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

kezlou

Imagine my surprise when Jen showed me her larder i was like "wow" thats amazing!!!!. Its even better with the wall added, when i walked through the diniing room i didn't think it would be that big, i was very surprised.

Would love to have that kind of kitchen cupboards HJ when i finally build mine. Well once persuade OH to allocate it me:p. Were both arguing for space. Our bedroom is literally full of tools, so we both fight for space for our stuff.

But i will get an aga, wood burner, larder etc one day!

[Deleted User]

I think our kitchens would be very different if women designed them. For a start I wouldn`t have wasted space over wall cupboards and I wouldn`t have a built in oven standing on the floor so that I have to kneel down to get into it and I would definitely have a larder, I could go on and on

My pressure cooker came today and I have never seen one so tall. It will easily fit a litre jar inside and there are instructions for preserving meat and vegetables so I think it will do as a pressure canner. I made soup today, easily 5 litres so that`ll eventually pay for the cooker ie batch soup making and cooking loads of beans to freeze as I think they will be our staples in the months to come

Got diesel today and was shocked at £56. yikes that is almost half my pension. Good job there are two of us but we need fuel to get to see children and grandchildren, other than that we are managing fine re not using the car

I still cannot save anything and have had to withdraw from our savings twice this week. It is going to get scary soon so I will be making the ultra big effort from this weekend. I think there is no council tax next month so that will help. I am just hoping that the veggies get going quickly as that will help loads and I plan to dry herbs this year. It doesn`t help that I bought things for the allotment and nice strawberry plants etc At least the electric, water and telephone bills are paid as well as tv licence, car tax and car insurance. They all come in after christmas

Dd is having a craft making kit of mine for her birthday, bought ages ago and never used or seen by her, it is nice, 2 drawers in a little box and contains lots of stuff for scrapbooking

Back to kitchens, just once I had a good homemade and tiny kitchen. There were tall half depth cupboards all along one wall and I loved it, so useful and everything in one layer

ceridwen

JenniO

I will be looking forward to seeing photos of the Square Foot Gardening come springtime.

Errr....it would be very nice...ahem...hint... if you were able to "transfer" over from your blog some piccies of the Square Foot Gardening you did before. That was envy-making too and I did my little bit in my way to try and copy a couple of "thoughts" from that.

Cor...I'm pretty organised - but I know when I'm beaten hands down to things like that:T:rotfl:

ceridwen

kittie wrote: »

I think our kitchens would be very different if women designed them. For a start I wouldn`t have wasted space over wall cupboards and I wouldn`t have a built in oven standing on the floor so that I have to kneel down to get into it and I would definitely have a larder, I could go on and on


Back to kitchens, just once I had a good homemade and tiny kitchen. There were tall half depth cupboards all along one wall and I loved it, so useful and everything in one layer

Don't we know it!! - re if women designed kitchens...:(

I am going to design my kitchen myself when I re-do it. There's nothing I can do (not without spending money the house isnt worth...) about the fact that the builder put the window and back door in the wrong places and an "outdoor" pipe is indoors (blocked in) - so I will have to work round those defects. However - I'm going to design it myself - rather than buy readymade kitchen units from a DIY place. The thing will be to find a reasonably-priced "little man (or woman)" that will build and fit them for me. Ideally - I want them made from reclaimed wood too - and certainly they will be wood (not chipboard type stuff again...:cool:). It will never work perfectly - the room was too badly-designed by the builder and its way too small - but I believe I can make a somewhat better job of it.

Ahem...I'm only too aware that a future owner of this house will think "Why didnt she put some of the kitchen in the dining room then to expand the size?". Good question - but chez ceridwen my priority was to have a room available for "meditation room" type purposes...so thats what I did with that room...

JenniO

ceridwen wrote: »

JenniO

I will be looking forward to seeing photos of the Square Foot Gardening come springtime.

Errr....it would be very nice...ahem...hint... if you were able to "transfer" over from your blog some piccies of the Square Foot Gardening you did before. That was envy-making too and I did my little bit in my way to try and copy a couple of "thoughts" from that.

Cor...I'm pretty organised - but I know when I'm beaten hands down to things like that:T:rotfl:

To stay on topic, simply PM me your email address and I'll send some pics over to you this weekend. And, thanks btw.

ceridwen

JenniO wrote: »

To stay on topic, simply PM me your email address and I'll send some pics over to you this weekend. And, thanks btw.

Hi

...and thanks.

Duly done...

meritaten

JenniO wrote: »

HJ - that pic looked fantastic!

for anyone wondering what my larder looks like, this is a pic of it before a wall was built to cover it. It's long but it is now 6 feet wide and a false wall now separates it from my dining room.

I've never added a pic on MSE before but here it goes:

Jenno - That is truly beautiful and I am green with envy!!!

Rivals anything in the Tate Gallery!!!

ChocClare

JenniO wrote: »

HJ - that pic looked fantastic!

for anyone wondering what my larder looks like, this is a pic of it before a wall was built to cover it. It's long but it is now 6 feet wide and a false wall now separates it from my dining room.

I've never added a pic on MSE before but here it goes:

Out of interest, JenniO, did you/your DH build the units yourselves or was it something you bought off the shelf/adapted?

Joking apart, I am planning on doing something with my kitchen which is a tiny, poky corridor, and knocking down a wall to gain a bit more space. Part of our plan has always been to have one big larder rather than cupboards with bits and pieces in. It looks to me from your picture that you seem to have tongue and grooved back wall with what looks like shelving units fixed to it - which look like they MIGHT have been bought as units and then fixed if you know what I mean.

I hope this is no insult to your/DH's FANTASTIC carpentry skills btw :rotfl:

Just wondered if you'd mind sharing how you achieved this work of art? Pretty please?

kezlou

I love the idea of making your own cupboards etc, i wanted to do in this house but landlady say no straight off the bat. As she's paying for the darn thing, she got her own way. Instead its chez B & Q for us. But we have picked the cloest to "oak style" we could get so thats something as least.

I'm going to have a look on the boot sale for a pressure cooker, i used to have a slow cooker but it started to smell funny. My MIL has one and she loves it, she says Its great for chutneys and shes preserves meat etc in it too.Kittie.

l i've started on another bag today and so its looking good
Even OH likes the material :eek: Think something's up with him. But he had a fit when i said i might dye my hair. He was furious at me chopping my hair on Thursday.

JenniO

ChocClare wrote: »

Out of interest, JenniO, did you/your DH build the units yourselves or was it something you bought off the shelf/adapted?

Yes, I bought the cheap B&Q tongue and groove, glued it to the wall with evostick in a tube (bought 6 pack) and then used Ronseal Diamond Hard Medium Oak to stain it.

I then bought furniture board from B&Q and maybe Wickes as well and built the units myself. They are built into 2 separate equal units so that it was easier to work with. (TBH it was Simon who did it but I did up the drawings/measurements and located all the materials and how much we needed.) It was fairly major. But the boards were all pine, so to make the furniture 'pop out' we stained it in Ronseal Diamond Hard LIGHT Oak, which gave it a slight contrast from the wall. We did anchor the units to the back wall with L brackets.

I can't post my blog but it is available on my profile. From there click on the tab, 'self reliance' and it shows how it was built in its various stages which may help explain more. HTH.