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

calleyw

dollydaydream07 wrote: »

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before i go i'm going to double check whether we need anything else and get it all today so then i can have a NSW from tomorrow

It is easter sunday tomorrow and most shops will be shut.

So for most people it will be a NSD. As apart from little newsagents type shops and express type stores nothing will be open.

Yours

Calley

ginnyknit

Am proud of my Ds, its Dgs's first birthday and instead of wasting money on a party like her friends she is having the family over during the day. Makes more sense than ending up broke with a tired and confused little man who doesnt know what all the fuss is about she is having a relaxing day. After phoning me from Mothercare she decided he didnt need expensive toys so picked a shape sorter which was reduced from 20 to 15 pound, then at the till they took another fiver off :T I made his gifts and my Mum bought him clothes he needed from Primarni, plus a few bits from the cs.

my Mum is coming over on the train , determined to be independant and dying to see ds's new sunny little house. At 81 she wants to be her own boss and rightly so, although we are driving her home. So Oh has gone to the local market ( he can shop there on his own as the parking is right at the door) to get a nice chicken for tomorrow. He rang me just now to tell me the craft stall there has closed down - Im really sad about that as I have been shopping there for a long time.

Tomorrow I am spending the day gardening and relaxing after a hectic week.

GreyQueen

Well, have done an on-foot mini shop for Mum and the rest of us with a back pack (call it an exercise regime and a 3 mile walk, some load-bearing, sounds more acceptable). Phew, wot a scorcher, it's boiling here. I am envying those who've had a downpour as my lottie water butts are sinking fast and I only use them to water the contents of the greenhouse. Gonna be a poor harvest for the farmers if we don't get some rain soon and I bet come August when they're trying to harvest it'll chuck it down. I've been walking on the common land near the parental home and it's totally parched, looks more like high summer than late spring out there.

Our Tesco's will be closed tomorrow and I'm glad I used the web to check as was going to tie in a mega-shop for me, Mum and Nan in a borrowed family car with exchanging my Clubcard vouchers with a bootsale very near (hence saving petrol and being MSE) but the shop isn't open Sunday so that looks like it won't fly. Could aways walk it to the booter (circa 40 mins each way ) but will kick myself if I want to buy something big or heavy which I can't transport. Both my water butts are re-purposed food grade barrels bought from bootfairs so am keeping my eye out for another. Think if the weather carries on like this I shall be littering my allotment "patio" with every kind of waterproof receptacle to catch it as it falls, then baling it into the butts.

Aldi's got giant heads of broccoli for 39p if anyone's interested.

Following tradition in our family, we had a major appliance keel over just before the bank holiday (Mum's 11 y.o. Bosch washer died in mid-cycle on Tuesday). Our trusty mechanic managed to revive it with a new set of carbon brushes which are Miele ones, slightly modified to fit. Apparently, Bosch don't make their carbon brushes available as they want to sell you a whole new motor...but our mechanic has 30+ years in the biz and knows the tricks. Said washer should be good for several more years according to him. So, we thought The Curse of the Bank Holiday had peaked 3 days early and we were good to go, but the Curse will not be denied.......plumbing up the spout, no hot water to speak off....wah!

At least there's the cold and an electric shower which are unaffected. Nothing much to grumble about in the grand scheme of things.

Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend.

mardatha

Just thinking back today to when I was wee - my mum was Irish and made a bit thing about Easter, but in this house it passes unnoticed. We used to have a tea with pretty cakes covered in tiny coloured eggs in chocolate nests. I suppose I should keep that tradition alive but the RV doesnt eat cake.
Same with xmas - we only ever saw chicken at xmas LOL and it made it all special. Plus jelly and blancmange...

BitterAndTwisted

We must be about the same age Mardatha. I remember chicken being a high days and holidays treat because it was so very expensive. Funny, I think they tasted better then than even the fancy free-range ones do nowadays. Well, at least the lat time I ate any, it did. I have foregone such pleasures in favour of carrots and kale and other cheaper things that don't scream when you cull them

mardatha

O nooo. If I had to eat kale then it'd be me who was doing the screaming !! :eek:

Horse_Owner

With ref to slugs...According to the WD40 can that works as a slug repellant. I have sprayed it all around my (salvaged) plastic raised beds so will see if it works.

elona

We had to go to four different Lidls to get enough laurel for the hedge, but DH is busy planting it and looks pleased as punch.

Had to go out again to get suncream for DDs so got home half an hour ago and had lukewarm shower and shampoo and feel more human and less of a sticky blob.

Once I have looked out a cooler set of clothes and get dressed I'll see what they fancy to eat and get dishes in dishwasher etc.

Decided not to stress about everyone having exactly what they want to eat as I am not a restaurant and just play things by ear and relax and enjoy family time.

Loads of food in fridge so choice of making Thai curry and rice, bratwurst innabun!, pasta, potato salad or salad and sausage rolls etc.

See you all later

charlies-aunt

Phew! just caught up

Very hot and dry here - we were mega busy fencing off out allotment yesterday to thwart the local bunnies - OH's idea of knocking the fence posts in was similarly thwarted by rock hard ground :eek: in the end we had to soak the ground with water , them dig a small hole, fill hole with water and leave to soak before we could get them in! Instead of an hour, it took all day but managed to get the wire up last night so our allotment is now a rabbit free zone We were given a dozen cabbage plants by an allotment holder which are in and looking likely to live

The inherited blackcurrant & raspberry bushes are full of flower - need to come up with a cheap OS way of keeping the birds off - I have some old net curtains that I could drape over them but not sure that these would be very effective....may be a bird scarer or svarecrow might work as wel....

meanmarie

Elona....why can your 17 year old not cook for herself?? Im a lazy mother so maybe that is the answer to my question.

Mardatha....I certainly remember when chicken was an expensive, once in a while, dinner...... think that they were even expensive when we got married in 1970, as I can remember trying to get most of a week's dinners out of them.

Found a voucher for our local Avoca this morning, so treated us to some Green and Black cocoa to make a chocolate cake for to-morrow...normally too expensive.

Veggies are doing well but watering is a necessity, baskets are needing water twice a day as they seem to dry out very quickly...didn't use the gel stuff to retain water this year....didn't have any when doing baskets and forgot that I could have used some cat litter instead....cats are out all the time now so have some left over.

Have a happy Easter everybody.

Marie