It was getting tough in 2006 and the workhouse still threatens us in 2011

catznine

My goodness this is a busy time of the year! If I am not slicing and freezing runner beans, it's courgettes! Just made 9 jars of my Aunties "3lb any fruit or veg" chutney! Lovely spicy and sweet chutney, works every time, this batch was using up a very generous carrier bag of plums from neighbour! I still have 2lb left enough for some plum jam or a couple of plum crumbles! Next to use up is a carrier bag of cooking apples.

My other neighbour came round with a huge armful of rosemary that she had cut back so the microwave has been going, drying off the sprigs ready for storage!

This is the time of year that you have to put in the work in order to have winter supplies boosted. I love it though and get a kick out of opening my preserves cupboard come the autumn! I am somewhat shattered though!

I haven't seen any sloes this year, but last year made sloe vodka as I had no gin to hand! Very nice it was too!

I woke up feeling quite anxious this morning but keeping busy like this is helping to keep the anxiety under control! Anyone else feel the same?

redlady_1

Well, that's it then HJ, I am NOT coming up there if you get flood!!! What has happened to the sunset??

If I leave the chillis on the side will they go off or dry naturally?

ChocClare

v8monkeyboy wrote: »

Hi all :wave:

I'm after a little bit of advice, if possible. I didn't really know where to put this, so sorry if it's in the wring place.

Basically, I started a new job about 6/7 weeks ago and though it looked great and the money is good, looks were deceiving. There have been loads of incidents and even though I have flagged these and potential incidents of violence up to senior staff and management, I have been told nothing will be done, as there is no clinical reason to.

I'm currently working in a private/not for profit unit, but have recently applied for jobs within the NHS. My question is, how will it seem that I have only been in the new place for a few weeks and I'm now looking for something else? I will happily explain things if they ask, but am worried I might look like a flake.

I do realise that I may come across as rather whingy, but this place, unbeknownst to me has a turnover of nurses unlike any other I've seen or heard of. Most stay for no longer than 2 weeks, then go back to their old jobs or find something else.

We can afford for me to leave, but I don't want to damage my prospects in the long term.

Thanks,

T x

Hi T

I work in a not-for-profit dual registered home for the elderly and I can say straight off that we would NOT be put off by any nurse applying for a job who put on her application form/in her covering letter that she had decided not to stay where she was because concerns about treatment of residents/patients was going unheeded. In fact we would probably be MORE likely to look at someone who had shown that she was not afraid of whistle-blowing.

Any decent manager looking for a caring nurse will want someone who puts the welfare of the people they are looking after first. If you have not been there very long then presumably you are still in your probationary period. Probation works both ways - for employee and employer - you have given them a chance to improve and they haven't!

If their turnover of nursing staff is high, then the likelihood is that other employers will already know what the circumstances are. We have a home near us which has a similar reputation, so it would actually be a GOOD thing in our book if we got an application from someone who had started there and decided not to stay - we might not look at her if she had been there several years however!

Anyway, just my two-penn'orth - hope it's useful. I've pm'd you this too just in case you don't see this.

flowertotmum

Hi all...well what has happened to summer then?...

Hippeechiq..crikey that rain sounds awful hun...its just started to rain here..great big fat drops...tots are moaning because they were playing out and had to come in...saints help me..might preserve them 2 lol...

Greyqueen..i agree with you about the cooker..mine is lovely and never had anything go wrong with it..i can't remember how much it was way back then..but it was one of the newer models,bought from the gas board shop..paid for it through my gas meter at the time..we bought it because at the time i was 8 months pregnant with a 18 month old and a 3 yr old..and hubby had just finished putting a new kitchen in..and we couldn't pay cash for it..the battery last for ages..it will be a sad day when he goes..yes its a he lol..strong solid and dependable..sad aren't i...

Catznine..your right it is a busy time of year...preserving,pickling and harvesting..much different to my life a few yrs ago...now i look forward to summer..and i equally look forward to winter..when i can slow down and enjoy all the hard work we put in over the summer...your not the only one to get anxious ..i wake and wonder what the heck is going on in the world at times..it does worry me..but your right keeping busy relaxes me..sounds weird..if i sit and try to relax my mind goes haywire..so keeping on the move helps me..and when i do sit down i grab my knitting or write recipes out..plus coming on here and reading ....

Right got to go..got an excess of fresh eggs again so sponge cakes here i come..
love you all
ftm

Hippeechiq

Thanks lizzyb So do you de-seed them before using them then? I was thinking off de-seeding them and freezing them sliced like I do with Sweet Peppers?

With regard to your nuisance telephone calls, this might be of interest to you hun.

By the way - don't even engage in conversation with them, as it's surprising what information they can glean from a few unguarded answers from you.

How can I stop unwanted sales or marketing calls?
There are a number of steps you can take to stop unwanted calls.

Telephone Preference Service:
The Telephone Preference Service (TPS) lets you opt out of many marketing calls.
Once you register, your telephone number is no longer available to organisations that may telephone you with offers and information.
You can register both home and mobile telephone numbers.
Sign up at https://www.tpsonline.org.uk or by dialling 0845 0700707

I registered with them for similar reasons about 5 years back, and although it takes a few weeks to become fully effective, it does work. I believe if any company still contacts you without your permission, you can report them to BT and they receive a hefty fine.

I did have one unsolicited call a month or so back and so told the company that I was regd with TPS and that if they called again I would be reporting them, and they apologised and said that they would make a note on "their list" that I am TPS regd. Not had any since

squeaky

lizzyb1812 wrote: »

I've been hit with a plague of phone calls telling me I can get assistance with the debt I'm struggling with - but I haven't got any! Some "third party" has let these people know I'm "in difficulty", hence the calls. They won't tell me who the third party is so I'm going to have a look at my credit report to see if there is anything on there. I'm starting to get a bit worried about identity theft. You knock one bugbear out of action and another pops up

Hi,

Take a look at the debt free wannabe board - they may be able to help you clear this up:-

Debt-Free Wannabe


Good luck

the_cat

lizzyb1812 wrote: »

I've been hit with a plague of phone calls telling me I can get assistance with the debt I'm struggling with - but I haven't got any! Some "third party" has let these people know I'm "in difficulty", hence the calls. They won't tell me who the third party is so I'm going to have a look at my credit report to see if there is anything on there. I'm starting to get a bit worried about identity theft. You knock one bugbear out of action and another pops up

I wouldn't worry too much about it tbh. I've had several calls like this despite having no debts and a very good credit score. Along with many promises of compensations for accidents I haven't had and wins of competitions I haven't entered

Sounds like a 'marketing' scam to me - although it never hurts to have a quick check of your credit report just to make sure

suzid

All this talk and recipes for chutney have got me thinking. For years there had always been a corner of hedge that the people on the other side never bothered to cut which we couldn't reach. :mad: However there was a fast growing something or other in the hedge which I thought would look better than the scrappy bits of privet so we let it grow. It turns out to be an elder tree and is now covered in berries which are starting to turn. As several of us have our beady eyes on them - me and the blackbirds - it will be interesting to see who gets the most. I love the idea of the chutney which I will try soon. I am also interested in wine but have no knowledge or equipment. Perhaps next year I'll have a go when 'hopefully' money won't be squeaking as much as it is currently.

I keep thinking Kim and Aggie when I think of the room of doom. Imagine the before music with mould, musty smell, papers everywhere, dust and cobwebs, not to mention hideous brown wall. But now clean, fresh and bright. Red berry scented candles, gleaming paintwork and light walls. The bleach and vinegar worked there magic and a net has been fitted over the window to stop the moths which was DS's excuse for always closing them. We've had to get rid of his old bed which smelt very musty and which needed replacing anyway. His TV couldn't receive a signal but was fine with DVD's and his old desk was a disgrace and also ended in a skip. Total cost £36! The paint we had left over, his TV (which had built in faulty digital receiver) now works perfectly with a digibox from the garage which DH never used. His bed is replaced by one in the roof which needed a couple of brackets to replace a missing metal bolt and the cheap mattress is getting a memory foam topper to improve it. Plus there was a desk in the roof which had been in the office before we decided to put a bed in to use when son's came home. Result, and so chuffed. Mattress topper £32 and brackets £4.

I can't believe how long it has taken to sort through everything, clean, find homes for things to be kept and wash and iron things for charity shops. How I admire you ladies who have recently moved with all your childrens toys etc on top of all the household paraphernalia.

DH now on the mend but has to stay off work another week with more antibiotics. He's doing little bits for work sitting at his desk with his leg up and taking numerous phone calls, but at least it stops him getting bored. He's doing so well but is still very tired and needs several snoozes during the day.

v8monkeyboy I agree with everyone else on here and I hope you find a job you will be happy in soon. I feel very sorry for the poor folks stuck in the dreadful place you describe though.

GreyQueen

alice-mary wrote: »

Thankyou for this! I had visions of 2 teaspoons in the pan, ready for some kind of chemical reaction wth the other ingredients ..... and YES, I DID fail my chemistry O-level!!!

Thanks again, I'll give it a try before the summer hols are over (mind you, it's pouring down at the moment so it feels more like October than August)!

Alice
xx

You were brighter than me, anyway; they wouldn't even let me SIT the science O levels (but I did get a CSE in General Science but I think correctly filling in your name on the form gets you one of those ).

I agree with those who say register with the Telephone Preference Service; I do and it stops most of them. Got one last week at 6.15pm from a bank where I have an account. I work in a call centre and after several hours a day taking calls I CBA to talk to marketeers on my own time. Suggested that they could post something to me as I don't discuss my finances on the phone. It came a few days later; useless guff. I always say no thankyou and just hang up on telemarketeers.

I did have to get shirty with a particular company who kept trying to sell me extended cover on an appliance I'd bought (the aforementioned little freezer, actually) plus a washing machine I'd apparently bought from them, too, which was news to me. They weren't the manufaturer but it was obvious that they'd had my details passed to them, depsite that I always opt out of marketing.

They were sending me stuff, in triplicate, every few weeks and I kept returning it and the final straw was when they called me at home and interrupted a social visit. Told them NOT to do that again so they went back to the mailouts. Co-incidentally, Mum had a freezer from the same maker about the same time and was being likewise pestered about that and a fictive cooker she'd apparently bought, too.

Anyway, I got on the old PC and wrote to the manuafacturer and pointed out that I hadn't given my permission for them to pass my details to a third party and that I wanted this to stop immediately, as per my rights under DPA 1998. I also mentioned that my mother was being likewise pestered but no names as not her enquiry.

They never bothered me, nor her, ever again.;)

Uhhh, feel like something the cat dragged in and am sleeping from 9-ish until 7 am most nights, when not disturbed. Have obviously reverted into winter mode already.

Hope everyone has a good evening.

EDIT Ooohhhh the sky has gone black; rainstorm imminent. Hope all of us in the wet parts are OK. Think the lottie may have to look after itself tonight. Oh, ChocClare is down Bournemouth way as well as Hippeecheeq; check in ladies, need to know your news as have just been on news websites and it looks shocking.

maryb

Hippeechiq, just heard on the radio about the flooding in Dorset. Apparently most of Bournemouth is flooded where the gardens run through because the river has burst its banks

Piers Corbyn is another weather forecaster who looks at solar activity, similar to James Madden at Exactaweather. He forecast a floody summer when others were saying it would be hot. So I'm waiting with bated breath to see what he says about this coming winter. He got it spot on last year BTW