Fantastic Bank Holiday Monday/Whitson Half-Term

When I woke up this morning, an email was waiting for me offering a composter, through Freecycle.  I was delighted. It was very timely.  Only yesterday, I had found a composter on Ebay; collection only.  The current bid was £1.75, with 24 hours to go.

I set up a snipe bid; max. £3.00

I had previously ordered one from a supplier offer a concession to my local council. However, I had received an email to say that there had a problem with the check out on their website and my order had not gone through; would I like to re-order? NO!

Then the Freecycle offer came.

Superscout and I went to collect it at 4:00PM, from a lovely lady.

On the way home, we stopped at a Marks and Spencer 'Simply Food' store.  We planned to buy a £10 'Dine In For 2' offer, because it was Bank Holiday.

WELL WE ARRIVED AT THE RIGHT TIME ....................... JUST LOOK AT WHAT WE BAGGED!

ALL 10P!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

All in all it has been a great Bank Holiday.

Plus, I wrote 30 ICT comments and 30 Art and DT comments.

Added to which, we re-arranged Superscout's bedroom and did a major spring clean in it.

The Ebay composter finally went for £19.

I also have a chicken carcas in the slow cooker. #stock

Ridiculous Price Increase

At this time of year, I am partial to coucous, occassionally.  

The last time I bought some, it was approx 35p.  This time it cost 62p!  At first I thought it was a mistake.  Sadly not.

On the other hand, following on from a post and comment by Frugal Mum, instead of buying these:

£2.00/kg

I have bought these:

£0.63/kg

£1.37/kg saving.  

I plan to grated/slice them and freeze them ready for use.

Busy Saturday and Sunday.

Yesterday, I got so much done. I:

• Cleaned the kitchen;
• Cleaned the lounge;
• Cleaned the stairs and landing;
• Had lunch with a friend;
• Food shopped;
• Moved my raised bed to a sunnier spot in the garden;
• Planted some chard in it;
• Spring cleaned my bedroom;
• Sorted through all my clothes and have organised a pile for charity.

Well done to me.

Today, my aim is to:

• Write 30 RE comments in reports;
• Go to see the Great Gatsby; - CANCELLED - NOT BY ME
• Cook a roast dinner;
• Maybe spring clean Superscout's bedroom and sort through hr clothes too. - ROLLOVER TO TOMORROW.

We shall see.

Frightening

Last night, at approximately 11:00 PM, superscout and I were both asleep in bed.

We were woken by the doorbell ringing and someone banging on the front door.

Because, I was woken from sleep, I stumbled around, shaking trying to find my dressing gown.  I think I would have gone down stairs initially, but superscout told me not to.  Instead I opened my front bedroom window and called down 'who's there?'.

NO ONE.

There was no car; no person; nothing.

It really shook me up.  Then I started to get paranoid:  Had I locked the front and back doors properly?  Was my car locked?  I dare not go downstairs.

Plus the battery was flat on my phone.  If I had needed to call the police, we did have superscout's.

Anyway - it has been a lesson on being prepared and taking care with security.

[The teenager is not here.  He has gone on holiday with a friend.  His bedroom is downstairs and had he been here, there would have been lights and music on]

#scary

Not Having A Car

Last Friday, I took the teenager to the station to get the train to London, to see his dad.  I did a naughty thing and pulled into a disabled parking space................I know bad.

Anyway, as the teenager was getting his suitcase out of the boot, a man tapped on my window.  'Oh no,' I thought, or words to that effect...............'He is going to have a go at me!'.

In fact he asked me if I knew that I had no brake lights working.  I had absolutely no idea ................no warning lights; nothing.

Superscout and I drove home, very gingerly.  When we parked on the drive, Superscout sat in the driver's seat and pressed the brake peddles.  Sometimes they came on; sometimes they did not; an intermittent fault.

On Saturday morning, I rang the mobile mechanic, who looks after my car.  He is a great guy; comes round at the drop of a hat and is very reasonably priced.  I think he said it would be the brake switch.  However, he was not able to get hold of one until Monday.

On Monday, he came round and fixed it; total cost £45.  How good was that?  It seems like a very fair price to me.

Back to the weekend - I was left without a car:

• I ordered my food shopping online;
• I discovered MyHermes, instead of the PO.  They came and collected a parcel from school on Monday morning, so I didn't have to go to the PO;
• I went for a walk to the local CO-OP;
• Superscout went into town on the bus;
• The teenager walked back from the station;
• A lovely colleague took me to school and back on the Monday.

If I didn't need my car for work, in theory I would not need it at all.  I only live 5 miles away, but there is no direct public transport.  I would need to catch 2 buses, which would just take too long.  

If we did have no car, when I needed one for a long journey, I would simply hire one.

Beetroot, Bulgar Wheat and Lamb Burgers.

Tonight, I prepared these:

Not bad for a school night!

We did not eat them tonight; maybe tomorrow.

I followed this recipe.

Beetroot, bulgar wheat and lamb burgers

I used to not rate Nigel Slater, but now I do: very much.

x

Contact lenses

I wear daily disposable contact lenses, which I buy on a monthly basis from Tesco.  They cost £18 for a month's supply.  Surprisingly, they recently came down in price slightly.  I mean what comes down in price these days?

Anyway, I have decided that I shall stock up, whilst Tesco Clubcard Exchange is on; thus bringing the cost down to £9 per month.

I have to say, that this month, despite having an unforeseen leak in the bathroom and a problem with my brake lights, I have managed to save money.

Thus on the 24th [the day I receive my salary] I shall overpay another £100 off my mortgage.

Well done to me.