Appreciating What You Already Have

 

After sitting looking at the soil and rock pile at our new bungalow the other day, shown on Thursday's post, I came home and appreciated what we have here all the more.

Having no money at all to spend on the garden this year is setting me a nice little challenge, making the most of what I already have.  The little tin bath at my front door has been refreshed with the free rockery plant that I got from the garden centre as their April freebie for card holders ... along with the usual two free coffees.

The forget-me-not seeds that we got off the vets after Suky was cremated appear each year, (both Suky's and Mavis' ashes are in this little tin bath, so they will always be with us).  The tall twiggy plant at the back grew from sticks that were in a bouquet of flowers that Alan bought me a few years ago, I just pushed them into the soil et voila.  💖

The little vegetable bed at the end of the back garden had this years veggie seeds sown yesterday.  

There are just rocket, radish and three types of salad leaves in there for now, along with the perennial chives and thyme plants.  Seemingly there's also a random potato plant, which I didn't have the heart to pull up, but I will have to won't I ... maybe I'll try to transplant it.  😀

I was also going to sow some spring onion seeds, but I have none.  Also, much to my dismay I have absolutely NO tomato seeds.  How did that happen?  I was so upset going through my seeds tin and finding it devoid of tomato seeds that Alan asked what sort I had wanted to sow.  I told him that I was simply going to have a couple of hanging baskets of 'Tumbling Toms' this year, so he said that he will buy me a couple of plants when we next go to a garden centre.  Which I think will be very soon with a Bank Holiday Weekend upon us and two free coffees available at two of our favourite ones

Across from the vegetable bed the rhubarb is looking brilliant already and will soon start to be picked, and the apple tree is having a very leafy and blossomy time.  As are the blueberry bushes, two are full of little flowers and the third is the one that always blooms a bit later anyway.

As you may have spotted on the new header photo, we also have a little bit more colour appearing now that the daffodils have all gone over.  

I'm putting the photo here as well as one day in possibly the not too distant future, the header will change and then later readers will not know what on earth I was on about. 😄

Ginger in the garden first thing yesterday morning. 🐱

I hope he's still with us when we move, and that we can make him a new garden to explore and play in.

I hope you have a wonderful Bank Holiday Weekend, if it is one where you are.

Sue xx

Shopping ... and Piles

 

This weeks shopping was from Booths.

As you can see I didn't buy much, apart from not really needing too much I am quickly running out of available cash as I crawl slowly towards my first State Penson pay out in May.  The money I made from my Facebook Marketplace sales is just about keeping me on the straight and narrow, as the interest on my savings is also going down and down each month. I am now paying for all the necessary things for the renovation as Alan's account has virtually emptied.

We are not destitute by any means ... as the next paragraph clearly shows, but I am determined to stick to my guns and make it to my first pension date by using cash.

 I called into Booths because Alan wanted me to pick up a bacon bun and a takeaway coffee for him while he was hard at work in the bungalow.  I had been to the hairdressers so I was in the vicinity.   I got myself a coffee too and we sat on the back step discussing garden plans now that we know the way the sun hits the garden at various times of the day.

It going to be a long time until the garden looks anything like a garden.  This photo was taken at the start of the month, but apart from a few weeds appearing on the soil and rock pile nothing has changed ... but we can make plans.  😄

The front garden is very similar.

Sue xx

Remember the Coupon?

Remember the coupon that I got from Sainsbury's, the one that gave me £18 off a spend of £60 or more, well I only just remembered it in time.  I used it the day before it's expiry date, it would have been a shame not too.

What I did actually forget to do was to take a photo of the shopping when it was delivered.  I thought that I had, but it seems that the only ones I got were the coffee and rice, I was pleased with the long Best Before dates on everything so I took a photo.  Everything else had really good dates too, but seemingly my shopping came from a central hub not the local store so that explains a lot.

Order summary

Trolley total£69.75

Delivery cost£4.50

Coupon savings-£30.50

Total£43.75

That was my total after using my £18 off coupon and my available Nectar points.

I was really happy as my usual large pack of toilet rolls was finally on special offer.  I bought myself two packs of 12 double length rolls, but Alan said he needed some, so I gave him one of the packs.  Well it seemed a nice thing to do, after all he's always buying me bits and pieces of shopping. 😁

I also treated myself to my favourite pizza, and we shared this for tea the next night.

I also bought:

4 pouches of microwave brown rice

4 pouches of microwaveable vegetable rice

a ready made vegan quiche

a couple of large jars of coffee

some hummus

a very large bag of red lentils

6 small bars of dairy-free white chocolate

two bags of dairy-free grated cheese

and

2 twin packs of tissues

It didn't seem a lot of shopping for the full amount but with the coupon, the Nectar points and my nectar offers it all came down by quite a lot.  The delivery guys were lovely too, and came just two minutes after the expected time.  

I'll probably order online again ... when I get another coupon.  😄

Sue xx

Do You Tidy Up, or Return Yours?

 

We went to visit Mum yesterday, and as is our usual routine we stopped at the services on the way home.  On a good motorway day, which it was yesterday, it's only just over an hours journey between our home and the hospital, but on the way home it's nice to have a break mid-way, to get that all important coffee and something to eat after being out since just after breakfast.

As we sat down in our favourite place ... it's perfect for people watching, which we love ... I noticed this table.  It's a usual sight at the services and indeed sometimes they are even worse, food takeaway containers and mess all over the floor.  It makes us both sad, and if I'm honest annoyed, that people especially these days, don't seem to have the desire to tidy up after themselves in any way at the services, or in cafés.  Don't get me started about the terrible littering problem along the side of the motorways and roads either!!

It doesn't take much to either stack your plates carefully in a café, or go to the many bins in the service stations with all your paper, cardboard and detritus.  I have always done this, true we didn't eat out much as children but when we did we left the table as tidy as we could. I drummed it into my sons too, and the times I have eaten out with my grandchildren they always see me tidy the table and join in to help.

Seemingly there was a lot of debate on the matter a while ago, with some people countering that 'servers' don't like you to do it as they prefer to do it their own way.  Some servers said they didn't like the customers tidying up as they put the cutlery into the cups, make wobbly stacks of mismatched plates, saucers and dishes, and sweep all crumbs and food onto the floor.  Now that would get me annoyed too, so I do think common-sense has to be brought into play if you are tidying your table.

We always tidy up and do it sensibly ... do you?

There's a whole other debate too, do you return your shopping trolley (cart) or do you leave it abandoned to it's own devices in the carpark?  

Here in the UK a lot of supermarket trollies need a pound coin or a similar sized token to free them from the line-up.  I use the old pound coins and have one in every single jacket pocket and a spare in my bag as Alan often forgets to bring a pound. This does tend to get virtually everyone to return their trolley to it's correct place after use.

Whether you're tidying tables, returning shopping trollies or picking up litter that you didn't actually drop yourself, it's all just good manners really isn't it.

Sue xx

Ice-creams and Solar Panels

 

A well deserved ice-cream at the seaside.

We went to Morecambe for breakfast this morning, it's less than half an hour away up the motorway so it's a place we frequently visit.  Not quite as often now that we don't have the dogs but we do still go at least once a month.  

Alan tucked into a very well deserved ice-cream for his dessert.  Do breakfasts have desserts?  I don't know usually ... but this one did.  It was a lovely day, the third or fourth sunny one this week, but the first time we have been able to make the most of it.  Even then we had to dash back home for the latest vaccinations for us both at the doctors.  Alan joked to the nurse that since he retired all they seem to want to do is to stick needles in him, it is getting a bit excessive. 😐

Alan has been busy all week at the bungalow battening the walls for the interior insulation, and together we measured up and marked out the measurements for the en-suite bathrooms and their contents.

Simultaneously, the guys came to fit the solar panels on both sides of the roof.

We have a large array so that we can hopefully generate more than we actually use, especially on days like this.  There's not as many as we had on the small holding in Wales, but we are not too far off.

Added-  since publishing this post I've been told we will have 36 panels here, we had 45 in Wales but they were of a smaller capacity.   So we have actually got a much better more reliable and more profitable system now.  Oh, and we have 10 kilowatt hours of battery backup  ... gosh it's all very technical.  😄

Up in the loft are all the control panels for the solar panels and the batteries.  Alan had made sure that the floor had all been boarded safely in the areas that they needed to access.

Alan had laid the piping that will hold the wires that go over to the garage, as that too will have a roof full of solar panels.  Unfortunately, the company had sent the wrong fixings for these to the installers, so it is all being finished off and commissioned next week.

Here's the lates YouTube walk-through.

https://youtu.be/oFv6_OOUfRI

We're back to hospital visiting tomorrow, but hopefully we will be able to stop at the services on the way home and enjoy a little bit more sunshine, along with a sausage roll and a coffee from Greggs.

Sue xx