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

[Deleted User]

I have come out of lurkdom to say a big thanks for that lovely gratefulness site. I love the spiritual turn that this thread has taken, I feel that there is a lot of spirituality in people but for one reason or another it stays hidden. The fact that spirituality is near the top is speaking volumes. I am going to light a candle for anyone who wants some light and calm but I will do it tonight so that I can focus properly and send out the love and light

A warning re tomatoes: I read that tomato production is spain will fall dramatically this year because of rain and loss of subsidy

Also wheat and other grain production is under threat. The roots are shallow and we are forecast drought conditions this summer, so time to get a bit more into the cupboards month on month for winter

I have been loving the chat and am so very happy at SK`s good news. It is karma, you deserve it and I hope you will be very happy in your new home

mardatha

The spiritual side of life is very very important to me, it matters a lot. TY re warning on food prices Kits:)

gailey_2

Might take me a while to catch up.

Hope everyones doing ok.

Huge congrats sammy k how exiting a new house.You deserve it hun as you work so hard for your family

Apologies for absence finding a newborn and 20month old more busy/than I thourght, theyboth love each other just my daughter loves him too much wants to hold him/pick him up a lot

Time seems to be going far toofast for my liking baby marleys 6weeks old this thur.
Need to start my savings for xmas as fallen behind.:(

good news found the empty jars thourght hubby had binned.:D

Still trying to declutter,tidy and organise the house.

Im really itching to start on preserves.
Have sense or urgency need to clear the freezer of foraged fruit.

Anyone noticed things seem to be out earlier this year?
im worried as think elderflowers out.
made champers last year dad loved.
he wants lots this year so do others.
Hes saved me 20 empty wine bottles:eek:thats a lot of brewing only made 6litres last year.

Dont know if should do in buckets that hold14litres or a brand new plastic dustbin?
Anyone know how to sterilise something so large?
Was think milton tabs but worried that would leave an aftertaste to my brew?

Just dontwant to end up with too much to do as want to make may
plum month, june strawberries, july cherries then aug september plums and blackberries.

Got to get hubby to grown big tomatoes as doing lots of chutney as well as jams.

If I do now will be ready for xmas.

talking of xmas my mams fancying a patchwork quilt going to try making her one butknow it will be a lot of hard work and timeconsuming.

Havent had chance to visit any carboots yet as hubbys been working most banks hols /weekend.

Did buy bargain brand new cot off ebay shock horrorhubbys decided to build it in lounge its now to heavy to carry up stairs so his brothers coming round tonight to help him.

Hes still not built the flatpack wardrobe!
Decided we will move into smaller bedroom and give girls our room when they share.

Eldest has endless party invites and things going on.
Said I would help out at rainbows plus got pta.

Ahh school cake sale made the worst cakes really need to learn how to make good cakes..

Trying to book baptism but preist never in.

Feel as if theres never enough time but willkeep doing my best.

Food sitution dire we need to go shopping.
Actually contemplating doing my 1st online food shop as struggling to fit it all in.

HoneyBee83

Afternoon all,

Chilly and cloudy here but at least i can put washing on the line. Lots of ironing to do later,as usual i will pop on a film.

Have DD off school with sore throat and cough,seems brighter now. Work went really quickly today...i only did half a day Lots to do over the next few weeks so will be taking as much overtime as possible.
Meal plan has gone out of the window this week :o Thinking battered cod with boiled potatoes,carrots and broccoli for tea-seems a favourite of DD at the mo!
Tomorrow will be jacket potatoes as they need to be used. Will cook all 4 and have one for lunch weds...not sure about the other,possibly freeze it.

DD has requested school dinners.I have to pay but its only £2 a day and i've said she can start with 2 days a week-Tues and Thurs,she has Ballet and Swimming after school on these days so i wont have to worry about getting home and cooking a meal/remembering to organise myself :D

Not liking all this talk of gas/electric/food going up and up...More cuts and saving for us then :mad: Not too worried about the next energy bills as i've had the heating off since March but will start saving early for the winter ones!!

Think thats my little lot for today. Hope you all enjoy the afternoon and your evenings x

bluebag

Pretty bad news about food and energy going up, it's not as if they are avoidable expenses.

More cutting back, making do and mending... seems never ending at times, petrol, food bills and whatever.

I really don't understand how will we get out of recession if no one has anything to spend. Something is going to have to give somewhere.

Right, I've had my whinge now, back to the cleaning. I'm still not quite well yet, so have to do a bit then rest a bit, still it all gets done eventually.

Got some lovely Jersey Royals for tea tommorow, looking forward to them, such a treat as they are so expensive, but I do love them, steamed till just tender and rolled in best butter, lovely!

GreyQueen

kittie wrote: »

I have come out of lurkdom to say a big thanks for that lovely gratefulness site. I love the spiritual turn that this thread has taken, I feel that there is a lot of spirituality in people but for one reason or another it stays hidden. The fact that spirituality is near the top is speaking volumes. I am going to light a candle for anyone who wants some light and calm but I will do it tonight so that I can focus properly and send out the love and light

A warning re tomatoes: I read that tomato production is spain will fall dramatically this year because of rain and loss of subsidy

Also wheat and other grain production is under threat. The roots are shallow and we are forecast drought conditions this summer, so time to get a bit more into the cupboards month on month for winter

I have been loving the chat and am so very happy at SK`s good news. It is karma, you deserve it and I hope you will be very happy in your new home

I've been stockpiling tinned tommies (Farmfoods at 4 for £1) and have been gently and soundly ribbed both here and down the Arms for it. Seems I was bang on the money with my tommies and pasta, trouble is most of my diet is fresh foods and you can't stockpile them very easily. Must dig harder as Mardatha correctly exhorted us a few pages ago.

Softstuff, you invented Food Poker; I raise you 72 tins tomatoes and I've lost count of the puree tubes.

Gailey nice to see you posting again, was wondering if you were OK. I agree about things coming out earlier than ever. I saw dog-roses flowering,the hawthorn is starting to go over and the elderflower has been and gone. All the berry-bearing trees seem to be fruiting more heavily than I have ever seen them so I think this will be a grand season for foraging and never more needed.

((Hugs to everyone))

sistercas

mardatha thankyou for the MSD link , i miss her greatly on here

I am so fed up of prices going up , its just one thing after another , how are we supposed to cope :mad: maybe i will have to stockpile tommies like greyqueen

kidcat

Well what a day!! Have got a trapped nerve in my shoulder which is causing agony and extreme incovenience then cat comes in covered in thick black oil this morning. And its the biggest, heaviest cat we have - so had to get Dad to come help me bath him, its difficult to describe his reaction - but lets just say the utility room has been thoroughly washed and the cat looks like he is plotting my demise.

No news regards house move so have contacted solicitor to get him to communicate with vendor solicitor - and explain that we need a firm date set before FRiday or we pull out. It would kill me to walk away now but realistically too many things are hanging over us to allow the situation to continue. DS7 may lose his placement if we are here more than two more weeks. When we offered for the house the vendor was clear that it was to be a four week exchange - and we had to sign an agreement that we would exchange within four weeks, that was thirteen weeks ago and they are still not setting a date.

GQ I have been stockpiling tinned toms again recently as there have been many good offers on (Del Monte and Heinz 4 for £1) and have also managed to stock up on rice and pasta.

I managed to get two pork shanks on whoops from Mr M this weekend along with many other bargainous finds, have cooked them in the slow cooker with a little apple juice (no space in freezer) for six hours but am now at a loss what to do with them next??

Kittie its lovely to "see" you again - I really miss your wisdom and guidance.:)

Gailey - having little ones so close together is extreme parenting - having tried it I can testify that it is much harder than simply having another child. I would definitely give the online shopping a go - if nothing else its quite exciting to open it as it arrives and you discover you completely forgot what you have ordered

sammy_kaye18

Hi all

thought I would pop in quickly and update you on my progress.

Spoken to housing officer - my assessment is tomorrow at 2.50pm ~ then I am scooting over to pick up Benjamin from school slightly early (only 10 minutes or so) whilst my housing officer does another assessment, and then she is going to meet us at the house so we can go and look round it. I did ask if I could sign the tenancy agreement there and then and she said no I have to go into the council for an appointment but I think that is to go over everything with us and give us rent cards etc so will definitely have photos tomorrow for you all to nose at.........I mean approve of.

so far
- bedroom is about 40% packed - need to tackle under the bed, then its things like disassembling bed/cot etc and empty draws etc of mine/hollys and owens clothes. Although need to steal.............I mean permanently borrow some brown packing tape from work again later.

- Ben has boxed all his books up
- all his toys are mostly in boxes
- he has bagged all his cuddly toys up too so one big box for odds and sods and hes finished.
- Going to cellotape his draws shut - he has those plastic draws things for now so light to lift. Hes sorted.
- Thinking tomorrow I may disassemble Joshs bed if I get time
- Owen has packed up the kitchen draws and all my cook books so they are all done too.
- tomorrow he is moving the moped frame, frame outside and the project bike into the back of a van he has from work so we can get it tidy outside. Should go in our favour.
- I have painted the hallway bits that looked a bit manky.
- Going to wipe over walls once kids have gone to bed and have a clean around.
- Owen is going to take up the remaining stray tiles in the hallway so its all back to brown council tiles

So a busy night for us - cant be bothered to cook so might got to the chippy as a treat! I know we will be having a skint month but this is well worth it and I've done most of Bens birthday shopping thank god!! :T

right off to borrow packing tape and finish my room as best I can..................

might pop on later. if not night all and I'll report back on further process tomorrow morning - which reminds me I need to update my blog at some point too!

blackandwhitebunny

Well hello again, finally a few minutes to catch up after a very hectic week:)
OFSTED - done
YR 11 Controlled assessments - done
Yr 11 Saturday revision session - done
Chinese visitor entertained for weekend - done (7 more days to go :eek:)

congrats on the house SK - I hope you enjoy making it your home.

On the subject of food prices, has anyone noticed how rapidly the price of sugar seems to be going up? 14p overnight last week for castor sugar :eek:

Some good news on the shopping front, went into the shopping centre on Sun (showing Chinese guest around) and found the empty Woolworths is now a B&M. Bought a few things including big jars of Napolita pasta sauce for 79p. I'm still working my way through the 50p jars I found in sainsbugs on sale but might get a few in if tom prices are rising. I didn't have time to look around as much as I would like (Chinese visitor again) but will be back.
Also found 2 jars of epc organic apple sauce in sainsbugs for 45p and the own brand organic mayonnaise for 81p so bought 6 jars :money:

I've had an interesting time with our chinese visitor, its been fun trying to explain the concept of stately homes and the national trust (we went to kedlestone hall yesterday), the fact that many people who live here weren't born here and that you can get other foods apart from English foods in the shops. I think her best discovery has been that English men have to help in the house, I think her husband and son are in for a shock when she gets home :rotfl:She has had to pay someone to do the cooking and housework while she is here and her husband said that it had to come out of her money that she gets for private English lessons as it is her job :eek: My DH mustn't even think of it:rotfl:
Anyway, I'm off to read all the pages I have missed.