A new 'tougher' thread... and so it continues

mardatha

Even school dinners were better than my mum's cooking. And I inherited her skills

Nicepeach

Hello all lovely OS peeps

Long time "lurker" here (the phrases you pick up from t'internet!) I read this thread every day & love hearing all your tales & smile with you when you are happy & send you kind thoughts when you are sad or poorly or having troubled times & wondered if you could help me as you all seem so kind & knowledgeable on everything from mass storage of tinned toms to cleaning of chip wagons... & everything else which may fall between the two :T

I posted the following a little while ago on the Health & Beauty Board but think you may also be able to help with this one?

PS: I know the rules about "Newbies" to this thread having to bring yummy things... & I have brought a new box of Yorkshire tea (the best! & on special offer today!) & home-made yummy lemon drizzle cake & for anyone who likes something a little "stronger" I also have a very large jug of A*ldi version of P*imms, complete with fruit, cucumber, mint & ice (been a lovely sunny day here today) & an unopened box of very swanky home-made chocs I was given as a gift for helping a friend out the other day... So, hope you all enjoy the treats & wonder if you could help me with this as posted earlier as I'd like as much info. as I can get before I take the plunge!

Hi all

Been out & about today & tried a demonstration model of a HoMedics Shiatsu massager in a store. I was amazed, it felt great! ALMOST fell off the MSE wagon & bought it there & then for £79.99 but decided I didn't NEEEED it, I just want it & as I have recently got a new job I am thinking of treating myself I thought I'd be sensible & shop around &, of course, ask for recommendations on here!

The model I tried was a HoMedics Shiatsu Massager with heat SBM-179H I think as I have looked at it on b*oots.com & seen it for £69.99 so already £10 cheaper but there are no reviews on there I wondered if anyone had one/had tried it over a period of time. Just had a look on a*rgos & almost identical model is £179.99!!!

I am justifying this purchase as MSE as I wouldn't get 4 neck & shoulder massages from a therapist for this price & after 30 years of desk/keyboard/office work scrunching phones under shoulders I suffer terribly with stiffness/tension in upper shoulders & this really seemed to work. I even went back for a second try-out! Didn't even fall for a swanky sales pitch as it was just attached to a chair in a store & I sat there having a lovely time! I think my 18yo DS would also use it as he gets stiff shoulders too.

Any recommendations from anyone here gratefully received (good or bad) or would I be better posting on the I want to buy/do it place but thought that was more to do with pricing of the actual products?

Thanks for reading. x

lillibet_dripping

VJsmum wrote: »

I like to eat out - but I am fussy as well. Not fussy as in pernickity, but I like good food worth the money. Agree about the cheese boards. My OH invariably orders it, it's usually more expensive than dessert and is a bit of tasteless cheddar, some stone cold brie and maybe red leicester or stilton with a couple of crackers and a bit of celery. There are so many more cheeses to have and better ways to present it. I don't know why he does it - I have better cheeses in my/our fridge than he orders.

But tonight I am out with the girls at our local pub where they do a choice of curries, naan, popadums, rice and chutney and a glass of wine for £5.25. Not luxury food sure but very acceptable and at a bargain price. But if i'm paying a lot then I want to see the quality / uniqueness of it.

So where was your best ever meal? Sadly mine was in Zimbabwe (Les Quatre Saisons in Bulawayo) many years ago. But we have a place near us called "The Old School House" at Weeford, near Lichfield which is always lovely.

Settle down, coz I wanna tell you a story......
Many years ago (think mid 70's) my best friend was a girl called Tracy. One Friday evening I went for a sleepover. This was in the days when parents were paid weekly in a little brown envelope.
Anyhow, Tracy's dad was a postman. He arrived home at 5.00 p.m and put the little envelope on the table. Straight away, Tracy's mum got out an A4 lined hardback book and wrote in the amount received. (Keep up, there is a point to all this!!!!) After that, she dished out, in cash, the bus fares for the week, put aside amounts in envelopes for bills, gave out the pocket money, put some in a teapot for groceries etc. etc. etc. Every penny was accounted for. I was well impressed.
Come dinner time, we were called to the table. In front of me was a Pyrex (see-through, like glass) plate containing a huge pork chop, some boiled potatoes, carrots, peas and gravy.

Now this might not seem a remarkable story BUT this one evening has never left my mind. The potatoes and carrots were homegrown on their allotment (dad had picked them on the way home) - I had never tasted anything like it! The pork came from a local butcher - again, delicious. Remember, I was only 15 at the time!!!!

As a result of this one occasion, I now keep my own version of the A4 book/envelope system and, after many years wishing for enough garden, now grow my own vegetables, salads and herbs.

I have always wanted to 'find' my friend Tracy to let her know that that one evening changed my whole life, although I didn't realise it at the time. Since then, I have travelled the world working on cruise ships, worked in retail travel, lived in The Netherlands and have now become a cookery teacher. Everything I do harks back to that one evening in Tracy's house.

Never underestimate that a seemingly mundane event/comment can change a person's life.......
x

kidcat

NIcepeach - welcome cant answer your question but am sure one of the great wise ones will be alone shortly:D

And Mardy - ouch thats harsh (my mums the same!! sssshhh;) ) I learnt from a neighbour who used to take pity on me and send food parcels! I survived on her hotpot!!:D

Am really grumpy today as I am feeling taken for granted, OH still not moving and am getting run down with all the solo tooing and froing. Final straw was arranging my day around DD17 needing collecting from college at twelve. Only to have her text at quarter to twelve and say no half one instead. So much stuff I could have doen if I had known earlier. Also peeved as am desperate to get her driving - these last few weeks she could have taken DD6 to school on way to college and taken car that OH not using. So planned to take her at twelve for driving licence pics - obviously that didnt happen, so now its going to be another few weeks as her exams start next week.

Stormed off for a hike around Ikea (and free coffee) and its all being re-arranged so was very disconcerting and certainly did not improve my mood.

Have finished shopping for DS13 birthday on Saturday finally, just need to get wrapped and am good to go. Have family lunch with my parents to cater, followed by trip for him and two friend to ski centre in Manchester. Then off to pub restaurant for dinner, and then sleepover at night, so am expecting exhaustion on Sunday.

shelley_crow

:j:j:j PP - Great news! Hope the relevent authorities take the scumbag down and slap him (I could leave the sentence there!) with a whopping tax bill. You must be so relieved.

Welcome Nicepeach, you had me at tea and chocolate :beer:

Kidcat - I love a good browse around Kiea, it's funny how when you need time to yourself, it doesn't matter where you go! I went into the Ikea in Coventry and got completely and utterly lost, it's 5 floors! How did you manage free coffee?

I'm picking the car up from the garage later, £444 of work later and it's good to go. It's hard core OS here for the next few months.

VJsmum

Welcome Nicepeach. I'll stick with lemon cake and chocolate ta! Or do I have to choose?

Aww Lillibetdripping that is a lovely story.

A couple of years ago, when mum was still alive, her carer went on holiday and i went down to do the "caring" for a week, staying with mum and dad. I undertook to do all the cooking too, so that dad could have a bit of a break, and one day did baked salmon. I will never forget the look on my mum's face as she took the first bite of salmon. Dad hadn't known how to cook it (and mum hadn't liked to ask him to try) and so she hadn't had it for years and it was always her favourite.

So simple, and the look on her face was absolute bliss.

Byatt

Hiya Nicepeach, seen your on the CS thread I think. Have no advice about the massager but it sounds lovely. Is it very noisy? My DD has something similar but she doesn't use it when I'm around because it's too loud!

My best meal was an amazing omelette in Berlin. Haven't tasted one like it before or since.

Kidcat, did you say you though your OH was ASD? If so, I think that's 95% of the issue regarding him being the way he is. My DD sounds the same. I don't want to upset you, but just wanted to say I understand.

lilibet, what a lovely story. Can you find your friend on FB?

I've had a CBA day too, I htink it's the rain.

GreyQueen

Hiya, nicepeach, glad to have you with us. I'd sell my birthright for lemon drizzle cake (never said I wasn't easy as well as cheap......:p;))

I'm just catching my breath after helping a Freecycler stuff my outgoing double mattress into his estate car. And stuff was the operative word. Being as it is in the city centre, the inevitable passel of passers-by had to come give advice, as well as neighbours snooping out their windows. Mercifully, the drizzle held off whilst we did that.

Ooof, but my arms ache now and are trembling with overload. At least I have my tiny living room back again. A bit of mattress-wrangling is at least as good as an hour at the gym. Actually, I have a gym nearby, bit of a spit-and-steroid place and am acquainted with the owner. Did briefly contemplate getting some hefty lads down here to help but I'm reliably informed that those weight-lifter muscles are for show only.

Ohhh, just flexed my shoulders and my upper spine went cru-cru-crunch. No pain. I think I need one of those massage thingies myself.

Laters, GQ x

shegar

PP.... So glad it all ended well...............Whos fed up with the rain and cloud?..:mad:...I feel ive missed spring and we will soon be into the 6 th month:eek:and weve had no nice weather at all.......No wonder people dont want to holiday in England , at least you get good weather abroad...........

Sorry to see Clinton Cards are going downhill, mind you I dont use them cos when I do a supermarket shop I normally pick up my cards from there, I expect this is one reason why they are going out of business, still sad though.................

I cant support individual shops, I havent got the time or money to do so, I suppose thats what most families say, times are really hard out there right now, as we all know and you have to find ways of cutting back, our local small town is empty in the afternoons , they also must struggle to pay their staff and rents etc..........Yet we have about 7 hairdresses in one town.:eek:....Alot of CS too, selling alot of overpriced clothes, charging something like £4 for a secondhand tee shirt well worn and washed, yet you can go into primark and buy a new one for £3, you have to weigh up what your buying before you hand your hard earned cash over.................Well weather is suppose to be better from friday onwards ,warmer,sunnier, and drier, so that will lift us all a good deal.......................Hope your all doing okay....

kidcat

Thanks Byatt - on my calm and rational days I understand that OH is acting this way as probable signs of ASD - but some days its "stupid autism!!"

I am always in awe of the people who can embrace it all and say they wouldnt want it any other way - I love my kids dearly but if I could remove the auty bit then I think I would - and certainly I would remove OH auty bit!!

Shegar - I find that too, we have loads of charity shops but the clothes they sell are way over priced - T-shirt from Mr A for £5:eek: only cost £3 new. If they had good quality items then I would consider paying but am not paying higher than new price for supermarket stuff.

Shelley- if you are an Ikea family card holder (anyone can join its free) you get free tea or coffee in the restaurant during the week. When we loved a few minutes away I used to use it as my hidey hole if things were getting too much at home. Its a bit too far ordinarily now, but as I knew I was at meltdown stage I spoilt myself!:D

Its pouring with rain here and the plants are looking swamped - disaster at every turn