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

GreyQueen

((born blonde)) I'm so sorry to hear that your mother has passed away. Please be gentle with yourself in the days and months to come.

Well, went to SuperGran's with her groceries after work and stayed for about an hour having a natter. She was able to put a tiny bit of weight on the injured leg and is full of funny stories about using the crutches. SG is a retired nurse and a great raconteur and brilliant company. She was determined to struggle downstairs to refill the birdbath (a pan of water on the communal green below her flat) and did so, but it was harder descending than ascending. She is going to church tomorrow in her car (it's about half a mile). You cannot keep that woman still unless you sit on her. The pain is a lot less, too. Fingers crossed for a swift recovery.

I was dead embarrassed about the state of my lottie when the folks fetched me back on Monday. We made a brief visit to it so that I could pick lots of runner beans for them to take home as I can't keep up at the moment and my wee freezer is full of dwarf french beans. Goodness, are they prolific or what? Nan is growing purple-podded ones and hers are still flowering. My yellow-podded ones are all finished bar a few which I am keeping for seed and their leaves are dying back. My lottie is soooo shaggy but I have found gardening a real struggle this year with the crazy weather and Life getting in the way. However, the carrots I sowed on 01/07 are looking lush and lovely so I have some hopes there. And I have tiny little froglets everywhere as well. Can't recall seeing that in late August before.

Can't remember who it was who is having trouble with their outdoor tomatoes (more than one of us?) but I've given up on them. It would possibly be feasible if I had a garden but when your garden is a mile and a bit up the road from your home, you cannot give things the level of attention which would be ideal.

Am slightly having kittens about my camping break/course as I am overly-fond of lists and planning and haven't had much time to do this and will be collecting my rental car first thing on Saturday and then I'm off. I shall be Somewhere in the Middle of England but not on a motorway during the course of the day, so anyone of a nervous disposition may want to stay at home on Saturday (or stay on the motorways) or at least be careful to avoid women driving small silver Peugeots.

On the plus side, you'll all have a break from my nonsense for 10 days........;)

Well, have got my route off the AA Routeplanner, and will nip to the camping store before work to get a couple of little bits and then later today try on my outdoorsy clothes to check that I can still get into them; goodness knows where I have left my waterproof overtrousers but as I'll be in the Far West, beyond the Misty Mountains (whoops, I meant the Pennines) I better have them just-in-case.

I went to Big Mr T at the weekend and now have more tins of sweetcorn and kidney beans...but I didn't buy tomatoes.......:o

Oohh, I feel a list coming on.........Hope everyone has a good day.

Red_Doe

my chest makes me look big. But there's not much you can do barring surgery when you're 34FF.

32G here Gotten bigger as I got older, oh boy I wish I'd had these when I was 'in my prime'
OS link to that of course is that it's very hard getting clothes to fit. But when I look back to my youth in the seventies, the clothes from then that are now 'vintage' all seem far too skinny, tight and small! Arms and legs on everything were so skinny!
I've got the bottom half to match the boobs, being what is endearingly termed, hourglass.
I recently went through my wardrobe and was dismayed to find that since starting the menopause I've hoarded all my clothes fooling myself I'd fit into them again. I was going to sell them on Ebay, because there's some nice pieces in there, but....
We don't own a couch. I can't afford to buy one so just before finances got really dire, I splurged, on Ebay, on one of those inflatable couches. (forty quid)
They aren't meant for long term use of course but I thought I'd get more than a few weeks out of one!
Nope. It's in sections, you see, a bottom and top one that unfold to make a double bed.
The bottom half sprung a leak and kept deflating, and the patch that they provided with it doesn't actually stay stuck.
So I sliced it open (it's made of supposedly tough plastic stuff) and stuffed all my old clothes and bits of bedding into it then stitched the cut up again.
Weighs a ton! But it won't deflate again.
So far the top half is still inflated but I'm sure it won't be long before that too springs a leak! I've run out of clothes to stuff it with though!
So, I don't have any surplus clothing to sell on Ebay but I do have at least half a blow up couch that won't deflate on me.
Once it's covered with blankets and throws, you wouldn't know what it was until you sat on it, when it turns into a mini bouncy castle.

Eta, good luck GQ on your camping course! Mind out for midgies

ceridwen

I think a lot of us have been having a "Bad Tomato Year" for one reason or another - its been very meagre offerings for that this year chez ceridwen (not a chance of any to preserve - not even many to eat straight away:().

ROSANNA
250 lbs of fruit and veg. from your garden last year:T. I mentally notch up when people manage to achieve large amounts of food from a small amount of space to try and encourage myself onwards.

So - how many square foot is your garden?

I'd be interested to know of anyone else who works out poundage grown and how many square feet of garden they got it from:)

RED DOE
Any spare mattresses to hand at yours? As in maybe making some sort of sofa arrangement with them? A single bed, for instance, could be put up against a wall and some spare cushions and/or pillows put up against the wall for a "back". One of my "sofas" is a spare bed in fact. One needs to have long legs or sit cross-legged (as I often do anyways) or legs tucked under in order to sit on it - but it suffices for sofa purposes in my study/dressing room.

Red_Doe

RED DOE
Any spare mattresses to hand at yours? As in maybe making some sort of sofa arrangement with them? A single bed, for instance, could be put up against a wall and some spare cushions and/or pillows put up against the wall for a "back". One of my "sofas" is a spare bed in fact. One needs to have long legs or sit cross-legged (as I often do anyways) or legs tucked under in order to sit on it - but it suffices for sofa purposes in my study/dressing room.

The livingroom's too small Cerdiwen. It's why I got the blow up couch, it isn't very big and just fits into the space for it. But, once I put the tent up in the livingroom we won't need the couch anyway, I'll just put cushions down and pretend I'm in an arab sheikh's tent or something

PS like your sig...sometimes, talking to my bairn's generation, I feel like a right auld dinosaur!

shegar

unixgirluk wrote: »

On the subject of larger sized bras why do they make them so expensive, the cheaper ones just do not fit.

This maybe toooo much information to you all at this time of the morning but............I havnt wore a bra since 14 yrs ago, not even for a day.......reasons..Ive had 2 shoulder operations and after the ops it was far too sore to have straps on , I got so use to not being harnessed up, and also I cant bear being tied up:eek::eek:...........I must say in my defence that I always wear tops, ie; blouses, fleeces etc that do not bring attention to my breasts, so I get away with it..........im just a normal size and not too heavy up there................but I will probaly never wear one again, I feel free..........mind you I dont run anywhere either.....:eek: .................................

GreyQueen

shegar wrote: »

This maybe toooo much information to you all at this time of the morning but............I havnt wore a bra since 14 yrs ago, not even for a day.......reasons..Ive had 2 shoulder operations and after the ops it was far too sore to have straps on , I got so use to not being harnessed up, and also I cant bear being tied up:eek::eek:...........I must say in my defence that I always wear tops, ie; blouses, fleeces etc that do not bring attention to my breasts, so I get away with it..........im just a normal size and not too heavy up there................but I will probaly never wear one again, I feel free..........mind you I dont run anywhere either.....:eek: .................................

Don't worry shegar, I don't wear one of the blasted things either, unless I am wearing something skintight and then I'm counting the minutes until I can take the wretched item off. Hate 'em. Mind you, I'm pretty flatchested anyway......:rotfl:I carefully choose work blouses to be loose-fitting and often with patch pockets over what passes for my bosom and get away with it. Have had a lot of wasted time being fitted for bras and have come to the conclusion that my shoulderblades are too deep from top to bottom or summat as the straps even when fully extended wear grooves into my shoulders. I kinda think 34 AA is nature's way of saying; "Get a vest!"

ceridwen

:rotfl:I wouldnt wear a bra either if I could get away with it - but considering that there is still the odd man who will leer and make "cupping gestures" with his hands at intervals (and gets "ice"/nose up in air look back:)) - I wont be burning my bras any day soon:rotfl:

Anyways - and on the garden topic:
SAMMY KAYE - are you lurking lass? How's your garden growing?

[Deleted User]

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

scottishminnie

Thought I'd post an update on the little egg poachers things which I bought (and my mother was aghast at). £5.98 wasted - utterly useless! I followed the instructions (not normal behaviour for me) and washed them, greased them as directed and then broke an egg into each. The first one "fell" off the side of the pan where it should have been perching and dropped most of the egg into the water and the second one just welded the egg to the inside of the poacher.

That was Sunday - they are still soaking in an effort to get the egg off them despite being greased and we ended up with scrambled eggs for breakfast that morning as they were inedible. What a complete waste of money. I think I'll just resign myself to only having poached eggs when I'm eating out. It's pretty shameful that I can handle catering for large numbers, fancy cakes and so on but I can't poach a blasted egg!

I made some Twinks hobnobs last night, brought them into the office this morning and all 18 of them are gone already:eek:. They have to be the most successful and quick biscuit ever.

I did a little bit of recycling last night - a few tea towels with holes/bare bits in the centre so I cut them in two,took off the bare bits, hemmed them and stitched two back together. I won't have them on show but they will do for when I'm baking as I go through quite a few then.

I have a little towel thing which I bought in Canada years ago at a craft sale. It has a fabric bit attached to the top for hanging up and is great for wiping hands on. I must have a close look at it and see if I could make one with some of my old handtowels. I'm sure it's simple enough.

I still don't have any red tomatoes - my mother says to pick the big ones and bring them inside to a dark cupboard and they will ripen. I'm not convinced though - has anyone else heard of this?

Churchmouse

scottishminnie wrote: »

Thought I'd post an update on the little egg poachers things which I bought (and my mother was aghast at). £5.98 wasted - utterly useless! I followed the instructions (not normal behaviour for me) and washed them, greased them as directed and then broke an egg into each. The first one "fell" off the side of the pan where it should have been perching and dropped most of the egg into the water and the second one just welded the egg to the inside of the poacher.

I'm jumping in here with what might be irrelevant info scottishminnie, but for egg poachers for the totally inept ( that's me ) I can recommend these
I bought some years ago when I was in Canada, and they're still going strong, and never stick. Just a thought if you want to give it another try.