It isn`t tough for us. We are OS and we COPE

zarazara

its very difficult to live self sufficeintly. we bought some sheep in the autumn and hopefully the ewes are in lamb. However they have alrready eaten in feed what any lambs will fetch at market if prices this year are the same as last. and then theres wormers and other costs. so they are unecomonic. I am already thinking along the lines of selling the ram and not breeding anymore . I think fruit and veg and eggs work out ok so long as you stay away from maincrop potatoes carrots and onions.

wrinkled_english_rose

Hi everyone,
Although I don't usually post I thought today I would add my two penneth.
Regarding old fashioned shops of any sort- I don't think you realise how useful they were until they're gone. I didn't appreciate how often I used Woolworths for the odd & ends we all need until it closed. Our town is mostly charity shops & fast food outlets.
Our library is still going but it has a decided lack of books! Most of the staff are very helpful & you can order books from any of the other libraries within the county but that only works if you know what to ask for. I have taken to searching amazon just for titles.
I took domestic science at school. I learnt to wash & iron a hankie & a shirt. Mum refused to let me take in one of my dad's dirty hankies but I still iron both items in the same way.
WER

ceridwen

I've come back today to a reply from a PM I sent Sammy a few days back asking how she is.

The reply was that there is a LOT of things going on at once in her life - a lot of it to do with things involving caring for several other people at once - whew! Made me feel absolutely shattered just reading it.

She is still with us in spirit and says she will update (on one or other half of the Its Tough thread) soon.

EDIT: DUH! Now caught up on the thread and see Sammy has already posted her news for everyone....its okay...folks...I'll just go back to sleep then...

ceridwen

kittie wrote: »

and the public toilets are goiing :eek:

I heard that they are all closing in manchester bar one. They certainly want to keep us older ones at home, what with buses stopping as well. Many villages have only one bus a day and they are even shutting those down.

It`ll be like being abroad, when I was caught very short and there was no-where to go, so I had to ask in an estate agent and was allowed to use their hole in the ground. It`ll be long leads tied to the front door before long

I heard that and thought "Isnt that a bit discriminatory against women? - as women cant just sneak off down a deserted alleyway or something like men can if they are caught short and anyway need "facilities" more often and for longer than men do <cough> ahem....".
ONE for a large city - when I would think that was a poor show if it was just one for a nearby town...

But its still the libraries and public transport that bother me most...and we will all need THOSE facilities more than ever soon ....as unemployment steadily rises and people have an even greater need for free ways to spend all that extra free time (after jobhunting) on the one hand and many have sold their cars and are more reliant on public transport on the other hand.

As for wondering whether we will be denied even more access to treatment on the NHS once they change the set-up at doctors' surgeries (I've already got "look up private doctors surgeries" on my to-do list - as I figure this and the idea being floated of emailing ones doctor will soon lead to "...but for those who INSIST on still seeing their doctor - hand over £20 a go for doing so" - so if we end up having to pay anyway - I might as well swop anyway.....grrrr..)

Primrose

I am totally and utterly opposed to closing public toilets no matter how much it costs to keep them functioning. I regard it as the most fundamental public facility and the disabled, elderly and parents with small children are likely to be the most affected. What do they expect us to do? Squat down in the middle of the road and just "go"? We're supposed to be a civilised society, not the Australian or African outback where there's a convenient bush to dart behind. .

charlies-aunt

Oh! The joy of acquiring a strong sturdy cardboard box - I thought it was just me that had a passion for them

Pitlanepiglet

ceridwen wrote: »

But its still the libraries and public transport that bother me most...and we will all need THOSE facilities more than ever soon ....as unemployment steadily rises and people have an even greater need for free ways to spend all that extra free time (after jobhunting) on the one hand and many have sold their cars and are more reliant on public transport on the other hand.

...and of course in many areas Job Centres have already been closed so aren't in local towns. Our "local" JCP is 12.5 miles away, so a 25 mile round trip - I reckon that's £3 plus in fuel alone, plus the only parking close by is a carpark that charges £1 per hour. It's not on a bus route, if someone is dependent on public transport they have to go 30 miles in the other direction so a 60 mile round trip :eek:

Leaving aside actually signing on, for those without internet access at home, libraries provide a free internet connection allowing people to job search - how will they do that without a library?

I agree on public toilets, for those of us errr who are more frequent users of facilities, by the time we've got on an infrequent bus, travelled 10 miles to a library (with no toilet) and waited for a bus home and travelled home, it's going to be a bit tricky :rotfl:

fedupfreda

GreyQueen wrote: »

On side with you with that one, Mardatha. My hardware store is over 100 years a-trading, and is a multilevel warren taking up most of the block it stands in. I love it unconditionally.

Ooh, now, there's a thing. One of my favourite places in the whole world is an old fashioned ironmongers (I always knew I was weird! :rotfl:) We are lucky enough to have one in our town - been in the same building since victorian times - not many places can say that these days. :cool:

Some of his stock probably dates back to victorian times too - we live in a 1950's house and until a few years back, had an old fashioned fuse box - with fuse wire. When said fuses went - it was the only place to find the necessary. Its also the only place to find such ephemora as borax, firelighters, firebricks, fireside brushes and pokers, paraffin for lamps, stovetop whistling kettles, proper feather dusters (not the useless nylon fibre sort), fabric dye, stove blacking, proper china pudding basins (not glass or plastic), seeds and garden implements - he even sells semi-agricultural implements like scythes and billhooks, pretty much anything in fact - the local old boys use it as a meeting spot and discuss their allotments with each other.

I could happily get lost in that shop for hours. Wilko's or Homebase just isn't the same.

vouchersrme

I know what you mean, we have one in Stamford, we could browse for hours.

Charis

Primrose wrote: »

I am totally and utterly opposed to closing public toilets no matter how much it costs to keep them functioning. I regard it as the most fundamental public facility and the disabled, elderly and parents with small children are likely to be the most affected. What do they expect us to do? Squat down in the middle of the road and just "go"? We're supposed to be a civilised society, not the Australian or African outback where there's a convenient bush to dart behind. .

charlies-aunt wrote: »

Oh! The joy of acquiring a strong sturdy cardboard box - I thought it was just me that had a passion for them

Old Style solution! Line the box with a plastic bag and then use it as a portapotty.

Joking apart, the OS solution was that men used to find a convenient wall and women wore voluminous skirts under which no one could be certain what was going on.

I thought there were laws in place to make facilities more accessible to disabled people? At this rate many more of them will be unable to leave the house at all. My heart sank when I read that they were taking toilets off trains on some of the south coast services. A lot of stations have no facilities now and the rest seem to keep them locked.

The old style price for spending a penny was a 1d. Last time I went to Worcester town centre they'd put up a turnstile and the entry price was 20p - four shillings! I went to the bus station loo (free) instead.