Year: 2022

Continuing with our low spend year challenge today I am talking all things food! Of course I am in a very lucky position in that I can grow so much of my own…..but on top of that I’m sharing some ideas for reducing our grocery bills. I am sure you will have some great ideas too so please feel free to share them with each other in the comments section below. Plus an update on my savings goal.

I feel like I have neglected the garden for too long this winter so it’s high time I got on with giving it some care and love…….but I will be going very slowly and giving myself some care at the same time. As I tend the garden it will tend me. Today includes a bit on onion sets, gardening gloves, some harvesting and lifting/dividing the Tree Lily.

Over the last couple of weeks I haven’t done much beside reading (how glorious it has been!)……so today’s chat is full of books and a wee bit of other stuff. I loved all these books in different ways……except one of them……which I loathed so much I nearly threw it across the room!

I’m gently getting back on with things and, having not done a tour of the garden for a couple of months, I thought this the best place to start. It will give me a good idea of the work that lies ahead.

I’m home again and here again after an unexpected absence when I ended up in hospital. I’m fine…if a little slow!

Today’s chat has a few books in it….but it’s about much more than simply reviewing them. It’s about the thoughts and memories they provoke….my own stories, if you like. Boxing day walks (I hate them!), the joy of being outdoors….. Towards the end of the video is one of my memories from my bookshop days……truly the most wonderful and special chance encounter…..a brief moment in my life which I will keep forever.

A quick update about our Low Spend Year challenge. Thank you so much for your great response….and for coming on board. I, too, am challenging myself, despite nearly five years of ultra low spending! Today’s video is a quick update on what I’ve managed this month but also, and mainly, about the ‘topics’ up for discussion in the coming months. If there’s a topic you think I’ve missed that we could do with chatting about please let me know in the comments below. Good luck and good saving everyone!

Hurray for simple pleasures! A parcel, an interaction, some fabric and a super cheap and cheerful fix at home. During the winter I spend more time at home……so it’s lovely to make my home comfortable and cosy…….all on a tight budget of course.

Unfortunately I haven’t been able to get back to the garden since the middle of last week when I sowed my peas….I’m still feeling really under the weather. So…..I thought I’d slip this little one in today for a bit of greenery and a bit of fun. It is taken from a video I made at the end of 2019….and still my favourite bit of editing ever….despite how tricky it was. Hahaha…I think there were over 20 frame tempo changes plus myriad little cuts to make it fit the music. The music is Ofenbach’s ‘Orphee aux Enfers’……those of you who know it will enjoy the denouement…..those of you who think you don’t know it almost certainly will by the end! Some of you will have seen it already….but I know there are quite a few who have joined the Chanel since then who won’t have…..I really hope you enjoy it while I concentrate on recuperating. Ps…..big screen and music up full!

Hurrah! Today I am sowing my first seeds for a whole new growing year. Today it’s the peas and sweet peas…….and…..onions from seeds, rather than sets. I have never grown onions from seed before so I am a total beginner again! It’s fun to try something new…..and always great to learn. The beautiful garden birds serenaded my efforts…..what a glorious start to a new growing year.