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

kidcat

Its mad busy here today - prom tomorrow so doing all the last minute stuff, having to hem dress as its too long and am very nervous - can get by with sewing but dont like to do anything important!!

Jedi - ebay customers can be difficult - I got marked down by one customer for poor communication - because i wouldnt give her our phone number - I did email and explain we didnt have the phone as we were moving - hence selling the cooker but it didnt matter, I got loads of nasty emails for it, eventually I pulled the sale and had fees reversed but the cancelled buyer was able to leave feedback still!!

Bigjenny

Grey Queen. Just a thought but Asda sell some trousers in a 33" long length if you have one near you.

HTH

redlady_1

Juliettet - that is just what I have been looking for! Thank you x I am loving the cufflinks too and the shirts. I will keep an eye on that site and then have a look in the winter sale before everything goes.

stiltwalker

Love the good wife thing VJsmum! My lovely mum just bought me a post pregnancy full price! frock as a treat, it's a coral coloured sleeveless shirtdress and OH was joking it was a bit 50s housewife but I told him that didn't mean he could expect warm slippers and tidy children!

Glad you asked about the peanuts Ceridwen - I was just beginning to worry about mine too as I've had them a little while so was worrying they might be too old to sprout. Thanks Larumbelle for seting my mind at rest that will take a week, checked this morning and I too can see nubby bits.

Well my garden is doing well, first sunflower out today and courgettes finally fattening up although one of the ones furthest on has been munched by some *?%^&** *%**?(fill in your own ranty naughty words as appropriate).

Have OU work to do today then Ikea tomorrow with MIL to get DD's new bed so DS can go into the cot as he's growing like a weed and it's all lengthways so he isn't going to fit in the moses basket much longer. Then meeting some home edding friends on Friday, DD a bit young yet but she gets a lot out of the bigger kids as being non walking yet she sits there like queen bee and they come to her! Busy week again!

Take care everyone.

juliettet

redlady_1 wrote: »

Juliettet - that is just what I have been looking for! Thank you x I am loving the cufflinks too and the shirts. I will keep an eye on that site and then have a look in the winter sale before everything goes.

You are very welcome. The suits are a new thing for me as I like skirts & trousers. I only used to buy the blouses as I have to be very smart for work (a secretary in a old fashioned office) but realised that they wash superbly and do not wear out or fade. My OH used to use a corporate discount for his office in Edinburgh. It will be worth asking when you start your new job if they do the same. End of sales are great. PS cat fur does not seem to adhere too much. keep a roller in your desk drawer.

redlady_1

Hahaaaa...FK is malting like a lunatic at the moment too :-) Where I currently work, we dont fall into the sterotype and so dress is fairly relaxed. We have dress down days every Friday. But I know I will have to make the break within the next year and I will then need to go back into suits.

Those shirts are lovely though and the cufflinks would just give it a hint of individuality. Yep, I am pretty impressed.

grandma247

Jediteacher have you tried phoning ebay or live chat? I have no idea about either of these options but my son in law said he has done this when he had problems and one lot was sorted there and then with live chat and the other took a bit longer on the phone.

grandma247

blog of the garden lady mardatha put up.

Broomstick

floss2 wrote: »

Have they swapped the list around so you are near the top? It wmay be 2-3 years before I get one

No. They did a big cull of the waiting list at the start of the year to find out who was still interested/still in the area. The list had been in the 300+ range (and growing), I think. We were at 190 something having been on it for 18 months. After the cull we seemed to have moved up the list to 90 something. So there's still a mighty long way to go.

They have the interest, the funds and the go ahead to buy more allotment land but they just can't find anyone to sell them some.

Good luck with your wait!
B x

Broomstick

grandma247 wrote: »

I read this to my 11 year old last month and we both enjoyed it. I doubt it would be allowed to happen now, Social services would be jumping up and down having a blue fit. I'm not sure that it could have happened when the book was written either.

I'm sure it wouldn't officially be allowed to happen now - although there are children who escape the system by 14 - the age of the eldest girl in the story? I'm thinking of children who run away from home/care and end up on the streets.

I agree that the story seems quite far fetched but I think that attitudes in the countryside may have been different from towns. Marjorie Lloyd's 'Fell Farm' books - also Puffin - had really young children galavanting around the Lakes alone in the 1950s, same with Arthur Ransome's stuff in the 1930s and 40s. There seems to be, in those books, and in the 'Children who Lived in a Barn' one, a sense of a community keeping an eye on the children and no visible (to the reader, anyway) hyper-concern about child protection and no need for CRBs anywhere! The children seemed to be able to ask adults for help and people were glad to give it.

If you think about it, although so many parents hated doing it, there was collective co-operation in the evacuation of children in WWII and nobody was certain about where their children were going or who they'd end up with.

Can I stick in a recommendation (if you haven't already tried them) for Barbara Sleigh's Carbonnel series from the 1950s? Yet more Puffins - the first book is still in print, the other two may only be second hand - not sure. They are gentle OS, frugal, books about the daughter of a single parent and her friendship with a very witchy cat and a broomstick (no relation) . DS2 loved being read them as bedtime books - the cliff hangers were just right at the end of each chapter and nothing was scary.

B x