Repairs, Cooking and Saving Money

Well it has been quite a wet start to the new year, dog walking has been cold and windy but still good to get out in the fresh air.  I still had this week off so I have been making the most of it to get repairs done, try some new recipes and generally enjoy being at home.

I started by repairing a bobble hat that belongs to my son, the dog had pulled off the bobble because the hat had been left on the floor, well anything on the floor is fair game or so the dog thinks, especially if it is made of wool.  My son said well that's ruined, er.. nonsense it just needed stitching back on so that was quick and averted the need to rush out and buy another.  The hat was relatively new, a favourite and not otherwise damaged by it's quick run around the house.

The second thing to repair was my younger son's rucksack, we did look for a new one while we were away but they were either really big, the wrong colour (it has to be black for school) or not quite big enough for his folders.  The one he has is just right but has somehow been wrecked recently, actually it looked like it had been in a fight!  The top was frayed, the straps were falling apart and I'm not sure why in such a short time.  Well fortunately his old rucksack had decent straps and some of the material on the inside was like new so I have done a Frankenstein job on it and used the good parts from that one to repair the current one...

Here are the new for old straps

This is the sorry state it got in.

There was also an area where the woven canvas had come away and stuffing was coming out so this was made new as well.  We will have to see how this goes as it can only be the heavy weight of all the books that is pulling these apart, but you would think rucksacks were made for that.

This is the canvas from the inside of the old rucksack.

So this has at least extended the life of this for a bit longer, I have just bought two new sets of uniform, school shoes, and also a new coat with a mobile phone in the pocket disappeared at school before Christmas and we have not seen those items again so a little saving on this item for school is welcome!

I have also tried a few new recipes this week, a huge success were Choc chip and almond cookies, I adapted the recipe from the book oh She Glows that I got from the library.  I omitted the coffee, used dark chocolate chips and cacao powder, I also used vegan spread instead of almond butter because I didn't have any but did use ground almonds.  They were gone within twenty four hours and that was everyone eating them not just me!

At the weekend I made veg and lentil soup with twice baked potatoes, this is a  nice change to just eating the soup with bread.  In fact the soup was enjoyed so much I made a tomato and lentil version and cheap easy recipe is here...

Lentil and Tomato Soup 

400g tin Tomatoes

70g red lentils

pinch of basil

1 small chopped red onion

1 veg stock cube

1 tbsp. tomato puree

dash of soya cream (optional)

boiling water

Method

Cook lentils for twenty minutes, fry the onion, dissolve the stock in boiling water, add all the ingredients to the blender except the soya cream, blend until smooth.  Add to saucepan and heat, stir in soya cream to taste.  This makes two large bowls and the lentils make it high in protein, iron and fibre.  It works out to 27p a bowl, I used ASDA products (basics)  soya cream optional.  

We loved it so for a cheap lunch it was more nutritious than the cheap cans you can buy which are mainly water.

These are just a few things I have been up to, there is also a new cookbook at the library waiting for me so I will share any interesting recipes from that over the next few weeks. Has anyone else been doing any money saving to start the new year? it will all come in handy for a few days out in the summer.

Sewing for the Home

I hope everyone has had a lovely holiday and you are all ready for the new year, we went away last week so this was a nice change for us at Christmas we still cooked our own Christmas lunch and other meals but the change of setting was good.

We don't really bother much with the sales as I often think they just get the rubbish out that doesn't sell the rest of the year however we did pop in John Lewis yesterday as last year they had massively reduced fabric.  Well I didn't buy any dress fabric as most of it was bright patterns, lovely but what to make as I am trying to buy more neutral fabrics for everyday stuff.  What I did buy though were three pieces of furnishing fabric, reduced of course and I only wanted about 3/4 of a metre of each.  Well that confused the guy serving me (I don't know why, go in any dress fabric shop and they can handle that request!).  Anyway I ended up getting 0.6 of each which was enough as it happens to make my new cushion covers.  It was enough as I used a different fabric for the backs, something I have started doing as you never really see the back and it saves on your nice fabric.

I also bought two throw for my sofas  for £20 pound each these were half price, this has given my sofas a mini makeover with the new cushions...

My sofas are a deep red and we wanted a change, we had thought maybe new ones next year but I have talked myself out of that.  I don't want to spend money to be worrying about the dogs snagging the sofa or things getting spilt.  So I felt this way we get a change and if there are any spillages I can just put everything in the wash and it was also a cheap way of doing so.

I know you can still see the arms but never mind, I tried the throws a few different ways but this way they stay put when you sit on them.  The throws are quilted so they are actually comfy too.

There are lots of posts out there at the moment about sewing goals for the new year, I don't usually make them as such.  Two years ago I set myself a challenge to do more patchwork, which I did and I tried a number of different designs, it didn't last for the whole year though as I was wondering what to use it all for.  As for clothes my wardrobe is pretty packed and while I do have some dress fabric left over from my birthday and some from Minerva to post about over the coming month I do feel I need to be sewing something different.

So I will have a think about that and any ideas I would love to hear about them, anything involving recycling would be great as I have used a lot of new fabric recently, or ways to use up my little bits and scraps.

I will leave you with a few views from my Christmas week away, enjoy this evening and have a Happy New Year,

A bit of snow on the mountains, this was actually the nicest day, we had thick fog most of the time we were there.

Keswick

Relax and Enjoy

Well the day is nearly here and I hope everyone is having a restful time and not still running around like maniacs.  We were out having a walk yesterday and had to call in the supermarket, you would not believe the chaos in there anyone would think the world was about to end or the shops never to reopen.  I really don't get it as the shops are usually only really closed for a day and as for the food shopping, why do people go so crazy with the food?

We were very impressed with all the veg for 29p at Morrisons and I have just seen an advert where all the veg is 20p at the moment in ASDA, that is carrots, sprouts, parsnips and potatoes.  I have tried to get on with sprouts but they give me a stomach ache, so just the husband eating those.  It did make me think though that even with quite a few people round for lunch it doesn't have to cost a fortune for Christmas dinner.  It is all the pre-prepared and unnecessary stuff that boosts the cost.

I am  having a few days off from sewing but I do have my post for this fabric and top...

 This can be viewed over at the Minerva blog just follow that link, I have already worn it quite a bit so this was a really useful make and very comfortable.  It is a very strange thing but over many years of sewing I never bought bias binding and always made my own and now I am buying it in every colour and using it on everything.  It is so cheap and useful!  Why did I spend time making my own when it just costs pennies?  Don't get me wrong if you have some little strips left it is a great way to use them up if they can be cut at the right angle but it has saved me time using the ready made binding.

Right we are off out for a walk in a little while , have a lovely restful Christmas and try not to stress about it because there really is no need.  Happy Christmas. x