A Case for Slow Living

 

I never thought I would say this but already I am missing the warmer weather.  

I usually find sunny days far too hot, I like being cool. But here in the north of England the last couple of weeks have been cold ...and I mean cold. The central heating has clicked on a few times and it is set to only do that when temperature falls below 15 degrees.   I even added another thin quilt onto my bed last night to keep me a bit cosier.

I love this meme, but in my head I sort of adapted it as I read it to suit our current weather conditions.  Today for instance is the first day for two weeks that I have been able to get the washing out of the line to dry.  I haven't been able to do much in the garden other than remove the decimated lupins from their pots.  I fear there was no way to rescue them, the greenfly have won for the second year running.

But I am revelling in slowness, and the light lingers longer and longer as we head towards the 21st and the longest day of the year.  I lay in bed last night watching the light slowly fade from below and above the curtains, remembering that as a child I hated being sent to bed when it was still 'daytime'.

I rescued the crusts from my toast, along with half a slice of toast that Alan couldn't finish when we went out for breakfast last weekend and I am currently turning them into some oniony, garlicky croutons to have with my homemade soup for tea. 

It will be a nice simple, frugal and tasty evening meal on a day that is already turning just a little bit chiller.

Time to go and get the now dry washing in now I think.

Sue xx

Rice, Tiles ... and a Padded Cell?

 

I find something really satisfying about using up the last of the things that I have in my big jars.  Yesterday I used the last of the rice, so the jar was washed and I refilled it after leaving it to thoroughly dry overnight.  It holds two kilos of rice so a full jar lasts me quite a long time.

There were just two cups of rice left in the jar before it was washed out, so I cooked it all up at once and then I had some for my tea with a portion of chickpea and potato curry from the freezer and left the rest to cool down in my freezer blocks.

So if two cups of rice does me five meals, that refilled jar is going to last me quite a while. 😁

I took Alan's lunch round to him at the bungalow yesterday and discovered him just finishing off doing this in my bedroom ... I think he is making me a padded cell.  I know I can be a bit wacky at times, but am I really that bad?  😄

This weekend we are out to choose the floor tiles for the bungalow, yes we go to all the exciting places!!

  We have been deliberating for a long time on which ones we want as they are covering the main room, the hallway, my bedroom and both bathroom floors, and as is usually the way with me I have come full circle and we are going for the ones that I chose way back at the start of the kitchen design process.  Sometimes you have to trust your gut instinct and just go with it.

Hope you all have a lovely weekend.  💖

Sue xx

Eating for £3.50 a Day?

 

Yesterday morning I was watching WearyWolf's latest YouTube video about eating for 50p a day and of course it immediately brought back memories of me doing exactly the same thing back in April 2023 on my Challenge blog.  

I just had to go back and have a look to see what I bought with my £3.50, I really couldn't remember at all.  We did it so differently, and to be honest I think he did it so much better.  I doubt he could have managed the week on my tiny portions compared to the really good ones that he made for himself.

https://youtu.be/FADYSUh8zCQ?si=DCZw1jDwvHiM4r-0

I wonder how I would do it if I had to do it again.  I briefly thought of having another go at the challenge ... and then talked myself out of it almost immediately.  😄

To read my version of the challenge just click HERE, and then as you get to the bottom of each post click on 'Newer Post' and you will go straight to the next days blog post.

Sue xx

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