Frugal Living - the Good, the Bad and the Gruesome!

When it Rains, it Pours!

 

Trying to live a frugal life on a tight budget while attempting to renovate a house, develop a microholding in your back garden and earn a living from home is a bit of a juggling act, to say the least. Taking the good with bad, I am happy to say that there normally is some form of silver lining to the passing clouds, even if it takes an exploration team a lengthy time to find it.

 

Getting the week's 'bad' stuff out of the way first, as this is only Wednesday and there's plenty of time for more to arrive. (Sigh).

 

On Monday, some marauding animal invaded the garden and killed little 'Bunty', the runty duck. The murderous 'whatever' was neither seen nor heard, so we aren't ruling out a return visit from the mink. Nothing was seen or heard until the gruesome discovery of a decapitated pile of feathers was made, when going to see why all the ducks had run for shelter. (Hoping to borrow a mink trap this afternoon!)

 

It was last October, the day before my dad's funeral, that the horrid mink paid its first visit and massacred 7 of the hens, including cute little 'Dumbledorf', the miniature Silkie. 

 

Earlier this year, we lost a couple of ducks.

 

Worse still, earlier this year we also lost dear Floppity, my big, lop-eared rabbit.

 

This morning, Scruffy cat, our frugal mouser, point blank refused to go outside the door. Mind you, that could have been because ofthe thick frost. Even the big duck pond is frozen today.

 

So enough is enough - the varmint HAS to be trapped and disposed of as quickly (and humanely) as possible. With this in mind, I have 'tweeted' a friend who is visiting this afternoon, asking that they brng their mink trap for a (hopefully short) vacation.

 

Yesterday, after delivering the frugmobile to the garage for it's winter check, MOT and investigation of more clunks and squeaks, we received the bad news - as well as all the 'little things needing done, the back axle's 'gone' (I'm assuming they mean it's broken and not, literally vanished!?) and major motor surgery is just too uneconomical. So, absolute, frugal resolution, I have taken the decision to have the car put to sleep.

 

Working from home means no commuting, but the nearest village store and post office is over 3 miles from here. We aren't on a bus route and there are no taxis. However, a friend had loaned me her bike and this will now give me the impetus to attempt to cycle. It will also give me the kickstart I need to pursue a car-sharing project for our tiny street, although it manly comprises of semi-vacant holiday homes. But nevertheless, I am finding it rather exciting thinking of all the preparations that need to be in place before winter proper reaches our corner of Scotland. The re-payment meter will definitely need to go, as there's no sure-fire way of reaching the post office in a hurry in the event of another 'key' failure. Perhaps the recent one was sent as a pre-warning, reminding me that it's sometimes better to release the stubbornness handbrake and pay to go with the flow. (But I'm still loath to pay Scottish POwer £60 to remove a meter I never asked for in the first place!)

 

OK, less of the doom and gloom, let's get on to the good stuff.

 

Without having a car, I'll save on road tax, insurance, garage bills, fuel bills and further reduce the carbon footprint of the Frugaldom household. That is excellent! It will free up and estimated £150 every month, which soon mounts up towards renovation work. It will also encourage me to get out there and walk more, perhaps even affording me the luxury of real walking boots!

 

On the subject of boots, and carbon footpints, our local council is showing signs of edging closer to recycling, planning the introduction of 5 new bins in 2014 (but still no green waste bin). Instead, we will gain individual, smaller bins for:

cardboard
paper
food waste (outdoor bin)
glass, plastics and metals
food waste (indoor caddy)

 

In addition to the above, they already offer subsidised compost bins, of which I have two, and a brand new entry this year is their introduction of subsidised wormeries. (Info can be found at www.getcomposting.co.uk) Being of a frugal extremist nature, I had to do a price comparison and ask about for other suppliers and recommendation... and that brought results!

 

I'll need to write a second post today, again, because the exploits of what happened next are rather fun but a little long to include here.

 

Back soon,

 

Frugaldom

 

PS: Second post of the day is a much happier state of affairs, I promise! :)

Pursuing Frugal Goals

The Quest for Good Living Continues

It's been a very hectic and sad past couple of weeks, especially since the sudden death of my dad. He, too, was a forum and blog fan, although his feathered friends were racing pigeons, rather than hens, ducks and quail. Dad had a great send off last Friday, supported by literally hundreds of friends, colleagues and fellow pigeon enthusiasts who turned out alongside the family. I know for a fact that he'll be sadly missed by many.

Life continues, we all pick up the pieces and soldier on towards our own destinies. We can do no more than our best to ensure we enjoy life to the fullest during our brief time as mortals on this earth. But in true frugal spirit, it is always best to be prepared.

The clocks have changed, we have now officially left British Summer Time behind and are approaching the most expensive time of the year here - winter! Temperatures are already plunging in Scotland, with the first frosts and snow of the year having touched down in the northern parts. Energy prices have risen, once again, forcing many to cut back on heating - never a good idea, in my opinion. I'm still ever hopeful that the E-Cat will eventually prove to be a commericial success and help us all reduce energy costs.

Having only an open fire to heat the Frugaldom household, I'm pleased to say that the new pump, mended pipes and replacement valves are all doing a great job of powering three radiators and heating our water. Coal is costly, as are seasoned logs, but these things shouldn't need to be looked upon as luxury items. It is our right to be able to afford some comfort in our own homes, even if it does mean following a slightly less than 'gourmet' diet.

Nearby, building has resumed on a couple of new houses, so I'm keeping a keen eye on all the pallets of blocks that are being delivered. We love free pallets, so one point of call this coming week is to the building site to ask nicely if they would like us to relieve them of their cast offs. They can only say no. With luck, however, they may let us have them free to chop for firewood - fingers crossed.

The log store is emptying fast, so another load of logs will need to be ordered to see out the remainder of this year. At that point, the new 2012 budget will kick in and we'll be off on our merry way, following the next big frugal living challenge.

Renovations were temporarily halted this month but, thanks to our local LETS group, I have someone coming to see what work they can help do. I'm expecting them tomorrow morning. The first thing needing done is the new bathroom window to be finished off, sealing out the draughts. Next up will be getting some insulation so we can get a new ceiling fitted in the kitchen. If we can possibly squeeze in a new back door, these three jobs would be sufficient to see us through the winter in a wind and watertight house. (I'd better remember to phone the joiner to let him know what the hold up has been!)

I still need to organise a letter box for the front door, but am now loath to allow the joiner to cut a hole in it. Rather than do this, I think I'll invest in a tradition cast iron locking mail box and install it outside. I'm sure there must be some on offer somewhere that are available for home delivery.

Tuesday 1st November sees the beginning of Will Aid month. This is an annual event where solicitors volunteer their time and services for the purposes of Will making and then donate the representative fees to one of several participating charities. I'm not sure how much a basic Will normally costs but the suggested donation is £85 for a single Will, so I am going to take the opportunity to get this essential task done. I haven't much to leave family but sharing a jointly owned house could slightly complicates things. Better to be prepared than continually worry about what would happen if...

The next bit of preparation will be using up all the bits and pieces I have lurking in the fridge and cupboards in order to make way for new stock. I don't know if it's down to previous work involving the wholesale & retail industries, but stock rotation is important, even in the freezer. Plenty of soup making, baking, pie and stew-making, I should think. These things are all great as winter warmers and save on overall electricity costs when batch cooked.

The electric blankets are on the beds and I now need to look out my fleeces for lining the curtains that hang over our single-glazed windows. Draught excluders need replacing and the winter woolies all need airing, so there's plenty to keep me busy.

Outside, the garden is looking a little sad and soggy. H has weeded out the Saffron Crocus bed and we still need to lift some potatoes, cut down the sunflowers for drying (if they even got around to seeding) and turn over the makeshift beds before the frost gets here. I have some garlic cloves ready for planting and I'll get the strawberry plants all bedded down in straw. The trees at the bottom of the garden are beginning to look slightly naked - I can now see the cows in the back field! But all those leaves are falling into the hen run, so what's left of our hens have a fun time scratching in them. I'm planning on making a mesh composting cage after reading a simple 'how-to' guide in the Microholding Daily.

Since the mink attack, the hens haven't been laying. Nor have they been allowed to freerange. Instead, they can only be allowed out their runs while someone is there to keep an eye on them. This doesn't sit well with my overall plan, so some serious redesign work needs to be done in order to keep them all secure. Unfortunately, this is not a financial priority at the moment, so I'll need to set myself yet another challenge for 2012 - raising enough extra cash to improve the entire chicken run, ensuring nothing can climb or burrow into it. It's quite a big hen run, so it could be a very costly job!

If anyone is in need of a blogger, article writer or columnist, get in contact with me and we'll negotiate a frugal rate. My hens need protecting and my surplus savings are only enough to cover the cost of a cheap .22 as part of the Frugaldom vermin control/fur slippers for Christmas plan.

Don't forget you can keep up to date with NYK and Frugaldom news via the RSS Feed, where all the blog posts are listed.

NYK Media
www.scottishmultimedia.co.uk

Wee Minky Bandits! You'll be Fur Slippers by Christmas!

How Much for a New .22?


Wild Mink. (Photo by Hugo.arg)

 I hope that things will soon return to normal here in Frugaldom, after the recent spate of sadness, family tragedies and then this recent invasion by what I am now calling the 'wee minky bandits'. Feel free to substitute your own phrase as you see fit.

Mid Thursday morning saw H out tending to the ducks while I was getting organised indoors, preparing to travel back up 'home' for my dad's funeral. There was a sudden commotion in the hen run, so H went running down to find out what the heck was happening.

As you already know, we have a stream running through Frugaldom, with a bridge leading from the main garden & orchard across to the hen runs, so it's several metres between
the two.

Dumbledorf

On entering the hen shed, H was confronted by a large mink in the process of killing the chickens. In the space of the few minutes it had taken him to get from the duck run to the hen run, the wee minky bandit had killed 4 hens and our blue cuckoo Silkie cockerel. The saddest losses were those of poor little 'Dumbledorf', our white miniature Silkie, and 'JayJay', our big blue hen. But the minky bandit was still in the hen shed! With nothing better to launch at it, H threw a bucket of water to chase it off, but had been a bit taken aback by the size of the creature.

Incredibly, Inky, Whites and Silkie-chic survived the attack with nothing more than a few ruffled feathers, so they were quickly relocated into the Pekins' run for safe keeping.

A total rethink is now on the cards, as we need to ensure the safety of the remaining poultry. The leaner months are approaching and the young mink will be spreading out, seeking their own territories, so a plan of action to minimise the problem is essential.

Mink are fairly large creatures (some more than 80cm in length) in comparison to the smaller ferrets, weasles and stoats, so you would think that they would be easier to keep out of the place. However, this is going to be rather difficult, what with their exploring any burrows they find and us having the burn flowing through our garden. Trapping them is said to be relatively easy, as they are so inquisitive, but they must be quickly and humanely killed. In true frugal fashion, if any get killed on this property, they'll be despatched in an appropriate way and then it could be new fur slippers for Christmas! (Perhaps a slight exaggeration, but this type of thing makes anyone mad.)

Thankfully, Floppity bunny was well secured in her hutch and the ducks were much further up the garden. Not being indigenous species, mink are like any other pests in this country - trapping is fine, but it's illegal to release them. As far as I am aware, their numbers have escalated in Scotland, starting from the time the animal rights' activists broke into the farms and released many commercially-bred animals into the wild. To this day, I cannot, for the life of me, understand how anyone can think it is the right thing to do. Granted, we should be grateful that it's mink in the garden and not big cats, but someone else always pays for mistakes of ill-thought out plans where others think they're helping a good cause.

There have been plenty of reports of big cats in our area over the past years, most probably sightings of captive animals that had been released, illegally, into the Galloway Forest. Unlike Alladale Estate, we don't have wild boar or moose, thankfully! But our immediate problem, which needs to be minimised for the purposes of damage control, are the wee minky bandits that I'd prefer not to have.

'Dumbledorf' was a bit of a star, so she'll be remembered by many.

NYK Media
www.scottishmultimedia.co.uk