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

penelopedee_2

Hugs to everyone that need them today.

Lovely news Gailey

We try to do our bit for the environment but realistically we live out in the sticks so need a car to get anywhere as there is no public transport. We don't have a veg patch and I'm not sure the cats would cope with hens :rotfl:

We try to recycle and our latest form of cheap entertainment is meal planning and crazy meals from using up bits and bobs left in the fridge. Even DS is getting into the make do and mend habit. But to be honest the 'green police' would probably have a field day in our house with the amount of electrical items in use. I could spend all day going round switching things off (if I was totally bored)

Gigervamp

About the space programme, I have a suspicion that they've realised (finally!) that we don't have infinite resources here on Earth and that's why they seem to have got a second wind so to speak. Of course, it will be couched in words like "science" "knowledge" etc, but I'd bet that it's more about finding new places to get materials.

I admit I might be biased having read and watched a lot of sci-fi and being very cynical about the way governments and big businesses work, but it's food for thought.

Taplady, what job was your son going for that he had to be on the radio? How did he do? And congrats to your other son.

Gailey, good to see you back. We were getting worried about you. Congrats on the baby. No wonder you were tired!
My first two were 22 months apart and whilst it was hard work having one just going through the *terrible twos* stage at the same time as dealing with a newborn, they have grown up close. Yes, they had the usual sibling spats, but they're there for each other if needs be.
I then had my 3rd when the other two were 5 and 7 and there is a bit of a divide between the first two and the third, but I suspect that's more down to personality and the fact that they have different dads who treated them differently.

Anyway, don't forget to rest when you need it and good luck to DH. What jobs is he going for that need several interview stages? (Just being nosy!)

ceridwen

mardatha wrote: »

Ok butttttt ( insert devil smiley) if you were to bring in a law that all people were to have only one child, then many people would think that was stomping and trampling all over their lives, wouldnt they ?
I have very mixed feelings about being "green". My dad was a real old-style countryman and most of this stuff was second nature pure commonsense to him ...but without trumpeting about it and going to extremes like some of them do.
Saying we need to get rid of cars and use bicycles for instance, is no use to all the people who live miles & bloody miles out in the country! Without a car I would never get to the bank/shops/doctor/hospital or see my kids. And if all the country dwellers move into towns to be closer to work so they can cycle....then what happens to the countryside, nevermind their quality of life?:D
I think supermarkets and big stores could use a hell of a lot less packaging, that is a big moan of mine. You can get a lot of stuff into an OS string bag if they jsut left the veg open on the shelves like real greengrocers did.
Is too early to think. I need more tea :rotfl:

You're a naughty lady Mardatha - but then you know that anyways...:)

'Tis two children - not 1 that is "replacement level" and my personal total bugbear and lodestone I go by. My HUGE HUGE thing is I really hate to see more of countryside/green spaces within urban areas built on to accommodate yet more and more and more people...and do wonder where quality of life comes in. At another level - I recall when benefit (should one become unemployed) was set at:
- 1 years non means-tested benefit
- a maximum of 6 weeks disqualification for having been deemed to have resigned from a job
- full mortgage interest on one's house instantly and for however long it was needed (as long as ones mortgage was a repayment one - rather than an endowment one - then there simply wasnt a problem EVER)
- ALL one's pension turned up on the dot of 60 (for a woman anyway...) - rather than in dribs and drabs and the worry that some might get means-tested out of existence
- SERPS pension was based on a better level than currently
- University students got grants (probably worth about £10,000 at current rates) and didnt have to pay university fees and a degree meant something..

At my age I sit here and remember what we used to have frequently and compare it VERY unfavourably to what we have now in the way of State provision. At my age I recall when a lot of land I see frequently was just that - ie LAND - and not built on for something or other - and I remember a major reason why there is so much less land/benefit/pension/etc available and its down to too many people.....(and a previous Government that seemed to be encouraging too many people - as it came up with child benefit after child benefit after child benefit - I lost count of all the various titles and amounts of money people were receiving in the end for having children - way way more than my parents' generation - ie before the 1970s).

Sorrees...glass or two of wine later this evening...and I'm in a mood of "in mourning" for what we've lost because we have to share it with too many other people....
(probably about to go into Mardatha's "book of antisocial people I am friends with"....but it does hurt....a LOT...to see what we've lost...some of which I know we would have lost at this point in history anyway...but some of it could still be with us if it wasnt for.........). Can I go and knock on the door of a major Labour politician that has been in power in recent years (any Labour politician - I'm not fussy....:rotfl::rotfl:) and give them a piece of my mind? Have I got your permission Mardatha? Whats the going rate for bribery and corruption - will 2 tins of Roses Chocolates cover an hour of telling one of those politicians what I think of them?:D:rotfl:

I DO understand the point re transport and feel that everyone needs transport to get round and have long been an advocate of free and frequent public transport within urban areas and very cheap and frequent public transport across the rest of the country. Many many years ago I stayed at a commune (well this is ceridwen talking remember;):)) in Nottingham briefly and I recall being thoroughly impressed by the two frequent and totally free bus routes that went endlessly round the city centre. Don't know if Nottingham is still doing this - but I certainly felt "major respect to Nottingham" to put it in modern day vernacular - as I sat there on one of these free buses astounded - and very pleased - that I was able to travel for free like that:D.

mardatha

I think ALL politicans, of any party whatsoever, should be composted and we could then start again with decent ones.
Now please send the two tins of Roses.:j

Gigervamp

penelopedee wrote: »

Hugs to everyone that need them today.

Lovely news Gailey

We try to do our bit for the environment but realistically we live out in the sticks so need a car to get anywhere as there is no public transport. We don't have a veg patch and I'm not sure the cats would cope with hens :rotfl:

We try to recycle and our latest form of cheap entertainment is meal planning and crazy meals from using up bits and bobs left in the fridge. Even DS is getting into the make do and mend habit. But to be honest the 'green police' would probably have a field day in our house with the amount of electrical items in use. I could spend all day going round switching things off (if I was totally bored)

Oh, don't talk to me about electrical items! We're currently paying about £80 a month on the lekky! With a household of 3 adult males comprising a hubby who is a geek and two sons who are out of work atm, so they're on xbox or pc gaming and even when they're not at their pc/consoles, they're on and guzzling up the electric....:mad:

With regards to recycling, our council introduced a new recycling scheme that started at the beginning of June. Up until then, we had boxes for paper and thin card and bottles/jars. The new recycling scheme also has a big blue bag for tins, tetra paks and plastics and we can now also recycle giftwrap, yellowpages etc and there's a kitchen waste bin for all food waste including meat and bones.

Trouble is, we didn't get the blue bag or kitchen waste bin. Nor did our next door neighbours. We've been in touch with the council and the company who have the tender on numerous occasions and were assured that we'd get them. Still waiting. Oh, and they changed to a fortnightly collection for black bags, so now we have a couple of bags hanging around for the collection and the reason we have two bags is because we can't recycle the tins and plastic and meat bones until they've given us the appropriate facilities. :mad:

ceridwen

parsonswife8 wrote: »

(((Kezlou)))

I'm on a cookathon here today. Just boiled up all my small potatoes, to eat as they are, with some salt and pepper or made into potato salad.
Steamed a huge bag of spinach to eat with potato gnocchi, garlic and cream, baked in the oven, as well as over a baked potato with a bit of cheese sauce.
Going to bake a huge marrow tomorrow, stuffed with beef mince in my homemade tomato, chilli and garlic puree.
We need to use up all the fresh veg and fruit before I buy another thing......:eek:. I tend to get too carried away when I am surrounded by whoopsies and bargains in the shops and seriously need to curb my enthusiasm for shopping..:rotfl:

Know what you mean when I sit there and think "Just how much food do I think one person can eat anyways?"....:rotfl:

That meal sounds just the sorta thing I would do (ie the spinach, potato gnocchi, etc) - I would invite myself round for dinner...but I'm eating mine as we speak...

Gigervamp

Ceridwen, I think you need to stop thinking so much!

I remember those days too and deplore the use of agricultural lands for building new houses. We've got a large new development near us that was grazing fields for sheep. Trouble is, with these new developments, they have to set aside a certain number of houses for "affordable" housing, (which in my mind aren't affordable anyway) and the rest seem to be either *executive* housing or at least just below that, with 3, 4, or 5 bedrooms and the same amount of bathrooms!

It's about time that councils used their powers to buy properties that have been unused for years and turn them into council houses. And use the waste ground in urban environments to build new housing on.

ceridwen

Gigervamp wrote: »

Ceridwen, I think you need to stop thinking so much!

Comes with the territory Giger (ie - getting older)...:rotfl:

I no longer "waste brainpower" on working out which men I fancy and chasing after them....waste of precious braincells and I wouldnt be so "fleet of foot" to catch them anymore:D

You wait till I'm positively geriatric - I'll have seen even more of life by then....quite a few years of life "under my belt" by now...but by the time I'm up at free tv licence age...i'll still come under the "aging hippy" banner...and with even more years of watching and observing life (whilst getting on with living it) there "under my belt"...

Shall I send a bribe now to Mardatha of another couple of tins of Roses Chocolates to act as my "scribe" if I start deciding to write my life history some years from now?:D:rotfl:

Hippeechiq

Kezlou Really sorry to hear about your close friend...there are no words I can offer, but I can give you one of these :grouphug: albeit a virtual one

narabanekeater Also sorry to hear about your pup :grouphug:

D&DD Fabulous post about your DS going happily off to school, not wanting Lynx spray cos he didn't want girls chasing him, and then forgetting you were there at the bus stop.....it did make me smile

crickett1234 wrote: »

On happier news, my Dad is out of hospital and is now at home.
Then I have a glamourous evening of cleaning and ironing (although I might just say to hell with it and stitch all night! Stitching forever, Housework whenever!!).

That's great news about your Dad!! Re Stitching Forever, Housework Never, I saw an excellent fridge magnet a couple of years back that said Housework Never Killed Anyone......But Why Take The Risk? Good eh?

Charis Agree 100% with your post

Gailey Nice to see you back. Congratulations on your baby news :j Hope your morning sickness soon passes

taplady Excellent news about one of your sons getting his job - what happened with your other son?......or have I missed that?


Between my daughters debilitating mental illness, which is accompanied by awful depression, losing my job in Jan and car failing it's MOT in April, life hasn't been much fun so far this year, but I've had such a lovely day today.

OH has been on annual leave last week and this, but as money is so tight we haven't been anywhere or done anything except enjoy each others company. But today, we got an open top bus to Swanage (a lovely quaint old seaside town near us), we sat by the harbour awhile, had Fish & Chips looking out to sea, then did the coastal walk above the town which gives you a panoramic view of the Jurassic Coast.

It's been a typical beautiful "Indian Summer" type September day down here today and it's been the perfect day

Not very OS when you're hard up, but life can't be save, save, save all the time, especially not when you're under the kind of constant stress we are with my daughters illness.

I feel like it was the proverbial "breath of fresh air" that I needed and I really hope ginny feels the same when she gets back from her break.

katholicos

Re: being green, i'm not an eco-nut, but i like to recycle what i can, reuse what i can and refrain from spending when i can. I take what i can so long as it doesn't negatively impact on others and I like to give what i can, back to the world, the people blah blah blah (isn't that a Stevie Wonder song...or michael jackson maybe?)

I'm a firm believer in having a generosity of spirit and doing what good you can for others, that may not be in a monetary capacity, but via a thoughtful and kind word, giving away surplus, running an errand, using talents we have to benefit the lives of others without asking for something in return. Fundamentally, one has to think of themselves first, but not to the detriment of others and wherever possible i think it beneficial to at least attempt to make the world a more pleasant place to live in.

With regard to the adult:child ratio, i strenuously believe that children are blessings. I happen to believe in God, there are many who don't, but my faith shapes my belief that children are a blessing and that we should be 'open to life'.

Re: The argument of overpopulation and the need for child:adult ratios...well it seldom seems to take into account the immigration factor, nor the fact that with a future majority of the UK's inhabitants being elderly, there will need to be a veritable army of younger people in the workforce to pay for their healthcare etc.

The whole idea of an adult:child ratio is preposterous to me since many women choose not to have children or alas, are unable to have children...in addition to this, sadly, millions of children die each year from the consequences of war, from disease, from starvation.

Start bandying about ratios and you have to answer some tough questions...for example, must all women produce 1.2 children for example, even if they don't want to? What if women choose not to have children.... the ratio is negated. Do the women who want children then have the option of having a further child to produce the required individuals to sustain the necessary factors of provision for the masses of retiring and long-living elderly members of our future society?

Where humanity stumbles, is in its propensity to selfishness.

The overpopulation theory has been floating about for a couple of hundred years (or more), the world is still turning, there are still enough resources to provide for all....once again, it is human error, human failing, not overpopulation that is the reason we are screwing up so badly.

A link that may be of interest: the overpopulation myth.