make do and mend for tougher times

prepareathome

popperwell (hugs to you) on 13th its a year since my father died and today I am beset with memories of the good times and the bad...........mum passed 5 years ago on June 24th and that still seems sometimes like yesterday. My birthday this year was strange as it was the first one I did not receive a card saying daughter on it. I am now the older generation in my family and its times like this I remember happier times when I was a child surrounded by all those generations older than me and now here I am at the opposite end of the telescope.

I watched the panorama programme, they certainly didn't paint a good picture and even they had no idea how to improve things, usually they do, or at least some idea how the government can do so,so very worrying.

I will be using every spare penny to buy food, tonight a friend paid me the £5 she owed me for the Tesco's fleeces I got for her when I ordered mine and after leaving hers we went straight to Mr S and spent the money on tinned potatoes, tinned carrots and tinned mushrooms and tomorrow I get my ESA and car has to have new brake shoes out of that but what is left will be carefully spent although as hubby is off this week we do hope to put some petrol in the car and go for a run or two - will take sandwiches as I have plenty of bread in freezer as picked it up really cheap the other week, cheaper than I could make it and bananas and will take a couple of flasks of coffee ( cannot stand tea in a flask).

Oh dr told me this afternoon she had done an on-line referal for me for the ECG so when I went along and they said they had no referal and they had checked on-line and none there they were lying as she showed me how it was still there on the system. So she has done another one and left me to make the appointment this time as she did it last time but they then cancelled it and gave me another, just in case that was somehow, how they didn't see it so will call tomorrow and make a new appointment. What was annoying was hubby turned down overtime so he could take me so we lost the money for no reason, I should have had the ECG - going to see if they can squeeze me in this week while he is off, but not Wednesday as that is when brake shoes are being replaced, garage says that should cost about £65.

My clock is doing is catching up - its a radio controlled one and every night between midnight and 1am it resets itself against one of the atomic clocks out there and if its fast the only way it can do it is for the hands to move round and round till it gets back to correct time, its really amazing to watch. It will move them to midnight then hold for about 5 minutes then moves them again to correct time........It was my dads he had it in his living room and I took if for my bedroom as it nice and big and clear with a silver frame and very, very quiet.

I have some frying steak (YS), casserole veg ( frozen) and extra frozen leeks in the sc just now - not sure what else I am going to add to it. The piece of meat was 250g and I cut it in half so will do two meals, these days when I buy meat or fish its all YS and when I come home I slice it into pieces and freeze each one individually. I try to make the pieces enough so we can at least feel we are eating meat but making it go as far as I can. Fish I have to leave a bit bigger although these days I rarely fry or grill any its mainly used in fish pies so can use less. Its actually cheaper for me to buy the breaded fish that is ready to fry or cook, than add my own coating, again only buy when its YS, don't think I have bought full price meat - beef or lamb , fish or chicken for over 6 months now. I find YS food nowadays is the price I was paying full price last year and I am sure it will only go up.


Just caught up with posts again - my dr told me when I was found to have very, very low Vit D levels earlier in the year that I did not need to take extra calcium along with the Vit D supplement she put me on as it would help me absorb the calcium from my diet better - she just made me promise I would have a bowl of cereal a day with plenty of milk, so I have left it for now. Each doctor has their own ideas you do not know what to think or do for the best. Bringing my Vit D levels up certainly helped my depression - am on just one tablet a month now and forgot to ask the dr today if I could increase it as I feel a bit down and wonder if my levels are low again.

Right have nattered on again far to long

Hugs, Love and healing to all xxxx

prepareathome

Byatt I am so pleased for you about the prepayment meter - we have them but has done so for over 20 years as I got them put in when hubby went on the cabs and I did not want big bills arriving, I know I paid and still pay to much but so used to them now I am scared to get a quarterly or even monthly bill - which is daft considering hubby is being paid monthly now, maybe once I get on top of everything I will rethink as at moment i am buying gas and electric for the month for the prepay meter. Up till now no matter how broke we were we never once went without either gas or electric as they were one of my priorities when the children were growing up but not its just hubby and me I am concentrating more on keeping heat in house through other ways like the fleeces and bubblewrap although the CH is far, far cheaper to run that our old single gas fire.

Hugs, Love and Healing to all xxxxxxxxxxxxx

prepareathome

HariboJunkie wrote: »

I think Aldi pay £8-£9 per hour to store assistants which is a hefty enough wage these days. :)

Lovely to see you again, I always smile when I see your name, and can taste all the lovely flavours of those sweets.

I wish hubby was earning that he gets £6.20 ph days ( 7am - 8pm) and £7.10ph for nights.......but at least he does still have a job even if P/T with some overtime so we are luckier than many

Popperwell

Hugs to you PAH.
I agree with all that you say...I have had my first birthday without Mum. I am the last in the line so when I go our family tree ends...there isn't any relatives left to speak of...I have lived longer than the time I knew my Father but I'd have to be 110 to be alive as long as the time I knew Mum in my life, I don't see that happening and I wouldn't want to...

I think I'll be buying more tinned vegetables too...and soon...like tomorrow. And it's frightening what's going on...

I don't know how it's going but I have my slow cooker on as I write this with a chicken in a roasting bag, I left the bag open slightly as was suggested for the steam to get out, I didn't add anything just a kind of lemon herb coating. I have it on low heat and so far I'm not sure how long to leave it but as I have heard some meals take 8 hours I am using that as my guide...

So that would be around 10am.

I have one of those radio controlled clocks too, I bought it for Mum and a DAB Radio.

She loved music so I had an mp3 player going 24/7 with all her favourite music playing. I did all that I could

I am sure that you did too...

prepareathome

I am hoping to get some of those roasting bags tomorrow as with just two of us the sc is often not full, but I did down size last year - son and partner took my bigger one as they are a family of 4 and I bought two smaller ones - they are both together in a metal container ( the idea is you can place them on the table) but each work independently. I use them both so often but very often one has soup or pudding and one main part of meal, those bags mean when main is not such a big thing will be able to do pud or maybe even soup all in one sc which is great, even though they cost the same as running a light bulb its still a saving if I only have to run one.

I have to get myself do sort out chest freezer as its full but do you know I don't know exactly what is in it main meal wise. I know there are a few rolls and bread I got YS other week for about 24p each and 3 or maybe 4 x 4 lts of skimmed milk but apart from that I am not sure at all. I just pick up YS fish, beef, lamb, chicken or sausages and put them in and then admit tend to usually just open freezer dig down just a bit and take something out to eat.

Its a chest freezer about medium size and lives in the hall behind the front door as only place to put it. I have had it 8 years, bought it when mum had to go in to have a breast removed - breast cancer - and I made and froze a lot of food for hubby as he is not a cook as I went down to stay from when she went in until a few months after she came home to help her. She lived 250 miles away so to far to commute. Before I bought that I just had the fridge freezer, but freezer on that is half the size of the fridge but it had been enough until then, now I do not know how I managed before, but it has meant I can always pick up and freeze those YS items.

I really will get a halogen oven as reading about them they do seem so cheap to run although where it will go I don't know kitchen not that big ( a galley type) and most of the space already taken up with kettle on one part, double sc on another, bread machine on another but I guess I could store it in the oven itself - its wall mounted so easy to get into.

4am and still not asleep and only remembered just before tonight its my WI annual meal for which I have already paid £20 so don't want to miss it so won't go anywhere today to try and ensure I am ok to go. Don't know where meal is, its to be a surprise we have just been told its a very, very nice place and as there are 70 of us going we are getting the meal at a very good discount, plus the fact we had to chose what we wanted ahead of time. So hopefully I will get to sleep soon.

I came across one of an old pair of maroon curtains in cotton which at first I thought I would offer on freegle for dogs bedding, then looked at it carefully and realised material is still perfect so have taken the header tape off and I am left with a lovely lined piece of material that could be made either into cushion covers or even a skirt for me if I ever can get the tension right on my sewing machine but at least can have a try with it, must ask on the sewing thread for anywhere that gives free patterns to try the skirt and if I mess up at least I will have not wasted money on the material.

Not bought a DAB radio - we have plenty of old ones that still work and so not thought it worth buying one yet anyway.

One thing that got me about that Panorama programme was the guy who had earned £36 million last year, he was saying we need to trust the bankers and then they will lend money and until then no lending( that was my take anyway) so basically they are blackmailing us, trust them - not sure in what way, by giving them the little bit of money we have left maybe and then they will lend us back our money at high interest rates.

House is smelling lovely from the food in the sc yet only vegetables and the bit of meat and seasoning.

I had some bread that was still ok but needed using up so made a bread and butter pudding last night for pud, not made one in years and it came out really well and enough for next two nights as well. I just threw in the last of the mixed fruit I had in and cinnamon.

Right as usual rambled on and on

Hugs, Love and Healing xxxxxxxxxx

Popperwell

PAH, hope that you are well enough to go to your dinner, It's a look out, a change of scenery.

Well, the halogen oven remember to look on amazon and I;ll give you a link again to the one I have, you get a cook book and accessories and...a free replacement bulb(many don't have replacement bulbs and when it break that's it!

So far the two shops with the best deal on roasting bags seems to be Wilkinsons and ASDA.

My kitchen is now short on space as every work surface has a gadget on it...unless I put something on the floor or in the pantry when not in use. The halogen oven or slow cooker are the easiest to move. I'll manage. Nice to have the choice.

Chicken is on low heat and been on approx 4 hours so far...

That documentary was scary, we'll just have to see how worked up the population gets and if they say "Enough!" Not sure what the solution is...

I'll be going to bed soon myself...I see it's been raining again...but not like it has been in recent weeks. Hope you manage to get some sleep...

Mrs_Chip

Morning Everyone

Up at stupid o'clock as woke and could not get back to sleep - the bedroom was too warm which makes me restless. It's becoming a habit, I must try to break it.

So sorry to read about everyone who has lost jobs, very worrying and frustrating. Whenever I see the govt bashing the so-called work shy I do wonder if they realise how flaky the job market is. And what a waste of resources it is to make people apply for jobs they are patently not able to take - if only all that wasted energy was used to help people claim their rightful entitlements!

Halogen ovens - I have a 12 ltr one, PAH, I would not like to be lugging it about the kitchen. We have a galley kitchen and got some narrow trolleys from ArG0s which can sit along the back wall at one end and still leave space to walk. I put the HO and the DF fryer on there and it makes life so much easier.

I like the halogen for grilling bacon and sausages, and does oven chips brilliantly. Not tried other things yet but will get round to it.
it is quick because it needs no preheating. I did find it took and age to do cheese on toast in it though (toast takes forever???) not sure how that works! As toast was the first thing in the book they suggest you do to try the oven out I did wonder if I had bought a crock :rotfl:, but the bacon test redeemed it!

Awful forecasts again for this week, and into the future. And terrible pictures of crops rotting in fields, I fear we are going to have shortages and high prices, and it will be staples that are hit.

Right got to get some brekkie, another downside of waking so early is I am starving and it is two hours until my normal breakfast time!

Hope everyone has the best day they can, whatever it brings!

Hardup_Hester

Hubby was involved in interviews yesterday, he gave 3 interviewees a tour of the workplace so I can tell you 3 things not to do.
1) don't tell the person giving the tour that the whole job sounds boring & then tell the interviewer that the job is your dream job.
2) Don't say 'Look at the t*ts on that' about every woman you pass on the tour.
3) Don't play pocket billiards, especially when talking to a female interviewer.
Did I mention that the person who committed these faux pax's was surprised when he didn't get offered the job & wanted to know why?
Hester

fuddle

Eek milk shortage. I guess nothing should surprise me at the moment. Dried and UHT on my list then. I have one of each on standby but would feel happier with more.

Pooky

:wave::wave: Haribo - nice to see you, hope you and yours are all ok.

The @ldi locally was offering £9.50 an hour for shop staff and £17 an hour for deputy manager, I think they're one of the best paid retail jobs around.

We certinaly don't have the money coming in that the survey suggests but before DHs accident we did. Our household income has dropped by 2/3 but we still manage to pay everything and most months there's an overpayment to the mortgage, even if it's only £20. Learning to cut your cloth accordingly is something that should be taught in school.

Our income is due to drop considerably again in the next month or so as DH is medically retired but there is a "lump" that comes with it that we need to use wisely. I'm going to get my State pension forecast to see what, if anything I need to do about that