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

ceridwen

lizzyb1812 wrote: »

On a different subject I decided not to buy the gadget I'd been after recently. I wanted it but didn't need it and remembered some posts where calculating how long you'd have to work to earn the money to buy "stuff" was a good way to make a buying decision. I'm not working at the moment - living off my savings/wits - but I have calculated how much I need to live on over a year and thus a rate for a day - this thing was going to cost about a day's living costs, ie it would cut my hard-earned holiday from working by a day. Just not worth it.

That sounds like it would be interesting to hear more about please - if you're so minded:D

Good luck with doing it and hope you can manage to make the "work break" last as long as possible.

I've only had a "work break" for about a month - ie I deliberately didnt have a job for about a month in between one job and the next. That was back in my 20's and I'd already decided it wasnt fun having to work for my living. I covered my own costs for that period and then found my next job.

I've never had a break from work at all apart from that and have always had to be full-time. The spells of unemployment don't count - as they were involuntary and I was on the dole and hunting for my next job during them.

So - good on ya' for doing this:T

GREYQUEEN - what's "peely-wally"? Now you know we've got to keep up this word swap malarkey we do.....LOL. So - welcome to another "cast iron stomach-er" then...and I thought mine might be down to being a bit of an "allsorts" further back in my genes. I'm obviously 100% British (but can easily pass as German if I'm dressed a bit more smartly than usual) - but, further back down the generations I'm a bit of a mixture...

redlady_1

Right, I have a query about Basa. Is it he farmed stuff we should avoid rather than the stuff in general from that River? Or is it thw whole thing that is bad? I am very confused about what I can and cant eat....or perhaps I am just being dim!

[Deleted User]

[QUOTE=scottishminnie;44819612I like to think my fish have lived in clean water, ate proper fish food and lived happy lives before they end up on my plate.
QUOTE]

I have never eaten prawns after seeing a programme on tv, the prawns were kept in holding tanks in bangladesh with sewage flowing in and they were pulled out and injected (live) with water until they got fat, so the producer got more money. That was happening all over the area. None of these prawns were labelled :eek:

blackandwhitebunny

Does anyone know if quorn was invented on a "fake food - to help feed the world agenda" or no? I DO wonder - and if its a sorta Soylent Green type scenario - then I had better give up buying it I guess....[/QUOTE]

As far as I know Quorn was first researched as a cattle food then was looked at as food for the developing world and for famine prevention but finally they decided they could make more profit selling it to vegetarians in rich countries.

silvermaid

Only got upto P221, so am well behind.
Will catch up later.
Overcast and rainy here and 16C.
I do like this thread. So many good ideas. Never thought to swill out my Yorkshire Pud bowl with veg water to use as gravy thickener. Think I'll make the batter in a large jug rather than a pyrex bowl from now on, think that will be easier to manage. Thanks peeps, Silver x

Rowan9

Morning folks. Sunny here but colder.
Lizzyb - glad you enjoy living in Suffolk. It is such a beautiful county and I do miss my riverside walks with the dogs and waving to holiday makers going past on their boats. I used to feel very lucky to be living in such lovely countryside when people pay to come there for their hols. BUT...I am from the north and my kids both chose to go back to Scotland for uni, even though they'd lived in England since 5 and 7 yrs. So, with increasing numbers of weekend trips back here, the longing to move increased and we moved in 2009. I really enjoy living nearer rellies, not only the 'kids' (24 and 26) but also the farming cousins etc. My sister is moving back later this year too.

Interesting reading the fish info. Thanks so much to those who have posted links and also views. Also about quorn as I have been eating more of that lately in a conscious effort to eat less meat. Luckily I love veggie food and enjoy cooking so will just concentrate on real food. I do like fish though but will choose more wisely now.
Am I too late to grow windowsill salad leaves, anyone know? Ah but I need the sun to shine on them I expect .
I've been thinking a lot lately about need not want. I try to take time to think about purchases and I've found that practice at this actually works. I am thinking about going back to teaching (F.E.) but am aware of the soul sucking and exhausting aspect of it (!!!) so living mindfully and more frugally means being able to take time over that decision. lizzy - I think it's you who wrote about costing out purchases in 'real' terms ie how long you'd have to work to pay for them/ how long you could stay out of work situ. I'm sure peeps here know the fab book Your Money or Your Life. I have an old copy and think I'll give it another read. I had another copy but a teaching colleague borrowed it, cut down expenses, his wife left her job and he is looking at cutting his hours down to 3 days a week. I was so impressed I told him to keep the copy! I have another book called How to Survive Without a Salary, which is an interesting, slightly different read. Finally, for anyone wanting to read about the 'good' life of going back to basics, Walden by Thoreau is an excellent read. It was written in 1845 when Walden decided to get away from hectic life for a couple of years ha ha!
Ok, kettle on for another mug of tea.
Have a good day all. Drink plenty of water and stay hydrated (not you Mardatha! Oh and you'd love Suffolk but you'd miss your hills).
W

blackandwhitebunny

I find the whole fish debate very difficult. As a diver and very interested in marine conservation I do know that current consumption is unsustainable. Salmon farming has all sorts of pro's and con's, there are some parts of Scottish lochs that are completely dead beneath the salmon nets because of the high densities and the huge amounts of waste produced. I have read about some farms that are growing ropes of mussels around the nets which naturally clear the waste but its almost impossible to find out exactly which farm fish come from. I try to buy organic for that reason but realise that organic farmed fish has to be fed on other fish and it isn't allowed to be by catch so it also has some long term sustainability issues. I will only buy fish that is from managed stocks and preferably pole or line caught. Sainsbugs is by far the best for sustainable fish. Sorry for all the peeps who like Morissons but they are way down the scale, they frequently sell fish on the no eat lists.
I can't take my DH near the fish counter as he has a nasty habit of then going to ask where the panda steaks are or the tiger chops and when met with weird looks from the staff drags them to the fish counter and gives them a lecture:D Its just easier to shop elsewhere. :oThere's a website called bite back (don't have the exact link) which has an interesting and different approach to fish conservation.

CRANKY40

GreyQueen wrote: »

like a colourful balloon wafting over a dung-pile.

I like that....I will henceforth try and face the obstacles in my life as if I were that balloon :T

redlady_1

Thanks bunny. It is quite frightening. I just want to know where to buy fish from to be honest. I assume that as Waitrose has an ethical policy that they would sell "happy" fish?

7_week_wonder

Good morning all! And for once it looks like we might get some decent weather up here north of the border. I'm working at home today so the washing machine is already on and I'm hoping to get out into the garden from time to time:)

Choclare thanks for the tarragon chicken recipe - it sounds yummy and has been added to my "things to try" collection.

And thanks Westlothianlass for your suggestions for herbs, I'd forgotten all about lemon balm. I love my work colleagues - we were talking about herbs at lunch-time and I'm now going to get cuttings of lemon balm, lovage, hyssop and savoury (? must find out more about that one) for the herb plot. We have a great unofficial barter system - I take eggs in every so often and other people bring whatever they have a glut of in the garden.

Has anyone got any ideas what I could use instead of pine nuts to have a go at making some pesto? I was going to try walnuts, but other suggestions greatfully received.

And do people think I would be able to get away with sowing some more mange-tout - the ones we've got are lovely and we could certainly use more - or have I left it too late?

So many questions: hopefully one day I'll have enough knowledge to be able to give something back.