Just a Little More of The Birdies...

Hello there ...

 thank you for all the comments and general interest in the last blog ... its nice to know I'm not just talking to myself ...

 

I just thought you might like to see the rest of the Corvine pic's.

Thanks to Manic Mosaics ... I didn't know they use to use cyanide in taxidermy .... this little collection is fairly modern .. bought in recent years at Game Fairs. However we have had a number of pieces of Victorian taxidermy .. I will be extra careful when handling them in future. 

One for sorrow ... two for joy .... three for a girl ... and four for a boy ... five for silver .. six for gold .. and seven for a secret never to be told ...

You know I still sing this to myself whenever a see a group of Magpies .... forever the little girl!  

 

 A Train of Jackdaws ... I wonder why a Train?

And a Murder of Crows ... ?

Well ... lets hope we can find new homes for them.

The Squirrel Family asked about the bunny moulds .... they were just cheap and cheerful buys from good old eBay.... I think you can get almost anything from eBay these days ... maybe its just too easy and we are guilty of not trying hard enough to support our local shops.

I promise to try harder with the shopping thing ... although in this neck of the woods it would be hard to find small independent shops selling such things as bunny moulds... ahh ...such is life 

... never easy.

Enough waffle from me ...x

Celebrating the Everyday ... With An Eye to Thriftyness ... Of Course!

Hello there ....

 just a little catch up and a few pic's of today's doings.

I have read a couple of Blogs in the last few days that have left me a bit ... well ... surprised and rather confused.

The blogs were ones I read on a regular basis and I thoroughly enjoy sharing the ups and downs of peoples lives ...

What surprised me and confused me were comments left by some rather unpleasant individuals who said the blogs were boring/mundane because they were about everyday life. 

The girls talked of their daily tasks and challenges ... something we all have... and a lot of which we all have in common.

I'm confused because why oh why choose to read if you think we are boring ... we talk of life ..

So here we are again ... and tonight I chose to celebrate the boring and mundane ... the everyday life ... of Me.

This is my day...   

 

 I fancied something a bit fruity this morning ... the fruit bowl was sadly lacking ....

 So I rootled through the 'tins' cupboard... and following 

Meanqueens  advice blitzed a couple of cheap as chips tins ... of Approved Foods Manderin Segments in Juice.

Lovely ...  thick tasty orange juice.

Its that time of year again ... well almost ...

so I had bought in a few bars of 'well priced chocolate'  Lidl's best ... ready for the Easter Bunny. 

A few years ago I invested in some basic chocolate moulds ... some Easter Bunnies and some Christmas thingies.

I find this a nice task ... making little sweet treats for family and  friends ... and its become a bit of a traditional thing within the family ... along with the Christmas stockings.

And it works out a little cheaper than spending on all those chocolate eggs where the majority of the product is the cardboard packaging.

(Yes ..I know ... we are 'Special' here ...we do believe in Fluffy White Easter Trains!) ...who do you think brings the Easter Bunny ... he can't hop all that way!   

A little bit of sewing on the Make Do and Mend front .... a friends perfectly good skirt .... just a bit too long ...so she hadn't worn it too often ... so I chopped off a couple of inches. Lets hope it sunshine's this summer and she gets a chance to wear it.

And for Hubby P ...

 Hard working and busy as ever ...

a hearty ... rib sticking Shepherds Pie ...(with no hidden vegetables!)

   

And for me .... nice fresh cabbage to go with it.

Just had to show you these ... you may love them .. or hate the idea of them ....

but non the less they have arrived in a box of stock to be sold ...

something different to say the least. 

 

Taxidermy at its finest ... they are very well done ....

four birds of the Corvine family.

A Rook ...a Crow .. a Jackdaw and a Magpie..

So ... a Murder of Crows ...

A ? of Jackdaws ... a ? of Magpie's....

and of Rook's

One of you out there must know .... 

~~~ and that's my day  ~~

x

The March Wind Doth Blow .... And Thrifty Meat Deals...

Hello there ... 

and yes we had some snow ...

 and bitterly cold it was too ...

but not to worry its sun shining today and a tad warmer..

The Daffs are out in full splendour and their happy faces make me smile ... just love these little biddy ones.

  

I planted some in Will's old work boots ...

 they remind me of him ...

he works a long.. long.. way away from home these days ... 

I like to remember the early days ... 

when he first started work and he would return home bringing the smell of the woods home on his boots (Will is a woodsman)... nice days.

You might say I have a thing about boots ...

I always save the boots .. 

and 'plant' them around the garden.

Remember my pink boots ... I'm almost blending into the garden ... like I said ... 

I like a nice boot...

and every Girl needs a splash of pink!

I haven't done much to day ... 

but I did go shopping ... 

and went to 'suss out' a fairly new local meat outlet place.

What a good place ... very reasonable prices for good old fashioned cuts of meat. 

I got all this and a load of meat and bones for the dogs for £21.

And a lot of the produce seemed to be born reared and slaughtered in the UK.

Just look at this ... neck chops ... I haven't been able to find this cut for years ... ideal for Hubby P's hotpot.

I bought two trays of these neck chops and two trays of cheap lamb breast ... the lamb breast I diced up into bits and I put a couple of neck chops in a bag with a handful of diced bits.

 That's enough for a hotpot ...

 I had seven bags ... seven hotpots ( 14 portions) for £7 .... 50p a head.

Not too bad for a wonderfully warm and tasty meal.

I also bought two pork hocks, pack of bacon bits, six black puddings and something called Bucco Beef? any idea what cut this might be ... it has a bit of bone in it so I guess it needs long slow cooking ... and I'm hoping it will be really tasty.

The place had lots of interesting cuts and reasonably priced fish ... so I will have a save up and have a another visit there.

So .... Black Pudding for tea ... wonder how they will compare to the Lancashire Black Puddings ?

I grew up on the Lancashire puddings .. I have a soft spot for them.  

The hours I've spent standing in the draughty market hall eating steaming hot puddings... with a dab of mustard. 

Quality Girls ... us Lancashire Lasses!

A few more Daffs in the  front garden of the cottage .... poor things have been a beaten down with the weather .. still they nod their pretty heads...

xx

Pretty Pic's and Thrifty Cheese..

Hello there ...

hope all is hunky dorey in your world.

Just a few pretty pic's today ... little things that make me smile. 

 I potted up these little beauties in mis matched china ..I glued the cups to the saucers for more stability..

 I have them dotted about the house ... spreading their loveliness..

Absolutely bursting with the promise of Spring .. and zinging with life in the sunshine!

 

And we have had lots off it ... lovely .. fresh ...sparkley days ... days with a promise in the air..

 Another pretty.

I'm hoping we have an early Spring ... my Broad Beans are coming on in leaps and bounds and will want planting out soon the way they are going. 

 This weeks Thrifty Buy ...

 

 I managed to buy this from the butcher van for £10 ...

 2.38 kg for £10.

Cheese is expensive and I do always look for the ones 'on offer'...

but saying that some are a bit bland and rubbery and I end up using twice as much to get some flavour into a dish.

So this was a bit of a gamble ... but it seems to have paid off ... its nice and strong...and suitably 'cheese-y'

I cut it into usable lumps  ... put a couple in the fridge and the rest in the freezer. The trick is .. as with anything you have lots of ...is not to eat it 'as if there is no tomorrow' ...just because there is lots.

No saving then.

Although it does mean an girl has to expand her cheese-y type dishes ..

.. and not let Hubby P just eat it all on his digestive biscuits. 

Mind you ... bread and cheese ... with a bit of chutney ... 

is there a tastier meal ...

so rustic .. its got to be healthy!

Help me out here folks .... how am I to eat my way through all this cheese? Any .. not too complicated ... cheese-y dishes you have found super tasty?

xx