make do and mend for tougher times

Kittikins

Kittie - I want your storecupboard, (apart from the beef jerky as we're veggie in this house), it sounds amazing!

What does a R5 mean? I was hoping that as its currently looking ok out of the office window that we might be in for a couple of nice days, but I guess not?

Popperwell

kidcat wrote: »

Am just back from doctors and am not amused!!!I have my third dose of pneumonia, she says my lungs are just not getting chance to heal - the weather apparently! A holiday somewhere warm and dry for a few weeks would help - are these people in the real world, how on earth am I supposed to pay for that?

As for chips I usually use frozen as it works out same sort of price and is considerably quicker, realistically if I am using chips its because its a quick meal so I dont have time for "proper" chips. If I am making posh chips then I used to have a deep fat fryer but that died a while ago, now I use my deep wok to deep fry.

I have used the SC to make loads of puds and all have been excellent, I even made my own Christmas pud in SC last year.

I bought a small DFF but as I eat chips rarely now I wonder if it will ever be used. A handful of oven chips would now do or even a box of micro chips...

I have often boiled potatoes and sliced them and fried potato that way...

pneumonia is frightening and seems to be something I hear of more and more(that was put down as a cause of losing Mum)and I'll always wonder if we missed something:(

I hear more than ever of so many people who have it but as you say how many live in the real world. A holiday would be lovely but how many can afford one and just take off?

If you are not working/claiming you can't afford it, if you are claiming the amount of money is poor and if you are on JSA they don't allow you to take off on holiday as and when you wish.

I think they do allow 14 days but expect you to return immediately if they find you a job...

Could you apply for a sick note and get some kind of help for a time?

fuddle

I think R5 means a bad spell of weather. I think. Normally when kittie mentions the numbers R4 or R5 it's accompanied by warnings of not so nice weather to come.

Kittie, I see PC is on twitter. Is he worth a follow i.e. would he put snippets of what he thinks will happen on there do you know?

I feel nervous about posting what I'm doing in my garden as many of you are really good at your gardening but if I don't comment on it then how can you help me with what I'm doing. So biting the bullet. I have sowed the spring cabbage. I'm supposed to put it in drills and then thin out but I have nothing to do that so me and little DD have just sowed straight into the ground and hope for the best. I know I have done it wrong, I just hope that they really, really want to grow where they are lol

So sorry to read you have pneumonia.

Mrs_Chip

Kidcat - Oh you must be terribly frustrated by the amount of ill heath being dumped on you and you family, so sorry :mad:

Fuddle - Your picture does not seem to be working? I would make sure to use Strong White Bread Flour along with the strong wholemeal as this is what makes the bread stand up. You could also try using a bread tin, just shape a la Bertinet and drop in. Glad it tasted good!

Mard - I use Aldi clingfilm, it is fine and cheap.

Kittie - could you explain what you said actually means please? Sorry, I find the PC site very confusing, and don't really understand what his
'code' all means.

becca-2012

SpikyHedgehog wrote: »

Blue skies here too, now washing the only wool blanket I have so its ready for winter, then DS2's wet sheets can go in, & hopefully DS1 will put them out when done.

DS2 was making a shopping list for me last night, & we debated pull ups. The ones he was talking about are the disposable nappies for older children & the idea is they can pull them down to go to the loo if they wake up. he also has washable ones, but they're not comfy for his chubby legs. I really don't want to go back to pull ups, I hate the landfill issue & don't like the cost. & we'd still have nights where they'd leak, so I still had wet sheets...

My DD is nearly 8 and still has accidents. I found that the pull ups seem to make her worse. She sleeps very deeply, I wake her up at about 10 or 11 when I go to bed and she will have sometimes already had an accident. Unfortunately I have tried everything I can cheaply at home si the next step is the doctors and possibly a sensor alarm thingy.

prepareathome

GreyQueen wrote: »

http://www.backpackinglight.co.uk/product397.asp?PageID=118

For the Honey Stove and the YouTube video on this page. Looks like my kinda thing................

I looked it up when you mentioned it GQ and sat and watched all the videos they made showing it evolve over the years, its fantastic.......now to decide

I can buy either a halogen stove or a honey stove this month (then would need extender pack plus the firepots etc - but could make them a one a month buy ) decisions decisions.

My extra camping stove, camping heater with the gas in one pack arrived also the 28 pack of gas so that should see us and the kids though the odd week, but not longer really.

Still no sign of dehydrators nor any email from the company but nor have they taken the money yet either......on my credit card if i buy something its taken off cc and put in a holding pen then when company ask for its there and if they don't ask for it within two weeks its returned to main account ( a pain if I cancel something before they have asked for the money as have to wait the two weeks, but if they have then a credit goes onto my account within 24hrs)

Oh I wondered why we seemed not to bad money wise, but not done an in depth analysis for months so did one this morning and found in Jan our out goings exceeded our income by £42 a month and that was not taking food into account, but now I actually have a surplus of £125 on average a month to play with ( an that is allowing £150pm for food this time) .... you know why of course I stopped smoking ( £35 a week) plus been ruthless with cutting out things or changing companies .......

Just think all those years I could have been in the black and instead was in the red because I was burning money, might as well have smoked the notes........

Hugs, Love and healing to all xxxxx

kidcat

Thanks for the support - you all really do keep me going

Cling film- the best one we ever had was from Costco, huge rolls that lasted ages, we used to buy the cling film, foil etc all from there and was all much better quality than anywhere else we tried.

fuddle

Brings me back to when DH used to go on walking expeditions when we first met. He'd talk about his pocket rocket and I cracked up every time He meant Actually, that has to be in the house somewhere. I must ask him.

is there such a thing as a portable stove. Bare with me.I'd like a woodburner stove in the kitchen but I don't think I should be spending money getting one installed in a house that we envisage leaving in around 3 years. I had hoped there was such a thing as a free standing one, with a flue that could go out the window or even out the side of the house brick work. Bare with me, I'm thinking aloud in the hopethat someone can follow my train of thought :rotfl:

one i could cook on or boil the kettle would be nice

[Deleted User]

fuddle, you first and the spring cabbages. Sowing outside is good but the slugs might eat them as soon as they germinate so watch out for the blighters, also birds may go for them so net or something over which will protect against cabbage whites too. I have sown mine in a tray and pricked out into small pots but all the time they are under mesh and off the ground

The R numbers refer to solar activity and sunspots R5 is the highest number
Have a quick read of
http://tuftsjournal.tufts.edu/2010/03_1/professor/01/

The geomagnetic storms affect the turbulence in the upper levels above the atmosphere and this causes a shift in the wind circulation and it can be sudden ie hot one minute and cold and windy the next. The higher the R number, the more likely to cause this turbulence. R5 is highest. Now is coming into R5. PC has a very unusual genius style and is hard to read but I believe he is absolutely right and we have all been conned re global warming and the zillions of £s that it has cost us all.

I have offered my first vac sealer to a dd, together with cannisters. I bet she bites my hand off. It was small but very useful. Flip, it is going to rain, sky has gone very heavy

Ellie83

fuddle wrote: »

Bare with me.I'd like a woodburner stove in the kitchen but I don't think I should be spending money getting one installed in a house that we envisage leaving in around 3 years. I had hoped there was such a thing as a free standing one, with a flue that could go out the window or even out the side of the house brick work. Bare with me, I'm thinking aloud in the hopethat someone can follow my train of thought :rotfl:

one i could cook on or boil the kettle would be nice

Well my neighbours just installed a woodburner in their extension, and I imagine a woodburning stove works the same way? I think the whole process was very expensive though as apparently you need a special type of flue when used outside a conventional chimney...