Winter Preparations and our New Fire Chief

The snow has reached the Galloway hills a few days earlier this year, with a dusting over the tops of the higher peaks leading up to the Merrick (our highest hill, which officially qualifies as a mountain).

Meanwhile, down here at the low 100m mark, we are trying to weatherproof the essentials before temperatures drop back below zero but we seem to have a new fire marshall. 

Minstrel always has to get involved with everything, nowadays. For 3 full years, all we ever caught was a glimpse of her and the other ferals on the trail cams and then one day, just a few months ago, two of the cats befriended us - this one is now like a pampered housecat, greeting all our visitors and following us everywhere.

Yes, Minstrel, we got new buckets and they now hold the water but don't get too used to sampling it from there because it will be replaced by sand once the freezing weather gets here. What else is new at Frugaldom?

A shiny, red triangle has now replaced the old rusty cow bell that once hung on the fence.

New signs are being printed and replaced as and when required - this one needs 'FIRE POINT' written across it, just in case anyone misinterprets the graphics depicting an extinguisher and flames. 

Ill leave you all with another cat photo, as Minstrel is obviously guarding the new buckets to protect them from Caramel, Macaroon and Socks. Hopefully, the feral feline friends at Frugaldom will behave while our visiting campervanners prepare for  night of pine marten spotting. Our cameras are all at the ready in the hope of a repeat performance from last night, when the piney youngsters had a fun time frolicking at their feeding platform.

Join Friends of Frugaldom to help support the nature & wildlife project and feed the ponies, goats and cats who live here.

Frugaldom Winter Offers for Campervanners and Motorhomers

Plan your winter adventures around Frugaldom

As the nights draw in and the temperatures drop, we are now counting down the days until midwinter solstice. Being in the mpheartnof Dumfries and Galloway, right down here in the southwest corner of Scotland, we are quite fortunate with the weather, even during prolonged wet or cold spells. Let's face it, we are the Lowlands and not the Highlands, but it still gets wind, rain, ice and snow. So... If you are travelling around our hidden corner of Scotland this winter in your camper or motorhome, maybe exploring the Southwest Coastal 300, why not stop in for a night during the week or even visit Frugaldom with a view to making it you base from which to explore Wigtownshire. The following are our winter stopover prices, valid from mid-November until mid-March:

Midweek Winter Stopovers

Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays

1 night - £10

2 nights - £15

3 nights - £20

4 nights - £25

Price includes waste emptying if required but you will need to bring your own water as the site is completely off-grid. Well behaved pets are welcome on condition they are kept on leads and only walked within the parking area during hours of darkness. This is to ensure none of our rescue or retired ponies get spooked and wildlife doesn't get disturbed when visiting the feeding stations.

Wildlife Watch Weekends

Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays

1 night £15

2 nights £25

3 nights £35

This means that park-up for a full week costs just £60 for anyone looking to stay longer. Our Caledonian Touring Club certification means we can offer you fantastic deals for longer stays and for exclusivity if you want to meet up with friends to enjoy the very best of what our area has to offer, even during winter. Maximum number of 3 campervans or motorhomes for a wildlife watch rally or Galloway discovery meet-up.

We operate a 'bring all you need and leave no trace' policy.

To check availability, text or WhatsApp 07795870688 - I will respond as quickly as possible, as signal isn't guaranteed while we are working outdoors.

Folded Paper Hedgehog

Thank you! 😊🦔

I just wanted to share a photo of  this very cute hedgehog. A lovely friend brought it along at the weekend as a gift. This is creative recycling using old paperback books. This little fellow is finished off with googly eyes and came with his own fancy box as his winter hibernation hideout.

Many thanks to Odette, a good friend, fellow frugaler, Frugaldom supporter and long-term follower of the Frugal living challenge. 

For anyone who would like to try making their own hedgehog, it is similar to how we made the Christmas trees some years ago but here is a simple tutorial to watch that shows you how to make a folded paper hedgehog

Have fun! 😊 

Homemade Laundry Liquid or Homemade Laundry Gloop

I made my first batch of this in 2009 after having used soapnuts for some previous years. I haven't bought laundry detergent or fabric softener in a long time (substitute a cup of white vinegar for fabric conditioner) so it now amounts to a saving of several £s per week for this household, an extra £150+ into the savings pot over the year, or else used for other things.



 Frugal Laundry Detergent 



1 Bar of soap, grated (or 8 tblsp soap flakes)

1 cup of washing soda

5 litres water (up to 7 can be used)

A few drops of essential oil

I don't have any essential oils to hand but I added a good squirt of lemon juice. I would normally use a natural extracts soap that contained lavender and tea tree oil but for this simple batch, I'm just using supermarket fragrance free, which cost £1.20 for four bars.

Grate the soap. Boil some water in a big stock pot, or similar, dissolve the soda crystals and grated soap in it and keep stirring until it resembles wallpaper paste consistency. Add your essential oil of choice, if needed, then dilute your hot mix to at least 5 litres, stirring the mix over the heat. (I make mine up to 7 litres.) It takes a bit of time to fully dissolve the soap and washing soda, but make sure it's all gone before you dilute, cool and decant the liquid. Make sure you use a wide top storage container. I store mine in a large lidded bucket so it can be scooped out and thinned down if necessary. I use a ladel to fill a plastic laundry ball and then that goes in the machine but it is equally alright to add it into the machine drawer.

As with all washing machines, you'll still need to give your machine a boil wash cycle every few months to ensure all the hoses stay clear of soap residue.

This homemade laundry cleaner works equally well as a hand wash for you ultra frugalites who live without the modern convenience of an automatic washing machine or a twin tub. I have used it often in a hand or foot operated washer.

I used to make 2 lots of detergent at a time, one with a few drops of blue dye in it to help 'whiten' whites but no longer wear white - working outdoors in all weathers with animals doesn't invite white.

That's it - homemade Laundry liquid is simple to make, inexpensive and has no added nasties. You can even thin the gloop down further and add extra lemon juice to make your own washing up liquid or dish soap. It's frugally versatile.

One important thing to remember - just because it has been made in your largest soup pan and stirred with a wooden spoon does not mean you should taste it. Trust me when I say that this is an easy mistake to make!

Where can you photograph pine martens?

Where can you photograph pine martens? Frugaldom in southwest Scotland, that's where. We have a feeding station that is in view of the yard so you can park with a direct view of the platform. We can accommodate vehicles up to 7.5m in length and if you are fully self-sufficient, you can stay overnight or even make the Frugaldom campervan site your longer term base. It costs £15 for 1 night, £25 for 2 nights, £75 for a full week. No campervan? No problem! You can park your car or bike and hire a hut for £50 overnight.

At this time of year, we are photographing and filming at least 5 individual pine martens coming to visit the feeding platform, where we leave them fresh eggs and peanuts. If you are coming to visit, we can recommend fresh eggs, peanuts, monkey nuts and crunchy peanut butter of the 100% peanuts, unsweetened varieties. (Aldi does a reasonably priced one.)

We restock the peanut box regularly - this one is a standard squirrel feeding box and seems to work well, once the pineys worked out how to open it. This year's babies still sometimes forget and bite the lid but they soon work out the top opening hatch. We still aren't sure if there were 2 or 3 kits born here this year, it is difficult to distinguish who is who when they seldom face the camera.

This is 'Comma'. He has been coming to the feeders for quite some time. We often caught him on camera at the feeder, in the yard and on the hut deckings throughout 2024. A definite male who has been seen with one of the females.

We can identify him as 'Comma' by his bib markings - this was him about to run up the tree last night, where we have a small den box.

This is one of the kits born earlier this year. We don't know which are males and which are females yet but there appears to be at least 3 youngsters 2 are very alike but their bib markings are on opposite sides - almost mirror images of one another.

Two of the three youngsters we have identified - regular visitors to the feeding platform in the tree. The one nearest the peanut box is simply named 'Splodge' because if the big brown splodge on his bib.

Our visiting campervanners and motorhomes love parking up and watching the pine martens and badgers from their vehicles. If you don't have a camper, fear not... We have overnight parking space for cars and bikes, plus cosy huts where you can hunker down for a camp-out overnight to enjoy wildlife watching.

Frugaldom is run voluntarily as a social enterprise so all income contributes towards the project, it's animal residents (ponies, goats and barn cats) and the wildlife.