The Books That I Read in March

 

Eat. Nourish. Glow. by Amelia Freer

This is the book that carried over from February's reading and that I promised to report back on.

I enjoyed reading this book, especially all the nutritional and food information that takes up about the first three quarters of the book, but the recipes in it were really not my sort of thing at all.  It is also quite a few years out of date as it was published in 2015.  Would I recommend it, yes if you can borrow it from the library or get yourself a second-hand copy, but I don't think it's worth splashing out the full cover price for.

The index, and one of the pages that resonated with me, just to give you an idea of the contents.

Now it has been donated back to the book table at Booths.

The New Whole 30 by Melissa Urban

I was really interested in reading the new version of The Whole 30.  I had the original book, and indeed did the Whole 30 for myself many years ago.  So I decided to treat myself to this new version.  It was a really good read and whilst I am not going to actually do the whole process again, it was good to refresh my mind and read about the new learnings since the original one was written.

This book has been kept on my shelves.

Food for Thought, Keeping Well in Wartime published by The Imperial War Museum

This is a cute little box set of two books.

One is all about wartime eating and the other about keeping healthy.  While some of the advice seems very dated, if you are interested in this era of UK history, as you all know I am, they are both good little reads.  Click on the link under the photo to find out more about them.

Donated.

Nancy's Green and Easy Kitchen by Nancy Birtwistle

I pre-ordered this book last year as soon as I heard that Nancy was writing it and it came right at the end of February.  Nancy is the down to earth lady that won the fifth series of The Great British Bake Off, and is famous for calling Paul Hollywood 'the male judge', something that has really stuck with her fans. 

All her books are really good, full of environmentally sound advice for both cooking and household matters.  She has a huge following on Instagram these days, and I believe regular slots on BBC - Morning Live.

This is a really good book with a mixture of tips and lots of recipes, and one that I am definitely keeping on my shelf.

Mothering Sunday by Graham Swift

I spotted this book on the charity book table in Booths last month and thought 'that would be good to read just before Mother's Day'.  I just could not get into it at all, the style of writing just didn't gel with me and I was eager to get on to something else.

Donated ... back to the book table. (In time for Mothering Sunday. 😊)

The Garden Cottage Diaries by Fiona J Houston

This is the book that I have just started reading and that will start off the April books.

Artist - Jess Mason

Sue xx

I would 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 at full price.  You do not need to spend a fortune to read good books. 💖

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. 📚

The Spice of Life

 

Alan bought me this lovely Indian Spice Tin for Christmas last year.  We were shopping in Booths and had nipped upstairs for a bacon butty for his Lordship and a coffee for both of us, and then we had a look at their beautiful gift department, that in our store is situated just at the bottom of the stairs to the café.  It must have been having a full tummy and a happy heart that made him drop the spice tin into our trolley as soon as I had said the words ... 'ooh I have always wanted one of those'.  

No sooner said than bought.  I did have to wait until Christmas morning to play with my lovely new toy though.  😄 

It came wrapped in a beautiful sari fabric, similar to this one and it's almost a shame not to keep it in that but now it's naked in my cupboard, always ready for action.  I would love to have it out on the side of the cooker as it is in regular use, but spices like to be out of the light ... so I am being good.

It is slowly taking the place of my spice drawer, but I am finding it hard to downscale to just seven herbs and spices.

I think with the larger bags that I bought the other day I might decant them into larger jars and add them to the other things in the main food cupboard that keep me on the spicier side of life.  I think I need a spice edit.

My favourite spice is cumin, and is the one that I always chose for the Ration Challenge ... what is your favourite and most used spice?

Sue xx

What was it I said about NOT doing a Challenge?

 

I'm obviously missing the opportunity to visit Sainsbury's, as while our little store is closed for renovation we have been to two different Sainsbury's for a look around.  The shopping above came from the branch in Morecambe, we have driven past it so many times on our way to the sea front, but this time we decided to stop on our way home as we needed to buy a microwave for the bungalow ... the renovations are almost complete now!!

I don't actually know what this little lot cost me, as the total was £29.80 but with some things for Alan that he has already used up and I can't remember what they were. 

Then yesterday between working on the bungalow in the morning, and visiting Mum in the afternoon we stopped in Sale town centre for a quick lunch and a coffee, parking in Sainsbury's car park.  Alan mentioned that he needed milk, so while he went for a snooze in the car ... he was really tired ... I took the £1 coupon part of the parking ticket and went into the store for a ten minute wander around.  Now in this huge branch, unlike ours, there is a World Food aisle, so I decided to stock up on a couple of spices that I use a lot of.

I spent the grand total of £7.65 on my spices and the milk. 

400g Turmeric - £2

400g Cumin - £2.90

100g Garlic Powder - £1.30

Milk £1.45

What a bargain. 😀

Then this morning, while I'm on my own as Alan is back at the bungalow for a day of electrical work,  I went for a mooch around Booths and bought some really treaty kind of shopping.  A couple of things that I needed, and some that I just wanted.  

Another £44.81 spent.

Oh, and a final temptation while I was dropping off a couple of books onto the charity book table in Booths, this Jamie Oliver book made me buy it.  I used to have the hardback version of this and sold it at a car boot sale a few years back.  I instantly regretted it, and here it was in paperback form, in perfect condition for just £1. 

 It just had to be mine.

And now I have to rein in my frivolous spending, as there are no wages going into my bank account at the end of this month.  My Scope pension starts on the 1st May and that is the grand total of £77.02 each month.  It's actually going to be quite interesting having such a small amount to play with.

At the moment I have an extra £25 a week going into my bank account as my son is midway through paying a loan back, so I have an extra hundred a month for the next ten weeks.  To top me up even further I have decided to reverse my current 'keep the savings account figure nice and even' thing and instead of adding to the savings to top up the random figure left by the interest going into my savings account, I will be moving the interest amount out of savings into my current account.

Every little helps when your pension for the next year is going to be so low.  😀

What was it I said about not doing a Challenge!!

Sue xx

So ... What COULD You Buy?

 

It was a lovely morning on Saturday, so after an early coffee on the patio we decided to go to Booths for a couple of things that I needed and while we were there have another coffee.  It's always a lovely atmosphere in our Booths café, and especially at the weekend if you are there early enough to avoid the crowds ... and we were.

It was going to be just a coffee each as we had already eaten, me porridge with peanut butter and Alan a couple of slices of toast, but while he was waiting his turn in the queue (yes, that is him waving at you in the photo), Alan spotted a sign that said the  Victoria Sponge slices were half-price.  Well he said, it would have been rude not to partake ... so he did.

We spent -

Black Americano  £3.10

Latte  £3.50

half price Cake -  £1.88

Total = £ 8.48

Now you just know what's coming next don't you!!

For just £6.40 we could have bought a whole Victoria sponge cake and a whole jar of coffee.

OR

Enough food to make three meals a day for two people for two days ... with leftovers.

On the menu:

Breakfast - both days

2 slices of toast and marmalade plus a banana per person

Lunch

Day 1 - Cheese and onion sandwich

Day 2. - Cheese and tomato sandwich

(Using 3 slices of bread per person, per day)

Tea - on both days

Spaghetti with homemade tomato sauce, served with broccoli and a side of garlic bread, made from the crusts of the bread.

Leftovers

Approximately 6 slices of bread

Two thirds of a jar of marmalade

Two thirds of a jar of mayonnaise

Six cloves of garlic

Half tube of tomato puree

Half a bag of frozen broccoli.

Homemade Tomato Sauce Recipe

1 tin of tomatoes

most of an onion, chopped

2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

half a tube of tomato puree

grated carrots

You pays your money and you takes your choice. 😀

Oh, and of course I brought home our unused things.  😁

Sue xx

Castles ... and Funerals

 

Yesterday was all about castles and funerals.

First I booked us a midweek break to the Warner Leisure Hotels Studley Castle in Warwickshire.  These holidays are a real treat, brilliant surroundings, a spa and pool for Alan to use, and peace and quiet for me as there are no children in the hotels.  I always go all out with the booking to make it extra special, getting us a VIP pass, a bottle of wine with every evening meal and a late check-out on the last day, so that breakfast can be leisurely before we set off for home.

This time we also have a day trip out to Stratford upon Avon to look forward to, so we won't be in the hotel for the full four days.  Last time Alan had archery lessons, but he's been there and done that so no need to do it again. 🏹

Then I sat down at the computer to 'book' something completely different. 😄

Mum has had a Pure Cremation funeral plan in place for a number of years now.  When she paid it was below £1,500 in price and it's locked in at that price until it's needed.  When she got a letter last week with three vouchers to give to family or friends, which gave her and them a £100 gift card for signing up, her for the recommendation and them for the booking of a plan, we decided it was a bit of a no-brainer.  She stands to get £300 worth of gift cards and us £100 each.  Plus for signing up before the 1st April we all got an additional £100 off the cost of the plans.  A frugalista's dream.

  So me, my brother and Alan have all made use of the vouchers this week.  Locking our future funerals in at £1,895 ... which hopefully by the time we need to have them will be an even bigger saving than it works out at the moment.  Seemingly the average price of a basic UK funeral is just over £4k for a cremation and just over £5k for a burial at todays prices.  

It seems a strange thing to some folk to talk about funerals and future wishes for after you're gone, but it's something that I have absolutely no qualms in talking about, and neither has my Mum.  We have a good dark humour thing going on in our family, that only my oldest son thinks is strange.  

My only bone of contention is that Alan wanted my ashes back to scatter himself.  I have a weird dislike of urns in the house, so I have told him that he needs to dispose of me in one little hole in the ground ... so plopped in not scattered to the wind ... and then top me with a bush or tree, and as soon as is possible.  

He, however, wants his ashes taken to Scotland to be scattered on the grave of his Mum and Dad, that's fine I can do that, but his urn will have to live in the shed until the day I set off.  😐

I do hope the urns are recyclable, in one bin or another!!

So all in one day I spent a good amount on a great holiday for us to look forward to,  and saved us money on our funerals, a very good use of my time. 

Sue xx 

The Greenest of Green Pasta ... and Handcream

 

I had a bag of mixed salad leaves in the fridge at the end of last week, they were really out of date but looked in reasonable condition, so I decided that they would volunteer to become a nice portion of pesto.  I simply whizzed them up in the Nutribullet with some extra virgin olive oil, some garlic, some cashews, a couple of tablespoons of nutritional yeast and a handful of finely grated cheese.

Oh, it was delicious.

Then I cooked some pasta ... which as it happens was also green ... and once cooked and drained poured over the pesto, stirred through some chopped spring onions and halved cherry tomatoes and warmed everything together for a few minutes.  Then I served a portion each for me and Alan.  It was so tasty I completely forgot to take a photo of the dishes side by side!!

But here for your delight and delectation* are the leftovers which I had for lunch the following day.  😀

My handcream/moisturiser started refusing to come out of the pump dispenser last week.  I could tell by the weight of it that there was some in there,  but no amount of tapping it down to the bottom would make any appear.  So I took it apart and left the bottle stood upside down in one of my Gu ramekins.  Even I was surprised at how much I got out after twenty four hours of it standing on it's head.

I popped a lid on the little jar and used what was left around the neck of the bottle for a day of hand cream action and then I peeled off the label and gave the container a really good wash out.  

I am going to be using it in the shower for the dispensing of some tea-tree and mint scented shower gel that I am using at the moment.  I don't normally use any sort of shower gel as I prefer bar soap, but I am still trying desperately to get some sense of smell back and it's advised to use a lot of scents that you can picture in your head and that your brain should have some memory of.  

It's not actually working yet, but the essential oils in the shower gel are definitely giving me a few minutes reprieve from my hayfever which seems to have rushed in on me much earlier than usual this year.

Thank goodness for little pots and their lids.

Sue xx

*  A little nod to The Good Old Days, which I used to love watching as a child.

Bananas, Freebies ... and How Much?

 

I was reading up on bananas the other day, like you do when you are busy and something pops up on your computer!!  I discovered the many benefits from eating them regularly, the potassium they contain is good for heart health, for lowering blood pressure and the tryptophan they contain helps your body produce serotonin which is really good for sleep regulation ... all of which are things that I need.  They are also rich in fibre, vitamins B6 and C, manganese and also traces of copper.  

It all sounds very good, however, can eating more than six bananas in a day really kill you?  Not according to THIS report from the BBC a few years ago.  Now who even thought they could in the first place!!  😄   

Anyway I will be making an effort to eat more bananas, perhaps one a day along with the occasional Satsuma ... I don't like fruit that much. 🍌🟠

Perhaps that is why one of my favourite ways to consume bananas is in banana and walnut muffins. 😀

This batch may have been in the oven for two minutes too long, but the main reason they are so brown is that when I went to measure out the sugar I had no white sugar left at all so I decided to use my Demerara sugar.

And there wasn't enough of that, so I emptied out all my little rescued freebies from cafes over the last few months, and believe it or not the final weight came to exactly the amount that I needed.  Fate is telling me that the best way to eat bananas is in cake form.  😁

They had a delicious crunch to them, so I'll be doing this again for sure.

Alan was going to Booths for some bread for himself earlier and he asked me if there was anything I needed.  Yes, eggs I said.  He came back with my usual choice and they had increased in price from £4.50 last week to £5 this week.  

Now that is a bit of a steep rise in just seven days!!

He said that there was a sign on the shelf edge that said they worked out at 42p per egg.  Which, if you put things into perspective, means that two eggs on toast still works out at a very reasonable £1 for a good breakfast or lunch.

Or of course for two eggs added to Banana and Walnut muffins.

Sue xx

I Travel by Tractor

 

I'm running on coffee as fuel at the moment, three journeys a week to Manchester is taking it's toll on us both and something needs to keep us relatively human and coherent.

We were there for the delivery of the kitchen on Friday, then the painters finished Mum's bungalow late on Saturday night and we were there to check up on the work yesterday ... not bad, but not brilliant either!!  Today the kitchen fitters move back in to fit the kitchen, so will need to be there for the first hour.  On Friday we will be back there again as the Hilary's Blind man is coming to measure up for the new vertical blinds, and the kitchen will need signing off.

Then a potential weekend breather before the carpet fitters come in on Tuesday of next week.  It's all go and very expensive, but hopefully this is all adding value to what was a very dated little bungalow.

I fall asleep like a dream each night, but then for some strange reason I have been waking up each day at 3.30am ... no matter what time I have gone to bed the night before.  My brain is in gear from the moment I wake, so getting back to sleep is a rarity.  

Sums me up perfectly.  😄

Sue xx

A Happy Little Stock Up

 

Our local Sainsbury's, which is only a smallish store, is closing down completely for the next ten days for the completion of it's refit.  There have been guys working in there for at least the last month.  The first thing to arrive were new fridges for all the salad type vegetables, which in such a small store doesn't really work that well.  Anytime someone has a fridge door open you can't get past with your trolley.   Hopefully the final part of the refit will move some of the fridges at least a bit further apart.

You can be stood at the checkout and all the electrics suddenly go off, or be browsing the bread aisles when a huge whoosh of the temporary air conditioning system makes you jump out of your skin.  It's been fun and games, and I guess the workmen will be glad to get us pesky customers out of their way for the last few days of the refit.

I decided to go for a quick last shopping trip the other day and see what I needed from there before switching my allegiance to just Aldi and Booths.  Happily, lots of my usual purchases were either on a Nectar offer, an offer specific to me, or simply reduced to clear.

My bargain of the day was these vegan Magnums, reduced to clear to just £1.06 per box instead of the usual £4.  No wonder I was tempted to buy four boxes.  😄

I spent £61.26 after all the discounts had been taken off, saving me  £20.30 in total,  and by the time I got home, my specific points had been added on, meaning that I had a grand total of 263 extra points.  Which in turn means that I have already saved up over £10 worth of Nectar points to spend on my shopping when they re-open, and with food prices still rising £10 worth of 'free' food sounds good to me.

I'm on my way to a good day.  💝

Sue xx

It's That Time of Year ...

 

The sunshine makes us all want to get out in the garden, some to sit and relax and some to tidy up or sow seeds ... or some to do both.

It's still a bit too cold to sit out for long, but half an hour in the morning with a hot cup of coffee and well wrapped up is wonderful for making me want to do something in the small back garden that we share.

Alan pressure washed the Indian stone patio and pathway last week, so now it's looking a lot cleaner.  I sat and sowed a few seeds the other day, realising sadly that I had no spinach seeds so I do need to go and buy some.  

But I have kale, courgette, spring onions and radish sown so that is a good start and will be enough to fill the one small bed that I now have for vegetables.  I can always dot anything that doesn't fit, in and around the flowers and plants in the other raised bed, or in large pots.

I put the old sides of the mini cold frame that Ginger broke over the soil to start the process of it warming up ready for planting ... and to keep Ginger off.

So that's at least a little start for this years growing.

They are now happy on my bedroom windowsill with the clear top on the green tray, and I find myself already checking for little signs of life each time I open the curtains in the morning.

Sue x

A Blowy Day is a Good Day

 

There are lots of Facebook groups based around line-drying washing, both indoors and out.  Some of the comments are very strange and I wonder why it seems so extreme and 'old-fashioned' to some people, to me it's just the way it's always been done.  Why pay for electricity to dry your clothes, bedding and towels, stripping fibres from them in every drying session ... I have no idea, but it's not for me, never has been and never will be.

I grew up with the sort of scene in the top photo, lines strung across the kitchen, which was also our living room.  I was used to watching Blue Peter, or Watch with Mother sat on the floor to one side of a sheet so that I could see the television.  

When I married it was a similar scenario, although I didn't have a washing machine and everything started off on an airer stood on the sides of the bath until the things had stopped dripping.  Oh, how I envied my Mum the mangle she had had for years that took all the excess water out of the clothes and left them just non-drippy enough to be able to be strung across the  kitchen straight away.

I got my first little table top washing machine when my second son was a few months old, when hand washing nappies and school uniforms as well as all the bedding etc for four people while living in a small flat proved too much.  Washing the bedding and larger towels still had to be done in the bath but virtually everything else could be washed, rinsed and then gently spun before being hung out on a line that was outside of the bathroom window of our third floor flat.

Now my life seems so easy in comparison, and when I got my first automatic washing machine when we moved from the flat to our council house I said thanks at every load it did for me ... I still do.

It's that time of year now, when I can just about leave the washing to be done until the sun is shining or the wind is blowing, before loading the machine and letting it do all the work.  I love pegging things out, I don't like bringing them in quite as much, I don't know why unpegging and folding annoys me so much but it does.

Yes, I'm odd but at least I know it.  😄

I left the small amount of washing on the line while we went out yesterday, the skies were a perfect shade of blue, there was a lovely, if slightly chilly breeze and it was nearly dry as we left.  But I went out without bringing it in.   Fatal mistake!!

It obviously rained while we were away and when I got back it was hanging slightly damp but back in the sunshine, so I left it.  Half an hour later the heavens opened again so I dashed out and brought it in, draping it all on the airer to finish it's second drying.  Now the washing is on the airer in the bedroom and the sun is shining outside.

Oh the perils of line drying.  

Nothing's perfect, but then nothing has to be. 😃

Sue xx

Six of the Best

 

Mavis' and Suky's final resting place.

It will look even prettier in a few weeks when the rest of the bulbs come through.  It's nice to have them close to me at the front door, and back together again.

Six of the Best

I was asked a while back what my favourite YouTube channels were at the moment, and if they have changed much from when I used to do the regular 'Weekend Watching' series on my old blog 'A Smaller Life'.  So I thought I would do a quick post with links to six of my current favourites.  I'll insert the last video that I watched in each case.  

So six of the best in no particular order of favouritism.

https://youtu.be/AJ5WE5yLKCM?si=oZwlOaJrdWN4PgBc

Kris Atomic's videos are all masterpieces of video editing, her humour is right on point and they are lovely to sit and relax over with a huge mug of coffee on a Sunday morning.

https://youtu.be/CwOxfho8lF0?si=wtTjWSUVr47if98v

Freya and Charlie are a married couple that show some lovely vegan recipes, shopping trips and little trips around their local area.  Their website with all their recipes is on my sidebar.

https://youtu.be/6FxApXpuC0w?si=CS4yYfsFQtP_8W9h

Family Freedom are a lovely London family that do all sorts of challenge videos, mostly food and shopping related.  Although the camera work can sometimes be a little bit dodgy, the videos are great fun to watch.

https://youtu.be/9DJ3IfrKy6I?si=1Ga9rFikNSX_TnuX

This Tiny Life is another narrow boating channel.  Although the couple can seem a bit scatty at times they are both so likeable and their little boy and dog are adorable.  They took on an allotment and got a beehive last year so there is all sorts of day to day content.

https://youtu.be/3oSa2hx36zo?si=PylytE4aP4ZoZlOI

Flawless Cleaning is made up of Ben, his Dad, his Uncle Colin and lots of other very generous helpers who give of their time, services and expertise to help other people, especially the elderly, in their area.  They are currently working on a very large project but in between episodes of Jim's extension they have gone back to their roots and are helping to clear the local area of rubbish and fly tipping, cutting back hedges along roadsides, and surprising people with little garden makeovers.

And finally ...

https://youtu.be/Mr9YyPDTpLY?si=SzQKUIaNd6v7jSb6

I can't let this little round up of my favourite YouTube channels without mentioning Frugal Jake and his The Kitchen Scrap wartime recipe and challenge channel.  He spent a whole year living on WWII UK rations, and threw his all into creating some fantastic recipes from old cookbooks, most of which I have, so it was good to see them being cooked from.  His editing and comedy skills are top notch as is his love for all things Maggie Smith. 😄

I hope you enjoy this little round-up of  some of my current favourites, there are a few more that I still watch regularly but I have tempered my YouTube viewing quite a lot since I gave up on the Ad-Free subscription ... gosh I hate adverts!!

Sue xx