Manicure

 This morning I've had my first ever professional manicure. I had actually decided to see if the blisteringly expensive hair salon that is not too far from my house could fit me in for a cut and blow dry today. When I got there it was closed so I popped into the beauty salon next door to ask what time it opened.  Apparently they only seem to open for haircuts that are booked in advance.  I decided to spend some of the money that I saved on a manicure. Luckily the owner of the beauty salon had a free spot this morning so I popped back and indulged in a lovely hand massage and manicure. It was such a treat and though it won't be a regular thing I'll definitely have another in the future. 

Blimmin cold today.

 After a couple of really warm and sunny days the rain returned with a vengeance today. It's been really quite cold too which has come as a bit of a shock to my system.  I've got the little heater running in the porch keeping my seedlings warm. Speaking of which the seeds that I picked up from garden club on Sunday are starting to to sprout already. 

I really fancied a salad today so we popped to Aldi to pick up a few things. I chose the variety of peppers purely with seed saving in mind this time. I've got some drying on the windowsill for a couple of days and then I'll sow them. 

My new die storage unit

 Last night I put my new die storage unit together as it arrived flat packed and not ready made like my previous ones. It was easy to put together and only took ten minutes.  The recommendation was to dry fit it first before taking it apart and glueing it. I did exactly that and left it to dry overnight.  Today I plan on painting it then tomorrow I'll add some decoupage. It has ten little pull-out shelves and I've bought A4 sized magnetic sheets to glue to the shelves. It'll be nice to sort all my dies properly 

Fuel price hike.

 On Monday Tony and I nipped into town where I transferred my share of the coming years bills to his account. I figured it was easier to do it in one big lump then all I need think about for the rest of the year is grocery shopping and unexpected expenses. On the way back I handed him my debit card and insisted he fill the car up with diesel.  I'm so glad that he listened as overnight the fuel price jumped by 4p a litre from £1.36 to £1.40. Our local Tesco garage seems to have the cheapest fuel in the area but we both smiled and recalled when it didn't cost that for a gallon let alone a litre. While we were in town I did a big meat shop at a little butchers so I'm now well ahead of expensive stuff for the foreseeable future. My finances are looking really strong and it's all down to really good money management.  I'm so pleased that I learned the art of being frugal when I was young. 

A lovely day

 The weather today has been abslutely gorgeous.  I've spent most of it working in the garden. It's been another perfect day for drying clothes outdoors and I'm making the most of every potential drying day. It'll save me a fortune on the electric bill.

Garden club

 We're back from garden club after picking up the seeds I'd ordered. I've sown half the packet of two different tomatoes and a mini aubergine.  Hopefully they'll sprout within the next fortnight.  I also bought ten 8ft garden canes. I intend to grow plenty of climbing beans this year. The GreenStalk planters have freed up so much space in the garden. We had planned to call into a garden centre to pick up some compost but we're leaving that till tomorrow or Thursday. It's warm and sunny today though the wind is a bit chilly. 

White rabbits

 How on earth can it be March 1st already? We're off to garden club soon to collect my seeds for the new growing season. Guess what I'll be doing this afternoon. We're nipping to the garden centre to pick up some compost for my little grow houses and having a drive over to the park to see if the otters are around. There was no sign of them last time we went but they had been seen so they're definitely still there.

Yesterday Tony bought two more of the grow houses for me so he's scored big brownie points. It'll be fun to get them filled up and growing. I intend to log everything they produce to see how long it takes to recoup the initial cost. 

We had friends over for a meal last night so it was the perfect opportunity to use the pretty china. We had Salmon Wellington and steamed veggies followed by Tiramisu. 

Naughty, naughty Aldi

 Tony and I have just popped into Aldi to buy some cream. Of course it just happens to be the gardening event  so we walked  along the middle aisle.. That was fatal of course because we were tempted by several things. I thought it might be interesting to share our shopping receipt to see how prices compare across the world 

A little crafting spend

 My cutting dies are now overflowing the magnetic sheets so I've ordered another little storage unit. Many years ago I ordered some lovely little die storage units but unfortunately no one seems to make them anymore.  My new unit is due to arrive next Tuesday and there's 10 A4 pull out shelves. Here's a photo of the die storage sitting neatly under the craft desk. The new unit will fit nicely under there and will mean that I can sort out my dies into categories.  It'll make it far easier when I'm crafting. I'll paint and decoupage the new unit to match the others.

A lovely day for outdoor drying

 The weather has been absolutely gorgeous today so I've spent all day working through loads of wash loads.  I stripped the bed and its all washed and dried. I've washed several of Tony's puffa coats. The laundry tub is completely empty now and the last load is on the line. In between wash loads I've pruned the grape vine, put up my bean pole system and given the garden a thoroughly good tidy up.