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

mardatha

Much calmer this morning and its even stopped raining ! (but forecast says not for long). It was windy but we've had worse. Hens are living in a pen full of semi liquid mud but they look happy.I had a bad night and cant be a$$ed doing much today, will probly get on with some knitting OS xmas pressies.
GQ if we ever need some nettle twine in a hurry I now know where to come!

HariboJunkie

redlady_1 wrote: »

HJ - I would not have been able to talk you out of spending the voucher as there is a skirt and a couple of dresses that are winking at me!

.

I knew you'd be hopeless to ask. ;):D.

It was a dark and stormy night. Seriously I think it was worse than during the day and I have had little sleep. We've also come down to discover one of our external doors has let water in at the bottom and the carpet is soaked. The garden is a sight but it could have been much worse.
It's still torrential rain and howling winds so I won't be too far travelled today.

Red Doe did you survive? x

paidinchickens

I had a brainwave a few weeks ago and asked DH to get our old gazebo so I could hang the washing under it and it would still dry when raining. DH had such fun strapping it to anything solid and reinforcing it with metal bars etc.

Imagine my surprise to find it still standing this morning :T

GQ We have only just got our little Mr T a couple of weeks ago. Every night DH and I pop round at 9.15 (no earlier we have found) and have practically lived off whoopsies. The last two nights have been a real let down as there is hardly any full price stock on the shelves never mind markdowns. I am hoping this is not the shape of things to come as this has served not only as a money saving option but has become our favourite hobby!!!!

Gigervamp

Although it was very windy here yesterday, the only thing that suffered was our scarecrow. His hat blew off, so I popped it in the feed shed for now!

Hubby came home with the bags of free veg. One bag was full of carrots and potatoes, and the other bag had a large cauliflower, cabbage, swede, 2 apples and 2 oranges. Lovely! Just need to get them chopped up and frozen. Oh, and try to find some room in the freezer for them!

greent

Morning all

Hope everyone has survived yesterday. We lost a tree in the front garden yesterday afternoon - blew straight over (was about 16/17 years oold, too, so not a teeny thing) Hubby butchered it and I'll give the wood to an aunt with a wood burner. Pear tree lost a few fruit yesterday, too, so I picked as much as I could reach and then cllected another half doz windfalls at dusk. Haven't checked this morning, but there's only about a dozen-ish fruits left on there. Trouble is, I have pears and apples galore and nowhere for them! I've made masses of spiced pear and apple chutney (using 2kg of chopped fruit) and it hasn't made a dent in it! And runner beans - will be making runner bean chutney next week to use up some of the glut of those!

Hubby's had some good news re his contract - assuming all things remain equal (ie: no budget cuts or change of directors) he is there until year end. Started in March for a 3month contract - so that's good - keeps him on an even-ish keel re his depression for the time being!!

No wind at all this morning and the sun has now come out from the clouds - so am off to hang the washing out

Stay safe

GreyQueen

mardatha wrote: »

Much calmer this morning and its even stopped raining ! (but forecast says not for long). It was windy but we've had worse. Hens are living in a pen full of semi liquid mud but they look happy.I had a bad night and cant be a$$ed doing much today, will probly get on with some knitting OS xmas pressies.
GQ if we ever need some nettle twine in a hurry I now know where to come!

I shall have to make a hank of it and keep it aside for your hour of need, Mardatha; cannot produce it in a hurry as it's a bit of a faff.

However, I really like being able to use a technique which has been unchanged for thousands of years and has been used by peoples all over the world to make twine from all kinds of fibrous plants. There were a bunch of us bushcrafters on the course, only me and one other woman, and several people remarked how right and almost instinctive it felt to be making twine.....almost as if we had some kind of race-memory of doing it before.

These were hardcore geezers, for the most part, sort of the least-fey kind of people you can imagine, so it was an interesting thing to admit to feeling. I had a sense of it, too.

Nettle Twine

From Midsummer onwards to about now, go to a nettle patch and cut down the tallest ones with the thickest stems, close to the ground. 20 stems is about a good starting point.

Moving very quickly, run the nettles thru your hands from base to tip, clenching hard, to strip off the leaves. Bushcrafters tell you that if you do this with enough speed and conviction, you don't get stung. Bushcrafters tell lies, btw.

Take your nettle stems in your smarting palms and hie you off to a log. Bash nettle stems over the log with another smaller log (gets a bit Neolithic here but we were in the woods). Pay particular attention to the joints of the stems where the leaves were attached. Process the nettles asap after harvesting. Deffo don't leave them until the following day.

You will now see that the rigid and brittle stem has split top to bottom and can open it out from a tube to a flat strip. Working from one end to another, snap the stems backwards across your hand where the joints appear in the stems. The pithy white core should partially snap out of the green stringy skin. Tug it the rest of the way and discard.

One each stem has been de-pithed, you have a sort-of hank of limp dark greenish fibres. Hand up to dry overnight and work your way thru the other 19 stems.

To Twist Twine.

Take one section of the nettle fibre and grasp it in left hand between finger and thumb, with uneven ends (1/3rd-2/3rds is good). Taking the longest end in a pinch-grip in your right hand, make a twist AWAY from your body, then pull the same sting TOWARDS yourself and downwards. Move your pinch-grip on the twine in your left hand forward a minim. The other fibre is now the top fibre. Treat as above and repeat to fade.

You will come towards the end of the shorter strand. Lay a new strand in with a tail of about 3 inches pointing backwards towards the twine you have already made. Twist into the growing twine. You will cut or burn off the loose end later; ignore it for now. Proceed until the other end needs an addition etc etc.

The reason for starting with uneven lengths is that you don't want the join in the same place as it will create a weakness. Carry on twiddling until you've run out of nettles/ been taken away by the little men in white coats. Finish with a granny-knot and cut or burn (over a candle is easiest) the stray ends.

Et voila, a two-ply twine. Twist it back on itself to make a 4-ply or 8-ply twine. You can tow a Landie on a 4-ply nettle twine; the bushcrafters have done this.

:D Wasn't that the weirdest thing you'll learn today, ladies? And to think that I had to cross into the mountains and wallow in mud to bring the Secret of the Twine back to a degenerate civilisation. Of course, I have lots of hemp twine (4 balls for 99p) so shan't be mass-producing this anytime soon, but it can join the other weird stuff rattling around between my ears.

Gosh, is that the time? Must go to work........:rotfl:

kidcat

Am so glad to see that everyone seems to have coped through the winds.

pennib

Well GQ thanks for that tutorial will put it in my favourites for when I have finished using all the string in the house....about 5years time! Pity it couldn't be knitted into a hat/bag or something would be very useful then. How long does it last after its been made into string?
That is a proper skill to de-leaf a nettle without getting stung. I have tried the grasp it and wont sting ploy......no it doesn't work so that is one big lie. Whoever made that myth up had a hidden agenda!!

bonnie_bumpkins

paidinchickens wrote: »

GQ We have only just got our little Mr T a couple of weeks ago. Every night DH and I pop round at 9.15 (no earlier we have found) and have practically lived off whoopsies. The last two nights have been a real let down as there is hardly any full price stock on the shelves never mind markdowns. I am hoping this is not the shape of things to come as this has served not only as a money saving option but has become our favourite hobby!!!!

Likewise!! My neighbours must think I have a drug problem or am dealing as I'm regularly to be seen leaving the house at 7.30 for 8pm close at Waitr*se and/or 9.30 for 10pm close at T*sco, and/or 10.30 for 11am at the C**p Minor diesel outlay and LOTS of bargains, plus the surprise element - what will there be today? Will there BE anything today?!

Still windy here in southern softie Kent, but dry, nice and warm, so perfect for drying washing.

GC I'm job-hunting and I'm seriously considering claiming 'old-style thrift' as one of my hobbies. Imaging how impressed a potential employer will be when I tell them I'm learning to make twine from nettles. No? Aaaah, that'll be why I'm still unemployed then

Margaret54

Hi shegar Here is the recipe for banana bread
fat for greasing
300g/11oz plain flour, pinch of salt,5ml/1tsp bicarb of soda, 75g/3oz margarine,100g/4oz granulated sugar,3 eggs, beaten, 3 ripe bananas, 15ml/1tbsp lemon juice.
Grease a 23x13x75cm/9x5x3 inch loaf tin ( I have a 2 lb loaf tin I use every time) Set the oven at 190/375/gas5 fan assisted oven 170. Sift the flour salt and bicarbonate of soda together.
Cream sugar and margarine in a bowl Beat in the eggs. Mash the bananas with lemon juice. Add to the creamed mixture, then work in the dry ingredients. Put the mixture into the tin.
Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack. Enjoy Delicious.:)
Taken from The best of Mrs Beeton's cakes and baking.