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

mardatha

Hi Rosanna - lot of us in the same boat in here !

Souk08

Sammy just read a few bits and saw your post. My mum got an earful from all and sundry cos i was 'too small for my age' as a baby and my bro was 'too big for his age'. My sis was Dr Spock perfect...but no one ever mentioned this! Folk have always got something to say about babies andthink you sound like a great mum and need to trust your instincts. P.s I am still small but perfectly healthy and my bro is a lanky 6 footer...it'll all come out in the wash lovey!

WEEZE210_2

just like to say all children are different! I have three, 1st and 3rd are boys and middle one is a girl. My girl was weaned at 11wks and was already on FULL bottles of hungry baby milk! she is 17 now and really skinny! Still eats loads though!! My eldest boy was weaned at 4 mths and now !and really, really skinny! My youngest is 9yrs, boy, was weaned at 5mths, now eats like a pig, he's always starving and will eat anything except peas and sweetcorn!, and is so skinny you would think he was only fed once a week! All kids are different and I think it has a lot to do with genes! all my children were over 8lbs born, so hardly small babies!

Weeze x

boultdj

AnnieG wrote: »

Hello
Sammy... you're doing a brilliant job. The HV is only there to offer advice, what they say isn't the law so I think ignoring her and going with your instinct is exactly right.
I've massively under achieved today, took DS to hand over to his dad for the weekend, then went to Morrisons for some shopping and to collect my coat from the dry cleaners, came home and realised that the house is revolting and needs a good scrub, but was realyl tired so thought I'll just have a little snooze, then get up, go and get a lottery ticket then clean the house. I woke up 4 and a half hours later Oops.
Then when I woke up I was freezing, so put the heating on for a blast and have had dinner and thought stuff the house, I'll do it in the morning. I'm going to get into bed with a nice mug of tea and watch some nonsense on telly.
I joined the local LETS scheme, well, signed up online, but don't think I've got much I can offer really so I'm a bit reluctant to get involved. Perhaps I'll have another look.
Quick question.... can I still grow herbs this time of year? I really like a big bowl of pasta with lemon juice, salt and pepper and a handful of fresh herbs, but mine seem to have died and I don't want to buy them from the supermarket because they're so expensive. So, I'd like to grow some. Advice appreciated!

All herb's can be grown indoor's for winter,need a warm,sunny window ledge. They will grow a lot slower,so if you use a lot of 1 perticular herb I would do 2/3 pot's of that and then 1 pot of the one's I use less of,hth.

bluebag

Welcome Rosanna79,
I think you'll enjoy your de-lurker status. I too am of reduced means, I am no stranger to poverty but I hope to make my current journey as comfortable as possible.

ceridwen

AnnieG wrote: »

I joined the local LETS scheme, well, signed up online, but don't think I've got much I can offer really so I'm a bit reluctant to get involved. Perhaps I'll have another look.
!

Thats a common reaction by people. I wondered what on earth I could offer myself. But then - when other people start coming up with suggestions its surprising how many you think "Yep - I could do that too...".

So, for instance:

- its not just skills that get "traded". Most groups have regular Trading Events. So you could take homemade bread/cakes/preserves along for instance or surplus garden items. Food is ALWAYS popular and the bringer very rarely has to take anything home again.

- the type of things one would take to car boot sales quite often go (eg books, clothes, etc)

- you could advertise in the newsletter when you have a larger item to "trade". I've sold various larger things for LETS credits (eg garden table and chairs, a tree, sofa, etc).

- Re services you could offer: housesitting (ie water the plants, etc when someone is away), clothes-mending, dogwalking, lifts.

Probably the best thing is to think of it as combined carboot sale and favoursharing scheme. Just think of the type of favours you often need to ask for from friends/relatives - well this is a way to "get a favour" without feeling obliged to the person concerned (as you've "paid" them in LETS Credits).

One favour I had to ask one time was when I was too ill to do some of my housework for a few days - so someone came round and changed my bed/hoovered/etc for me.

Someone elses washing machine broke down one time and it took her a couple of weeks to get the situation sorted out. She had a LOT of washing (loads of towels) because shes a masseur. So - she brought it round and left it at my place several times and I put it through my washing machine for her.

Its surprising what odd bits and pieces of favours people sometimes need - there are many people now living on their own and therefore havent got a hubby available to give lifts/do the DIY bits on the one hand or mend a shirt on the other hand. Many of us are still pretty "traditional" in what type of home skills we have (ie only the ones "applicable" to our own sex - ahem:o).

So - for instance what I "sold" yesterday was a cardigan, two handbags, several books, a casserole dish, Christmas Card holder and what I bought was my preserves, rocket, apples, some books. I also arranged to go and "buy" some fruit in a few weeks time when its ripe from someones house.

lovelife_3

Welcome Rosanna, loving this LETS idea Ceridwen, thanks so much for the link, never heard of this what a fab idea x

Hardup_Hester

I love the idea of LETS, but unfortunately my local one is pretty inaccessable. The nearest parking is £8, or I have to go by bus which is £7 so works out expensive, plus the cost of drinks whilst there as it is held in a town centre cafe. I did join a couple of years ago, but didn't manage to get to a single meeting as the dates varied & the promised newsletter & calender did not materialise. I wonder if I could open one more local to me? Mmmm, maybe I'll contact the organisers.
Hester

ceridwen

Hardup_Hester wrote: »

I love the idea of LETS, but unfortunately my local one is pretty inaccessable. The nearest parking is £8, or I have to go by bus which is £7 so works out expensive, plus the cost of drinks whilst there as it is held in a town centre cafe. I did join a couple of years ago, but didn't manage to get to a single meeting as the dates varied & the promised newsletter & calender did not materialise. I wonder if I could open one more local to me? Mmmm, maybe I'll contact the organisers.
Hester

I cant see why not Hester - ie you starting up one more local to you. Areas vary obviously - so somewhere like London has one huge overarching LETS Scheme (broken up into districts). A town or small city would have just the one scheme. There is absolutely no reason why there shouldnt be a LETS scheme just centred round one hamlet or road. Its entirely what works for THAT particular community. Come to think of it - a scheme set up for just the road you are in could make a good "medium of exchange" for bartering surplus garden produce with each other and doing housesitting/babysitting type favours for each other. NB; There is no sense in which anyone contemplating starting up a scheme needs "to ask permission" just in case you thought so. Anyone wanting to just checks out if there is one already for the group of people they envisage joining. If there isnt - then just start one and tell LETSLink about it. There are common criteria groups belonging to LETSlink meet to match that criteria - but groups dont have to affiliate to LETSlink even if they dont want to. Again - the scheme was designed at the outset to be that versatile.
So - why not? If it suits you and your area (however you define an area) personally - then the Scheme is "versatile" enough to cope. It was designed to be THAT versatile.

There is no reason why a LETS Scheme needs to be organised on the basis of a locality even. It was assumed at the outset that that is what it WOULD be based on - but it could equally well be based on a workplace or a group of friends. It really doesnt matter what "unit" its based on.

Re the way LETS groups are now moving towards online exchanges (in tandem with keeping paper ones available) is one example of how the scheme is so versatile that it can cope with major changes to the way it was originally envisaged. For those with concerns as to privacy - the template scheme for this only lists first name and membership number of each person concerned (eg Julie - member no. 29). Members of each particular scheme have to log in and give a password to access any further details and every member retains the right not to be listed online if they choose.

The criteria that were in mind when LETS was designed originally were:

- people need a way to "sell" their services even if an employer wont give them a job/pay them salary for the type of services they have to offer

- to provide people with a good "excuse" to get to know each other socially (ie in the context of sharing their skills)

- that everyone has something they can offer as a service to other people (even if they are ill/old/etc). There will be something they can do that other people will want them to do.

It wasnt originally envisaged as a "means of exchange" of goods - it was designed originally just for a swopping of services. However, "bartering" of goods soon came into play - and thats fine.

Hardup_Hester

Hi Ceridwen
I notice my local LETS has finally discovered the internet & the website does now 3 or 4 pages of readable text, it used to consist of 5 blank pages & one with the smallest font known to man. I'll give it some thought about starting a local one.
Hester