Best friends

Best friends

cats dogs

Can't resist putting this one on before I close down tonight. These two are the best of friends. 

Goodnight. Catch you tomorrow. Toodle pip

Home made cheap ready meals.

Home made cheap ready meals.

arty stuff cheap food cooking crafty stuff dogs vegetarian

Hello. I spent Monday morning at Crafty Club, almost a full house this week. I took this picture with me to work on. Still a long way to go but I thought I would give you an update.

I had to leave promptly at 12 noon to get back for a phone call from Newstalk, an Irish national radio station. That came at 12.30pm. Not sure if the interview was live or if it was recorded for later. I'll have look to see if I can find it. 

This is an M & S yellow sticker, apparently they mark down at about 5pm, there wasn't much when I was there last week, so I don't think I will be making regular visits. I made a very nice pan of soup with this, plus I added a large handful of spinach. There were two portions and it was lovely. 

Tonight I couldn't be bothered to cook so I took a veggie stew out of the freezer. This was made with yellow stickers and cost very little. Even if you made something like this with full price vegetables it would still be cheaper than buying ready meals, and it doesn't take much effort to make it.

Perfect. Still tasty after reheating in the microwave. .

It's that time again guys and gals, the end of the month where the walking group send in their total mileage to date. I have finished Jan and Feb on 176 miles. Thank you to those who have sent your miles, you are doing just great. I am updating the page as the new figures come in. I'm pleased that you are still keen to carry on. If you haven't yet got off the starting block, or have got a bit behind, don't worry, there is still ten months left. Still time to catch up. Looking after your health and fitness levels is the best thing you can do for yourself. 

Let sleeping dogs lie. Shhh, don't disturb him. 

There is a new follower working her way through the whole blog. Mila is getting lost in 2012 at the moment. She has a mammoth task ahead of her, only four more years to catch us up. Everyone cheer her on.

It's bed time, thanks for popping in. Sees you soon. Toodle pip.

Sunning ourselves on a dog walk

Sunning ourselves on a dog walk

dogs food vegetarian walking

Hello, back again. This was my dinner yesterday. I went to town in the afternoon and then went to Tesco. I was too early for the 90% off mark down, but managed to get some veg and salad with quite a good reduction. While I was there I decided to pop across the road to the new Marks and Sparks to check out if they reduce anything. I found a few items, but not a massive amount of savings, the sprouts were worth having and a plastic box of super wholefood salad, which you can see in the middle of this pile of spinach.

It has different beans in it among other stuff,  but it took me ages to eat it. I kept finding small hard bits in it and had to keep picking them out of my mouth. I couldn't tell what it was, but they looked like small pieces of plastic. I don't suppose it was, but it was such a nuisance as it took me ages to eat the meal, and even then I gave up with it and picked the beans out. 

I've had the other half of it tonight in much the same meal as below, with the addition of two boiled eggs and some sliced beetroot. This time I didn't empty the salad onto the plate, I just picked through it and ate all the beans. I discovered that the hard bits are broccoli stalks and pomegranate seeds. If you wear false teeth I wouldn't recommend buying this. I paid 90p for it, but I reckon the real price is about £3. Most of Marks's food is very nice, but there is no way I could afford to shop in there. 

I had a lovely walk with my friend Helen, her dog Henry, and a friends dog, Guinness. We had a big bowl of hot veggie soup before we went, hot in the sense of temperature and spicy, she puts chilies in hers. Although I took Rocky with me, he stayed in her house because he can't walk that far and that fast. He was happy to stay on his bed for half an hour. Although it was sunny I put a thick jacket on, there was a chill in the air.

If you look at the horizon on this pic, you can just about make out the Humber Bridge. I zoomed in as much as I could. It's about five miles away. 

When we got back to the house, I took Rocky a walk on his own before we set off back. He likes visiting his friend Henry, but is not keen on two bouncy labradors sniffing around him. Stretched out on his bed at home is his favourite place.

Naughty me didn't do a walk last night, so I must get out now. Thanks for popping in. Catch up soon.
Toodle pip

Sewing, cheap food and collecting stuff.

Sewing, cheap food and collecting stuff.

charity dogs free fundraising make a bag recycle sewing

Hello. I did my three miles earlier today while it was still light. It was surprisingly warm, I needn't have put a jacket on. I'm up to 148 miles for Jan and Feb, but I know there are people who have done more than that. Keep going peeps, only another ten months and ten days left to do. 

I am getting a reputation in this village as someone who is collecting fabric for crafting purposes. A friend of a friend rang last week and offered me a bag of mixed pieces that she didn't think she would ever use. I went and picked them up. There are some nice colours. I promised her I would make her a shopping bag.

Today I delivered two shopping bags, but she wasn't in, so I folded them carefully and pushed them through the letter box. I hope she enjoyed the surprise.

I called in at the Cash and Carry on my way to town yesterday, I haven't been for ages, so I wondered if they had anything new in. I found these porridge in a mug sachet's, £1 for three boxes, 15 sachet's. Not quite as cheap as a 1kg bag of oats at 75p, but I thought they would make a nice change because they are apple and blueberry flavour.  They have a best before date of 27th Feb, which is fine.  

I already have some of these Vegetable Granules in my cupboard, they are handy to add to all sorts of meals. I picked up five more jars at 20p each. They were out of date in April 2015, I don't care.

These noodles were priced up at four bags for £1. There are four separate servings in one bag. I thought four bags would be too much for me, so I bought one bag for 30p. That's 7.5p per serving. The date is best before today, 20th Feb 2016.

And my fourth bargain is a 500grm slab of mature cheese, priced at £2.50. I usually buy a 350 grm pack of cheese for £1.59 from Aldi. The date on this is 25th March 2016, so well in date. I can't find this on the Tesco web site, but they have Cathedral which is similar at £3.50 for 350grm, so I think this was a good buy.

As well as people wanting to give me fabric, it seems I am also the drop off point for friends who are de cluttering. They know that I help with the fundraising for the cat rescue, and anything we can't sell I will take to the charity shop. A bin bag of stuff was delivered to me today, some of which we can sell. Set of new glasses in a box, white ceramic bowls, a money box, and other bits and bobs.  

Rocky wasn't too impressed with his Santa's hat which was in a bag of Christmas decorations, ha ha. 

I think it's time we went out for a last bimble before bed time, so I'll say cheerio for now. Thanks for popping in. Catch you soon. Toodle pip.

There's a bit more wear left in them yet.

There's a bit more wear left in them yet.

confused dogs make do and mend sewing

Hello. It's a shame to throw things away when they can be repaired. These slipper boots were given to me, my friend was going to throw them out. I have no scruples about accepting freebies from friends. I've been wearing them around the house, they come up to my calves and keep my ankles toasty warm. Now they both have a hole in the bottom, but the rest of them are good for a while longer. I feel a mending job coming on.  

In my crafting store room I have some soft leather pieces, picked up from the Scrapstore. First I made a cardboard template, then cut two pieces of leather to make new soles. One side is in dark blue and has a shiny surface, the other side has a fabric backing and has a rough finish.

Stitch them on with some very strong string like thread.

Perfect, lots more wear in these.

Does anyone remember these granny slippers I bought from a charity shop a couple of years ago, or was it three? They are still going strong. Not very fashionable but who cares what they look like. They do the job of keeping my feet warm. 

I've had a little dog out for a walk today for the first time. Meet Poppy. My friend had to go for some tests at the hospital and she didn't know how long she would be away. I see them out most days, so Poppy knows me. Isn't she a sweetie. She is a happy little soul, wanting to stop and meet and greet everyone she sees.

I was nearly on the radio again today. I had a call from Radio 5 Live, they were doing a feature this morning on supermarket offers which confuse customers, so they couldn't work out which was the best buy. The practice is bent in favour of the supermarkets by making customers spend more than they intended to. The man asked me if I bought the buy two get one free type of offer, and would I be tempted to buy things just because they were on offer. I said I would buy them but only if they were something I normally buy, I don't buy things just because they are on offer. He arranged to ring me back at 10.30am.

About 20 mins later he rang back and said they wouldn't be needing me. I was a bit baffled because I was very clear about my thoughts on special offers. I tuned into the programme on my computer to listen to what they were saying. Then I got it, the reason they turned me down. The agenda was to have a go at supermarkets, accusing them of dodgy practices, deliberately confusing people so they spent more money. My answers to his questions didn't fit in with that. I said I ignore all the offers unless it was something I usually buy. I would not buy items just because they were on offer, and I would pass them by. What they really wanted was someone to slate the supermarkets, and I didn't do that, instead I put the onus on the customer to work it out for themselves and make the right decision.

I tend not to get too hung up on trying to unravel the mathematics of different pricing. Yes, I always try and get the best for my money, but if I make an error of judgement I think, oh well, swings and roundabouts. It's impossible to be 100% right all the time.

Talking of Supermarkets, I'm popping out to Aldi now. I need some dog food and a few bits and bobs. I'm not walking tonight because I am out with my walking buddies tomorrow, we are doing ten miles I think.

I'd better get a move on, thanks for popping in. Nice to see some new names appearing in the comments, welcome everyone. Catch up soon.
Toodle pip.