Feeling pleased

Feeling very pleased with myself today. Did a nice lot of baking done this morning which results in a happy family knowing their sweet tooth will be satisfied and tummies treated :-) I also made a couple of pies from last nights left over mince meat casserole. Added the little bit of left over veg as well, and got two yummy pies :-) Mum had given me some asparagus, so I did that with it, and some broccoli that was in the freezer. One yummy dinner that didn't cost a lot to make. Happy days :-)

I also managed to finish the first of the latest pair of socks, and the second one is cast on with half the rib done.

I'm now sitting in front of the telly, playing on here, and enjoying a glass of wine :-)

Todays bakeoff

So, I've been busy in the kitchen today. One cherry cake, one fruit cake, two banana cakes, one white Victoria Sandwich, one chocolate Victoria Sandwich, a batch of cookies and  chocolate krispie bars :-)

More socks

My newest pair of socks on the needle is well on the way. On the foot of the first one. The wool is thicker than I thought it would be. It's a brushed mohair chunky and it's giving a felted appearance. I think my 26yr old daughter will like that though. I do hope, they won't be itchy. It doesn't feel like they will be, but on the feet, it's difficult to tell. After this pair, I have two pairs I need to do for people who have requested some, then, I think I might do myself a pair or two. I have a pair of 4ply ones on the go. Part way through the second one, but I fancy some chunky ones. Lovely for when we're caravaning and the evening gets cold :-)

Resourceful times

Today was fairly resourceful for me. The main part of dinner tonight was mincemeat, to which I added the last of some carrots that were floating about in the fridge salad drawer, past their best, but still edible, and the rest of the new potatoes (skin on) from the other night. So no veggies found themselves in the bin :-) Cooked the casserole in the pressure cooker,which is a brilliant piece of kitchen equipment. A mincemeat casserole, beautifully cooked within 15mins :-)

Also. My fruit bowl was looking over run with fruit that was looking very sorry for itself so very conscientiously, I made a fruit salad with it, which was very yummy, with a pot of yogurt tipped over it :-)

Surprised

Well. I was really surprised. The chocolate Krispie bars were a big hit!! Not just with my 16yr old, but with her boyfriend and my 25yr old son :-) If I had done them as cakes, they wouldn't have been touched, as bars, they've been transformed into the 'best thing ever!!!' lol. Looks like that's going to be a regular make until they get fed up of them :-)

Arriving on my Kindle this morning was my pre-ordered A Girl Named Jack recipe book :-) Looks good what I've seen so far. I really admire her and respect what she's done, and how she's gone about things. I find her very inspiring :-)

Did my shopping meet up with my 23yr old daughter. We do this most Thursdays. Visit a local supermarket, do our shopping then grace their cafe for a good 45mins putting the world to rights :-) Wonderful times to be cherished :-)

I've just booked an archaeological walk around Stonehenge that's taking place next month. Going with my hubby and 35yr old daughter. Should be fun. It's run by the National Trust whom we're members of. Looking forward to it :-)

Hoping, or should say aiming to have a bake day tomorrow. Get some cakes made and in the freezer for future use :-) I like to have a store of cake in the freezer, knowing when needed I can take one out all ready baked and ready to eat. In a weird sort of way, it feels like I'm producing 'free' cake lol. Will have to make a birthday cake tomorrow. as I have a son who will be 25yrs old :-)

Socks

Finished socks :-) Pair number 4 and will soon be on the feet of my 23rd yr old daughter :-) Now knitting a pair for my 26 yr old daughter in the khaki colour posted earlier :-)

Krispie bars

Krispie bars

Birthday

It's my mum's birthday today. She's 82 :-) My eldest daughter and I are taking her out to a cafe in a local farm shop a little later. Hopefully, photos will follow on another post :-) I also have a son who will be 25 on Friday :-)

So. I wore my resourceful hat yesterday. Having had an obvious revelation that the best way to save money, is not to go shopping, I'm trying to see if, before setting off to the shops for little things, can I 'shop' in my cupboards first. Elementary stuff really, but for an unorganised spur of the moment sort of person like me, I don't tend to think down those wave lengths. Anyway. My youngest complained on Sunday night that there were no chocolate bars in the fridge for her to take to college for her lunch. I didn't really want to go up the shops, so thought I'd see what I could produce from what my cupboards held.which ended up being chocolate krispie bars. Doing what I would do for krispie cakes, I put the mixture into a tin, rather than cake cases, as I knew that would just not be a street cred thing for a 16yr girl to take to college. They look so much more with it as bars :-) They must have done anyway, because she cheerfully went off this morning with one :-) Nice little saving of a couple of quid there, and a tick in my 'being resourceful book' :-)

Ponderings

I love Costa. I love the Costa in my town anyway. It's so friendly, and has a wonderful atmosphere. The thing is, it's expensive. Well, expensive to visit more than once a week. My last visit to town on Saturday saw me taking my own coffee with me in the wonderful Costa flask cup. Wonderful because it doesn't leak, and I can put it in my bag :-) As it was a lovely morning Saturday. Nice and sunny, I sat on a seat, too a rest and drank my 'free' coffee :-) Now. I get a bit of a kick out of that. I saved just under £3.00, which satisfies my present resourceful mindset!! So. This morning I have running through my mind future 'cafe experiences' that I can enjoy by myself, or on my own, inspired by a Groupon offer, offering a cream tea for two at a very decent price of £8.00, seeing it would be at a posh place. However, I thought I can make scones :-). I can also make a pot of tea :-) A pot of cream from the local supermarket wouldn't break the bank, so, I'm planning to have a lovely cream tea cafe experience in the comfort of my own home, one Saturday afternoon with my lovely hubby, and as I write this, and think about doing this, I feel very excited and inspired to think up more eating out/eating in moments :-)

Sunday

Today I'm lazing. Didn't get up until 10,30am. Lazed in bed watching The Voice on BBC iPlayer :-) The Butale Ball was fantastic. A bit hot and stuffy, but a great atmosphere and fun to be at. My eldest daughter, who is a head chef at a local hotel was the caterer, and the food was beautiful. We didn't stay until the end. I'm a bit of a party pooper, and was surprised I even stayed as long as I did, which must show how much I was enjoying it :-) We were tucked up in bed with our hot chocolate by midnight. No Cinderella rushes for us :-)

Husband's makes

A little while ago, we read The Moneyless Man by Mark Boyle. I fascinating read if you haven't read it. In the book he explains how to make an oven to boil things on, so hubby, who enjoys making things, decided to make one. No worries for me if we find our selves without an oven or microwave :-) Here it is.

Appliances

I have a big passion for appliances. I have two bread machines. Two large slow cookers. One is an old one, one a nice new digital one that the children bought me for my last birthday. I'm soon to have my mums small one, as she's moving and won't need it anymore. I have a halogen oven, which I call the monster. There's the processor, hand mixer, George Forman, and various other lovely kitchen gadgets that bring joy to my kitchen life :-)

Wool fix

So! Another shop I visited today was our local wool shop, which is a fantastic place to go :-) It's small and crammed tight with goodies to satisfy a knitting addict like me :-) I can go to Hobbycraft, and although I always enjoy my hobbycraft trips, I usually end up going into my little local wool shop and getting exactly what I want :-) Today I nipped in for some purple chunky wool, ready for a pair of socks, and ended up browsing through her sale stock, and came away with some brushed chunky wool she had on offer. She only charged me £1 a ball as she wanted to get rid of it. Not a popular colour apparently, although, like her, I liked it, an earthy colour, and I know it will be a colour that the daughter to whom the intended pair of socks will be going to will appreciate the colour as well :-)

Khaki coloured wool that wasn't a popular colour and costing only £1 a ball :-)

Purple wool as asked by someone. Not on sale, but still a reasonable price :-)

Off to shop

I love where I live. I am a short walking distance from the shops, which, not many, provide all our basic needs. The walk to the town is beautiful as it has a lovely brook/stream running through it's centre. This morning was lovely, very spring like. The ducks on the stream were loving the sunshine. I think that no matter how much they love wet weather, even they have got fed up of getting wet. They were dipping and diving into the brook, which is higher than usual due to the rain we've been getting, and having a lovely time. Today I took full advantage of the lovely dry, spring like weather, and walked into town, and I had my camera with me :-)

So there are some pics of some of the ducks enjoying the sunshine. Here's some of the brook.

Shopping

So tonight I'm going to a ball. It's a ball our pastor's wife organises to raise money for a school we sponsor in Butale. The last two years I've been in the kitchen tent helping my daughter, who is a head chef and caters for the ball, prepare the food. This year I'm going to be served, rather than be the server :-). I haven't got a ball gow, but I do have a decent dress that I've worn once. So I shall wear that. My hubby didn't have a suit. He does have a decent pair of trousers and jacket, which can be worn together, but not a suit. Anyway. I was taking a look in the charity shops for a water proof coat that I can use for when we go in walks, as I haven't a decent one that keeps me dry. While looking, and I didn't find one, though I saw a lovely rain coat at a brilliant price, I didn't find a jacket, and that at the moment is more necessary than a rain coat. I did see a few decent suits however, A lovely black one, that sadly was too small for hubby. However, there was a nice brown sort of coloured one which fit lovely, so for a tenner, hubby now has a lovely new suit :-D Feeling very chuffed :-)

Caravaning

I love our caravan. It's only a small two berth one, but I love it. I love going away in it, and start getting very excited at about this time of the year, because it's getting near the time when we can hitch up and go :-) We've only been caravaners for three years. It seems a lot longer, and I was surprised when I asked hubby how long we'd had the caravan. Here's a photo of it.

Our caravan

At the moment it is desperate need of a clean, which we will do once the wet nasty weather seems to be on the decline :-)

My husband

My husband, Rich, enjoys woodwork. He has a wood turning lathe, and wants to get down to some serious wood turning. A few weeks ago he went to a friends workshop and made a bowl on the wood lathe his friend has there. Very proudly he bought it home, and I was really impressed. "What a lovely smell." says I as he walks through the door with it, waving it in the air. Within five minutes I had to ask him to put it somewhere well away from my smelling senses as it started to make my eyes water like anything. He's made it out of eucalyptus wood, which smelt really strong, and sadly I have reactions against things strong smelling scents :-( The next bowl will have to be made from slight smelling wood stuff!!

Stuff on the go

I have several things on the go. Gradually I shall work though it all. Hopefully lol. For a while now I've been getting knitting patterns through the post, that give you the wool to make a blanket. Bit expensive, but when they are made, will be, I think, worth it. I'm half way through the first blanket. Haven't started the second one. Here's a photo of how the first one is getting on.

Blanket in progress

My daughter Lydia knits as well. here's a photo of her latest pair of booties.

Lydia's booties

I love knitting

I love crafts and knitting etc. Mainly knitting :-) I hold an arty crafty group most weeks, which I enjoy loads. I'm into knitting socks at the moment, and getting well into chunky slouchy ones. Have got a pair of finer socks on the needles, as well as on my 5th pair of chunky slouchy ones in 5wks :-)

One pair of chunky slouchy socks

I recently finished off a pair of flip flop socks. I started these in 2011, and finally finished them in January this year. The reason I took so long with them is, I think, because I wasn't knitting them for any other reason than just for the fun of knitting them. I posted them on Facebook and they promptly found a home, which was good, because I don't like flip flops, so I would never need to wear them :-)

Flip flop socks.

Once again

Once again I'm attempting a blog. I stopped the others as for some reason I couldn't get fully into them, and found I was repeating myself. This time, I'm determined to stick at it :-)

There's a lot going on in my life at the moment. Children who had moved out, moving back in. Lovely to have them home again, but it means rooms having to be rearranged, and the prospect of having a craft/sewing room being further away from happening!!! Though in all honesty, I'd rather have the children to a craft sewing room :-)

I'm on a challenge (have been for ages but never seem to get anywhere with it!!) to try and live as resourcefully as possible. I think to say frugal is not the right word, because I go off the frugal path. Resourceful is the better word. I want to be able to make the most of the money that comes into the house. I'd like to learn to upcycle, reuse where I can. Make something out of nothing as such. Bake more. Make more. To be productive. Not wasteful. To appreciate what I have, and put what I have to best of what it can be :-) I don't want to be stingy, but I don't want to become a slave to the materialism that seems to want to control life and waste money or time or both.  To put it in a nut shell, I simply want to enjoy life simply. Or at least. As simple as I can :-)