Jewels from India

Oooohhhhh, I LOVE yarn!
I picked up a couple of skeins of recycled sari silk at last Novembers 'Knitting and stitching show' and have been lifting them out of the bag, stroking, cooing, and dreaming about what they may one day become...(can you tell my baby Left home last year???)

Then a gorgeous new shop opened in nearby Clitheroe called 'Patches and Buttons', and there on one of there sumptuous displays was more sari fabric - ahhhh, bliss.

So purse a few pounds lighter, the skeins all ended up with Mummy fig. My mother personifies patience, and kindly spent several hours de-skeining and balling up my beautiful sari silk.
and all I need to do now is come up with an idea for something to make...

so, while it rains outside, and once the drab domestic chores are all done, I will be sitting in the arm chair, fondling my fibres and dreaming about the colours of India.

What an UGLY Baby!

I don't have a very sweet tooth (chocolate being the exception...of course!) but someone gave me a Haribo Jelly Baby the other day and I had to search them out for myself.

They have to be the ugliest, scariest babies around - and as such need to be eaten head first.

if only they didn't taste so damned good!

If you like your jelly babies though, look at these... Jellyatrics

Dogs and Cats and Chicks and stuff!

As the (reportedly) most spectacular spring since 1976 unfurls before our eyes, I decided that getting up early and walking the dog would set me up for a better day, you know, fresh air, bird song, flowers, exercises etc - so this morning I set off with my trusty terrier through the field, up the country lane to the main road where the paper shop is. We have two 9 month old 'kittens' Bodkin and Stitch. Stitch has recently started to follow us on walks, and the little sod pot followed the dog and I, no matter what I did to put him off, so when we got to the main road and he shot across it and back almost causing a crash I decided not to bother with the paper shop, and we set off back. We must have looked quite comical to other dog walkers, me, 1 black and white dog and 1 black and white cat to match.


When will Easter get here? - I know I know, it is the weekend after next (I think?) but like all the other yearly events hijacked by the shops, it seams like it has been Easter for weeks now.
Baby Fig in her infinite thriftiness discovered a shop in London that goes that one step beyond poundland - a 99p shop! - she bought a box of these chicks, Easter Geek chicks! brilliant.



and now - some finished projects!!!!!

My luxurious kid mohair scarf wot I designed myself is now finally finished - Mr Fig said it had an 'ethereal quality' - I am just very chuffed!

And below is another - yes, I said ANOTHER finished project, a lovely ballet style wrap for my littlest niece for Easter - She can't eat dairy products, so no Easter eggs, and refuses to wear anything but pink - I hope this fits all her requirements!

Not sure if you can see this - tiny little charm on the sleeve that just says 'made with love' which it definitely is.

so - time is ticking now, only another week to finish knitting egg cosies, bunnies, chicks, making simnel cakes, roasting lamb and loosing an hours sleep. Easter keeps me busier now than when baby fig really was a baby!

I went to London and all I took was 1 photo!

EEEK! it never ceases to amaze me how quickly time passes between blogs...
The past week has been very busy - working (bleurch...) knitting, sewing, watching BBC's Master crafts and desperately wanting to become a weaver now!

On Wednesday Baby Fig and I drove down to London as she had her first University interview at Westminster Uni - at the Harrow Campus for Art - and even if she doesn't get a place I am incredibly proud of her.

We stopped with my Aunt and Uncle in Balham, and met up with another Aunt at Harrow who took us through Harrow on the Hill to lunch - I had never been there before - it is like a lovely village in the middle of the city, and obviously a 'money' area.


So, after dashing here and there, the only photo I ended up taking was of Baby Fig herself back at Balham station while we waited for the crowds to disperse before maneuvering her art portfolio back to the flat.

Guess who's been on match of the day?

As I no longer work Mondays (a stress busting move) I have taken to pottering about our nearest market town on that day. There are plenty of shops in our village, but they are all a bit posh, and way out of my budget! (well, except Spar...)
Clitheroe is a gorgeous little town, a bit behind the times usually (certainly in respect to opening times, still honoring half day closing, lunch time closures and shutting up completely on a Sunday) and it now has the obligatory Boots store and a WH Smiths, it still retains a whole load of independent retailers that are unique to the town and one of the largest concentration of charity shops in the country!

Above is a really bad photo of the Chocolate Box - it has been there forever! A tiny shop with gorgeous original dark wood cabinets and shelves full of sweets and chockies - ahhhh, heaven.
Mr Fig and I went all out extravagant and invested in a quarter each of cola cubes, pineapple chunks and sour apple cubes...how old are we????

Yesterday was my first day off with sunshine this week - and having only seen snowdrops from the car window for a while, and after seeing the lady farming them on last Sundays country file, I went to get some shots and have a closer look at these brief jewels!

The ones above were in the English Martyrs Church Yard, a sea of white!
And yes, I picked the one bellow from someones garden, it was behind a bush next to the fence, and I couldn't get close enough with the camera....well, that's my excuse! but isn't it lovely!!!!

And the ones bellow reminded us of lop eared Easter bunnies!

And then....Last night at The Grand in Clitheroe we went to see Frank Sidebottom and Charlie Chuck - what a night! Mr Fig and Baby fig had never seen them before, and Baby fig is the same age I was last time I saw him in 1989!

I honestly couldn't tell you what was funnier - Frank Sidebottom, the bloke behind who laughed like a drain all the way through or the two women in front who were utterly bemused by the whole evening and nearly fell of their chairs when Frank asked "Guess who's been on match of the day?" and the audience replied "you have, in your big shorts!"

Ahhh, the simplicity of northern humour....

A Cherry on The Top....or not!

After a morning in the pub knitting and nattering with Friends and neighbours what could be nicer than visiting the farmers market outside and coming home with Pigeon and Pea Pie and a Lemony cup cake from the gorgeous A Cherry on The Top stall?

well, a coffee, a knitting magazine, a WIP and a comfy armchair to finish it off- Ahhhh, Sundays!

What Manner of Men...

After visiting my 95 year old Grandmother at the weekend I have been trying to find a poem for her - She is a huge poetry lover, and has been all her life - she can quote poems learned at primary school better than she remembers the families names!

About 30 years or more ago, she heard a poem read out on the radio, and in that one reading memorised about 4 lines from it, but never knew the author or the name of the poem - and has no concept of the Internet.

It has taken some finding - and in the end I found only 1 link to it, and can still not find any information out about the poet - if I have the correct name!

so in the spirit of sharing, not only on my blog, but in case anyone else should ever look up the poem here is it...

WHAT MANNER OF MEN

The Devil at the table prepared to dine,
Said, where is Death,he is past his time,
He knows our rule that we dine at Ten,
As he merely went to make Cowards of men

Then a stir was heard outside the gate,
Soon Death limped in to his Hall of State,
With broken scythe, his beard awry,
And terror that had shone from fear limned eye,

And the Devil roared with all his might,
What happened thou art in such a plight?
Hard felt the weight of some heavy hand,
That thou in such mortal terror stand.

Thy orders, said Death, were but show my face,
And they'd blanch, these men of inferior race,
But they hurled me forth, with my neck nigh out,
To the Devil with Death, I heard them shout.

So what manner of Mortal can these be,
Said the Devil to make such sport of thee,
As the old man tenderly smoothed his hide,
They're the men of 'Arnhem' sire he cried.

But you'll make them fear us, the Devil roared,
Ere again you sit and sup at board,
Then I sup no more, old Death replied,
For as I left them, they laughed and died.

Harvey Haywood

The second Poem here was recited during an after dinner speech given by Critstiaan Barnard (who performed the first heart transplant) when he was touring New Zealand in the 60's. My Mum who lived there back then, cut the poem out of the news paper the day after the speech, and posted it back to my Grandma in Warrington - they had believed it was anonymous, but a far quicker search turned up the poem and the author...

A Bag of Tools

Isn't it strange how princes and kings,

and clowns that caper in sawdust rings,

and common people,

like you and me,are builders for eternity?
Each is given a list of rules;

a shapeless mass; a bag of tools.

And each must fashion, ere life is flown,

A stumbling block, or a Stepping-Stone.

J L Sharpe

fascinating phalanges...

Sometimes my brain makes connections I had never thought about before, and then I can't remember why the connection was made!

Recently it put a connection together that perplexes me -namely my inability to do certain tasks WITHOUT looking at my fingers.

I know it probably down to practice in some cases - Piano and guitar have never been mastered because I have to stop every time I change a chord to make sure my fingers are in the right place. Hand sewing and knitting - I have to watch every stitch or I do make mistakes, and therefore find it hard to sit and watch TV while doing either of these - I need to listen to the radio more - I even have to watch my fingers while typing, something I spend hours doing everyday at work and at home, there is nothing more annoying than typing away for 5 minutes only to look at the screen and there is nothing there!

I recently went to the local 'Bowland Guild of spinners, weavers and Dyers' meeting and was talking to a lovely lady, we were both knitting, me - only when I could look at my hands, but this lady never looked at her knitting once - in fact, I watched her knitting more than she did with a kind of slack jawed amazement!
It's a good job I don't have to look at them while changing gear in the car!

So - to finish the first of my Easter bunnies, I sat in bed until lunch time on Sunday and watched as my hands did the work, with no distractions!

Mr Fig (or Mr Juicy as he prefers) keeps mocking me for making 'cosies', a hat is a head cosy, a scarf is a neck cosy, I have made cup cosies and phone cosies - well, you get the idea - so I had to grab a photo of natures very own wall cosy while we were in the Trough of Bowland last weekend!

The sun has been shining today, here are some of Mr Figs Chili crop from last autumn that have been drying in the window all winter, and below some gorgeous candy coloured roses Mr Fig treated me to as a 'not valentines flowers' gift
He's the real sweetie!

Sweet Spring Sunday Sunshine

Today has been a gloriously sunny, quiet spring Sunday.

Knitting and nattering with friends and family, the farmers market, a table top sale in the village hall and tonight we are all out to the local Indian Restaurant to celebrate Mum and Dad Ruby wedding.

Here are some sunny images of my WIP - eventually it will be a blanket - only another 95 squares to knit!

and all in the finest alpaca wool, so it should be super luxurious when it is finally completed

And below is my other current WIP - from Noro sock wool, a pair of long arm mits for Fig Jr.

It isn't the nicest of textures, a little rough for socks, but the colour changes are so juicy!

Now, if only I could just get to the end of a project!

knit and natter time again

It seams like forever since our first Whalley knit and natter meeting - well, it was last November - and that is a different year!

So, tomorrow is our second meeting, the first of 2010 and hopefully there will be some new faces with the 'old' ones.

My darling niece Maisy comes along, she is learning to knit, is really keen, and our youngest knitter so far - I hope we get loads of younger members eventually - there is something quite special about sharing traditional craft skills with future generations who will hopefully keep these things alive and pass them on in time.

Marrakech

Mr Fig and myself have just returned from a 4 day Holiday in Marrakesh, Morocco - Our first 'get away from England' since our honeymoon almost 7 years ago.

I had booked this trip about 6 months ago on a whim while passing a travel agents as it was very cheap - and it was some where I had always really wanted to go.

Above is the Jemaa El Fna as the sun sets and the Souk hot's up for the evening's revelry

and below is Mr Fig trying not to look like a tourist in the Artisan area of the city. Thankfully he didn't purchase this outfit!

below is a shot in the Jardin Majorelle, a wonderful oasis of calm in the middle of a manic city - but only in winter - in summer it is as mad as the rest of the city, apparently.

I just love the colours used in an 'Ochre' country, and ended up spending most of my spending money on natural pigments like Indigo, Ochre, Saffron, Turquoise to dye fabrics, wools and paints back home.

The whole trip was to help us unwind and relax - this is not the city to do that in! the four days have been a whirl wind of persistent sellers and shop keepers trying to extract every last Dirham from us, crazy traffic, lovely people, hot days and cold nights, Hashish sellers, sickly scabby donkeys and cats, Arabic and French, steep kerbs, mosques, money money money...
I managed to find some peace and quiet in the form of a sunbed by the pool at the Hotel, and Elizabeth Gaskels 'Cranford' while Mr Fig went off on little adventures alone, looking for a nice restaurant for supper, or walking up hills for a view of the city.

The contrast of the ancient city on the silk route with a book about the gentility of a group of English ladies in the 1850's was perfect, the kept me sane, made me smile and even made me cry with happiness.

We have been back 2 days now - and my head is still spinning - I fell asleep last night dreaming about the lightly battered, melt in the mouth Squid we ate at the night market, with the smell of spices and wood smoke in the air.

we came back poorer (I am incapable of bartering) but wiser, and it an experience I will never forget.

So, here is the view from our hotel window as I lay having my afternoon repose!

Back to blighty, back to earth, back to work, thank god the snow had gone!

2010 - the year of living thriftily

The very last day of 2009 - and Mr Fig's 41st Birthday!

(He has just informed me he would rather be known as Mr Juicy...)

It has been another strange old year, but it has all ended quite well and left me feeling quite positive about the next 12 months.

One thing I am very possitive about is how much more thrifty I am going to have to be - money has never been so tight as it is now, and with the Figlett hopefully setting of for University in September, I am going to have to do some serious figure crunching!

My intention is to blog my thriftyness as well as my craftiness (hand in hand really!) but as with all resolutions we will just have to see how long it lasts.

Today I am going to be visiting Martin Lewis's web site and doing what I have put off for too long now - the financial breakdown, and I can tell you now the outgoings will be higher than the incomings.

Anyway - to anyone reading have a HAPPY NEW YEAR - and for Mr Juicy - HAPPY BIRTHDAY xxx

The goose is getting fat!

well, perhaps the goose is getting fat, but I don't think I will be getting the goose! As much as I would love to try Goose and feel it is a much more traditional dish to England than Turkey 1. I can't get my mother to get one for Christmas - she is terrified it will ruin the day! and 2. I can't afford to get one to try myself!

I have failed to photograph life for a while now - even for my photography class!

this is the time of year to make cosy fires though, wrap up warm in blankets and knitted socks, and keep busy with knitting and hand sewing.

here is a Poem I first read in Country Living magazine about 15 years ago, and immediately copied it down for reference ever since - although most fires we light seam to fill the house with smoke and require all the windows and doors open, and a liberal application of optrex to ones eyes!

Wisdom of the ages
Author: Cilia Congrave 1930

Beechwood fires are bright and clear If the logs are kept a year,

Chestnut's only good they say,If for logs 'tis laid away.

Make a fire of Elder tree,Death within your house will be;

But ash new or ash old,Is fit for a queen with crown of gold.

Birch and fir logs burn too fast Blaze up bright and do not last,

it is by the Irish said Hawthorn bakes the sweetest bread.

Elm wood burns like churchyard mould,E'en the very flames are cold

But Ash green or Ash brown Is fit for a queen with golden crown.

Poplar gives a bitter smoke,Fills your eyes and makes you choke,

Apple wood will scent your room Pear wood smells like flowers in bloom

Oaken logs, if dry and old keep away the winter's cold

But Ash wet or Ash dry a king shall warm his slippers by.

Merry Christmas!

An Award? for little old me? THANK YOU!!!

I am so chuffed with my award from the lovely http://angleseyallsorts.blogspot.com/

Queen of the treasure haul!

Thankyou - though I don't feel I deserve it with my lack of bloggyness of late - even though I still always am thinking of what to write!

Apparantly I am supposed to blog about 6 things never revealed about myself before...which is REALLY hard to do!

(if you get chanse - go and read Anglesy Allsorts 6 things - I love the story about her Grandad and the house clearance!)

* When I was pregnant with my daughter, while still attending collage - I had parked on the car park which at that time was just waste ground. I suffered really badly with morning sickness, and had gone back to my car to go home only to find I had been blocked in on every side...

being sick and hormonal, I squeezed my car through between the others, scratching both sides of my car and the others!

I told my dad that was how I found it...sorry dad!

*I told my daughter that when the ice cream van plays it's chimes, it is because he has run out of ice cream...Sorry Taryn!

*I told my mum when I was very little, that the labrador broke the glass door that devided the kitchen from the dining room, but only locked from one side. and he did it because he knew I needed to get to the toilet while mum was outside speaking to a neighbor...sorry mum!

*I discovered the funniest way ever to get rid of cold caller - you know when the phone rings, you pick up and say hello, there is silence, then a click as the sales person connects to you - well (try this, I promise it is worth it) only say 'penguin' - every time they ask you anything, just say pengiun. see how many you can get in before they hang up, or you do because you can't help laughing - I got a 15 penguiner once - I hung up!

*When I am alone in my van - that doesn't have a sterio/radio - I sing at the top of my voice!

*When I was a child, my best freind's mum gave us a stair carpet to play with - we spent days in the garden rolling each other up in it - until one day when we managed to roll myself, my freinds sister and my freind into a giant child/carpet sausage roll, with our arms trapped in the carpet, my freind started to giggle, then wet herself - which soaked through all the layers of the carpet whetting myself and her sister through - we never let her forget it!

I am supposed to give this award to 6 others now - but I have been out of blog land so long, I need to do some catching up first!

soon

Kath

x

knit and natter in Whalley

Time is definitely speeding up - I was sure my last post was only about a week ago!

I have been taking small steps at work to make the whole experience less stressful - taking a demotion, doing less hours, and not getting too concerned with office politics. When it does get too much, I pop onto my favorite yarn web sites, and just look at the gorgeous colours!

My favorite event of the year is almost upon us - Harrogate Knitting and Stitching show - I have been going to this for years - it is a bit of a trek, but nowadays, it is Me, my mum, my daughter and our newest recruit, my niece Maisy - we book early, take a packed lunch, and SHOP!!!!! and even better, they always organise it right by my birthday, so now my relatives give me cash for the show. This year my mum is getting me the Dianna interchangeable needle set - Bliss! AND I have booked a whole week off after it to knit and sew.

Our little Village has been organising a farmers market on the last Sunday of the month for about 6 months now - it seams to have been a real success so far. It has been held on the car park of The Swan Hotel, where - I found out recently, my relatives were the longest serving landlords from 1870 - 1911 when it was still a coaching house, so mum and I had a word with the new landlady to see if we could start a knit and natter group there on the same day as the market - a sort of Sunday breakfast club. I am so excited - I really hope people turn up - I want to feel part of a community again like I did as a child!

So - hopefully if it goes well, I will be posting some photo's here, maybe even start a group blog or something! (I think a naked calender will be some time off yet though! hehehe)

Whalley
Knit and Natter
EVERYONE WELCOME
All ages, male or female, beginners or advanced!

Come and join us at
THE SWAN HOTEL
Whalley
For our first get together!
Sunday 29th November
10am – 12pm

No need to book – Just turn up!

A New Start?

After being sent home from work YET AGAIN suffering from stress - and realising how little I have put into looking after my own well being this year (I have yet to have a full week off work, and any time I have had off has been taken to do my other job) I have decided things definatly have to change around here!

As yet, I have no idea how this is going to occur, especially as mine is the only income in the house... but I feel that in writing this I am setting myself some king of affirmation/goal/challenge/something!

so, perhaps October 2009 could be the start of a whole new life - who knows...

The JuicyFig...

Photo madness!

Ah, so many things I do to keep my mind off the drudgery of my 9 - 5 job that is sapping my soul but keeping the wolves from the door.

I am really really enjoying my photography course at the moment (went through a dodgy part after Christmas where I fell out with the subject for a week or two, but back in full swing at the moment)
so - to bore the pants of y'all, here are some of my shots...

Ok, so I thought I better start with a still life of some of my vintage sylko pearl cottons... (black and white because they are vintage!)
what? me up at sunrise? well, I am in work early most mornings!

I love these little mushrooms, they look like they have been hiding.

My lovely Taryn looking all wistful

and here she is again - she was wearing a sheet, but I cropped it out. This is my favorite portrait photo.

Our new brief is 'self' and can be done in any medium - I have been thinking about printing photo's onto fabric, so would appreciate it if any of you out there know of any particularly good methods for this...

until next time!

Spring has sprung!

Our very ancient computer is heading towards the great computer graveyard in the council dump very soon, riddled with viruses and looking very sorry for itself...still not bad for a free bee almost 7 years ago - I wonder if computers are like dogs in the 'how many computer years are there in a human year?'

So, I am sitting at my desk at work, on a break!!! (ahem) updating my blog.

crafting has taken a temporary back seat, that isn't to say I haven't done any, finished a table cloth for mum, made myself a new apron, almost finished some socks etc...well you know! but have been concentrating on my Photography course work quite a bit - the last assignment has been portraiture, so will be posting a link to our class web site soon where all our work is handsomely displayed.

Ahh, the sun is shining, the weekend is imminent - 2 birthdays, and two mothers, and no money!!!

enjoy the spring-ness of this spring weekend!

Blue - I love you!

Ahhh, we might not have any 'proper' snow around here, but we have had some lovely sunny days, and since I quit working Mondays, weekends have a slightly more relaxed feel to them.

So - languishing is the key!

I knock on the floor when I awake, and hubby who has usually been up for hours already rushes and brews a fresh mug of coffee for me - ah, if only I could sit there all day tapping out instructions from the bedroom, imagining him scurrying around trying to make the house spic and span for when I finally drag my carcase out of bed!

I had been inspired to make some lavender scented sachets for the linen cupboard - well, actually they are going onto my new little Etsy shop - eventually when the computer decides to work properly (why doesn't it listen when I shout at it and bang the mouse up and down???)
Also. a new WIP for my Etsy shop - some children's socks made from a lovely vintage vogue knitting pattern

And then I noticed, how much of my weekend has been 'blue' - I wouldn't say I had a favorite colour, but looking around the house and my life spaces in general, I think I have a definite leaning towards all things blue, the colour of the sky, the sea, my eyes! it is a cold clean colour, fresh, bright...well it always makes me happy!

and my grape hyacinths flowered this week - the best 75p spent in a while!

February Snow

Can you believe it! this was taken in February 2008!

It is so cold! - February has arrived with snow and wind and left me shivering - however! my multi fuel fire is warming me twice as promised. Once chopping and gathering the wood - one again on the lighting, sitting of an evening with my feet stretched out on the foot stool, wearing my hand knit socks - knitted by my grandma about 20 years ago (and still looking like new!)

A good friend let me borrow his chain saw - I was like a wild woman this morning out in the backs, work bench set up, goggles on and safety gloved, I felt like waving the chain saw in the air and holing like a crazy wolf when I cut through my first log!

Not sure how the money saving is going - still haven't used the tumble drier once since Christmas, and the heating has been on very little - keep going round the house switching off anything on standby - we will see!

Taking life easy...

So - a couple of weeks into the new year and I am not a millionaire as yet with the frugality, and although I really can't tell a difference on my bank statements so far, I do believe I am feeling a load better in my soul!

I have not used my dryer once - I even managed to get a load of sheets pegged out and dried one day! - everything else is on grandma's trusty maiden.

The message is getting through to the rest of the household regarding switching off lights, not leaving the TV on standby etc

Yesterday I followed 'martins money tips' and purchased myself 10 low energy light bulbs for the grand TOTAL of 80p! how virtuous am I? ;~)

Not 1 single loaf of bread bought in 2009 - I am getting quite good at making a decent loaf now, and I am onto my 5th pair of socks - all knit from my stash.

I have decided not to moan about my job for the foreseeable future, and be glad it is there to pay the bills for now - and have decided that no longer shall I work to keep up a lifestyle I can never quite attain, but to get real pleasure from what I can do myself.

The door off our multi fuel fire is being mended, and SSB and I have been wood scavenging for free fires! (I can't believe I have spent a fortune in the past on bags of pre-cut kindling when nature blows the darn stuff off the tree's for me, all I have to do is bend down and pick it up!

Early potatoes planted into big pots in the pollytunnel, rhubarb patch on it's way to a new lease of life...phew!

So - to end, a quick photo from warmer days last summer, sitting by the river one Sunday morning with the latest WIP!

A frugal 2009

After a hard year in 2008 I am now determined to make the best of 2009 - no matter what it brings!

It hasn't exactly started how I hoped it would, after returning to work last Tuesday, and only being in the building for a few hours, I managed to put my back out and was whisked away in an ambulance, laughing heartily at my predicament with the help of many lung fulls of gas and air - I have been off all week walking around like a duck with constipation! on the bright side, this has saved me a fortune in petrol, and given me time to catch up on some knitting, plan out what gifts I am going to make for the many up coming birthdays, and to watch SSB run round after me!

Money is tighter than it has ever been this year, so my resolution is to live as frugally as I possibly can and get my finances back on track - and believe it or not, it is something I am relishing. Shopping lost its excitement for me a long time ago, (unless it is a fabric or wool shop) - so here are my first few frugal plans...

the first ones are because my current gas and electric bills for a small terraced house come to a staggering £170 per month!!!!!!

1. Use the dryer less! - I have already dug out the huge antique drying maiden from my Grandma's house, and this is now dominating the living room where we have the largest radiator.

2. use the kettle less - we are now utilising the camping kettle on the gas hob, boiling just the amount we need.

3. Planning my baking - so when I bake bread, we also have to have baked potatoes for tea, of lasagna etc etc so the oven gets used once and is full.

4. Baking my own bread - luckily I had everything in the store cupboard for about 20 loaves. the only thing I have had to get in extra is yeast so far - and if I lived closer to an asda I would even have popped in for free fresh yeast from the bakery.

5. On the way home from work, I pass an ALDI - this is where I will be doing more and more of my shopping for basics.

6. Kicking ass on the Allotment - we have neglected this so much in the past few years, so to make it a less daunting task, my brother will be taking one square, us another and we are making it into a fun competition type project - the first being to grow new potatoes in large tubs in the polytunnel, then we can tip them out and see who managed to get the most spuds!

7. utilising the myriad of books on self sufficiency and country living I have collected, instead of reading then and dreaming about that lifestyle.

8. collecting all the loose change I get, especially when cleaning up - down the back of the sofa etc - this is now in a huge jar in the kitchen with a picture of the new food mixer I am saving it all for as an incentive, and to stop anyone borrowing from it!

9. FREECYCLE - I love it! I have found all sorts and got rid of all sorts!

and finally - well, so far!

10. USING MY FABRIC AND WOOL STASH INSTEAD OF BUYING ANY MORE!

Top tip of the day...

from my country wisdom book...

to get rid of ring marks made by water on polished wood, mix some cigarette ash with olive oil, wipe on with the grain, leave for 30 minutes then buff up.

I have just put it on the top of my lovely treadle machine, and not much is happening yet...hehehe