Kate - doctors are either awesome or utterly dreadful in my experience. Sometimes I think if I went into a doctor's office with a broken leg, they'd tell me it's depression. I hope your arm feels better soon.
Fifitr - I've used a stick sometimes, as it feels like my leg is going to go. I've been heckled in Tesco for 'faking it' as I didn't need it for every step. Today I spent a lot of moving time leaning on things. I hope you feel a little more confident soon. A fall shakes your confidence so much. I think that a fall as an adult has far more than physical effects.
Jean - thank you!
I visited Lidl. I don't think it has everything I need. I wanted to go there because of the new loyalty card, but they also have a gluten free shelf. They didn't have it any more. I may use it a little more, but I don't know how much. Still, I had £5 off if I spent over £25, and I picked up some nice tomatoes, a sack of potatoes, some inexpensive silverskin pickled onions, about a third of a jar went in tonight's casserole, and some equally inexpensive olives which would also have gone in the casserole if I could have got the lid off the jar.
The casserole was a success. I'm starting to mentally price things up. The diced chicken was £3, but I should be able to find cheaper alternatives. Then a jar of roasted red peppers that I got at a discount from Bargain Foods and, as I bought a tray of 12, cost 50p. I estimate that there was 12p for the pickled onions (the jar was 36p and I used around a third) and I think that the mushrooms were 89p. If I allow 30p for the teaspoon of lazy garlic, the heaped spoon of herbs and the stock cube, that is £4.81. Then I did a big pan of mash, which even with getting an inexpensive sack from Lidl was still 50p. Then there was icecream afterwards from the farm shop which is incredibly good quality, but not inexpensive. I think if I start pricing each meal, then I'll start getting an idea. Mind you, tomorrow is looking remarkably soup shaped and that will easily feed us inexpensively.
I shall investigate the farm shop further. They do big packs of chicken breasts which I could split up and freeze. I shall have to do a test purchase. And speaking of the farm shop, the last time I visited, I took a picture, but it didn't come out well.
It's part of a fairy ring. It was really clear and the mushrooms were huge. What it doesn't show is the wire fence cutting through it on the left hand side. It looked very incongruous, a fairy circle cut by what looked like iron or steel wire. It made me think of stories.
Writing stuff - I've got the edits back on the sequel to Out of the London Mist, and the editor agrees that it is a much better story. I've got quite a bit of work to do on it, but I hope to get the developmental edits sorted this weekend. Then I face the line editing which means punctuation. I am not good at punctuation and always feel guilty for inflicting it on an innocent editor. And if I'm gearing up for the October Frights again, I need to get some new stuff together for that. I need to up my daily word count.
Hugs and good health to all.
The meal sounds good. I need to do better at breaking down costs. I love the fairy ring! Makes me think of stories too. I've only ever seen a couple. Husband thought I was nuts when I got really excited!
ReplyDeleteHope your hip is better, now. Your casserole sounds delicious!
ReplyDeleteIt;s a habit I've also developed of costing each meal, and it really encourages you to try some cheaper alternatives.
ReplyDeleteI did wonder if people would look at me sideways as sometimes I just carry the stick, when I'm guaranteed flat going or when I want to ameliorate my reliance on it. And then I thought 'that's their problem, not mine'. I take it to the beach for getting over rocks and shingle, but then use it as a pointer while walking on the sand!
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like your menu plan is a mix of expensive and cheap meals and will balance itself out but it can't be bad to have an idea of what you're spending on which areas. I'm vegan-ish, to borrow Jack Monroe's term of reference, which makes shopping so much easier. Now I know the things I can have and the things to avoid it makes the supermarket a whizz because half the aisles are redundant and I know exactly which product is the one I should go for in a range.
Do publishers not employ sub-editors anymore? Surely someone checks punctuation, spelling and grammar for you? A good sub is worth their weight in gold!