In this instance the pot I am refering to is the financial one. We here at Little Winter have had a very expensive past twelve months or so building our extension and it's not all completed yet. Adding to that I was off work for three months last year with Long Covid, and am currently nursing some torn intercostal muscles. Strings and belts needed to be tightened. These are some of the ways I am trying to do so...
Firstly and most obviously turning off all applicances and gadgets at the wall when they aren't in use instead of leaving them on standby is easy when you get used to it.
Secondly...that lovely dishwasher that you reckon saves you loads of time, and many will tell you is more economical than washing dishes by hand...well it uses electricity, and dishwasher tablets aren't cheap to buy either. Needless to say I have been washing up in an enamel bowl in the sink followed by a cold rinse and either wiping dry or laying on the hot plate cover pads on the Aga. Hot water either comes from the tap, or if I'm being ultra good the kettle on the woodburner, or sometimes I put a pot of water in the Aga warming oven. And the saving time bit...I really haven't noticed that I'm not saving time. A quick soak usually leaves the dishes easy to clean and they're done in no time...but only if you are prepared to keep on top of them! Water wise, well I certainly don't want to waste any, however we are unable to have a meter installed and so pay a reduced assessed charge based on household numbers.
Laundry. Having watched the Living Simply programme...knowing the place that they lived as it's reasonably local to us we were rather interested...I began to wonder what exactly my large, recently leaking lump of metal really did to earn it's keep and found out that 90 percent of the energy is used heating the water...water that my machine and many others insist goes in cold...humphhh...I noticed that it swishes the drum one way, and swishes the drum the other way...all whilst heating the water...from cold to whatever I choose on the dial. It drains, rinses and spins...So I thought...I appear to have a couple of reasonably large red bins kicking around doing nothing...many moons ago they were used to store flour, but I try not to buy in bulk any more. Well my routine is...a little, and I mean a little washing powder goes in with some cold water...In goes the washing...not too much, and sorted into coloured, hot etc. next I take a trusty old very long handled spoon and poke the whole lot under the water...the bin is in the sink. When the washing has had a nice long soak and just before bed I use water from the woodburner kettle to heat up the laundry water to my desired temperature. Another good poke and it's off to bed. In the morning a quick swish around and I can easily tip most of the water down the sink. What is left I take to the washer and load up. Pop it on a cold wash with a little more detergent. All laundry gets line dried, then aired on our recently purchased and installed ceiling airer which hangs in front of the Aga. Likewise if the weather is not condusive to outdoor drying. I have unplugged the tumble dryer. Many days I do a single wash, but on bedding day especially I do repeat the process earlier in the day. Everything looks good so far. Having a back in a less than tip top condition at the moment encourages me to lift things correctly, not lift too much in one go, and pace myself. All this considered I have still managed to cope, and it's better for a poorly back than sitting down. One thing that goes straight in on a hot wash though is hubbys' boilersuit. Not feeling that brave just yet. They even have their own washing machine in the shed.
Heating...as we have recently built a new extension we were obviously required to insulate it to building regulation standards...this means that a little heating lasts a long time. We run a combi oil boiler which is around six years old. Long may it serve us well please. We only have radiators upstairs. I have set up the timer for various different temperatures throughout the day and night...The lowest I have set the thermostat at any time day or night is 13 degrees, and the hightest temperature is set to 19 degrees, but to be honest I think it only turns on once or twice a day for a few minutes if that. I know lots of people valiantly turn off their heating completely when they're not at home, however ours is an old cottage whose walls are designed to breathe...it likes to be kept at a more regular temperature to take care of it and stop it doing nasty things such as sweat. Also, and you'll have to trust me on this, if the place does get cold it takes days to fully warm up again.
Food...good wholesome homemade is best obviously. I do my best, though sometimes I get a request for fishfingers, chips and baked beans. I consider this not cooking per se, even though I make our own chips, I can't claim to have done anything more to the fish fingers and beans than heat them through. A great favourite of ours is cottage pie. Roast whatever and a good pan of stew are up there too. Bread is from the breadmaker, mostly I make the dough in the machine, then form rolls. Cakes and sweet treats are made. At the moment I'm being bad and buying biscuits, our homemade ones vanish just too quickly but I may go back to making them again soon. Our freezers are packed with frozen tomatoes, swede, leeks, cucumber, and soft fruits which I didn't get round to peserving in jars. It's a shame it hasn't snowed in a big way because I feel that may be the only way we really tuck into our store of frozen foods. We are down to our last few onions, many rotted this Winter which has been a big disappointment. I have plenty of leeks though, so am going to have to do some surreptitous substituting.
Clothing...well if you could see the state of our undies you'd know...you'd just know that not a lot has been spent in that department. Photo evidence will not be provided! Other clothing purchases ae put on hold. I am at a weight I do not wish to be at, however for various reasons and excuses it has not yet left my body. I hope as I continue to be more physically hands on with the housework some may just melt away. I can dream anyway. If I do lose the weight I already have plenty of lovely things to wear. Hubby obviously needs half decent boilersuits, however he dresses like a tramp underneath them!
This post hasn't covered everything by a long way...but it is a start...
Flowers were a gift from eldest for Mothering Sunday. Wilbur checking for scent!
Blessings, J. x
