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

Chickenopolis

There are going to be a heck of a lot of people on the island... Got room for a small blonde , I am good with chickens and horses ??

smileyt_2

Ginnyknit thanks for the info about Big Brands for Less - I have ordered some stuff and cos I ordered £20-worth, I have added the free £60-worth of stuff to my basket. Even if it's stuff I can't use, I know someone who makes up food parcels for homeless and really poor people so I can pass it on to her. Hee hee it'll be like Christmas opening a box full of surprises!

Well I'd best crack on - furniture is shifted but oh my, the place is a mess with stuff everywhere. I have four bags - keep, chuck, recycle and rehome - and am slowly working through stuff. Most of it is recycle. I don't know how most of it gets into my house, given that I really don't buy much other than food and dog stuff! Must sneak in when I'm asleep ....... :rotfl:

bonnie_bumpkins

ChocClare wrote: »

What is a Jack Hawkins tomato? Can you save the seeds and grow your own next year?

Genius idea!! :beer: Thank you. Sometimes I amaze myself at how dense I can be

JH tomato is very expensive (£3.99 per kg according to the label) but it tastes sooooo lovely. It is my guilty pleasure. Think I was seduced initially by a special offer. I'm almost dribbling now :rotfl:

ifonlyitwaseasier

another vote here for butter to start off my veggies in soup, does just add a little extra, tho saying that am having to find a new spreadable butter, and by that i mean one without oil in, as Kerygold have taken theirs off the market, have it narrowed down to either loseley or the one in m&s,

for those who like kale (close your eyes Mar!) try this recipe it's divine and easily adapoted if you've not got everything in, tho i'll insist ont he chorizo


have been trying to be more OS at the moment, well at least while i'm jobhunting

lizzyb1812

Tell me about it, SmileyT. I've done the furniture bit but now it's how to prevent all the clutter refilling my nice newly organised space. I blame TB - she has far too many toys :rotfl:However, they now have their own toybox and I have thrown away the absolutely disgusting ones - much to her horror. As I lifted up each one she thought it was playtime only to see them going into the bin! And I did leave her one stuffing-less stuffed toy. She's protectively guarding a rawhide chew now, looking at me suspiciously every time I walk past her.

westcoastscot

Lil_me – the recipe is from an old Family Circle magazine – a real store-cupboard favourite:

1 onion
1 clove garlic or some lazy garlic
3 tbsp oil
3 slices bacon, or equal amount of bacon bits
2 x 400gm tins tomatoes
1 can chickpeas, drained
7 oz stock – any kind (I make with a cube)
Few basil leaves or tsp dried basil.

Fry onion, bacon cut into pieces and garlic in oil, add tomato and chickpeas, simmer 15 mins. Add stock, simmer another 15 mins – add basil prior to serving.

Its lovely and thick!!

Haribo, I’m actually kinda glad I live on the mainland. Life is hard on the island, and my health is not what it was. I really really enjoyed it, it was a fantastic place to raise my kids but at this point in my life where I am now suits me better. I can walk to a small store to buy milk, rather than milk the goat twice a day, the coal-man comes to me rather than me cutting wood. I’m only 10 mins from my local health centre rather than an hours drive to a GP, and an overnight stay for a consultant appointment. On days like today where I overdid it in the garden yesterday I can sit and knit and sew, without the responsibilities of livestock etc..

Mar now I’m not on the island I spend a lot of time drinking tea and knitting J. You’re right though – it’s like stepping back into the ‘50s and I still live on “island-time” when I’m not at work. My pace of life is very slow, which I love. Be no good going to the island I lived on if you’re determined to behave though – no fun at all!!!!!!


WCS

lil_me

Westcoastscot thanks, I've got all but the basil in the caravan now (ok so I'm quite bad when I'm away too ) plus a slow cooker (gas costs me, electricity doesn't) that's quite a fluke so I'll get some tomorrow or Monday and make that if this weather doesn't improve we could all look after you on the island.... I have 3 4x4s I can fetch so transport isn't an issue I bet the children found it strange to be back on the mainland?

Quite chilly tonight now the storms have cleared, lots of log fires going on site, our electric heating I on for a bit now as DS2 got soaking wet playing out in it

Had a look on big brands, think I'll give it a miss as it's stuff you can get from b&m or home bargains

HariboJunkie

westcoastscot wrote: »

Haribo, I’m actually kinda glad I live on the mainland. Life is hard on the island, and my health is not what it was. I really really enjoyed it, it was a fantastic place to raise my kids but at this point in my life where I am now suits me better. I can walk to a small store to buy milk, rather than milk the goat twice a day, the coal-man comes to me rather than me cutting wood. I’m only 10 mins from my local health centre rather than an hours drive to a GP, and an overnight stay for a consultant appointment. On days like today where I overdid it in the garden yesterday I can sit and knit and sew, without the responsibilities of livestock etc..


WCS

If/when we move there we will hopefully be near a centre of population (or what passes for one there ). I do take your point re healthcare as the last time we were there we had a scary hour's drive with an injured child to get to the doctor _pale_

Healthcare on this part of the mainland is still a problem as any consultants my family need to see (and there are a few) necessitates a 200 mile round trip. I suppose at the moment we have the best of both worlds with a small town which has most of what we need, excellent schools yet with a feeling of rural life and the islands within reach.

For anyone planning to move with me I will give preference to those with wine making skills.

Mrs_Chip

Evening All

Hugs and positive vibes for those who require them.

The day has been spent trying to turn a grubby and dingy room into a bright and hygenic place from which to ply my trade. Lots of white emulsion everywhere, shame most of it is on me, not the ceiling.

Quick trip to Lidl this morning, and managed to get a FR chicken for under a fiver, currently roasting with thyme and lemon in the oven. Bought a bottle of their award bronze winning white £3.99 wine to go with it, will compare to the Mr S white italian which is very nice - wine now seems very expensive so we are on a mission to find cheap but good bottles. I have to say, both Lidl and Aldi chocolate is delicious, it sorely tried my willpower not to buy more, at 39p for a 100g bar, it would be easy to justify buying more on the grounds that it is a crime to leave it on the shelves!

Someone mentioned ice cream in an earlier post, this is a great recipe for a quick and very OS Banana ice cream (apologies if it has been done before). Not my recipe (if you can call it that) I saw it on Saturday Kitchen. If you have any bananas going brown (yuk, can't eat them like that), slice them and open freeze then bag. When you want a quick ice cream bung the frozen nanas into a food processor with a good slug of either cream or yoghurt or evap milk (my fave). Blend and blend and blend - eventually you will get the most delicious and silky smooth banana ice cream - how OS is that!

I am trying to ignore all the bad stuff going on with world economies at it reminds me it is perhaps not a good time to start a new business, but as my poor old mum used to say, people always have to eat. We hope to be offering good wholesome food at reasonable prices to people who currently have to trek miles for a fish and chip supper. Not totally OS I know, but we have done some market research, and people in the villages around us do feel that what we will be offering will go down well - once a week for busy families is not too bad ? I hope to be able to offer a home-made dish each day along with the usual fried stuff, and as soon as we can we will move to using local produce and environmentally sound wrappings we will.

Update: The wine was not half bad, and went very well with the lovely chicken.

mambury

Another de-lurker here....

I;ve been reading and following all of you for quite a while now, and as the other fellow lurkers said, felt I had nothing to contribute......

BUT

I would like to thank you all for the inspiration to live a more OS life, so far this summer I have got chickens (just picked up 4 ex bats last week as well as 2 other hens and a daisy that turned out to be Ernie!!), grown lots of onions and pots, and have a lot of other veg to look forward to. I have also started crocheting (planning to make a lot of crimbo gifts this year) and started preserving a lot including dehydrating, pickling, jamming etc. I have also started stockpiling and buying in bulk (much to the dismay of the family!!)

I am finding life quite hard at the moment as DH has not been paid again (s/e builder) for the second time this year..... I do work weekends as its the only job I could get that fitted in around the kids but it does mean we don't get to spend much time together as a family, but I am going to train as a teaching assistant from next month so hopefully there might be a job for me when I qualify (everything crossed). Like a few of you I live in a very rural area (4 miles to the nearest village) so fuel is a massive worry for me, basically the 10 hours I work a week pay DH's fuel bill for the month to make sure he can get to work.

I have taken advantage of BB4L offer this week, only because they had bits and pieces that I wanted anyway such as pickled onions (should last until its onionc pickling time, OH and DD are pickle monsters), pasta, soup (for OH) and tinned toms.... So any freebies are a bonus and as a previous poster said if I don't want/need/can't use them they will get donated to people that can.

I am just ordering some veg seeds for the last round of sowing hopeing that I can keep us in veg for the winter......

Over and out....

Mambury