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

grandma247

Just dont freeze the potatoes as they are or they will go black. They must be either blanched or cooked.

Red_Doe

Thanks for the freezing info, redlady and grandma. Anything that saves time and effort is a boon!
I've got an old freezing cookbook from the seventies but the blanching times are so varied and precise and it all seems helluva fiddly!

mardatha

I chuck onions in the freezer raw and chopped but dont listen to me - wait till somebody intelligent posts !

Reverbe

mardatha surely if he is her carer he should be getting money and support for that??

ceridwen

Reverbe wrote: »

mardatha surely if he is her carer he should be getting money and support for that??

I think you may be onto a possible thought there Reverbe - but 'tis the other way round (ie that Red Doe is his carer). So - there may be possibilities there re carer allowance or whatever its called????

Hardup_Hester

Another one here who never blanches before freezing
Hester

mardatha

He's not her carer, he's not even officially there. She hasnt got anybody as a carer. She is ok to potter around and do the housework, go to the shops, but needs help with carrying bags and needs time to get up the stairs. But if she catches a cold then she's totally flattened. Two years ago she had a massive heart attack out of the blue and arrested twice, was in ICU for a week. Then last year she had a collapsed lung and many chest infections. So she's more or less scared to do a lot now.
Last month her ESA was cut as they found her "fit to work" at the medical . :mad: She's appealing.

Red_Doe

Last month her ESA was cut as they found her "fit to work" at the medical . She's appealing.

that's awful...
Good luck with her appeal. The trouble with the folks making the decisions to cut such things is that they rarely see what it's like in reality at the sharp end. I can't begin to imagine how she must feel, with her illness and the expectation that the powers that be expect her to work through it regardless.
Not much use I know, but huge (and gentle!) hugs to her.

mardatha

Thanks pet. It will work out all right in the end, I know. Now off to do some housework. At least it seems to have stopped raining....

HariboJunkie

Morning everyone :hello:

I had a lovely evening out with OH and a very early night but had to get up at 5am as the hens were screeching. Unfortunately the back door musn't have caught the latch on my way back in and didn't shut so I have come down to four chickens in the kitchen and one cat on top of the dresser in fear of her life. :cool::rotfl:So I think today I shall mostly be cleaning the kitchen but first of all I'm having porridge made with brown sugar and cream (narnarnenarnar Mardatha:p).

I'm not going to get into the foraging debate again as it has been done to death on other threads *yawn*.

Mrs VP thanks for the recipe. :T
Minnie, we missed the bad weather too.
Red Doe, I have nothing constructive to add except the advice to talk to the CaB. I know you won't have a local branch but Inverness will do telephone appointments. I wish you were closer so I could pop up with some cake and 4 very naughty chickens. :kisses3:
Redlady don't be working too hard

Will pop back soon with a chutney progress report.