Frugaldom Updates on the Moneysaving Front

A Frugal Holiday, a Hill Walk and Some Fundraising.

Most of my time, recently, has been focussed on trying to get fit enough for a charity walk up Ben Nevis and trying to raise some funds for my chosen charity - Pirsac (Port William Independent Lifeboat) - so I apologise for the lack of posts recently. It will soon all be over, done and dusted.

We set off tomorrow morning and travel just over 200 miles north to Fort William where 10 of us are meeting up and planning on walking up the mountain on Saturday. We are all walking for different reasons and/or causes.

I would have loved to have raised £1,000 to help keep our local lifeboat afloat but, sadly, many friends have just refused point blank to support this by way of donation. If I am honest, I have been very stupid and allowed myself to take it personally. After 4 months of trying to overcome back, knee and hip problems in order to get fit enough to even attempt such a strenuous walk, I felt insulted by the total lack of support by some of those around me and disgusted by the belittling comments, but apparently walking up Ben Nevis is easy and almost anyone can do it! Well, for me, IT IS A BIG THING and I can happily live without such thoughtless comments!

All the details are linked to the www.mcgonks.com website and I shall update whenever possible over this coming weekend. At the moment, I have nothing much left to say on the matter and shall consider future options carefully after making the most of what I expect to be a very enjoyable and very challenging weekend. Good luck to my fellow walkers. :)

Unpredictable Weather is a Major Pain in the Neck!

CATCH-UP TIME!

We've had a horrible couple of days weatherwise but there have been a few gaps between the clouds, leaving it dry enough for long enough to get the washing out on the line.

 

Laundry is something few think about nowadays, when they have modern central heating, tumble dryers and so little time spent at home to do things the frugal way. (I don't iron anything that doesn't need ironed.) We have neither central heating nor a tumble dryer here - not yet, anyway - so it is very much a case of hoping for dry weather, pegging wet washing on the line and then getting it over the airers to finish drying if the sunshine and wind have been insufficient.

 

So...  today's washing is on the line, but I need to nip to the shop for a few essentials. Easier said than done, when 'nipping to the shop' entails almost 10 miles round trip on a bicycle while attempting to pedal in blustering winds - it's like hitting a wall sometimes! Hmm... there's always the option to sling on a backpack and walk, but that takes about 3 hours out of the day and runs even more of a risk of running out of dry weather. In fact, we just did and it's now raining!

 

Washing is now back in off the line, the bike's back in the shed before I even got the shopping basket attached and I dont know if I should trust the weather forecast, which said it would be raining all day, or trust looking out the window - we've had a couple of hours of sunshine, there's a hower just now, I can see a tiny bit of blue sky but there are still plenty of grey clouds looming.

 

Maybe I'd be as well doing something else, instead! Get some bread dough on the go, bake some rolls and biscuits, make a pot of soup, distribute some eggs to the neighbours, plant some potatoes, water the seedlings in the greenhouse and try to arrange to get a joiner out here soon, so there's at least one room done in the house. Life is so exasperating, sometimes!

Kindling Sticks and Free Firewood

Who Buys Kindling Sticks?

Recently, I was chatting to someone on the phone when they asked me if I'd be interested in buying chopped sticks for kindling the fire. I found this quite amusing, as the thought had never really crossed my mind to BUY such a thing, despite the fact that I do shell out almost £1 at a time for a box of firelighters. I'd prefer not to, obviously, but needs must when you are in a hurry to get some heat going in the place and the sticks and logs are damp. Anyhow, the conversation prompted this blog post.

 

Pallets make great firewood, most rural dwellers with open fires, stoves or logburners know this and most downshifters soon learn. Not only do the pallets split into fantastic firewood, they make great kindling sticks. But burning pallets isn't always the best thing to do, especially as a frugaler. First and foremost, we need to build them into other, more important things that we need. Pallets are like gold, we treasure them. If, like us, you have no vehicle in which to transport pallets, then any that do come your way have to be used accordingly, otherwise it's a bit like burning money.

 

To date, we've had duck houses, planters, fencing, quail housing, compost 'bins' and log stores all built from recycled pallets and offcuts of wood, but we are now down to our last 3 pallets... a tragedy, in my book! There may well be more in the future, but many of the builders' merchants are now charging for them or else insisting they be returned, so I'd to think very carefully how best to utilise the last of our stash. The decision was soon made... we need a stick store, thus freeing up valuable space in the log store.

Stick or log stores are easy to make, when you think about it - they just need to contain the fire fodder and keep the rain off it while allowing the wind to blow through and dry it all. So, another little corner was cleared and the three pallets propped up and nailed together, secured with a piece of board across the top.

The top board has now been felted and a raised base made by laying straps of wood across the bottom.  We've already begun filling it up with all the sticks that are beng collected from around the garden and along the roadsides as we walk/cycle - most brought down by the weight of the recent snow. It shouldn't take long to fill it up at this rate, then it's just a case of keeping it topped up with whatever kindling we can lay our hands on for free. A cubic metre's worth of free, covered space dedicated to storing free sticks - nothing like being prepared.

This basic design, if I can even call it that, is the same one used for so many pallet projects. I've even seen goat housing and poultry sheds built this way and, nearby, there's a wildlife hide constructed in the exact same manner. A piece of tarpaulin draped over the front is sufficient to stop the rain blowing straight in and soaking everything.

Next time you spot a pallet lying by the roadside, in a skip or cast aside in any other way, think of the real frugalers - we simply love our old pallets.

Frugaldom.

Please Send Warm Weather Soon, Thank You.

And Now We Have Rain.

It seems such a very long time ago,
That winter hit us with everything it could throw,
Yet, here I am, sitting just so,
Looking out the window and still seeing snow!

A very bad poem, indeed! But it's true. Now, to add to the mix, the rain has begun to fall. I doubt very much if it will be enough to wash away the acres of snow we still have around this area, but it's a start. Take a look at the photo - that's me standing next to one of the drifts that still blocks a local lane. Time to light the stove, I think, as I can see my breath in here again!

The prolonged cold spell hasn't done anyone any favours, that's for sure. The garden has barely been touched this year, other than some basic tidying and clipping the straggling brambles that nothing seems to stop from growing. There are buds on many of the trees and fruit bushes, so they must sense something better coming our way soon.

Indoors can be much colder than outdoors when the sun shines during winter here, so there have been quite a few extra miles of walking and cycling done, carrying with me my trusty basket and taking the opportunity to fill it with firewood. I'm mostly taking advantage of all the fallen sticks that have dried to tinder and become perfect for lighting the stove.

Alternative energy that's helping to reduce our overall carbon emissions! Dry firewood, hand collected, brought home by bike.

You don't need to walk or cycle very far to find an abundance of free fuel lying by the roadsides. Around this area, there's not even the need to venture into the forests or woodlands, as there's so much lying by the roadsides that can be salvaged. Most of these crushed, fallen branches are now so dry that they ignite instantly and are soon burning hot enough to boil the kettle within minutes - a warning, indeed, to landowners, farmers and gamekeepers of the dangers of wildfires spreading during moor burnings! We have collected quite a few bags filled with already charred gorse wood and this seems to burn with frightening ferocity!

Free heat is never something to be scoffed at, especially when we consider the cost of electricity, and is always welcome during the cold months here in Frugaldom. Some also say it's carbon neutral, so a bit of a benefit to be had in that department, too - no fossil fuels used in cars to collect or move these sticks, as we're walking and cycling nowadays. It also gives us far more opportunities to take the time to photogrph the wildlife that lives all around us.

Having to adapt to not having a car has been quite a smooth transition, I have to admit. It certainly
makes you think more about how far you are going and how heavy the load will be that needs carrying home. I have now switched to a wicker basket on the back of the bike for collecting sticks, as it's far easier to just lift that off and sit it by the stove.

In the greenhouse, which is unheated barring any sunshine, the wormery has been safely under cover and its occupants are thriving. Last week, while feeding the wrigglers, we spotted several babies wiggling about the place, so it may well be tme to start tapping off that lovely 'worm juice' soon and preparing the raised beds for this year's veg-growing. Just send us a little more sunshine and a lot less frost to arm the ground enough to sow something soon.

On the 'working from home' side of things, the new googly eyes have arrived to complete the next batch of McGonks and we have just published the first ebook of the year:

"What if the Famous had Allotments? A quirky guide to vegetable gardeners of fame and fantasy." It was written by 'Northsider Dave', whose blog you may already read. The new ebook should, hopefully, be available to download to your Kindle by this evening. I'll post the link here as soon as it becomes available.

Good luck with the new book, Dave! :)

Easter Round-up in Frugaldom

First of all, I'd like to share the news that we have just managed to break through the £200 mark with our fundraising, trying to help raise cash towards replacing the local lifeboat. Our main challenges takes place Bank holiday weekend on 24th May, 2013, when we'll be leaving Port William and travelling to Fort William with the aim of taking members of Clan McGonk to the summit of Ben Nevis - UK's highest mountain.

Today, which also happens to be Easter Sunday, is the first day of British Summertime here in UK but our local Scottish weather wouldn't have you believe that. It's around 5 Deg C in the sunshine, the ponds are still frozen and there are still lanes blocked by snowdrifts. It is, however, dry and breezy, so frugal line drying of laundry is a boost. The roads are also clear enough to gt back out on the bikes, assuming you're careful and stick to main routes. This is the bike sitting next to the roadside on the main route into our area - still quite deep with snow, to say the least.

I took the opportunity to stop for a couple of photos to show how much had melted on the exposed areas - vast swathes of grass now showing through, but with lengthy drifts along the walls. The above was taken at lunchtime today, over a weeks since the blizzards hit us.

Yesterday, we cycled down to the local village to meet with someone who is keep to establish a project that really appeals to me - one involving a food co-operative for local growers and producers, along with a community based cafe and work space for the local artists and crafters among us.

The project revolves around the old corn mill and adjoining 16 acres of land. There are already hens, ducks and pigs there, plus the two Clydesdale horses that are being put to work, hauling out debris and ploughing the land where a heritage variety of wheat will be grown. It's hoped that the old water wheel can be restored and put back into use, powering the mill, while outdoors can be run as a self-sufficientish smallholding, providing fresh food locally. There's also a small fishing boat and scope for a wide variety of fruit and vegetable plots. And lest we forget, the favoured mode of transport could help reduce carbon emissions if work and local travel was done by horse power, on foot or by bicycle. It all sounds great, I just hope the project can get off the ground and achive success.

The bartering system may well come into play, but the project needs
to establish itself and garner the support of the locals in order that it may progress.

Spud, one of the Clydesdales, has already endeared himself to the village by being put to work during last week's power cuts, when he was out and about pulling fishcrates filled with fuel and delivering it to places that modern vehicles simply couldn't reach. Photo here is of Charlie and Spud relaxing by the side of the burn that flows alongside the mill.

Aside from visiting the old mill, we also had a stop off at the shore, where it was rather amusing to see snow lying along the edges of the slipways, right to the water's edge. Sunny it may be, but warm it is not. Who knows how or when anything can be sown in this weather but one thing's for sure - we'll be needing many more logs and pinecones before it's warm enough to do without the stove indoors and the prospect of being warm outdoors is still looking pretty distant, even in the greenhouse. Speaking of which, I wonder if there's space for a couple of fullsize polytunnels at either of the nearby frugal projects? Must ask!