The First Shopping of July

 

The first shopping of July was done at Sainsbury's as I had offers of extra Nectar points on a few of the things I needed.  I spent a total of £18.58 and hopefully ... alongside everything already in the freezer and cupboards ... enough food in now for the rest of the week.

'Hopefully' she says ... more like most definitely!! 😄

The yellow-stickered oven-bottom muffins have gone straight into the freezer so I can use them one at a time as and when I need a bun for my lunch.  I always try and have a microwaveable rice pouch in the cupboard for those nights when tea has to be ready in minutes and at 45p each they are a bargain from Sainsbury's.  I remember when you had to pay well over a pound for the luxury of almost instant rice.

I decided to buy a pack of cod fillets this week to stop Alan tempting me with a chippy tea again.  After all it's far more economical for me to make us exactly the same at home.  I have fish, chips and garden peas, and Alan has fish, chips garden peas, a battered sausage and a little pot of curry sauce ... all easily replicated at home.

Just before I went into Sainsbury's I got this months £100 in cash from the cashpoint outside the store, and look who's now on our £20 notes.  It's nice to see King Charles alongside his Mum on our currency.  It's a very nice picture of him.

Sue xx

Installation Failed

 

It's cold here today ... again!!

I put the washing out, well some of it, and as fast as I was pegging it out the dark clouds were rolling in.  So all the bitty bits that would take time to rescue have been put on the airer in front of the bedroom French windows, they can garner any heat they can find through the glass ... and I can relax slightly instead of jumping up from my desk checking the weather every two minutes.  

I thought it was raining a few minutes ago, but it was Ginger lapping steadily away at the water bowl for almost five minutes.  He's a neat drinker, unlike the dogs that lap, splutter and splash, and make puddles on the tiled floor.

I've been eating varied meals recently.

 I'm trying to use up some of the little pots that I have in the freezer.  Pots of dahl, pasta sauce, hummus, you name it and it's in a little pot stacked three high, and when you pull the freezer drawers out and they dip downwards, all my little towers of pots topple forward.  I need to do lots of eating or have a repacking session instead of just pushing new purchases in and old things getting forgotten about.

I found a bag of these hidden in the depths of the bottom drawer the other day, well part of a bag it turned out there were ten little Spinach Bites left.

So lunch for two days was five on a sub roll with salad and mayo.  Sorry for the bad lighting in this photo ... Summer is still not installed.  😁

Sue xx

The Books That I Read in June ... and the Shopping Totals

 

I started the month reading The Wartime Kitchen Garden by Jennifer Davies 

I have to admit to never reading it from cover to cover before even though I have owned it for years, I always just dipped in now and then to find certain things.  It was absolutely fascinating and I really enjoyed it and learnt so much more about the war years.  I also watched the accompanying series on YouTube.  Both are highly recommended.

Next I read Foster by Claire Keegan, it is another very powerful short book by this brilliant author.  I love her writing, words used so well are captivating.  I found this book so moving that I immediately went on to watch The Quiet Girl, an award winning film based on the short story.  This was equally good.

My third book of the month was Poor by Katriona O'Sullivan, which was another great read.  I do seem to be on a roll reading some of my best books this month.  All these books are keepers and have gone back on their various bookshelves.

My final read of the month, and one that has taken me quite some time over the course of a couple of weeks to finish is The Dandelion Years by Erica James.  She's a good writer and I've read a few of her books in the past, this one took me a couple of chapters to really get into but then I was hooked.  I have to be honest and say that I still have the last chapter to read ...  but I think I can guess the ending. 😀

I don't read a lot of fiction so I am quite ruthless in what I keep for a re-read, as I bought this from the £1 charity book table in Booths that's where I'll be dropping it off again next time I'm in there.  It was a good read on these pretty chilly Summer days that we've been having.

Finally to bring us bang up to date for the end of last month, my final two shopping trips.  This little lot was from Booths and cost me £18.18.  As you can tell we are still in sandwich and snack territory while we continue to visit Mum regularly.

I got another little freebie because of being a Booths cardholder, seemingly worth 50p.  It meant one load of clothes got washed last week at no cost to me.

My final shop of last week and of the month of June, was this one costing me £19.73 from Sainsbury's.  Typically just as I treated myself to some ice-cream and Cornetto's which were on offer, the weather turned cold and so they are still in my freezer.

In total last week I spent £37.91. 

The grand total for the month of June was over my monthly budget at £117.51.  

So half way through my £100 a month year I have £44.57 in my little change pot,  thank goodness I did so well and got ahead in the first few months, it's a good little buffer to try and keep me on track.

Sue xx