Facebook!

Facebook gets a bad rap a lot of the time.
Even though 200 million world wide use it, it seems that its not done to admit you use it or even (horror) enjoy using it!

Nice Grown Ups Middle Class People like to look down on Facebook as something which people with too much time on their hands poddle about on. They think its for kids or for 40 year old men living in their Mums back bedroom.

So you see, its easy to get a little paranoid about using it. Keeping quiet about your online life seems to be the "Adult" thing to do.

NGUMC people like to laugh about "pretend" friends and throwing sheep at other FaceBookers (which... sorry guys.... dates you. No one has thrown a sheep for about 2 years ;)

The thing is, social networking sites like Facebook are multi layered, and like real life, you receive as much as you look for.
For sure you can waste hours of your life setting up virtual farms or zoos and trawling through the news updates of 1500 "friends" but you can also make FB work FOR you.

They key word here is Network.
FB was set up as an online networking site.

Through joining groups/pages and commenting on posts, you start dialogues with new people.
Some of my dearest online friends I have met this way.
Some of my real life friends I have met this way as well.

I now have a small network of friends who support my ideals as I in turn support theirs. We share gardening tips, vegan anecdotes, parenting ups and downs, horse woes and yays, artistic critiques.

I don't "poke".

The novelty for that wore off years ago.

Through FB I have met some amazing and inspiring people, not just online but in Real Life too.
I've swapped, bought, sold and gifted items and had the same back.
I've found work through friends of friends.
I've wallowed in the ideas pool and taken all I can carry.
I've even got chickens through FB!

There's also the human interaction thing as well.

When you're at home, either working, taking care of kids or whatever, there is often a real lack in "adult" conversation during the working day.
Sometimes just venting on a status (Arrrrggghhh!!! Clients cancelled and messed my whole day up!) can means that the one or two people who comment back sympathising or giving you their own tale of woe, can buck you up a little, make you smile.

Sometimes I think the scoffers simply don't understand it.
Its easier to deride something you don't get than admit you find it confusing.
Like the Greek philosopher who derided the written word as the downfall of youth, for words written down would dull the minds of those who won't need to remember things, they see something this popular as only bad for intellect in general.

For every FB group that is childish or mean, there are many more that are welcoming, informative, charitable and giving.

Still not convinced?
Heres a few examples....

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_169517559727246&ap=1 Eco interest FB group.
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_145907615465178&ap=1 Friends of container gardening, helping villages in Malawi.
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_173747075997223&ap=1  eco urban sustainability.
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_108016595941197&ap=1 Pay it forwards, being nice for being nices sake :)

So want to connect?

My FB page , come along and say hi! Just remember to leave me a message, I don't add people who don't introduce themselves first!  ;)

There's always the block button for weirdos and stalkers ;)  

 

Shop smart.

My grocery bill has been quietly creeping up.
Some of this is no doubt due to the general rise in price of fuel and the knock on effect on food costs, but I seriously wanted to knock the price down a bit.
I mean its not BAD.
It usually works out at around £20-25 per person, that's 21 meals plus snacks, plus household things like toiletries and washing liquid, but its still a lot of money for a family on a budget to fork out each week.
So this week I really tried hard to shop smart and of course I'm going to share with you!  

1. Stock take. I am terrible for just doing the shopping without checking what we already have. Its not unknown for us to have several bags of pasta and 4 jars of dried basil. So this time, before shopping, I had a good look at what we really needed, what was running low, what store cupboard essentials were still OK.
2. Make meal plans. You don't have to stick to them, but having a rough idea of what you'll eat for your main meal throughout the week really helps concentrate the mind on the food  you need. It also cuts down on those evenings stood in front of a cupboard full of food wailing "there's NOTHING to eat!".

3. Make a list. You're fooling no one with your "the lists in my head" skit. 
4. Shop online. I can't stress this enough. If  you're using a supermarket for your bulk shopping shop online! Not only are these places hell to visit but they are masters of manipulation. you WILL spend more  than  you need to if you walk through the door! Online you can take your time and take control of your shopping.
5. Check your online basket frequently. As you shop online keep an eye on the price. I often do a rough shop, like a first draft, then go back and see what I can omit or change to bring the price down.
6. Use special offers but take care. Buy One Get One Free (BOGOF), 2 for 1 etc can be your best friend or your worst enemy. Its worth noting that most offers are brand names (they work out deals with the store to prominently advertise them with offers) and often dubious brand names like Unilever and  Mars. Sometimes though there are offers on things like fruit and veg and other products you might get. Follow the rules. Is it cheaper? Sometimes it looks cheaper but isn't, check those £ per kg's! Is it something you were going to buy? Don't buy it if its not on your list. If its NOT on the list and you still want it, see if you can swap something on the list for it. I manage to save enough on offers to "pay" for my delivery. 
7. Be aware of packaging. Not only from a re-cycling aspect but from a re-usable aspect. If a brand of tea bag has a free tin with it that week maybe its worth the extra few pence? Some Coffee comes in jars with fancy lids and seals, perfect for dry goods storage later.

8. Take a close look at what you buy usually. where can  you cut costs? If you buy heaps of individual yogurts (soya for me of course ;) a switch to large pots of plain with jam mixed in can cut a good couple of £ off your weekly bill. Do you buy heaps of cookies or muffins? Its cheaper, healthier AND often tastier to bake yourself. 
9. Buy food in season. Don't stick to the same foods all year. Fruit and veg (and sometimes fish and meat) come in seasons and are often cheaper when plentiful in this country. So save the strawberries till summer, the pumpkins till October and the apple until September.
10. Saving money isn't about buying crap. Don't go so far the other way that no one wants to eat at your house! A couple of years ago I tried buying all the cheap value ranges, spread that was foul, cereal like cardboard, bread as thin as paper. Ugh! Buy quality food and eat less of it.

So how did I do this week?   
Well I got the supermarket shop down to @ £15 per person for this week :)

What tips do you have to add to clever shopping?

April 1st can't fool us its spring.

April In Scotland is pretty cruel.

Oh sure there are days when the sun shines bright enough that you can potter about in t-shirt and shorts, and the fields are full of wobbly legged lambs, and the daffodils are waving  their elegant trumpets about....

But....

Its not unknown for a few days of snow to still settle in, or for hard frosts to cover the ground every night until the middle of June.

Scotland has its own unique growing season, its short but intense, with long hours of daylight and dry weather during the summer, perfect for many soft fruits, not so great for more delicate, longer season fruit and veg.

But what do you do?

You persevere and work out what grows in your area and laugh at the adverts that try to sell you citrus trees that can withstand the "........harshest of British weather!!!! Down to 7oC!!!!!!!" 

Hmmm

What was our lowest temp this year??

@ -25oC at least one night if I recall........... Ho hum.

One of the things you quickly learn is to add weeks onto the sowing/planting out times given in gardening books and on the back of seed packets.

Sow peas in March?

Not if I don't want them to die in April.

Anyway....  to the croft this year.....

The new Rhubarb bed. These plants are all growing on from the rhubarb roots I dug up and divided a few weeks ago. The biggest two I had started on in pots in January, the rest have gone straight in. As we won't be able to pick any this year I've still left a couple of plants in the old bed. After this season I'll dig those up as well. 

Kims been busy making raised beds and planters for me from re-claimed timber. The manky bits of these lengths have been going on the log burner. This little planter makes use of a dead space on the corner of the house. 

Some of the new raised beds won;t be ready to use until next year. My aim is to make all the beds no dig, that is mucking out straight into the beds, heaping up to around 3ft high and then covering the muck and leaving to rot down. The two beds I've done this with over the last couple of years are beautiful, easy to use and full of the most amazing compost, deep and crumbly like it came out of a packet!! The plastic on this one is just to stop some dry stuff blowing off in the wind.

I've had to bulk up the orchard fence, were the hens are at the moment, after two ladies decided that clipped wings or no, they would still manage to escape. Not a great idea when it comes time to start planting in the garden!! Thinking about planting some willow around all the chicken areas (we have 2 main paddocks for them) and weaving it into a fence/hedge so it not  only looks nice but also attracts bees and insects.

Sally (aka purple chicken) says hi!

We have two knew chickens as well... Foggy, a Scots Dumpy x......

..... And Blossom a Yokohama x Silki (I think!)

Little Blossom lays TEENY TINY eggs! But like the Tardis there seems to be room in there for a yoke as big as the egg on the left! 

Buds in abundance on one of the apple trees.

The window sill is pretty productive. My green house is too cold to start things off early (February) and so I've never had luck with plants like tomatoes. After a shaky start, with some of the plants looking a little leggy due to the windows North/West aspect, every things seems to be doing well! I have sunflowers growing (for future bird food), lettuce in pots nearly ready to eat, courgettes, pumpkin (from my own seed), chickpeas, haricot, herbs, gherkin, pepper even a bit of ginger.

The log burner in the kitchen means the temp never drops below around 10oC, which seems to be plenty for what I've started and now the suns out longer and moved a little everything's growing nicely.