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

short_bird

Morning, all! Brief visit to post this... as I thought it was a pretty good statement of intent:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/weather/gallery/2011/aug/26/hurricane-irene-threatens-us-coast?picture=378297319#/?picture=378297333&index=6

and straight back off to shower and continue sorting for vintage fair on Monday;)

RAS

jackieglasgow wrote: »

Red Doe, I am under the impression that disability benefit is not counted when they assess housing benefit needs, have you double checked on the benefits board?

Sadly the benefits forum is one of the least friendly forums on MSE. Generally inhabited by people whose essential response is "Get a job - your shirker."

There are one of two folks who are decent. Maybe send one of them a PM

Red Doe - maybe ring up National Debt line - they may be able to advise you; I worry that Scottish rules and English ones are differnt and NDL do have a Scottish section.

smileyt_2

RedDoe you really need to talk to a CAB worker and get this sorted by them. That's what they're there for. Some CAB offices now have an e-mail service as well as telephone appointments so it might be worth sending an e-mail. They'll need to know age, marital status, savings, income, rent, council tax band at the least. I used to be a volunteer for the CAB many, many moons ago and we used to see all sorts of problems that people had (ask me about the man who dropped his pants to show a war wound!!!), and we would do our very best to help. Sometimes you have to swallow your pride. The questions they ask may seem intrusive but that's because the benefits regulations require them. As for others on MSE forums being nasty to you, I'm sorry you've experienced that. No-one has the right to judge someone else's situation.

Mardatha the same goes for your son's girlfriend - she should try and get some help fighting her appeal. Is she getting Disability Living Allowance? I think if she is getting the middle or higher rate your son might be able to claim carer's allowance, but I can't swear to it as it's over fifteen years since I was involved in the CAB.

Well, I must go off and do my teapot duties on the float... the weather here is undecided, a mixture of sunshine and really heavy showers. I'm hoping it fines up properly for the parade. My teapot costume is actually a teapot-shaped 'sandwich board' type affair but I will be channelling Mrs Potts :rotfl:and her cheery smile if I can :rotfl:

Have a good day, everyone xx

RAS

Red_Doe wrote: »

I In my garden are cabbages, parsnips, tatties and neeps and I had planned a mass freezing to stock the freezer up with much needed veg for winter.
Does anyone know if I can freeze any of these without blanching first, to save time and effort?

Hi

Most of these can be left in the ground until the hard winter starts, though I know that below minus 11ish cabbages start to give up - not the leaves but the stalks, which then rot upwards into the cabbage.

RD, freezing requires leccie which costs money and is risky if there is a power cut.

I know you have bulidings.

Do you have anything that you could convert into a root cellar? The wall need to be below ground or partly below ground level?

Or an old fridge or freezer or even an old metal locker that you could dig into the ground, fill up and then cover with earth? Obviously the door goes at the top. You need to mark its location and to cover with brash etc to prevent the ground freezing above it but it would keep stuff good for months. You may have a north facing hollow somewhere that could be converted for use.

Try checking out the Motherearthnews web-site. They have some articles on there which cover winter storage in hard environments. http://www.motherearthnews.com/modern-homesteading/build-a-root-cellar-zm0z80zsie.aspx shows the full monty but this article provides a good overview http://www.motherearthnews.com/real-food/store-fresh-vegetables-zm0z01zsie.aspx?page=4. There will be other on there

The permaculture mag has also been running a few sections from Holzers book on creating earth shelters for storage.

Again, the full blown space may be beyond your needs and capacity right now but the ideas might inspire you.

Charis

mardatha wrote: »

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

I have a friend whose appeal took over a year, and was rejected at the first appeal because it was rubber stamped as failed in the same office as the first decision was made. He was advised to get evidence from every source he could, including copies of medical reports, x rays, everything, going back as far as possible. Then his thick file was sent to someone higher up the chain of command. Eventually his benefits were restored - and backdated - however it has left him feeling very shaken and shocked that firstly an anonymous sneak had accused him of cheating the system and that the 'doctor' who did the first 'medical' actually lied on the form he submitted. We have since learnt that the people doing the testing are actively encouraged to fail as many as they can. It's best to have the backing of a charity for disabled people, my friend found they 'know the ropes' and know just what evidence to collect and where to present it.

Of course, many of the smaller charities, unsupported by the government, are now folding for lack of funds.

angelaf_3

Some disability benefits are counted some aren't, same as with most benefits. Seems crazy to me that you are given the benefits because you need them to survive and then they are used to penalise you in other areas. I know there are scroungers and I don't condone them at all but it seems to me from the experience of friends that the genuine ones seem to have to prove and prove again that these are essential and those that are pulling the wool over the governments eyes seem to sail through.
I suppose it's the same as duck houses etc, if you are a cheat you know how to cheat and your lack of conscience or feeling that the world owes you a living that you sail through.

mardatha

I don't want to hijack this thread and there are other forums for discussing benefits.
I just popped in to post this, which won't make me or Red Doe feel any better -
http://www.netweather.tv/index.cgi?action=forecast;type=alerts;reg=1;sess=

Red_Doe

mardatha wrote: »

I don't want to hijack this thread and there are other forums for discussing benefits.
I just popped in to post this, which won't make me or Red Doe feel any better -
http://www.netweather.tv/index.cgi?action=forecast;type=alerts;reg=1;sess=

Great, just what we need, eh?

mardatha

And i have no sweeties !!

7_week_wonder

Red_Doe wrote: »

Great, just what we need, eh?

Oh deep joy! OH said to me yesterday he couldn't think of the last day when we hadn't had *any* rain. Poor hens are paddling in mud at the moment.

Hugs to everyone who needs them - it seems like there are more and more folks finding it tough at the moment.

OH and I are on holiday this week and the plan is to stay at home and catch up on domestic stuff. So far it is not going quite according to plan: OH has taken over 2 hours to measure and drill two holes for a towel rail; and I'm not convinced it'll be finished any time soon. And my challenge for the day was to try my new toy - my mum's new brand new kenwood chef which she gave me cos she reckoned she'd never use it. I made pastry in it ready for a quiche - that bit went ok, but then rolling it out went a bit wrong and I now have a quiche with about 2/3 of the filling in the case and the rest swimming around a baking sheet:( Oh well, this evening's experiment is naan bread using the dough hook. Hmm I wonder how I can mess that up!!

I don't think the domestic goddess need fear for her title!