Make do, Mend and Minimise in 2015

villagelife · 27 March 2015 at 10:03AM

I was also up very early and am just about to put a third load of washing on the line. DS1 came home for an hour on Wednesday and hey presto the laundry basket was full!

Will spend time in the garden today - planting, digging and cleaning out chickens. The work will hopefully be worth it when I start harvesting the veg and fruit.

I've also reduced my shopping trips and has been surprisingly easy but DS1 and 2 are both back from uni over the next few days - DS1 today and DS2 when he feels like it or runs out of money. He has a job near home for a few days over the holidays.

vhalla1478 · 27 March 2015 at 11:10AM

Morning All,

I'm late today as I've tidied up and sorted out lunch early. I've my late friend's husband coming for lunch - nothing like a visitor to make you ensure that the house is clean and tidy!

Talking of 'clean'; I agree, Cheerfulness, a lot of the so-called stain removers are unsatisfactory, but at the risk of repeating myself, I have to say that Vanish Gold is the best by far as far as I am concerned for all stain removal - it does say don't use it on wool, silk etc, but I have without anything disintegrating and it even got a nasty water stain out of a pair of very pale suede brogues. A waste of time and money, in my opinion to put it in with the wash so therefore a tub lasts ages.

A beautiful day here today, so had I not had a visitor, I would have whipped all the cushion covers off the settee and chairs and washed them, but hopefully the weather will continue to slowly improve and I can do them in the next few days.

Here is another recipe for chicken livers; they are so absurdly cheap (around 50p for a tub in this part of the world) that I eat a lot of them!

Chicken Liver Pate serves 4

350 grams chicken livers, 175 grams diced butter, finely chopped shallot, tsp thyme leaves, finely chopped, 75ml madeira (or cheap sherry or even sherry vinegar), 75ml double cream, half tsp salt, tsp ground allspice, quarter tsp ground ginger.

Roughly chop up the livers and heat a knob of butter in a frying pan over a medium heat, add the shallot and thyme and soften. then turn up the heat to medium high, add the livers and saut! for a couple of minutes until browned on the outside but still pink on the inside. Tip into a food processor. Add the madeira/sherry to the pan and boil until reduced to a couple of tbspful. Tip into food processor, add cream, salt and spices and whizz until smooth. Add all but 75grams of the butter and whizz again. Taste for seasoning and adjust if necessary. Pass through a sieve, place in a serving dish and chill for half an hour. Melt remaining butter, pour on top, then refrigerate until set.

Nice enough to serve as a starter at a dinner party with toast but equally nice for an al fresco lunch with salad.

Have a great day, Folks - GreyQueen, so pleased you're sorted!

Viv xx

misstara · 27 March 2015 at 11:14AM

It's a lovely day here, still a bit chilly but very sunny so it should be a lovely walk up to work later on. The plan for today is do some cleaning/sorting out in the flat and make some lemon drizzle cake as I have eggs and lemons to be used up. I might attempt some lemon curd as well as I remember seeing a recipe on this thread and it looked fairly easy.

good_advice · 27 March 2015 at 12:28PM

Hello everyone :wave: spring%202015%20089_zpszvlecuj4.jpg~c200

So glad spring has finally arrived.
This photo, I snapped on Tuesday. Daffodils are everywhere.
Here, walking our dog on the cliff top while visiting some friends.

The count down for Easter is in full swing. I bought my chocolate eggs to gift early. Have started giving some out.

This is an Easter cardigan. I knitted for a grand baby.
Yellow and white stripes.

spring%202015%20088_zpso8qsdhlt.jpg?1427455730640&1427455734234

spring%202015%20088_zpso8qsdhlt.jpg?1427455730640&1427455734234

good_advice · 27 March 2015 at 12:37PM

carrying on from my post....
The baby cardigan is from wool I had and the buttons recycled from my stash = making do.

spring%202015%20086_zpsmznrym3d.jpg?1427456241328&1427456244328

spring%202015%20086_zpsmznrym3d.jpg?1427456241328&1427456244328

Heard of water baby! well this is water dog. Our golden lab. Has a swim most days.
Makes do with pond, river or sea. She is not fussed with this free sport.
Just try and keep her out of the water. No chance!

lillibet_dripping · 27 March 2015 at 2:21PM

good advice I've been searching for a baby cardigan pattern exactly like that for ages! Would be grateful for the pattern name/number if possible.

Love the swimming dog! Mine (springer spaniels) will find even the smallest muddiest puddle to wallow in but won't go near clean bath water!!

Lilli

cheerfulness4 · 27 March 2015 at 2:28PM

Oh just look at her having fun. Great photos, goodadvice!
I dressed my babies in lovely cardis like that. They were so squishily gorgeous to cuddle when they were dressed up in those.
Baby jeans are the pits. They are even a nightmare to put on. 0-3 months was the first size I had to put on my grandbabies. They looked so uncomfortable, too. I guess I had my choices with my own babies but there was something so sweet and innocent about the look of babies in terry babygrows with soft as cotton wool cardis and little bootees smelling of baby powder. Memories.

THIRZAH · 27 March 2015 at 2:38PM

I agree with you about baby jeans, they don't look comfortable. Also some anoraks for babies with zips up the front-their chins seem to rest on the top of the zip until they can hold their heads up.

My girls wore cardigans like that too. The eldest was quite a small baby and even the smallest baby gro was too long at first so we put her in those cream nighties -does anyone else remember them? they had a tie at the back and embroidery on the bodice.

Rainy-Days · 27 March 2015 at 4:16PM

Good Advice loved both of those photos - I went arhhh when I saw the picture of the baby cardigan then the dog :)Our Black Lab was the same with water by the way

I do miss him very much x

Anyway, been going through cleaning the house. Yesterday I made full use of the new chopping board that i bought from Lakeland in Newcastle on Wednesday.

My original old wooden chopping board i have had for 25 odd years. Bought it originally from the Kitchen Reject Shop in Northampton. Over the years it has seen daily dutiful service, but I got fed up with the smell from the onions and garlic. It did not matter how well I washed the board the lingering smell stayed.

Anyway after much thinking I decided it was time to put away (not throw it away) the old board and got this new one for £7.00 odd from Lakeland. I said it was allot of money for a plastic chopping board, but the Wilko's offering was rubbish flimsy and this was the best of a bad bunch. This plastic board has not left any lingering smell of onions and garlic which I used it for last night and if it lasts as long as the old board, I think it will be money well spent.

It's fairly thick and substantial this new board, so it should last and last.

good_advice · 27 March 2015 at 4:56PM

lillibet_dripping wrote: »

good advice I've been searching for a baby cardigan pattern exactly like that for ages! Would be grateful for the pattern name/number if possible.

Love the swimming dog! Mine (springer spaniels) will find even the smallest muddiest puddle to wallow in but won't go near clean bath water!!

Lilli

Just got my knitting bag out....
The yellow and white cardigan was from
http://dianne-jones.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10=baby-cardigan.html

Looks like that worked :j
I got it from Ravely (I think) a wile back.
I have now knitted 7 in diffrent colours and slightly diffrent pattern bits.
I have x2 grandbabies. x1 boy & x1 girl in diffrent families.

I am now knitting the FREE Aldi pattern I found and put on the freebie page.
I am knitting it in pale blue wool I found in a CH.

https://www.aldi.co.uk/fileadmin/fm-dam/RESPONSIVE/ABOUT_ALDI/Useful_Information/Knitting/Revamp_121214/pdfs/Soft_Cardigan.pdf

Happy knitting everyone.

PLEASE READ BEFORE POSTING

Make do, Mend and Minimise in 2015

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