Keeping an eye on the budget

At the beginning of the week, my dear OH (N), who keeps a very careful eye on the joint account, decided the time had come to reassess the TV package we subscribe to.  We had a BT package (phone, TV and broadband) which gave us access to some of the sports channels.  Although we don't watch a huge amount of television, N is really keen on his sport and gets a lot of enjoyment from watching golf, football, cricket and darts on the extra channels.  However, when he checked our latest statement online, he said that he just couldn't justify the cost of that sports package.  So, he got on the phone to BT to cancel it.  As usual, BT (just like any other provider, or so it seems to me) did us a 'deal' (faster broadband, free evening phone calls).  It always makes me wonder, and makes me more than a little peeved, that because a customer suggests they are considering changing providers, all of a sudden we get a better deal for less money.  Why couldn't we have always paid that price?  Anyway, our monthly bill has been reduced from £48 to £16 (minus those sports channels, which we can manage without, in all honesty), so we're feeling pretty pleased with the result.

We've also agreed to keep a closer eye on the gas and electricity meters, reading them at the beginning of each month.  Again, N checks our accounts with the energy providers online, but monitoring our usage regularly will give us a better idea of how we're doing.  Perhaps we should look at the water meter, too.  We are particularly careful and mindful of water usage because we are metered, and this year we have begun to shower alternate days rather than every day, at least during the winter.  I am also trying to remember not to run the tap when I clean my teeth etc.  It might only be a small change, but every litre of water I save is a litre we don't have to pay for.  I want to look into how much water the washing machine uses.  Our machine is only a couple of years' old, so is an efficient model, and I tend to use the 30 minute cycle quite often.  I need to see if I would be better off using a longer cycle which holds more washing.  We don't have a dishwasher - that would be me;) - but I try to restrict the number of times we do the washing-up during the day.

My DD returned home today.  It was lovely having her here for a few days, and although we didn't do out and about very much, she said she enjoyed just spending time quietly.  She is, as I mentioned, a demon at jigsaw puzzles, and we unearthed a couple in the loft.  She finished a 1000-piece puzzle in about 5 hours!  

This afternoon I have continued with another quilting project that has been waiting for me to have a few days to concentrate on it.  Many years ago I helped my son, who must have been about 10 or 11 at the time, make himself a small quilt, using railfence pattern blocks separated with plain blocks.  He did all the machining himself, and I helped put the quilt together.  It didn't have much quilting holding it together, so over the years it has got a bit baggy.  I decided some time ago to try to give it a new lease of life, and I unpicked the rather sparse quilting and washed the fabric and wadding, which almost fell to pieces.  It will have new wadding!  I decided to practice my machine quilting skills (still very much as a beginner) and drafted up a couple of designs which I thought would work in the plain blocks.  The railfence blocks I will just use the walking foot to add some lines to follow the strips.  I needed some kind of light-box to enable me to transfer the designs onto the fabric, but this is not the kind of quilting equipment I can justify spending my money on.  I explained to N what I was after, and he mooched around the flat looking for inspiration.  And he found it!  A bedside light, and stack of books, a plain glass table-protector - hey presto!  One very nifty light-box.  

The glass mat is balancing on top of the bedside lamp (the books were there to steady it), and I taped the paper with the design drawn onto it over the light source

Draping the quilt over the mat allowed me to see the design  illuminated by the light and I had a solid surface to trace on

Tomorrow I hope to spray baste the quilt together and then I shall be ready to start machine quilting.  My DD gave me some special gloves to stop my hands sliding over the fabric, so I shall be trying those out tomorrow as well. 

I must also take some photos of N's finished woodwork project - it's stunning.