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

[Deleted User]

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PaddyPaws

smileyt - I'm afraid I've no words of wisdom on the subject of hens but just wanted to send you a hug.

PP

GreyQueen

starsandmoon wrote: »

Getting my loft insulated on Thursday. Quite excited at the money saving possibilities and hopefully be warmer upstairs. This nice weather means I can finish off tidying up outside and making sure everything is sound for the winter.

Is anyone else finding using their car is cheaper than using public transport? I like getting the bus to town etc and not use the car but Im finding the bus is getting really expensive. Last week it was cheaper to drive 2 miles to the dental hospital and pay £2.80 in parking when taking my DD for a check up. The bus fare would have been £5.60 for the two of us (return). Work have offered me a parking space at a cost of £12 a month (I work a 3 day week) which again is cheaper than the bus. A weekly ticket is £13, even taking the cost of petrol into account it works out so much cheaper to use the car. How do people afford bus fares if they dont have a car and are minimum wage/fixed income?

Sorry to hear about those with poorly/deceased pets. Mums tortoise of 35 years died this year, very sad.

I'm not at all surprised tbh. I found it as cheap to rent a car to travel across country as to go by train, not to mention much more convenient. Buses are extortionate and I very rarely use them. They seem to be the almost-exclusive province of the bus pass holders (and nothing wrong with that) but I think the paying public is going by other methods. I tend to walk or cycle and only use public transport to get to family an hour away.

Smileyt ((hugs)) I'm not a hen-keeper so cannot advise or do anything other than send you a supportive vibe. Take care, gal.

Glorious sunny day here so will do a few errands before going home to slave over a hot stove......the Pumpkin Saga isn't over yet. Tell ya, it better be dee-lic-ious after all this work and shopping. If it is, I shall be swooping on some more of them in the run up to halloween as they are often about for £1-£2 and that's a lot of bang for your buck, so to speak.

Pumpkin is a lovely word, I even like typing it. Just found this on the web:

pumpkin 1640s, alteration of pumpion "melon, pumpkin" (1540s), from M.Fr. pompon, from L. peponem (nom. pepo) "melon," from Gk. pepon "melon," probably originally "cooked by the sun, ripe," from peptein "to cook" (see cook (n.)). Pumpkin-pie is recorded from 1650s. Pumpkin-head, Amer.Eng. colloquial for "person with hair cut short all around" is recorded from 1781

So it was Greek & Latin via Medieval French, oooh la la!

Have a good day, one and all.

Rosanna79

So sorry to hear of posters' pets needing to be put down. Our litte cat is almost at the end of the road and OH rang the vet today. We're taking in on Monday at 11 am - glad OH made the call as she's really his cat, loved by us both but the steroid injections have given him the necessary time to adjust to her going- his first pet although we lost her brother 2 1/2 years ago but he was really my cat. No idea if we'll take on another eventually but it seems Henry Hoover, the eco cat may have an owner somewhere. He's just too big and well nourished to be a stray. Besides he would cost a fortune in grub every week.... We'll have to see hiow it goes- Henry keeps appearing to hoover up leftovers about 3 times/ day.

Lovely weather up here in north Lincs and went on a 2.9 mile walk this morning with the group. The temperature was just right and a pleasant change from recent weather. I've a beadmaking class athis evening for a 4 week course in an adjacent town- should be fun.

Yesterday we finished harvesting our carrots 36lbs plus to the 22 lbs plus we've already harvested. The Kitchen garden video for making indoor clamps to store them required boxes either wooden or not plastic. We' ve managed to acquire a few banana boxes and lids which suitably lined with newspaper should hold the layers of sand perfectly well for the winter. The lids will keep visiting moggies from thinking they're litter trays!!! Oh has laid all the carrots out 'curing' as the garden mags tell you and this week's weather should help with the drying.

As for the tomatoes I found roating then really leeps th quantities down as thry're delicious with omelettes and cheese dishes... must run to get off to my class
((((Hugs )))) to all who need them

Cheapskate

flowertotmum wrote: »

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.

Sounds a bit like us FTM! We've got 3 grown-up (25, 22 and nearly 20), then one of 4.5 and one two next month! All jolly good fun, isn't it? :rotfl::D Most people think we're crackers for starting again, but we pay our own way, apart from a bit of TC (although DH has paid into the system for over 30 years, so I think of it as a bit of his cash being returned!).

Our autumn/winter will be a bit tougher financially this year, but we'll manage, as ever. Christmas is often mostly home made, we don't spend a lot, and are usually content with our lot.

A xo

Rowan9

sorry smileyt -thinking of you very much. Lots of advice from hen folk on here. Will think of your wee hens (and you) tonight when I light my candle.
I've gone the whole week without watching the news. Instead I've concentrated on nature, candles, chanting/ meditation CDs and lovely inspiring books. I don't usually stick my head in the sand, and don't think I am here really as I'm still aware. Sometimes we need some nurturing instead of full blast news.
Have a good evening peeps - oh GQ - I paid £1 or more for pumpkin seeds in the health shop (all the way from China, which i didn't notice on the pack - eeek at the airmiles) - they are the dark green ones (didn't know there was a difference) and they were delicious. Lucky you!!
Oh and finally...DH was given some potatoes from an allotment yesterday - oh my, they are so delicious. Lucky potato growers on here!!
W
ed to add hhmm the CD was chanting, not me.

flowertotmum

Cheapskate wrote: »

Sounds a bit like us FTM! We've got 3 grown-up (25, 22 and nearly 20), then one of 4.5 and one two next month! All jolly good fun, isn't it? :rotfl::D Most people think we're crackers for starting again, but we pay our own way, apart from a bit of TC (although DH has paid into the system for over 30 years, so I think of it as a bit of his cash being returned!).

Our autumn/winter will be a bit tougher financially this year, but we'll manage, as ever. Christmas is often mostly home made, we don't spend a lot, and are usually content with our lot.

A xo

Hiya cheapskate..yep most folks think we are bonkers too..but i really don't care..my 2 little flowertots are my bonus babies..i have older ones too..24,23,21,17..3 girls and one boy bless him..i have to say it keeps me fit and i feel great..was a shock to my system when i found out i was having fern..even greater shock to have iris..but life is great and i for one totally enjoy it..also have grandchildren 4,2,16 months..so lifes hectic lol...
Our autumn/winter will be tough too..but thankfully i have good girls who don't want everything they see..they love handmade stuff as they often get to help..nothing nicer than snuggling up on sofa with a book and having a read-a-long..simple things but mean so much...
love ftm

flowertotmum

OOhhh just realized its a whole year since i joined M.S.E. and found all you lovely ladies...what a turn around my life has done..and i'm totally enjoying it all..whatever the weather or state of the economy i take it in my stride..pinny on,sleeves up,rolling pin on hand..and get on with it..and that attitude is all thanks to you lot who welcomed me and shared your tips and lives with me..so thank you all...
lots of love
ftm

shelley_crow

Greent , I hope your DS is ok, losing piggies is the worst. I had 4 at one point. The eldest was the daftest pig I've ever had, that's quite a feat! He'd run around with my dog but thinking he was a dog too, there was a certain look of confusion on his furry face when our dog could reach the water bowl but he couldn't. He was a former show pig (himalayan) and an elderly gent when I got him and he was with me for 2 years. They are saft little bundles of fur but they worm their way into our hearts like no other.

ceridwen

Hugs to those that need them.

I'm getting to the stage when I wonder whether to follow the news at all ever - as its looking so scarey right now.

Anyway - that (and the fact that I've spotted some really cheap e-books on one of my "main subjects" - at a much cheaper price than they would be if in paper) was t'last prompt I needed I guess. So - I've just bought me a Kindle and am now going to await delivery of it.

With thanks to the poster who commented on the difficulties she had had with it - and it looked to me as if the way to be sure to avoid said possible difficulties was to get the top-of-the-range model (ie the 3G/wireless one). Hence - thats the one I've ordered. Because I understand so little of how computers/the Internet operate I felt I had to "keep it simple" to be sure I could manage it. My mind works on rather different lines to "technical" ones:rotfl: - so owt remotely technical and I'm "phoning a friend" as they say...:)

I'm bearing in mind today a comment from the mother of a friend I had MANY years ago now. I recall, when talking to my friends mother, how she commented that "Poverty is so BORING - and that was how it felt often whilst I was bringing up children. I couldnt afford to pay for anything to do." I've never forgotten that comment - though it must have been 40 years or so ago now....

So - being one HUGE bookworm and as scared as most of us are that "things might get poorer" - I decided to get that Kindle now just in case...

So - I'd already done the major "precautionary measures" just in case of:
- pay off debt and mortgage
- get well stocked-up with everything
- get home computer
- having whatever seemed like a good idea to deal with cold (fleeces, warm dressing gowns, etc).

and I'm now onto the "side issues of precautionary measures":

- working out generic recipes that are readily adaptable to whatever fruit/vegetables/etc I have in

- ensuring I can deal with minor ailments myself (at little or no cost) with natural methods

- upped the home security precautions

- dealing with the possible "boredom factor"

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Is anyone else working on "side issue precautionary measures" in case...? What are you doing if so?

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Just realised how that sounds - as in "Theres few so determined not to live in poverty as those who have done so, got out of the worst of it and are determined never to go back there....."....