Simplifying Life - Mark II

PennyGSD

philc_31 wrote: »

There is a big waiting list for allotments.....new houses are built with postage stamp size gardens, very limited what you can grow in them. Developers are required to build childrens play parks but not allotments........another campaign for Money Saving Experts to pester their MP with, he he he

This reminds me of Tom and Barbara from the Goodlife.....you cant always be self sufficient......my cat was ill a lot last year and cost me over £500, even though I have insurance...any money I had saved from penny pinching went straight out the window on his bills....he is asleep now, he should be up and about dancing on his back legs to entertain me, to get my £500 worth he he he

I could have written exactly the same quote about our dog. To add to arthritus/joint/back problems, his medication for this is causing his liver to fail, so he's on REALLY expensive supplements for that, and he's now suddenly developed the most dodgy digestive system in the world so that only the most ridiculously expensive specialist food will suit him - we've worked out that he costs us over £6 per day to feed him including all his supplements and food - despite everything being sourced more cheaply on line. Let's not even mention vets bills - and no insurance company will touch him.

But we love him, and won't stint on his care, so thank heavens old-style has become second nature of the last couple of years as at least we more disposable income to put towards this.

£6 a day? Good grief, we eat for a week on that!

shellysue

this thread has made me think quite seriously about what a 'simple life' is and what I mean by that. I don't want to go back to getting water from a well, I am happy for it to come from the tap and hot water from the hot tap too:rotfl:
I sometimes wish I could leave the TV alone and get up do something else, but after being at work all day, its often all I have the energy for.
So I think for me, home made/hand made is a very big part of simple living, I appreciate things more if I made them, or if someone made it for me, than if I had gone out and bought it.
Only when I tried to define simple living, I realsied, I have never been particularly complicated and simple doesn't mean easy or no effort, so to me it means natural, uncomplicated, seasonal and free from limitations.

Jammie_Dodger_2

Hi Fiftyeighter,
It seems to me you could do with a good old fashoned plum tree. They dont always have to grow tall and can be heavy croppers. Or damsons and greengages, old fashioned now but yummy. Have you thought about gooseberries? There is always strawberries of course which you can grow in hanging baskets even. Have you ever seen the stepover apple trees too. I believe you can get two varieties on one rootstock or apple and pear together. Not to mention good old rhubarb. Best pie or crumble in the world.:rotfl:Hope these are food for thought and you have success with the fruit this summer.

niglet

shellysue wrote: »

Only when I tried to define simple living, I realsied, I have never been particularly complicated and simple doesn't mean easy or no effort, so to me it means natural, uncomplicated, seasonal and free from limitations.

I totally agree. Life for us now is certainly not easy or effort free but it is challenging and satisfying. It took a while for the idea to catch on but now both DD's are following suit and making changes in their households.

I am hoping to plant a couple of cordon fruit trees this year I just hope I haven't left it too late!

Penelope_Penguin

We try to live a simle life by rejecting consumerism and reducing our carbon footprint as much as possible

I'll add this to the existing thread to give you more ideas.

Winchelsea

Hello all,

I have not spent the afternoon quite as I'd planned. I was meant to start off a loaf of bread in my bread machine, then sit down to start altering a jumper, also embroider a motif on another jumper that's got some sort of permanent brown stain on the front.

Well, I measured out all the ingredients in to the bread pan (this is sourdough, so no yeast, but a cup full of my home made starter), and set it going. UNFORTUNATELY there's a problem with the BM. It's about 10 yrs old (used to be DD4 and her DH's, and they passed it on to me when my last BM died of old age), and today it's started leaping about and making a terrible noise when it gets to the kneading. It made a bit of a noise for a short while when I last used it (but may have been longer, as I came in, and found it doing it more or less at the end of the kneading - then of course it behaved OK). The bread wasn't quite as well risen as usual, but was edible. At the time I blamed it on the sourdough starter, but now realise it's the machine itself.

So, my quandary is - do I just go back to making all the bread by hand (which I often do anyway), or do I buy a new breadmaker? I won't rush in to a decision, but have been spending (or wasting?) time looking at some on the internet. It seems I've just missed a half price bargain at Argos by the way.

So after all that I haven't got the sewing things out. My husband is in a nursing home with severe dementia, and I've got a few woollies of his that I've knitted over the years, but don't want to take them in to the home, as their tumble dryer has shrunk a few things since he's been there. So, a navy blue v-neck jumper will make me a lovely cardigan if I stitch two lines on the front, cut between them, finish the edges neatly and put on some buttons and button holes.

ceridwen

Winchelsea wrote: »

So after all that I haven't got the sewing things out. My husband is in a nursing home with severe dementia, and I've got a few woollies of his that I've knitted over the years, but don't want to take them in to the home, as their tumble dryer has shrunk a few things since he's been there. So, a navy blue v-neck jumper will make me a lovely cardigan if I stitch two lines on the front, cut between them, finish the edges neatly and put on some buttons and button holes.

I would never even have thought of that idea:T

I'm pretty much totally cackhanded at sewing - I could sew on the buttons, but not make buttonholes. I think I could manage to just emulate your idea though of cutting down the front of a jumper and neatening up the edges to make a cardigan and just have it as a buttonless cardigan/jacket type garment:D. I imagine that would look okay...

Winchelsea

Penelope Penguin - your post just before my last one says it all - YAY - keep up the good work!! And gets me back on track to see that I probably should NOT buy a bread machine!

I do i-measure every Monday - read the gas and elec meters and enter them on i-measure's website. It does concentrate my mind - makes me more conscious of cutting down the power use and hence the CO2 footprint. And it keeps more pennies in the bank!

GreyQueen

Hello Winchesea, nice to read you. I just wanted to mention something that my Mum, an avid life long knitter, did for her MIL's sister when her OH was in the care home with dementia. These places were so hard on clothes that Auntie G asked Mum to knit Uncle a few (3) plain stocking stitch sweaters in a pure acrylic in 4ply. They washed and wore really well, the nursing home staff commented on how easy-care they were.

I've always been a one for "pet" clothes, old favourites which I wear until they disintegrate and which I genuinely mourn. I detest buying new clothes but can just about handle a rummage around the jumble sale or charity shop. I also look for things to dismantle for the fabric. I have a lovely toffee-colour suedette cushion cover which used to be a jumbly skirt.

I've had some of my stuff so long (and it was mostly pre-loved anyway) that its come back into fashion, sometimes more than once!

I like it that there's a trend towards appreciating simplicity and OS values. They've always been mine but I was the butt of jokes for it. Feel I can come out of the closet now that the world and its wife wants allotments and home-made jam, too.

I'm late forties, so a generation younger than some of you, but have had chronic health problems for the past 25 years and have to peck away at life's tasks, gardening etc, at little at a time. It's good to learn lots of tricks from the OS-ers to make my bounce go a little bit further.

Have a nice evening, all.

Penelope_Penguin

Winchelsea wrote: »

Penelope Penguin - your post just before my last one says it all - YAY - keep up the good work!! And gets me back on track to see that I probably should NOT buy a bread machine!

For Christmas we got a copy of Hugh F-W's latest book, and I discovered the wonders of sourdough bread. The BM has hardly been used since :T It takes about a week to get your starter going, but then it's just flour and salt (no yeast need be added - it uses wild yeast from the air) and gives the most delicious chewy bread

I'm about to go out, but will post a link tomorrow.