Sadness

Three years ago, a lovely, sad troubled relative of mine decided that he had had enough of this world and all the pain it had caused him and quietly on his own in his flat, he downed a quantity of his medically prescribed pills and a large amount of alcohol and didnt wake up again. I can only imagine what he must have been feeling to have made the decision that he did. His whole life had never been what it could have been, he was a quiet shy person bullied and threatened by the very people who should have loved him the most, his own parents. I feel guilty so often that I should have done more to help him - for a long time he was lost to our family, he just simply disapeared into the vastness that is London. So many regrets and wishes that it could and should have been different, he deserved so much more.....

Tonight, through the enormous resources that is facebook, I found out that in the very same week that Chris died, so did a very dear friend of mine that I had lost touch with. Also by his own hand. He had been depressed and worried about debts and finances and could no longer cope with feeling like a failure in his eyes. He left behind his wife, another good friend of mine, and his children.

Tonight I am sitting here remembering two very lovely people and feeling incredibly, incredibly sad that they felt they had no alternatives but the final action that they took. I wish with all my heart they were still here.

Love the people you love and let them know it xxxx

Cheap Evening Meal

Like many other bloggers, finding recipes that are both economical, nourishing and filling is something that I have to think about every day. The money that I hand over to shopkeeper has been hard earned and had to stretch as far as possible. This month I have extra bills to pay so the food budget is the only area that I have any wiggle room with, so it has to be trimmed even more than normal.

I dropped into a Netto store today, not a shop that I usually frequent, mainly because there isnt one any where near to me, but I was by one so I thought I would pop in.

I bought 3 tins of manderin oranges for £1, 3 tins of carrots and peas (himself likes them) at 39p each and 2 packets of microwave rice similar to the 'Uncle Bens' 2 minutes in the microwave rice that number 2 son likes to take to work for lunch occasionally. The rice was 49p per packet instead of UB's at £1.25 in my local shop. I'm sure number 2 son will give me his verdict as to whether it is a good substitute pretty quickly.

The other items that I bought were 2 packets of bacon pieces as I wanted to make pizzas later in the week. The bacon packets were 2 for £2.50.

When I opened them at home I was really suprised to find that they weren't full of small mis shapes but several large pieces, almost the size of bacon chops that are sometimes sold in some of the supermarkets. So 3 of the larger pieces were cut in half and I shall boil these and then oven roast them with roast potatoes and veggies (we often have a boiled/roasted bacon joint for Sunday dinner.)

The other 2 smaller pieces were shopped into small pieces, fried until nearly cooked and then I added a can of chopped tomatoes, a generous helping of dried oregano and a good shake of black pepper. While this was cooking I boiled up some pasta and served the bacon and tomato sauce on top. A grating of some drying up cheddar and more black pepper and we had a great evening meal which only cost:-

Bacon 45
Toms 25
Pasta 20
Cheese 10
Oregano 0 It was grown here and dried last year
Pepper 5

Total £1.05

Number 2 son and I had a large helping each and there is another one left for him for work tomorrow so each portion came to about 35p. Now thats the kind of meal cost that I like !!

I spent the past two days down in the South East where Himself is currently doing a couple of weeks of temporary agency work - strangely enough with the same company he left before Xmas, and on the same site ! Ironic or what you may ask - we did, seems he cant escape the place, but with work here in the Midlands not being that fruitful, for a couple of weeks it seemed like a good idea at the time. (We have had many a-good-idea-at-the-time moments, which have turned out to be FAR from good ideas, but thats not for going into now.......)

Anyway, we sold Himself's car yesterday to a friend. I had driven it down on Saturday and being car less I then had to make my way back to the Midlands by alternative means.

So my journey today has involved:-

1 x taxi journey (no local bus to enable me to get to station - don't forget I started from an unfinished housing development)
1 x train to London Victoria
1 x underground train journey to Euston
1 x train Euston to Midlands station
1 x bus to my local small town
1 x bus to my village.
1 x 1 mile walk from bus stop

It has been an eventful trip. The taxi driver was nice and friendly, all three trains were on time and nice and clean. The one bus driver was lovely and I had a great scenic tour of where I live that I don't always get chance to see when I am driving and the last bus was full of chatty oaps. Plus the walk was also enjoyable (except for the two heavy bags that I was carrying)

The journey time was double the time it would take if I was in the car (if the M25 is behaving itself) but it did remind me how much we take for granted and how difficult it must be for parents, teenagers and mums to organise and execute trips if you only have public transport to rely on. And also how much more time has to be allowed to get any where.

Once again, I stop and think how lucky I am. Things have been quite difficult over the past 12 months in many ways, but I am still one of the lucky ones, I really am..

A Farmers Life for Me

I've been watching the BBC2 show A Farmer's Life for Me over the past 7 weeks. It is about 9 would be farmers from all walks of life, all ages and all occupations. They have had one hell of a tough time, but it has all been to see if they are up to the prize which is running their own farm for a year. Jimmy Doherty has been their mentor, guide and judge.

Right from week 1 Himself and I have been shouting for the couple from Sunderland Ray and Jayne to win it, the final is on in about half an hour so I have got my fingers firmly crossed that they win.

As part of my Master Gardener duties I was at the Edible Garden Show at the National Agricultural Centre at Stoneleigh in Warwickshire on Saturday, giving away plants to get people started growing their own produce.

So you can imagine I was over the moon to actually meet Ray and Jayne who were attending the show. Himself and I got to chat to them for about half an hour - they really are as nice in person as they are on the TV. They did'nt give us any idea of how they got on, not even a hint - thye were extremely professional, but after meeting them I hope more than ever that they win, they really do deserve it, they have worked so hard at the tasks and well, they just are nice and if you are any thing like me, it would make a change for nice decent people to get a break and make their dreams come true.

Keep your fingers crossed with me and lets hope they do win !!!!


Yes! Yes! Yes! They won !!!!

Just about a year ago, in the midst of spending endless hours sitting in Intensive Care with my beautiful little grandson after another major heart operation, I was lucky enough to be able to do something so close to my heart, it felt wonderful !

I trained with Garden Organic over at Ryton Gardens, to become both a Master Gardener and a Master Composter. What this means in practice (apart from being able to spend time with over people who love gardening as much as I do), is that we get to help and advise other people who want to compost but who maybe are a little wary of it for what ever reason, or we get to spend time with people (or children - I'm currently 'helping' one infant school grow fruit and veg, and two more compost their kitchen and break time 'wastes'), who would like to grow anything from a pot of herbs on the window cill, to a full size allotment.

The people of course are varied (we are all SO different !) and each has different wants, needs and requirements, but somewhere along the line we are all singing off the same song sheet in wanting to grow something.

So far it has been enormous fun and I have met some really wonderful people. The other Master Gardeners and Composters are great and to be with like minded people all doing something that we are SO passionate about , well its just bloody lovely!!

If you aren't already growing something edible for your self, or you need any advice on composting, why not get in touch with Garden Organic, there are schemes running in several areas now and if you aren't in the Warwickshire area, which is where I am, maybe Kate Newman can put you in touch with somebody local to you.

Its just the right time to start sowing seeds for this years crops, so why not give it a go if you havent grown any thing before.

Sad, Horrible People

Somewhere along the line, in the land of invisible internet people, somebody has been so horrible, has said something so awful that they have upset two people very close to my heart.

On Friday Rhonda Jean from Down to Earth blogged about the person who had upset her. But we fellow bloggers rallied round, sent her good wishes and internet hugs and hopefully fingers crossed she will be fine...

However the lovely Froogs from Frugal Queen blog hasn't faired so well and very sadly seems to feel that she can no longer go on blogging. She will be very very much missed by me and so many others for whom she has been such an inspiration and I just hope that one day she will be back on here.

I'll really miss you Froogs xx Hope you are back soon.

Please please read this !

http://hppoppycampaign.moonfruit.com/#

Please please visit this web site and read the story about the girl who was told to take off her poppy whilst at work !

She has set up an on line petition to try to get David Cameron to take action over this and stop people trying to prevent people wearing their poppies with pride.

Please read, sign and post on your own website, blog, or forward on to friends and family.

Love Babs