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

grandma247

whew just caught up at last.
We had a lovely holiday and sunny weather for all but half a day. I spent a bit of money but very os. I got skirts, tops, gloves and a very smart winter coat, all from charity shops.

I even roasted a small chicken and did two meals plus soup (made stock with the bones) with it. Also did enough for two meals with some foods so I could have a break from cooking.

I feel great due to the amount of fresh air and sunshine. The sun this week will be an added bonus. We did not have two sunny days to string together in August.

I was a bit surprised when some on here complained about mobility scooters since we don't have a great many around here and don't have a problem but had my eyes opened in Mablethorpe. Dh and I were almost run down by a man on one. We saw him coming along the road so stopped on the pavement till he passed, only he didn't, he mounted the pavement and almost hit us. He missed me by a whisker. I was so shocked I didn't say anything. I saw several incidents after that. I can only conclude that those people were not car drivers so had no idea what they were doing. Either that or they just had no sense!

Hugs to all who need them because there seem to be a lot of things happening at once at the moment.

Kittie your post about the Beetroots made me smile. I did about twenty Pomegranates before we went away and when I looked up my kitchen was like a scene from CSI.

got to go to bed now. So much for a new routine of earlier to bed.

bluebag

maryb wrote: »

Has anyone else had a look at the Tesco prices since they launched their promotion? I printed out my master shopping list in My Supermarket last week so I thought it would be interesting to see if it is much lower because it covers everything I would ever buy on a fairly regular basis - even though I wouldn't buy it all in one go. (My Supermarket had a glitch and lost my old list so I had to reconstruct it GRRR) I had 46 items on there, all pretty basic stuff, since I cook from scratch so most of my shopping is "ingredients". It was £75.83 last week and now it's £74.87.

I won't spend it all at once!!

I think we should all crash round your place and whoop it up, seeing as though you're rich now.:rotfl:

ceridwen

grandma247 wrote: »

I was a bit surprised when some on here complained about mobility scooters since we don't have a great many around here and don't have a problem but had my eyes opened in Mablethorpe. Dh and I were almost run down by a man on one. We saw him coming along the road so stopped on the pavement till he passed, only he didn't, he mounted the pavement and almost hit us. He missed me by a whisker. I was so shocked I didn't say anything. I saw several incidents after that. I can only conclude that those people were not car drivers so had no idea what they were doing. Either that or they just had no sense!

Glad you had a good holiday.:)

In my area there arent many mobility scooters around - but there are a heck of a lot of cyclists riding on pavements that are pedestrian-only ones. Its worst in the most built-up urban part of our area - the busier the street the more likely it is to happen (our shopping streets are awful for this happening). If anyone ever spots an embarrassed looking cyclist round here they've just had the word "Idiot!" yelled at them by a middle-aged woman not unrelated to myself for doing so or had to dismount or move onto the road because said middle-aged woman is standing there in their way and not moving:rotfl:. Round here they often try to ride round on even quite busy pedestrian-only pavements and I do get nervous in case they ride into me - as they even ride up behind people on pavements lined with shops (ie where said pedestrians are highly likely to decide to veer off to one side to go into a shop - and wont have heard the bike-rider coming up behind).

I sympathise with them on the fact that our roads round here are hugely busy - but they shouldnt be putting pedestrians at risk in order to safeguard "their own little skins".

Ahem....as you were...rant over for the day.

GreyQueen

OK, I have procrastinated enough. I have obtained sage and mint, the latter home-grown. I will have a wee play on MSE and then...ta da!...I'm tackling that blasted pumpkin once and for all.

It's laughing at me. I know it is.

Yay, we're all going to be reading "Sucking Eggs....." at this rate. I got mine from the library last weekend and have been fascinated ever since.

grandma427, glad you enjoyed your break. Mobility scooters in Provincial City are a fairly regular menace. My pal was minding her own business in J Lewis one lunchtime, standing still looking at some goods when a scooter-rider lost control of her machine and skittled her into a display of handbags.

I also see one geezer who I am expecting to be killed any day now due to the completely insane and irresponsible way he drives his scooter in and out of traffic, zooming off pavements and into city roads with 40 mph limits, lurching across 2 lanes of moving traffic without warning..my heart has been in my mouth; every time I see him he's driving like a lunatic.

Ceridwen, please come to Provincial City and yell at our cycling-in-the-pedestrian-precinct idiots. They can get fined £80 for doing it but it's absolutely all over the place. I was walking up a wide pavement near my home, wide as in the size of a country road, when this bloke darted his pushbike (from behind) between me and a wall so close that he brushed my sleeve. Could have used the 3 metres of pavement on my other side but where would be the fun in that?! Tell ya, it was very nearly a tena-lady moment and he had something a bit stronger than "Idiot!" yelled after him.

Yesterday on my way back from the lottie in the evening I popped into SuperGran's flat to admire the shelves which are now loaded with the linens. I'd not been over for a few days as she's had a stinking cold and I have pre-existing med conditions which make me susceptible to infections, so we'd limited ourselves to chatting on the phone.

Anyway, she's being pestered by the heroin-addict neighbour again but was in stitches over the latest thing that scrounging mare asked her for.....sanitary towels! SG is nearly 70, what was the woman thinking?:rotfl:

SG has a rare sense of humour and was telling me what her sister's reaction to the news of the cracked bone was (she got it jumping off a low wall, btw) "For goodness sake! You are nearly 70 and you CANNOT fly!!!!!!!!"

Actually, I'd be prepared to bet that SG could fly if she put her mind to it, she's certainly stubborn enough. I'd bet SG against gravity any day.

Yesterday I had a mellow half-hour on the lottie picking dried-out runner bean pods and shelling them. They are now on a tray in the flat to completely dry before I store them in paper bags. Aren't runner beans pretty things? There are still plenty of stringy pods up on the canes to dry out so I shall be able to seed-share back with Nan who gave me the originals several years ago. We have no idea what variety they are as they have been saved and saved on my grandparents' garden for so many years but they look as if they might be Scarlet Emperor. I had shop-bought Painted Lady runner beans a couple of years ago and am going to use their saved seeds next year and keep alternating the varieties.

I always buy more seeds than I sow but am going to try to do better this coming year and not get too carried away.:o

Hey, the weather is supposed to go to 28 degrees by the end of the week. Awesome! Get down to the seaside with your buckets and spades, or summat similar.

Have a good day, all.

shegar

flowertotmum wrote: »

Hi all..wow what a gorgeous day it has been today..loads of washing done,all ironed and put away..hubby did some gardening and put a net over the pond..not having leaves in it this yr..clogged up the filter something wicked and it was all slimy mush when we cleaned it out..coo it did stink_pale_.

The apples on my trees are ripening up lovely..can't wait to get them.

Iris and i went to the charity shops today..can't believe some of the prices:eek:..£5 for a t-shirt..not even a posh one at that..nevermind ..i did get fern some lovely long legged pj's brand new for £1..she loves them...also some lovely books for 50p each..

I have been a bit naughty and bought my self a bone china tea set off fleabay..£5..went to pick it up and the lady selling it turned out to be one of the girls i went to school with..so we had a chat and it was really nice to see her..she couldn't believe i had 2 more babies in my late 30's and early 40's...she even threw in some extra serving bowls and dishes for me..so sweet.

Got home and made 6 apple crumbles,4 rhubarb,4 apple and rhubarb and 2 apricot crumbles..so they are nesting snuggly in my freezer..still got a lot of rhubarb left and plenty of apples so will be making lots more.

Had some butternut squash soup for my tea with crusty rolls courtesy of my lovely hubby..it was fab.

Well i am sat here actually finishing ferns scarf:j..and the weather is warm and muggy weird but nice..am just waiting for my mum to start moaning about it:D..never happy.


Charlies aunt..hugs for you hun..

Hi and welcome to all newbies..oh and to all of you with children leaving home..they never truly leave..they always come home at some point even if its for a meal or washing getting done..its always home to them coz your there for them.Blimey just realized i'll be knocking about 60 odd when i finally get the house to myself:eek:...

Right got to
love to you all
ftm

P.s..thanks ceridwen for the celery recipe..might be able to get it eaten now.

Ive also just bought some nylon netting for the pond,ive got quite a few birch trees so I know I must net the pond when they start to fall, talking of leaves I havent lost one leaf yet on all my different trees that ive got, they are all lovely lush green,:eek:I did expect the trees to start to turn by now, after all it will soon be October..........

This beatiful weather is forecasted for a long time as yet, so that hopefully will hold winter back for a time............
Im off to Tescos this morning to have a bit of a stock up, see what all the hype is about on all the money saving offers...;)......spect that will be on stuff that I never buy...........

mardatha

They keep banging on about this beautiful warm weather well I have yet to see it !!!! is white cloud and chilly here. grumpy now.

greent

Morning all

Charlies Aunt - so sorry to hear about your cat - it's never an easy thing to do

DS1 (11 and rather 'sensitive') went to put the guinea pigs out in the garden run this morning and found his one dead in the bedroom of the hutch He was in bits. She was only 4 1/2 (I know that's an 'ok' age) but the poor thing was almost half the weight she should be and wheezed rather than squeaked - the vet couldn't find a problem. I knew she wouldn't last the winter, but I thought she'd go in a cold snap. I'm now on making a coffin duties for her today and Dh is coming home from work early (he should be heading up to Leeds) to dig a grave for her (our soil is very clay-y and I struggle digging it let along 2 spades deep worth. She's going under what will be the new strawberry patch. Poor thing

I went to tesco yesterday - no real evidence of any price cuts - the 4pts milk has gone down to £1.25 from £1.49 - but seeing as it's been on 3 for £3 for a while and I buy 3 at a time (1 each of red, blue & green) it actually cost me 75p more for the 3 bottles than it did last week - grrrrr!!:mad: I bought just a few things (honestly! - 2 1/2 carriers) and spent £28:eek: - food prices are getting ridiculous! There was no meat (other than some reduced ham pieces for £1.70) in there either.

Am making the most of this weather this week - sofa covers are being stripped and washed. Was planning on doing it the latter half of the week anyway, and then DS3 (2) painted the sofas with a pot of fromage frais whilst I was on the phone yesterday! He also got the carpet - I've scrubbed that, but you can still see it - however, I was planning for it to be properly cleaned in Nov (after decorating and new bathrooms) ready for Christmas...

Off to hang more sofa covers out and put another load on! Dishwasher is running on hot with soda crystals and vinegar as it's not been getting things clean..

Charis

greent wrote: »

Dishwasher is running on hot with soda crystals and vinegar as it's not been getting things clean..

Greent, if that doesn't do the trick, have you checked the spray arms? The sometimes get clogged with food fragments, bits of rice and such. They are easy to get off and put back and if you run tap water into them it should come freely out of all the holes on top.

I had a dishwasher for years before I read a hint on the web that the bottom edge of the door when it's open (which you can't see unless your head is in the machine) should be wiped regularly with something disposable (kitchen roll, old rag etc) The gunk that collects on there is enough to turn a strong woman's stomach.

GreyQueen

I've done it!

I have successfully slaughtered the 12lb pumpkin and reduced it into it's component parts. Took over an hour, too.

I hung the (big orange halloween type) pumpkin on the Stilsons when I got it and it weighed 12lb. They're not the most accurate things going but should be within a little.

Slaughtered, the 12lb pumpkin is; 7lb 5 oz of flesh, 1 lb 2 oz of rind and 3.5 oz of seeds. The pulpy bit the seeds cling onto is in the food waste caddy to go to the lottie compost bin.

Sorry about the imperial measuremants; I have an OS balance kitchen scale and only have imperial weights to use on it although I am looking for a metric set secondhand.

Current state of play is the flesh bagged in clean, re-purposed plastic bags in the fridge to be cooked later, the rind on one baking sheet and the seeds with salt and oil on another in a low oven cooking.

The rind is to be garnished with the peel of 4 carrots 20 mins into the 30 minute cooking process and will be used later today for the recipe Pumpkin Rind and Carrot Peel Parmigiana off the Ecocucina website which somebody kindly posted a linkie to up here. I shall cook that and Pumpkin Risotto and as many other pumpkin things as I have pumpkin for after w*rk.

Gosh, am I bushed. It's hard work being OS, isn't it?

ETA I can report that roasted pumpkin seeds done on a baking sheet with a bit of oil and sea salt and straight from the oven are NOMONOMNOM.

suzid

Hello all.

Well done on the pumpkin GQ and I for one am grateful for the imperial measurements as it's all I understand everything else has to be mentally converted ie 1kg = 2.2lbs. Sitting here thinking what a lovely word 'pumpkin' is and who ever gave it that name :think:

Many thanks ceridwen for the celery ideas as I've been wondering what to do with the left over half from a recent recipe.

I have 2 A$da Christmas saving cards. If you put £144 on, they give you £6 bonus, so my £288 turns into £300, and it frees up grocery money for prezzies and extras. Much better than putting it in savings accounts.

Right off to make up lasagnes from the cauldron of bolognese sause I made earlier. Sneeked in loads of veg the lad would normally turn his nose up at and blitzed in the blender.:T

Sorry to hear about your little lads guinea pig, greent. Our garden is full of hamsters, budgies etc. Each one much loved and buried with due ceremony.

Have a good day folks.