Eating Seasonally, and Riverford

 

The electric Riverford van glided silently up to the house mid-morning yesterday with this week's delivery.  This time I had chosen the 'swappable box' as there were a few things in my usual one that I didn't need.  I also got a free gift this week.  They seem to have forgotten that until I paused my deliveries, just while we were eating from our garden over the Summer months, I was already a customer, so last week an email pinged into my inbox saying that as this was my third order with them I qualified for a free cookbook.

Who was I to argue.  😃

This weeks box contents, including two bags of potatoes at the back that I had swapped out for something else, I can't remember what it was.

My fridge drawer is now looking a lot healthier.

This is the book I got.  

At first I thought it was a completely new book ...

... but it's actually an updated version of one that I bought from the used book section on Amazon a while ago.  I will be donating my old copy and having a read of the new one.

This weeks newsletter was interesting.

It explains why this will probably be the last of the Riverford tomatoes and cucumbers, and I think this is a great thing.  How wonderful to be able to eat seasonally, and to be encouraged to do so by responsible growers.  Will I be able to refrain from buying fresh tomatoes next time I am in Aldi or Booths for some shopping, I truly hope so.  I have plenty of tins of tomatoes to see me through the Winter months for all the wonderfully tomatoey meals that I love so much.

I think I will be making much more of an effort to eat seasonally in the New Year,  it would be a good resolution wouldn't it.

My Riverford Link

FREE chopping board when you spend £25 on your first order. Use code CHOPTOIT

Sue xx

We Can Each Do It Our Own Way

 

These last few dry, cold days have given us some wonderful mornings.  

The slight light outside my windows as the day slowly breaks, makes my current terrible habit of waking up so early and being unable to get back to sleep worthwhile.  I give myself ten minutes and if sleep doesn't return I am up and making coffee.

Then I stand outside in the dark warming my hands on the mug, while the central heating warms up my rooms inside.  When the sky starts to lighten I retreat to the now warm living room and debate more coffee, or maybe early morning toast.

Both usually win. 😊

It seems very early but Christmas is everywhere, it's in the shops and has been for a while, somehow it seems more forgivable now that Halloween has passed, and soon bonfire night will have come and gone.  I have actually seen a house complete with brightly lit Christmas tree in their window, and a wreath on their front door.  They are well prepared for the festive season to come.  I have no room to criticise anyone with my post yesterday all about Advent calendars, and I am never one to judge anyone that needs to bring some festive cheer into their lives early to brighten the short days we are shrinking into.

We can each do it our own way, and relish the quiet or the magic that we create.

Sue xx

Calendars and Coffees

 

Contentment by Lucy Almey-Bird

This is my November calendar page, oh it's a long time since we had four dogs and a cat sprawled out all over a cosy living room.

I do love turning the calendar over to a fresh new month, no scribbles of dates for workmen, solicitors or appointments to do with Mum, it's like a new start and always a very welcome one.  There are just two things already written on the month, the date the cleaners are coming in and the date we are moving.  These are set in stone and we are working hard to meet both deadlines.

Talking of calendars, Alan bought me the Emma Bridgewater Advent calendar when we spotted it in Booths last week, they always sell out so quickly.  Online I also purchased my yearly Jacquie Lawson calendar at the weekend.  It's always well worth the £8 cost, I'm still playing the games from last years and I have all the previous years saved on my computer.  

This year it's set in the Lake District, with The Bridge House being just one of the very recognisable features on the main page.

The end of October snuck up on us so quickly, and we just about managed to go and grab our free coffees at Burnside garden centre on Saturday morning.  Drunk alongside a very nice cooked breakfast, it was a very civilised way to see out one month, and get ourselves ready to welcome the next one in.

Sue xx

The Books That I Read in October

 

Super Easy One Pounds Meals by Miguel Barclay

As usual just click on the links to Amazon to read more about these books, and to get other peoples views on what I read last month. 

For the past month I have been determined to look through my cookbooks in an attempt to really downsize the collection.  I'm finding that these days I am cooking more and more simply, and I am just not following recipes as much as I used to.  Some books are worth keeping for ideas, but a lot of them I have already taken what I needed to from them, and if there has been just one or two things worth saving I have photographed the page and added it to my Recipe file on the computer.

Donated

Green One Pound Meals by Miguel Barclay

Another of Miguel's books, yes I used to have the full set but one by one I have been whittling them down.  It was a good book to look through, but nothing caught my attention enough to make me need to keep it.

Donated

Fast and Fresh One Pound Meals by Miguel Barclay

There's a real theme developing here isn't there. 😄

I took a couple of photographs and then this came with me to Booths when we went for a coffee last Friday.  By the time we came downstairs my books had been snapped up and were nowhere to be seen.  Hopefully, someone will really love them and find something useful in them.

It's good to share books, and even better when sharing them raises money for charity in the process.

Donated

An Everlasting Meal - Cooking with Economy and Grace by Tamar Adler

In a bid to break away from reading through cookbooks, which while though very satisfying is a very samey thing to do over and over, I decided to try this book.  It was recommended to me a long time ago and I bought it soon after.  At first I was really into it, but then I found myself not in any rush to pick it up again.  So it's gone back on the shelf so I can give it a fairer trial another time.

Kept

Bish, Bash, Bosh by Henry Firth and Ian Theasby

It's funny but I don't remember buying this.  It's a signed copy and a special edition with extra recipes at the front, so you would think I would remember getting it.  Their recipes are very good but tend to use a myriad of ingredients to develop the great flavours that they create, I'm a much more simple soul these days.

Someone is going to get a real bargain on the Booths charity book table.

Donated

And that was it for my October reading, the month seems to have flown by and tomorrow we will be in November, and with the move coming up very soon, I doubt there will be too much time for reading.

Sue xx

I would just like to point out, that although I provide links to Amazon for all the books that I read each month, not all my books are bought from Amazon.  If they are some of them were bought from the Used section rather than full price.  

I share the links so that you can learn more about the books that I write about for yourself, or read reviews from others that have read them.  Of course most of the books I talk about would also be available from your local library, and if you are very lucky you might even find them in charity or thrift shops.  

There are so many ways to bring books into your home if you love reading. 📚

Sorting Things Out, Keeping Things Simple

All  my washing products.

I was up in Alan's top floor en-suite bathroom this morning.  We had emptied the main bedroom last weekend, moving the double bed down to Alan's middle floor bedroom after selling his large king-sized bed on Facebook Marketplace, so it seemed sensible to also empty out the bathroom.

That room was only ever used for the occasional overnight guests.  We decided when we thought of downsizing, that it made no sense whatsoever to have a spare room for guests that might only use it once or twice a year.  If people do want to stay with us we can make use of both our bedrooms for the length of their stay, and not have to pay extra to own a little used room.

Anyway, sorting out the bathroom made me realise just how many toiletries were up there.  I spent half an hour decanting myriad half used items into one bottle of each type and then relocated them to Alan's bathroom cupboard.  It made me realise that my way of only having the toiletries that are in use on show in my bathroom, and having one backup in stock for a refill, is my much preferred way of doing it.  My products tend to last me a long time as I decant shower gels and shampoo into a dispenser bottle each.

I have whittled the products that I use down over the years, and now there are just a few that are in constant rotation.  It's partly for simplicity, partly as my sensitive skin doesn't react to them, and also because still having no sense of smell, I do like to be able to remember what my products actually smell of, and these products have stood the test of time.

A couple of things that I have been experimenting with though are my Olay facecream ...

... and my Arm & Hammer toothpaste.

Both my usuals have shot up in price over the last couple of years, and there have been fewer and fewer offers to take advantage of when stocking up.  So I felt it was time to try some replacements.  Happily both swaps worked out well and will save me quite a bit of money overall.  Now, I don;t mind spending money on something if the quality is good and I can see a value in it, but when a cheaper, but just as good alternative is available I am very open-minded about giving it a try.

Of course I still want to get every last little bit of product out of the cheaper swap, something that is much easier when it is not in a pump dispenser style bottle.

Have you made any swaps recently to save money or to find better products?

Sue xx