make do and mend for tougher times

elona

Fuddle

If you put the ingredients in kilner or posh jars, did not let on what they were and advertised as a wholly natural and additive free set of treatments - it would cost a bomb!

Monnagran

I don't get state pension or bus pass till next January and DH already has bus pass but does not use it and gets his pension in January. I convinced him to claim occupational pension over two years ago before the value of it lowered even more and we are trying to get the house energy efficient and comfortable before we get old. Youngest hopes to go to Uni in September and we want to be able to help her and her older sisters if we can. The way things are going even if we can offer a room of their own and warmth with food on the table should disaster hit then we want to be able to offer it. DH has been grumbling for years about my stocking up until he realised the butter I froze at 65 pence was now £1.20 or more. He now grabs toilet rolls and washing powder if he sees an offer and I have to hold him back.

Since I have been experimenting with recipes he thinks we have never eaten so well and is shocked how the cost of a carvery type meal for one person can pay for a meal that is home cooked and using AF or YS foods for five people or more. I still make the odd dish that is not great but as it is an experiment I don't feel hurt and can adapt things for the future.

Pops

If you don't eat just imagine all us OSers wagging a finger at you. The eggs should be all right for a while yet and something like eggy bread or French toast is quick and nutritous. I used to make savoury muffins from the tightwad gazette recipe and they only use one egg for a dozen and dds loved them. Sometimes when there is not much in the fridge or cupboards things work out better because we just use up lots of bits and bobs and it is less stress than slavishly following a posh chef recipe.

Hug to all

ffion

Please can anyone tell me where I can get pull on trousers made.my son is confined to a wheelchair and have lost the lady who use to make his trousers he is small under 5 foot and it only takes 1 metre of 60 inches,no zips no buttons just elastic waist so he can pull up with one hand.i have tried everywhere local with no luck.
I tried an online site for disabled people and the trousers start at around 45 pound,any suggestions anyone.would be grateful for any information.thanks sorry may have put this on wrong site I am new to this

[Deleted User]

Hello MONNAGRAN - come on in the water's fine, of course we're all a little crazy, but it's FUN! Cheers Lyn x.

Evie74_2

Possession - you can grow some herbs (like sage and rosemary) from cuttings, and if your friend has a good-size rhubarb crown then a portion of it can be split off and planted separately.

Beans and courgettes are grown from seed though, and I don't think you can take cuttings from them (although there are a lot more experienced gardeners on here who will correct me if I'm wrong!)

Evie xx

PS Also - if you would like to grow gooseberries, A!di had gooseberry bushes in tubs (trained up a bit of trellis) for about £5 last week; they might still have some left

katieowl_2

Possession wrote: »

I have a friend who has lots of plants in her lovely kitchen garden - gooseberries, rhubard, strawberries, raspberries, beans, courgettes, all kinds of herbs, probably much more. Are these the kind of plants which can grow from cuttings? As i'm sure she would give me some. I am very very far from being a green-fingered person but I would feel happier growing some produce for next year I think. Don't like gooseberries but the DCs have devoured the gooseberry jam I made and i've had to hide the other pots as I made them for xmas hampers, LOL!:rotfl:

gooseberries, rhubard, strawberries, raspberries - you should be able to get a cutting or in the case of rhubarb a bit of root to grow new plants.

beans, courgettes - you need seed to grow these. Unless she's getting special heritage varieties and taking cross pollination precautions you need to buy seeds to grow these next year...too late for this.

Herbs...depends what she's got. Things like mint will grow happily from cuttings, Basil, coriander and Parsley are annuals and need to be planted from seed each year. You can take cuttings of rosemary, but it might take a while to get going. Thyme is a perennial but I always grow fresh plants from seed. Now is the time to look for reduced seeds in the garden centres...they will be fine for next year!

You can also get a good pot of mint going by picking up a healthy looking living herbs pot from the supermarket, and separating the little stems out - my best flavoured mint came from doing that! Cost about 89p! You do need to plant mint in a pot or a bucket with the bottom knocked out sunk into the garden, otherwise it goes wild and takes over!

Kate

Evie74_2

Ffion - I'm sorry to hear you are having trouble getting trousers for your son. Could you use ordinary tracksuit-type trousers and take them up yourself? It's not too tricky to do; I am sure there will be tutorials on youtube if you are a novice with a needle.

Otherwise - there are often small ads in my local papers for people who can make alterations to clothes; maybe they would be worth a look?

Sorry not to be much more help.

Evie xx

Popperwell

elona wrote: »

Since I have been experimenting with recipes he thinks we have never eaten so well and is shocked how the cost of a carvery type meal for one person can pay for a meal that is home cooked and using AF or YS foods for five people or more. I still make the odd dish that is not great but as it is an experiment I don't feel hurt and can adapt things for the future.

Pops

If you don't eat just imagine all us OSers wagging a finger at you. The eggs should be all right for a while yet and something like eggy bread or French toast is quick and nutritous. I used to make savoury muffins from the tightwad gazette recipe and they only use one egg for a dozen and dds loved them. Sometimes when there is not much in the fridge or cupboards things work out better because we just use up lots of bits and bobs and it is less stress than slavishly following a posh chef recipe.

Hug to all

Thank you Elona...I love French Toast/Eggy Bread, I think we called it Gypsy toast. Thank you for looking after me...You mention AF but who are YS?

I don't want to bring the thread down but...I may as well say it...I appreciatre I have to find my own way through my grief
and I will have relapses...but...

In this last hour or so I have found myself struggling and once again thinking that I let Mum down...for a few days she was hot in bed and sweating, even the nurse on duty overnight took her temperature. It's that little word with such a big meaning "If" only I had called a Dr in would they have been able to give her antibiotics and save her... Why did I not do something about it? Why did the home not call a Dr in for advice?

But I'm only going over old ground and if I start to beat myself up what am I going to get out of that? I am still wondering if they were giving Mum too much morphine in the end so she could not stay awake and talk with me? Or had Mum been seen sooner and survived were we just delaying things and would that have been worse for her?

Now I have discovered that I have missed a phone called from the Crematorium regarding the laying to rest of Mum. Is it coincidence that I feel as I do on the day that I received that call or a kind of sixth sense?

Tomorrow is another day and I may feel more myself again...I don't want to come across as feeling sorry for myself which it probably looks as though I am...

Possession

Thanks guys for the plant info. So I need to be looking out for seeds, I need to visit our new Aldi when it opens, and I can ask for a few select cuttings. I did have all kinds of different herbs, in fact when I lived in Leytonstone I had a rosemary bush that was 8 foot tall, but everything I had in pots has died off except my Japanese maple. That seems to be fine having no attention and is now more than 15 years old. I expect it has only survived because I don't touch it though!
Going away tomorrow for a week to my parents, might get online a bit as taking the laptop.

Popperwell

Evie74 wrote: »

Ffion - I'm sorry to hear you are having trouble getting trousers for your son. Could you use ordinary tracksuit-type trousers and take them up yourself? It's not too tricky to do; I am sure there will be tutorials on youtube if you are a novice with a needle.

Otherwise - there are often small ads in my local papers for people who can make alterations to clothes; maybe they would be worth a look?

Sorry not to be much more help.

Evie xx

I have trouble putting on shoes and socks so I use trainers with velcro straps or slip ons.

More than ever I wear something similar to tracksuit bottoms...that's quite a good suggestion I think...

The last pair of proper trousers they charged about £8 just to shorten the legs(I am short too)Could you use(I'm going to use it again)that wunderweb stuff which only needs an iron and a damp cloth. Could that work?

Then you could possibly alter them and avoid needing to use a tailoring service.

dragonette

Popperwell - *hugs* you are allowed to have wobbles. And you don't need to apologise for them *extra hugs*