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

Jolaaled

trifles wrote: »

Have just used very cheap hair conditioner as substitute for shoe polish with great results-just have to rub a bit longer but does produce deep shine on leather.

I also tried banana skins (the inner side) on my leather shoes..came up a treat!!

kidcat

The weather is driving me up the wall, next minute its bright sunny and I put washing out next its pouring with rain!!

Its clean up mark 2 today after Ds13 party last night - am disgusted by the behaviour of one lad who ruined it for everyone and kept stuffing food into drinks etc - the food wastage was appalling. Thankfully he left early and the others settled and enjoyed themselves, and when the rest went DS was left with 3 to sleepover - quietest sleepover on record - they were incredible - which is a relief as DD16 is off on trip with school today (last ever) and needed to be up very early.

Am on the look out for replacement vaccuum cleaner as ours is falling apart its now held together with packing tape and sounds like its dying. So if anyone has any recommendations or offers they have seen - feel free to holler.

ETA - we were given a hundred bottles of hair conditioner many years ago ( just using the last one now ) and OH uses it for shaving too.

flowertotmum

Hi kidcat..don't worry my dd is on a warning any sign of being taken advantage of and i'm off..i think she now understands that yes i am her mum and grandma to her 2 tots but i also have 2 tots of my own at home still her little sisters..as for the stag/hen wkends..well if we had known about them then we could have either accepted or declined but as we didn't know then we have no choice...we would have gone too..we would have saved up for them..but we never got invited at all with no reason as to why not..it hurts..my other brothers are shocked that we haven't been invited..they feel bad but i told them its not your fault..go and enjoy...it just confirms my feeling that i am slowly being edged out the family..we never get invited to theirs..even though we invite them to ours for dinner and i have the children round to play..seems i'm good enough to eat with and have the children but not good enough for an invite..well if thats the way it is then fine..i am no doormat not any longer..
thanks kidcat bet you think i'm a whinger...
ftm

bravobeastie

kidcat wrote: »

Am on the look out for replacement vaccuum cleaner as ours is falling apart its now held together with packing tape and sounds like its dying. So if anyone has any recommendations or offers they have seen - feel free to holler.
o.

Have you tried on your local freecycle site? We have had a few offered over the last couple of weeks

kidcat

FTM - I definitely do not think you are a whinger - if everyone else is invited to a siblings do I would be offended too. And it does place a strain on the others that they are being invited while you are not. Thankfully I have no siblings so I dont have these problems although I am desperately trying to bring my four up with strong family values focussed on team work - its difficult as DS13 really doesnt get it - but I keep trying - Team Kidcat will prevail

ETA - nothing at all on freecycle at the moment on the vacuum front .

GreyQueen

:T sammy_kaye, mega congratulations on the house, hope it's everything you want when you get there.

kidkat some families don't deserve the name but it's great that you're bringing up your kids with strong bonds. Recalled the time when Cousin C (my closest-in-age girl cousin) decided to invite Mum, Dad, brother and me to her "engagement do" which was basically meet-up in her local pub, no catering, no effort at all on her part. This was a woman in her thirties who'd been living with her bloke for years already and, for reasons best known to herself, had cut herself off from the wider family, to the point that alhough we knew she was in a town a few miles away, she wouldn't tell anyone her address or phone number. Then, when she decided to get married to him, she figured an engagement party and a wedding party was a double chance to hit on the rellies for gifts (that gifts were expected on both occasions was made quite explicit.)

I refused to pander to her and didn't go to the engagement "party" and was thus left off the wedding invite, which suited me just fine.

The icing on the cupcake was several years later when Cousin C was attending a family funeral with her OH (she'd unfrozen enough to talk to everyone bar her parents by then). The subject of irons came up and the OH remarked to my Mum that they'd got a really good iron, a blah-de-bah one. "I know," said Mum drily. "I bought it for you."

:j I have just come back from my greengrocer and have really cleaned up on the 3 for £1 items. My £3 has scored me; a large pineapple, 7 lemons, 3lb carrots, 2 punnets of white grapes, 3 large onions, 4 courgettes and 6 big tomatoes on the vine.

Right, after lunch, am having a big prep thing to get the carrots (or most of them) blanched and frozen. Will make a big pot of pasta-ish thingy for supper and the freezer and a fruit salad. Gonna juice the lemons and freeze the juice as won't get thru them all before they turn. Food budget this week is £7.69 and I'm eating well.

Takes a bit of legwork to get the bargains in but I'm willing and enjoy the challenge.

Got the combined cooker gas* and elastic-trickery bill for which I gave the meter readings on Monday afternoon. Good job I used the automated system as the human operators tend to say, slightly accusingly, "You don't use much." £1.03 a week for cooker gas and £4.07 for leccy, both of which have had a price hike. Thought the leccy would have gone up as I spend too much time online but it seems that I can still afford to visit MSE and a few other fave hangouts. (Nicked a tip off brother which is to turn your monitor off but leave the PC on if you are going to be away from pooter for more than a few minutes).

Have a good day, y'all.

* the only gas coming thru my meter is powering the stove, the central heating and hot water at Shoebox Towers is a communal boiler system paid as a fixed weekly service charge.

sammy_kaye18

Well all I am officially 1000000000000000% in love with my house - who by the way we have now dubbed Olly due to my good luck winning his tickets last night and the good news this morning.

So I have just been and seen him. I will most definitely get fit walking up the hills to it though with a buggy - by gum! :eek:

However - looking at him from outside he doesn't look much - in fact quite a diamond in the rough compared to the other houses in the street. This is him with his hedge.

Right a bit about him - there is a small tiled section behind the hedge and when you look in the front window there is all wood laminate flooring, with a gas fire to the right,and an archway in front to the kitchen, kitchen is a kitchen diner with wood floor and lino, then there is a small porchy bit for the back door and the bathroom is downstairs. It has a brand new walk in shower/bath thing there though which is newly installed too.

Upstairs is three decent sized bedrooms.

The neighbor came out and she was lovely. She let me snoop round her house so I could get a rough idea of the house size. She seems lovely and we were laughing and joking about - can see a fair few cups of teas and coffee in the near future.

Also Ben is landed because as you look at our house to the left is his friend keavy, who promptly told her mother she was going to go and play with Ben in the garden, and to the right of our house is his friend lyzena - both of them are in his class - then down the street (about 20 yards is his class/football/rugby friend Kian, and round the corner is his other friend Zachary, and a quick run across the green gets him to his grandmas back door. So he is obviously deliriously happy.

Last tenant was an elderly gent who was placed into a nursing home.

Should also add the garden :happyhear last gent was obviously a keen gardener - lots of plants - although will need to invest in a lawnmower and hedge clippers. Plus there is room for Owen to have his shed, and the kids still have a garden. Or I might be able to have my veggie patch!

Oh my word the view I have too is of the mountains and the horses running free.

I will post pictures once Ive got them.

Cant wait now - have already told work to keep all the crisp boxes they can for me so I can start packing.

We have to arrange a viewing and then we will get an inspection by a housing officer so I will be touching up paintwork etc before then.

Am now though scouring free cycle etc to get bits for bedrooms. Sounds bad but I plan on taking the carpet with me from the kids bedroom - as its purple and big enough to do the box room for holly, then Ben will have our brown one in his room for the time being I think - if not they will just bin them when it comes to clearing our flat.

Oooohhhh am excited!

silvermaid

Looks fantastic Sammy. It will be great for you and the children to have a garden of your own. Views sound great as well. So happy for you x

EstherH

SAMMY KAYE, that's wonderful news. It will be great for you.
Banana boxes are great for packing. You have to put something across the hole at the bottom, large book, tray, or stiff cardboard etc., but they are great. Handles both sides, stack one on top of other, not too big that they are too heavy to carry. Have helped loads of people move and always recommend them and they always work.

kidcat

EstherH wrote: »

SAMMY KAYE, that's wonderful news. It will be great for you.
Banana boxes are great for packing. You have to put something across the hole at the bottom, large book, tray, or stiff cardboard etc., but they are great. Handles both sides, stack one on top of other, not too big that they are too heavy to carry. Have helped loads of people move and always recommend them and they always work.

I second banana boxes they are by far the best box (and we should know!!) they are really easy to pack, lift and stack but also they have lids which mean no taping up the lid which saves time, money and effort, am off to our farm shop this afternoon to try get some more.