to the bricks now, good to see all the bare earth finally covered in green. 

Some of the yellow sticker veg has been turned into stew, portioned up, and in the freezer. It's butternut squash, sweet potato, courgettes, and spinach. Six meals, plus three smaller pots, all for a cost of £2. A slice of bread to mop up the gravy. That will save a bit of cooking when I can't be bothered.

A few more snapshots of the felt exhibition at the Arts Centre. These are amazingly complex pieces of art. They look almost like porcelain.

Nearly 8pm, I think it might be safe to go out now. Thanks for popping in, and thank you for your comments. We'll catch up soon.
Toodle pip.

Shed of the Year is coming.

Hello. Not long now to wait for Cuprinol Shed of the Year coming on the telly. 

It will start on Friday 29th July at 8pm on Channel 4. There will be four programmes over four weeks. Each programme will feature two of the eight categories, four sheds in each category. At the end of each programme two winners will be announced.

My summer house/beach hut will be on the last programme scheduled to go out on Friday the 19th of August, so we have a bit longer to wait. At the very end of the last programme the overall winner of Shed of the Year will be announced.

If you watch all the programmes you will see me popping up in the audience, this is what I was wearing.

During the four weeks I will be publishing some of the photo's I have of the two filming sessions, so watch this space. It was fun to do, lots of fun ahead, not long now to see the results.

Enjoy your Sunday. Thanks for popping in. Thanks for all your comments on the health post, worth going back for another look because new comments came in this morning.
Toodle pip