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

Mrs_Veg_Plot

smileyt thiose pictures were great. I really enjoyed looking at them

MIL has just rang and wished us a happy 19th wedding anniversary. OH and I have both forgotten it :eek:.
Mind you I have reassured him it is only a problem if one of us forgets.

We have had a nice day anyway. No kids, plenty of fresh air and lots of jobs completed. As a treat we did have scrambled eggs and (woopsie) smoked salmon on toasted HM bread. May be that should have prompted us both to remember as this is usually a christmas day treat. I made us both a huge salad from all HG salad veg which we sat and ate in the garden as it was nice and sunny so all in all a lovely anniversary even if we did forget it.

(as we both forgot it was a very MES one as no money was spent:))

parsonswife8

Congratulations on your wedding anniversary, ours was on the 17th. :beer:

Only 5 years though.

Emptynester

Creeping out of lurkdom to say thank you for all the posts that inform, entertain and support. I would have popped in but am so worn out with gardening I can only creep:rotfl:

I am still gardening and enjoying it, especially eating the lovely fresh veg. It tastes good and means less to buy each week. I still have a lot to learn and my runner beans are rather slow this year but I will keep going. I do feel inspired reading about other peoples gardening on here and it helps me.

Tea today was a recipe I got from Mse a long while ago, spicy chick peas. I alter it a bit as it was meant to use tinned chick peas but I soak dried ones and then cook a big batch of the recipe in my pressure cooker.

We are eating lots of apple and blackberry crumbles made with foraged berries and gifted apples. I keep meaning to freeze them and we are freezing some but we are eating more than we freeze and loving them:)

I am trying to be OS and make things last. My latest plan is to try dying a pair of leather shoes, I haven't done this for 35 years but if I can find some dye I will give it a go and report back.

Ok off to google shoe dye. Thank you everyone and Kittie I loved the list you posted a little while ago, just what I needed. The blackdog has been trying to come back this last week or so I need all the postivity I can get. I have wondered if it is the weather changing and have been wondering about a lightbox, but I just want to be normal and not need such things:o

ChocClare

ginnyknit wrote: »

Seakay, yes! fatuous thats the word. She also said that arthiritis wouldn't kill me so carry on regardless, I did but recently had 7 days with no sleep and total pain, still looking after OH as best I could. When I went into surgery she thought I was having a heart attack and rushed to my aid - apparently severe pain can kill you then??? It wasnt a heart attack thankfully but she gave me something to actually help for once.:rotfl:

It's all very well saying arthritis won't kill you but I would say it DID kill my poor little nanna - she had rheumatoid arthritis from her early 20s though admittedly, the poor soul was experimented on left, right and centre. For example, in the mid-sixties, they amputated all her toes as they thought that might "cure" her :eek: She had replacement knees, hips, hands - you name it. The only thing that helped her was that medication that got banned - I can't think what it was called now. Anyway, my point is that her poor bones/cartilage etc crumbling meant that she needed greater and greater pain relief which in turn put strain on her heart and other organs. When she died she weighed about four and a half stone and was on massive amounts of diamorphine. I think they put heart failure on her death certificate (rolls eyes) but it was definitely the arthritis that did it.

She died in 1984 so treatment has obviously come on in leaps and bounds since then. It just annoys me that doctors' attitudes don't seem to have done.

And breathe... oh and sorry, Ginny, please don't think I'm implying you're about to drop dead or anything Just my rant...:rotfl:

grandma247

Ginnyknit I suffer badly with my arthritis in any extreme weather. Hot weather makes my hands swell up and the joints are so painful I don't know where to put myself. It has been bad in my hip and knees this year because it has been so wet for so long .
I think I would just have said "well its clear you don't suffer from it then!".
What absolute rubbish some doctors come out with.
I had a doctor tell a young student that babies in the womb do not suffer from ear infections. I had to put him right there and then because my youngest was indeed born with one and ended up in special care having iv antibiotics within a short while of being born.
I rarely go these days, I hardly know any of them anymore because they keep changing. I preferred the days where the doctor knew you well enough to recognise you in the street.

PaddyPaws

smileyt wrote: »

Those of you with small gardens might be interested in this: http://www.hannahbeatrice.co.uk/2011/08/open-yardens-photography/
Shows some of the amazing things that can be done in a really small back yard. (I'm not in the photos but some of my lovely friends are ).

thank you for sharing smileyt - those pictures are fab! very inspirational and so good to see such a strong community

cheers
PP

ginnyknit

Ok chocclare, Im having palpitations now :rotfl: don't worry I won't take to my bed, I will just pop another vitamin tablet and be more determined to get fit again.

Grandma 247 i think doctors should know by now to listen to mothers, they know what they are talking about!. My doc is a tough Indian lady who spends her holidays working back home for free so I always think that colours her judgement. She is very nice really and looks after OH well but certainly isnt soft with anyone.

Right off to bed before I turn into a pumpkin - well Im already round I just need to turn orange

Churchmouse

ginnyknit I think the orange can be achieved by eating vast quantities of carrots :rotfl: Sleep well

Charis

Many thanks for the birthday wishes.

Does anyone here use a pasta machine? DS has decided he would like one for his birthday, he's very fond of pasta, but I have no experience of them at all and I wouldn't know a plum from a turkey.

Are they fairly straightforward to use in a small kitchen, or will he need a big work surface? (student digs) He's pretty good at cooking but has only ever cooked dried pasta.

Rosanna79

Have been catching up on my phone as still without internet. Took ages! Must post re arthritis though. You really only understand the pain when you have it. Mine goes in my knees& my hands, the latter shooting up into my wrists making me scream out. Best drug was Celebrex which was stopped due to poss heart probs. Nowt else works as well without knocking you out or bunging you up! Good for you girls asking abt research-all hlth care professionals are supposed to use evidence based practice nowadays. I should know I'm a retired h/visitor & nurse prescriber!!