Make do, Mend and Minimise in 2015

Just found that I should have been more careful when I sowed my lettuce seeds - I mustn't have cleaned the pot properly and today I noticed silvery trails on the compost - took it out of the china bowl it was standing in and there, underneath it, was a rather large slug. Threw it into the garden for the blackbirds to deal with. Luckily the (still very tiny) seedlings don't seem to have been affected.

And sadly my bargain herb pots from Aldi are now wilting - further close inspection shows tiny white flies (greenhouse whitefly?) which are sucking the sap out of the poor things. Much too fiddly to pick off and I don't fancy any chemical treatments so I've put them outside, at least that will slow the flies reproductive cycle down and may kill them off, if we get another cold snap. I know it may kill the plants too but I don't want the horrid things to spread to other indoor plants.

Requires vigilance, this gardening business!

Lynplatinum, I do that too! I have a (super organised) friend and when she comes we joke that she won't be bringing her white gloves and running them along the skirting boards. Honest, my house is quite clean too! (Apart from DS's bedrooms, of course... those are a health hazard but they are their health hazards!)

Finally started the HM pillow protectors, material has been measured and cut ready for sewing later on the week. Was wondering if it is best to have a pair of scissors just for this purpose (I just used my kitchen scissors). If so, any tips on where to get a good pair?

Had roast chicken last night for tea which was yummy - OH is going to portion up the leftovers for meals this week and also make soup. Love HM chicken soup

I really need my hair cut (last time was about a year ago) so I'm going to phone the local college and get an appointment there - it was £8 last time.

Thanks for the lovely welcome everyone.

RoseWood your bag is lovely, it has inspired me to dig out an old jumper that I have and I'm going to recover my cushion on my bed. Would post pic but i'm not very tech savvy.

Silvasava I have lovely day dreams about your boat and the MMM's with their YS champers on board with their MMM fishing rods catching lunch. Bring on the summer. It sounds wonderful.

For all the left over biscuits in the tin at the end of the month, which always seems to be the plain 1's, I take about a packets worth of different varieties and put in a food bag and crush with a rolling pin. Then in a large mixing bowel add a handful of chopped cherries and marshmallows. To this mixture add a tin of condensed milk and stir well. Place in a loose bottom tin and place in the fridge for a couple of hours. Turn out and slice into individual pieces and enjoy. I can't remember who I got the recipe from, but they called it nougat roll. Hope you like it.

Good advice wish I could dance with dyson but I successfully managed to blow mine up, along with my mobile phone yesterday. Just waiting for the 3rd thing to break. Looks like Im going to have to eek things out, and look out for 2nd hand goodies. Hey Ho.... that's life in 1 hand and out with the other...

Good Morning everyone!

Rather late today but have been trying to get myself together after all the social whirl of the last two days. I really needn't have got into a flap as I got wined and dined yesterday lunch (three men - not bad, even if two are gay) and the house is full of alcohol and chocolates, so if I run out of food or coffee before the end of the month I'll be ok!

I can concentrate on my friend and her daughter now and the grandchildren are off school for half-term so I shall be making some of that treacle toffee. I must just tell you a funny story; my inamorato/significant other and I met about 4 years ago (we had a very sad break up and hence my Caribbean adventure) and he brought me a big bag of presents before our first Valentine's Day because he would be offshore on 14th February. I was told they were not to be open before Valentine's Day; well, I'm sure if you've been reading this thread you know I'm a bit of a rebel and always do the opposite of what I'm told. So as soon as I had waved him off, I was into that bag. Apart from the wonderful lingerie there was an enormous heart-shaped box of chocolates - totally irresistible, so with a little help from like-minded friends I made steady inroads into them. The next day I had a phone call to say, 'Darling, I'm on my way back to you, I'm not offshore until next week, we'll be together on Valentine's day and we can open our presents together'. Consequently I had to hot foot it down to Thorntons with the box and buy the right shaped chocolates to fill the spaces of the ones I'd eaten1 I won't do that again in a hurry! Although I did tell him about it a couple of months ago and he thought it was funny.

Recipes later, I promise. When I eventually do hit the shops in March I will definitely be trying that nougat roll, thank you!

Have a good day, All, speak later.

Viv xx