We're still eating our homemade ready meals from last week.  It is so nice to come home from work and just have to reheat something (microwave) and there is dinner on the table.  Maybe cook some veg and that is it.  When we have eaten a bigger hole in the food that is in the freezer - all that meat we bought this year - then I'll step up the production of ready meals.  We've always cooked enough for two days at a time but never had enough to go in the freezer as well.  Not only is it easier to have our own ready meals but it is also cheaper in fuel costs.  I'm very conscious that fuel costs are going up and up and up and I am desperate to keep them as low as I can. 

We haven't had any form of heating on yet.  I called in on my friend for a few minutes at the weekend and they had their woodburner lit.  I really didn't want to leave and go back to our cold house.  Our house is a semidetached which faces north east-ish  and the back therefore faces southwest-ish.  If the sun is shining, we get the sunshine in the front for 30-45 minutes about 7am in the summer and in the back of the house for 30-45 minutes about 4pm as it has to get past next door before the warmth reaches us.  Very nice but not enough to warm the house much. I'm having a problem getting the washing dry now we are well into October. On Saturday, I pegged out a whole load of cotton items (including lots of socks) bright and early and by teatime they were not dry.  On Sunday afternoon, I ended up putting them in the tumble dryer as we needed some of them for Monday.  They only needed 45 minutes drying to finish them off but I had hoped to avoid the use of the tumbler for a bit longer. This is the first time that I've had to use it for many months.  I do try hard to avoid using it but it is there as a backup if absolutely necessary.  I HATE wearing clothes which smell musty because they dry so slowly in our cold house.

My friend with the woodburner doesn't have a problem drying the washing...