Making the most of an extra day

The weather has been lovely today - bright and sunny - and we made the most of it by getting out in the garden.  Three of the raised beds have now been weeded and turned over, although I have no doubt that more weeds will appear in a few days' time.  But for now, the beds look ready to go.  It was such a pleasure to get outside and do some practical work again after such a soggy winter (we've had no rain for several days now, which has been a very welcome change) and we made some tentative plans for sowing and planting this season.  

The mornings are getting so much lighter now, and the evenings pulling out, but we've had more hard frosts in the past fortnight than throughout the winter - I suspect we may still pay the price for the unseasonably mild temperatures up to now.  However, longer daylight hours and bright sunshine certainly makes us feel like Spring is very close.

We are still eating our way through the freezer and store cupboards, although I think we may have to do a small shop soon as the cupboards are getting rather empty!  It has been a really interesting little challenge, and one which has made us appreciate the value of making meals from scratch, and also making the most of home-grown produce - today we finished the very last of the spinach.  I must congratulate the Head Chef on some very innovative meals, but nothing is going to waste.  We are not huge meat eaters (mainly chicken and fish) and it has been surprising just how far a small amount of meat can stretch when it is bulked out with a good selection of vegetables.  

I had a bit of a clear-up in the workroom last week - I could hardly see the floor for fabric, patterns and boxes - and time spent sorting through the dressmaking and quilting stashes proved to be time very well spent.  The storage shelves were reorganised, paper patterns folded back into their respective envelopes and stray reels of thread rounded up.  I have one dressmaking project still to finish but as there is not much fitting involved it will hopefully be completed in the next couple of days.  I think I still have a bag to make, and a dress to embellish, both relatively straight-forward.  Once I have finished both of those projects I really need to make some time to get all my fabric pre-washed.  It's something I keep thinking about and I know it will make sense.  The dressmaking stash (I'm not sure that the half-dozen pieces of fabric really constitute a 'stash' as such but it takes me feel like a proper seamstress!) has actually been pre-washed - I made a point of doing that as I bought the fabric - but hardly any of my quilting cotton has been washed.  There is nothing worse than washing a quilt only to find fabric shrinks or the colours bleed - all that time and work effectively ruined because fabric wasn't pre-washed.  So that will be a goal for the Spring, and hopefully it will then encourage me and provide the incentive to actually use some of those carefully stored and much-admired (but never used) fat quarters.  I don't have to create heirloom quilts, but I do need to reduce the stash.  By the end of this year, I think I need to have made some quilts.  Some simple quilts.

Living within our means

I'm a little behind times with plans for the 'Thrifty/Frugal February' posts I mentioned at the end of January, but although there may not have been anything actually written here, I have been giving the subject a lot of thought.  I  suspect there are many different takes on thriftiness and frugality, so I am just focussing on how we see it.

I think you start with a mindset.  For us, it's living within our means.  We are perfectly happy with this view, it suits us just fine.  'Our means' is the Head Chef's work pension, plus a small monthly contribution from my savings (no pension for me as yet!).  This total figure is less than a quarter of what we used to jointly earn when we were in paid employment.  However, we have not had a mortgage for several years, and have no debt.  This money covers, I would calculate, 95% of all our expenditure - household expenditure, food, car expenses, garden, travelling, and much more besides.  (There are a couple of exceptions  that are paid for from separate accounts).  We live very well on what many people would consider a relatively small income.  We don't  consciously try to be thrifty or frugal (whatever those terms may mean), but we do try to make the money work as hard for us as possible.  We don't waste it, and try to use it mindfully.  Our attitude is that we have worked hard for what we have so we don't want to waste our resources.  And we have found that we can live very well indeed.

I had planned to post throughout February on thrifty and frugal topics, but I have been in the midst of a sewing frenzy, the like of which I've not known before; I don't think I have done so much dressmaking for such a concerted length of time for many years, if ever.  It has been enjoyable (in a ' there's so much to do and I'm running out of time' way, lol!) and it is mighty satisfying 1) seeing the end results of all this time and effort, and 2) the money I have saved in the process, but there has been a downside, namely a very sore neck of the repetitive strain variety which has, on occasions, rendered me unable to move my head.  Not so great.   So whilst I may not have blogged much over the past couple of weeks, I have had plenty of time to ponder our lifestyle.  

We live simply.  If that means we are thrifty and frugal, I can run with that.  But mostly, we have simply simplified how we live.  We are fortunate to have what we need, and what we have is more than enough.  

I see evidence all around us of this simple life - homemade laundry liquid, menu plans, meals cooked from scratch, broken zips replaced, home-grown vegetables in the freezer providing us with food through the winter, supermarket 'own brand'  products in the cupboards - the list goes on.  It allows us to live well on a reduced income, happy and content with our lot.  We may be at odds with mainstream aspirations of 'more, more, more', but for us, less is so much better.

Snow on the hills

We have returned from a wintery break 'up north', visiting family.  There was snow on the hills (although no snow actually falling where we were), and it certainly was cold.  We grabbed the opportunity of an overnight stay in Buxton in the Peak District, and what a delightful place it is.  We would love to go again, perhaps when the weather is a little warmer and more conducive to walking on the hills.  Lots of fascinating history all around.

Today storm Imogen has kept us on our toes.  Goodness, she's been a noisy one; the wind has whistled round the house all day, at times in a rather alarming manner.  Thankfully no damage done apart from a pane of perspex dislodged in the greenhouse but there have been reports of roads blocked by uprooted trees and very high seas along the coast.  We decided that it was best to stay put and hunker down for the day.  That meant sewing - I've replaced a broken zip in a jacket, and bread baking, amongst other things.  We can always find something to do at home - ideas to discuss, plans to make, books to red and projects to start - and finish.  We are never bored ;-)