It is tough NOW. So how are we coping

Primrose

Mummysaver - regarding the plastic greenhouse you saw in the Argos catalogue. We bought one of the little £15 cheap four shelved ones for germinate veggie seeds etc. It was ideal for the purpose but beware of one thing. They are very lightweight and vulnerable to heavy gusts of wind which seems to get inside them and blow them over like a balloon. . Two years ago a heavy wind blew ours over onto our patio and I lost four shelves full of trays of germinating veggie seeds. Even if you anchor the bottom shelf down with buckets of heavy soil or water (if it's that type of greenhouse) , they can still be vulnerable My OH solved this problem by drilling two heavy bolts into our house wall and we now anchor our greenhouse by threading a strong nylon luggage strap through the bolts and right round the greenhouse. This has worked well and I would recommend anybody considering this type of little greenhouse to first consider where they could anchor it to before buying one, to avoid this kind of disaster.

mummysaver

Thank you Primrose! I shall have to have a good think about anchoring it down, I did think about it being so light and the strong winds we get here, but they usually aren't too bad in the summer! I'm thinking of a corner spot in the garden so it would be a bit sheltered, I wonder if tent pegs would work, we have industrial strength ones as we camp a lot and our tent is huge! What I need is to see one up, will have to have a google and do some more research I think. I'm hoping to use it to grow peppers and aubergines and toms in, we use loads of them, and then we could freeze or bottle the excess for the winter - ooh, I'm coming over all Little House on the Prairie lol!

elizabunny

mummysaver wrote: »

Mrs T, well said! Was listening to them going at it on radio 4 this morning, one saying we could be heading towards bankruptcy as a nation, another saying no, then someone saying it didn't matter - admittedly I haven't yet been to bed (worked last night) and dd3 was in and out, but by the end of it I had no idea who thought what or if there was any prevailing point of view! Like Ceridwen I shall attempt to be prepared and then just get on with life.

On a positive note, I have found 11 packs of seeds that I bought in the end of year sale at the garden centre, they were in the back of a box of printer paper, not quite sure why, I knew I had them, but it wasn't surprising that I couldn't find them lol! I was also having a browse through the Argos catalogue, and they have a greenhouse that's made of plastic and looks easy to assemble and take down again - does anyone have any experience of these? I don't want a glass one or a permanent one, aside from the expense, the kids and dog would be bound to damage it - and it's their garden too, so I don't want to stop them kicking balls around.

Morning everyone

Hi mummysaver -when you say a plastic greenhouse, do you mean rigid plastic? The reason I'm asking, is we bought DS1 and his OH one last year - tublar frame and polythene and I'm afraid it hasn't been too good. The main reason is that it keeps on blowing over:mad: They even sited it in a very sheltered spot, but it still ended up half way down the garden. I have no experience of rigid plastic because ours is glass. As far as the glass ones go, I have to say apart from the initial expense, it has been brill. We've had ours about 20 years now and its survived 2 football mad sons, 6 dogs (at different times) and a grandson. Admittedly a couple of panes have needed replacing -but I think it was ME who broke those. Good luck with the seeds!

I agree with some of the other posts today -I think we, as a country, are in dire straights and have to admit to having been a tearful about the whole situation last night. Particularly as DS1 has still not found work and DS2 is very worried about his job too. We are still struggling with the 4 day week thing and this is difficult enough, but we would so like to be in a better position to help DSs. The truth is we have no choice but to get on with it and make the very best of what we have. Sometimes I think it would be so easy to let it get you down -but then you feel so depressed and you just cannot fight back. I think we all (on this thread) are helpng each other to fight back, to keep going and to be as positive as possible and yes things are bad -very bad, but hopefully there will be some way through it.

Beki -so sorry you're having so many problems at the moment. I hope things improve soon. x

Have a nice day everyone

catznine

The news is depressing isn't it? I try so hard to not let it get me down and try to wrap myself up in a comforting blanket of old styling (((hugs))) Like Mrs T I am not going to worry about what I haven't got and anyway get far more out of making the best of what we have (compared to a lot of people around the world that is quite a lot after all).

As to any changes this has made to us, we no longer treat ourselves, when exhausted, to takeaways - I am cooking in bulk and freezing down some home made ready meals for the "can't be bothered" days. I freeze most leftovers for treats to cheer us up, also save any free samples for pamper box for dd and myself and have several sachets of different shampoos and conditioners to try.

Instead of hiring a dvd we watch some of the old videos or dvds we already have, or read a book, we seem to have loads up in the loft! I have also found our old scrabble board game.

Life is still good and to be enjoyed.

mardatha

Primrose, I agree totally with the Zimbabwe thing -- but the difference here is that we have a real democracy, or are supposed to. We have 2 other major political parties who should be out there making a noise....why aren't they ? We are all standing around like sheep waiting for the lorry for the abbatoir LOL

Yategirl

((((hugs)))) to everyone in need.. the news is depressing... I am trying hard to concentrate on what I need to do to keep bills down and not look around too much. Dh's job is still very uncertain but whereas I am trying not to spend money needlessly.. dh keeps buying... he can't see that there is a limited pot of funds and we don't need to keep buying stuff :rolleyes:

Our library is allowing book reservations free of charge at the moment so have taken the opportunity to reserve quite a few "useful" books (so if anyone can recommend any books I *must* read.. then please let me know!).

mummysaver

Thanks Eliza and sorry to hear you felt down. Might have to have a rethink! I will grow hundreds of toms this year, I'm determined, but I draw the line at sleeping in a greenhouse to stop it blowing away - besides I don't fancy living in Oz, guess I could wear some red shoes before I bedded down though!

Beki - I hope things are okay for you and that your oh and mum's jobs are safe x

Catznine - freezing spare portions and bulk cooking are fantastic time and money savers, like you, we grab them now instead of takeaways, dd2 and ds had takeaways round at friends houses recently, and decided they preferred hm butter chicken and also the quantity when it's hm! Not that they complained to their friends or their parents, after all it's nice to have a treat. I've stopped buying dvd's and books as much, still buy the odd one or two, after all buying a dvd is far cheaper than us all visiting the cinema, it cost £7.95 each last time!!!!! We've been watching old films from when the kids were smaller, it's been really nice reminiscing about why they loved them. We haven't done a pamper night for ages, so I think I shall pinch that idea for Thursday night when I'm not working - facepacks are always great fun, and we always end up in fits of giggles cos dd3 insists that ds 15 joins in!

Cinny91

I haven't been on this thread in an age but I heard a man calling outside the office (we're based in an old miners village so surrounded completely by houses) and there was an old lad stood on the back of the pick up yelling 'Any Old Iron!' at the top of his lungs. Suddenly thought of this thread!

Hope everyone on here is okay and sending out lots of good thoughts to anyone facing redundancies.

Primrose

Mummysaver, I started off my peppers & aubergines in my plastic greenhouse last year but put them outside at the end of June in a protected position against a house wall where they got sun for half the day and got excellent yields, despite the indifferent summer, so experiment, both inside and outside. . If you've got one of those cheap metal gardening trolleys on wheels which lay flat, and you're at home all day, you can put your pots on them and wheel them around the garden, even onto the lawn, so that you can catch more sun as it moves around. (You will need a minimum of 8 inch diameter pots for peppers & aubergines for best results and drip saucers to ensure that when you water them with a liquid fertiliser, any surplus drains into the saucers can be re-used and not wasted).
The heavy duty tent pegs might work but you would have to be careful about weight distribution, putting the tallest & heaviest pots low down and smaller, lighter pots at the top of the greenhouse.

catznine

Yategirl wrote: »

Our library is allowing book reservations free of charge at the moment so have taken the opportunity to reserve quite a few "useful" books (so if anyone can recommend any books I *must* read.. then please let me know!).

My favourite read (for giving me courage and inspiration) at the moment are the Nella Last books - Nella Lasts War and Nella Lasts Peace, She really knew how to make a little food go round and showed great courage in difficult times, at least we don't have to contend with bombers overhead!

Anything by Shirley Goode as her books were written during recession years, I have worn my copies out! Also Elizabeth West's books, Hovel in the Hills, Garden in the Hills and Kitchen in the hills - all deal with making the most of a very little. Bernadine Lawrences How to feed a family on £5 a day is very good and another very helpful book from the last recession. Sadly these books are out of print now but can be found in charity shops if you are lucky.

The Penny Pincher book by John and Irma Mustoe is full of moneysaving tips and the revisited version came out quite recently so the library should be able to get you a copy.

Make do and Mend is fab, with lots of sewing and mending advice.

Sufficient by Tom Petherick is the book I am devouring now as we are about to make a large part of our garden over to fruit and veg :j sadly I am getting very excited about that! Our sheds are being moved over the next week and then the rotavator will come in.

Tightwad gazette of course is one of the best.

Hope this helps, I will try to think of more. I have trouble convincing dh that we need to prepare for hard times, he thinks I am over reacting - My goodness I hope he is right! I would rather be prepared though! (((hugs))) to all those who are worrying about their jobs, dd is coming to the end of her 60 days consultation period and hopefully will have another job to go to but possibly a lower income