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

Prudent

boultdj wrote: »

Trust me sparrer you'll know when you find wild garlic,the smell when it's flowering is just like it's been chopped,and it's a white flower,look next to river's that have woodland's or at least that's where I'v alway's found mine. HTH.:D By the way if you get the chance go on the river bank at Matlock Bath or the cliff path near Portsmouth you'll soon find garlic,but some place's you'll have to get permision to pick/harvest from.

I know where wild garlic grows locally, but didn't know it could be harvested. What do you do with it?

boultdj

I just pick leave's + the flower's and leave the bulb's because they are very small compared to the one's you buy in the shop,also I personaly find that they are strong enough for me.And I chop the leave's to add to dishe's or invuse with milk if doing a sauce and the flower's just get broken up and added near the end of cooking.

Prudent

I will be off to pick some later. I am hoping it stops raining. It has been heavy rain here for most of the last week. I did get some respite last night to mow the lawn and do a bit of weeding. There are so amny weeds though I could do with a whole dry day. Still breadmaker and washing machine are on and I have started on the comps, so a good start.

downshifter

Prudent wrote: »

I will be off to pick some later. I am hoping it stops raining. It has been heavy rain here for most of the last week. I did get some respite last night to mow the lawn and do a bit of weeding. There are so amny weeds though I could do with a whole dry day. Still breadmaker and washing machine are on and I have started on the comps, so a good start.

Martin said on that programme the other day that some people comp almost professionally. I occasionally enter comps like anyone else, but it's all a bit hit and miss and very disorganised and I can never remember what I've entered or what username etc I've used anyway. I've looked on the comping board but it all seems very confusing. Do you do this regularly Prudent? And can you point me to a simple guide for organising it?

Got up early today, having been awake since 5 and have resolved to be more organised, disciplined and faff about less. After a mad 15 minutes tidying round, I'm out with the dog in a moment then back to blanch and freeze some cauliflower. Then shower and to work. Since downshifting I find I work massively harder but on more fun things, working in a shop on Sunday is fun, relaxed with nice customers ( and free tea and coffee!!) Have a nice rainy day everyone - try and get out for a walk - it's very atmospheric up here in the Peak District right now and so peaceful. Much better than all that heat.

DS

ceridwen

kittie wrote: »

Ahh bless you Ceridwen, of course now is a good time to start a new thread. I don`t frequent the os boards any more but know lots of you still do. We have moved house now and live in a true eco house with an allotment and water harvesting etc so my life has moved on a lot and I can be pretty well self sufficient re energy etc.

I haven`t read any of my pms and in fact not noticed that there were any as mse doesn`t play a big part in my life any more, although I do have a very quick look from time to time. I live in a diddy village now and am making lots of new friends and am surrounded by fruit trees of all kinds. I hardly listen to the news any more, don`t buy any papers and hardly watch tv so am pretty out of touch with what is going on in the big wide world. I suppose I am as close as I can be to living near to the earth now as was ever going to be possible at my age and I love it

Good luck to all of you and hang in there

I had seen that you're living the dream now Kittie:D. Good luck to you - that sounds pretty good to me....:). Don't be a stranger now - y'hear:)

ceridwen

wigglebeena wrote: »

That said, my local council has set up lots of really beautiful floral displays in the town centre. My initial reaction on seeing them was 'Can we really afford that out of our council tax?' But then I thought, 'They make the place so much more attractive, might conceivably attract business in...'

Can't see a bunch of slabs of rock attracting much business though. I presume the 'artist' is 'someone's' mate and backhanders were involved. Oh, naughty me! Smack my cynical hand!

...and I, of course, wonder why some of the "greenery" planted recently in my area by the Council ISN'T of the edible variety..:cool::mad:. I would have thought that, by now, Councils should all realise that any "communal" planting by them should be of a nature that is both attractive and edible..:mad: (ie dont plant trees that are purely decorative - plant fruit and nut trees instead).

Prudent

Hi Downshifter,
I don't comp 'professionally'. I already have a demanding profession as a special needs teacher! I do spend a lot of time comping though - probably almost as much as a part time job. My routine in term time is to wake up at 5.30/6am and comp for about 45 mins. I leave the house at 7.30am. I usually get home around 5/6pm and comp when I finish the jobs until about 10pm.

I mostly sit in bed with a laptop and comp. I have systemtic lupus and look after the home and my daughter (fortunately now 18 and helps out) by myself. My quality of life could be quite poor as lupus combined with a demanding job leaves me exhausted. I usually find it too much to go out in the evenings during the week in term time. I don't like tv and am too tired to read a book. Comping gives me an outlet. Something to fill the evening so that life isn't just work/ housework/sleep. I enjoy the process of comping and there are some lovely people on the comps board.

The big bonus is of course the lovely prizes I like the holiday break ones best as my daily routine can gruelling. I also like the theatre/meals out kind of prizes and usually go out 3 - 4 times a month for free. Best of all for me is that I met my partner through it. A friend used to joke that I went out so little in term time that if I were to meet anyone new he would have to come knocking at my door. That is just what happened. . . he delivered some of my prizes! We don't live together (my choice) but have been together for 3 years.

I also find I can comp and chat to my friends and family on the phone at the same time. Most compers are lovely and its a great way to make new friends.

carriebradshaw

Topher wrote: »

Does anyone here remember a T.V. show called Bazaar? I think its where I first came across Shirley Goode. I became a housewife and mother in 1983, and it was one of the first daytime T.V. shows created especially for the NEW idea of daytime T.V. It also coincided with a bad recession. (I kept a page out of my diary from one of those years showing what your mortgage would be with certain interest rates and they included 16% as an interest rate.!!!)
Anyway, there was a feature on a woman who's husband was in and out of work, so she had the habit of preparing for lean times. One of her tips was collecting household paint, because she felt that refreshing a particular room or two helped her to feel less hard done by. Another feature was from some army wives who demonstrated how to put on a duvet cover in seconds, and as I said Shirley Goode did her black belt money saving in the kitchen.
There were a few books published associated with the programme. To be honest the latest recession hasn't really bitten at our house, but with my job now on the line and my husband having done only one year's paid work as part of his degree course, plus my son having been out of work for over a year since his employer's company folded, we're getting ready for a really lean couple of years, and did some careful spending this year. (Replacing a bathroom floor covering that's been concrete for the last 9 years.... ) and some gradual changes to the kitchen, (half 1940s recovered "treasures", half IKEA) I wish something like Bazaar existed now. Money watch has been quite good, but not as informative as this board on the day to day job of existing.
T

I remember that show it was really good,so many great ideas and recipes too. it used to be on Monday afternoons in the 80's and I would sit down and watch it while feeding my first baby. The only thing that annoyed me about it was the presenter, she always seemed so patroninsing to mesomehow.It would have been a lot better if the lady with the out of work hubby could have done it as she was down to earth and knew what it was like to stretch a penny as she did it every day.I always remember her saying,''if it's a toss up between a bottle of shampoo or a loaf of bread, the loaf of bread always wins' and the UB40 cabbage pie, the 'sanity jar' that she put in 50p a week in and after about 8 weeks they would take the money and go down to the legion for a couple of drinks :T such great ideas.

I wish they would show this again and then bring back a new updated version,but without having any gimmicks like all the new shows seem to have.

I'm sure they produced a cookbook to go with the series I wonder if it still exists?

the_cat

Downshifter -

I comp too, just as a hobby! TBH I doubt very much if you could win enough to do it 'professionally' so to speak. Occasionally you would get lucky and win something big (I'm still waiting:o for a really big thing but have had some really lovely err medium sized things like an ipod touch,theatre tokens, tickets for events,spa day, nintendo ds, even a couple of supermarket voucher/cash prizes for £50 or thereabouts. Plus lots of little things like toiletries etc)

Adding up everything I've won would not give you anything near a 'wage' but it is a fun hobby. Plus it's nice to be able to look forward to the postman coming, hoping he is bringing you a prize! It can certainly lift a cr+ppy day!

The comps board does look confusing though to start with! One tip I use is to enter via the links those things that take your fancy. There are hundreds of pages of them so be selective!!:D Once entered click the thanks button. Then you will be able to see if you have entered if you look at that page again another time

HTH
Cat

mardatha

Gobsmacked at people using wild garlic... when I was wee and we all played in the woods, we called it "stinky weed" ...The thought of eating it YEUGH !