make do and mend for tougher times

[Deleted User]

I`ve just ordered more vit D from iherb, we are still taking the winter dose and I don`t want to run out. Must have a little chat with my dd`s about D being needed for children too, going to be lots of problems in the future re the lack of it, I would have hoped that the gov would have given out free supplements by now, like in post war years

I decided to get my head around drying clothes indoors because of the pollen around here, so I made a drying area. Pollen will stick to sheets and the like if they hang outside, dh got asthma which was worse every spring. Imagine shaking pollen all over the bed. I haven`t dried anything outdoors since may and his asthma has hardly been noticeable, so worth the effort. I have a small utility room with a ceiling vent, so dh hung a pull out 5 line airer in one wall and I pull it across. I also have a large smalls drier hanging down with lots of pegs on it and I can squeeze an adjustable airer in too for when I do big sheets. I can fit a full load in and I keep my lakeland 50w towel heater in there and just switch that on. It`s amazing as a drying room and everything dries overnight and all the humidity gets vented. I wish I had worked that out for last year

I need fruit so have to get myself to sainsburys this morning, I think I`ll see if pineapples are still a good price, If so I`ll get a few to dehydrate then I`ll chop up for winter

re blight: I went around all my tomatoes yesterday, I stopped all of them a few weeks ago ie cut off the tops so they wouldn`t produce more flower sprays and soon after that, I started to take leaves off a couple at a time, for ventilation and to reduce blight risk. Took the last ones off yesterday and all the plants now have just four to six leaves. There are lots of big tomatoes and I`m hoping to get enough ripe so that there are extras to make roasted tomato passata to bottle and store. I made it last year and used the first one last week, it was absolutely gorgeous and only had to add part cooked mince to make lasagne or bolognese. Grandchildren wolfed it down

I am trying to get my backside in gear for fruit and tomato bottling. Got lots of kilner jars already and a new thermometer on the way, sugar galore. I think that is it, not hard really. I brined small tomatoes last year in jars and they were very good so will do that again, very worth while but the passata made more use of jar space

Also organised my herbs, spices and baking powders etc. All in just one small waist high 40 x 32 cm drawer next to the cooker as I got fed up of bending and scrabbling in cupboards. I carefully measured the space and ordered lined metal tins of two different sizes like
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/50ml-Spice-Jars-Herbs-Sweets-Food-Tins-Storage-Jar-Craft-Packaging-Metal-Tin-/130639454260#ht_2645wt_1037
I have 58 tins in that space plus 12 small bottles of essences and colours. I labelled all the tops on coloured labels eg green for herbs and for that I used my garden label maker. Did that months ago and it is a huge success, also freeing up loads of cupboard space

Suns out, fantastic, got cabin fever yesterday, so will spend the morning out today. Going to be battles in some homes today silverstone v tennis v tour de france

Possession

I am supposed to take Vit D as my level was only 9, very low, but I keep forgetting. Must take it properly, and will check if buying it is cheaper than prescription. I just looked at the children's vitamins (still have a big store from Tesco health and beauty points) and it says they have 100% of the daily vit D RDA so that's good.
We have to dry all our washing inside and I've noticed the spare room we use has mould/mildew starting. I guess we need a dehumidifier but they look so expensive. : ( Plus the toilet seat in the bathroom broke last night so we really must replace that first.
I am firmly in the tennis camp so I'll definitely be absent from MSE this afternoon!

fuddle

Here is where my ignorance comes in... what do we need vitamin D supplements for and what happens to us if we're lacking? off to do a search.

Evie, pah is correct in thinking I have the Ikea Irma throws (4 and more on the list as bed sheets for kids this year) mine measure at 170cm length and just short of 130cm width. I've washed mine umpteen times so probably a little shrinkage. They have rounded corners though, so thought I'd mention that.

excuse the doggy bum

Also, before you trek out (DH still went river fishing yesterday and was shocked to find the match had been cancelled. Stupid man. Did he come home though? Did he 'eck. He found a pond to be all gnome like on. :rotfl: He surfaced at 5.30pm) I know there were no throws two weeks ago at my ikea so best check stock at yours, online. HTH

fuddle

I've checked DH's and mine multivits - vitamin D is 5 ug per tablet and that's apparently 100% RDA. The kids' also have that amount in them. Does that sound correct?

I think there will be so many people suffering from being down, depression and SAD this year. The weather plays such an important part in my mood. I'll be looking into the lights that you can get to help improve mood indoors. Does anyone know about them or what they're called so i can do a search?

mardatha

We're staying on winter levels of vit D here too kittie - no sun at all this year and that brings risk of flu etc this winter.Costco now do it at a great price, cheaper than Amazon.
Ordering loads of bread flour today - quite fancy that water mill place that sells on amazon, they have a granary flour that looks nice. Will wrap it in bin liners and put in bottom of the freezer for 24 hours.
I had Hannah Hawkswell's book and I have the DVD but I cant find the bloody things. If I can then somebody could have them for the postage. Will go back and ferret again today..its a big cupboard & I've a lot of books
Dehydrators Pops are good if you've got a garden or allotment, or if you have half a doz supermarkets on your doorstep and you can grab whoopsies. I really really wanted one but then thought what would I put in it!
I also some nice acrylic wool that I'd like rid of - I only use pure wool now because I love it for socks. Will have a ferret in there too and if anybody on here would like eyelash or fun fur for scarves then its yours for the postage.

bossymoo

Hi all, not posted here before, but have been lurking...

I have two littlies, DS is nearly 3.5 and DD 2 in sept. whenever we see dr/HV they do mention supplements, and vit d in particular.

We see them quite often as DD has milk intol so the calcium / vit d thing is especially important for her.

They have the kids chewy multivitamin and haliborange do a chewy calcium and vitamin d shaped like strawberries lol. They are a bit pricey but itry to buy them on 3 for 2 or whatever.

Sainsbobs also do a "bones" one for adults in a blue bottle, fairly cheap and also often 3 for 2 again it's calcium and vit d. I get these for myself. £1.29 a bottle I think, for a months supply.

Fuddle, vit d helps the body to absorb calcium. It's notin many foods but the skin can make it when exposed to sunlight (hmm, not here then!). Deficiency can cause rickets in children, or osteomalacia (sp?) in adults. It's also thought to be important in a number of other ways too. HTH

Popperwell

Fuddle, I seem to remember Vitamin D is for the Bones and a lack of it used to be responsible for rickets. It helps in many other ways either helping to stop other conditions and for keeping teeth strong. It's said that if you spend a lot of time indoors you may need to use a suppliment(Sunshine is a way to get it naturally)

Foods high in vitamin D include...
shiitake mushrooms, mackerel, salmon, herring, sardines, catfish, tuna, cod liver oil, eggs, cheese, fortified cereals, whole milk, oatmeal.

To be honest there are loads of foods(meat, fruit and vegetables)that have vitamin D so a varied diet will probably mean you are getting enough but you can get too much so you need to weigh up whether you need a suppliment.

GreyQueen

Popperwell wrote: »

My flour is out of date, should I sling it and buy fresh. I stopped baking when I became alone. It seemed easier just to buy my bread and also save on the cost of using the oven...

I use out of date flour and have come to no harm. What I did once when I found that a water leak next door ahd caused dampness in my kitchen cupboard (it shares a wall with next-door's bathroom) was to use flour which had got damp. Not a good idea; took a mouthful of the bread and spat it out- yeuch!

Popperwell wrote: »

Perhaps I'll risk using the oven again...an odd time will be ok...I could bake a loaf perhaps when cooking a chicken...do a few things at once.

The bread will require a higher temp than the chicken so the won't work exactly together but you can save some energy by overlapping the cooking so that you don't have to heat the oven from scratch for each item. Mum taught me this as a nipper when she taught me to bake; we'd plan what we'd bake and work so that they went into the oven in ascending order of temperature, IYSWIM. Hurry up, the oven's waiting! she'd say.

It's raining steadily here at the mo, looks like it's set in wet for a while. Not a chance of lottie-visiting unless it clears out. I'll be having what I call a domestic day, with food and chore-related stuff involving puttering around at home.

Yesterday I treated myself to a chunk of beef brisket which I shall sear in my biggest pan and then cook in the slow-cooker on the lowest setting for many hours. That will be eaten circa 5 pm-ish. I'm also going to make bread (with date-expired flour ).

What I do to shave a little off the gas usage is to make bread rolls rather than loaves (15-20 mins rather than 30 mins). I put them to prove in little dough balls on an oiled baking sheet on top of the high level grill and leave them for several hours to rise. This really develops the flavour. I shall make 2 baking-sheets-full to utilise the whole oven and freeze half the rolls. My intention is to time it so that when the rolls come out, the batter pud can go in as the both req a hot oven.

Thank goodness for being raised thriftily.

I'll have a couple of slices of the brisket hot and then when it has thoroughly cooled, slice it and freeze it in single person portions, wrapped in a bit of greaseproof paper in a poly bag.

:hello: Hello Nellie and hello Sunshine! (and anyone else I've missed, head live a sieve these days).

:eek: The weather some of us have been experiencing is shocking. Hope everyone is safe. My last pair of sandals gave out at the end of last summer, after 4 years' staunch service and some home repairs by me. I decided not to buy any this year as they get very little use and are in the way 52 weeks of the year and used for a maximum of 6 weeks. Glad I kept hold of my dosh as it's more wellies this season.

I hacked the undergrowth away from the back of the shed yesterday (comes over from next door). I found slugs and snails lurking...............mwhahaha. Gardening makes you positively murderous.

My potatoes are second-earlies and their tops would normally be dying back by now and I'd be looking at lifting them soon. They got such a slow start that they're all verdant and not the slightest sign of going over. I shall have to keep a close watch out for blight. I did have 2nd earlies blighted in 2007 but I spotted it in time and followed the advice of a veteran gardener on the next plot.

What I did was hack the tops off at ground level and immediately removed them (took to the green waste section at the tip). Some authorities say at this point, leave tatties underground and hope that the blight virus won't make it's way down. It may/ may not get into the soil. What I did on the old boys' advice was to lift them immediately then lay them on newspaper, covered by another sheet of newspaper, on the greenhouse staging. This was a previous (shared) plot which had a greenhouse.

24 hours later (was doing all this in evenings after work) I used an old paintbrush to brush off the dirt and put any spuds with a bronze tint in patches to one side for immediate consumption. The rest I sacked -up and put in the shed. I'd shoot the tatties out on the floor twice a week for the next few weeks and remove any suspect-looking items, then reduced it to once a week, then after a couple of months, there were no more suspects and they kept in beautiful condition until the next spring. It was a bumper crop and well-worth the effort.

Right, another cuppa then onto matters domestic.

Hope everyone is dry today and that Byatt is safe as she goes about her business.

PS, a book I've read about driving in difficult conditons pointed out that it's best not to drive thru water but if you have to do it, don't crawl. By having a wee bit of speed, you create a bow-wave effect which helps drive the water away from your car's front and thus the engine. If you crawl in first gear, you don't get this benefit. Best to stay out if humanly-possible.

mardatha

:eek::eek: Possession - my level is 150 and the doc said that's perfect !

Popperwell

Thank you for all that advice GQ...still learning as I will if/when I start to use the slow cooker...doesn't help when you lose the instructions...