make do and mend for tougher times

smileyt_2

Fuddle, can you do a freedom of information request to find out how much the bus is subsidised by? And then go to the local press. Actually they might do a freedom of information request for you - our local paper (Manchester Evening News) always seems to trumpet its own achievements when it does a FOI request, I think it makes them feel like they're doing 'proper' factual journalism .....

Is the council spending money on anything blatantly and obviously wasteful? They will be, it's just a matter of finding out what. Compare the costs of that (eg Councillor's biscuit expenses for meetings, or whatever!) to the cost of the bus and shame them into doing something. Badger your local councillor - take a posse of mums with you.

I have a chance to speak with our local parliamentary candidate next week sometime - she's interested in the transition movement group I'm involved with - and I am going to take the opportunity to mention some of the stories on here, if people don't mind. I'll be printing a couple of articles about global food security to take with me. Unfortunately she's Labour and in this area doesn't have to do a shred of work to get the votes, but if I can make her mindful at all of some of the issues then that'll be one MP in Parliament who at least has been told how it is. In fact, I think I might write a little article myself for her to take away.

Right, I had better get my wobbly bottom into gear - I have a meeting at 10.30am and the poochies need to perambulate!

Docky, Tess and Bruno say a roll in the long grass is very cooling in this weather. Even if it does make Mum tetchy because she then has to pick a thousand grass seeds off their fur .....

Pooky

Morning all, very breezy down here on the coast today but still lovely and sunny.

We've had a subsidised bus pass down this way since DD1 started at her secondary school and the pass was £50 per year and could be used at any time, they've now put it up to £100 which is still great value. Both DDs use their passes lots as I don't drive and DH can't always manage to. Eldest DD is off to college in September and her bus pass again will be subsidised but is £520 for the year, still good value as she's going to be at college 25 odd miles away.

Pops - the halogen oven should be very basic to use, set the time, set the temperature and press start. I find things need less time than in my conventional oven but not by much. I part cooked some pasta the other evening on the hob, drained it and popped it in the halogen with some chopped fried off onion and bacon, stirred through a bit of Philly cheese and left to cook for 20 mins on 180. It was gorgeous.

[Deleted User]

Hewo AUNTIE SMILEY - Mumi did gettid me up atta crackadorn toda an tookded me fera nyse waklies - plees to tells BRUNO an TESS vat Mumi sez I is a Seedi carakta too cos I picks up sooooooooo mani wen I rollses inna grars. We wentid fera nyse riva walkies larst nite an I getted to paddles mine footses inna wata annit woz luvli!!!!!

Us hopses vat yew arnt two hottttt atta mowmint an hazernt diggded uppa chares agen Lotsa luv frum yure frend DOCKY!!!!!!

kidcat

Meme - re playing out, my kids have never lived anywhere that was safe to play so have never been able to until we moved here. It was a key factor in buying this house, realistically I would never have chosen to buy this house but it fitted everyones needs perfectly.
As such we have a grass area across from our house its across a road but its only an estate road IYSWIM, DD6 plays out all the time with the friends from the surrounding houses and they all are good at watching for cars.
For me the issue is DS8 who cant play out without at least two people watching him ready to catch him.
It was important for us that DD could play out and we consider ourselves really lucky to have the opportunity here, a friend of ours is contemplating moving onto our estate so that her son can have the same freedom.

None of us stand watching our kids all the time, but all the doors(ours being the exception due to DS) are kept ajar, and the three storeys like our keep the balcony door open too to keep an eye out.

There are many reasons playing out is important for kids but one of my biggest reasons is actually DD17, who currently has almost no friends at all, having woken up to the fact that her circle from school are vicious, inconsiderate little madams. As her only friends were a group from school she has no-one and no social life at all. Whereas DD6 has her school circle and her home circle, her home circle covers four different primary schools and they range from age 4 upto 8 so its a good wide mix. I am hoping when she grows up that no matter what she will always have friends to socialise with as a result.

School buses - another alternate thought is that my dads old church used to have a minibus that they "hired" out, they only ever just covered costs but were happy with that, for a short time a group of parents arranged a regular hire to cover school runs and took it in turns to do the runs between them. It cost considerably less than the school bus was doing at the time. They stopped when the council finally relented and subsidised the bus.
Maybe its worth exploring local groups to see if anyone loans out a minibus and the costs involved. Another tip is that if parents set up a group for travel and call themselves a name they can constitute formally and apply for funding from organisations like Lottery, Children in Need etc, its a bit of a faff in the beginning to set up but once done its simply a case of funding applications etc. Bag packing, raffles etc can all raise a bit too.

Popperwell

Pooky wrote: »

Pops - the halogen oven should be very basic to use, set the time, set the temperature and press start. I find things need less time than in my conventional oven but not by much. I part cooked some pasta the other evening on the hob, drained it and popped it in the halogen with some chopped fried off onion and bacon, stirred through a bit of Philly cheese and left to cook for 20 mins on 180. It was gorgeous.

Thanks for that Pooky, I'll try something in it soon...

Did I say much of the budget range of items were out of stock yesterday at the supermarket, is this a sign of people cutting back on what they spend? Chicken is going up in price too.

I have cooked breasts and a full chicken recently... now I am trying diced chicken(stir fry, casserole or in a container covered in mash potato)so a few options there...

katieowl_2

smileyt wrote: »

Right, I had better get my wobbly bottom into gear - I have a meeting at 10.30am and the poochies need to perambulate!

Made me LOL because 'perambulate the canines' was one of our 'secret' codes for taking the goggies out to prevent the mayhem that occurs when they get wind of the fact we are about to go for a walk!!

Unfortunately, they seem to work out all the codes pretty quick, and even the current "shall we do that thing we do?" is now causing a volley of barking....along with me changing my footwear and saying nothing at all!

I think you should definitely give your MP a list of the things that you've heard about, they should absolutely get wind of the fact that the peasants are getting restless!!!

Kate

Possession

VJsmum wrote: »

my niece goes to Rochester grammar

i am a proud Maid of Kent. but now live in the midlands and am currently in the US of A on me ollideees.

Nothing OS or MSE about New York. oh except DD and i shared a main meal yesterday and each had plenty.

I live in the Midlands now too VJ's mum. Have moved around a great deal since my Kent days.

grandma247

I agree with you Meme the children were safe 1 because they were all together.
2 all the doors were open so if one kid strayed or there was some other danger in the street an Adult could be summond immediately. 3 you live in a cul de sac which is much safer than a road open to all traffic.

Spikey you made a good point there you do need to know the values of the parents and kids in the street too. You just reminded me about an incident with ds3 when he was five or six. He went to play with a couple of little girls down the street from us and I went out later to call him in for lunch. I could not find him so knocked on the girls door. The mum said oh they have gone off to the park. Those girls were not much older I think the oldest was 7 and the park is a fair way down the hill . I found them in the bottom of the park and they had been in the stream which can not be seen as it is downhill and too many trees.. When I spoke to the other mum she could not understand what I was worried about? Needless to say he got a lecture about telling me when he was asked to go anywhere off the street or in anyones house and what would happen if he disobeyed.

I live on a very busy road that leads to an industrial estate with only one way in and out. We get a lot of heavy lorries up and down day and night even on sundays. I still let my lad out when he was four but with strict instructions to stay on the path or the back street and I checked to see he did. When he was even younger I used to let him run in front of me if we were going out which drove his brother nuts (9 year gap). He was always trying to control him even when I explained to him that I had spent weeks training ds3 to stop at the kerb. He never disobeyed me because I frightened the life out of him about traffic and what it might do to him.

We wrap children up in cotton wool as a nation and now we have Adults incapable of making decisions for themselves. Children need to learn to think for themselves and we need to help them do that.

Katieowl you said what I was going to say about taking them out of school that might make them sit up but it could of course backfire unless the papers were involved. Re monitoring you do not have to have them monitor you it is by law , optional at this time but many do go for that option because they feel more comfortable.

stiltwalker

katieowl wrote: »

Made me LOL because 'perambulate the canines' was one of our 'secret' codes for taking the goggies out to prevent the mayhem that occurs when they get wind of the fact we are about to go for a walk!!

Unfortunately, they seem to work out all the codes pretty quick, and even the current "shall we do that thing we do?" is now causing a volley of barking....along with me changing my footwear and saying nothing at all!

I think you should definitely give your MP a list of the things that you've heard about, they should absolutely get wind of the fact that the peasants are getting restless!!!

Kate

Made me lol too as when I had the collie doggy I went through the whole blinkin thesaurus - she was too clever by half and new words didn't take her more than a week or two to work out so I ambled and perambulated, strolled and gallumphed, sauntered and strode and many many more! She could even tell the difference in context - if we were up at the local rec and I told her it was 'time to go home' she'd have a strop as it was only 2 minutes on the lead but if I was up at the big park or out in the countryside on a there and back walk she'd turn round and set off back quite happily knowing that she still had at least another 20 minutes of fun to be had!

Sadly we had to have her PTS just before DD arrived and firstly with a small babe and then 2 little kids, both with disabilities and mobility issues it just wouldn't be fair on anyone to get another dog at the moment but despite how busy I am with my adorable kids, OU work and community stuff there is still a massive doggy shaped hole. I love to hear everyone on here's doggy tales.

shelley_crow

My 7 year old isn't allowed out, we live on a busy main road where the 30mph speed limit seems to not apply to motorists . Added to this there have been a few attempted abuctions of kids over the past couple of years, IE men with vans/cars trying to lure kids into them. Luckily none have succeeded so far, not through lack of trying though!

It is difficult, one one hand parents get accused of wrapping their kids up in cotton wool and on the other hand around here you have 4-5 year olds running across main roads with no adults in sight. You can't do right for doing wrong as a parent sometimes.