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

flowertotmum

Morning all...hiya froogs welcome hun..no need to feel that way..sometimes we don't see the questions..its a busy thread...glad you came back though..thats true os spirit never give up keep going..

Well today is the big wedding..dresses all ironed and ready..suits ties shoes all at the ready..tbh wil be glad when its over..got my dress from peac*cks half price and got the tots dresses off fleabay..will post a piccie of them later they look sooo cute and gorgeous..had to buy new shoes for them and me..costing me a fortune..but bought shoes that they will wear again..

All ready got bread on the go and a ham joint in the oven..thats for tea tonight with jacket spuds and home-made coleslaw..
Will be doing a shop on approved foods later for store cup-board stock up..
I have spent the week sorting my freezers out..i have one in kitchen for my meals that are planned out,2 in the utility room,1 for fruits and veg and the other for bread,meat and cakes plus soups..all divided up and neat and tidy..almost got frostbite doing it..had to wear gloves lol...
Am looking forward to next week...its my 25th wedding anniversary on tuesday and my birthday on thursday..so i'm hoping for a good week..not bothered about pressies..will be nice to have bbq in the sun for al my girls and son..plus my grandchildren will be a good week...its my brothers birthday the day after mine..we usually share the party but he doesn't want to this year..miserable sod..his loss..
OOOh great freebie this week..14 sachets of anti wrinkle cream..brilliant..came yesterday..it was over on the freebies board.
Right i'm off to make myself look glamorous(that'll be ages then)..
love to you all..
ftm

Broomstick

Thank you, you kind people, for the nice things you've said about my meanderings. Your comments and the thoughts everyone keeps coming up with were a massive pick-me-up when I eventually got in last night. The clutch on my car died, my rescue service membership had expired, it was tipping with rain, I ran out of money on my phone, we have things booked that need access to a working vehicle everyday until Friday ... but the immediate problem got sorted and four hours later I was back home with the car left on my local garage's forecourt. I've just spoken to them this morning and it looks as if I might be able to get a loan car until Monday, if not Friday, so things are looking much better given what had happened.

After all that, catching up on the thread was such a tonic and got me thinking again .

Modern millie, you are so right about the history in our homes. I read your post and immediately got up to wander round our downstairs looking at our furniture. Apart from 2 sets of slatted wooden bookshelves (bought 15 years ago for the children's toys, a set of IKEA Billy shelves and an IKEA chair, everything we have on the ground floor of this house is second-hand, mostly hand-me-downs from the family but some furniture was bought cheaply from our best friends who moved to Israel seven years ago. I'm sitting at their desk typing now.

Beside me is one of the two armchairs my parents bought when they first married and I asked to keep when they no longer had room for them. The chairs have been refurbished a couple of times in their lifetime but these are the bits of furniture where I snuggled up as a toddler with my gran over 50 years ago to be read stories. Apparently, when my mum brought me home from hospital as a newborn, she laid me on one of these seats. To my left is a large square coffee table where we were doing our 1000 piece jigsaws and playing board games 40+ years ago. The furniture is in photographs that go way back. The stories it tells and the memories are important. Again, none of this is about money but it is about riches. Thank you millie for the reminders.

And GreyQueen, the idea about homes needing to be homely is so true. It helps to see the scars and the wrinkles and the 'used'ness of everything around us. It matters. It gives life roots, and too much of modern living seems hell bent on covering it up, making it over glossy and something that seems false and temporary.

It's the same reason that I made a decision a long time back to try (I'm still working on this one!) to be pleased about my body that has clearly got a 'lived in' look if you know what I mean! It tells a story too and I don't need to hide the story. It's mine. Our bodies need to be homely too.

Of course we need cash to survive but maybe the 'workhouse beckoning' is giving us a way of thinking where other kinds of wealth can be found. There isn't a 'get rich quick' route to this kind of wealth, and nobody can tax it either.

PS. We cross posted - Hiya Froogs! I love the word ditsy. Hope today goes really well, Flowertomum.

littlecal

FTM - have a lovely day:) I've sent off for the freebie creams,not sure the wrinkles can wait
Furniture can hold such happy memories,things that I had when I left home many years ago are still with me.Not because they were expensive,but because they were there through various stages of my life.The squeaky rocker that I'd sit in to feed my son,The WW2 utility table that was covered in sticky backed plastic and took an age to restore - my first attempt at being frugal!!!

HariboJunkie

Welcome Princess tazza and Froogs :hello:
Hope things work out with the car Broomstick. x
Have a lovely day at the wedding FTM. x

I agree with the thoughts on homeliness in homes. For some people their preferred look is new and fresh. Mine is secondhand and preferably antique. We have been very lucky over the years to have scavenged some wonderful pieces. I have inherited furniture, bought some at action, pulled some from skips and nabbed some great bargains from ebay and freecycle. All 3 sofas in the living room came from ebay and the rest of the furniture in here was restored by my MIL before we were married apart from one old pine chest which I remember going with my Mum to buy from an old second hand store about 30 years ago. The children's rooms are mostly modern ikea as it suits them for now. I love giving old furniture a second home and making it part of my family's history as it has been part of someone elses.
In my kitchen I have restored an old 1950s larder/cabinet with it's glass sliding doors and pull down melamine baking shelf. I love to think that another housewife used it in her kitchen when times were really tough.
An extremely stressful day was had by me yesterday so I am recovering by having my usual Saturday morning of lots of coffee and Monty Don (recorded from last night). DDs have offered to help in the garden today in return for a bbq tonight (weather permitting). So a simple day ahead I hope.

littlecal

Oooooh Haribo - I want your cabinet!!!!! My great aunt had one,Sunday high tea,everything made from scratch,sandwiches without the crust,tiny little cakes arranged on a cake stand,Mmmmm.The rest of the week might have been frugal (anyone remember lard on toast?!!!:eek:) but Sunday's were Heaven.:)


P.S. The only thing I have of hers is that cake stand:D

ceridwen

GreyQueen

With you on the breadmaking and I dont knead my bread at all - just more "pull it together" and "plonk" (as in putting it in my bread tins). Just had an email saying "Thank you for your lovely bread again - which we finished that day!" from one of my Lets peeps that I made some for last week.:D

Had you thought of buying your dried yeast in packets - rather than sachets? I cant recall my calculations - but I worked it out that a packet (ie 7 grams?) of dried yeast came to 1.5 teaspoons of yeast. On from there I worked out how many teaspoons worth there is in a packet of the type of yeast I get (ie that quick-acting Doves Farm type in the orange packets) and it came out cheaper buying the packets.

Reet - re making do and mending in the garden/allotment - there is another book out recently by Dave Hamilton "Grow your food for free - well almost" and he has all sortsa tips about recycling various bits and bobs to save buying summat purposemade from the garden centre. I must get the library to buy a copy - so that I can borrow it - so will be paying my money and putting in an order for it from them soon. Well - I gotta read it havent I? - as he's such a little "sweetie" of a person. One of the ones who is too nice to ever be rich - so I'll help him "on his way" a little by ensuring my library at any rate buys his book - and hopefully I'll pick up some new tips from it:D

modern_millie_2

Haribo, we had one of those cabinets when I was a little girl, I remember sitting at it with my mum to have lunch when it was just the two of us there - tinned soup or bacon sandwiches - before I was veggie!
GQ, thank you for those kind words - sometimes I think people see us as eccentric, good to know others feel the same way. Your chair sounds interesting.Would like to try mat making sometime.

Broomstick, agree with you about bodies too - I think it's partly about getting older - I'm much happier in my (wrinkled) skin than I was as a teen (though I would'nt say no to some free cream either, Littlecal!).

FTM, hope you enjoy the wedding.

Froogs - welcome - I use AF and am not above the odd pack of biscs - also choc and crisps - but try to choose brands that I know haven't got too many additives or 'bad' fats. Wish they would list the ingredients, but I guess this would be too time consuming.

Right, must get ready for work - have a good day all.

froogs

ceridwen wrote: »

Had you thought of buying your dried yeast in packets - rather than sachets? I cant recall my calculations - but I worked it out that a packet (ie 7 grams?) of dried yeast came to 1.5 teaspoons of yeast. On from there I worked out how many teaspoons worth there is in a packet of the type of yeast I get (ie that quick-acting Doves Farm type in the orange packets) and it came out cheaper buying the packets.

I use Allinson's dried active yeast in a 125g tin at 64p. I can get approx 17 loafs from that

It works out at aroud 4p per loaf.

How does that work in comparison to the sachets?

edited..............................

I've just compared on ASDA:

125g tin = £5.12 per kg
sachets = £20.00 per kg :eek:

freudianslip

froogs wrote: »

I use Allinson's dried active yeast in a 125g tin at 64p. I can get approx 17 loafs from that

It works out at aroud 4p per loaf.

How does that work in comparison to the sachets?

edited..............................

I've just compared on ASDA:

125g tin = £5.12 per kg
sachets = £20.00 per kg :eek:

woah! Thats a massive jump isn't it!! :eek:

Welcome froogs and princess tazza

redlady_1

Can you use that in a breadmaker Froogs?