It's STILL tough and not getting better - so how are we coping?

elona

Mardatha

If you have a bus pass could you get RV to just drive you to the bus stop and then collect you when you return?

A variation on the old ploy of "I wouldn't dream of asking you to drive x but a lift to the bus stop would be a godsend and would give you some time alone to concentrate on "whatever".

Other good ones are "I feel unfair asking you to do "whatever" as (you work so hard) or ( you have so little free time) or (anything suitable that sounds genuine and not sarky) so "why don't we get a man in to do it?" DH then got disconcerted and started to do whatever it was as he felt it was his idea!


Re wheelchair use and "ignorant comments" - I suppose a sign saying "My IQ and manners are better than yours so watch out" would be inflammatory;)

lilac_lady

Going back to my last post about making crispie cakes with S/bury's value chocolate and cereals and muesli - they were a huge success. I used up Christmas foil cake papers so they looked special - special enough to keep a some to take home to their mums and dads. They DGC were so proud of the end result - so was I!

We also made "HM" ice lollies by freezing some basic pudding mix (Angel D equivilent) into lolly moulds. That was a success too, much better than spending £££s on boring sweets.

mama67

Dh is still on a 4 day week; at least it hasn't gone down to 3.

As it is reasonable weather we are doing as many carboot sales as possible, to not only clear out some stuff, but to also help put towards the deficit we have each week even after increased tax credits etc.
We have them on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays here.

The idea is that this extra will cover now and hopefully put some in the bank for when the summer has ended and there are no more car boot sales. So we don't have to dip into savings too soon. This is along with cutting back wherever we can.

A few better items have gone on €bay before car boot.

Luckily the garden is now producing well so we are eating lots of hg veggies and salad.
I bake the majority of our bread with just an odd bought pappy loaf for toast (Dh doesn't like hm bread toasted). I also make all our cakes and some biscuits.

I have also been freezing the excess green beans and carrots for use later on.
Courgettes, tomatoes and onions will be made into a sort of hm ratatouille which is used as the basis for a curry (tomatoes, courgettes, onions, peppers- all just cooked down together and then frozen in 500g marg pots) this is the base which has curry powder and any thing else added to it. I also use this for casseroles if not alot of veggies about.

purpleheather2810

I would like to do a few car boots but I am too lazy to get up at the crack of dawn!

Hmmm maybe I should try and find an afternoon car boot...

mama67

It is a very early start I must admit; on Sunday we got there at 6am and there were easily over 100 cars already there, first person had apparently got there at 4am. :eek:

crickett1234

Happy Monday everybody. Just trawled through everything here which has amassed over the weekend. Gosh, we are a talkative lot aren't we?!

I get so irritated at people who speak in a condescending manner to those in wheelchairs or motability scooters. I always make a point of ignoring their "helpers" or companions and speaking directly to them. There is a lady at Church who has motor neurone disease and is in a wheelchair and she steers it with her chin and a joystick. It is amazing what she can do, and she is a total star and utter inspiration to everyone. She has "bumper stickers" on her chair with things like " I have good insurance, do you?" and "Caution, I can stop suddenly and lurch in any direction".

Had a heart to heart with hubby over the weekend and told him that we need to get our finger out and move soon. The house is ready to go on the market and I would really like to get the house sold and us moved into somewhere else before the double dip. I have a feeling we are going to lose out somewhere along the line as hubby and I have never managed to "surf the housing wave" like some of our friends did. But then again, we bought to have a home, not an investment!

Also told him my idea for getting a house that needs work doing to it. We need to get somewhere that is liveable, but needs work on every room and then we can use our skills and our money to make the house our perfect little house. I feel we need a big project to work on. We have been married for 8 years nearly, and most other couples we know have 1, 2 or 3 kids by now and their "joint project" is to raise the children. There is every chance I am never going to be able to have a baby, and just feel that my life has no satisfaction in it at all at the moment. I keep finding myself saying "what it the point" rather a lot. I just go to work, work all day and go home. Even my crafty and shabby chic projects don't get me excited anymore. They just fill my time up. It is really rather depressing.

So, we are going to get the little bits of painting on our present house done, get valuations from estate agents and try and sell the house. In the meantime I am scouring websites and local papers to see if there are any houses that meet our needs (or perhaps exceed our needs and venture into the "would love to haves" as well!) and I am just hoping and praying that something comes up. I am a great believer in "if it is meant to be, then it will be", so hopefully it will happen.

In the meantime, we are OS'ing our socks off to amass a good little fund for moving and for initial expenses in the new house. And my list of projects is now growing to include making curtains, crocheting "net" curtains, making blankets and cushion covers and making new covers for our sofa and chairs.

lilac_lady

"I feel we need a big project to work on. We have been married for 8 years nearly, and most other couples we know have 1, 2 or 3 kids by now and their "joint project" is to raise the children. There is every chance I am never going to be able to have a baby, and just feel that my life has no satisfaction in it at all at the moment. I keep finding myself saying "what it the point" rather a lot. I just go to work, work all day and go home. Even my crafty and shabby chic projects don't get me excited anymore. They just fill my time up. It is really rather depressing."

I hpe you're wrong crickett, but keep hoping that things will change for you. Hope is a wonderful feeling. In the meantime, your house project sounds like an ideal challenge for you and your OH.

northwest1965

Gosh you have all been busy over the last 4 days, I've been away spending time with my family. I've caught up now though. I was spreading the word about OS moneysaving. Went to a fab car boot on Sunday in Kettering, it was at Wicksteed Park and it was huge.

EstherH

annie123 wrote: »

You don't sound thick, all gardeners started from the same point as you;)
Drop into the gardening forum on here, a friendly bunch, full of oldies, newbies and those in between

Newspaper on top of your 10" of soil.
The reason for earthing up is to stop the sun getting to the shallow growing spuds so they don't turn green.
Plenty of fertilizer is the key to a good crop.
Useful website for growing all sorts of things and his book is well worth it.

http://www.allotment.org.uk/vegetable/potato/potato-growing-guide.php

Thanks will look at that. Love the excitement of growing veg, just that the results were so disappointing. Thought that the more you earthed up the more potatoes you were supposed to get so used tons of compost. Is homemade compost good for fertilizer or does it have to be horse manure? We have a compost bin which we stick all veg peelings etc in and occasionally shredded paper.

ginnyknit

This year I earthed up my spuds with grass cuttings, as the raised beds are not full yet and I had a fab crop of big spuds! Next year Im going to earth up a bit and put the grass on and see if thats any better.

i find my homemade compost is a bit rough so I fill my tubs with it half way then top up with bought. As I empty my tubs this year am going to put spent compost in a heap and add homemade compost to it, cover with a carpet and see how it develops over winter - hopefully adding enough nutrients to it to save me buying any. Also found out that guinea pig and rabbit poo can go straight on the soil as fertiliser so as long as I riddle out any feed and just add the poo it should work. Will let you know if my experiment works:)