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

shegar

Charis wrote: »

Back in June I had a water meter fitted and promised to report to this thread, in a previous incarnation, on whether it worked out more economical than paying for unmetered water. My water is supplied by Welsh Water and sewerage is payable to Severn Trent, via Welsh Water. In addition to the water charges I now have to pay a separate charge (payable in advance) for water run off, that's the water that goes from your roof and land to the public storm drains. Most folk* in England and Wales pay that, although it's often hidden in your bill.

My first bill for the first 47 days arrived last week. Water charges for me (me plus student son for the last two weeks) are as follows:


Charge per day for water and sewerage = 43p
Charge per day for water run off = 23p
Total = 66p per day

Charge under old unmetered system = £1.35 per day.

I haven't made any conscious effort to save water apart from reusing water from the kitchen to throw on the nearest patch of garden or lawn. I haven't needed to use the hose this year as I was so frustrated by last year's crop and all the effort it took that I vowed I would grow nothing this year. However I've had a bumper crop of apples and figs and a fair crop of strawberries. Two tomato plants have self seeded and the chives and mint still insist on making an appearance. Leaving a few trugs about the garden catches a bit of rain, which I have thrown in the direction of the thirstiest plants, like the rhubarb, which I forgot to mention.

*If you can prove that your water runs into a soakaway and not into the public water system, you don't pay the run off charge. How do you prove it? The water company sent me a nice little form with diagrams of how to indicate where my underground pipes are. In the absence of X-ray eyes I was stumped. I could pay for a survey and look foolish if they strolled up and pointed out that I am obviously connected to the mains. So I called a nice man at the local council, who had a look at the original plans for this estate (over 30 years old and transferred from one council to another) and he was able to confirm that we do have pipework connecting us to the storm sewer. So for anyone else in a similar predicament, you need the planning department and unless he sends me a surprise bill for his services, I think they were free :rotfl:

Your need to look around your garden front and back and it will be there that you find manhole covers, we lived in a house that had mains sewerage for the bathroom and a soak away for the kichen, thus resulting in 2 seperate manhole covers, resulting in 2 seperate bills , so with that we had to have the soak away emptied , which was then £87 to empty 8 yrs ago .........glad we sold and now on mains....dam soak away filled up pretty quick with using washing machine daily plus its didnt hold much.......only about 500 litres.....

lizzyb1812

kersplatt - what a fantastic name! Welcome

GreyQueen - H F-W's Broad Bean Hummus recipe is here: http://www.channel4.com/4food/recipes/chefs/hugh-fearnley-whittingstall/broad-bean-hummus-recipe

kidcat - thanks for the washer tip, that might sort out a problem I've been having recently.

More reorganising today - well decluttering actually. I realised today that I have loads of storage space, it's just filled with carp :eek: What's more lots of it is in plastic storage crates - dozens and dozens of them. I've been lured into a false sense of being organised by having all this stuff in boxes but really most of it needs to be recycled in some way or just binned. So I cleared a big box today and intend to have a go at a box a day for the next few weeks until they are all sorted. I'll then have room for stuff I want to keep. Have also dug out a felt pen and some sticky labels so in future I will know what's where and won't fall into the trap of buying what I've already got!

Got whoopsied chicken pieces today so am going to try Choc Clare's Chinese Chicken tomorrow - I've now got a notebook going that I write down tips and recipes in to save me looking for old posts or searching through the hundreds of bookmarks that, like my boxes, need organising :rotfl:

New freezer working perfectly and very quiet so tomorrow old freezer will be turned off. No more rattling in the kitchen - hurrah!

Soakaways - I get a £35 rebate on my water rates because my rainwater does not go into the sewers but into a soakaway. But it isn't a tank or anything that needs emptying - at the front the water goes along the gutter into a downpipe by my neighbour's house and then into a soakaway in her front garden - an extended underground end to the downpipe that takes the rainwater into the garden. At the back my downpipe leads to a long underground pipe that goes under my back garden. So rainwater goes down the pipe and soaks away. Took a bit of proving but I've now informed a couple of neighbours and they are getting the rebate too.

Charis

shegar wrote: »

Your need to look around your garden front and back and it will be there that you find manhole covers, we lived in a house that had mains sewerage for the bathroom and a soak away for the kichen, thus resulting in 2 seperate manhole covers, resulting in 2 seperate bills , so with that we had to have the soak away emptied , which was then £87 to empty 8 yrs ago .........glad we sold and now on mains....dam soak away filled up pretty quick with using washing machine daily plus its didnt hold much.......only about 500 litres.....

I had a soak away at my previous house but only for the roof run-off and I didn't need to have it emptied. This property is a bit lower than the road and our gutter pipes go straight into the ground like they did at the last house. Apparently they connect to the storm drain via underground pipes. The only drain covers in either house were to the foul sewer, not the storm drain.

I did hear that house builders are not supposed to run rainwater into the sewers now because of the inevitable consequences when there's very heavy rain. The planning officer told me that houses built after 1990 usually have soak aways for run off from the roof.

SDG31000

Thank you for the kind welcome, especially 3v3
I thought I would try to add a more Old Style post even though my efforts are put to shame by you all. I have a few confessions....my grocery bills are huge (DH, DS1 and DS2 don't consider a meal is complete without a large amount of meat and DS1 has strange eating habits. He won't eat potatoes or pasta in any form and won't eat a roast dinner, but loves sushi and anything involving chillies), I hate housework with a passion and never iron and I have black thumbs and kill anything I try to grow.
On the plus side...I am a great cook, can bake almost anything, I cook from scratch 95% of the time and can spot a yellow sticker at 100 paces.
DH, DS2 and I spent an hour staking out M&S this afternoon. They have wonderful reductions if you get them at the right time. It was like a miltary operation in the end. DS2 says we need walkie talkies to communicate between the aisles. So I got a lot of meat and pizzas reduced down to 50p each. It's just as well as my oven door decided to shatter tonight. So that is going to cost £75 for the insurance excess.
I'm now not sure what to do with the three chickens I have in the fridge, but I'm sure I will think of something. It looks like I'll be cooking on the hob and in the microwave for the forseeable future.

My best wishes and positive energy to everyone that needs it.

P.S I use Nigella's scone recipe, but put buttermilk in it in homage to St Delia.

3v3

kersplatt wrote: »

To clarify to those who wondered. Over 12 years my ex appears to have led something of a double life. He was quick with reasons as to why we never had enough money, always running up debts and credit cards. In 12 years I never saw a bank statement and he would hide bills. I knew that he had cards and that he had debts but I was busy being a mother and qualified nurse. I trusted that like me he was working for our best interests. As I discovered that he was getting threatening letters I gradually took over more and more of his debts in my own name to ensure that they got paid but just as things appeared to get under control more bills and debts would appear. This culminated approx 3 years ago when I took out a loan of over 22k to clear the lionshare of his debts. What I didn't know and only found out a few days ago was that he had approx another 8 cards/loans on the go and would buy shiny gadgets whilst I was on shifts working overtime, feel guilty and then sell them at a loss without me ever knowing that he had bought them in the first place. In the past 4 days I have suddenly understood the level of deception that went on in the relationship. I always knew that he had a tendency to fabricate but it seems that really I lived with someone I didn't really know for 12 years. He is now blaming his bipolar for all of his behaviour which I can partly believe with the flights of fancy and obsession but it certainly doesn't excuse him for any of it.

In the meantime, the past 12 months that I haven't at least tried to control his spending has meant that he has racked up a further 17k which his parents have used retirement investments to clear. He is now paying this off to them at a rate faster than he pays me CSA. He has assured me that no further money will come my way so all I can do is get on with it and work my little butt off to clear it myself

Wow!!! ((hugs))

Big lesson to us all to take an active interest in the bank statements from day one of marriage!! (A good indication/heads up on the status quo!)

Do his parents know/appreciate that to pay them off, their grandchildren are going without? Maybe something you could tactfully mention?

Being bi-polar actually is an excuse for his behaviour though

Mrs_Veg_Plot

Evening all

chococlare the chard I used was not the really big leaves and stalks and we did not notice a muddy taste at all. Saying that they are a member of the beet family and some of them are quite earthy tasting. Have harvested some of the bigger leaves and stalks tonight so will let you know how I find them in the next day or two.

Taurusgb tell the docs everything you remember as it all might be relevant. Hope you get well soon.

Charis I loved the poem, have never heard that one befor. made me chuckle.

Kersplatt I to am paying off large debts racked up by my husband without my knowledge although the circumstances were slightly different and we are working at the marriage. I admire your determination to carry on and sort it all out. I know it is not easy. You will find lots of support and good advice on here.

Came back from the allotment with pakchoi, chard, salad onions and three very large courgettes/small marrows. OH watered whilst I weeded and now the heavens have opened .

Well past my bed time now so off for a last cuppa before bed.

3v3

SDG31000 wrote: »

...
I'm now not sure what to do with the three chickens I have in the fridge, but I'm sure I will think of something. It looks like I'll be cooking on the hob and in the microwave for the forseeable future.. .

Ah, 3 chickens ... choices, choices! :rotfl:

You could "joint" them (have you seen the price of chicken breasts per kilo compared to a whole chicken?)

You could roast them in the oven, all at the same time (energy saving!), then slice them, freeze in portions. Leftover chicken is the main stay of many recipes! Cold cuts with a roast; chicken curry; chicken pie; chicken salad; pasties; chicken pasta etc., etc.,

Whether you joint raw, or, portion cooked, either way, the bones will make a fantastic stock to use as a base for soups, gravies, casseroles etc.,

If you have a sunny hot day very soon, you could perch one on a can of beer and pop it on the BBQ for "Beer Can Chicken" (google it, it's absolutely delicious!)

I bought a 3.4.a.tenner Sainsbury's deal the other day (so, £3.33 per chook). To be honest, I didn't have time to do much with them; so, in the freezer they went. Now, when I have a day to spare, I will defrost, cook them all at the same time and make freezer meals with the cooked chicken. The main point being, I will cook them when the oven is on for another long cooking dish (probably roast port - Mr Sainsbury has a half price deal on pork joints right now) to make it cost effective and energy efficient. For me, it's not just getting the food at a bargain price, it's the utilisation of the energy to cook it up which also counts I just know you'll find something exciting to do with your chickens

ginnyknit

Seakay thanks for that info on the Bokashi

Lora I saw the cheapest bokashi bran at Bokashidirect.co.uk. But Seakay has more info that theres a place in earlsbarton that sells EM liquid to add to normal bran so will have a peek at that tomorrow!

My Mum, who loves picking up some of the tips I tell her from O/S, rang earlier and suggested I check 'my friend in Scotland, is ok (she cannot remember names ) because there are terrible floods. Knowing she meant Mardatha I didnt have the heart to tell her she lives up a mountain or that she is halfway to building an ark :rotfl:

Softstuff

Seakay wrote: »

Evening all!

Softstuff IF you can't see Teak oil for your garden furniture then Boiled Linseed Oil is just as good and often slightly cheaper

Thanks for that. I looked into teak oil (and other solutions). Unfortunately I've discovered why we don't just oil outdoor furniture here, and that's because of mould. Thanks to the heat and humidity, the mould feeds on the oil and grows apparently quite rapidly.

Don't expect anyone to recall, but I was having an issue with mould on my wooden dining chairs in our last summer that I hadn't been able to deal with (other than by cleaning it off twice a week). Well, thanks to a bit of further research I've found the solution to both the outdoor and indoor chairs. Pretreat with something called TSS, which inhibits mould, and then seal with an oil that has its own mould inhibitor.

Y'know, when you see people in tropical places, with hot sun, surrounded by palm trees, you never imagine that they might have to spend a sizable chunk of their time just dealing with mould!

Charis

This thread moves faster than the speed of light. 701 posts in two weeks :eek: