Thank You

 

Early Autumn Morning by Lucy Almey Bird - my October Calendar Page

Thank you so much for all the wonderful comments on my last blog post.  We are both slowly coming to terms with being a completely animal free household, something that we have never experienced before.

When I met Alan twenty two years ago I had two cats, having only just gone down from having four and just about recovering from that.  He had a Border Collie dog called Sophie, that actually lived with his ex-wife while he travelled backwards and forwards to Berkshire for his job. When we moved in together and then married, we moved to quite a few places in England and Wales always with a steady stream of pets as our constant companions.

Over the course of the last two or so years we have lost all three of our last, very beautiful furry family, it's been hard but we have managed to adapt and we will again.  Hopefully one day in the not too distant future we will adopt a dog but we are going to be leaving it for a while.  

Ginger has been our final cat, which for me is a hard thing to say. I have had a pet cat since my first birthday when I was bought a beautiful jet black cat by my Nana, which in my young mind was blue, so he was called Bluey,  He remained with me until just after my first marriage, when sadly he died at the grand old age of almost 18. But if I was going to end my cat adventures on any cat it would have to be Ginger, he was the most laid back and charismatic of all my feline friends, so what a happy memory to hold forever.

Thank you for all your support on the last post, it meant the world to both of us. 💖

Sue xx

The Books That I Read in September

 

Home Economics by Jane Ashley

I started the month reading this book, the one that inspired my trying once again to live for a week on just one pound a day, it made for a nice little challenge.  I enjoyed the book and have kept it to revisit in a few years time, to see if the prices that she listed for 2018 and which had seriously crept up this year will rise again ... somehow I think they will.  😕

Kept

The Missing Wife by Sheila Flanagan

I really enjoyed this book and whizzed very quickly through it, even though I was busy.  It was a well paced story about a woman being brave and finding herself again after being controlled by her husband for far too long.  It was a good story.

Donated

Happy Vegan by Fearne Cotton

While there were a few good recipes in this book, there definitely weren't enough to make me want to keep it or cook from it.  I am eating a lot more simply these days, so going through my cook books is making me quite ruthless in letting them go.  I would rather someone who wants to use them got themselves a bargain on the charity book table in Booths.

Donated

Holly the Café - Boat Cakes and Bakes by Joanna Gould

Sadly, this book is now only available as a pdf download, but following the link shows you a few of the pages from it.  

I bought my copy a few years ago when Joanna and Victor were living on their narrowboat Zero and working on Holly, their café boat, firstly the renovation of her and then making a living selling coffee and cakes every weekend from her side hatch.  Of course they were also making money from YouTube to fill the coffers a little bit more..  

The book has some lovely sumptuous recipes, all very easy to follow, I just don't make that sort of fancy cake anymore, sticking instead to the few basics that I know off by heart.  It's funny how life changes in so many ways isn't it.

Donated 

She by HC Warner

This was another really good fiction book, I seem to have gotten better at choosing my fiction recently.  It had a good twist to the tale, which I actually half guessed early on in the story, but that still had another twist in the tale at the end to make me happy.  Highly recommended.

Donated

So overall that was another month of good reading, there was one book that I just skimmed through and wouldn't recommend at all so I'm not even showing it here ... why on earth did I buy it, it was far too boring and technical for me.

Life is too short for bad books.

Sue xx

Summer to Winter With Old Clothes

 Autumn, my favourite season.  🤎💛🧡

A very lucky score on the charity book table this week.  

I've always wanted to read this but somehow never gotten around to it, now I can once I finish the book I'm currently halfway through.  Isn't Michelle Obama such a very beautiful person, in looks, intelligence and attitude.  

My Summer to Winter changeover is now almost complete.  My t-shirts were removed from the drawer ...

... and the jumpers and pyjamas replaced them.

Now the weather will turn hot and sunny, but this year I have left a few summer weight things out, it's not fooling me again like last year.  😄

The only drawback to doing this over the past week has been the near constant rain, so things have had to have a quick wash and dry overnight on the airer instead of on the washing line.  Some of my jumpers are ten years old or  maybe more, and a couple around five, but they come out at this time each year and go away again in Spring.  The changeover each year feels like having a new wardrobe of clothes, but at the same time somehow it's like welcoming old friends back into the fold.

I'm not completely against new clothes, and after a completely fruitless trawl of charity shops I have added a couple more new checked shirts from good old M&S to my collection of Autumn wear this year.

I love reusing my 'old' clothes season after season, and I am completely in favour of the ban that France and a lot of Europe are bringing in on the advertising of fast fashion brands like Shein and Temu.  I have never and would never buy from either company, but each to their own.

Sue xx

I'm Not a People Person

 

I do all of the above, and it makes me happy.  😀

I couldn't even tell you what the newest trends are, fashion-wise, home-wise, or reading-wise.  I love to get things second-hand, although for the past year or so, I've been selling not buying ... well apart from a few £1 books of course.

I don't know how old my phone is.  I know our contracts are up for renewal every couple of years and we nearly always say no to a new phone, and reiterate that we will stay on our SIM only contract.  Alan got a new phone a couple of years ago, but bought it outright rather than on a monthly payment scheme.  I've had mine for much longer than him, it works, I'm used to it, it does what I want it to do, and it's all that I need.

I bought my car new in 2017, it had high mileage for it's age when I used to drive backwards and forwards to Manchester from Wales every single week, or to Berkshire from Wales once a month.  But since we've lived here and I can't drive as far, the mileage has gone right down in comparison to it's age.  So ... it's staying with me until it's wheels drop off ... or something equally dramatic.  😄

And as you have seen, we are most definitely downsizing our home in the very near future.

We had another viewing last night, and once again because it was at 7pm we had to handle it ourselves.  We were expecting just one man, but he brought his family with him, his wife and two grown-up children, perfectly acceptable when they were viewing what could be a future family home, but it reinforced to me how much I am not that happy about having lots of people in the house ... especially ones that ask a million questions.

I think I am going to refuse to do any more viewings, it's about time the agents started earning their money.

Are you a real people person, or like me do you value your own company and just that of those closest to you?

Sue xx

 

Memories ... and Blog Posts

 

Isn't it nice when you are sorting through things, to find something that you haven't seen for ages that brings back happy memories. Clearing the decks ready for the photos of the house and annexe meant that I was going through some of my box files in a bid to make a bit of space in my few cupboards ... and I came across these two photos.

The top one is us not long after we got married taken outside my tiny little shop in Ulverston, Cumbria.  It would have been sometime early 2008, probably when I was just setting things up as I was still working for the Hospice when we got married in December 2007.  Yes, my neighbour was the Laurel and Hardy Museum when it was in it's old location, and next to them on the corner was The Chippy Bank, the best chip shop in Ulverston.

Don't ask me how many times I had a 'chip barm' for my dinner while I had the shop.  😁

 

Luckily this photo is clearly dated, or I wouldn't have had a clue.  

My Dad with the rest of his class in 1938.  He would have been seven years old then as his birthday was right at the end of the year ... he was born in 1930 ... so I don't know how their class numbering system worked.  It obviously had changed by the time I went to the same school in 1965 as I was in Class I at five.  I'm guessing it's something to do with school leaving ages, Dad left school at 14 and I left at 16.

Mum must have had trouble recognising him on the photo as she wrote his name under him.  💖

I'm getting really annoyed with Blogger again at the moment.  

Instead of updating the blogs in my sidebar, and on lots of other people's sidebars, and showing the title of the newest post that I, or they have written, it seems to be lagging far, far behind.  I am trying to get into the habit of clicking on the blog title and not the 'latest post', which is now frequently found not to be the latest post at all.  I am having to do a numerous day catch up every now and then as I just hadn't realised they had published a newer post.

Don't mess with my coffee or my blog reading.  😠

Sue xx

Remembering ... with Flowers

 

Look what came up in my Facebook Memories this morning.  I shared it years ago and it felt very appropriate.

As I had just been out into the garden to take some photos of the flowers that we currently have there.

The potentillas ...  Anemone 'Ruffled Swan'

Two bees were busy buzzing around, much more interested in the flowers than they were in me.

The sunflowers.

The cherry tomatoes.

One of the many figs.

And the little vegetable bed, with the intense heat of the last few weeks the Rocket had gone to seed, but the bees loved the flowers so they are staying in situ for now.

The bee drinking station that I always have in the garden.  The birds love it as much as the bees and other insects, so it needs topping up daily.

The reason for me photographing some of the flowers in the garden ...

... I was remembering Suky.

13th October 2011 -  6th July 2024

  💖🌹💖

Sue xx

 

Peter and Paul

 

'Two little dicky birds sitting on a wall ... '

Or as was the case yesterday 13 little dicky birds sitting on a roof.  

They were there for quite a while, more than enough time for me to go in and pick up my camera, and then suddenly they were gone.  But I had the proof.  

I loved this nursery rhyme as a child, and then in a weird twist of fate I married a Peter and my best friend married a Paul.  We laughed many times about our little annoying 'dicky birds' and how we wished on occasion that they would fly away.

It took me 26 years to fly away from mine.  😄

Sue xx

Saving Money - Absolutely No Waste

One of the first steps to saving money is to have absolutely no waste.

To use everything up of everything that you buy, whether that be eating all the leftovers and composting all the vegetable bits that are inedible, or making good use out of every last drop of something in a tube for instance.

I have spent years now cutting the ends of tubes to get out all the hand-cream, face cream or as in this case toothpaste.

It's surprising what is still left in there after you have already spent a week squeezing, shaking and scraping down the tube for all your worth to get the product out.

Of course I don't want the product to go hard or go off with the tube cut into pieces, so I always cut out a middle section then use the bottom as a top.  It works a treat.

My little nail pencil, which was once the length of a normal pencil, is now just over an inch long, it's hard to sharpen it these days, but I will persevere.  While it is still there, I am still using it.

All I ask of life at the moment is to live simply, to have enough of what I need, to make the best of what I have ... and to be grateful for each and every day.

What is one money saving tip that you would add in the comments to help others that might not have heard of it?

Sue xx

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.

The poem that Joy mentions in the comment section.  I Googled it.

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

Living on Leftovers, Fancy Pants Pretenders

 

In this heatwave I have been careful to keep an eye on the food, even the things in the fridge so I can make sure to use everything up while it is still reasonably at it's best.

Standing out for me the other day was a chunk of red onion and a slightly sad looking courgette, so I added a few other things and roasted them, et voila ... lots of lovely cooked vegetables to add to a few different meals.

The first meal was a freshly baked baguette with leftover tuna and hummus.

With some of the hummus still leftover, I decided to add it and some of the vegetables to some pasta.

It was really tasty, and there were still lots of vegetables left over.  So they went into portion sized pots for the freezer.

They may seem like quite small pots even for a single serving, but I find they are more than adequate for me.  This is what one pot looked like on a flatbread pizza last time I did this.

Alan switches to cold drinks in this weather, me ... well I drink coffee.  Hot, black, caffeinated coffee, no iced versions or fancy pants pretenders pass my lips.  😄

Sue xx

Lawn and Order

 

*

Lawn mowers were out in force this weekend, not at our house I hasten to add, we are most definitely a lawn free zone.  But it seemed that virtually all the neighbours were either cutting grass or power washing their patios.  Oh well, if they've all got their little plots done now, peace should reign supreme for the rest of the week.  😄

Over at the bungalow the plumber has now installed an indoor stop tap that will one day be hidden under the kitchen sink ...

... and an outdoor tap.  

Which means that one day in the not too distant future, we will be able to annoy our neighbours with a jet washing session.  😁

Sue xx

* You really need to have watched Law and Order at some point to understand the joke.  😄

Acquiring Things, and Letting Things Go

Mum's windowsill in her care home room holds her most treasured possessions, not that she knows they are, but I can talk to her about the memories behind them over and over ... and then they make her smile. Her walls are full of family photos, and we regularly go over and over who the people are with her when she asks, but she sees no one except for me, Alan and my brother, so she really is losing track if we talk about anyone else.

It makes me realise that not acquiring things, as we have purposefully done for the last few years, (apart from a few special things), has been a really good move.  We don't need any souvenirs from our holidays apart from a few photographs, there are no fridge magnets or little jars of sand to remind us where we have been.  Just the memories and some photos to jog those memories, in case they start to slip away in the future.

When we enter the world we come with nothing, and then immediately start acquiring things, at first via our parents and relatives, and then with great gusto and lots of relish when we are independent adults striking out for the first time.

Of course while I have donated most of my randomly acquired things and ornaments in a bid to declutter my life over the years, there are some still things in the 'memory box' that I have. It being a memory in it's own right as it was made for me by a blogging buddy when we moved onto our very first farm.  I may even need to revisit that at some point and photograph the 'things' and just have them that way.  We'll see in the run up to our move what will happen.

Of course I have lots of books, but even my book buying has almost ground to a standstill.  I have paused my Amazon Prime membership. With no deliveries and little on Prime that I wanted to watch on television there didn't seem any point in supporting a huge company with a multi-multi billionaire at it's head.

Taking my life down to a simple level, and a much more satisfying stage seems to be such a good idea.  One day I too might only need a windowsill to display my possessions. 

Sue xx

I Will Be Back ... Tomorrow

 

Sorry to be missing in action a bit at the moment ... I will be back to annoy you all very soon.

In the meantime I am taking one moment at a time, and drinking lots of coffee.

Art by - Rosy Made a Thing

Oooh, where is the lavender when you need it.  😶 

Sue xx