The face of the sun

Posted in Cottage tales | 9 comments

The face of the sun

“Is that sun made of gold?” The little boy was five. I was living in a two up two down cottage in the next village. But in that wonderful fairy tale world of childhood, I could easily have an eighteen inch gold sun face hanging on my kitchen wall. I bought this brass sun face about twenty years ago, on a visit to Devon. It was quite expensive as it was made in an Indian community supported by the Dartington Hall Trust, where craftsmen were paid a decent amount for their artefacts. It glittered on the wall of their shop. I had to buy...

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Best great budget recipes for 50% or less: Cottage Smallholder 2009 Challenge January review

Posted in Save Money | 10 comments

Best great budget recipes for 50% or less: Cottage Smallholder 2009 Challenge January review

So how did we do? This is quite a tough challenge as it involves buying ingredients for 50% or less or being given food. Luckily D is honing his hunting skills at the Tesco condemned food counter and I am happy to try any transform these ingredients into something tasty. Or bung them in the freezer until we have enough to make a meal. When I go shopping my trolley whizzes to the CFC in Tesco before I venture anywhere else. In the other supermarkets my eyes are now trained to spot the small red labels that indicate marked down prices. This...

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Peace is ill

Posted in Cottage tales | 29 comments

Peace is ill

Peace, the softer one of our new pair of hens is ill. I found her this morning, feathers ruffled and looking very seedy. Peace is very sweet natured and steady. I picked her up and put her inside my jacket. She cheeped plaintively as I stroked her and carried her up the garden into the warm kitchen. She is now in the bathroom well away from the Min Pins, wrapped in a large towel. Her temporary home is a big cardboard box with food and water. She was asleep with her head under one wing just before I left for work. Danny sent a few updates...

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Snow

Posted in Cottage tales | 13 comments

Snow

My brother Mark had carpentry lessons at school. Once he brought back a sweet little stool that still stands in my mum’s bathroom to hold books beside the loo. The other thing that I remember was a large and sturdy toboggan that he made when he was just twelve years old. It was big enough to accommodate all three children in our family. My mother had remarried and we were moving to Devon, a county renowned for its mild winters. Secretly she thought that the toboggan would hang redundant in the garage. But this was the winter of 1962/63,...

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Delicious budget meals for frugal yet scrumptious entertaining: Chicken and Romano Pepper Risotto

Posted in Chicken, Rice and Pasta | 16 comments

Delicious budget meals for frugal yet scrumptious entertaining: Chicken and Romano Pepper Risotto

We have done very little entertaining over the past eighteen months. The major reason why we’ve slowed down is cost, and time. When I seriously thought about why we were not entertaining, I twigged that I was hung up on the cost rather than the time and the taste of the food. It’s taken all these months to realise there’s no need to spend a fortune or take a day off to cook. We eat well most nights. Why not open our door and share? You can entertain on a budget as long as the food is delicious. And there’s the rub. Entertaining on...

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