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

ceridwen

Softstuff wrote: »

To try and answer questions raised about our house and lifestyle (as much for typing it out and reading it myself as typing it for you guys )

I believe hubbys job is as secure as one can be in the current climate. The boss is very happy with him, he's quite senior in his role which is a small firm and is very very good at what he does (I married a real lovely nerd ).


I think a few of you chaps hit the nail on the head when you thought I might feel guilty or awkward about 2 people living in a 3 bed house. It seems a bit wasteful, and I'm not keen on that. The opportunity to use if for temporary lodgers and food production mitigates that a bit, but it's still a big place for two.



Next thing I need to look at is if it floods. We're in a rainy cycle right now, and when it rains it's crazy.



Thanks for your support guys.

Good to hear hubbie looks secure (as can be..) in his job. Just as well to take out mortgage insurance anyway (but that applies whichever place you live in - be it your current abode or the house).

Thought I had spotted slight guilt feelings - well its swings and roundabouts I guess and you have the advantage of a lot more "space" in your country than we have here in Britain - so no need to feel at all "wibblish" about a large garden. Here in Britain one almost feels wibblish with even a standard size garden - not that a lot of the 80' x 20' or equivalent size gardens havent been garden-grabbed for building an extension or even a whole new house on:eek::mad:. House-size wise - I just take the view that I have decided 5 rooms (or 4 if the kitchen or sitting room are big enough to serve as dining room as well) plus kitchen and one bathroom are my "size requirements" - and I refuse to feel guilty that that includes a study and meditation room (though I know a lot of peeps wouldnt consider either necessary) - but I guess I am comparing with quite a lot of rather LARGE houses I have been in over the years - so I think thats reasonable in comparison. Also - I feel VERY VERY hemmed in indeed in the country as a whole because of the huge volume of people in this very overcrowded indeed country - so dont want to feel hemmed in in my home by lack of space as well iyswim. It really depends to some extent on what are our own personal "guilt trip points". A decent home is essential (and getting more essential by the day in my book - considering what the World out there is looking like:eek:) - but I would hit a "guilt trip point" if I bought a car. I cant afford a car anyway - but I wouldnt get one if I could...as I know I dont need one. It is frustrating to know I am restricted as to where public transport goes (and that means that a nearby stretch of countryside is completely inaccessible to me - as there are no buses going there at all:mad:). I know I would "crash straight into a guilt trip barrier" though if I ever bought a car - because of not actually needing one in my circumstances. I "wibble" a bit about going on holidays as well - so havent had many at all and they are even more inaccessible to me (now that I have given up flying by plane on principle).

So - if one has a conscience - then there are "guilt trip points" and possibilities of "crashing into guilt trip barriers". We just vary as to which are our own particular "points" and ...yes...that will vary a bit due to comparisons with people we know. Hence a reasonable size house isnt a "guilt trip point" to me - but a car would be - and part of that is down to comparing to people I know admitted. We all do that though - ie the comparisons to our peers.

The floods - now THAT is a very strong point to take into consideration. Definitely don't want to put yourselves into a position where you would be at risk of flooding (or insurance companies worrying that you might be....). So - certainly check that point out thoroughly before you leap.

greenbee

softstuff - if there is a chance that you might be confined to the house more in future, then more space rather than less may be a good idea. Yes, there is more to look after, but at least you won't feel so claustrophobic about the fact that you can't get out and about. Pottering around your own house and garden is something that you can ensure is manageable. As for feeling guilty about the size of the house - I live alone in a 3 bedroom house, but as I work from home, anything less would be difficult as I'd never get away from work!

Apparently most of us are going to have another 2 weeks or so of dry weather - so get the watering muscles working (I have to find someone to do mine for me this week, as I'm travelling for work) and plan for shortages this year unless there are some significant changes. Anyone with space for more water butts should probably invest, as I can see hosepipe bans being a possibility this summer...

thorsoak

Good morning everyone - and thanks for the welcome!

Gailey - your green potatoes - if you've got a little bit of garden, cut the spuds in bits (each with a sprouting shoot) - and plant them - about 9 inches apart. When they first start to show through, pull the earth up over the shoots - and in September, you will have some free, fresh home-grown potatoes!

My solar panels have just clicked in (when we bought the bungalow, it had them on the roof already) - so that means I won't have to use the immersion heater again today - so that is over 2 weeks free hot water that I've had!

Time to take the dogs out now though.

ceridwen

Agree with that point from Greenbee - re not feeling claustrophobic at home - and taking account of the likelihood of more time at home if the health deteriorates.

One's own lifestyle and possible future lifestyle ARE considerations to keep in the mix. People who are out and about all the time socialising and only using the home as a base don't require as much space as those who:

- work from home

- are confined to home by illness (I certainly recall a former friend - now passed on - who was housebound and derived great comfort from a reasonable home and nice garden)

- have a lot of home-centred type interests (eg gardening, cooking, etc) - all of which require room to pursue them.

Some people are able to "outsource" their needs (look at the traditional "man going down the local pub" for some "space") and others arent.

GreyQueen

Morning all, wasn't yesterday extraordinary? We had a flawless sunny sky and a powerful wind. I was trying to pot more peas and beans for the greenhouse on a lottie which is co-incidentally on the top of a hill and having to fight to keep a hold of the pots etc.

I want the chisel for my soil, which has set almost like concrete. It's got an element of silt into it and can turn skiddy in wet weather (you may remember wet weather if you're old enough). However, give it enough heat and it concretes and any watering or rain rolls off the top. So, muggins here was driving a hand-fork into the strawberry beds with brute force and ignorance to break up the soil in anticipation that, one day, it may rain again.

Being stubborn and green-y, I biked to the lottie with 4 x 4 pinter milk bottles and a 5 litre ex-vinegar container of salvaged water from the homestead (have paid for it, gonna re-purpose some of it) and carefully rationed a dribble to each strawberry plant. I water the greenhouse with soft water from the butts on the shed but the front butt is only one-third full and the back butt is down to half. I did take a couple of cans off the standtap to water the pea-irrigation system (see a few pages back) and had the satisfaction of knowing that every drop was going underground to the roots and not being lost in evaporation.

:mad: Saw yet another example of wastefulness with a particular allotmenteer who always waters with a hose and right in the heat of the day (just before noon) so that most of the gallons he's using will be straight up in the sky.......He's not the only one, sadly, and they're not youngsters either. Grrrr, wish people wouldn't do that but bite my lip as don't want to get a rep as a PITA. Try to set an example and corrupt people to thriftiness my way. As someone remarked a few pages ago, the advantage of using the irrigation points is that you can water in the heat of the day. This is a problem for me as it is a 2.5 mile round trip from home to the lottie and sometimes last year I was doing my gardening in the day and biking back an hour before sunset to do the watering. With ME, that was a bit rough.

charlies-aunt and meanmarie, there's plenty of room on the Choc-Free Wagon and for anyone else who wants to take the pledge. I climbed on the scales first thing and I'm not going to tell you what the reading was (tried best of three but it didn't get any better ) but it is 3-4 stones TOO HEAVY. I'm kicking myself for being so slack as to let it get this bad.

This Extreme Couponing sounds interesting but scarily-organised. I have heard before that it's possible to make a killing over there, even with coupons from free papers which come thru the door, but I don't think we can work the system likewise. Still, I'd've watched it if I had a telly. I am feeling a bit pleased with myself over Tesco vouchers; turned £5 into £10 over Easter and bought potting compost at 20 litre bags 2 for £3 so had 8 for £12 (voucher plus £2 cash) which will see me sorted into 2012.

I am saving like a mad woman this month for a wee holiday in June and am aiming to eat from stores as much as possible, just topping up with fresh stuff, and vowing to stay out of the charity shops (my personal weakness) as much as possible. Have just done the accounts for April and I came in £50 under budget despite the dental emergency but that was only because of the £100 windfall.

gailey, love, if this is how much you can do with a newborn and 2 tinies, I reckon you'll be running the country once they've grown up! Remember to take your rest, lass, you deserve it.

(((Hugs to all))) I shall be gardening a bit and meeting up with friends this evening.

PS. the mole is now in the strawberry patch. A few more meters and he'll be next door, hehe.....:rotfl:

greenbee

GQ - I'm on clay, so am currently dealing with concrete, but luckily it does retain water below the surface. However, I have just had to put the sprinkler on for an hour as my lawn, which was new last year, isn't very happy with the fact we've had no rain for a month.I'm pleased to hear that the new watering system is working well... just think how much of an advantage you'll have when the hosepipe ban comes into force. Could you not talk to your neighbours about the risk of scorching their plants by watering during the day and encouraging roots to form near the surface, and show them your clever system that protects the leaves and encourages the roots to grow down so they need less watering? You could mention the evaporation as an aside... but focus on the fact that its better for the plants

Softstuff

ceridwen wrote: »

Agree with that point from Greenbee - re not feeling claustrophobic at home - and taking account of the likelihood of more time at home if the health deteriorates.

One's own lifestyle and possible future lifestyle ARE considerations to keep in the mix. People who are out and about all the time socialising and only using the home as a base don't require as much space as those who:

- work from home

- are confined to home by illness (I certainly recall a former friend - now passed on - who was housebound and derived great comfort from a reasonable home and nice garden)

- have a lot of home-centred type interests (eg gardening, cooking, etc) - all of which require room to pursue them.

Some people are able to "outsource" their needs (look at the traditional "man going down the local pub" for some "space") and others arent.

Funny you should mention all that, since we do it here in our little unit :rotfl: I've been unemployed a while and have spent most of the time home, hubby until recently worked 4 days a week from home (he's had to go in more recently but will be mostly home based) and we don't get out much either!

We've always said if we could drop our little unit on a piece of land we would. It's just that nobody builds small here, it seems to be that most people have an expectation of a few rooms each.

Anyhoo, we're going to look at it, and think more. Have checked out flooding and it's unlikely from rising river levels, but we still need to check as regards run-off. Used to be a lot easier to buy over here when it was drought ridden.

As for mortgage insurance, we've not been able to have it previously because of hubbys contract. So we just make sure we have enough cash as redraw or savings to pay at least 6 months.

lucielle

Morning o'esers, I'm not sure where I saw it, whether it was this thread or the old one (I've searched this one) but there was some links for some veggie recipes. Please can someone point me in the right direction.
Thanks
L

jackieglasgow

Lucielle if you click on this link, and scroll down the post you will see the vegetarian section of the complete cookery collection, and Ginghams meal planners are on there too.

culpepper

What with the way petrol prices are escalating, OH has decided to take his bicycle up to London and leave it there,then motorbike up there and bicycle part of the way to work. He did cycle the whole way a couple of times but it is about 50 miles so was unrealistic as a full time plan. Not sure how it will save really as he is almost undoubtably going to fuel his rides with something edible but it will keep him fit and he will feel he can at least battle the rise in fuel prices in principal.

I am clearing the veg plot at the mo. Nothing but fruit there this year. Last spring I started home working and it was constant all through from september to March but has fallen off for a few weeks. It makes it very difficult to grow anything that needs watering/weeding as there is no knowing when another wave of work will come around to take up the time. I bought an Azada (sort of sideways spade/mattock tool)when we had the money and it is invaluable for hacking the top off in this dry weather. Most of the garden tools are manual apart from the hover mower. That is about 20 years old and soldiers on.It has had replacement blades and spacers and last year, a new belt.