Friday 30 November 2012

A bit of chatter

It's been a bit parky today, temperatures are going down down down. A heavy frost overnight lingered for most of the day. A perfect morning for a long soak in a hot bath. Fire up the water heater, put a bit of heat through the radiators, and I'm all set for an hour of blissfull contentment. As I don't have a daily shower, I add up all those four minutes that you are supposed to take showering, and that makes a total of 28 minutes a week, double that and I have a one hour soak every two weeks.
Today I did a full body exfoliation, that's the posh way of saying I had a good scrub up. What I do is start from my feet with a pumice stone and work my way up. I do my legs right up to my thighs with the stone, this removes all the dead skin, and makes my legs glow. I don't bother shaving them in the winter, no one ever sees them. Then I change to the rough exfoliating gloves and give the rest of me a good scrub. What I could really do with is someone scrubbing my back, but one has to compromise when one lives alone, and so I struggle with the back brush. The water will not be wasted, it will be used to flush the toilet for the next week or so. 
I have decided not to do a big shop just yet, I can't be bothered. I was in town yesterday so I picked up a few bits of food to keep me going. I found two tins of pears in Poundstretcher which were reduced to half price 24p as they were short dated. I picked up two cartons of fruit juice from the cash and carry for £1, and I got four bottles of J20 mango drink for £1.20. I got a few reduced bits from Asda, we have a smaller store in the town centre, it used to be a Netto. I picked up my usual at B & M, cheese with garlic, six eggs, and I thought I would try a slightly cheaper version of Nescafe. A bit apprehensive about that as I don't like cheap coffee, this one is ok though. I had some Nescafe left so I mixed the two together. 
A last minute decision saw me turning into Aldi on my way home, on the look out for some fresh veg. I don't know why people rave about this store, everything I usually buy is always more expensive here than Tesco own Value brand. I found a bag of onions 49p, wholemeal bread at 53p (Tesco is cheaper), Sunflower spread 75p (reasonable price), 7 bananas 68p, and Italian filled pasta which wasn't too bad at 65p. Maybe my big shop will wait till next week now. 
We went off in the car to South Ferriby for a walk this afternoon. I put the floppy cushion in to make it comfortable for Rocky. He is as good as gold, never moves a muscle, just curls up and goes to sleep.
The tide is out on the Humber so lots of mud about.

Did you see the lovely sunset tonight. I pulled over for a few minutes to get some photo's on the way home. A little bit of classical music on Radio three is a perfect accompaniment to watching the sun go down.
Before I go, I'll tell you about a letter I had today. Anglian Water has written to me, offering me a free water saving kit which could save me money. A man will come to the house and fit some gadgets, and carry out a free leak check. I read all the bumph expecting a catch, surely this isn't free, but yes it is. The gadgets are, a dual flush converter for the toilet, a digital shower timer, a tap insert which will mix air with water which should save 70% of water every time I turn the tap on, and an adapter to fit into the shower head changing it to a constant 7.6 litres a minute. How about that then, it will save me a fortune :o)
I can't wait to see his face when I show him the bath water still in the bath with a jug next to it, and a huge bucket of rainwater in the downstairs toilet to be used for flushing. The shower doesn't work so I can't use it, if it did work I still couldn't use it because the edge of the bath isn't sealed properly and I am not bothering to get it fixed because I don't shower. At least he will be able to check for leaks while he is here, he may not find any because my bills are quite low. 
Just remembered, house fairy asked if I am putting my central heating on. I do ocassionally put it on, but not for long and only if I am cold. Maybe half an hour just to take the chill off in the evening. I mostly keep moving during the day. My little office is snug, I have loads of clothes on and I am really warm. I've just had to kick my slippers off because my feet are too hot.
Toodle pip.

15 comments:

  1. It's a pity I am so far away Ilona. I could help with the back scrubbing!

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    1. Ooooh, you are awful, but I like you, ha ha.

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  2. I wish Rocky could live with you full time! He looks SO HAPPY with you and has such a good life when he is at yours!
    Can't wait to hear how the Water visit goes! You make every day thigs fun!

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  3. Hi Ilona, Cracking pictures of the sunset. Red sky at night, shepherd's delight so you should have a good day tomorrow. You made me laugh when you said about the chap from Anglian water coming to visit. What he'll be able to tell you about saving water you'd be able to write on the back of a stamp, if that. :-) I try to keep the heating usage low, been using around 45p a day, including the standing charge, which I consider not too bad for us. Folk at work have their heating on all day, OMG, that must cost a fortune. Determined not to increase my payments for gas and electric over the Winter. Was in Aldi tonight and saw that they had Nescafe 300g jar for £5.19. Not sure if that is a good price or not as I don't drink coffee but remembered you drink that brand. Tesco had a glut of clementines tonight so 25p a bag, don't last long when I get them home. Rocky looks cosy in the car on his cushion, he's so good natured and well behaved. Away to fill a hot water bottle, chilly up this neck of the woods too. No snow yet for us here but plenty covering the Ben (Ben Wyvis) so I'm sure it's not far off. Keep warm. Cheers for now, Christy.

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  4. lovely photos,I always think these jaunts are even more fun when you have a dog for company.

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    1. You're right Kath. People are alway willing to chat when you have a dog by your side, as you probably know.Your dogs are lovely.

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  5. Gorgeous photo's,love seeing little Rocky looking so cosy in the Car!

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  6. All these freebies - do you sometimes wonder like I do who exactly is paying for them. We are I guess.
    I am very careful with all my utilities but here in the midwest you have to have heat and a/c or you would die. When I lived in the u.k. did nt use either. We have excellent insulation here though - mine is R16 so tries to make the most of the heat.
    We are supposed to be getting smart meters soon.
    Lovely sunset.

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  7. I think it's fantastic that you use your grey water and rain water to flush the loo. Hope you can get you bill down even further - and yay for free stuff!

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  8. I love your sunset scenes.

    As Tesco is the other side of town for me and I rarely go close to it, I have always found my local Aldi good. Sometimes get reduced stuff at Asda but I find it still seems expensive.

    Rocky looks so comfortable on that cushion.

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  9. Hi Ilona, Suffering withdrawal symptoms here. Waiting (impatiently) for your next blog entry. Cheers, Christy.

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  10. Hi Ilona from House Fairy.
    Glad to hear you are keeping warm. The days are quite cold at the moment.

    Love your photo's. Rocky looks cute on the cushion. I bet he is wondering whare you are going to take him this time.

    Tonight Husband and I had a home made ready meal out of the freezer. Quick when you have been at work. It was a casserole with vegetables in and I made some mash to go with it. Husband said it was just right for the cold weather.

    best wishes...

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  11. Hey, not bad to get some free gadgets! :) Thought they'd be trying to make you use more water, haha!

    I think Tesco's better than Aldi/Lidl for a lot of stuff because they have value versions of pretty much everything. When you factor in all the clubcard points and everything it's probably not too bad! Although I think Asda's cheaper overall.

    Brr it's getting chilly in the evenings. We both had an extra blanket, hot water bottle and jumpers on in bed last night! He even had gloves and a hat on!!

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  12. Gosh Rocky is well behaved. Every pet I've ever had in a car has been walking all over, trying to get under the seats, looking out the windows haha.

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