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

scottishminnie

Larumbelle - good luck with next week. Are you being allowed to take anyone else along? I've been involved in quite a few grievances (thankfully as an independent note taker) and I'm always happier when the employee has someone with them. I just feel the very fact that they are there means there is less chance of any nonsense from the company. I'm maybe just very cynical as I have a very low opinion of the company I work for (could be because we have a very high rate of grievances and disciplinaries)

I picked up some golden marzipan tonight in Asda - was reduced from £1.64 to £1.20. The sell by date is March 2012 so it will be fine for my Christmas cake. I feel kind of bad for thinking about Christmas in July however it saves a little.

I've offered to help out with some food for a friends party on Saturday so I'm making my lists now. I need to make some decisions and get moving, I'm making 4 desserts, one of them cheesecake and I had planned to make a rum soaked raisin cheesecake however I've been advised no alcohol so I think it will have to be a summer fruits cheesecake instead. I did think of making grasshopper pie rather than cheesecake - still undecided but I need to be sure by tomorrow.

Looking at my list I'm certainly going to be busy for the next few days. I'm responsible for the birthday cake too which I've marzipanned this evening so it can dry out tomorrow. I'm delighted to be asked to make the cake but I do worry my decorating skills aren't as good as my cooking and baking skills so I've cheated and bought some ready made sugar flowers to decorate it with. Not very MSE I know but it's a special occasion.:o

I'm off to catch up on todays' posts now - bedtime reading!

Larumbelle

Lizzyb, Minnie and 7WW

Thank you so much for your support :grouphug:

Yes, I do have someone coming with me, a union outside official. Our company isn't union but I have personal union membership - right now it's looking like the best £4 per month I've ever spent! I am meeting with him at some point before the meeting to go over everything.

Our company is one of those that spends too much time telling everyone what a great place they are to work and not enough actually trying to be great. In the last six months or so our department has grown considerably and the whole ethos has changed. It did used to be more nurturing and caring, but they have treated some people shockingly since Christmas. My trust in them is shattered now, though, and I will continue job-hunting if/when I am reinstated.

You are right, I am really lucky to have OH, and to have such a solid relationship. We've been together since our teens and it's the case now that we've been through that much there's not a lot left to split us up! We do get wound up sometimes but don't very often have arguments. We're more likely to say our piece, sort the issue out, then get over it. We both know it's better that way because for the first few years we would have enormous blazing rows that went on for days and engulfed everyone around us! So glad we grew out of that!



Did anyone see the Apprentice You're Fired? The samosa lady (don't know her name) started her business in her kitchen with £2.50, now her company turns over £70 million! What an inspiration.

floss2

Larumbelle did you ever have an Occy Health assessment done by your employer? And this might be useful too.

ceridwen

LARUMBELLE

Just a quick "good luck" from me as well for that grievance hearing and that it goes well. Just as well to have the back-up of looking for another job whatever happens. Anyways - you're doing the right thing proceeding with this and taking a Union official with you.

So - fingers crossed for you and let us all know how it goes.

GreyQueen

Morning all and I am pleased to report that there is nothing under my bedroom window other than the scabby bit of grass. That's it; no furniture, packaging or bathroom fittings. Can barely believe my luck.

My throat feels as if it's been sandpapered which will make several hours taking phonecalls today a jolly jape, but a gal's gotta do what a gal's gotta do. My natural "pitch" is quite low and when I have a cold it easily drops into "husky" and you get some very funny reactions from male customers, let me tell you. If we had vid-phones they'd be soooooo disappointed......;)

Larumbelle all the very best for your grievance hearing next week and it's great that you'll have a union official with you.

scottishminnie I gotta know, what on earth is a grasshopper pie?!

I had a plumber around yesterday evening to fix the taps which were making the most horrendous noises; new washers. As it was on my mind, I asked if ballcocks have been rebranded as float valves; he thought they hadn't and suggested that the vendor might have just been trying to be a bit nice with a lady customer.

Must have been something in the air because the parents' shower died on them yesterday too; wouldn't stop running unless you turned the water for the whole house off at the stop tap. Trusty plumber was called at 6.30 am (he was up and about) and the new one was in by 10 am.

Right, must drink more tea and try to ignore my trivial aches and pains and get on with life. Sun's shining and I may have the strength to get to the lottie after work and do a little.

Hope everyone has a good day and have a dodgy group hug on me.

:grouphug::grouphug::grouphug: (just in case we have a lot of readers today, I didn't want anyone to go without).

scottishminnie

Sorry GreyQueen - that's probably a sign that I spend too much tme on the other side of the Atlantic when I assume everyone knows what I'm talking about (I'll be so much happer if I ever get to live there permanently:D)

Grasshopper pie - so named because of the colour

http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/grasshopper_pie/

I'm sure Nigella also has a recipe in one of her books but it's a great way of using up marshmallows which I can't resist buying and it's very tasty too.
I can't think of anything better - marshmallows and oreo cookie - yummy.

Softstuff

Good luck Larumbelle. After the experiences I've had working for a couple of companies, and what's happened to friends of mine I think it's high time the workers revolted. Seems to me that companies are getting away with murder the way they treat their staff, and they do need standing up to.

I'm back on form here, todays haul includes a 29c avocado (about 20p), a bunch of spring onions for about 34p, a leek for 34p and over a kilo of pumpkin for a quid. Pumpkin soup here we come. Finding these bargains somewhat mitigates the tomatoes at a quid a time.....

I've been speaking to MIL who has just moved, and who has a large amount of land and she's said that when it comes to planting her veggie garden she'll ask me what I fancy and plant a few for me! Now I just need to convince her to get some chickens too :rotfl:

Softstuff

scottishminnie wrote: »

Grasshopper pie - so named because of the colour

http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/grasshopper_pie/

I'm sure Nigella also has a recipe in one of her books but it's a great way of using up marshmallows which I can't resist buying and it's very tasty too.
I can't think of anything better - marshmallows and oreo cookie - yummy.

Scottishminnie, it's very very evil to show me a recipe like that. Especially when I've just bought some bathroom scales.

So I've saved it and will try it soon

I disagree with the line in the recipe where they suggest you discard the oreo middle bits. But then that's likely why I need the bathroom scales.

For those who like me are too tight to buy creme de menthe, I tend to buy a bottle of vodka each year at duty free and use it to make small quantities of various liqueurs. Sure enough, there's a recipe for creme de menthe:
http://www.drinksmixer.com/drink3052.html

dollydaydream07

calleyw wrote: »

I feel your pain. Had to have slow leak repaired driving me made keep feeling it up air once a week and a new exhaust:eek:

The car sounded like a tank so had no choice.

Yours

Calley

our car sounded exactly the same, or as DH said 'we sound like we've got a boy racer car' but then the backbox thing of the exhaust fell off and it sounded even worse!
luckily it is fixed now and it cost £87 to get sorted, managed to pawn some of my jewellery for £38 so that went towards the cost of fixing the car!!!!!!!

just having a nosey at our finances and trying to work out what we need to pay out for this month and it's not looking good, i thought tax credits had been reduced by £2 a week but today's payment went in and it's even less than last week

having to decide the best way to deal with DD, at school at the minute she is the main star in her own version of 'the boy who cried wolf' and every day for the last week, she has faked having a seizure which isn't good, it means that 3 teachers are being taken away from their children to check her over, all the other children are getting scared/worried about her and it's going to get to the point where if another child catches her faking it, they won't bother going to get a teacher and that time they don't get a teacher will be the time where she isn't faking it
had a chat with her teacher and we believe it's because of her feeling anxious about moving up to year one, so we have agreed that rather than the one hour transition that they get, DD will get a bit more, so if she does some good work, she can take it to her new teacher and spend 10 minutes in her class, if her new teacher is doing a story/singing then Abiane can go and join them again and during the last week of term she is going to go and spend an hour a day with her new teacher, hopefully this will help relax her a little(although having 7 weeks off won't help but it's a start)
also agreed that if Abiane decides she wants 'sleepy time'(as we have decided to call it) then she will be asked to go and have 5 minutes with the learning mentor in her office - that way none of the children will see her fake it and get worried or give her lots of attention and the same goes with the teachers too, thinking if she only has one adult giving her attention then she will see that faking it, isn't the way to get our attention!!
also thinking of setting up a reward system for her, where if she goes a morning without 'sleepy time' the she gets a sticker, same goes for the afternoon and by the end of the week if she has all 10 stickers then she gets a treat

oooh, i've waffled on a bit there, but if anyone has any other idea's of how we could deal with DD then i'd be very grateful if you could post your suggestions


right off to go and make some brekkie for DD as she's off school today due to the strikes - planning on doing lots with her so she has lots of positive attention from me

TudorRose

Thanks for the link to the grasshopper pie Scotsminnie.
I had heard the name but didn't know what it was made from. Have printed off the recipie as it looks so easy to do & I love marshmallows.