It is tough NOW. So how are we coping

[Deleted User]

re eating out :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

lol, what`s that these days, she says

we got a 2 for 1 voucher in our local paper last week for fish and chips so we bought them, two meals for £4.60. Not worth even that imo, taking a closer look at the once a year chips, many had black blobs on them. fish was ok but was in soft, greasy batter but it was the men in the chip shop that put me off, honestly I can`t imagine them scrubbing their hands after the loo

Youngs fish in batter the other week, was gross. An unknown, skinny fish in thick, greasy batter. No thanks, never again

Today in the paper was an article about environmental health and the stomach churning stuff in many eating places. There was a web link that you may find helpful. My council is not on there but yours might be

http://www.scoresonthedoors.org.uk/

Austin_Allegro

ceridwen wrote: »

Still trying to keep an eye out and see how Iceland is faring now - I found:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/feb/22/iceland-women

LOL that is the biggest load of sexist claptrap I have read in a long time!

I'm sure the women of Iceland weren't complaining when the money was rolling in...:rolleyes:

BB1984

Ches wrote: »

I once knew a lady who made curtains for a large department store and she told me to always make curtains from the bottom up so that any discrepancies get hidden in the heading tape. Since then I have always taken the heading tape off when shortening curtains and then put it back on after. Makes a much better finish as you don't muck up the professionally finished hem and any wobbly machining won't notice at the top.

Thank you very much for that tip; I have logged it carefully in my memory bank...! However, these particular curtains are the kind with eyelets at the top, so I don't think I can do it that way
I posted on the sewing thread (thanks for the link Charis!) for advice about how best to tackle this, so hopefully I'll get some suggestions...
I think I'm also going to have a go at making my own curtains from scratch for the spare bedroom and the office - both quite small windows.
Anyone know the best (i.e. best value!) place to buy supplies - fabric, thread etc? (actually - what do I even need to buy?!) I'm so NOT a domestic goddess! :rotfl:

BB

bellaquidsin

Hi BB, for reasonably priced fabric try your local market. To make curtains you will need header tape which should be available from a haberdashery stall in the market, if not a shop which makes curtains will sell you some (at a price). You also need thread, I wouldn't buy cheap for this, get the best one you can find as cheap ones can snap in the machine. If you have never done any sewing at all you will also need pins and a tape measure and also some good dressmaking scissors, for cutting out. Tailors chalk for marking the material is useful too but you could at a pinch use a pencil mark.

All the best with your new venture.

Bella.

nannaC

anguk wrote: »

Thanks for the recipe nannaC, I'll give it a go. I bought some fondant icing sugar the other week and tried with that but I think now the mistake I made was not making it thick enough. I didn't realise you had to make it into a dough and roll it, I thought I just had to make it thick enough to pour!

Hi anguk, you are more than welcome, yes you can make fondant icing to pour over but as I said this is really messy and does not always go on very evenly, that is why I always make it like a dough and roll it out. One way to use the leftovers up is to add a few drops of flavor/colour and cut out with little sweet cutters.

elizabunny

Evening all. Just a quickie tonight as I have been having a mad spring clean today -scrubbed the bathroom from top to bottom, ceiling, tiles, bath etc. etc. etc. Then started on the kitchen floor giving that a megga scrub. Meanwhile I had piles of washing on and had to keep running out to put that on the line. Then had to visit my poorly Mum, then go shopping, then get dinner.......................I'm whacked.

I noticed MrAs is selling their own brand butter for 47p per pack (I don't know if this is countrywide) Mature Cheese Normally around £3.22p each I think, was 2 for £3. Stardrops was on offer for 20p a bottle:j but unfortunately all gone. MrL is still selling Caster Sugar for 89p per kilo (again don't know if this is countrywide), but it's the cheapest I've seen.

Hope everyone is well.

tiff

I bought 10 blocks of butter today from Asda at 47p, you can freeze it too. Also 99p Stores have granulated sugar at 74p a kg (93p in Tesco). I have a habit of repeating myself so sorry if I've already mentioned it lol

Charis

BB1984 wrote: »

Anyone know the best (i.e. best value!) place to buy supplies - fabric, thread etc? (actually - what do I even need to buy?!) I'm so NOT a domestic goddess! :rotfl:

BB

Hi BB

On that same thread there are loads of recommendations for fabric and haberdashery suppliers. Some are local, some are suppliers with a chain of shops, some are on the Internet and some are in the US (with advice on how [STRIKE]much[/STRIKE] little to buy, to avoid import duties. It's a bit of a trawl but it is possible to go through it a few pages at a time and save all the websites to your favourites for future reference. It could save a lot of frustration as there are not nearly as many fabric retailers as there used to be in the UK, due to the influx of cheap clothes from the far east.

kidcat

tiff wrote: »

I bought 10 blocks of butter today from Asda at 47p, you can freeze it too. Also 99p Stores have granulated sugar at 74p a kg (93p in Tesco). I have a habit of repeating myself so sorry if I've already mentioned it lol

B&M and Home bargains are selling granulated sugar at 69p per kg at the moment if you have a shop near you.

D&DD

thanks for the tip about the butter will pop in there later and stock up
I'm ok for sugar still and our tesco are still selling the big caster sugar cheap so will just keep my stocks topped up for now in case it leaps upwards again!

I only ever tend to buy fabric from the States, through Ebay mainly..its so much cheaper that way but as I used to trade fabrics on there I now have made some good friends out there who'll go shopping for me if I need something specific

I think I must be the 'kiss of death' when it comes to employment my Bro works for RBS *always thought this was a safe job!!!* and
just sitting here watching the news about the royal mail...hoping all this chat is not just the start of more job cuts.
Stupid thing is we'd probably be better off if OH didn't work due to the boys conditions but
1/ I'd end up killing him if he was at home every day with me
2/ We've always been workers and want to set the boys a good example
3/ Eldest leaves school soon and when he finds work would be caned for OUR bills which is just wrong...

Will have to have a good sort out of the 'stores' and rejig our finances a bit methinks just in case...