A pleasant Sunday

I've had a right lazy day today. Another little bonfire, this time 10 years of wage slips, and wads of business stationary which I didn't get round to using, have gone up in smoke. Then the phone rang, it was my friend Carol from down south, with a tale of woe. Just as she was about to move house, her buyer pulled out, what a bugger, so she has lost the house she wanted, and has to start all over again. We were on the phone for over an hour, catching up with our gossip. I soon cheered her up, and we had a giggle. Me and Carol have known each other since we were ten, she is my best friend.

Henry choc lab arrived at just after 1pm, and it wasn't long before he was whining to go out. I wasn't going to get any peace so off we went to Normanby Hall, about two miles away. The hall itself wasn't open, but you can walk around the grounds.

There was lots of families about, the car park was full. It's ideal for kids, there are peacocks wandering about, a tea room, a shop, a deer park with a pond, woods to walk in, a duck pond, and a play ground. The kids just love bouncing on the branches of this tree.

On the way back we saw Paul and his two black labs, we have arranged to meet tomorrow morning at the church, so all three dogs can romp together. That will be nice, I quite like Paul :o) Do you think that sounds like a date, ha ha.

Got to go, Henry wants to play ball, he gets bored very easily. Toodle pip.

No gold, but I'm sure Anne will like this

Brian, you're a star. You're on the ball, where as I can be a little slow on the uptake. I found the Royal Mail envelope to post the gold, it was the padded inner one that went on the bonfire. So I have prepared a nice little package for Anne, explaining that due to my lack of requested metals, I am sending the next best thing.

A few pieces of rock hard bread, well past it's best, a few pieces of red cabbage out of the salad bag, two sprouts, and a carrot top. I'm sure she can rustle up a tasty bite to eat with that, ha ha.

Bye the way, welcome to Skint Me, pleased to meet you, glad you are following my blog.

Keeping above the line

I've had an office declutter day today, too much paperwork spilling out all over the place, something's got to go. In my quest to leave this world with nothing left, I am whittling it down bit by bit. Mind you there are some things I am not willing to chuck just yet. I have a lot of newspaper and magazine cuttings from when I was a famous lady trucker, I was all over the transport press like a rash for about ten years. These I want to keep so I can look back on them when I am tucked up in my nursing home bed, ha ha.

The stuff I chucked today was a little bit personal, financial stuff mostly, and as I didn't want to spend ages putting them through the shredder, (think of the electricity), I made a little bonfire on the back garden. You can't be too carefull where sensitive information is concerned, too many nosey parkers around who rifle through waste bins. Not one scrap of paper with my name and address on leaves this house intact, everything is destroyed. There was lots of old cheque book stubs, and obsolete correspondence from banks and building societies which is no longer relevant. I got a good blaze going and it all went up in smoke.

I've kept a few things back, because I am interested in tracking how I have managed my money over the years. My bank statements for instance, make quite interesting reading over the last ten years. A pattern emerges, there are scribbles on the bottom with some quick calculations, direct debits to go out, have I enough in to cover them. Every money out entry is tallied up with the cheque book, or a direct debit, I know where every penny was going.

At times I was flying by the seat of my pants so to speak. The balance sometimes took a dive and I had to act fast to make sure it didn't dip below the line. For instance on 16th April 2003, I had £28.06 in the bank, but thank God the next day, my wages went in. Phew that was close. At times it was pretty scary, but I managed to pull through. I even managed to gain a bit of interest. Year ending 2002 I got 76p after tax, wowee :o) So all in all, I am still plodding along in my own sweet way. I shall never be rich, but I shall always have enough.

Something else I have records of is my gas and electricity usage. With all the talk of the cost of utilities forever going up, I seem to be doing pretty well at it. I can report that at this moment in time, I haven't any heating on, and haven't had it on at all today. Just as a comparison, my gas for the year Nov 2001 to Aug 2002, four quarterly payments, was £236.14. The four bills from Dec 2009 to to Sept 2010 was £180 74. So even though the cost has gone up, my usage has gone down.

My electricity usage has gone up slightly over the same period, probably because I am on the internet a lot. But back in 2001/2 I was on the phone for longer, so the phone bill was high. Now, my phone bills are absolute minimum, because the computer has taken over from the phone. I still believe that the only way to beat the utility companies is to use less.

What a way to spend a Saturday night, eh, studying numbers! Why aren't I out there living it up! can't be @rsed, ha ha.

Chattering

I've had a letter from Anne Diamond today, the nice lady off the tele, you know who I mean, wasn't she hosting a morning programme with Nick what's his name. Didn't she used to be a bit chubby and didn't she have a gastric band fitted, yes that's the one!

Well our Annie has been flogging off her gold jewellery, and she was absolutely delighted that she got a good price, and a safe and speedy service from a superdooper company in Bournemouth. She was so chuffed that she has written to me with all the details, so that I might avail myself of their services. She has even sent me a padded envelope which I can use to post off my gold bits and pieces, how kind. I have to enter my bank details on the form, and the cash will amazingly appear in my account the following day.

Now where did I put that wedding ring that my fella bought me in 1971 when we were living together, drat, I think I chucked it away when I chucked him. Oh well, nothing to sell then ;o(

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

A lovely day so I walked to town, a slightly longer route than normal, 6.4 miles. My bags go on display starting tomorrow, at the Arts Centre, so I thought they would be setting the exhibition up today.

I took the path along the bottom of the wood to Flixborough, to see what kind of a mess they were making with the logging. It is sad to see so many trees cut down.

On Monday I took a photo of the logs at the top of the wood on the roadside, here is an even bigger pile at the bottom.

And the path is filthy, covered in mud. This used to be a lovely place to walk, I am very sad, they have ruined it :o(

When I got to the Arts Centre I found that they are not setting it up untill tomorrow morning. They haven't had all the bags in yet, and are waiting for them to come in the post. They will add them to the display when they arrive. Oh well, I got the excercise from the walk, and took the bus back. It was full of chattering students from the college, sorry, not chattering, more like screaming, yelling, mucking about students. Did I used to be like that? Yes, I think so, ha ha.

I took a pic of my dinner tonight, in the pan ready for steaming. The sprouts are at the bottom, my favourite dinner. I whizzed up the spinach with the blender, in a jug so it wouldn't splash everywhere. To this I added some plain yogurt, ground pepper, lemon juice, a drop of oil, and some garlic granules, and dolloped it all over the veg, when it was on the plate of course. Deeeeelishus

A post for..........

Hi Spice of Life, thanks for your comment. Help yourself.

We're all in this together

Another lovely morning, aren't we lucky. I've cleared the other footpath, a bit more difficult because it's on a steep slope and very muddy, plus it has a liberal coating of dog poo, yuk :-( I haven't got any more paths to do, that's unless I come across another one that's like a jungle.

This afternoon, I dug over one of my raised beds, need to get the garden looking ship shape for the coming season. I will be doing as last year, growing a few basic veggies which don't need a lot of pampering, because I might not be around to administer TLC.

I'm just back from taking little Rocky for another walk, he is such a cutie. We sat on the bench in the churchyard for ten minutes and he lay on his back wanting a tummy tickle, aaaaahhh. Alfie and Ollie, the two black labradors stopped to say hello, it's good that Rocky can meet other canine friends.

Right, enough tittle tattle, what to talk about today.

I have been reading the forum on Money Saving Expert, in particular the Grocery Challenge. The idea is to set yourself a spending target, and try to stick to it. I have joined in but haven't set a target, I am just using it to keep me in the money saving frame of mind, and pick up a few tips here and there.

Some people are doing very well, and seem quite disciplined when it comes to food shopping, but I can see a few places where others could get their spending down even further if they put a bit more thought into it. It must be difficult though if you are a family, when one can see the need to cut spending, and the other thinks they should be able to buy whatever they like. I imagine it must be frustrating for both sides and cause a lot of friction in a relationship.

I wonder sometimes if families actually sit down together, children included, and discuss their finances, because I think that has to be the way forward. You can't expect harmony if everyone is not singing from the same song sheet. It's easy for me to be frugal because I have no one to argue with, my methods do work, but if you are in a family you have to work harder to get everyone on the same side.

Thinking about my money saving tips on the side bar, some of them must seem a bit silly, and pointless if they only save you a few pence. Maybe I should enlarge on some of them, perhaps a few explanetary notes would help.

Take for instance Make your own sandwiches to take to work or on a day out. Don't buy expensive snack food from shops. cafe's etc. Common sense really. If you don't have time to make a pack up in the morning, do it the night before, put it in a plastic box and put it in the fridge.

Have you thought about where those ready made sandwiches come from anyway? They are made in a factory, hundreds of people throwing them together with their hands, gloves on of course, but coughing and sneezing as they make them, yuk. Loaded onto a lorry, shipped a couple of hundred miles to the distribution depot, unloaded and loaded onto another lorry for delivery to the store. Who wants to eat a sandwich made two days ago when you can make your own fresh!

I am horrified by the amount of people who use the fast food chains. With a bit of organising you will never have to use them, except if it is a one off treat. Do not use them as an everyday way of eating, they cost a fortune and most of the food is not healthy. If you have to, eat only salad.

In every shop you will find sweet snack food close to the tills, it takes a lot of willpower to resist. It should only be eaten as a treat, not every day.

Experiment with the food you like. I love steamed vegetables, so sometimes I make up a plasic box with them. You can eat them cold as well as hot, lovely with a splodge of dressing on them.

Think of your pack ups when you do your supermarket shopping, to get the reductions by buying larger amounts and dividing it up into a daily ration. Don't wait till the day before you go to work. Get organised. If you make your own pack ups for a year, think how much you will save. If you don't have to go into a shop at all while on your lunch break, you won't be tempted to pick up a packet of crisps or a bar of chocolate. Fill up your belly with what you have brought from home, you will save loads of money.

Oh I do like to be beside the seaside......

What a nice surprise when I switched on tonight, lots of funny comments from you all. Keep it up, life's too short to be miserable. Today I had a spin in the new motor. It's hard to get motivated at 7am on a freezing cold January morning, it must be flippin awfull to have to get up early for work every morning. The East Yorkshire Walkers were meeting for a 16 mile walk at Aldbrough, on the coast, the other side of Hull, and I thought I would join them.

That was the plan anyway, but I hadn't given myself enough time to get there, I forgot about the horrendous traffic jams at peak times through Hull. So I was 20 mins late and they had gone. Never mind, I'm out for the day now, it will have to be plan B. My last visit to Spurn Point was on May 8th 2009, so I was due for another. Spurn is that bit of land that juts out into the sea, with the River Humber on the one side, and the North Sea on the other. A long thin peninsula, you can read the first post for all the details if you like. Just look for the date in the 'walk' label, on the side bar. Sorry I don't know how to do a link.

I stopped for half an hour at Withernsea, for a little bimble around. A root through the one charity shop and a big second hand shop, I bought some beads for £1. This is the lighthouse, I am not sure why it is in the middle of a row of houses, not much good for warning ships. It's a museum now.

This gateway looks very splendid, but it doesn't go anywhere, the beach and sea is just beyond the steps.

And here is the view of the beach, looking along the promenade. Not many people out, it's sunny but a bit chilly.

I parked at Kilnsea, and set off walking to Spurn Point. Last time I drove down to the end, but this time I am going to walk the four miles each way. Here are a few beach pictures.

Nobody about, I have got the place to myself. A spot of beach combing but nothing exciting to pick up......

Except maybe a three legged chair :o)

The pier where they launch the coastguard boats.

This is the main shipping chanel to Hull Docks, give them a wave. Eating my sandwiches as the boats pass by.

The sun is quite low now and I'm on my way back.

At one point this narrow strip of land widens out into a field for a short distance. I've never seen all black sheep with only one white sheep before.

The tide has come in now and I'm almost back to the car. I love the way the sea comes crashing down on the rocks.

I feel much better now I have blown a few cobwebs off, that's got rid of the winter blues. I've had a lovely time by the sea.

Use less toilet paper

Here is one for Linda.
Take two pieces of toilet roll. Pinch one of them in the centre between thumb and first finger.

Twist second piece and pinch that one also. This scrunches it up.

Then dab ;o)

If you have two or three ply, you can sometimes seperate the layers, this bulks it up and makes it more fluffy. Don't forget, 2 for a pee, 3 for a poo. If this fails, ration it out to family members, and tell guests to bring their own, ha ha.

Jobs done, shopping, and excercise

I've been a bit busy today. As soon as I'd had breakfast I went off down the hill with my saw, to cut down those two thick branches overhanging the path, wanted to get that job out of the way. I took a bag with me as well, and my second favourite litter picking stick, as my best one met a sticky end yesterday. I thought I might as well clear the verges while I am down there.

I haven't done this bit of road for a couple of months and there was loads about, I had to offload two bag fulls into the bins. look what I fished out of the hedge bottom, a bright plastic bucket, it's cleaned up lovely, I might plant something into it. I also found a five pence coin, I always manage to see them even though they are filthy. My wages, ha ha.

I had a phone call on the mobi, the company who does the charity collections asked me if I could pick up the plastic bags, and they would send someone to collect them in two weeks. Blimey, more work to do. Again I had my hands full, so I went home, and came back out again with a bin bag to do the job.

After lunch I thought I will get a bike ride in this afternoon, it will be a good idea to check out how long it takes to cycle to Tesco and back, it's six miles each way. I want to find alternative ways of shopping, not use the car for too many local journeys, and save the fuel for longer days out. I took the back lane out of the village, along the top of the wood. The road is in a terrible mess where the machines have been cutting down the trees. I don't know why they are doing this, I have seen deer in and around the woods, I suppose they have disappeared now, such a shame.

Here I am, arrived at Tesco. I have a bag on my carrier, I might as well see if there are any bargains while I am here.

Here is my swag, it only just fit in the bag, I'm gonna need some panniers if I do this regularly.

Everything is reduced, I'll give you a breakdown.

2 bags of sprouts, normally 75p a bag, now 55p

organic leeks, normally £1.65, now 45p

pancakes, normally 29p, now 14p

2 packets of 4 teacakes, normally 39p a packet, now 19p

Burgen soya and linseed bread, normally £1.20, now 60p

Staffordshire oatcakes, normally 75p, now 38p

2 packets organic spinach, normally £1.50 a packet, now 39p

Cost of shopping £3.83. Normal price £9.17. A saving of £5.34.

And it didn't cost me anything to collect it, just pedal power. A good way to keep fit methinks.

I'm pleased with my goodies. This food along with some I have left from last week, will tide me over till next week.

An advert

Forgot to say, I picked the car up today, and I am very pleased with it. Lee was there to greet me, and very kindly filled the tank up for me. It had two new wheel trims on and it was all polished up. Tomorrow I will give it another polish, must look after it. I will have a little play with it, familiarise myself with all the knobs and buttons, and put some carpet on the floor. I have some offcuts that will look very nice.

So if anybody is looking for a car to buy, go and see Lee at Perry's, Wheatley Hall Road, Doncaster, and I am sure he will do you a good deal. There is loads of choice, and if your car is not on the forecourt, Lee can get it for you. This is an advert by the way.

Lee Caffrey at Perry's, Doncaster

(Tell him I sent you)

Splat! ;0)

I made myself a pan of stew for dinner, soaked the pulses for 24 hours, boiled them up, added all the other stuff, veg, flavourings and veggie mince, and let it simmer for half an hour. Then I tried a taster on a spoon to see if it was ready, and the split peas and barley were still hard. Blimey, I can't wait all day for this, and it's going to take me ages to chew it if I eat it now. Good idea - zap it with a stick blender, that will break it down into something easy to eat, or drink, as the case maybe.

So now I have got a thick soup, very tasty indeed. I'll clean the kitchen up later,

ha ha.

Death of a litter picking stick

You're gonna laugh at this :o) I've done a daft thing, my flippin bad memory, what a dumbo! I came back from litter picking the other day, it was dark. I usually keep my stick and bag up the back of the garden, I didn't want to fumble around in the dark and paddle on the wet grass, so for quickness I dropped them into the wheelie bin at the side of the house. I'll remove them tomorrow, I thought, when it's light.

You've guessed haven't you! The clue is in the title. I forgot to remove them, and now my stick has gone to the tip along with all the other rubbish from my street.

I stopped the lorry and asked the operatives if there was a chance it could be recovered, and was met with sniggers. Sorry, when it's gone it's gone, swallowed up, crushed to death :o(

Oh well, I have a spare, but it's not as good as the one the council gave me. Wonder if they could give me a replacement if I ask nicely?

A little job that needs doing

I noticed a little job that needs doing, so this morning I gathered my tools. It will only take and hour, and I will have time for a bike ride later.


This stretch of footpath is a short cut from the top of the hill down to the bottom, and is a handy alternative route, I often use it. It can be a bit of a battle through the brambles, and you risk getting your eyes poked out with the over hanging branches. It is in desperate need of a makeover. I'm not sure who's job it is to tidy the public rights of ways, but I reckon the best thing I can do is just get on with the job.

This big green mound of bush needs chopping back, I love my loppers :-)

The blooming brambles were clinging to my trousers as I dragged the cut branches out of the way, and chucked them down the bank.

Oooh, look what I found. Anyone interested in a little sideline? Stick these plastic bags through letterboxes, and go back three days later to pick up your swag.

Three hours later the job is done. All neat and tidy. Sadly no time for a bike ride now.

Just need to go back with a saw, those two branches were too thick for the loppers. I left the broken tree covered in ivy, it makes a nice archway to walk under and it isn't low enough to bash your head on.

I shall keep my eye on it because it might need a trim up in the spring. There is another path at the other end of the village which needs the same treatment, I'll get onto it asap.

Don't bank on it ;o)

Just while I think of it.........I was offered an overdraft at the bank yesterday........

and was absolutely horrified. I went to see about arranging payment for the car, because the garage said they will accept a bankers draft. After discovering that it will cost £15 for this service, I decided not to bother. I am not paying the bank for the priviledge of spending my own money. Then I asked the young lady behind the counter if I could pay for it with my debit card, she said yes, and got my account details up on her screen. I told her how much I would be spending, and she said the cheque from the insurance company hasn't been cleared yet.

The full amount won't be coming out of my bank account straight away because I will be paying £1,000 of it with my Tesco credit card, just to get the points. This will be paid later when the statement comes through.

Anyway, at that moment in time the balance in the account was a bit short to pay the bulk of it with the debit card. Are you following :o) Then she said, 'We can give you an interest free overdraft to bridge the gap. This woman obviously does not know me. I said, 'An overdraft, what's one of them, I have never had one in my life'. She sensed my alarm. 'Oh, it's quite easy', she said, 'It won't cost you anything'.

I replied, 'But it would be like spending someone elses money, I couldn't do that. I want to pay for the car with my money, I'd rather put the collection date back a couple of days untill the funds are there.'

Then she asked me when I was collecting it. When I said Monday, she said, 'Oh that's alright, the cheque will be cleared on Monday'. Phew!!!

A doggy tale

I have been worrying a lot lately.......about a scruffy little dog that seems to spend all it's time in it's own back garden. When the woman first moved in there was no fence around her garden and the little dog stayed within the boundaries even though it had the opportunity to run away. I thought, how cute, and made a fuss of him whenever I walked by.

I spoke to the woman a few times because she was new to our village, I wanted to make her feel welcome, but she didn't seem to want to engage in conversations. She told me her little dog is called Rocky.

Then she had a tall fence put up around her garden, and I could only catch a glimpse of Rocky through the narrow gaps between the wood. There is an alleyway, or snicket as we call them, alongside her garden, a path to walk through to the next street. Everytime I walk past I call Rocky and he comes to the fence. The gap is wide enough to push through some of those Bakers meaty chunks that you get in a box for £2.

In the summer she did take Rocky for a walk sometimes, but I haven't seen her out with him for ages. I haven't seen her teenage girls take him out either. Everytime I walk past, no matter what time it is, Rocky is always in the garden, or he comes out of the shed where he must have his bed.

This little scruffy dog has been on my mind, so today I went to the house with Henry choc lab, and asked if I could take Rocky out. I said, as I am already walking a dog, it would be no trouble to take another. The woman hesitated, then she said yes, and Rocky came out of his garden on his lead.

At first he was a bit worried that we were going away from his garden, but with a few bribes of meaty chunks, he soon got the idea that I was his friend. His little tail was wagging like crazy. We had an hour, the two dogs got on fine, and I got dragged along by both arms instead of one.

I did think about asking the woman if she would consider rehoming him, because I know someone who would love to give him a good home. I don't think he is being mistreated, it's just they think it's ok to leave a dog all day in the garden with the shed to sleep in. I am going to go back again and take him for more walks, at least he will get to see a bit of the outside world. Maybe they will take him out again in the summer. I might bring up the subject of re homing later, but for now I will just keep my eye on him.