The Matrix - Re-Evolution!!

Memory_Girl

Hello ladies - spent yesterday morning worrying that I was turning into a biter, twisted harridan - and although I may be I no longer feel guilty about not picking up my acquaintances monkey.

One of the mentors popped in yesterday - about an hour before lunch, just as a new loaf was going into the oven.

He and his missus wanted to have a look at the "Adventures from the Poundshop" stash that I have made/ written about over he last month or so... and to see the "30 Soups for September" in action.

So lunch was HM Scotch broth ( well there were loads to feed so I bulked the veggie soup up with a handful of broth mix and pressure cooked for 10 minutes. Tada enough for 5 adults and 2 kids.

They were also invited for dinner - so I introduced them to the wonder of the pressure cooker for making the softest stew in the universe. Made 1 pack of LIDL beef into the filling for a pie with carrots, onions and mushrooms.

Pastry produced from freezer, red cabbage cooked in vinegar and sugar and pressure cooked a pot of tatties to make buttery mash.

Found a bag of frozen apples from last year so made a French Apple pie (where you roll out some very short shortcrust, pile on the spiced apples and throw the edges back over again. Lovely with a jug of custard.

Mentor is amazed that I fed everyone from stores - all the time chatting with him and keeping everything else going (Men just can't multi-task can they????)

His Missus is an ex BBC producer - and she has phoned this morning to say that she is writing up the "Adventures from the Pound rack" as a proposal for a TV show she has contacts in - as she is convinced that people would like my "Abundance" view of the recession rather than a pessimistic,penny-pinching one.

Well we will wait ans see what happens - most proposals never get any further than that do they??

BTW the "adventures" series will be on the blog in November.

Off to feed the kids

MG

tellmeitsfriday

Sounds fun MG!

I continued making Peppa Pig. She now has a pretty little red dress!

QUESTION: Has anyone been on holiday by themselves? What was it like... please be honest, I need a break, and I am thinking I might just slam it on the credit card. Mum's offered to pay it off at Christmas if I can't.

What I want to know is how did it go? What was it like by yourself? I am a bit of a loner really, so I find it hard to chat to people and make friends. Boo hoo!

thriftyscotslass

Wtg on the lunch with the mentor and his missus :T

No you are not bitter MG it is your friend who is bitter, can you see that. You are working with every bone in your body not to be bitter.

Memory_Girl wrote: »

Well we will wait ans see what happens - most proposals never get any further than that do they??

This is one of the biggest single changes that I have gone through. My attitude used to be it'll never work, it'll never get seen, there are too many other people trying, so why bother, etc, etc

Yes, most proposals never get seen but one does and why the h*ll should it not be yours.

Tmif what about a course here as a holiday, I bet it would be hard not to chat to anyone and make friends.

Gemmzie just a thought, you are changing and there is no one thing in particular that has caused the change. Think about it - we are spending a lot of time with people (albeit online) who are positive and trying to make positive, worthwhile, strong changes within their own lives. It rubs off, don' ya know

Hope everyone has a great day today - I'm off for root canal treatment at the dentist :eek:. The positive in this, I get to keep the tooth for a bit longer :rotfl:.

tellmeitsfriday

Oh what a lovely idea Thrifty - would never have thought of that

Am I "too young". I am afraid my perception of WI is 50's? Am I totally wrong? x

Dustykitten

You are very brave Thrifty - I hope it goes well.

No grand plans for today, just a bit of tidying, housework stuff and a walk later if it dries up.

We have been married for 19 years today - my oh my where did that time go.

bowlofsoup

Hello All
Don't know if I'm allowed to join this board but I do like to take a positive view of things - even the current mess I am in. As you can see I'm a newbie (LBM last Tuesday) but I'm determined to work my way out of this as I can now see that I've sat on my big behind for far too long so I now need to work out a way of bringing some money in and actually do it. This seems like a motivational and useful place to park myself for a while.
Xsoupy

Horace

TMIF - I spent 15 days in the company of 20 strangers on a trip of a lifetime back in 2003, I was ok and it was great fun, I made sure I had some me time too. Unfortunately, for me I had a nasty cold when I was out in Australia so I missed doing the Bridge climb because I figured they would be carrying me down in a box so I did a bit of exploring on my own after visiting the local chemist. Holidays with strangers can be fun. I remember going on my own holiday in 2006 to Italy (really it was a surprise for BF at the time and I had been told by the walking group that we were in that I was not invited:mad:), I figured that as they were staying in a youth hostel then I could have my own holiday in the same place at the same time. I carefully planned everything out including where to get the bus, where to buy tickets, where to get the train from and to and where to change trains. I had a wicked holiday doing stuff that I wanted to do sure BF decided to tag along because the walkers were so boring to the point where if they got lost they refused to speak to the natives:rotfl: It was one of the best holidays ever, as I took a speed boat out on Lake Como for a couple of hours one day and the next it was a pedalo on the same lake.:rotfl:

Had to smile today, I have just gotten off the phone to Virgin Money as I am unable to pay them £80 this month and have offered them £1 - at least the person I spoke to was better than the vile man last month. Must admit that she did accuse me of taking out a credit card when I had no means to pay for it, yet, I have managed to keep up with the minimum payments. When it came to budgets for food, she claimed that I should be spending £300 a month when in reality I spend £50 - I said that you could feed a family of 5 for that and still have change left over, she said her system would not accept £50 and the least she could put in was £175. At least I have managed to get charges and fees stopped for 7 months whilst I get myself back on my feet, she is pushing for me to be accepted onto this programme so fingers crossed. I had to tell her about moneysaving ways and making food go further, I am pretty much living on wartime rations and it hasnt done me any harm.

scaredy_cat

tellmeitsfriday wrote: »

Oh what a lovely idea Thrifty - would never have thought of that

Am I "too young". I am afraid my perception of WI is 50's? Am I totally wrong? x

The WI is for all ages these days , i've been thinking of joining and i'm in my 40's.

Send a message to the WI about joining - http://www.thewi.org.uk/section.aspx?id=11

go on, they won't bite!!:D

maryb

Hi Bowlofsoup
:wave:

What a VERY appropriate user name for this thread - MG's been making loads of soup every day in September Yum Yum!!

You can't find a more positive place to be

MrsMoo2U

I have done lots of talks at many different WIs TMIF and they are a really mixed bunch. My local one is mostly older ladies but the regional coordinator told me that the one in the next village has a massive age range from 20 to 91! I would feel disloyal to join that one but I have every intention of joining one eventually. They dont just bake and knit, they also get involved in political campaigns, social outings. Go on , go for it.