How to Get Through The Tough Times The Old Style Way.

Winchelsea

So happy to hear your news Gailey !

Nice names. And briiliant that he was born on the EDD! (as far as I remember only 4% of babies come on the day they were expected).

As everyone else says, be a lady of leisure as much as you can - accept all offers of help!

(Always my advice when I was a community midwife!)

7_week_wonder

I've had a great OS day and it's mostly thanks to the lovely people on this board. I've been worrying about the cost of things going up and up (bizzarely it was first class stamps going up that finally got to me!!) so I've been taking action.

First stop Mr M for my shopping. I've been experimenting with the value things and now quite happily use value pasta, dried fruit (the apricots are better than the expensive ones), flour, spices etc. I have to confess the value soft cheese was hideous though. With that and some great offers the result was I got a month's shopping for only £8 more than I was spending for a fortnight a few months ago

Then this afternoon was out in the garden. Lots of veg seed sown, including succession sowing some mange tout and salad leaves (I've *never* managed to succession plant before). I found I'd run out of plant labels - not to be thwarted I promptly cut up an old marg tub and used strips of that to make labels.

I've always been bad at filling the oven when I use it to cook a roast. But today the roast went in closely followed by some savoury muffins (a new recipe which looks and smells fab and should keep me in packed lunches for the week) and then any minute now some red cabbage is going to be braised in the oven and I'll put my roasties in so I won't need to use the hob at all for dinner.

And finally... I harvested the first of our rhubarb. Don't laugh, I only took a few stalks but have made some rhubarb and coconut fools for pud tonight.

Pretty much all the inspiration for this has come from the hints and tips I've picked up from you guys - so thanks a million:T

lostinrates

Foraging time is well and truley here. Supper is meat from the freezer and ''salad'' from what is meant to be lawn. The strawberries are full in flower and the fruit trees are blossoming despite my fairly brutal prune to the apples. Its an exciting time of year.

7 week wonder, I'm envious of your delicious sounding pudding. I did harvest a little of our rhubarb (well we moved it from another garden and took what fell off) and I forgot about it in the oven. I was devastated: its one of my very favourite ''fruits'' of the year.

bertiebots

Congratulations Gailey I am sooo pleased for you and take extra special care of yourself now x

modern_millie_2

Gailey, lovely to hear your news. Look after yourself.

Welshcamper, so sorry for your loss.

lora

Just to let you all know- I have heard from shegar and she has been badly let down by social services. Her DH has gone into nursing care while she is trying to regain her strength. When we all read about her DH's illness, we all realised how life was not so bad for all of us afterall. . Take care,shegar.xx.

jackieglasgow

Thank you lora, I had been wondering how they were getting on. I hope she is back with us soon. x

Pitlanepiglet

Lora thanks for letting us know about Shegar, what an awful position for her to be in. She and her DH are in my thoughts and I really hope that they are reunited soon with proper assistance in place <<<hugs>>>

Mrs_Veg_Plot

Evening all

What a great weekend it has been. The sun has really got OH and I motivated in thegarden thit weekend. Yesterday saw all of the washing out on the line and blowing in a lovely sunny breeze. I even washed my bedroom curtains and your guess is as good as mine as to when they were last washed (think years not months ).

We planted a lot more seeds including sucession planting of parsnips and cabbage. I split a pot of lillies which my neighbour gave me last summer before they moved away. I now have four pots of them. OH finished painting the fence at the front of the house as well.

Made lamb and mint koftas with reduced lamb mince. Had them with baby spuds and salad. Kids really enjoyed them.

Worked an extra shift today. Mum and dad were visiting when I got home which was a nice unexpected suprise. Finished planting summer flowering bulbs. Planted the lavander plants that I got from our local focus before it shut down last year. They were originally £4.99 a plant, were then put on BOGOF and by the time I bought them they were £1.99 in the sale section but still had the BOGOF sticker, so I got 8 large plants for £8.

Gave everywhere a good water as it is so dry here. Have nearly emptied two water butts with this dry weather. We do need another two really but do not have the space for them. Need to get my thinking cap on as our water bill doubled last year. With the extra veg plots we will need even more water.

Cooked a sunday roast and sat and ate it in the garden this evening. Have now put all of the plants back inside for the night and we are sitting down with a well deserved brew. Still eating the purple sprouting brocauli we have grown. Think it might be getting to the end now. Nothing else ready to eat apart from some herbs althought the first spinach is not too far off being ready.

Still waiting for OH to clean the curtain rails in our bedroon and to put the cutrains back. Just the ironing to do then.

It's amazing how you find the extra energy with the sunshine around. Do think I will sleep well tonight though. The only downside of this great weather is that I spend my spare time in the garden and the house work piles up at a frightening pace. Does anyone else find that.

Right the Sunday night ironing is calling.

lostinrates

Mrs_Veg_Plot wrote: »

The only downside of this great weather is that I spend my spare time in the garden and the house work piles up at a frightening pace. Does anyone else find that.
.

Yep! I'll get on track with fly lady this week and have a more serious go at things when the weather turns We've had lots of people here this weekend and in the main they were seen in the garden;)