Blogmas Day Twenty One - Clocking Off for Christmas

 

The work is complete, I'm clocking off from the day job for Christmas ... well I did last night really.   A good thing is, that unless we have revisions to do I will not be clocking on again in the New Year, as all the work left to complete the contracts we have, are solely in Alan's domain.

Woohoo, it's time to celebrate, I have to admit I also did that last night. 😄

When we had our visitors the other day we all went to the garden centre for breakfast, they had to leave mid afternoon to get back to Scotland so a lunch would have sat far too heavy on a long drive, but breakfast and then coffee and cake at ours, before they left was just perfect.  

After we had eaten our various choices of breakfast and chatted over coffees we browsed the shelves of our lovely local garden centre.  My sister-in-law fell in love with a beautiful wool sweater, so that solved her fiancé's Christmas gift buying problem and I just had to have the little felted mouse holding a lollipop and the little ceramic light-up house.

I only usually buy myself one little addition to the Christmas decorations each year, but this year I have really splashed out ... and bought three.  🎄

Sue xx  🎄

Blogmas Day Twenty - Final Shopping and Round-Up of My Year Long Challenge

 

As mentioned on last Sunday's post, I decided that my final weeks shopping, including a lot of things to be bought for Christmas, would be from Sainsbury's.  I had £45 available in Nectar points when I got the self-serve tills ... so I used them all, I thought I might as well see this challenge out with a flourish.

As you should be able to make out from this receipt, as well as my £45 worth of Nectar points I had to spend £5.47 of my cash.  As I had £8.45 in cash still available in the Challenge I managed to keep under budget for the year - just!!

So after a year of spending £100 a month on groceries and other items in the shops, I have a grand total of £2.98 left over from my £1,200 budget. 

Although I am officially finishing the Challenge here and now, I have earmarked that cash to take advantage of the supermarkets annual vegetable wars. What doesn't get eaten from them over the Christmas period will be processed and frozen to use in the new year.

A close up of the food.  

The chicken was for Ginger and Mavis, they eat a lot of chicken these days alongside their cat and dog food.  The cakes were for our guests ... and the Yule Log is all mine I tell you ... ALL MINE!! 😄

The same food, only more to the right.

Todays Currency Conversion

 If I didn't have a Nectar card this shop would have cost me £56.37 which is equal to:

US Dollars    $71.63

Canadian Dollars    $102.58

Australian Dollars    $113.40

Euro     68.27

New Zealand Dollar - $124.81

Always an interesting comparison to make.

Over the course of the year I have also been keeping tabs on the freebies that I have managed to get.  These have included the free giveaways from Booths, as well as the rewards from me having a Booths card, things bought with the Nectar points or the vouchers from my M&S credit card.  

Over the year it seems to have added up quite nicely, and I have managed to get £121.95 worth of food items for free.  Obviously, I have used most of them, but Alan has also benefitted a couple of times and of course Mavis got the doggy ice-cream.  😀🐶

It's been a good year but rather than carry it over to Christmas week I have decided to end now.  I am also allowing myself two orders which I put in a couple of days ago.  One to 'I Am Nut Ok' a handmade vegan cheese company, and one to Deliciously Ella, both had really good offers that I would have been crazy not to partake of.  

Most of the food on the orders is actually for January or early next year, so although some of the cheeses might be consumed over Christmas I have no guilt whatsoever at not including them in the Challenge costs.

Thanks to everyone who has followed along with this Challenge, and especially thank you for all your words of encouragement, they really helped.

What am I doing next year you might be wondering?  Well next year is a very strange year for me so I am having a long hard think about things before I decide to do anything.  Whatever I do decide to do will be out of real necessity.   😐

Sue xx  🎄

Blogmas Day Nineteen - Missing Dad

 

Missing my Dad on what would have been his birthday.  💖

Remembered in THIS POST.

Sue xx  🎄🐦

Blogmas Day Eighteen - The Christmas To Do List

Alan's Christmas tree.  

It's looking lovely, sadly this lighting didn't do it justice, but this year he's really got it so spot on.  Just full enough, just spaced out right and full of memories.

One of his little stocking fillers from me last year has pride of place.

As does this one.  

Sadly, Mavis is an only dog this year, but we have happy memories of doggy festive fun with the two of them last year.

One of my favourite modern poets.

 Sue xx  🎄

Blogmas Day Seventeen - Cosy Book Reading Season

Artwork - Esther Bennink

It's cosy book-reading season at the moment, and I am really enjoying reading my way through some of my Christmas themed books.  Alan let me have our tall light thingy that had been in the corner of his living room unused, and now that this is behind my chair in the Lodge I can see to read much earlier and much, much later, and I am making full use of the increased hours available.

Last week I was reading a book about a Christmas murder by Peter Swanson, and now I am reading a book of Christmas themed short stories by Maeve Binchy.  Rather weirdly I keep waiting for a murder to happen, hopefully it won't.  I don't think I remembered what a bloody good writer Maeve Binchy was, now I need to look out for more of her books in the charity shops.

Last time we chatted about books quite a few readers and fellow bloggers mentioned a book called 'The Long Winter' by Laura Ingalls Wilder, and I was sorely tempted to buy myself a copy.  When like-minded friends recommend something you can virtually be sure that it's worth a look.

So guess what ... yep, I got myself a copy.

The only thing was, that the cheapest way to get hold of it at the time was to buy a more recently published full set of the Laura Ingalls Wilder books.  

Please note ... I am in no way complaining.  😁

 

I do think I will read The Long Winter first, but then I have all the others to look forward to in the New Year.

It's a bit strange though isn't it, when buying seven books is cheaper than buying one!!

Sue xx  📚🎄

Blogmas Day Sixteen - Christmas Day Menu for Two ... for Less Than £8.50 a Head

 

Actual Price for Breakfast  £3.70

The other day I decided to do a little shopping exercise on the Sainsbury's website, to see how little I could spend and still have a nice simple, but well fed Christmas Day.  Now this isn't how my actual Christmas Day will be, but it won't be hugely dissimilar, and not because I am in any way a skinflint, but because keeping it simple suits me the most.

Actual Price for Christmas Dinner  £6.00

It all started while I was eating a meat-free Aldi sausage roll the other day for a quick grab it and go lunch, and the thought struck me that a sausage roll is really just a simple version of a meat-free Wellington, and that with all the trimmings and some lovely thick gravy it would make a lovely easy and fuss free Christmas dinner.

So I decided to price it up ... and while I was at it to price up what I could do my whole Christmas Day for.  I was assuming that salt, pepper, oil and coffee would be already be available.

Evening Nibbles £5.95

Then I decided that I would break the £16 barrier that had been in my head, and buy some suitably Christmas fruit.  You have to have a nod to health even on Christmas Day.  😄

Total Spend for Christmas Day - £16.54 ... or £8.27 a head.

Breakfast per person

Coffee

One and a half Vanilla Doughnuts

2 Easy Peelers

Small glass of Bucks Fizz

Lunch per person

One Meat-Free Wellington

Roast Potatoes

Mashed Potatoes

Roasted Carrots

Sage and Onion Stuffing Balls

 (save a couple for later)

Gravy

followed by

Christmas Pudding

and 

Dairy-Free Cream

Coffee

Nibbly Evening Buffet

Quartered 'Chicken' and Stuffing Rolls

Mini Sausage Rolls

(remaining sausage rolls each cut into 3)

Hummus 

(to spread thinly on buns and then for dunking tortillas in)

Tortillas

Dark Chocolate and Bucks Fizz

Easy Peelers

Doughnuts

All food that I could and would very happily eat on a nice relaxing Christmas Day.  There's nothing too taxing or stressful to cook, but it's all of the flavours of Christmas that I love.

What would your budget Christmas menu have to include?

Sue xx  🎄

Blogmas Day Fifteen - Christmas Bits and Pieces Shopping

 

This weeks shopping was from Aldi and included a couple of things that I needed and a few more 'Christmas bits and pieces'.

That Aldi peanut brittle is absolutely gorgeous ... I just hope I still have all  my teeth after Christmas.  😁

My shopping included:

Salmon £7.49 

Nut Brittle £1.99 each

Bread £1.05

Crackers 99p

Pastry 99p

Cabbage 75p

Broccoli £1.49

So I spent a total of £16.74

Although I am more than happy to make my own shortcrust pastry, these days if I want puff pastry I always buy it ready rolled, it makes life much more simple.  It was nice to see it back at 99p, it had gone up in price over the last few months.

So if I am to stay under my budget for the month, and therefore the year, I have a total of £8.45 in cash left to spend, and £45 worth of Nectar points.  

Guess where I will be shopping next week. 😄

Sue xx  🎄

Blogmas Day Fourteen - How Many Santas?

 

How many Santas are too many Santas?

We had over 250 mostly matching Santas running four laps around the town for charity last weekend, so in my opinion you can never have too many.

It's an annual event and like so many of the events and festivals in this little town of ours one that is growing year on year.

Even the dogs join in, with the three best dressed dogs winning a goodie bag of their own from our High Street pet shop.  I don't know if this little beauty won anything but he really deserved to.

One thing that our lovely little town gives so much of all through the year is Love.  💖

Sue xx  🎄

Blogmas Day Thirteen - Snow Days, Memories and Keeping it Simple

We had some glorious Christmases on the farm when we first started out on our new life in the country, but the best one ever had to be the Christmas of 2010.  

It snowed, and snowed, so much so that when Alan's annual two weeks off work came to an end he couldn't go back for another full week.  The fields and the one and a half mile track that enabled us to get to the village were all deep in the white stuff and this was the year we realised that we needed a 4x4 if we wanted to continue living there.

THIS was the post that I wrote before I knew our Christmas break was going to be a lot longer than usual.  We actually needed us both there over the Christmas holiday that year, as that was the year that Jack our boar had got in with ALL the Large Black sows and we had a quite a few piglets born at the worst possible time of the year.

But apart from all the work, the snow made life magical, and puddles on the kitchen floor from wet wellies and thawing coats were quickly forgotten about when we were cosy indoors with such magical views from the windows.

Memories like this are magical and I am so lucky to have my old blog posts to look back on, to check facts, and to prove to Alan that some things that I talk about did actually happen.  😄

Sadly, I was pulled up short a couple of weeks ago when I found an old birthday card at Mum's bungalow and took it to her at the care home.  It was one that I had made up myself with a few pages of photographs wishing her a happy 70th from all the animals, and with photos of the farm and the animals that she had looked after when her and Dad had farm-sat for us on a few occasions.

She didn't remember us having a farm, or them ever visiting, and even her favourite photo of my Dad from those times didn't jog her memory.

Life changes so much, and we just need to be in each moment, and live it and love it while we are there.

Keeping it simple and calm is what is working for me at the moment.

Sue xx  🎄

I'm publishing this on Friday 13th as this was always Mum and Dad's special lucky day.

Blogmas Day Twelve - Outdoors, Indoors and Poached Eggs

 

Garstang - looking down the High Street by Michael Coleran

It's wonderful on the High Street at this time of year.  The lights twinkle and the old buildings lend themselves beautifully to the Christmas period ... and it just feels so magical.

Cobblers is one of our favourite cafes, once again they have decorated the building wonderfully, as they always do.  This photo is also by Michael Coleran, he's one of our towns photographers.  He's out there with his cameras snapping all the special events and festivals, and I've shared it and the others here with his permission. 

Another view of the main Christmas tree from a different angle and showing off our new neighbours shop to full advantage.  There is another town Christmas tree this year in Cherastanc Square, but it is a regimented conical affair and not really to my taste, although saying that it is better than the huge white polar bear that was there last year, which turned decidedly grubby by Christmas Day.

Indoors the decorations are much smaller, they are virtually all old favourites and all are full of special memories.

They even make my current favourite breakfast of poached eggs on toast feel a bit more festive.  😁

Sue xx  🎄

Blogmas Day Eleven - Chocolate Balls

 

This is the sight that greets you when you get to the top of the stairs in our branch of Booths supermarket.  A beautiful little corner decorated as though Santa has just been down the chimney and left all the presents.

You can sit on the sofa and chairs to enjoy your coffee there, but I have yet to do that up to now, I just think it's nice to try and leave it vacant for a family to come and sit here.  It was nice to be able to get a photo the other day though while the chairs were empty.

I got home from visiting Mum last week to find this years final quarters shopping voucher from Booths lying on the doormat.  I don't know what Alan has been buying but this is one of the highest amounts I have had as a voucher ... not that I'm complaining at all. 😀

My plan was to use it to buy some shopping for Christmas, but then I had an idea.

As Alan had bought me a whopper of a box of Rhythm 108 Limited Edition chocolate truffles for Christmas, I decided to buy him a whopper pack of his favourite Ferrero Rocher with my voucher.

The truffles are just like the dark version of the Lindt chocolate balls and are absolutely delicious, and now I have a whopping kilo of chocolates to last me hopefully until well after Christmas.

Rhythm 108 are one of my favourite companies for taste, ethics and sustainability.

Luckily I have 86.  😄

Sue xx  🎄

Blogmas Day Ten - Artisan Christmas Market

Over the weekend, just a couple of days after the Christmas Tree Festival we headed up the hill above Scorton to the Wyresdale Artisan Christmas Market.

Due to the really bad stormy weather of the past few days it was a much smaller event than usual.  Most of the stalls that had braved the windy weather were tucked into the little courtyard for protection.  It was bitterly cold but everyone was nice and cheerful and looking forward to a days trading.

We got there nice and early so we could enjoy breakfast in the Applestore Café, which is a lovely location to eat at, but somehow something goes wrong with our order every single time we eat there.  This time they gave me meat sausages instead of vegan ones on my breakfast roll and I had to wait while some more were cooked ... thank goodness I checked!  

Mind you Mavis always gets star treatment there and had two sausages of her own to eat ... definitely meat for her and not vegan!!

Once all three of us had full tummies and had warmed up by the heat of the log burner, we got back into our hats and scarves and ventured outside.  My first two purchases were from this stall.

A handmade Sycamore wooden spoon for me, and a Christmas decoration with a Robin on it for Mum.  This has been a yearly tradition since my Dad died, and somehow I have managed to find something very appropriate each year.

Then we had a little stroll around the outbuildings to let Mavis let off some steam.  The old pig sty's are used as the elves workshops and Santa's Grotto each year, so I got a photo just before Santa arrived and the children all came to meet him.

My next purchase was a little ornament for my Christmas tree, I try and buy myself one each year if it is something special and this one is.  My eye was drawn to it straight away ... a Pug wishing me a Merry Woofmas, and while there were many other breeds of dogs available this was the only Pug one on the whole display.  

It was meant to be.

My final purchase was going to be a wreath for my front door, but then Alan paid for it for me, so it is in fact a gift for me and the front door.  💝 

I love the simplicity of it, nothing garish or bright, just lovely natural and with a faded green coloured velvet ribbon and a rusty bell, just perfect for me.

It was a lovely couple of hours out on a chilly, blustery Sunday morning, and now a little memory of Suky hangs on the Christmas tree, as she will every year from now on.

I don't know if this little film will work for you, but this was Suky's first Christmas on the farm. 💖

Sue xx  🎄