Am I normal? Summer is here! Relaxing.....

 Summer is on it's way. Tomorrow is the first day of meteorological Summer and the roses are out 😀

----------------

I was really pleased to find Tom Hindle's latest book just sitting lonely on a shelf in the library so I snagged it for my next read.  Set in an airship this time.....

-------------------

I spotted this article in Computeractive magazine. What the heck? I'm fed up with technology and don't care if it labels me as weird.  I don't walk around holding my phone, not on the street, on a bus, on a train....I AM ME ! I AM NORMAL ! In my view, the people who walk around scrolling Insta, TikTok, messages, emails etc instead of interacting with their kids, watching the traffic, seeing the world around them...THEY are the weird ones.

Anyone agree??

------------------

Another batch of cards was dropped off at the Hospice shop yesterday:  103 so far. 

A sample below.....

Graham has gone to the allotment this morning so I am FREE to do what I like ie tidy up, make the beds, wash up, and then CRAFT !  my favourite way of unwinding.

What are you doing today?

Thanks so much for popping in.  Stay safe and well wherever you happen to be,

Angie 💗

How Long? Handwash, Talc, Toilet Rolls? Testing.......

 Since Covid, we seem to be using an awful lot of hand wash.   It's not that we were lax with hand washing before, I hasten to add. We were definitely aware of hand hygiene but Covid made us all a bit OCD about it, I think, so I'm running an experiment 😉 We use soap bars in the kitchen because Gray prefers to use a bar soap after working in the garden.  But....How long does one bottle of hand wash last in the bathroom? (from 24/05/25)

I also use baby powder and wanted to check how much I use. Yes, I know this brand has had a bad press but I've been using it for as long as I can remember.  If it has any detrimental effect then it's already too late for me to worry about it.....

It's a big 500g container and is serving me well so far.  When the brand changed the contents to corn starch, the old tubs were heavily reduced in Boots (around £2.20 I think) so I bought 6 of them.  They should last a while!

After reading about Sue Hall 'Dating a Toilet Roll' I decided to date mine and see how much we use.  The packs of 9 were on offer at £3.00 so I bought 3 packs before the offer expired.  There are only 2 of us here but obviously we will use more if we have visitors....

I would like to check the amount of washing powder I'm currently using but will have to wait until I start a new box in order to do it properly.

How long for the toilet rolls do you think?  27 at 2 per week? 3 months maybe?  We'll see.  It all depends on how often we have visitors I expect 😕 I'll let you know!

Thanks for popping in.  Do stay safe and well wherever you happen to be,

Angie 💗

A Pleasant Trip, Doomed Co-op

 On Sunday, after a pleasantly rainy night, we awoke to a beautiful sunny day ....

I had seen a local antiques and collectibles fair advertised so we decided to make the most of a gorgeous morning and check it out. Some stalls were laid out in the courtyard but it was very windy and quite chilly.  Squally showers kept the stallholders on their toes covering up their goods at a minute's notice to avoid getting everything drenched.  I felt sorry for them because, after all, this kind of event is not cheap and they are here to make a profit if not a living.  There were many more stalls inside the building and Gray and I spent a long time happily browsing the items for sale.  I felt a bit too self conscious to take any indoor pics, sorry 😳

We didn't buy anything antique or vintage but the cost was:

Parking £4.50

Entry fee £6.00 (£3 each)

Tea and hot cheese pasty each £9.00 (eaten in the coffee shop)

We shared the cost between us and afterwards we went for a walk around the park to stretch our legs and get some fresh air.  It smelt lovely after the rain.

‐------------

The day before, I needed to post a few cards and things,  and drove to the Post Office in the village which is located within the Co-op food store.  I was shocked to discover that the store was closing at 10pm that evening due to being taken over by another company.  The shelves were half empty.  The closure of the store means that there is now no Post Office and no fuel station at least until the refurbishment has taken place.  I have no idea who has bought it but you can bet your bottom dollar that it will be even more expensive for food than the Co-op

 🫣🤨

-------------

Stay safe and well wherever you happen to be,

Angie 💗

An Allotment Update, the Shape of Things to Come!

Despite  the very dry weather we've been having, the allotment is beginning to promise food to come.  We have gooseberries.....

Dessert apples....

Bramley cooking apples......

Strawberries.....

Broad beans....

There are tons of raspberry canes and Gray has planted sweetpeas in front to encourage lots of pollinating insects .......

Unfortunately we have bindweed entwined within the raspberry canes which is impossible to get rid of.  We are trying the trick of a pole for the bindweed to climb up so that we can remove the pole along with the bindweed, but there's so much of it that it's a struggle.  Gray thinks that next year he will dig up the raspberries, remove the bindweed and then replant the canes.  It will be a lot of work for a couple with bad backs 😕so we will see how it goes.....

The beetroot is coming along nicely alongside the spring onions......

The ground was so hard and dry that Gray struggled to get the supporting canes in for the climbing French beans.......

.....as well as the runner beans.  For some reason the runner beans refused to germinate this year and we only have 5 plants.  It doesn't matter because we really prefer the French beans anyway.  5 plants will be ok.....

Likewise, our sweetcorn failed to germinate despite using a windowsill propagator and we had to buy some plants from the nurseries.  This year we hope to deter the badgers who ate all the ripe cobs in one night last year 😭 It won't stop a determined badger but perhaps he will try an easier target......

How is your garden doing?  Have you had any failures? Struggling to germinate seeds?  

Gray is convinced that the peat free compost nowadays is an issue because it dries out so quickly, but we don't have enough of our own compost to use.  What do you think?

----------------

Thanks so much for popping in.  Stay safe and well wherever you happen to be,

Angie 💗

Book Bargains and What I'm Reading Now....

 Like Sue, from Eating Well on a Small Budget,  I simply can't pass a book stall without taking a peek.  Whether it's a charity shop, a supermarket charity sale table or boot sale,  I just have to check it out.  I can't even pass a bookshop, even though I can't afford to pay full price!

I did splash out £12 😲on the latest Milly Johnson book from Sainsbury's last month because I keep all of her hardbacks to read again.  I love Milly's style of writing very much......

but I paid just £1.50 from a charity shop for this one....

As you can probably tell from the photos, I like to read a couple of chapters at bedtime before I go to sleep, so it needs to be a gentle read.  Tom Hindle's book is not a gory thriller but more a psychological murder mystery in the style of Agatha Christie.  I'm really enjoying it 😊 and it doesn't adversely affect my sleep either! 😴 

I enjoyed Tom's book so much that I popped into the library on Saturday and managed to track down a previous book to read next....

 Bring it on!

Has anyone else read Tom Hindle? Did you enjoy it?

 I've got a Jojo Moyes on order from the library too.  There are some cracking books about right now and I want to read a lot more now that there's nothing I want to watch on TV.

Stay safe and well ,

Angie 💗

Gratitude, Fab Night Out and New Sandals

Thank you all so much for your kindness and good wishes for my son.  He's out of hospital but not out of the woods yet as he needs more investigations in a few weeks, once some healing has taken place.  It will be a long job I reckon. 

---------------

Tuesday night was the night of our long awaited May treat 😊  We went to see the band Talon performing at the Rose Theatre in Kidderminster.  They are an Eagles tribute band whom I've been following for years, firstly on my own, but now Graham has to come because I don't like driving home in the dark at the end of the show 😎 I'm always playing The Eagles and similar artists' music at home so I've been quietly educating Gray with regard to their kind of music on a regular basis 😂 

They were amazing as usual.  Their harmonies and indisputable talent as musicians took my breath away and gave me clear head space for a couple of hours....

If you enjoy 1970's music you would love them.  Do check out their website: 

www.talonacoustic.co.uk

There is a music video on there with their version of John Legend's  'All of Me'. Johnny Miller is the main vocalist and I'm totally in love with his slightly husky voice.  Go on...do take a peek!.....

-------------

As the weather has been so warm I took the plunge and treated myself to some new sandals to wear on the night.  £22 from Next so not a fortune and they are soooo comfy......

As luck would have it, it was raining when we exited the theatre 😏 so my new sandals got a bit damp and when we arrived home there was not a drop of rain anywhere.  Good grief.....

Yesterday ( Wednesday) however, we had an hour and a half of steady rainfall with a few rumbles of thunder into the bargain.  The garden looks so much better for it and it will have put a little water into the butts too.  You can see how dry the ground is here. I know the grass will eventually recover so I'm not worrying about it .....

Thanks so much for popping in.  Do stay safe and well wherever you happen to be,

Angie 💗

What a week: Crisis, thanks, and other news....

 Well, what a flippin' week we've had.  We seem to have lurched from one crisis to another in the space of a few days. More about that in a moment......

Firstly, I want to say a huge thank you to commenters on my last post.  You have been encouraging, kind and just flaming all round marvellous 😀 with encouragement as well as practical help.  Kim....do not despair....I'll find a way to contact you!

Reasons to be worried:

 There is a close family crisis that I cannot help with but am desperately worried about, and

Our Son was admitted to hospital in Australia for an emergency appendectomy ( close to bursting) and now has related on-going health issues to cope with.  Again, I am desperately worried about him but am too far away to help,

----------------

Reasons to be grateful:

We have the internet and I can message my Son to find out how he is

Graham has, at last, had a hospital letter with an appointment at Neurology clinic at the end of the week

All our crops are in the ground at the allotment and we've been harvesting rhubarb by the ton!

I have another batch of cards for the Hospice.  Here's a sample.....

And here's Graham fixing our electric socket so that I can use the computer 😍

I was a bit scared he might blow all the fuses but I needn't have worried.  It was fine.... 😌

Now all we need is RAIN ☔⛈ for the gardens and farmers.

---------------

I mentioned before that we have one really decent treat per month.  Well, it happens TOMORROW NIGHT !  I'm very excited and will tell you all about it in my next post.  I can't wait (doing a happy dance) 😉

Thanks so much for popping in.  Do stay safe and well wherever you happen to be,

Angie 💗

Turning £2 into £100, Lack of Rain.....

 Thank you to everyone who left a comment on my last post.  I definitely felt a bit better after venting my feelings and, it seems, a lot of you are in agreement and feel exactly the same about the current system of pensions and benefit payments. Unfortunately, we are powerless to change things.

----------------

Changing the subject entirely....

 I was running out of card blanks which I use for my charity cards and, in fact, I had just 4 left and lots of ideas still running through my head, but very little money in my purse. On Saturday I risked my last £2 on a scratchcard and won £10 !  That was the exact amount required to purchase another 100 card blanks from Hobbycraft so I'm back in business as it were 😀  That is potentially a £2 outlay which will turn into £100 for the Hospice because I already have stocks of adhesive, mirri card, display bags and embellishments etc from my craft fair days.  I dropped another batch into the shop this morning and noticed that there were just 5 cards left in the basket.  Apparently, a lady had just been in and bought 6 of them 👍As long as I have materials I will carry on making them 😊

---------------

The promised rain never materialised here at the weekend and today (Wednesday) has been very hot again.  Everything in the garden as well as the allotment is bone dry.  We are saving as much water from the house as we can to water the pots with because our water butts are empty.  We don't want to use the hose as water is so expensive and we need to cut back, but we can't let our food crops die.  

Do you think there will be veg shortages due to lack of water for the farmers?

This was our basket last year.  Not sure it will be as good this year.....

Thanks so much for popping in. Stay safe and well wherever you happen to be,

Angie 💗

A Rant...and BREATHE !

 I don't know about you but the state of the countries finances are so dire that I'm feeling very uncomfortable right now.  I saw the statement below and felt cross in the extreme.....

DWP minister Torsten Bell responded: "The previous Government made the decision to freeze the income tax Personal Allowance at its current level of £12,570 until April 2028."

He added: "At our first Budget, we decided not to extend the freeze on personal tax thresholds."

Bell highlighted that over 80 per cent of pensioners were already subject to income tax in the 2022/2023 tax year.

He stated: "This Government is absolutely committed to supporting pensioners and giving them the dignity and security they deserve in retirement."                               

--------

I highlighted the final statement in bold because it beggars belief! How can it be true when they, themselves, confirm that over 80% of pensioners already pay tax!  And more will be dragged into the net over the next 3 years including me with my meagre Old State Pension.

We do NOT feel secure and there is NO dignity in old age if you struggle to feed, clothe and keep yourself warm in Winter, never mind having any kind of life.

Not only us oldies are worried.  Are we letting our young people down too? My Grandson is an apprentice welder.  At 17 years old he earns a paltry £6 odd per hour for doing a man's job.  He works more than 40 hrs a week and pays tax.  He has day release at college one day a week and sometimes his boss makes him work instead.  Personally, I think it's diabolical.  We are letting him down by not protecting him at work.  How many other young people are in a similar position?

I don't like making political posts but I'm fuming 😟😡

----------

Thank you for letting me get this off my chest 😔

Stay safe and well wherever you happen to be,

Angie 💗

What Could £25 Buy in M & S?

 With my voucher tucked safely in my bag we tootled off to M & S to spend it.  I was a bit disappointed though when I was unable to buy either sea bass or the chicken I wanted.  The fish was tiny and quite pricey at £5 for two fillets and they had absolutely no cooked half chickens.  In fact, there were no cooked chicken portions of any description. 

 This is what we chose in the end.....

The pizza meal deal was £12 for 2 decent sized pizzas, a pack of halloumi fries with  sweet chilli sauce and a pack of mixed salad with french dressing.  Graham's favourite King Prawn Alfredo ready meal fell into the basket along with 2 lemon iced buns 👀  I let him get away with it 😅There were potatoes, British strawberries, tomatoes, and a pack of strong cheese too.  The total cost was £25.55 therefore I just had to part with 55p cash.....

One pizza has been frozen for next week and we ate the other for tea the same day.  The halloumi fries, and mixed salad were eaten yesterday alongside a small jacket potato each from the bag. At least we have enough potatoes, tomatoes and cheese to last a while and we might even have cheese and potato pie over the weekend sometime.

Meals: 

Pizza x 2

Halloumi fries, salad & jacket pots

Cheese & potato pie

Ready meal (Gray) toasted cheese sandwich (for me)

Therefore at least 5 meals for 55p

It was a shame not to be able to get fish or chicken but I still have cod fillets in the freezer and a tin of red salmon too.  I should have enough food to last until the next online shop next Wednesday (14th) which means I have saved the £55 allowed in the budget for this week. 

----------------------

With the weather about to warm up again, we are trying to decide what to do with ourselves.  Our Daughter is coming to visit for lunch today 😊 but apart from that we have no plans.  Our monthly adventure for May is towards the end of the month (shh....I'll let you know what that is soon!) but it would be nice to have a cheap day out somewhere before then.  Must have a think.....🤔

Thanks for popping in.  Do stay safe and well in this turbulent world, wherever you happen to be,

Angie 💗

Weekend Doings, May Meal Plan....

I hope you all enjoyed the Bank Holiday weekend in the UK 🌞

It was bright and sunny on Saturday here which saw me batch cooking, including making a slow cooker beef stew for hubby with leeks, onion and carrots, as well as a pan of veg soup to last a couple of days.

 Sunday turned out to be chilly but bright.  As usual, I took advantage of half price electricity to get a couple of loads of washing done, tumble dried the towels and pegged the other stuff on the line outside.  It dried beautifully.  Our Sunday lunch was lots of veg served with the addition of a portion of beef stew for Gray.  This utilised the last of the cheap Easter potatoes,  parsnips and swede (which I had cooked and frozen earlier) and a few peas to add protein to my meal. I costed my own meal out :

a quarter bag of the 8p parsnips 2p

a quarter of the 8p swede 2p

2 small potatoes from the 15p bag 2p ?

Peas 10p?

And a drop of gravy made from a tub of granules costing 49p

This makes it infinitely cheaper than eating out, when I would probably have had the same thing in a pub or restaurant .......

Graham had a portion of beef stew on his......

Followed by homemade rhubarb crumble (allotment rhubarb) and custard....😋

We had both worked hard on Sunday: Graham in the garden and greenhouse and me in the kitchen, so we were both hungry again by 6pm.  I plated up some homemade quiche, following Tania's (Living on a UK State Pension U-tube) idea of using a wrap instead of pastry for the base.  I wasn't sure how it would work out so I used just 2 eggs, milk and grated cheese poured over cooked (previously frozen) leeks.  It was cooked in the air fryer at 180 for 20 mins and turned out really well.  Next time I will use 3 eggs to make the filling a bit deeper.  The couscous was homemade too, just flavoured with a bit of garlic salt, a stock cube and lemon juice.....

---------------

As I mentioned before I've already had the first shopping delivery of the month and don't want to order again until next week.  The cupboards and fridge/freezer reveal:

Beef stew

Frozen cod portions

Pasta

Eggs ( another quiche?)

Bacon

Quorn pieces

I'm lucky enough have another £25 M&S voucher to use.  In view of the cyber attack and shortages on the shelves last week we'll wait until tomorrow (Tuesday) then go shopping there.  I'm planning on buying chicken, sea bass fillets, cheese, potatoes, tomatoes, and whatever else takes my fancy with the voucher.  I don't really want to spend any cash this week so will carefully add up the cost as I go round the store.  I'll show you what I get.

Thanks so much for popping in 😊

Stay safe and well wherever you happen to be,

Angie 💗