#SmallSteps week 6 and do we eat everything we buy?

If you're new to this theme, I am blogging a series of Monday posts about SmallSteps lifestyle changes I think might help our disUnited Kingdom communities to get through the post-Brexit turmoil ahead. You can read the first post here. Let's at least keep our towns and communities afloat and vibrant whatever the politicians decide for the country as a whole.

I've decided to keep a track of my attempts to practice what I preach! My four SmallSteps are:

1) to CheckTheLabel and BuyBritish whenever possible
2) to ShopLocal and spend at least £5 each week in independent local shops
3) to eat healthily and walk or cycle short distances
4) Not to use self-service checkouts or Pay At Pump

and this week I am adding

5) to reduce food waste completely

So how did I do this week?

We managed to BuyBritish duvets manufactured by Fogartys so our guest room now has almost everything - except beds! Foodwise, we bought UK lamb, tomatoes, potatoes and bread.

Hostess trolley from Vintage Now 

My ShopLocal spend this week isn't quite as astounding as last week, but still in triple figures at £245 because we found a beautiful mirror and this fun hostess trolley at Vintage Now Interiors in Newton Abbot. The trolley is going to make a perfect TV and hifi unit. We also were promised 'the best chocolate limes' from American Delights sweetshop in Torquay though actually our jury is still out. They are very limey, but not so chocolatey as other brands! Drowers in St Marychurch, Torquay, is a wonderful find - a proper old-fashioned hardware store where we bought lighter gas and a meter box key, and I found a gorgeous long rust coloured skirt for a tenner at Classic Clothes just down the road. St Marychurch also has the Precinct Bazaar which is a delightful Aladdin's Cave of a shop. We bought an adapter plug here before, this week I got yarn for making placemats!

We did drive to St Marychurch, but have otherwise been walking for all our Torquay journeys including our theatre trip on Thursday. We didn't use automated checkouts and, because we didn't drive much, we didn't need to buy any fuel.


My theme for this week is food waste. BuyBritish can be more expensive than buying imported goods, especially for good quality food, but I wanted to see how much money we might be wasting by throwing away uneaten food. Could I make savings to offset the increased spend?

I read an excellent blog post over at Milli Grace on this subject. Milli went on a Love Food Hate Waste jaunt to Smithfield's in London and some of the food waste statistics she relates are almost unbelievable. I was reminded of her post by seeing council issued food waste recycling bins here in Torquay. This wasn't something we had in Sussex, although we did have our own large compost bin for the garden. I wonder if the new people in our old house still use it? Space for such things is limited in the flat, but I found an elegant indoor compost bin at The Kitchen Shop on Torquay harbour front (another ShopLocal!) so we can keep track of exactly how much we throw away. So far this week it's just one withered celery stick, but I've only had the bin one day!

Left Over Lamb Pie recipe 

Love Food Hate Waste has great ideas for saving money and using up leftovers so it's definitely worth checking out their website. We already plan our meals and try to buy items with long use-by dates. However, I am always tempted by those bright cut-price stickers, especially on fruit and veg, and it's easy to get carried away buying more than we could eat so not really saving money at all. Now we have a full size freezer, rather than a caravan ice tray, I plan to make good use of it. We can buy larger pack sizes which usually work out cheaper per portion and freeze half for another day. The BuyBritish lamb joint I mentioned earlier will do for two meals. It has already been roasted and the meat we didn't eat is perfect for my Left Over Lamb Pie recipe. I submitted this to the popular Credit Crunch Munch blog challenge and you can see loads more frugal recipes on these posts. We're also looking into ingredient substitutes. Dave makes a delicious spiced beef mince dish which incorporates black eyed peas thereby reducing the amount of meat needed to make it filling. The peas are much cheaper than good mince! I will try to remember to blog the recipe next time he makes it.


Please do feel welcome to shout out your favourite / your own BuyBritish and ShopLocal businesses in the Comments. Make sure to say in which town they are so other nearby folks will know to look out for them! And let me know your food waste tips too!

Finally I have made a blog badge from my SmallSteps logo image. If you would like to join in this Monday (or any day) blog theme, feel welcome to display the badge and let me know about your post so we can link up.

SmallSteps @ Stephanie Jane

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One Man Two Guvnors @ToadsTheatre - we find great theatre in Torquay

One Man Two Guvnors in Torquay 

Those of you who actually know me in the real world might have been wondering when I would start talking about theatre in our new home town. Amazingly it only took just over a week from us getting the flat keys to sitting down in a beautiful little theatre for a well- deserved evening out! It wasn't a factor in the purchase, but we were both happy to discover the Little Theatre is a mere ten minutes walk away from our front door. We strolled down to check out the venue in daylight. It's a beautiful repurposed church (reduce, reuse, recycle!) and the resident company, TOADS (which I think probably stands for Torquay Operatic and Amateur Dramatic Society) have done a great job renovating the inside. There's now velvet drapes falling from the old stone arches all the way up the sides of seating which is proper cushioned theatre flip seats on a pretty steep rake so everyone gets a good view of the stage. I loved the monochrome paintings in alcoves high above the audience.

TOADS Little Theatre 

TOADS current production is One Man Two Guvnors, the farce which got such great reviews when it starred James Corden at the National Theatre. We didn't get around to watching the NTlive broadcast so jumped at the chance to see the play performed live here. It's a fantastic script and I thought TOADS did a wonderfully professional job. It's difficult to make such intricate chaos look easy and we certainly didn't feel like we were watching an amateur company. Everyone was perfectly cast and we loved the musical scene change interludes. I did start writing about my favourite characters, but soon realised I was going to be naming them all! As a story, One Man Two Guvnors is completely improbable which makes it all the more fun and we both laughed thoughout. I'd highly recommend this show to everyone, even if you don't really consider yourself a theatre person.

The TOADS production of One Man Two Guvnors runs until the 13th August so, if you're in Torbay, click through to the TOADS website and book your tickets before they all sell out!

A belated birthday present and starting to make a home

We have had the keys of our new flat for just over a week now and I am beginning to get used to the idea! We have done some exploring locally and found our nearest famous person, historically speaking anyway. I saw this plaque commemorating the life of wartime SOE operative Eileen Mary Nearne and snuck up the building's driveway to take a closer look and this photograph. Torbay Civic Society have an online map showing all the blue plaques they have sited and also produce leaflets giving further information about each person honoured this way. I shall have to buy Eileen's!

My chaise longue 

Our vintage shop searching came up trumps at Vintage Ladies in Newton Abbot where I spotted this antique chaise longue. It's not in the best condition, but was a good price and is wonderfully comfortable. Dave was kind enough to buy it for me as my belated birthday present and I am lounging on it as I type this. It's perfect! Vintage Ladies quickly delivered to Torquay too and managed to lug the thing upstairs and into our flat without too much hassle. The narrowness of the access corridor is proving a problem for getting furniture in. A super-comfy tub-style armchair Dave tried out at BHF would have been ideal, but would have required hoisting through a third-floor window and we didn't like it enough to go to that much effort!

One place setting completed 

I have resumed crocheting and am making up table mats while lounging on my chaise longue and listening to George Orwell on an audiobook. Perhaps too much mixing of eras, but it does all feel nicely retro. I'm taking advantage of a no listing fee offer on eBay to put a few handmade items up for auction. We might have a flat instead of a caravan now, but I could still use the space! There's craft supplies, coasters, headwear and bookmarks. Each auction starts at 99p and I am happy to combine shipping so do take a look and Grab yourself a bargain!

Now, the rain has stopped, the sky has hints of blue and we're off out resuming our furniture search this afternoon. Unless we get distracted by other ideas!

SmallSteps week 5 roundup & can we BuyBritish furniture

If you're new to this theme, I am blogging a series of Monday posts about SmallSteps lifestyle changes I think might help our disUnited Kingdom communities to get through the post-Brexit turmoil ahead. You can read the first post here. Let's at least keep our towns and communities afloat and vibrant whatever the politicians decide for the country as a whole.

I've decided to keep a track of my attempts to practice what I preach! My four SmallSteps are:

1) to CheckTheLabel and BuyBritish whenever possible
2) to ShopLocal and spend at least £5 each week in independent local shops
3) to eat healthily and walk or cycle short distances
4) Not to use self-service checkouts or Pay At Pump.

So how did I do this week?

The Soap Stall, Torquay Indoor Market 

My ShopLocal spend this week is a truly amazing £1028.75 because we have been scouring local furniture and charity shops for our new flat. Other than furniture though, I managed to find The Soap Stall in Torquay's Indoor Market (mentioned last week) and met Lee who runs the business. I bought two soaps here and will be returning regularly as Lee stocks such a tempting range of natural soaps and other bath products. One soap I bought was made very locally in Paignton.
As mentioned in an earlier post, we visited Daisy Cakes cafe. I also bought boiled sweets at The Bon Bon Shop on Torquay harbour (but they didn't have Chocolate Limes) and I got a refreshing Boosting Bomb Iced Tea takeout from Calypso when I went for a two hour walk exploring and forgot to carry a bottle of water (again!). I also liked Marshfield Farm ice cream which I tried at Meadfoot Beach Cafe. The blackcurrant flavour is divine and the cafe also has a box of books for sale in aid of Rowcroft Hospice. (Yes, I bought a book too!)

As well as that long walk, we walked to the Wellswood shops once to buy envelopes and I've walked to the nearby Co-Op for a loaf of bread which means all our journeys under about five miles this week were car free. I am yet to attempt cycling Torquay's hills though! And we didn't use automatic checkouts at Sainsburys or when buying diesel.

New dining set from Super Seconds 

I am hoping to get as much of the furniture we need for our new flat according to my SmallSteps principles and am pleased with how we are doing so far. Half Price Bedz of Paignton are an independent ShopLocal business and swiftly delivered our BuyBritish Dreamlands mattresses. The beds to put under them should arrive in just over a week from the same place. In the meantime we are being all studenty - sleeping on a mattress on the floor! We spotted this lovely dining set at Super Seconds, also in Paignton, and it was delivered the day after our purchase - great service. I have no idea who had the table and chairs before us, but they were painted up at Super Seconds so I am counting them as ShopLocal and Upcycled. We nearly couldn't have the table though - it only just fitted along the narrow corridor to our flat! Last and least - least expensive anyway - Paignton YMCA charity shop came up trumps with a neat little computer desk for Dave for just a tenner.

We are still on the lookout for a comfortable armchair and small sofa so I am keeping an eye on Preloved and eBay amongst other sites. There are a couple of second-hand shops in Torquay we can wander around before re-running the Newton Abbot and Paignton routes again. Maybe we will get lucky? Maybe our camping chairs will need to do us a few more weeks?!


Please do feel welcome to shout out your favourite / your own BuyBritish and ShopLocal businesses in the Comments. Make sure to say in which town they are so other nearby folks will know to look out for them!

Finally I have made a blog badge from my SmallSteps logo image. If you would like to join in this Monday (or any day) blog theme, feel welcome to display the badge and let me know about your post so we can link up.

SmallSteps @ Stephanie Jane

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Settling in to our new Torquay home

View from our window 

Having got the keys to our new flat on Wednesday, we've spent the time since bringing car loads of our possessions over from our Bailey caravan, deciding whereabouts everything should now go and enjoying wandering delightedly from room to room. It does feel strange to suddenly have so much space after almost two years in a caravan! I was a bit sad to see Bailey put into storage today, not forever fortunately, but for the few months during which we establish our new home on the English Riviera in Torquay. The most amazing thing here is the stunning view from our lounge and bedroom windows. I'm going to waste hours gazing out across the town and harbour!

Daisy Cakes cafe 

On Wednesday we did have to wait an hour or so for the previous owner to finish up and leave so took the opportunity to discover what will now be our nearest cafe and it's a great little independent. I love the decor! Daisy Cakes is named for the youngest daughter of owners Kate and Johnnie. Kate bakes delicious cakes for the cafe - we know, we tried them - and also creates spectacular cupcakes and special occasion confections for weddings etc. There's a limited savoury menu at Daisy Cakes and their highlights are the weekly Pie Nights on Fridays and Saturdays which we definitely want to try soon. After just nine weeks, the Pie Nights are apparently already so successful that booking is essential so we will have to get organised.

Our few remaining items of furniture are still in storage in Sussex, along with loads of other small items that we can't completely remember so I am hoping we don't duplicate purchases before we can retrieve everything. I will show off our new dining set in this Monday's furniture-themed SmallSteps post, but in the meantime I have finally been able to unveil my birthday present from Dave and Gilly at Luthier's Supplies. It's a solid wood piggy chopping board which looks fab in our new kitchen. Thank you guys!

And we've had our first visitor already! Zoe from Property Ladder popped in for a cup of tea yesterday and brought us this beautiful rose. It is meant for outside, but while our lounge is so bare, I want to keep it indoors and enjoy the glorious colour! Property Ladder were the estate agents handling our flat purchase and Zoe did such a good job that we are very happy to recommend this company to anyone looking to buy or sell their home in Torbay and South Devon. Just please do mention that 'Dave Greene recommended you' when you get in touch. We might get a reward!

#ThrowbackThursday - where we were on this date in Julys past

Gallery North art
in July 2012 

I really enjoy looking back over my past four years of blogging and remembering where I was and what I got to do or see. Sometimes the years seem to stretch back forever, other times they could have passed in the blink of an eye! Mum used to say 'don't wish your life away because you're a long time old'. I know what she meant, but I am finding that time is speeding up as I'm getting older. It passes faster each year!

This July is particularly special as Dave and I celebrated our 13th anniversary on the 13th. Yay us!

Here's a selection of other July memories:

I visited Gallery North's Open Part II on the 28th July in 2012 and wrote this post the day after. Gallery North is a quaint little art venue in Hailsham and their Open displayed a varied selection of artistic disciplines including painting, photography, ceramics and mixed media work.

Sunflowers in Eastbourne in July 2013 

Saturday 27th July 2013 was apparently 'a perfect day' - walking, sunflowers, poetry, art, lunch out with Dave, book shopping and then music in the evening with a fab Tom Russell gig at the Palmeira in Hove. Russell is an amazing songwriter whose lyrics are about very different subjects to the norm. Several songs have a strong Mexican-Spanish vibe to them and the album we had then recently downloaded has great brass instrumentation although, of course, the brass section hadn't flown over to play at the Palmeira. According to his website, Tom Russell is touring the UK again in January 2017. There aren't any venues confirmed yet though. I'm not even sure which country I will be in then either!

Pears ripening
in July 2014 

July 2014 was a frustrating time as selling our Polegate house was becoming a far more dragged out process than either of us had anticipated. I commented at the time that it was about as much fun as watching pears ripen, the joke being that the pears on our tree never actually did ripen so I always ended up poaching them in red wine to make them edible. To pass the time, I had begun ebaying and freegling pretty much everything we owned. Now we have a new flat, we have the problem of transporting the remaining stored stuff from Sussex to Devon. Fortunately there's almost enough in the caravan to tide us over - once we've trawled Torbay furniture shops for a bed!

July 2015 in Penrith 

Our UK caravan tour last summer had brought us to cloudy Penrith by the end of July 2015 and I thoroughly enjoyed visiting this vibrant town. It is a fab place to ShopLocal - which fits in perfectly with my current SmallSteps blog post series - and I liked the interesting historical architecture too. We got to see an RSC production broadcast to the Alhambra cinema and I was impressed by Penrith's sense of its identity. Plaques and marked walks guide visitors around the town showing its heritage and we enjoyed simply strolling the streets and alleys, drinking in the ambience, before we were tempted to start shopping in earnest.

Great memories, but that's it for my July ThrowbackThursday. Join me again next month to discover whether previous Augusts actually felt like summer!

We're back in Devon trying out Sedgewell Farm campsite and buying beds

View from our caravan door 

We're due to pick up the keys to our new Torquay flat on Wednesday and so are back in Devon again, making the most of our few remaining nomadic days by zooming around furniture shops and seeking caravan storage. Don't get the wrong idea though. This isn't the end of our touring adventures! We just want to have a static base for a while so our caravanning life will be an exciting contrast again.

In our attempts to try out as many campsites near to our new home as possible - we want to be able to make recommendations to potential camping visitors! - we have chosen the Camping And Caravanning Club site at Sedgewell Farm this time around. Previously we have stayed at Widend, Dornafield and Lemonford. Sedgewell Farm is near the village of Olchard and very conveniently located just off the A380, although, as we discovered, the turnoff is easy to miss. It is considerably smaller than the other three, officially just having fifteen pitches, and is

Bailey at Sedgewell Farm 

nicely laid out with five level caravan pitches along a terrace with a good view out over a wooded valley. Space for tent pitches is on a second terrace below. The prices quoted on the website are a bit out of date and we are paying £20 a night (it is highest season) for the pitch with our own electric hookup and water tap. Waste and waste water are a short distance away. There is also a nice timber building with toilets, good showers and a washing machine. Some kind soul has installed tempting snack vending machines too!

Despite being the first week of the school holidays and the lower part of the field being packed with families in tents it is pretty peaceful here. There is some traffic noise from the A380, but it isn't intrusive and there is often enough quiet to hear the birdsong. The campsite is pitch dark at night too because the proximity of a bat colony apparently means even low level lighting cannot be kept on at night.

Sedgewell Farm is about fifteen minutes by car from the edge of Torquay and also handy for Newton Abbot which was good for us today as we wanted to revisit the British Heart Foundation furniture shop on Queen Street. They have a wide range of good condition furniture and electrical items on display, but the only item I really liked this visit was this vintage green sofa which is actually for sale through the BHF eBay shop. We then drove on to Paignton where we very very tempted by a sofa and chair suite which arrived at The Bargain Box at the same time we did. We saw it being offloaded! However, we haven't yet measured the flat's doors so couldn't be sure it would fit through. Hopefully ino one else will buy it before we can return! The badly spelled, but well stocked Half Price Bedz shop was the only one to actually take any of our money today and they've done rather well! We've found a new bed and mattress for ourselves, plus those all important beds and mattresses for the guest room, and the first of two deliveries is due on Friday. Hopeful visitors may now form an orderly queue!

Sunny Torquay! You can't see our flat from here