Steel Kitten

Pistons and Props Weekend at Sywell Aerodrome

We spent a wonderful day out at Pistons and Props at Sywell Aerodrome on Saturday. As usual, we were on the club stand with our classic car, but there was still plenty of time to walk round and see everything.

In addition to classic cars, drag racing, light aircraft, a flyover by a Spitfire, Hurricane and Lancaster bomber, and an autojumble, there was also a lovely surprise in Hanger One - a vintage fair.

I could have bought so much stuff in there, but restrained myself to lusting after a sage green plastic-coated 1960s table-top clothes airer and then walking away from it. Repeatedly. I so wanted it but couldn't justify getting it because I have nowhere to put it. It would sit on the floor in the conservatory and I would look at it occasionally through the window. You can just see it in the picture above, at the front behind the baby ironing board.

There were quite a few people entering into the vintage spirit and dressing up in period clothes. For next year, I've decided to get myself a vintage outfit, probably 1950s, as that would match the era of our car.

 

I was delighted to find a number of vintage campervans and caravans besides the usual VW campervans. I was in seventh heaven to find so many unusual ones lovingly restored by their owners, as well as a few handbuilt replicas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Don't tell Martin, but I'm going to save up my spare pennies and buy one of these, a Vauxhall Velux. Can you imagine turning up for work in one of these!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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I can never find anything to buy from Approved Foods

I've come across Approved Foods many times before. It's an online grocery store that sells short-dated and surplus grocery items, and many people swear by it for saving them heaps of cash. I go on there every now and then myself, but have never bought anything because I cannot find enough goods to justify the £7.50 delivery charge.

I was over in Frugal Queen's website the last night and she'd done a post on her recent shop there, so I thought I'd pootle across to AP and have a look. I was disappointed. I just cannot find much that I would use, and the stuff that I would use I can get cheaper elsewhere.

For example, at the moment on AP there are bags of Tate and Lyle sugar for 89p a kilo. I buy 5kg bags rather than individual bags, which at the moment are £3.85 or 77p a kilo Tesco. The price of sugar fluctuates a lot during the year, so at the moment it is expensive as it is preserving season. When I bought my last batch out if season it was £3.00 for a £5kg bag.

Another example, pasta. At the moment AP has deal of 69p for 500g or £1.20 for 1kg. I buy pasta from Tesco in 3kg bags for £3.00. At the moment there is a deal on though and the bags are just £2.00.

Johnson's baby oil, which I use as a moisturiser, is on offer on AP for £1.20 for 300ml, or 40p for 100ml. That's a pretty good deal. Except Tesco has a deal on at the moment for the 500ml size of £1.50, or 30p for 100ml. Even if the deal wasn't on though, I only use a bottle every 8-12 weeks. With a delivery charge of £7.50, I'd have to stash ridiculous amount to make it worthwhile.

I think the problem is we use very few branded goods, and usually try and get deals on what we do buy, so I will always be able to shop for less than the prices AP can offer me. I don't generally buy mixes, such as crumble toppings, cake mixes, stew seasonings, etc, or unusual pickled items, both of which I find AP seem to sell a lot of. The only mixes I buy are stuffing and the occasional packet mixes for things like fajita spices. I buy one jar of pickled gherkins at Christmas, which Martin has one portion off and never has any more. I tend to enjoy my own bread and butter pickles if I have an urge to eat something like that.

If you do buy branded goods, there's no doubt they do have some bargains that might be worth stocking up on. For example, AP curently has deals on Surf products that look pretty good. Likewise it has some Felix cat food that is pretty cheap. If you buy a lot at one go or buy with friends you can justify the £7.50 delivery charge.

But for me, Approved Foods is not somewhere I can shop and save money.

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The garden vs the polytunnel. Wow.

 

Not a lot going on here. Coming to the end of the growing season and everything is going over now with the cool autumn nights. Weeds abound.

Except of course in the polytunnel. Summer is still in full swing in there!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The tomatoes above are my "free tomatoes". That is, whenever I pruned out a good sized side shoot from a tomato plant I stuck it in some compost. So these tiddly extra plants have now give me some additional free food.

What is very interesting to me is the yellow tomatoes.

I haven't grown any yellow tomatoes this year so how did I end up with them from a side shoot off a red plant? I am assuming the main plants were F1 hybrids and the side shoots ended up growing as one of the true parental types?

Anyway, I don't care. They were super yummy and I ate them all before I got back to the house!

 

 

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That's not right...

The washing machine is working, but the lights aren't on.

Oh no. Sickly washing machine.

I am so NOT buying another one.

Not. Nope. No. Not happening so close to Christmas. Not when my dishwasher is on its last legs and we were going to replace it in the Christmas/New Year sales.

I say last legs, it's been playing up for about three years. I keep threatening to throw it out, but every time I shout at it about the tip, it starts working perfectly so I've been resigned to shouting at it periodically and putting up with it. Mind you, it cleaned an entire load of glassware perfectly the other day. Couldn't fault it. Then it tried to wash some crockery and forgot it had a detergent cubicle, so everything had to be yanked out and washed by hand as it was still dirty. Annoyingly, as I lowered the door after the cycle and peered inside, the drawer flapped open. It knew it had mucked up.

Anyway, we weren't talking about my love/hate relationship with my dishwasher.

I think the washing machine has a faulty connection in the display...a cable has probably worked its way loose and has to be reconnected. If I give it a good slap the lights flicker up briefly. When it spins, the lights flicker up. Pretty sure that will be a loose connection.

But how to do it?

Youtube here I come.

 

 

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And after she said she wouldn't do it this month

I faithfully promised some online forum friends that I would not buy reduced food this month. My freezer is packed to the gills, my cupboards bursting at the seams, so I set myself the challenge that I would not spent more than £175 on food this month (normally £200) and the difference would go into the Christmas fund.

I've done really well so far, and only spent £75. Feeling smug.

Unfortunately, I popped into Tesco tonight to get some cat crunchies and milk. I was fighting with myself about going to the reduced sections, trying to stop myself, then giving in and making all sorts of bargains with myself about how small the size of the reductions would have to be to tempt me e.g 50% or less.

And they were :)

Hovis bread 49p reduced from £1, straight to the freezer

Warburton burger buns 49p reduced from £1, straight to the freezer

Cheerios (some serious puppy looks from Martin as he knows I don't really like prepped cereals) 60p from £2, very battered box

Bisto gravy granules 38p from £1.25, slightly battered box

Family pack of Old El Paso Fajita dinner kit £1.14 from £3.79, slightly battered box

Thai green curry paste 57p from £1.89, slightly sticky front cover. A quick wipe and it is sticky no more.

Bacofoil 10m £1.12 from £2.80, box had opened

Odor-eaters Foot Warmers £1.41 from £4.70. I looked at buying these last week, but didn't because of the price!

18 toilet rolls £3 from £6.99, the top of the pack had torn open a little. Wow, really? So much of a problem it had to be deeply discounted like that.

And Bargain of the Day: Duerr's chunky ginger preserve 34p from £3.49, end of line with an expiry date of June 2016. Love this jam but usually way too expensive to buy.

Now, I promise I won't do this again this month. Honest.

 

 

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Booty sale again

It's almost becoming a bit of a habit. Three times in two months. Tsk, tsk!

I was amazingly restrained though. I went with the sole intention of finding things I need, use or things to do up the house and garden, and I just about managed that on every score.

Haxnicks veggie patio planters £2, normally these are about £12.50 on the internet. I'm accumulating these to use as tomato planters next year in the polytunnel. The pots this year have done a good job, but they dry out too quickly while I'm at work and that causes issues with some of the fruits splitting when I do water them.

Two jumbo new underbed storage bags 50p, these are argos bags and retail around £4. I prefer paying 50p though given the option :)

Large pack of bungee cords £4. These were my most expensive buy that morning. I have no idea what retailer these are from, but given Martin and I were looking at paying £4.00 for two small cords with hooks on the end, there was no way I was leaving this behind.

Weekly pill box 50p - I've been looking for one for my supplements, which I take periodically throughout the day.

New extending mirror £1 - this is an ikea one and normally £4.50 new.

A few books, £2 the lot

• Investing for dummies
• The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron. I had this once and regretted giving it away.
• Two 1960s/70s books on brewing
• Pam Ayres' The Necessary Aptitude. We went to see Pam Ayres at The Stables in Milton Keynes recently and were absolutely howling. She is very good.

Four new pairs of stockings £2. I've taken to wearing stockings now for work as they are a lot more comfortable than tights, however I don't like the prices for them new. Aristoc in particular start at £5.50 a pair online.

Le Parfait jar 50p. This size is normally around £5 online so I snap them up whenever I find them cheap.

A new lampshade 50p. I'm trying to find a tall thin brushed metal bedside table lamp to go in one of our bedrooms. This was exactly the shade I was hoping to find. Now I just have to find the lamp :)

All in one protective oversuit 50p, normally £5.50 online. Martin and I have to re-roof our garage soon, which will be a horrible job due to the disintegrating asbestos cement roof. Full kit is required.

New bike padded seat £1. My one duff buy of the day. I bought it for the exercise bike I have, which I find very uncomfortable to the point of bruising my tailbone. Unfortunately, this didn't fit properly, so I think I'm going to have to sell the bike to be honest.

A pack of four intensive hair oil treatments £1. Given I had to chop off 2.5 inches of my hair last night as the ends were like candy floss, this is a much needed find.

Avon sleeptherapy mist spray. £1. Love this lavender spray. I used to use it to mist on the pillows periodically during the week when I was having trouble sleeping and it always did the trick.

So there you go. Good finds and not too many frivalous wants :)

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A goodbye to Panshanger Aerodrome

 

The Panshanger aerodrome near Welwyn Garden City has been home to flyers since WWII. Originally, it was a decoy aerodrome complete with dummy planes to put German bombers off the scent of nearby Hatfield airfield. After the Battle of Britain, decoys were not needed anymore as the bombers were not flying over London as much, so it was turned into a proper airfield, and has remained so to the present day.

Martin and his father used to fly their plane in and out of the airfield during the 1980s, so when he heard that a decision had been made to close the airfield next week, he wanted one last look around. Yesterday we drove 789 to Panshanger to spend the afternoon relaxing, and watching the aircraft coming and going as Martin took a trip down memory lane.

While Martin ogled the light aircraft and re-acquainted himself with sights and smells he'd not experienced for 30 years, I found myself very taken by some cheeky and very energetic koi carp in a small pond outside the cafe.

A bucket of open food was nearby for customers to feed them. Of course I couldn't resist. One koi carp in particular was very enamoured with me.

In fact, if you enlarge the picture you'll see my little friend was so engaged with catching my eye he wasn't very quick off the mark at sucking up the food, unlike his mate behind him who has his mouth open and doing a sterling impression of a hoover on the big pink food blob.

While I was chatting to the koi carp, Martin walked up to me and told me he had two presents for me. Into one hand he placed a feather (i do love natural bird feathers) and into the other he placed a tunic button.

Until that point we had always thought Panshanger was solely occupied by the RAF, but it turns out that there were a number of Allied officers here from different military services as well, including naval officers. The tunic of one is where this 70 year old Bakelite button came from.

A fabulous tiny little piece of history.

 

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The C word

 

Well, I don't know about you lads and lassies, but I've been a tad cold this week in the evenings.

Martin had his customary two hour Friday evening sleep yesterday, which helps him feel less exhausted and ready to tackle things over the weekend, and while he was sleeping I was freezing cold! Admittedly I was barefoot, but I've been barefoot in the house for months! But I couldn't go upstairs and get any warm clothes because I'd wake him up, so I hunted round the house and managed to find a outdoor fleece, but had to improvise on the socks/slippers with two knitted hats that I found lying across the coat hooks. Very snazzy, but being hand knitted and wool they did the job nicely. I just couldn't move around that quickly.

Martin said the dreaded C word yesterday - Christmas (I'm not the first to say it though, as I spotted a post over at Down to Earth on handmade Christmas presents the other day). I was getting ready to hurl the three analogue radios across the kitchen as I could not get a decent reception on any station but Heart FM, and I don't like that station. I was looking for Radio 2, 4 or Northampton, but couldn't tune it in at all without static. So Martin casually remarked that maybe I could put a retro-looking DAB radio on my Christmas list.

 

So I've been sat here this morning looking at DAB radios and howling at the cost. A replica Roberts radio varies from £160 - £200. It doesn't even have an iPod docking station with it, which I would absolutely expect for that cost. The cheapest retro style DAB readio I've found is £79, again with no iPod docking station.

Stupid money!

 

 

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An unexpected week of DIY and decluttering

This last week has been all about DIY and decluttering.

I went into work on Monday, only to find that there was enough work for me for the day, but not for Tuesday or Wednesday. Unfortunately that sometimes happens when you work for a business that has end of month filing deadlines. However, the beauty of being part time is that, unlike my full time counterparts, I can switch my working days around and slot them into a week later on in the month when I know it is going to be busy.

So, I've been here since Tuesday doing DIY and winter prepping. The former, as ever, involves stripping and painting metal doorframes, a task so dull I've come to hate it. BUT as of this week I only have one doorframe left to do in the house, and I have already part stripped and cleaned that last Christmas before wallpapering the lobby.

However, it has not been the easiest of tasks with Fleagle around. She sat in the bathroom watching me every day. Everytime I put on the paint stripper I had to carry her out of the room to make sure she didn't brush up against it. When I sat on the floor to get down to the last bits of the frame, she decided that the fabric of my skirt was an ideal resting spot.

Was there ever a cat that was so cute but oh so very annoying...it's like having a toddler.

Anyway, winter prepping has been going on since the Bank Holiday weekend. I walked round the house and garden, took stock of what needed to be done and have given myself a deadline of six weeks to complete it all. I'll post the list of jobs that I do each year this week - it might help some of you make plans to winter-proof your own homes before the bad weather hits.

This week I have managed to clean the conservatory roof, which was heaving with moss that had come off the main house roof. Talk about an ordeal. My arms are not long enough, even with a massive long mop, to reach the apex of the rood panels from below so I had to do a two-pronged attack from above and below. Irritatingly, there was part of one panel - a section of about 6" x 18" - I just could not get to no matter what ladder I used or angle I came at it from. I resorted to chucking hot soapy water at it from above to get the worst off, but you can still see if from below. In the end I pulled up the blind inside so you can't see it!

However, from the window I spotted another task that needed doing - de-mossing the back room roof.

If I don't, the first heavy downpour will see the moss block the gutter (worse that in is!), and the water will spill over and come in under the back door to flood the utility area. The garden grass rake is going to come in very handy for grabbing that lot.

This week I've also been clearing out all the manky corners of the house too, with the utility area coming under close scrutiny for cleaning. Over the spring and summer months it becomes a gardening dumping ground, so I had sorted it out, relocated a ton of stuff back to where it should be and given it all a good wipe down. It could do with a lick of white paint, but I can do that very quickly when I get to the last bits of the bathroom emulshioning. In fact, all the walls in that area could do with a quick going over with white paint, so when I have the small roller out I'll give it a once over.

I've unearthed a lot of winter textiles from their respective corners, and washed and dried those ready for winter.

All the radiators and grills have been scrubbed, defurred and dusted, so when the heating goes on I don't get a massive allergy attack as a year's worth of dust and cat fur flies up out of them into the atmosphere. The cats have a tendency to sit on the radiators to keep warm during the winter and can build up quite a pile of loose fur under the grills :)

The hobby room had turned into an awful dumping ground, so I cleared that out and tidied it properly. I managed to turf out two bags of rubbish, as well as four carrier bags for the charity shop and three to the tip shop. It's looking nice and clear in there now.

And what for the weekend? Rest? Relaxation? Car boot sale? Nope, not this weekend. While I have the energy I want to finish off some more jobs as work will now ramp up steadily towards the end of the month.

I have the conservatory to clean out, as that has also turned into a dumping ground, and a few small projects to finish off. There's the other bedside table left over from my February auction snuffles that needs a quick sand over and light coat of varnish. This is its mate, already done and in place.

The two prayer stands, also from my February snuffles (seen here in the auction hall), need cleaning and putting in place in the back bedroom.

Finally, I want to finish this pouffe. My father gave this to me a few months ago, but it had the most horrendous 1980s peach upholstery fabric and rusty castors. So I took it apart, threw out the castors, and put on some leftover upholstery fabric on it. I still have to put some edging in place to neaten up the fabric joins, screw the lid back on and then re-fit the castors, hopefully in the same holes. It shouldn't take more than a couple of hours to finish off.

Famous last words...

 

 

 

 

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Refurbing the sofas

I've said before that Martin and I don't like buying big things, mainly because we hang on to things for so long that by the time we eventually do replace something we have to get to grips with a whole new generation of 'technology'. Sometimes we've even skipped two generations.

This time we're having to get to grips with sorting out the sofas.

Our green sofa has been bad to sit on for a couple of years. At 17 years old the springs have gone and the foam seats are disintegrating. We stuck a large board underneath it to stop us disappearing bum first into it, but we knew we were prolonging the inevitable. The material however is in surprisingly good condition, which is why were are reticent to turf it out. There's a couple of small marks on one of the cushions, but we just flipped it over so you don't see it.

The red sofa, at around only five years old, and was starting to go the same way, although again the fabric is very good. The springs have stretched too much, and the wadding has started to compress, but it is properly upholstered.

Both are not the most comfortable seats we've ever sat on, but we've lived with it. However, we decided the time had come to do something a few months ago, and ever Since we've been idly looking at sofas in shops, making enquiries, scanning websites.

The upshot is we've decided not to buy new ones.

So many new sofas are made of chipboard and foam that disintegrate within a few years and yet they are incredibly expensive! One of Martin's friends told him about the sofa he bought three years ago for £750. It broke just outside its 12 month warranty, so he took it apart and fixed it, and apparently it's just gone again. Our next door neighbours are on their third suite in 10 years. A few years ago we had a small leather two seater given to us that was in new immaculate condition, and within a year the leather started to peel off.

So, this week I contacted a company that specialised in refurbing sofas. I sent across two pictures, and the minute the owner saw our green sofa he knew it straight away and rattled off the make and fabric type. He told me that the industry eventually phased out the fabric as it was so hard-wearing people had stopped buying sofas! He will pick up our sofas sometime in October, put in new springs and webbing in both. I will probably sort out the foam cushions on the green sofa, and give both sofas a light clean to bring them up a bit.

All in it will cost us about £450 to do both sofas, and with any luck they will keep us going for another 5 or 10 years. We've decided not going to spend money on modern furniture when older furniture and antiques are better constructed and will last longer with a little care and attention. When these two sofas eventually bite the dust, I'll look into buying an antique sofa, perhaps a Victorian Chesterfield or Art Deco half moon, and having it refurbed and reupholstered.

 

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