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

maryb

ChocClare wrote: »

Now, if I can only find a super-cheap source of Bonne Maman strawberry jam...

ChocClare

I always used to buy Bonne Maman but now I find that the Lidl range is just as good. You really wouldn't be able to tell the difference. It's the one in the slightly wonky jars - you'll know what I mean when you see them. Aldi also do their own French style conserves but haven't tried those.

The range of flavours is probably more limited than Bonne Maman but for raspberry, strawberry, cherry and apricot you really can't go wrong

aurorahelios

De-lurking to say rhubarb and strawberry work well together in jam. Personally I find plain strawberry jam too sweet and by adding the rhubarb in it offsets the sweetness to something a bit more palatable for me.

valentina

Annie56 wrote: »

Anyone got any ideas about any variations on rhubarb jam beside rhubarb and ginger ???:D

A:Dnnie

Rhubarb and vanilla?http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/251611/rhubarb-and-vanilla-jam

I made it and it is nice, if maybe a bit too vanilla-y:D

oldtractor

re rhubarb try rhubarb and sweet cecily. a favourite in our house.

ceridwen

smileyt wrote: »

Annie56 You could also try putting it in the 'found dogs' bit of www.doglost.co.uk as they will try and match it with any dogs registered with them as lost.

If Monty really is smitten with the idea of having a poodle of his own then you can google poodle rescue and contact one of the rescue societies to rehome a poodle in need.

Of course if no-one claims her, then you can keep her knowing you have done the right thing. Hopefully the owner will come forward and also reimburse you for the cost of the veterinary treatment. If it was me I would also be showering you with rose petals and chocolates and kissing your feet in gratitude!:rotfl:

Annie

Guessing you've tried RSPCA??

When I acquired an unexpected doggie visitor one time - I gave them a ring and asked if anyone had lost a dog matching the description of the one sitting at that moment on my sitting room floor. They were round within a hour or two - and knew exactly who the dog belonged to. I've never seen a dog look so shamefaced as that one did during its mock "telling off" by the RSPCA Inspector:rotfl:

But - hopefully for you and Monty - he will find that his new "love interest" doesnt get claimed and he can make further "inroads" into finding out about that statement about a dog being a mans best friend:)

shegar

Hi to you all, once again so many thanks to you all that have been so so so kind to me, and all your knid wishes I cant tell you all how I appreciate it . THANKS ... dont sound much , but to mean it certaiintly comes from my heart:T...I keep all the little gifts in their sweet little box that they came in and the beautiful homemade "lots of love" card sits here next to the computer,,,,ive had some chocalate so have gary....:eek::eek:, he says a little of what you fancy do you good, and it put a smile on our faces when we where eating it like 2 naughty children.....:T.............. Me too think that the my Dr say about green shoots certaintly sums things up, ive also got green shoots in the garden too,weve been sitting in the summer house this arvo watching all the birds eating, drinking, shrieking etc... also my son gave me 2 new hanging basket with new moss and hessian in for me to fill for him, cos I usually make all my hanging baskets, but as this year I didnt feel up to doing anything, I came across his empty basket in the shed so I thought right I will just hang it up as it is with no peat, no plants or anything, just for the birds, and today we see sparrows in the basket getting their beaks full to take to their nests they are building, to us that was so sweet, I usually put the contents of the tumble dryer fluff in the baskets and haircuttings.........lovely to watch the birds nest building............



Weve still not got any rain here, we always seem to miss it being so close to the coast, like everyone else we are desperate for a soaking...........

Catch all you folks a bit later , ive got to go and watch Gardeners world now..:D:D

Emptynester

Another vote for Lidl jam, the one in squareish jar is very nice.

I have been growing my own plants from seeds. My garden seems to be slug heaven and I have found it is best to sow the seeds indoors and get them outside when they are a reasonable size. Today I have planted out runner beans, courgettes and chard and have sweetcorn to go out tomorrow.

I have drawn up a menu for the coming week and a shopping list. Feeling pleased with myself as I had got out of the habit of doing this and I know it is so worth the effort.

Wondered if anyone else has bought the larger bottle of thick bleach from lidl and found it difficult to use carefully because it has no 'pourer/nozzle'. Well I carefully removed the pourer/nozzle from my empty 750 ml filled it from the larger bottle and replaced both caps. I can't remember the prices but I know the larger size worked out cheaper per 100 ml and now I can dispense it cautiously. HTH someone, if you have tried to pour out of the larger bottle you will know what I mean.

Empty

mama67

blackandwhitebunny wrote: »

.
At the moment I'm just trying to survive until all the coursework from the yr 11's goes off next Monday:eek: some of the lads still aren't finished. Sense of urgency just isn't in their vocabulary:rotfl:

This so reminds me of DS1 and his friends in Yr11, not so much with course work but with anything, and that is my saying "No sense of urgency"

they arrange to meet at say 7pm outside our house, DS1 will still be typing on MSN or facebook etc at 6.58pm keeping his mates waiting; or he has to sort out something like make a phone call it waits until the very last minute before it is done even though he knows about it days beforehand.

charlies-aunt

Just trying to play catch up but just wanted to pop on to give you my doggy [STRIKE]tail[/STRIKE] tale.
My DD2 is working in a dog rescue in her gap year and six weeks ago, we acquired a 16 week old puppy - 1st cross between fox red lab/retriever - noooo! I ought to rephrase that....we adopted a ginger stomach on four legs.

Last Sunday he pinched and scoffed a 1lb bag of M&S fudge off the coffee table - said bag was only £1 from the 'Appproved Foods'-type shop but nevertheless we were looking forwards to it orselves

On Sunday, he nicked the roast chicken out of the hostess trolley :mad: ...and no, I'm not posh - it was a wedding pressie 27 years ago.so Sunday dinner was meatless

On Monday, I got up from the breakfast table to answer the phone and like a red streak of lightning, he whipped my breakfast butty off my plate :mad:

There have been numberous minor thefts of cat food, carrots out the ponys bucket and food wrappings out of the bin - but today he has excelled his little self . . .
Sat at breakfast table...DH starts looking for his heart tablets - not on the sideboard or side table or the dresser . . .nowhere to be found - eventually found the packet under the table well chewed and half empty :eek: :eek: Puppy must have jumped the stairgate in the night to forage for traces of roast chicken and on finding none, decided that the crunchy foil pack would be an acceptable substitute :mad:

Got on our knees & scoured the carpet for bits but only found two - calculated at least 7 missing :eek: Quick call to the vet but as over a hour since tablets were ingested , it was too late to do anything except just wait and see. 15 hours later - the puppy is bright as a button but we are nervous wrecks!

:rotfl: Can see the funny side now :rotfl:

charlies-aunt

Annie56 - don't be surprised if Monty's new paramour becomes a permanent fixture!

My DD works in a dog rescue centre and they are at saturation level with dogs that have been given up, abandoned and/or rescued - they get a fair amount of KC registered pedigrees especially the big breeds like Great Danes, Labradors, Mastiffs, Dobermans, Rottweilers as well chihuahuas, cairn terriers, shituzu's etc - seems mad that these dogs are bought for huge sums but then become too expensive to keep so are just let go, especialy as many are still puppies when they go into the centre.

We live out in the sticks and have caught a fair few dogs and cats that have turned up out of the blue looking frightened and bewildered . . . too clean and sweet smelling for country animals or to have legged here it across fields. None of them had proper ID discs and once on a walk miles off the beaten track, we came across a cat, mooching sadly round an empty food bowl - guess some ratbag of an owner had taken it there, given him a dishful of food and then bogged off while it was distracted by the food (said cat came home with us and has had a long and happy life). In a little copse nearby, we spent many frustrating hours trying to round up a posse of of white lop earred rabbits and a family of guinea pigs that had been dumped there - sadly they were too frightened and skitty to catch and over the weeks disappeared - fell prey to the foxes and stoats I suppose

God bless your Monty for taking care of the poodle - you've got a good bloke there definately made of the right sort of stuff IMO You may not be financially well off but you are rich in what money can't buy - love, compassion, kindness and caring.