Its tough, it will get better and guess what its freezing brrrrr!

lovelife_3

Hippeechiq wrote: »

Hello fiftyeighter :wave: I butt in all the time - but they haven't kicked me out yet hun

Oooooo Annie56 that sounds like the perfect day hun - good for you :T ......I even had a mental picture of the smoozing on the doorstep - you really could, and maybe even should, write a book

Get tomorrow done and dusted and it's new life here you come girl!

That is exactly what i thought Hippee, Annie writes so well we are all waiting with baited breath for the next installment...
Annie reading about your date made me cry with joy, it sounded soo perfect and you both sound like such lovely people .... thank you for sharing your experiences with us all.

I think i am addicted to this thread, i get worried now if i am more than a few pages behind lol! i carry my laptop around with me trying to keep up, family think i have lost it!!!

Well i suppose i had better get the dogs walked, lovely bright sunshine here this morning in Geordieland! Doing my second shift at Parentline this afternoon, a bit nervous again, only natural i suppose, Having steak and cheese pies for tea, 20p each on whoopsie, yay! Good luck to all the job hunters and positive vibes to all xx

starsandmoon

When I got married I had my hen night at the races which cost £5 entry and you could buy what drinks/food you wanted and have a bet if you chose to so everyone could spend what they felt comfortable with. My wedding was a small affair as not much family, all paid for in cash and instead of having an evening do we toddled off on a 2 week cheapy to Turkey for our honeymoon.

Im glad I didnt get into silly debt as Im divorced now. I had one friend who was paying off the wedding 4 years later and paying for a divorce at the same time:eek:

NualaBuala

Hope your burn is ok Icelandic Queen, hot fat is nasty! If you haven't had success with the vinegar, how about my other favourite - bicarb. I was thinking if you sprinked it, it would kind of absorb the fat, plus the alkalinity would help degrease - then you could wipe it off. Apparently it's good applied to burns too (if the skin isn't broken). Oh vinegar and bicarb, is there nothing you can't do?!

lambanana wrote: »

I made a decision on my coat, I'm going to stick with what I have. I went and had a look in the shops after work last night and everything was so expensive for not very good quality. My old duffle coat is 70% wool and the lining has 10% wool (the rest is acrylic and nylon) and it's so warm. I couldn't find anything under £100 that was more than 50% wool and lots were much less and some were £60 but 100% polyester. No thank you! I'll stick with my trusty duffle coat and sew up the hole in the lining and have another look in the January sales to see if any of the better quality coats have been reduced to a more affordable price.

I was going to suggest you see what's out there in the coat market and weigh up the price, quality etc and see if you think it's worth it. Your duffle sounds lovely, I think you'll be needing it - it's definitely getting colder!

NualaBuala

mardatha wrote: »

Coalman just been, bags of coal are now up to £17 odd. He says these eggs we burn come from Germany, then to Ireland, then here. Isnt it totally MAD ?

What are these coal egg things? Do they hatch? :rotfl:Haven't seen any over here(not that I hang around coal merchants in my spare time), maybe we just mind them for you lot!

catznine

Loving the ideas for frugal weddings! DD is thinking of collecting lots of (charity shop found) glass vases and jars on the tables and filling them with cheapish seasonal flowers - wedding is now in June so there should be a good choice! I am still rummaging around to find enough fabric to make the bunting and the hearts with. btw congratulations Hester on your forcoming wedding, looking forward to reading your blog notes about it.

Annie56 - Best of luck for today love! Glad you are turning things around - you really are going to be better off without your xh!

lamanana - Don't blame you for wanting to stick with your old coat, I've noticed that the new ones are nowhere near so good. Have you tried in some of the charity shops? Often see really good quality coats in ours.

DH is settling well into his new job, on an induction course now and so much happier than he was in last post. Only worry for now is being between paychecks and not knowing what will be coming in. At least we have a good store cupboard in and I've been making big pan of cream of veg soup (enough for us tonight and 2 boxes for the freezer). Going to have a go at some hm bread rolls for his packed lunch tomorrow. Got some of Mr S bread flour (white) for 60p so bought 2 bags which are in ziplock bags in the freezer for now! Freezer kills any bugs that may be in there, now to find somewhere more permanent to store them.

Most of our money is going in diesel at the moment - travelling to work and making trips up north so see ds and dil which we consider essential, family matters most in hard times. All my wages (such as they are) are going into a savings account towards the wedding expenses, hopefully we won't need to break into them!

(((hugs))) to Kath and frugal

Sammy - I really think you should keep a diary of how you cope on a day to day basis - would make a fascinating book one day! You write (and cope) very well! I always look for your posts as you are my dd's age and I wonder if she would cope as well as you do.

Notice a fair few of us have me/cfs which makes me realise that we have been given the chance to slow down (no choice) and get to grips with reality and the fact that times are harder than they were. I think coping with any chronic illness does equip us with an inner strength though and we will cope better than most with the difficulties, as will all the folk who frequent this board.

Right to set the bread maker off!

RAS

I have been to a couple of wedding where some elements were very MSE, even if not all of it.

Rural church, graveyard mancured to within an inch of its life by dad.

The church itself was decorated with masses of cow parsley mostly set in huge old earthern pots, dotted with a few cornflowers. Looked absolutely wonderful, although the family admitted that it had been rearly doors picking enough that morning and getting it set up.

Reception in a small community hall with a white timbered ceiling. They had used masses of crepe paper in the colours of the bride's bouquet, also used for details on the dresses, cut into ribbons and hung like old fashioned christmas decorations as a canopy over the whole room. Swags of the same crepe hung down below posies of crepe flowers in the windows.

mama67

JoJoB wrote: »

Annie, that is so funny about playing the message to the floozy, you go girl!

Sammy - are you really weaning at 13 weeks? That's very early! I had it drummed into me by the feeding police that it had to be around the 6 month mark. Is she extraordinarily hungry?

Well yesterday was a bit of an OS failure. Made carrot and coriander soup but it didn't taste as nice as it should so adulterated with cumin and gram masala. Now it just tastes weird. I was trying to be frugal by using up a bag of frozen carrots that I wouldn't eat otherwise (I just don't think frozen carrots taste nice), but now have a massive pan of inedible soup! Oh well. To make me feel better I bought a pack of biscuits (nomnom) and some cheap icecream (horrible stuff with so much air whipped into it it was like mousse). Then I felt fat and bloated all night wondering why I ate all that carp when I am trying to lose weight!

Plan to do a flylady this morning, then take my loose change to the bank. Do they still exchange loose change for notes? I seem to remember them being a bit snooty about it last time.

Then will use said wonga to take DD swimming with a friend and give everyone lunch at mine - pasta and hm tomato sauce should be a passable frugal meal for all I think!

Could you thicken it and use as a curry sauce base, so you still get the goodness from the veggies etc but won't really taste them.

AnnieG

I think weddings that are done like that are so lovely, if I ever get married again (not likely but you never know!) I'd like something like that, homemade bunting, flowers from the fields and hedgerows and a nice cream tea.... can you tell I'm from Devon??!!
No job news yet, they're keeping me in suspenders. I rang earlier and the agency said they expect to hear something by the end of the week. I hate having to play this waiting game, and Im keeping the other people hanging on too.
I think I'll go and clean the kitchen to take my mind off it!

Kitcaboodle

Kezlou - I wouldn't feel too sorry for the floozy, remember that it sounds as if she's actually preggers by someone else! Plus she set her sights on a married man in the first place. I certainly don't have any sympathy for her in that situation!

---

I had hardly any sleep last night as the little one was working on becoming nocturnal again & now seems to be waking more at night. I'm sure he's nearly ready to wean but he hasn't showed any interest in feeding himself (baby led weaning method). I plan to leave it another couple of weeks and then I might give in and start feeding him solids myself in case he's just lazy!

Was woken by the postman delivering something DH had ordered online but, on the bright side, postie also delivered a letter from the tax man saying they took too much tax from me last tax year & will be sending me a nice cheque in due course!

lambanana

nualabuala yep, weighed up my options and my old coat is MUCH better quality and made of better materials than coats being sold for this winter in exactly the same shop in a very similar style and more expensive (though not sure what inflation would be between 2002 and 2010 so don't know exact cost of my coat in comparison) so yep...I'll stick with my trusty old duffle coat AND everywhere seems to be selling them again so it's even still fashionable (not that it's ever bothered me!)

catznine I did have a look in the charity shops at the weekend but there was nothing in my size, I'm quite difficult to get coats for anyway as I have narrow shoulders and look even younger than I am (I'm only 26 but still get asked for ID to buy alcohol!) so a lot of coats look like I'm playing dress up in my mum's clothes :rotfl: I'll just stick with my old coat until it falls off my back I think!

We did have even cheaper wedding plans until DH's parents gave us some money and insisted it was spend on the wedding and nothing else so we could have a nicer meal than we had planned it was lovely too! I don't understand how the average price for a wedding is about £18k now even if you are including a honeymoon, what on earth are people doing to spend so much?!