Mmmmm......

In the midst of a chutney making marathon to supply my hubbie and 3 offspring with their cheese partner of choice!no bread just chutney smothered on a chunk of cheese!!currently making spicy plum and apple and onion :)

soft touch!

was talked into re-homing some kittens....
meet Arthur and Audrey...

summing up....

gave up the allotment at the beginning of the year and turned more of the garden to veg and fruit growing.This has been a huge success.being able to spend 10 minutes a couple of times a day to weed and harvest has made for a much more productive plot.
just 3 ex batt chucks at the mo but need to expand the flock as only one laying at the moment.one a bit skinny and elderly and another broody!!
plans for the autumn,make use of the wild larder(didn't gather a single blackberry last year!)and turn even more garden over to food.grew beetroots and leeks in flower borders this year and rather liked the effect!
In Cardiff in the camper van this weekend doing Dr who stuff with lovely son as a reward for actually gaining some gcse's,but back to some hard slog come Tuesday :)

spring?

Usually we miss the worst of the weather on the Wirral,I think the welsh mountains protect us from some and we live near the Dee marshes so are quite low down which also saves us from a lot,but this latest lot of snow and wind has more than made up for it!Chickens refused to come out of their coop today so comforted them with warm porridge and apple.The cats have run out to attend to their toilet needs and bolted back in,and Poppy the terrier has been content near the fire.Lily the whippet however is entranced by it and has run round the garden in sweeping circles scooping up snow to eat,finally being persuaded in each time shivering with cold!truly a dog of very little brain!
Heres to the thaw!!

Alfresco dining anyone?

Cake!

My turn to host coffee for a group of friends tomorrow morning and we have friends stopping off on their way to the ferry in the evening so I've been having a bit of a bake-a-thon.perfect for such a miserable grey day.
Have soaked fruit for a tea loaf which I'll bake in the morning along with some scones,and have made a carrot cake and some chocolate and walnut brownies-never made these before, they're from a Mary Berry book so fingers crossed!
Just got to stop the rabble from scoffing them!

Brrrr!

Snow beginning to thaw now and a lovely sunny day on the Wirral :)
still a bit chilly thought so have made a massive pan of veg chilli for tonights meal which has also used up the wrinkly bits of veg lurking in the fridge!
Basically I chop everything up small and fry slowley in a dollop of olive oil with cumin seeds chilli flakes and lots of garlic.Once its softened I add a tin of kidney beans,a tin of tomatoes and a tin of baked beans and leave to simmer away.We'll have it with baked potatoes and there should be some left for tomorrow and we'll have it with tortillas and bits sort of like fajitas.

Mabel braving the frozen wastes!!

New year,new rules!

found out today that the hubbie is having to take a pay cut of £7,000 a year!
His job is changing slightly and in many ways its good as his hours will be more predictable,he's often working 2 to 3 hours extra at the end of a day for no extra pay(he's a gas engineer and doesn't leave a breakdown till it's fixed)and it will be less stressful so less risk of him having a stroke or heart attack!
My job at M and S is over now and whilst I'd like to find something else our son takes his GCSE's this year and I feel I need to be about for him,he has autism and I think I need to be about for the next 6 months.
So........
Lots of penny pinching!We have a nasty overdraft to clear of about £1/000 and a credit card of about the same,the heatings been turned off,showers rationed and baths banned!Eating from the freezer till its empty,and my huge stockpiled pantry.Luckily the hens are laying again,hopefully we won;t get egg bound!We both enjoy a glass of wine but thats off the menu too!
So I'm guessing we'll be a lot healthier in 2013,especially as I'll also be cycling everywhere!!

crazy!

I've been doing the christmas job stint at m and s,and am truly shocked at how much money people throw at the festive season!Hundreds of people spending hundreds of pounds on nonsense such as ready prepared veg you microwave in individual portions!I know the stuff is good quality and I wouldn't have a job if people didn't shop there but it seems slightly immoral when we live near some of the most deprived areas in the country.The town the shop is in is in an affluent little town full of footballers wives who probably don't know how to peel a sprout or roast a potato,it just seems so wasteful!
We'll be having 9 for Christmas dinner and it will be home grown veg(some frozen earlier in the year plus cabbage and sprouts from the garden and potatoes grown in sacks on the patio)my mother in law provides a turkey crown for the meat eaters and my sis in law is doing the nut roast this year,all in all probably costing what the folk I've met recently spend on a starter!
(m and s are great employers btw!!!)
(don't want to be sacked just yet!!)

Sunshine!

After all that rain how lovely to have a crisp winter day!took the woofers for a run on the marsh,with a lovely view of North Wales.

So lovely to be out and about,read an article that said you need to be outside for an hour a day in the winter and its as effective as a dose of prozac!Don't know how accurate that is but felt pretty good to me!!The chickens enjoyed the pause in the rain and even managed a dust bath in the empty greenhouse!
Looks like cold sunny weather for the weekend so shall be out as much as possible.

frugal fun

despite the wet 'n' windy weather gathered the dogs up and wrapped and waterproofed myself and went for a yomp in the woods,took a rucksack with cake and a flask of hot chocolate,but sadly forgot the camera!dogs are now flat out and I feel that I've blown away the cobwebs!Shall defrost some spicy butternut squash soup for this evenings meal,mmmm!

skint!

payday today and once i'd allocated money for direct debits,savings and money to daughter at uni, we have exactly £23.17 to last the month!However cupboards are stocked, there are cabbages and leeks in the garden,the freezer is full and i have a sack of spuds.Most importantly there is enough food for all the critters for the month!
I start a christmas job at m and s on monday so that should cover the silly seasons needs as big daughter and her boyfriend will be here.
Also am making up little hampers as pressies with jam and chutney from the autumn and planning to make some mini christmas cakes.Can't believe that it's only 6 weeks to go but can't wait to have all my family in one place :)

Fish pie

end of the month emptying the freezer time!

Had some fish pie mix(reduced to £1),approved food white sauce beefed up with super strong cheese from the market,a few frozen peas and 2 hard boiled eggs courtesy of our chickens,so fish was poached in milk which was then used for sauce and the whole lot mixed together and topped with aldi frozen mash and more stinky cheddar. twas delicious!!

just right for such a miserable evening and fed 3 of us with green salad.

Chicken starting to moult now so eggs extra precious :)

And I'm back in the room...
Life got a bit too hectic for a while but now returning to a bit of simplicity :)
Had a good year in terms of food production,no longer have the allotment but have turned the majority of the garden over to eatables now,if I can't eat it I don't plant it! well apart from roses,hollyhocks,lupins....and obviously a patch of ground to be dug by dogs and generally pooped on!Lost all the hens to a middle of the day fox attack,so just have 3 ex batts at the moment as i keep them in the run and want them to have plenty of space.
After a crappy summer am now off to harvest all the green tomatoes and turn them into chutney,
speak soon x

Bread

I make my own bread each evening so its ready for packed lunches and the neat days breakfast.when you think that a 3 lb bag of bread flour is aprox 75p and i make a 1 lb loaf each day it's quite a saving.

I am however a bit of a cheat and use a breadmaker to make the dough.I then make it into a loaf or bread rolls and the recipe is also enough for our Friday pizza night!

follow your breadmakers instructions and the quantities are:

1 lb bread flour

1/2 pint milk/water mix

1 teaspoon yeast

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt.

works a treat!

lemon curd

one of my favorites,sunshine in a jar! I like it quite lemony,so adjust to taste.

5 lemons

8 oz unsalted butter

14 oz sugar

4 eggs(i used 6 as they were small-new layers!)

melt butter in heavy bottomed pan.

stir in sugar,rind and juice of lemons,stir till dissolved.

slowly add eggs,remove from heat if goes lumpy and whisk!

when it starts to thicken decant into hot sterile jars,cover immediately.

yum!

frugal pies

One of those evenings when there seemed to be nothing available for the evening meal,had a scout round and knocked up a bit of pastry,and made pies!!

Tinned tuna combined with a white sauce and lots of black pepper and fresh parsley for the meat eaters and a cheese and homegrown spinach concoction with red onions and lashings of garlic and a hint of chilli for the veggies!

back again!

Crikey,I've been away for a while!!

Lots has happened,hubbie changed jobs,I had two jobs at one stage but had to give them both up when my son became very ill.

Thankfully he's on the mend now but I still need to be available for him iof need be so am a housewife full time again,which is great,but we have some debts we need to clear so frugality is the order of the day!!

Its good to be back!

monday in pictures

Poppy and Mabel get cosy!

beautiful flowers,lemon drizzle cake and Jeffrey begging for food(as usual!)

valentine!

so most hubbies give their wives flowers and chocolates'Igot a terrocota garlic store and and apron with chickens on!
I wouldn't have it any other way! ;)

tinker

sadly our beautiful boy lost his fight for life on thursday,although we expected it we are devastated.