Bugs, Bunting and Wires

 

The slugs have found my lovely bargain Dahlia.

Between them and the greenfly that have decimated my Lupins, this is a very insect heavy garden this year.  Last nights torrential rain washed a lot of the greenfly off, but this morning they were all climbing up the plant pot like teeny tiny mountaineers to get back to their free feast. There seems to be a real dearth of ladybirds this year, but then the weather is very random isn't it.

Someone shared their photo of our main High Street in the late evening, on the local Facebook group last week.  It's very atmospheric with the moody blue sky isn't it.  The bunting goes up every year the week before the Children's Festival, which is the main event here in Spring and remains for quite a while so all the holiday makers can enjoy the atmosphere.  

It makes the town look very pretty.

https://youtu.be/haO5B4hHrRA?si=1XdyQnxLNktmdG4F

Alan asked me to do another updated walk through of the bungalow now that the first fix electrics have been completed, so here it is for posterity.  It's coming along nicely.  This week Alan is doing lots of little jobs as we have no builders or trades in.  He's enjoying having a bit of a lie in each day with no pressure to get there early to let everyone in.  It's been a bit like being back at work for him just recently, having lots of 8am starts while he works alongside the tradesmen.

Next week things will move forward again as the outside of the bungalow and the garage is being rendered in brilliant white,.  It's going to look fantastic with our new anthracite grey window frames and the green 'front' door, which along with the French doors in the main room, will also be installed.

Sue xx

Kitchen Paper, Freebies ... and Pension Payments

 

It had to be done.  😄

This weekend's little shopping trip included a twin pack of kitchen paper. 

 My roll finally ran out on Friday and as I had just one napkin picked up from a café left, so I thought it was time to make an extravagant purchase.  I last bought kitchen paper in November or December of 2024, so picking up all the leftover napkins from cafés etc has really worked out well for saving me money and stopping wastage.

 

This photo appeared on my blog in May 2025, and shows the roll still looking very healthy then.  I can understand why I ended up running out in May, we just haven't really eaten out as much and even our coffee stops on the motorway have not given me as many napkins to bring home, Alan spilt some of his coffee on two occasions and we had to mop it up.

Out of interest here are my May freebies ...

Two sachets of sugar from breakfast in Morecambe.

Brown sauce and two napkins from Booths.  

Alan now admits to always fancying some brown sauce when he's ordering his bacon bun, but once he sees the bacon in front of him he can't bear to slather it on.

Napkins from the service station.  

Alan said there was a wad of napkins on top of the dispenser and the lady handed them to him.  I was over at Subway and just picked up two.

Free coffee from the Greggs app.

 

These are representing the two monthly free coffees we get from Dobbie's.  I forgot to take a photo, we actually get a latte for Alan and a black Americano for me.

Sauce and a sugar from Booths.

From Burger King at the services, I fancied chips and they do the best ones, I did pick up two ketchups but one was more than enough, so the other came home with as well as the salt.  I didn't realise that the chips come already salted.

A free steak bake for Alan from Greggs at the services.

Our two free coffees from Burnside garden centre.

Also a leftover Flora spread pot from my breakfast.

And then finally, a few napkins from the services yesterday ... so maybe I could have held out on buying the kitchen roll.  😄

Looking very full ...what's the betting this has to move house with us.

So I can keep tabs on it I have written the date on the inside ... a bit like when I 'dated a toilet roll'.  

So my first shopping for June from Aldi looked like this and cost me £11.22.

The receipt for posterity.

I am now officially a UK pensioner as I received a pro-rate pension payment last Friday.  My next payment will be in four weeks.  It's so nice to have some money coming into my bank account again, but I'll still be watching the pennies as avidly, and collecting as many freebies as possible when we are out and about, you can count on that. 

Sue xx

How Many Times Do You Shop Each Month?

 26th - Sainsbury's £21.03

Whenever I share my shopping I get comments along the lines of 'I don't know how you manage on so little' or 'I have to spend a lot more' etc, and I've never really explained it well enough really.  So it's totally my fault.

I buy all the food that I need, and yes occasionally some of the food or treats that I just want or that  temptation leads me into buying, to top up what I already have in the house.  Most of you have seen my bulging cupboards and know all about my on/off stockpiling for a rainy day.  This year that has all been done with money that I have made selling things off while decluttering prior to our forthcoming move, and not always from my very limited food budget.  I've done well, and while I have been eating very well I have also built up quite a respectable stash of things that I need and will make good use of.  Every shopping trip has something that gets popped into the bottom cupboard, one day I just know it will all explode outwards with a flurry of assorted packages and tins littering my tiny kitchen floor, it really is that full.

I was definitely seduced by these lovely strawberries this week.  No sooner were they home than they were washed, trimmed and popped into the fridge for random snacking moments.

It's almost the law in the UK to have strawberries at the end of May and into June, then as soon as the lovely homegrown fresh flavour starts to diminish I rarely buy them anymore.

Some people eat the green tops too, while I can't stand to do that nothing gets wasted here, and they get added to the fruit scraps bag in the freezer ready for the next round of compost heap jelly.

Booths £8.35

Yesterday I had to call into Booths for some bread for Alan and while I was there I thought I would get some for myself too.  They had none of the sort I like, indeed the bread shelves were pretty spartan.  I guess everyone is either picnicking, barbequing, or simply living on sandwiches and buns.  I got myself some buns instead and will make do with those.  

I can use the teacakes in the top photo instead of breakfast toast, they are already sliced in half and in the freezer waiting to be called upon.  As you can see I was tempted by a quiche, some of the bought ones tend to be a bit hit and miss, but these Higgidy vegan quiches are full of flavour and delicious hot or cold, we both like them so I will be sharing.

The fridge is looking very healthy going into the weekend, the quiche was still on the worktop when I took this photo.

Anyway, the title of this post is 'How Many Times Do You Shop Each Month?'

 I went back and checked my own total after noting down what I had spent up to now this month, and I have shopped eight times in May. I spent a total of £99.37 all together, which averages out at a very respectable £25 for one person for a week.  Some of the cash from my limited housekeeping and some from a couple of small sales of household stuff. 

 Eight times seems excessive but we tend to stop at the supermarket on the way back from somewhere, or just pop out for a couple of things, and it's been a long time since either of us did a proper 'weekly shop'.  I find it so much easier to manage this way, and looking in a lot of the trollies in the supermarkets during the week, so do a lot of other people.

Sue xx

Living on Leftovers, Fancy Pants Pretenders

 

In this heatwave I have been careful to keep an eye on the food, even the things in the fridge so I can make sure to use everything up while it is still reasonably at it's best.

Standing out for me the other day was a chunk of red onion and a slightly sad looking courgette, so I added a few other things and roasted them, et voila ... lots of lovely cooked vegetables to add to a few different meals.

The first meal was a freshly baked baguette with leftover tuna and hummus.

With some of the hummus still leftover, I decided to add it and some of the vegetables to some pasta.

It was really tasty, and there were still lots of vegetables left over.  So they went into portion sized pots for the freezer.

They may seem like quite small pots even for a single serving, but I find they are more than adequate for me.  This is what one pot looked like on a flatbread pizza last time I did this.

Alan switches to cold drinks in this weather, me ... well I drink coffee.  Hot, black, caffeinated coffee, no iced versions or fancy pants pretenders pass my lips.  😄

Sue xx

Lawn and Order

 

*

Lawn mowers were out in force this weekend, not at our house I hasten to add, we are most definitely a lawn free zone.  But it seemed that virtually all the neighbours were either cutting grass or power washing their patios.  Oh well, if they've all got their little plots done now, peace should reign supreme for the rest of the week.  😄

Over at the bungalow the plumber has now installed an indoor stop tap that will one day be hidden under the kitchen sink ...

... and an outdoor tap.  

Which means that one day in the not too distant future, we will be able to annoy our neighbours with a jet washing session.  😁

Sue xx

* You really need to have watched Law and Order at some point to understand the joke.  😄