It’s the economy

More jelly-straining today. There will be jam, and Christmas jelly.

I am not just going to leave the jelly lying about until Christmas, obviously. I will make it and then shove it in the freezer. If I get it right there will be blackcurrant fondant and blackcurrant jelly. If I get it wrong there will be a sticky purple mess, so fingers crossed.

So far it is looking good. I do not suppose I am spoiling the Christmas chocolate surprise by telling you about them here. Everybody will probably have forgotten by Christmas I expect, and just poke the chocolates gingerly wondering what all the purple gooey bits might be. I will probably have forgotten by then as well, but it won’t matter. I always just say they are Raspberry flavoured, which sounds sophisticated, and nobody can ever tell the difference.

I had the magnificent experience of actually waking up this morning, as opposed to this lunchtime. This was because I did not hang about Bowness last night, waiting for the last drunks. I decided that there were not very many of them, so they could walk, and that I would go home and collapse between the clean sheets.

This was a splendid experience.

You will be horrified to hear, especially if you are Mark, that I fulfilled my Amazon daydreams of yesterday after all. We are shortly to be the proud possessors of all sorts of thrilling treasures. We will own hand soap, moisturiser, shampoo and hair conditioner. I am aware that this is reckless but I do not mind. I am hoping that by the time next winter comes we will have a full box of these things, ready to see us through the terrible cold months. We do not know yet if Mark will manage to find any work next winter, and so it is better to be on the safe side. We would not want to be grubby as well as broke, there are standards.

Tonight I am trying not to buy a beautiful antique jug. It would make a splendid vase. I do not exactly need a hand painted antique jug but it is very lovely.

I do not need a jug.

I definitely do not need a jug.

I am not going to look at eBay any more.

I was stopped from looking at eBay anyway at that moment because my telephone rang and it was my parents and my brother. There is some kind of horrid summer flu-bug going the rounds in their part of the world, and they had called to demonstrate their impressive coughs. Indeed, I was suitably awed, they sounded like the chronic ward on a tuberculosis sanatorium, and I have decided not to go and visit them until they can manage a complete cough-free sentence, even one between them would be good.

Actually, though, it might be worth a try. when I last had bat-flu I lost pounds and pounds of excess weight. I put it all back on again immediately afterwards, but I really need to try something. I do not seem to be getting any thinner, and the mighty Internet tells me that it is because of something called a weight-loss plateau. Your body gets used to living without chocolate buttons and adapts so that it no longer needs them in order to function, and if you eat them after that then you put on about half a stone for every handful. You have to do twice as much exercise thereafter if you wish to become thinner.

I wish somebody had told me that before I started.

Admittedly I have not done anything greatly exercisey today. I took the dogs out and then after that I sat in front of the computer, scowling and doing sums. I do not like doing the accounts, it is depressing to look back over the year and realise all the junk upon which you have frittered your cash away. There are teapots and dresses, dungarees and unidentifiable bits of taxi, dearie me, I must learn to be more economical.

I will start economising soon.

I might just buy a jug first.