Saturday 2 May 2015

Mixing the colours

Hello. Although it's been a bit cold up here today in North Lincolnshire, we have managed to avoid the rain, so I have been able to get stuff done outside. I started the day with a bit of sewing, 8 till 10am, listening to Sounds of the Sixties on Radio 2. Keep adding a few more stitches to the picture. 
A couple of people mentioned the going out of date food, and asked how I was going to use it up before it went off. It's a case of checking it often, and using it in order of how quickly it is going to deteriorate. The prepared fruit in pots needs to be used within a day or it will start to go slimy and ferment. Yesterday I zapped the fresh pineapple with the stick blender and put it into ice cube trays. It is now frozen ready to add to drinks, or they could be added to a smoothie. I did another tray filled with melon, blueberries, and kiwi fruit. 
In the next couple of days the mushrooms will have to be eaten, so I'll keep checking them. The grapes are looking good so they should last a week. The tomatoes are still firm so five or six days for them. Shredded iceberg will need to be eaten in three days. Coleslaw will be ok for four days. Root vegetables last longer than leafy green ones., so the sprouts, the prepared broccoli and cauliflower will be eaten before the carrots and potatoes. I will be eating sprouts every day until they have gone.

It's a case of using your eyes to inspect the food very closely. Using your nose to sniff everything. Squeezing it, is it firm or starting to go mushy. If you eat meat though you have to be even more vigilant, there's more chance of food poisoning so keeping it at the right temperature is very important. It should be said though that regularly checking the state of your food whether it be fresh, chilled, frozen, packets, or tins, should be done on a regular basis anyway. Food should be used in rotation, in a similar way that supermarkets stock their shelves. The new goes to the back, and the old is brought forward.

Yesterday I made a veg curry using two packs of chopped prepared onions, and a bag of prepared carrots and peas. I had a portion for dinner last night, the rest I have pulverized in the food processor and portioned it out into four margarine tubs and it's gone in the freezer. It makes a thick soup which can be diluted slightly and eaten with bread, or it can be eaten with a jacket potato or a portion of rice or pasta, as it is.

Breakfast this morning was Bran Flakes, Value 88p for 750grms from Tesco. A handful of crushed seeds, grapes and strawberries, with Soya Milk 59p from Aldi. 
Dinner tonight was a plate of steamed vegetables topped with some grated cheese. My favourite.

Here is a little update on the Bespoke Summer House. My friend gave me some green paint, and some white, yesterday. The green was a bit dark so I lightened it with the white, and now I have a door of forty shades of green, ha ha. . 
I was in the High Street this morning and a man was painting his window frame, I cheekily asked if he had any paint he didn't want. He said, follow me, and we went to his workshop at the back. Four tins came my way, yippeeee.

 I fancied having a pink door, but no pink paint, then I remembered I might have some ink upstairs in the office. YAY, add it to white and you get pink.

That looks nice. What about a blue door next to it, but no blue paint. Easy, I have some small sample pots of emulsion, I found a dark blue and mixed it with some white. YAY, now I have a blue door. Looking good.

Then I was hungry, and it was trying to rain, so it was time to pack up for the day and go indoors. We'll see what tomorrow brings. There will be some dog walking, hope it doesn't rain. Hope you have a good Bank Holiday weekend.
Toodle pip.

PS, We have a lady called Judy ploughing her way through the entire blog. Judy if you get this far, I am reading your comments on the older posts, they always come to the top of my list so I get to read them all. Well done girl, stick at it, you deserve a medal.

PPS. Nice that we have a new Princess. I hope the name Diana is included somewhere in her name.

21 comments:

  1. My thoughts exactly regarding the name, I was hoping that Diana goes in the name somewhere Ilona.
    Love the coloured doors, just up my alley..
    Briony
    x

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    1. I am with you both there! I doubt they would choose Diana as a first name but it would be a lovely remembrance of her grandma to have it as one of her names. I did read that Frances ( Diana's middle name) was more likely to be chosen but I am still hoping for Diana! JanF

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  2. I don't particularly like painting and that is a LOT of painting to cover those doors. This project certainly takes time and effort. Don't forget to take a rest! Well done so far.

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    1. Hi Caz. I don't like painting either, but I can do this quickly because it doesn't have to be perfect. No one will see it except me. Might be a sewing day today, it's raining.

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  3. Nobody could look at your Summerhouse without smiling- it's a delight! JanF

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  4. I do hope they use Diana in her name. I can imagine there will be a bit of protest if they don't. I'm not quite sure exactly what you are making with the doors, but love the paint job. Very nice.

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  5. I admit I wasn't sure how you were going to pull together those doors into a summer house, but it is looking pretty. What will you use for roofing?
    Hope you have a great weekend!

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    1. Hi Kathy. It will have to be something rigid for the roof because the cats climb up there so it will have to hold their weight. Also it would be nice if the light could come in through it. I'm thinking I might have to buy sheets of corrugated plastic. The man who gave me the paint has some I could have, but it is not what I had in mind, also it is quite dirty and I'm not sure whether it would clean up enough. It might not be big enough either, I'll have to measure up.

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  6. When I buy mushrooms I chop and freeze them; you can't eat them raw but we never do anyway. A while ago I bought some heavily reduced sliced mushrooms and put them straight in the freezer; bad idea because a few weeks later the bags splt and I had mushrooms everywhere! In future I will put them in one of my saved plastic bags from other veg, oats, bread etc.

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  7. I love the pink and blue doors.

    I'm so glad that William and Kate have a little princess. It would be wonderful if Diana is part of her name.

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  8. I think it would be great if they would include Diana some where in her name. Are the windows typically painted in the UK in summer houses? I would want to leave most or all unpainted so I could use it as a greenhouse too.

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    1. Hi Judy. Those three doors overlook the neighbours garden, hence painting the glass for privacy. One side is next to a hedge, nothing to see there so they will be painted. The glass in one door opposite the garage is painted. The doors overlooking the garden will be left clear so I can look out.

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  9. I would have thought Diana would be her middle name as well.

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  10. The colors remind me of the Beach Chalets that you shared pictures of from a recent excursion with Rocky. Very colorful and makes me smile - I love all the different door styles - really makes it charming. So creative and frugal. Ranee (MN)

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  11. Agreed about food rotation- I do that too. I usually make batches of food then freeze it, eating it as I fancy it. But I do make sure the frozen meals get eaten. It's quite for me to do that as I take them for work lunches. I'm loving the coloured doors and can't wait to see it completed- afternoon tea at Ilona's summerhouse: fantastic!!

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  12. I love the pink and blue doors. Very cool and trendy. Love your make do approach.

    Go Judy! I remember when I found our Queen. Reading through her past entries was a joy. An experience that both challenged my expenditure and made me green with envy at the walking opportunities. I know I will never live in England splice through you, Ilona. And I felt our connection more deeply when I found out your mother was a German immigrant. As was mine. And mine married a Pom (Aussie for an English immigrant) too.

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  13. Another inspiring post, lots of useful frugal tips, I will remember to check the yellow lable area in future and make more use of the freezer. I see that Aldis soy milk is much cheaper than Tescos!
    I love the shed of many colours, truly unique, a one off just like you!

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  14. I'm still reading but I jump to the latest to see what you're up to and then back to the older posts. Still enjoying your blog!!!

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  15. Hi.Absolutely love the colours of your summerhouse-very cheerful but not jarring to the senses.Lovely!The roofing material you mention sounds good.One thing about that corrugated plastic roof panels is that it needs seasonal scrubbing as the grooves encourage green slimy/mossy growth in them as water and debris collect there.(from a relative who had it)Still it is light and easy to put up ,hopefully you'll get it free.Will make use of your pineapple tip-great idea and look at all those delicious meals you've made.Okay am hungry now,:)Thank you for a very interesting read, regards, D.

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  16. I discovered your amazing blog a year ago when circumstances slashed a not so great household income by half - I went back and have read (and reread) the whole shebang and am now shamelessly addicted to your writings! We are now better off financially than we were then and we ask ourselves EVERY day "Why the heck didn't we do this years ago?"! We are also happier and spend more time together as a couple as DB works part time and I am on a zero hours contract. OK - we don't have holidays abroad - a couple of days away once or twice a year is all we can do - but I don't miss it one bit. Thanks for your inspiration!

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  17. Lol,im also going back over these older blogs and didnt realise i could still comment on them.Really enjoying them and they have given me so many ideas.I love the frugal life!,Debi,Leicester,x

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