Bits and pieces before we go

We've been hunting out our walking gear in preparation for the New Forest.  Thumb sticks, waterproofs, thermal long johns - we're taking no chances with the weather forecast.  Flasks, hot chocolate and cakes for sustenance along the way.  The advantage of taking the car is that there is room for the wellies and walking boots, and a couple of extra jumpers.

This morning I finished sorting and cleaning the rest of the kitchen cupboards, and added a loaf tin and a baking tray to the 'surplus to requirements' pile.  It's certainly been helpful, sorting through things like this.  One or two things have been moved around and I found a better use for some mats that had been tucked away at the back of one of the cupboards.  I found a forgotten tin of spinach lurking as well, so we had some in a curry this evening and the rest has been frozen.   

I have finished quilting around the borders and am now wondering about the binding for the edges.  I think I will probably keep the scrap theme going and use up some oddments; I'll have a good rummage when we get back next week.

The model N has been working on is finally in one piece.  As he says, it's kept him entertained for a couple of weeks and he's really enjoyed the process.

I took myself off for a stretch of the legs this afternoon, into town and back along the footpaths, about 4 1/2 miles in total.  Quite a few signs of Spring - cherry blossom beginning to break, magnolia with fat buds, and lots of bulbs on their way.  And it's a little lighter for just a few minutes longer in the late afternoon which is always a good reason to be cheerful. 

Off early tomorrow morning - really looking forward to our time away.

Progress on cupboards, knees and quilts

The kitchen cupboard sort-out is continuing.  Having moved on to the pots'n'pans cupboard yesterday, we've found a few bits and pieces that are no longer used so they will be either recycled or sent to a charity shop.  I hope to finish the last three cupboards tomorrow.

N had another session at the physio yesterday and surgery is looking unlikely now, which is good news.  More exercises to do; if the effort (ie grunts and groans!) in is reflected in the progress, then he should be running a marathon soon!  We didn't do much in the way of walking last week - a combination of inclement weather and not wanting to aggravate recovery - but hopefully now we should be able to manage a few more miles. 

Having sorted out the borders of the bowtie quilt (not perfect, but certainly much better than they were) I have now spray-basted the top, wadding and backing, and this afternoon I have quilted in the ditch along two of the borders.  A walking foot makes the task so much easier and it's really encouraging to begin to see the quilt itself coming together.  I'm using up what thread I have; as it's a multi-coloured scrap quilt, pretty much anything goes.  

We're having a few days in the New Forest next week which we are very much looking forward to.  We had hoped to do a bit of walking but the weather is looking decidedly iffy - freezing temperatures and even the possibility of snow - so we are packing thermals, wellies, rugs, thermos flasks, and plenty of library books, sewing (of course) and puzzle books.  We'll have the cameras and binoculars to hand and hopefully there will be opportunities for some good wildlife photos.  It's a lovely part of the country and we are fortunate it is just across the water from us.

I have been informed we now have 43 garlic plants growing.  Not bad from 50 corms planted.  There's still time for the others to put in an appearance ;-)

A simple life for me

It's howling a hoolie here at the moment, rain lashing against the windows, and it's forecast to get a little wilder during the night.  Compared to many parts of the country, currently experiencing snow, gales and other wintery weather, we get off relatively lightly this far south.  It's no fun being without power in freezing temperatures and I feel for those folks who have been hit hard by the weather.

Today I started in on another task on The List, sorting out the kitchen cupboards.  As I previously mentioned, I've taken the plunge and joined in with the 'Pantry Challenge' on the Down to Earth blog, so I thought I'd better make a start.  It'll be done over two or three days to fit around other things that are happening, and today I did the wall cupboards.  Everything out, shelves wiped down, bottles, jars and packets checked and sorted before putting back.  Two glass jars emptied and recycled, several packets emptied into storage jars and recycled, jasmine rice used up for dinner, a container with nothing in it (!) recycled.  Out of date stock?  About a quarter of a packet of curry paste, BBE May 2012!  All in all, not too bad.  We keep a fairly close eye on the food cupboards, and are much better now at only buying what we know we will use.   Once I got going I really enjoyed the task and the end result was very satisfying.  It's tidy, we can see what we have, and everything is accessible for use.  I'll carry on tomorrow.

This afternoon was a bit of a treat for me.  I took a workshop at our local quilting shop; three hours of machine quilting - wonderful!  The shop owner and tutor, Vendulka, is a very inspiring teacher, and under her guidance I produced some creditable feathers.  Lots of practice, learning to relax and letting the fabric and stitches flow.  It's quite a different technique to the precision of hand quilting, which I do enjoy, but I find I don't have the patience to undertake weeks of hand sewing that I used to have.  I want my quilts finished and to be used, not remain as pieced tops never to be quilted and completed.  So, machine quilting it is, and I'm really enjoying the challenge.

This post is my 350th, and marks two years of blogging.  The blog is nothing fancy, just an online diary of our days 'pottering along', enjoying what our chosen lifestyle brings us.  Living within our means, free of debt, being self-reliant, and not being caught up in consumerism.   Thrifty, frugal, simple - whatever the label, we're loving our simple life.

Routine days

For many years, I used to smile when I heard retired people remark that they never knew how they ever found time to go to work because their lives were so busy now.  (rolling of eyes!!)  How could that be possible, I used to think?  They must have all the time in the world, not working.  Hmm, that was then.  Now, I find myself thinking the exact same thing - how did I find time to go to work?

My days are busy and productive, and oh so much happier.  Even something as mundane as having washing blowing on the line makes me smile to myself.  

Being someone who likes things organised (I will admit I don't always manage it though I continue to strive for order), I find some routine in my daily potterings is helpful in providing a rough structure to the week - N and I quite often have to ask each other what day it is.  With that in mind, I set Monday morning aside to clean the house - dust, vacuum, tidy up and put away etc.  And it seems to be working well.  It certainly helps that the house is not overly cluttered to start with, and we are mindful of what extras (if any) come into the house - I do not want to spend hours carefully dusting countless ornaments and trinkets.  As I go round the rooms, I am making a mental note of the 'snagging' that still needs to be done, after the renovation last year.  There's a bit of remedial work we want to look at in the spring, and one or two small projects that will make the house work better for us.  And of course there will be a more thorough 'Spring Clean', but I'm hoping to have had a bit of a declutter beforehand, meaning less to clean ;-)

I don't have a set day for washing; I'm guided by the weather, so if it's dry and breezy, I'll get a load in the machine.  

We're now really into menu planning - not sure why we didn't do it sooner.  N is the main cook here, and he has found it much easier knowing what's for dinner for the week in advance, rather than having to think of something each day.  The plan is flexible but it certainly gives us something to work with.  At the moment we are eating our way through the contents of the freezer and what we already have in the cupboard and hopefully we won't have to restock until February.  

I bake bread once a week (and try to ensure there is something else being cooked in the oven at the same time), and have set days for changing the bed.  Library books need to be returned and changed.  I volunteer Friday mornings, and twice-monthly we give a lift for an out-patients appointment.  All these are put on the calendar, and suddenly there is a structure and routine to our weeks.  The times in between are filled with DIY, craft, gardening, mending, reading, talking . . . and taking time for a cuppa.  We walk and get out and about.  I don't think I can ever say I have been bored; there is just so much to fill my days with!

So, today - one of those hospital trips, a dash into Lidl for specific items (loo rolls on offer so stocked up there!), then pop into Tesco, again for specific items.  We have decided that we can get most of shopping at Lidl and Aldi now, and will just go to Tesco to bi-monthly - there's only a few bits that we haven't been able to find elsewhere.  We prefer the shopping experience at Lidl and Aldi; there isn't so much to choose from, the prices are consistently cheaper, the quality is more than acceptable, there aren't the gimmicks (BOGOFs; buy one, get one half price etc), and they don't hand out free plastic bags!  

I pinned out the bowtie quilt, hoping to get it sandwiched, only to find that the inside border isn't lying flat.  Deep breath, it'll have to be unpicked.  *sigh*  By now this quilt should have been in one piece and started on the quilting.  Instead, all I seem to have done is unpick the pesky thing.  

Really, it's just as well I'm not at work.  I wouldn't have the time to do anything!

Up for a challenge

Yesterday -

I took advantage of a dry and very breezy day and had two loads of washing on the line outside.

I've found a use for some bits of wadding I'd kept 'just in case' (never one to throw away anything that might come in useful, lol).  Lots of thin strips, herringbone-stitched together, becomes a sizeable piece of wadding, ideal for a quilting workshop I have treated myself to later this week (I need two fat-quarter sandwiches to take with me).  Not only have I used offcuts of wadding, but I reuse lengths of thread, too.  Possibly taking frugalness and thriftiness to new heights ;-))  

The cargo ship is just visible on the horizon, but my little camera wasn't really up to the task

A combination of high winds and wave action have eroded the sand and soil along the shore edge

We had a stroll to the local shoreline to see if we could glimpse the stricken cargo ship.  We had planned to return to Cowes to see it a few days ago but it managed to free itself from the sandbank and the salvage boats have now towed it a little further east, but still in the Solent.  It is now anchored while more assessments take place.  The recent high winds have hampered the process.  The ship is just visible from the bit of beach we were on; it's still listing badly.

I had every intention of making bread this afternoon, planning on baking it while the oven was on cooking the roast chicken.  It might have been helpful to have checked that I had bread flour first!  We are going to have to do a shop soon to restock the cupboards as there's quite a few gaps appearing.  Cleaning and tidying the kitchen cupboards is on The List, so I had a little smile to myself when I read Rhonda's latest post from Down to Earth, challenging us to tidy our pantry shelves.  I think this is something I ought to join in with; it may prove the gentle nudge I need to roll the sleeves up and get sorting.

Being grateful

A morning at the donation centre yesterday, and a chance to catch up on everyone's Christmas and New Year news.  Things are getting a little more organised there, and I managed to get a fair amount of work done.  I always find myself pondering over the problem of 'stuff' while I'm sorting through the donations.  A lot of the goods that are donated (in good faith and for a very worthy cause) are good quality and suitable for resale through the charity shops on the local high streets, but every so often I open a bag or box that is just full of, well, rubbish.  We salvage what we can for scrap value, but sadly rubbish is rubbish, even if it has been donated in a charity bag.  When did the accumulation of all this 'stuff' become so important to us?  

Back at home, we were delighted to be given two big bags of shredding which we are mixing in to the compost bin.  We're novices at composting, and the grass cuttings and veg peelings were getting a bit sludgy, for want of a better description, so a bit of shredded paper will hopefully help the mix.  We'll wait to see in a few months time.

Lots of crafting going on here.  N has another model kit on the go, and can be found most mornings at the kitchen table, glasses perched on the end of his nose, meticulously painting some tiny piece of kit.  It's all about having the time, taking the time, and enjoying the time spent creating.  

Absolutely loving these colours!

I've been knitting (this wasn't even on the list but it was a quick and easy 'tick').  And I'm now tackling one of the projects that has been bugging me for a very long time.  It's a quilt top I began piecing many, many years (that sounds familiar, doesn't it?), and over time it has been put away, forgotten about, rediscovered, had a bit more added to it, stuffed in a bag . . . 

I have promised myself it will be the next project to be completed, and I would really like to have it done by the end of the month.  I think that may be a little optimistic but I am determined to get it finished.  Once I had spread it out on the lounge floor, I saw straightaway that I was going to have to begin by unpicking the borders, which were just too wavy for me to ignore (did I really measure those sides first?)  That was today's task, sort the borders out.  They were clearly too long, which made the edges wavy, so I've shortened and resewn each side and it all looks a lot better.  I dug around in the bag of sheets from the charity shop and have found one that will do for the backing, and I have enough offcuts, if I do a bit of joining, for the wadding.  Making do with what I have.  It's fun.  

We have had two phone calls in the past 24 hours which have served as a timely reminder to us of just how fortunate we are.  We both enjoy good health, something that is so often taken for granted but which I find I am becoming increasingly thankful for, and secondly, we are in the wonderful position of being debt-free.  We are not beholden financially to anyone, and it is the best feeling and one we made a conscious decision to achieve.  We have never regretted that decision.  It has allowed us to leave work early knowing that everything was paid for and it has given us choice and freedom.  We are happy to live within our means but we don't feel that makes us poor in any way; we are far more self-reliant than many.  Our life may be simple in comparison to some, but we consider ourselves rich in so many ways.  We have much to be grateful for. 

Tick

It poured with rain this morning then turned into a lovely bright afternoon but it left the ground very wet

I think the most apt word for this, the first week of 2015, must be 'busy' for that is what we seem to have been.  But in a really nice, happy sort of way.  It is such a pleasure to be doing things that we chose to do rather than have to do (there's even a sort of satisfaction with the housework, probably to do with wearing an apron!!)  For the moment, anyway, I am going to make the most of this sense of purpose and fulfillment; I dare say there will be days that don't have the same productivity or enjoyment and on those days I will remember that it isn't always like that.

A visit to the physio has confirmed that N has torn the cartilage in his knee which does explain the on-going problems.  He now has daily exercises to do and hopefully it can be resolved without recourse to surgery.  And the BP issue appears to have been a blip; yesterday's readings were more than acceptable.

The project list for this year has the first 'tick' - I have finished lining the curtains.  However, no time to sit around congratulating myself, the next project is already on the go!  Actually, I need to be honest here and say I seem to have 3 projects on the go at the moment.  I don't think that was really the plan but one is definitely on-going (and long-term; a bit at a time sort of project) and another is a quick knitting project (a few lines here and there) so they will all probably muddle along together fairly well.  I am mindful of not taking on too much at any one time - that just becomes a massive juggling act and any pleasure rapidly goes - so I think this is my limit for the time being.

January seems to be a month for making do with what we have, running the freezer down (it's always surprising what you find lurking in the depths!) and not buying unless we need to.  I am gradually working my way through various cleaning products, finishing up odds and ends and not replacing them.  Two more bottles were emptied today.  It seems slow progress but I'll get there eventually.  A bit more room in the cupboard under the sink.

We finally took the Christmas tree down today; it had started to shed it's needles so it's time was up.  We so enjoyed having a real tree this year and it is definitely something we will do again.