Shopping local, shopping fresh

I try to shop locally when I can

We're lucky in that we still have an independent baker and a butcher in walking distance. We have a market on Friday, and while there's the usual market stuff, and "M&S seconds", there's a really good fruit and veg stall, a cake stall, a fishmongers van, and a butchers van. So, if I'm around ans about on a Friday, that's where I head to.

A couple of miles in the opposite direction, and there's an indendent greengrocers, a butchers, and a fishmonger. Most people aren't that lucky and have to shop in supermarkets.  

Now, while there's no doubt that supermarkets have buying power, and you can get things on offer, and really cheaply, it's been the death of little shops which can't compete on price.  There's also a question of quality, and while the supermarkets have quality control I often find that produce bought in supermarkets doesn't last very long.

That's not a problem, if you've a large family, and use things quickly; but there are only two of us, and I'm away for part of most weeks. If I'm not there, J may use frozen veg, but it's highly unlikely that he'll bother peeling carrots!

From my local shops I can buy just what I need, in the knowledge that anything left over will still be fresh a couple of weeks later.

And, conversely, if I buy bread from the bakery, I need to use it: it's got no preservatives, so has to be eaten fresh. Being honest, nothing lasts that long as it's so tasty.

I also buy from a farm shop occasionally. Mainly because, living in a city, we don't have that many, so it means either a special journey, or being around on the days when they deliver.

But,it's worth the extra money for less waste.  The week before Christmas I bought some local potatoes from the farm shop, and forgot to put them in the hessian bag, leaving them in their box.  But look!

The remaining half dozen are ready to be used.

And the penny dropped....

I often take small sewing projects on my travels with me.  Now as I'm driving, I can't really 'sew on the go', I'm fairly certain it would be dangerous.  But I work out where I'm going to be, how much time I'm likely to have, and pack a few things, sometimes little felt owls, sometimes embroidery, some patchwork, depending on my mood.

Up to now, I've used this cheap little plastic wallet I picked up a couple of years ago

Now it 'owes me nothing' as my Dad would have said, and even though the zipper broke a while ago I've continued to use it.  But occasionally, very occasionally, everything falls out. So I've been looking round for a replacement, and although I've seen a few, they've been more expensive than I'd like. 

And then I had a 'Eureka!' moment. Watching a craft programme on telly, and thinking "why would someone pay £15 for a bag you can make for coppers", and realising that I could in fact make a bag.

I own a sewing machine, and I have a stash of material

So, I found some material, left over from making cushions for the dining room chairs, worked out that it needed to be the same width, plus about an inch. Decided how long the material needed to be, about twice the size, plus a bit for a fold over.

Used some cheap lining material and wadding, cut to the same size

And ten minutes on the sewing machine later

Of course, it's not perfect. I could have actually measured properly, rather than guesswork, and accurate seam allowances would have helped, but hey, who's going to see it? Its just big enough to hold a few small sewing projects, plus scissors, thimble etc.

And of course, I can put it into the little tote bag that I made a couple of weeks ago.

I made the bag out of calico. Forgot to take a photo of that bit!

Cut out some flowers

Appliquéd them on to bag, and embroidered the stems

and hey presto

a unique bag

Blogging, budgeteering and bread making

There are plenty of blogs giving budget advice; plenty too about frugal lifestyles. This isn't one of them, but I've been doing some reading, and to be honest, some of the latter really, really wind me up.

Everybody is different. Their motivation for spending, or not, and what they choose to spend their money on is personal to them. Budget advice can only go so far, as ultimately, it's about choice.  So, for example, I could cut £50 from my budget by moving broadband supplier, dropping some channels from the package etc. but I choose not to, because "it doesn't suit me". Fortunately I'm not in a financial position where it matters a great deal, but to read some blogs, you'd think it was treason not to cut every single penny possible.

On the other hand, I don't smoke, rarely drink, so there are areas where I don't spend at all.  There are also areas where I've absolutely no idea where the money goes.  It's the couple of quid here and there that add up, the "oh I'll just pick this up whole I'm here" and the things that get chucked in the freezer the day before they go out of date, as I'm working away and won't be able to use them. And then of course, there are bits of material that I just can't resist....

These are the areas I need to focus on, so with that in mind, I've decided that the best way for me is to back to using cash.  

At the beginning of each month, I estimate my food shopping, but as that also includes cleaning products, toiletries and personal spending, it can be a bit hit and miss.  

So on 1st February I've drawn out £80. This bears no relation whatsoever to any budget, but prior to that the amount in the account had been £x80.74, so after 'sweeping' the 74p into savings, I've got a perfect round amount in the bank.  It works for me!

So now the game is to see how long it lasts.  I've shopped locally, went to the greengrocers and just got what I needed, and so far, have spent £17.65.

And the bread making? I'm not absolutely convinced that its cheaper than buying it, after all, I can go to the local M&S on a Sunday afternoon and buy bread for 10p a loaf, and put it in the freezer. But there is something immensely satisfying about kneading dough. I've got a bread maker, which I use often, but it only has a small pan, so lately, I've been making the dough in the bread maker, and then finishing it off by hand, which seems to be more reliable. Apparently, you're not meant to keep peeking to check that the bread has worked, but the disappointment, when yet another loaf fails to meet expectations makes for a certain amount of frustration. Being able to see it rise in a bowl takes the guesswork out of it, and you can then at least chuck it before it's cooked.

Random Mutterings again

I like to try and catch up on various blogs, I'm not as good as I should be, but sometimes something will catch my eye, and before I know it, I've gone off on somewhat of a tangent.

That's what happened today.  I was doing some sewing, or at least, attempting to do some sewing; but the pattern and the instructions defeated me.  So I wandered round a couple of forums and put some random words into Google. It's just amazing where you get to.....

Looking for help with my pattern, I found this link which is someone making one Christmas item per month. Which made me think of planning for next year.

I like to make presents at Christmas, not for everybody; 21 year old nephews aren't that fond of sewn or knitted items.  But sometimes I put too much pressure on myself. Who cares if its a perfect Christmas?

Doing some more reading I caught up on Jenni and in some random musings about Christmas, was exactly the same sentiment.  She'd found it a far more relaxing time without the pressure to make everything, and there was time to be more thoughtful about things.

There was also a conversation on a forum about feeling the need to photograph everything, but is it necessary to have photos? Or at least photos as illustrations.  Sometimes you just want to say something.

So,the plan is to start now!  In January. And get a stash of items that can be used throughout the year

Up to now, I've made this

..and a few of these ( but they've all been given away)

Some crafty makes over Christmas

Well, December came and went.

Christmas came and went, as did New Year, and it's back to work.

Last week I was off to Cornwall so took some felt with me, not much, but enough to work on this little guy.

I didn't have much room as the hotel room didn't have a desk, or a decent light. Looking at him now, I think he looks a bit squiffy, the result of finishing off the wine in the fridge maybe.

But I was quite busy over Christmas.

I made quite a few gifts and remembered to take a photo of them,but my a favourite  thing is the owl cushion. It's another Corinne Lapierre item, the felt is so soft.

He started as a gift, but I decided I couldn't let him go. He can't actually fly, obviously, but has now travelled a good few hundred miles with me, accompanied by the original patchowl.

They're going to have some adventures together, next week they're off to Newbury for training (if I remember to take them,as I'm not in my own car) but here they are sat in the back seat before setting off for Derby.

Secret Santa

As may be gathered from previous posts, I'm a fan of crafty things and follow a few blogs etc from crafty people. I'm in constant awe of the skills of people.

One of the people I follow is Corinne Lapierre, who makes lovely designs in felt.  This year she organised a Secret Santa on her Facebook page, the rules being that the item must cost around £2, be small enough to post, and be hand made.

I was full of ideas, and then the names were drawn, I got Corinne! What do you send to someone who designs in felt?

Well, not felt, was what I decided, and I also decided to hand sew, and eventually picked something from Debbie Shore's Half Yard Heaven book. A cover for handy wipes.

First, get your wipes.

Cut your material to size, wrap the material round the wipes, and allow an extra inch

Edge the shorter sides with bias tape.  The instructions are to add a ribbon, but I decided to add a couple of buttons, and wrap ribbon round them

Fold the bound ends to meet in the middle, and sew across the the short ends.

As she's now received it, here's a picture of the finished item, together with a card.

More little hand sewn things - first attempt

Pretty little hearts.

I posted this on Facebook a couple of weeks ago, but never did anything else with the material, but today I've cut some more out, ready to take with me next week.

I've often struggled to cut out a heart shape, until the glaringly obvious struck me; its a couple of circles and a triangle.

Armed with that knowledge, I made a heart template.  Get a piece of card, and fold it, on the fold, get something circular to draw round (lid or something similar) and the draw a straight line from the circle, down to the fold.  Cut it out, and voila! A heart!

Use this as a template for material, cut out 2 identical pieces. Stitch them right sides together, leaving a small gap for stuffing. Stuff and then close up the gap. 

Make more in different sizes, join the top of one to the bottom of another. Use buttons, ribbons and other embellishments to hide any joins. Attach a ribbon to the top.

The smaller one of these has some dried lavender as well as toy stuffing.