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

Emptynester

GreyQueen wrote: »

We still have an old china gazunder, as the oldies used to call them, in the loft, too. Anyone else got one of these on the premises? What's the most eccentric thing in your lofts?

Well I will admit to 6 litres of VERY out of date bottled water in our attic. Along with lots of Gloucestershire we were without running water for 10 days in July 2007. I know this water shouldn't be used for drinking but if I ever wake up to dry taps at least I know I can have a thorough wash, including my hair. Those 10 days did teach us how to make good use of our water when we have to.

Back to 2011 and I was reasonably happy with my bill in Sbugs this morning. We are begining to get enough from the garden to make a difference to the food bill. I must keep going and increase my efforts. I need to get some produce from my garden over the winter.

Off to weed, clean house (a bit) and help DD1 who has a lot of work to do on her new home and has a limited buget (sound familiar?):rotfl:

flowertotmum

Morning all...i'm still here..been a bit busy.Hubbys job is going well...he loves it,always comes home telling me whats on offer and what he put out that night bless him..Its just me that has to get used to him not being here..weird i know..i feel a bit lost at night when tots have gone to bed..all my jobs are done and tbh i need to buck my ideas up and get my knitting out and finish my sewing projects.

I have been working in the garden and getting my windowsills ready for painting..had a great day on thursday(teacher strike)..i packed a picnic put tots in the trailer and took them to belton house for the day...had a picnic under the trees,saw lots of fawns,squirrels and rabbits..tots loved it..got great pics too..going again next weekend..

got to go wicked witch of the west has arrived(my mum):eek:
love ftm

culpepper

I decided to try a new jam flavour yesterday having picked a nice big bowl of redcurrants from the garden. They are the very last on the bushes. So I used a bag of chopped up rhubarb from the freezer with them. The resulting jam is quite yummy considering both the fruits are relatively sharp tasting.
My yoghurt making is going down well , we have a small insulated yoghurt making flask thing(all plastic) which holds about a litre and to save having to make it so often, I have used a lidded glass jug that used to belong to the coffee percolator as a second yog making thing. I did the usual warm up the milk and stir in the yog and then put half in the flask and half in the jug. Then put the jug in a small insulated sandwich bag that zips shut and put them both on the windowsill. The bagged up jug worked just as well as the flask so result!

OH's late parents had so much stuff hoarded away that when they died,it was passed from one to another of the family for a long time.
Baby equipment did actually come in handy and did the rounds ,finally being passed on the the NTC or charity shops but there was an awful lot of other stuff that were treasures to them but just so many 'things' to everyone else.
Much of the stuff went to charity and a lot was thrown away as it had spoiled in various family members sheds.
I think the most valued items to the family members, were photographs.

jackieglasgow

HariboJunkie wrote: »

Has anyone seen Mardatha? She hasn't posted for a couple of days. Maybe the unexpected sunshine has gone to her head.

Funnily enough I texted her this morning as I wondered where she was. No reply yet though/ x

kidcat

jackieglasgow wrote: »

Funnily enough I texted her this morning as I wondered where she was. No reply yet though/ x

I seem to remember her deciding to move to suffolk for the sun earlier this week maybe she has gone through with it:rotfl:

lizzyb1812

Oops! Haven't sorted the spare room yet.:rotfl:

She was getting new windows this week wasn't she - maybe she's still at sixes and sevens because of that

Snowflake101

Hi everyone

Very long time lurker here, been reading the Old Style boards for many years, albeit under a different name but had to re-register as too much identifying info under my old name due to financial circumstances.

I've been spending the last month reading all the threads on here, found some yesterday so am reading those "tough" threads from the beginning! Lots of amazing tips. I'm a divorced (12 years ago) single parent who has worked very hard to turn herself around from manic spending and debt during my short marriage. I have no debt now, after paying off lots of debt I was saddled with post-divorce as part of the agreement, and two ex-partners who unfortunately got me in to more debt despite earning at the time, excellent money whilst freelancing. The last ex-partner really did a number on my finances and I lost my business and went bankrupt. It really shames me that I couldn't pay my debts but I am grateful for the second chance and very grateful that the debts were to big finance companies/banks and not to employees etc Obviously my employees lost their jobs but I didn't take any salary for two years to ensure that they were always paid and received redundancy pay.

Anyway, it's been 3 1/2 years now since I went BR, I have a 13 year old that I have home educated since the age of 6 1/2 and worked all my life until last September when I started a college course to enable to go to uni and retrain. I start my uni degree in September and am very excited and very grateful that I have a place as it's a notoriously competitive subject. I am anxious about taking on student debt but in order to move on with my life, it is essential. No bank loans, just the student loans, grants and bursaries from the SFC. As my course is full time, I can't home educate anymore and am having to send my little one (ok not so little!) to school. We've chosen a very small fee-paying montessori school which happens to have the only secondary montessori in the country. It's on a farm and is the most amazing place. They teach the children bushcraft, self-sufficiency, grow fruit and veg, teach them practical life skills as well as the usual subjects, there are chickens, peacocks and ponies amongst other things. The children are all expected to help tend the animals, fruit and veg and grounds, repair fences etc It is the most amazing place.

My bursary and loan will cover the fees. I wasn't going to take on the loan to start with as I didn't need it, but now I do with the fees. It's a sacrifice and money will be very tight but my child deserves it. He was horrifically physically bullied in year 1 when he did go to school and is still traumatised and needs the nurturing environment this school can provide. He is very bright but struggles with maths. There are four children in his maths class! No more than 16 in any of the other subjects. He wants to study medicine at uni and is determined to overcome his issues with maths to get his GCSEs. I am so proud of him.

So, I already cook from scratch, freeze leftovers, make my own pizzas, take my own packed lunches etc But I want to do more. My DS is very into self-sufficiency etc and so this year we have planted some carrots in a container, some mint and he also bought strawberry plants with his pocket money. We are starting small as I hate gardening and don't know a weed from a plant! I have knitted scarfs for both my parents for Christmas and DS thinks they are so fab, I have started to make him one too. Just plain ordinary knit stitch, nothing fancy but will serve a purpose. I am also teaching myself to crochet and plan to start a blanket next month when I can afford the wool.

Have decided today to start making my own bread again, so I have bread dough and pizza dough both rising in the airing cupboard. I have also applied to join the local LETS group.

I have a glut of plain flour and wondered if anyone had any ideas what I could make to start using it up?

Phew that was long - sorry if I have waffled and hope I haven't gone OT.

kidcat

Snowflake101 - you sound as though you have done an amazing job and are continuing to provide the very best for your child. I wish we had access to a school like that both my DS would benefit. Good luck with your course.

babyblooz

Woohooooo! Just been out in the garden and stripped some of the plums from the tree. We put them into a bucket (a new one!!!) and when I've weighed them there are 11.5 lb, and there are still lots of unripe ones on the tree.

The plan is to make some into jam and poach the rest, pop them into a large baking tray and top with cake mixture. When these are cooked then I divide them into portions and freeze two at a time into those little plastic boxes (a quid for ten at the pound shop) and freeze them so we can have a little home grown goodnessy comfort food during the winter.

I hate to think what kind of a winter we will have (with so much fruit on the trees I expect it to be a long hard one) Oh, and the cake mix will use up some of the eggs we have glut of. The chooks are all laying every day and they soon mount up. I have got green beans planted and lettuce and sweetcorn so if they all flourish, then so shall we. Waahay for growing your own!!!

maryb

Memory Girl would be interested to hear about the Montessori secondary school. She was sending her DS to one that went through but it had to close, so you are lucky to have one opening up near you