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

taurusgb

funkystarfish wrote: »

Just wondering... what is laundry gloop?

Welcome! it is home made laundry liquid - I got my recipe off here ages ago:-

1 bar soap grated
250 gram soda crystals

put 1 and 1/2 litres of water in a large pan (I use a deep stock pot)
add the soap and simmer until soap has melted, stirring now and then. Add 3 litres of boiling water and stir VERY well. Cool a little then add soda crystals and stir until they are dissolved. Pour into containers and let it set. I use 100ml gloop dissolved in 100ml of hot water per washing load.

Hope that helps - though as I said in a post yesterday I've just had cause to use basics shampoo and it worked fantastically well, so I don't know if I shall bother with gloop in future.

jamanda

Athome1 wrote: »

Like lots of us I store a lot of stuff in my boarded loft. When I went up there today I found chewed/shredded paper and a candle has been chewed:eek: I'm assuming it's mice and I wondered if anyone has been afflicted and what you used to get rid of them. I have a cat but I couldn't shove her up there and leave her;) so i guess it'll have to be poison or the like. Please can I ask for some advice?

We had this too. I had loads of dry goods up there in plastic boxes with lids - big ones. They gnawed through the hinges and ate everything. DH did traps following lots of fits when he found out I had stored stuff up there.

On the growing subject, I like the plant pot thingy. Will show DH.

For the last couple of years I have been setting stuff in the cold greenhouse when the tomatoes come out of the compost. Bit hit and miss, but managed spring onions, spinach and a few oddments. Now with a candle pot thingy,,,,

taurusgb

westlothianlass wrote: »

Taursgb, I regularly plant a number of veg now which are okay in winter but you may have to plant seeds soon, cauliflowers (winter harvest), cabbages (again winter types), brussel sprouts and kale can be started now and planted when other stuff has been eaten:j.
Two that i find indespensable are spinach and chard which can both be harvested all year round (weather permitting) but ive found that they are as happy in pots as they are in the ground making it easier to move them to a slightly less baltic part of the garden , but saying that i'm in a pretty cold and blustery part of Scotland and still manage some.
Just remembered that there are also a number of hardy lettuce/salad leaves on the market now that would survive if given a little bit of cover. HTH;)

Thank you VERY much....we're going camping the middle 2 weeks in July and am thinking if I plant seeds now they will be dead when I come home ...my eldest DS does come round and pick up the post and water the garden but he's a bit hit and miss, and we always come home to a few plants that are dead as door nails. Funny thing is they are often next to well looked after plants and I have yet to discover what criteria he uses to decide which lives and which dies :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl: ...anyway (less waffle!!!) will I be too late if I plant seeds for winter plants about the 3rd week in July do you think?

taurusgb

grandma247 wrote: »

taurusgb try googling hoophouse.

Thank you - very interesting..will have DH look at it later, see if her can design something similar:j:j:j

thriftymoo

taurusgb wrote: »

Welcome! it is home made laundry liquid - I got my recipe off here ages ago:-

1 bar soap grated
250 gram soda crystals

put 1 and 1/2 litres of water in a large pan (I use a deep stock pot)
add the soap and simmer until soap has melted, stirring now and then. Add 3 litres of boiling water and stir VERY well. Cool a little then add soda crystals and stir until they are dissolved. Pour into containers and let it set. I use 100ml gloop dissolved in 100ml of hot water per washing load.

Hope that helps - though as I said in a post yesterday I've just had cause to use basics shampoo and it worked fantastically well, so I don't know if I shall bother with gloop in future.

Thanks for the gloop recipe! I think i've seen something similar before! I've ordered some soap nuts so im waiting to give them a go :T

westlothianlass

Hi Taurusgb,
I've had a look at my trusty river cottage book, according to them in July you can start french beans, Kale, lettuce, radishes, rocket, spinach, and cabbages for spring hth.
I know what you mean about watering when away, we too will be camping in july, and though my lovely step daughter and hubby will come round to feed cats, chickens etc i feel nervous about the plants as it can be a bit hit or miss:rotfl:
x

taurusgb

westlothianlass wrote: »

Hi Taurusgb,
I've had a look at my trusty river cottage book, according to them in July you can start french beans, Kale, lettuce, radishes, rocket, spinach, and cabbages for spring hth.
I know what you mean about watering when away, we too will be camping in july, and though my lovely step daughter and hubby will come round to feed cats, chickens etc i feel nervous about the plants as it can be a bit hit or miss:rotfl:
x

Fabulous - thank you so much for that - here's hoping we both get reasonable camping weather :T Have to say that being British we can usually manage to have a great camping holiday despite the weather (well it's that or no holiday at all) but I really loathe and detest pitching or taking down camp in wet and/or windy conditions

boultdj

grandma247 wrote: »

I was looking again at this site last night and was thinking that If I could replicate the tripod somehow the rest would be easy to make.
Anyone any ideas?

I hope I can grow a few things in the greenhouse over winter. Frugaldom did a good job of growing lettuce in home made cold frames in winter.

How about a small stool turned upside down?

[Deleted User]

taurusgb wrote: »

Thank you VERY much....we're going camping the middle 2 weeks in July and am thinking if I plant seeds now they will be dead when I come home ...my eldest DS does come round and pick up the post and water the garden but he's a bit hit and miss, and we always come home to a few plants that are dead as door nails. Funny thing is they are often next to well looked after plants and I have yet to discover what criteria he uses to decide which lives and which dies :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl: ...anyway (less waffle!!!) will I be too late if I plant seeds for winter plants about the 3rd week in July do you think?

you will still have plenty of time taurus. I didn`t sow my winter lettuce until august last year and will do the same again plus endive. Chard and spinach will germinate when you come back in july, just pop the seeds in a plant pot and then into a poly bag

suzid

Hi all, and welcome Westlothian and funkystarfish :wave:.

I've been doing some thinking since last night's news about the rise in fuel prices. Checked my suppliers website to see what their fixed tariff had to offer against our current rate and also with the same hike as Scot power. I like playing on Excel, it's one of my many weaknesses . The upshot was very scary. We'll have to pay an extra approx £150 per year if (ha!!!!) ours increases by the same amount as SP, but on the fixed until 2013 the increase would be an extra £350 per year :eek:. So it would appear they are expecting one hell of a hike after this one. :mad: In the meantime we're staying on the current tariff and cutting back on as much as possible. At least DS will be in Uni using their fuel not ours.

In order to try and keep the house reasonably warm I've been racking my brains as to how I can insulate the windows and doors. DS's room will be bubble wrapped again this year as it's the only one with single grazing, but I'm going to carry it on in the kitchen by making panels that I can put up at night behind the blinds. The same goes for the loft hatch up to the what was DH's office and now store room. Lovely to get the light coming through so the BW will still do that but with insulation. If my memory is correct I think I've got old (very, over 40yrs) velvet curtains up there and I'm wondering if I can revamp them to go in the rooms with thin curtains. The letter box on the outer door rattles and bangs when it's winds so.....laugh if you like, I bought a 25p sponge today to jam in it to stop the drafts. Cheaper than a new letter box and I can put a tin outside for mail if I don't get to speak to the postie to tell him to push the sponge in as required. Inner door now has a curtain and I've also lined it with fleeces.

Last year I found I stayed in the kitchen in the evening as it was warmer than the lounge after cooking the tea. We got a small two seater sofa from a local recycling centre last year so I could happily live in the kitchen and practically do. All I have to do now is stop DH sponsoring eon, most evenings, with all his electricals on (tv, 2 computers, sky box, overhead lamp and ceiling lights) while he's nodded off to sleep. He's then wide awake till the early hours with said electricals still burning, doing work at home, which he's no longer paid over time for, but which he says stops him getting really stressed at work. What can I say to that? Don't want him stressed but why should he have to work all these unpaid hours using our fuel with two thirds of the pay he was getting. :mad:

Store cupboard coming on nicely. Got lots of pasta, flour and rice today. Already got the ingredients for the Christmas cake and plan to bake that this week. Ground almonds a ridiculous price in A*!a, 150g for almost £1.60 so got them in Al!i at 99p for 200g. I didn't make one last year and got grumbles from my sons as they drove off to various parts of the county without their usual slab of cake. It was nice to know they had appreciated it.

Good luck in your new home CBHM, it sounds as if it could be a real sanctuary for you with nice new people to get to know.

Take care all, love reading your posts.