Frugal Living ... continuing the story...

Well its been around a year since Ive posted on our attempts to live a frugal life here and what that entails.. so I thought I'd update a little.
Well we are still doing the best we can, I realise that compared to some people we dont do very well... we still have not got any further with off grid power... and while our finances stay as they are, I dont see that changing, we just do not have the money available for solar panels or windmills etc...
I think our use of electricity is my main bugbear...that and fuel... we just cannot do without it. Ive just turned off the fridge again after the summer season (its only on from July to mid Sept..) and the electric bills have stayed pretty static at around 35-45 euros per two months so its pretty good... I just wish...
The change over to our new GPL car will make a difference to our economy, its half the cost of petrol...what the eco bill is Im not really sure... its emmissions are lower but I need to look into it further...
Sadly the motorbike has gone, which must be lots of eco points for us... but Im still sad about it... logically it was a luxury we couldnt afford, insurance, fuel etc... so we are now down to just the one vehicle.

We are still using the well for irrigation but get spring water for drinking from a spring in town, as our well has been cloudy since last winter rain, we just have mains water to the rental cottage now so bills are minimal..

The log fired cooking range is still my joy... I love it, its been a real 'best buy' and has paid for itself over and over, this winter will be the third we've had no heating bills, plus dry washing all those horrible wet days, and it cooks our food and keeps the house cosy at the same time, I can cook so many different meals, without worrying about the cost of running the cooker,  slow cooking stuff for hours I'd never have done before due to cost (like chutney, its not a cheap option to make if you have to use electricity or gas to make it) the oven is always hot, the kettle never goes cold,  I honestly dont know how I'd live without it now. Its the heart of our home.. of course, there is the hours  and hours of work that collecting the wood all the time takes... but it truly is worth it to me... its a labour of love...

The veggie plot has been excellent again this year, and will feed us through the winter, plus all the helpers we hope to welcome to our home, a few things were not so good, peas were meagre, and beets just didnt happen... but we lots of spuds, we didnt have last year, and enough toms to feed an army... all in all a great year food wise.
Im keeping my winter garden going in a bigger way this year, we've still got plenty of cabbage, and Ive planted more to keep us going all winter, plus carrots, the caulis are still plodding on and look to be strting to heart up now... fingers crossed. I've planted the swedes but they look pretty poor, so I'll put in tons of grelos(turnip greens) just incase.
The making of wine was a bonus we didnt expect, but a welcome one... I made home made liquers too, fennel, and jinga, which is cherry aguadente.... Rik drank a litre of it during the two weeks his brother was here.... the fennel one is a digestivo, to take after a meal and is so very morish... I shall make lots more in the spring, it really does settle the stomach as well as taste delicious.. and we can get the aguadente for next to nothing from a neighbour..

Iv'e been through all our clothes, and much to riks disgust, Ive started collecting anything thats beyond repair (and it really has to be in tatters before I give up on mending it) and Im going to make a rag rug with it all this winter... to go in front of the range for the dogs to lay on.. I have an old fashioned rug hook a friend brought me ages ago Ive still not used it yet..

My next way of cutting our impact and gaining eco points, is to use homemade cleaning products, soaps, and disinfectants made from herbs..please see our Natural Living Workshop page... for details of how you can join us in doing that...

Wild Mushroom Picking. Frugal Living...

Well that post about the wine was pretty meagre wasnt it... Im not sure why but half the post and two there pictures vanished into the ether... heheh never mind.

So, after much anticipation, mushroom time has arrived again. We are vastly lucky to have a secret patch of Parasol Mushrooms that grow nearby, we discovered them last year and wondered if it was just a fluke and they wouldnt appear ever again, we'd never seen them there before.... but... hoorah!! I've been checking the area almost everyday and had more or less given up, and lo and behold ... I miss one day and there they are..not ready for eating yet, but another couple of days and they will be.They have some growing and opening out to do yet,  Ive counted 14 so far, and as last years grew the size of dinner plates... I think that will be plenty. I fast freeze them and then chop into chunks and bag up for soup and stews... after Ive gorged myself on a whole one ... lightly grilled sprinkled with garlic salt and with bread and butter... hmmmmm yum...

Our wine...

Well as I said the other day, the wine is pressed and in the barrel, only the one this year, but we certainly dont drink as much as we used to, plus Ive tons of herbal liquers Ive made and one tot of that after a meal is more than plenty...

So there should be pictures about here somewhere, of Rik and John pressing the wine...

Liquid feed, Lavender and lumpy bits...

Well its been all go the last few days, my brother in law John left early this morning on his way back home to Guernsey in the Channel Islands. The weather for him this year sadly hasnt been the best, it rained pretty much every day since we picked the grapes.. but today is beautiful again, sunny and quite warm .. John and Rik managed to get the logs all chopped and split and now my barn is crammed !! There is a huge pile in the sun drying out and then I must stack it. I dont mind, just looking at it makes me feel warm...
The wine is in the barrel, we just about managed the 120 litres we hoped for, its very strange, this year it will be Rosé which we've not had before, so many of our red grapes just were too poor quality to pick. I'll try to bring the camera in tomorrow to show some pics of it being pressed..

Im having a day off cooking today, as with John being here Ive been cooking up a storm most days... and now we are getting ready for our first batch of new helpers who arrive the end of this week.. so I'll be cooking a lot then too.
I have more onion seed to plant now the weather has perked up.. plus all the vines to clip...
I'd like to repaint the kitchen floor soon too. Plus a huge Lavender bush to prune and hopefully plant all the clippings and make a lovely Lavender hedge to border what will be my new medicinal herb garden..
Yesterday I made the final cut of my big Comfrey plant, Im making liquid manure with it, Ive been told to just cram all the leaves into a big bucket (I used 20 litre old paint tins) and cover with water, seal it up and leave it till spring, it will be all rotten and stinking, but perfect for the land, especially tomatoes... so Ive prepared 40 litres.... hehehe
John also helped me dig the first Jerusalem Artichokes of the season the other day, he'd never seen them or eaten them... he couldnt believe we were going to eat 'all them lumpy bits'... but he did... and he enjoyed them too...