As The Workhouse Approaches....How To Do Everything To Avoid It, the Old Style Way

ceridwen

Yep - I echo GreyQueen that a water meter is the way to go.

My guesstimate as to what a singleton would pay for metered water would probably range from £10 per month (a normal price Water Authority and no garden) through to £25 per month (if they are unfortunate enough to have the "double price" Water Authority aka South West Water and they need water for a garden).

Most people will have a "normal price" Water Authority - and therefore I would estimate the majority of singlies (WITH a garden) would end up paying about £15 per month if they have a water meter. No way would a singlie with a "normal price" water authority have to pay more than £20 per month for their water.

cat_smith

mardatha wrote: »

If you emigrate then come in for me on the way down !! The weather is unreal :eek:

Me too:j Dog wants a walk - NO chance.

Nicepeach

Thanks for the contributions about the Easi Yo system, really kind of you to respond.

I suppose there are much cheaper ways of making yoghurt from scratch etc but I'm trying small steps at first & getting braver by the day thanks to all the useful tips & advice on here. I don't post much but I do "lurk" a lot!

For example, I've been using just soda to wash my laundry & vinegar instead of fabric softener for almost 2 months now as an experiment ( even been using cup measurements to measure out the quantities (what a geek!) and have tried lots of recipes.

Thanks again for your help. x

[Deleted User]

I have been on amazon buying 1p books on preserving or spending a few £ and getting free delivery. I want to be ready in advance. I have the jars and bottles and sugar but need to get the vinegars, so that is my next project

In case you are wondering about growing stuff in a back yard size or new build size garden then go for it. Use planters of all sorts eg compost bags rolled down, carrier bags, old shopping bags, car tyres (we used to turn them inside out in the os days) . We have been self sufficient in greenstuffs from our back since march, its just down to having good compost and the right seeds ie choosing your veg for small spaces. There is still time. We have more pea pods than we can handle in just in 3 sq`. eg we have 4 chard in a 10" high 18" diameter planter. 6 cabbages in a planter just a bit bigger than that. Lettuces and radish and spring onions all over the place. Red russian kale in about a sq` and so on. I stuffed leeks into spaces all over the place and I have troughs everywhere, even containing carrots but the little round ones. Beetroot stuffed into troughs, just pull and chop the lot into soups

Oh I am rambling on my high horse!!

I`ve also ordered 20 bags of pasta (wholegrain spelt) and that will join the other 12 bags in my wardrobe. Too early for me to get bulk flour as I want to be past the hot weather this summer

Re blight, get an e mail sent from blightwatch. It only needs 2 days of high (90+) humidity at any temperature over 10 and thats why I have tried to get as many toms as I can under cover as it also needs spores

mardatha I am gutted for you re the tunnel

catznine

Brrr it's chilly here today in the south east, poor dog didn't get walked far and I was back for a coffee and a warm up! Today I must get my plants in - got some lovely ones at Costco really good condition and thriving (so far). Hoping the garden will look pretty in time for dds wedding in 4 weeks time.

I'm still making things for the wedding, last week was painting little chipboard hearts with blackboard paint for the placenames. Today I must start cutting out the bunting. Also drying rose petals for confetti but running out of my own so scrounging from kind friends It is amazing how the petals change colour as they dry out, so pretty!

Grandbaby is now overdue and not budging (poor dil) so she may have to go in soon as baby not engaged and sideways as well! So stubborn boy or contrary girl? I have been given some lovely wool to knit a blanket but not starting until I know which! It's a lovely bluebell/lilacy colour iykwim I think better for a boy than a girl though.

With 4 weeks to go until the wedding money is very tight around here, thank goodness for app foods store which we are fast getting through now, today I am cooking up half a bag of their soya mince, for bolognaise and chilli to put into the freezer for later meals, when we are busy with wedding plans.

I've put some runner beans into the garden, late cabbages, chard, courgettes, broad beans, blackcurrants and rhubarb. Tomatoes are doing well in the greenhouse along with some salad leaves and radishes. We have turned over another bed for veg but the soil is like concrete, all we can do is put compost on top and plant into that for now. We really need a lot more rain but not on the 23rd June please!

Hope everyone is ok, I have to see dr for check up as getting numbness and pins and needles in one arm and it is getting me down now so needs sorting! What with the dizzyness and the neuralgia life is a tad challenging atm. My friend Lesley is back in hospital as well and is very poorly with a serious infection, so we are praying she will recover and be able to attend dds wedding!

Catz x

[Deleted User]

Ctaznine good luck re your arm. Our 2 dd`s got married in the same year, what a stressful and expensive time that was. Took a year to get over the stress. Strange afterwards though as it was a big bump getting back down to earth. I get pins and needles a lot but wear a wrist brace at night, it hepls greatly. Doesn`t help to go at it with trowel at the moment as the ground is like rock

dollydaydream07

arrghh, just typed a really long post and it's disappeared!! :mad:

basically it was hugs/congrats to people that need it as i've struggled to keep up with the thread this time round

had a moan about how expensive food is getting - i could feed us on £100 a month but it would be full of processed carp and that's not good for us to be eating so instead of the £100 i can easily afford to feed us on, we are paying almost £200 a month instead on healthy stuff and we can ONLY just afford it - thank goodness for us not using the car much - in 2 months we have saved about £120 on petrol as we are just not using the car unless it's for food shopping or the weather is bad so we can't walk places, an added bonus is that we are all getting a lot fitter with both me and DH walking around 4 miles a day and DD is biking around 2 miles a day

today i start work at DD's school as a dinner lady not sure who is more excited me or DD it is only on an as and when required basis but it's better than nothing

need to phone tax credits up about it - i'm wondering how it will affect TC with it being an as and when job.... does anyone have any idea's??

really need to do a full months menu plan for June so i know how much meat i'll need and roughly how much milk/bread we will need, also fruit and veg

right i need to go and find myself something to eat as i'm not going to get to eat until almost 4pm today as i'm obviously at school over lunch time but then straight after i'm helping out in DD's class(do every monday afternoon) so gonna find myself something to eat and then get ready for work ............... ooooh that sounds strange lol

Softstuff

mardatha wrote: »

If you emigrate then come in for me on the way down !! The weather is unreal :eek:

Just don't emigrate here, we just had 26mm of rain between 5.30pm and 6pm.

rachbc

I would advise pretty much anyone to get a water metre - even as a family of 4, running the dw and wm at least once a day, daily showers for 3 and a bath full 2/3 times a week its £23 a month....

grandma247

Chococlare I dry mine in the dehydrator and then use my bullet type thing with the processor blades in to powder them. A coffee grinder would work too.
You could spread them out on trays in the oven and dry on the lowest heat with the door propped open a crack. I put them in a jar and add a tbsp or two to dishes such as spaghetti sauce to thicken and add extra flavour as well as vitamins and minerals not destroyed by heat.

Ildi are also a very good cropping yellow tomato that has grape size large bunches of tomatoes. They have been known to crop well into December in the greenhouse without heating here in the northwest. I have only found them in seed catalogues and on the 'net on their own but did buy some in a multi variety pack in wilks last year. I only sow a few of each variety so a packet lasts a long time if kept dry and dark.

Hippeechiq it is a matter of personal taste with the seeds and skin. Some people don't like to be able to see them in the sauce. I don't mind a few but some tomatoes are very seedy.

ceridwen my washer repair shop has a newspaper article in a frame from a number of years ago and it said British ones are built to last a maximum of five years, Continental ones 15. Don't be fooled though as some that were from other European countries are now owned by uk companies so they are not as good as they used to be. You need to check them out carefully.

My repair man was upset when he came to fix our newish washer ,after over 6 months in the front room as no money to repair. Because he said the temporary one we had been donated was a much better washer and he preferred them (it was about 11 years old) and we had skipped it before he came.

Red doe I would say it is too late as they need a longer growing time. Try looking for one or two in pots at the garden centre or diy or even the market.