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

Broomstick

I'm still doing the reorganisation of the food stored in the kitchen cupboards and I've had (another!) realisation.

I'm putting everything into glass Kilner-type jars or cereal pouring boxes where possible and gradually the cupboards are losing their manufacturers' labels. Things that I'm leaving in their original containers like Marmite or Bird's custard powder really stand out!

The more printed labels I lose, the more beautiful the cupboards seem to be becoming. A shelf of different kinds of rice in glass jars looks really lovely; the colours of dried whole-foods start to seem very artistic. I can't tell what is organic or non-organic, well-known brands or basics any more but I can see what I have and what needs using up. The breakfast cereal shelf is looking particularly good with not a brand name in sight! I'm also hoping that, by being able to see what is there, my DSs will actually be tempted to finish things up rather than open a new packet (bit of a problem in our house atm!)

When I've got the kitchen sorted I'm then going to create a shelved under the stairs cupboard ready for food co-op bulk-buying and bogoffs but that's a little way off yet. (I'll be able to leave things in sealed packets there but they will be out of sight.) The kitchen cupboards should be mostly decanted goods.

Who'd have thought tackling such a mundane job could be enjoyable after all!

B x

Added after reading the latest posts above... of course this is what kitchen cupboards would have looked like a long time back...

charlies-aunt

littlecal wrote: »

cat_smith wrote: »

Oooooh. The worm that turned. I loved that Two Ronnies sketch:rotfl::rotfl:[/QUOT

cat_smith watch this space:D:rotfl::D


OK charlies-aunt ,which Ronnie are you?:D

I think that trying to live as OS as possible is the beginning of "the turn"

Lol! :rotfl:

I guess I'd be Ronnie Barker - so many funny sketches - my favourite would be the fork handles/four candles in the hardware shop . . . . the phantom raspberry blower of Olde London Town for definite :rotfl:

I think I'm definately on the turn - at 54, its now or never! I feel that I need to start getting 100% out of ever day as I've got more years behind me than I have in front - I want to make the most of everything and waste nothing - loved ones, time, money, etc

Its absolutely bucketed down here tonight - lovely to see the grass looking green again

I'm still on target on the challenge of buying nothing new this year - CS are charging top dollar here - £4.99 for a Matalan T-shirt for example, its a silly situation when they are charging more than the original retailers and IMO they'd shift a lot more stock if they knocked the prices down substantially.

mardatha

Broomstick thats lovely, really lovely.

Kimitatsu

ceridwen wrote: »

Yep - I've read that book...

I like social history too - museums as such leave me bored stiff - but the "living" version on the other hand...yep:D

I do get my mind in a twist though reading through social history stuff and trying to compare what my life would have been like then compared to how it is now.....:rotfl:

Okays..hmmm...would have had to get married I guess then....as I wouldnt have had the freedom to stay single if I hadnt met Him (unlike in the late 20th century) - but how to stick to having no children back then...or told hubbie "Thats it mate - you've had yer chips after 2 and there will be no more hankie-pankie for you then"....

...mind boggles again for the second time this evening...

My great aunt did just this! She was married and her husband caught a chill and died of pneumonia. SHe miscarried and lost the child she was carrying. Not one to wallow she took herself off to the battlefields of WW1 and spent most of the war nursing the sick - so much so she gave herself gas poisining.

SHe steadfastly refused to marry again although she had pepole who looked after her (and this was waaaaaay before the sixties) and was asked to marry several times. So it could be done but I think you had to be a strong woman to be able to do it.

Broomstick - you need to post us a picture love the concept though. That has got me thinking tonight and I may well be following you.

scottishminnie

littlecal wrote: »

(((((reverbe)))))


I wish I hadn't been so scared of life,I wish I had grabbed it by the throat and rattled it!!!! All my life I've put others first,was brought up never to argue or question or lose my temper,never to push myself forward or tell of achievements.

There is still time for the worm to turn:D:D:D:D:D

I think I share some genes with both of you! It was drummed into me from an early age that other people came first and I had to hold my tongue no matter what. Unfortunately some people have taken this as licence to have me at their beck and call however like you I've come to the end of the line and it's time to assert myself (in the nicest possible way of course).

It was also a given that you made your own way in life financially and didn't borrow what you couldn't pay back. I had my first weekend job at 14, in a paper shop. It was filthy, news print from the papers and it was a 6am start both days but it paid for my school uniforms from then on and any trips out with friends and mum insisted I saved something into my post office account each week. I had my first mortgage at 21 and though it was tough it's helped get me to where I am now (mortgage free after much effort) and I really don't envy those starting out in life now.

laineyc wrote: »

IOne thing I am glad about is that when dh and I had a rocky period a few years ago, we toughed it out. Now I cannot imagine not being with him, but at the time I would plan a life without him in my head.

Hubby and I also went through a nightmare year some time back and if it hadn't been for him (and some other people) putting every obstacle in my way we wouldn't be together now. I certainly didn't see him as part of my future. I always thought it was a glib statement but I now understand the saying "what doesn't kill us makes us stronger".

Anyway on the money saving front -nothing very productive today although nothing in the way of spending either which has to be good!

My potatoes seem to be coming along nicely. The beetroot is disappointing me a bit and I don't think the spring onions will ever amount to anything. My red onions will be fine I think although they seem a little tall and the long green shoots have bent in the wind. The neat freak in me is having a real challenge not snipping them off and making them neat. I kind of thought that would be ko - it shouldn;t affect what's going on below ground level though - or is that a really niaive statement?



p.s. Happy Birthday Jedi - have a party all to yourself (when you get a spare minute!)_party_

lizzyb1812

Scottishminnie - have your onions bent in the wind or are they ready to lift? Feel the "necks" of the onions - just above the bulb - are they soft? If so they are ready to lift. I thought my onions had bent in the wind then checked my gardening books and found that if the necks were soft it wasn't the wind. Mine were over-wintered and didn't grow very big because of the drought we've had, but they have dried out well and taste lovely.

My beetroot have also been pathetic, ditto spring onions which are supposed to be easy to grow - not in my patch

VJsmum

Well thank goodness i do plan and batch cook and freeze cos 2 nights in a row i've come in absolutely cream crackered and, thank goodness, have had lovely homecooked ready made meals there to just heat up for us. And still plenty left in the freezer.

Also have frozen pints of stock from my roast on Sunday - it don't half take up room in the freezer, but i guess there is no way round that (apart from using it up i guess )

JosieJump

Gosh - this thread moves so quickly!!! I have a read at work in my tea break and want to comment on something but by the time I get home, walk the dog, cook dinner and wrestle the lap top off DD you're talking about something else!

I like the hardware sketch too - everytime we're in a DIY shop OH and I do the 'Os - mon repose' bit much to DDs embarrasment!

We also got our first house at 21/22 in 1989 and the day we completed the interest rates went up and up and up until they hit 15%. We really struggled but came through it.

On an OS note, I ripped my fav combat trousers so went into Mr HeWhoIsNeverKnowinglyUndersold and bought 10cms of the cheapest seersucker fabric much to the assistants disgust (75p). I have consulted my sewing encylopedia and am going to try and patch them up at the weekend.

lizzyb1812

VJsmum - you can boil down stock to reduce the volume then add back water when you use it

Lizzy

scottishminnie

JosieJump wrote: »

We also got our first house at 21/22 in 1989 and the day we completed the interest rates went up and up and up until they hit 15%. We really struggled but came through it.

Ditto - bought in April 89 and the interest rate went up every single month from then on. I had a lot of sleepless nights back then wondering how we would manage but we did:)

lizzyb1812 wrote: »

Scottishminnie - have your onions bent in the wind or are they ready to lift? Feel the "necks" of the onions - just above the bulb - are they soft? If so they are ready to lift. I thought my onions had bent in the wind then checked my gardening books and found that if the necks were soft it wasn't the wind. Mine were over-wintered and didn't grow very big because of the drought we've had, but they have dried out well and taste lovely.

My beetroot have also been pathetic, ditto spring onions which are supposed to be easy to grow - not in my patch

Thanks Lizzie - I'll have a look tomorrow and see how they feel - I'll be quite excited if they are ready, that will be my first harvest!

I'm Mrs impatient at the best of times - I'm scrutinising my apple trees daily for signs of fruit - not much so far:(