The Matrix - Re-Evolution!!

Memory_Girl

Got HM baked beans in my slow cooker at the mo - Yum on top of a baked potato.

Finally got a pattern made for he sofa - with too many toddler fingers helping it took quite a while though.

Fed up sewing so going to take an evening with the telly and my knitting and wonder if my boys will be part of the 1 in 10 that will be raised in poverty? I guess in monetary terms we really are poor - the thing is we have quite a nice standard of life provided nothing unexpected lobs a bomb into the middle of it. I guess we have all developed skills over the last couple of years that are beginning to pay dividends.

Heating was on tonight for 15 minutes - just so that I could work out if any of the radiators need bleeding - so we are all quite toasty still. It doesn't take much t make me happy does it???

Let us know how the phone interview goes hon - and you have given me a wee idea for the matrix which I just go and scribble down.

TTFN

MG

thriftyscotslass

Souk - hope the phonecall went well this afternoon. Keep coming on here anytime you need extra strength.

Good luck for the diy Kittikins, I have so many wee bits to finish off but tbh I am all diyed out at the moment.

Looking forward to seeing the latest sofa pics MG.

Hope everyone is well, Thriftyxxx

MrsMoo2U

MG - poverty is relative. Here in the UK the rational to consider poverty (by the people who monitor these things) is not having a tv, computer, fridge, freezer and other things which are now considered as basic needs (and rightly so) other countries obviously have no chance of that kind of thing so their poverty indicator might be based on inside toilets/number of cows etc. So as long as you can provide the very basics of our indicator then you are not raising your boys in *poverty* I still remember as child sitting in the dark with no heating waiting for some money to come from somewhere so we could feed the meters. Sadly that is still happening in this country and will happen more and more now that the government have decided to base benefit increases on the consumer index rather than the retail index. I am still a believer that benefits should be there to ensure that nobody goes without food, heat or light and until that is the case then sadly there will be 1 in 10 children living in poverty. Meanwhile Government Press releases and the media will continue to focus the light on "benefit cheats" "waster absent parents" and other minorities in order to help the masses believe that benefits should be cut. Yes I know that there are people who cheat the system, some parents who dont step up to the mark and pay their share and tax dodgers etc but I bet you if they were lined up they would be a fraction of the number of people who dont claim what they are rightly entitled to and need in order not to be stigmatised.

Now I will get off my hobby horse. Sorry

Igamogam

Souk08 wrote: »

Horace I believe (and I could be wrong) that they use a tiny amount of electricity. I use mine all the time and it's brilliant. I do soups casseroles, chilli, curry, !!!!!ash etc in mine and I love it!

We use our slow cooker a lot. I have a 3l one just for camping - revolutionised our camping holidays. This is a good place for recipes ;
http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/

Memory_Girl

Go Moo!!!

I'm only in my forties - but I can remember living in a top floor tenament, cold water, coal fire and outside loo ...................... probably why although they are telling me my kids are being raised in poverty we feel anything but poor.

Compared to so much of the world, we have so much really - although I appreciate I have an education, have skills, have the internet to make the most of what we do have.

......................... and so back to my knitting LOL.

MG

SunFlower

Memory_Girl wrote: »

Go Moo!!!

I'm only in my forties - but I can remember living in a top floor tenament, cold water, coal fire and outside loo ...................... probably why although they are telling me my kids are being raised in poverty we feel anything but poor.

Compared to so much of the world, we have so much really - although I appreciate I have an education, have skills, have the internet to make the most of what we do have.

......................... and so back to my knitting LOL.

MG

That's so true, MG: I have seen some really poor countries on my travels, and even a basic standard of living over here is more than many people could ever hope to achieve in a lifetime. It's not all about plasma screen TVs: in fact, the more I think about it, the more we surround ourselves with the illusion of material wealth, the more we loose sight of what is truly valuable.

Here's to being more clear-sighted than many! :T

greenbee

I don't have a TV... Would this mean I was considered to be living in poverty... Or just strange? If I had kids, would they be deprived? And I get ice on the inside of the windows in winter, and have bare (tatty) floorboards upstairs.

I was lucky not to experience poverty as a child, but I do know that my parents didn't use the central heating except on very rare occasions until after I left home! There was the (solid fuel) aga in the kitchen, fire in the sitting room, wood stove (monstrous thing that was fed huge logs three times a day) in the hall and hot water bottles and lots of blankets upstairs to combat the ice.

I was remembering that the carpet for my bedroom didn't cover the whole floor, so the boards were carefully sanded and stained round the edge. It reminded me of some great ideas I saw somewhere for hardboard floors that had been painted with patterns so you didn't notice the lack of carpet.

Triciaxx

Memory_Girl wrote: »

Go Moo!!!

I'm only in my forties - but I can remember living in a top floor tenament, cold water, coal fire and outside loo ...................... probably why although they are telling me my kids are being raised in poverty we feel anything but poor.

Compared to so much of the world, we have so much really - although I appreciate I have an education, have skills, have the internet to make the most of what we do have.

......................... and so back to my knitting LOL.

MG

Good point. My DH recorded my father telling his tale of childhood. He was born 1907, lived in a 'court' with one privy to 3 or more families across the setted yard. They shoveled ashes on the waste and every week the contents were emptied, loaded onto boats on the canal and transported to East Yorkshire where they were spread on the fields.

His father drank to excess. He was the oldest of eight, three of whom died in early childhood.

The most poignant thing he said (it reduced me to tears when I heard it) was "We didn't know we were poor. We enjoyed our life." The puzzlement in his voice was something I can't convey through the printed word.

MG, your kids are NOT poor. They have a loving home, a healthy diet, educational opportunities undreamed of by previous generations, and, probably most important, a mother who has confidence in her own abilities and confidence in their abilities.

Go girl!

Dorastar

Ditto to all the wise words above - I work in a very deprived area and still find it hard to understand how the children think I am poor cos I only have one tv, yet I know some of them come to school having had no tea the night before and no breakfast as there is literally no food in the house and that dinner at school will be their only meal that day too.

Am residing in a house of plague as dd has generously given her tummy bug to ds and dh is also looking dodgy this morning. Am off to work to escape toilets, buckets, washing yucky clothes and mopping fevered brows - just got to find a way to catch up on 3 nights sleep somehow!

Dustykitten

MrsMoo2U wrote: »

Now I will get off my hobby horse. Sorry

Don't apologise, I loved your post

Memory_Girl wrote: »

Go Moo!!!

I'm only in my forties - but I can remember living in a top floor tenament, cold water, coal fire and outside loo ...................... probably why although they are telling me my kids are being raised in poverty we feel anything but poor.

Compared to so much of the world, we have so much really - although I appreciate I have an education, have skills, have the internet to make the most of what we do have.

......................... and so back to my knitting LOL.

MG

Inspiring as ever MG

Love the matrix and all it stands for.