18 Days into the NEW Year already..

 Hello everyone how are you all?

It is freezing outside..Brass Monkeys have nothing on this..brrr!!

How is everyone doing?

Looks like it's going to be a long year for us all. Money is getting ever tighter and shrinking household budgets for all i think.

Our local council has already put out a warning that our Rent is going up by 7% and Council Tax by 5%..i wouldn't mind if we got something extra for it but we will get the same service. Also the garden waste collection service charge is going up..we normally have 2 bins collected but we are cutting it down to just one.

Since just before the end of Summer we have been composting like mad and our aim this year is to try and do all our own compost rather than buying the huge bags which i have a nasty feeling will rocket in price.

Its so encouraging to see and read that more and more people are now turning to growing their own rather than buy it..such a shame a recession had to make people do this but i am hopeful that people will love it and keep it up.

We have bought 2 new panes of glass for our greenhouse which cost £19.80 ..£9.90 a pane..carried them home with extra care..the greenhouse is now watertight and wind proof at last.

Hubby spent sometime on the internet working out how much is will cost to run our soil warming cable..70p a week, that is if it is on constantly. Its on a thermostat so will switch off when it hits the correct temperature and come on again when it needs too..we need the soil warm to start off our little seeds. Our Seed Potatoes arrived so they are all present and correct. We did order some extra bags as we have 2 bags left from the harvest last year to see us through til the New Potatoes come in.

We were absolutely gobsmacked with the delivery and i am sure the messed up but it was to our advantage. Placed the order on a Monday and delivery was a week away..not too bad. The doorbell rang the next morning and there was our delivery man with all our Potatoes. We didn't pay for next day delivery just the normal. They are all now quietly sitting in boxes in my main Pantry waiting for their time to chit and then be planted. 

At this moment in time i think just about everyone apart from the rich, is watching every penny .

I know we are..i almost fainted last week at the Chemist..my hubby has an eye infection(both eyes)..had a quick internet consult with the Doctor who told him to get Anti-biotic eye drops from the chemist. So off i went to get them..she picked up a packet for £14.99. Now as much as i love my husband i honestly almost said Nope. Thankfully she went in the back and another person sent out some that are just as good and contain Anti-biotic for half the price. These are working for him.

Jack dog went for his grooming and the price has gone  up by £3..if he would sit still i would have a go myself. As it is he thinks i am playing and i would not want to hurt him so off he goes for a day. He has got an irritated Ear which required Anti biotic drops so  more money paid out.

Before Christmas we invested in some Thermal Door curtains for between the kitchen and dining room.

They are awesome and you can definitely feel the difference so when we have the heating on it stays in the dining room and living room. Worth the money . We had the rail and hubby put up the wood and i painted it. The effect was immediate . We were going to use some old floor length curtains but unfortunately they were too heavy for the rail itself and it started to come away from the wood. These will be taken down in the Summer and then put back up again in Winter. The dog plays peek a boo with us and watches from a tiny gap when i am cooking. you know just in case i drop something😀 that he might be able to help me with by eating it.

18 days in and we have had to pay out a bit but we are hoping that it stops and fingers crossed the madness of price rises and expensive electric and gas will stop and life can get back to normal or is this going to be the new normal?

Take care all

FTM🌼