Monday 23 October 2017

Unprepared!!


I came home from work today to find that there was a burst pipe just outside the house across the road.  My water was cut off this morning, after I left for work!

Luckily my neighbour (who retired early from teaching at 49!!!!) knew beforehand and filled up containers with water before it was cut off.  He kindly filled my kettle so I could cook dinner and have a cuppa!

But I'm annoyed at myself for being so unprepared.  I didn't have any bottled water for drinking or cooking.  I didn't have any hand sanitiser or wipes.  I don't have any rainwater collection systems in place (for flushing the loo) Just a few short years ago when I lived in a very rural area I was the Queen of Preparedness!  Every winter I'd get snowed in at some point, the water pipes froze, the power lines came down in windy weather and the telephone wires regularly came down willy nilly.  The road at the end of the lane got badly flooded a few times too.The nearest supermarket was 15 miles away so I was always prepared with supplies.  Plenty of food in the cupboard, bottled water in the garage, candles, gas stove etc etc

This weekend I ran out of toilet paper (I thought I had a pack in my cupboard) 😳 Today I had no water.  Both timely reminders to GET PREPARED!!

I might be living in suburbia but I could still have a power cut or have a burst pipe.  First of all I need to:

1.  Keep some bottles of water for emergencies in the garage (rotate regularly)
2.  Keep some hand santiser gel in stock
3.  Order a water butt ASAP!
4.  Get my wood pile sorted in case the electricity goes out.

Then I need to look at my general preparedness for any type of SHTF scenario that might happen in the future.


Years ago I read this book, it had some good ideas to get started.  Must look it out again to refresh my memory!

Saturday 21 October 2017

Saturday Meal Prep


Well, that was a quick week!!  Back to school and the new term is already in full swing.  Last weekend I didn't do any meal planning or prepping.  Every day this week I felt like I was wasting time making each meal individually as I needed it.  So, today I spent several hours using up what was in the fridge so I didn't waste a thing.


I made a rice crust quiche to use up a bowl of cooked rice, a wrinkly green pepper, an onion and some eggs near their use by date (!) That was my lunch today with some date and banana chutney I received as a gift.  And one portion left for a school lunch.


I've had a butternut squash lurking in the veg basket for a few weeks so I roasted it with some apples from my lovely mum's garden with a drizzle of honey and chilli flakes to make Butternut squash and apple soup.  TBH it didn't taste as amazing as it normally does but that's 4 work lunches sorted.


I saved some of the roasted butternut squash to recreate a quinoa salad I had on our break to London.  I'll report back on that!


I made a veggie (actually vegan now I think about it!) version of my Turkey Con Carne.  I substituted the turkey breast mince with 200g raw weight of green lentils and 100g red lentils.


It was absolutely amazing!  Maybe even better than the meat version!!


It made 6 generous portions plus a taste test sample 😋 I'll need to test it's freezability but I think this could become a firm favourite especially as I've just worked out each portion cost around 20p!!!! Healthy and cheap 👍


During the summer I bought a tofu press.  It cost me £2.  Today was the first time I tried it.  So much liquid came out!


I just shallow fried it with a little salt and pepper.  I tasted a few pieces (yummy!) and put the rest in the fridge.

I've also got leftover chicken from tonight (OH wasn't feeling great so didn't eat much) and some more rice so I have the fixings for a few stir fries and salady type meals.

I've got a chicken breast and 3 salmon fillets plus tons of veggies in the freezer so it'll be a use it up week of eating as I'm trying to avoid going to the supermarket.  Saving time and money (I hope!)

Saturday 14 October 2017

London baby!

 

OH, The Teenogre and I had a short 3 night break in London.  We packed so much in that I'm exhausted!  We did some of the well known tourist stuff and some less known.


We visited The British Boot Company in Camden because OH needed a new pair of black DMs.  He bought me a pair too!! Lovely purple ones as an early Christmas present.  These iconic British boots are made in England (although you can buy a cheaper version made in China) and cost a lot more than the ones on their website!!  It's a family company started by the current owner's grandfather and is a treasure trove of proper shoes and boots.  I love that we supported a small business with a traditional product made in England. And they should last at least 10 years if looked after properly!


We went on The London Eye 


The view at the top 


We went to London Zoo. The lions were sound asleep.  The tigers were sound asleep.


I wanted to see a show.  The boys don't like musicals (boo!) so we compromised on The Mousetrap. It was brilliant!


We travelled to Greenwich and visited The Cutty Sark, went to The Royal Observatory and National Maritime museums.

We also did the V&A museum, Natural History Museum and popped into Harrods as we were in the neighbourhood.

Some museums are free but most of the big attractions cost an arm and a leg!  And eating out is costly too for 3 adults.  Breakfast was included in our room rate (we stayed at a Hilton as I get a Friends and Family rate) so we ate a hearty breakfast, had a light snack for lunch and then ate out for our evening meal.

As lovely as it is to spend time with OH away from our daily normal routine, it is good to get back home.  OH spent the afternoon sanding the walls (again!!) in my living room and adding new skirting boards.  Hopefully I'll get more paint on it all tomorrow!

Sunday 8 October 2017

Before and after


Before 


After 


Before 


After

OH has spent aaaages filling and sanding all the holes in the walls, gaps in the skirting and fixing a damp patch.  I did all the painting.  It's starting to look good but boy am I exhausted!  

I've used 2 tins of the leftover unopened paint I had in the garage and don't think I'll need to buy any more.  I've still got plenty of white Satinwood for the skirting so don't need to buy that.  

I've got a quote for carpet (way too much!!) so need to do more work on that this week.

I'm on holiday now for a week so I'm hoping to get most of the graft done then I can concentrate on the nice bits (curtains, cushions, light switches, sockets, pictures)