Clear and clean up
I’m exhausted. Our messy cottage had turned into a series of piles with a warren of little passages that led to the bathroom, bedrooms and kitchen. So many things had been lost. The avalanches were a daily hazard. It was depressing and somewhat akin to a bijou cottage version of Miss Havisham’s house in Dicken’s Great Expectations. Something had to be done. And when my friend Jean offered to help, I jumped at the chance and wondered whether the friendship would survive such a choppy and shark infested sea. Jean’s mantra is “Put...
read moreThank you for your support!
I want to thank everyone who read and made a comment on my Twist wrench and grab post – and any other post too as we really appreciate your comments. I really value your support. Living such an isolated life it’s easy to get overwhelmed by a mini disaster. As you say, it wasn’t the loss of the money and the cash box that hurt. It was the breakdown of trust. Tamara pointed me in the direction of an inspirational post on Huntergathercook which is well worth a read and calmed me down considerably. My mind is racing with all your...
read moreTwist wrench and grab
Considering that the gateside stand has been up and running for nearly nine months now, thefts from the stand have been low. When they do happen it’s a shock. I spot that we have sold something and my heart lifts but when I open the cash box it is empty. Before the school holidays began some teenage boys on bikes started nicking stuff. As profits are quite low, this was depressing. But I scotched their game by working in the front garden around that time that they passed each day. They knew that I knew. After a while they just stared...
read moreFour years old today: Happy Birthday Cottage Smallholder
When I was four, I remember going to a fancy dress party dressed as a fairy. I had a wand and glittery shoes and presumably dinky wings. A tiny part of me secretly hoped that by dressing the part I might feel what it’s actually like to be a real fairy and possibly even to be able instantly to cast spells. But as I clattered down the road in my new shoes I seemed so human and clumpy and the wand remained just a sparkly star stuck on a stick. When I sat down on a cold wet August day in 2006 and wrote the first post of this blog, I can’t...
read moreR.I.P. Alfonso and Massimo. Could you eat your own chickens?
Since we got the letter from our neighbour we have been dithering about how to deal with our cockerels. As in all small communities, other neighbours have come forward to say that they liked the sound of the cockerels. We considered rehousing them but they would have to stay together as they were such close chums, looking out for each other and chatting in a cockerelish sort of way when they found something tasty to eat. No rehousing project coud promise this as most peoplewho welcome a cockerel just want the one stud. We tried, but nobody...
read moreDead fish stink
The only time that I can remember that Danny was really angry with me in the past was when I left a large sack of sand and cement in his car. When he had to make an emergency stop there were disastrous consequences. As you know from tales about Jalopy I view vehicles as moving storage devices. Jalopy still holds the complete decorators kit from spare rollers, to plastic wood and window putty. If you have time and patience you will find everything that you need for hanging and trimming wallpaper and even those insulated mugs that will keep a...
read moreA grand day out
“I wonder whether I’ll order crab or something else.” I secretly mused as we pottered along in Seraphina’s little black car. The plan was a leisurely drive to Butley’s Oysterage in Orford. A bit of a culinary blow out and then home. Incidentally, the odious Len has a holiday house in Orford. This adds a certain frissance to a trip to the village. But a visit to Butleys was not to be. We found that we were on the wrong road. “Where does it lead to?” I checked the map. “Hunstanton.” “Let’s go to Old Hunstanton. They are...
read moreThis past year
Three years ago when I explained my first “save money blog challenge” to my mum – not to buy cut flowers for a year – her response was immediate. “But this is terrible. You love flowers. Why would you want to stop buying them?” This was the toughest challenge. Far harder than cutting our weekly shopping bills by 50%. I did plant extra perennials in the garden and gradually came to love the gentle look of these. Home grown flowers have far more life and charm than the rather stiff offerings from florists and supermarkets....
read more
FD