make do and mend for tougher times

mama67

SpikyHedgehog wrote: »

When it's hot, I do it the other way & have the quilt cover but no duvet :-) I get the look that matches my pillow cases, but it's easier to wash than even the thinner duvet. I've got a 3 in 1 king size duvet from Arg0s that's nearly 8 years old, & hasn't worn well, & I needed to sew snaps onto the corners to hold the summer weight & autumn weight duvets together for a thick winter weight 1.

DS2 has one of these 2 part quilts which snap together.

What I did was buy an extra cover in a contrasting colour and the thinner part is in that during the winter, the cover is never next to the body so only needs freshening once in a while, but he has the choice of a thicker warmer quilt which can be split if he gets hot during the night.

fuddle

My raisin and rice wine is very strong smelling of alchohol :eek: It smells like neat vodka tastes :eek: (I did dibble a bit with the wild child weekends when I was 19. I gave up quickly though as I just couldn't be arissed!) It no longer smells fruity and is still bubbling.

I hope it tastes nice :cool:

Roald Dahl has a lot to answer for! My two have been to the library and picked up a book by him. In there was a recipe for how to fly... cream soda and ice cream. Cue back down to the Coop, spend £4 :eek: and drink the concoction, burp ( )and see if you fly. :eek: I'm shattered and money down, kids with bad manners and jumping off furniture. Still, it's all about letting kids experiment and let their imaginations fly. Isn't it? :cool: :rotfl:

jpscloud

fuddle wrote: »

:eek: I'm shattered and money down, kids with bad manners and jumping off furniture. Still, it's all about letting kids experiment and let their imaginations fly. Isn't it? :cool: :rotfl:

Thanks to these experiences their imaginations will always fly and they will always remember who made that possible :T You are such a cool mummy :T

Edit: I'll never forget my Nana patiently playing along with our game that the bed was a boat, and there were sharks in the "water" all around us. When Nana came into the room we screamed at her that the sharks were attacking. The vision of Nana fighting off ravenous sharks with a saucepan has never faded :rotfl:

Possession

Well Roald Dahl was very in touch with children's imaginations, who doesn't want to fly?! If only it were that simple. My MIL is wonderful with the children (a bit too wonderful when she gives in to their every whim) - they have a wooded bit on their land where the trees have preservation orders and they can't do anything with it. The children have set up camp under the trees and put a chair under it which is Ursula's Chair - she's a witch. All kind of things get left for Ursula.

fuddle

Winter poorly tea. In a jar combine lemon slices, honey and sliced ginger. Close jar and put it in the fridge, it will form into a 'jelly'. To serve -spoon jelly into mug and pour boiling water over it. Store in fridge 2-3 months.

jackel

Hello All We sucessfully dried a quantity of apples and pears last year in the oven using those "chip" cooking trays(mesh) from pland. mentioned by Mcculloch29.We had such a glut we also got a cheapie Lakeland dehydrator, but the oven worked well.As you only want min. heat it is possible to use residue after meals have been cooked(suitably cooled).The process can be done over several days if needed. The Lakeland dehydrator also worked very effeciently for I think £50 jac xx

Evie74_2

Afternoon all - (((hugs))) to all in need, and congratulations to all those celebrating exam success :j

It's bucketing down here today. So much for my master plan to get ahead with the laundry mountain! The forecast for tomorrow looks much better, so hopefully I'll be able to get plenty done then. I also need to spend some time in the garden salvaging what's left of my sorry veggies this year. It's been a really disheartening year for growing - slugs have eaten almost everything and the tomatoes got blight. The only real success has been raspberries. I still have swede and purple sprouting broccolli on the go so hopefully they will survive the attacks of slugs and snails and actually produce a crop for me. I have one squash plant left but that is looking very sorry for itself and has no mini-squash on at all. The pumpkins were all eaten, leaves and all. Even my onions and leeks got munched It's a good job we're not relying on the garden for survival as we'd be facing a terrible hungry winter :eek:

I'm planning to go foraging for fruit if it's good weather this weekend as I need to make some jams and jellies - both for the storecupboard and for part of my Christmas hampers. Hedgerow jelly is usually a favourite along with damson jam/jelly.

I'm still boosting the storecupboard wherever possible. I noticed the shelves in T*sco this morning were stripped bare of pasta - either they have supply problems or someone has been panic buying. Luckily I have plenty in store.

Fuddle - I think you mentioned concern about storing enough meat etc for protein? I would agree that tinned fish etc is the way to go, along with dried pulses like chick peas and lentils - they are a good source of protein and last for years in stores. If you have any Asian supermarkets nearby they are often the best place to get dried pulses at a reasonable price (I try and stock up whenever I am in Nearby City; if I can't get to an Asian supermarket then even the regular supermarkets have a much better selection of so-called "World Foods" than my local stores do). Things like cured meats also last quite a while in the fridge - salami/chorizo etc will keep for a few months and can either be served cold or added to casseroles/savoury rice for extra flavour.

I do wonder whether anyone around me in the "real world" has any idea of the impact all these worldwide crop failures is going to have over the coming months. People seem h*ll-bent bent on mad consumerism and don't give a second thought to what could be on the cards. It's going to be tough. Prices are escalating every week and still people won't wake up and see what's happening.

There seems to be a real expectation (particularly among people my age and younger, I'm afraid) that they are entitled to have a certain standard of luxury, that they can just rely on others to provide and just wait for it to fall into their laps without a jot of understanding of the bigger picture. I thought DH and I (and a couple of our like-minded friends) were the only ones without blinkers on until I found this thread!

Oh dear, I seem to be ranting again . Better make a cup of tea and take a few deep breaths!

Evie xx

elona

I have been telling DH for a while about the recent bad harvests and how food etc is going to get even dearer.

I actually thought he had "got it" till I put some basic teabags in store and he looked round saying "it is like a shop". Not that I was trying to save us money and effort and anxiety later - just that I enjoyed playing shops!!!:mad:

No sooner do I get something than he seems to make it his mission to use it up. The kettle I got for the hob has been lost in the house move- which means he saw no need for it and threw it out. Quite a few other bits have disappeared too and I will take great pleasure in making him take me shopping when it is twice the price or more and saying what a pity it got lost!;)

He just can't seem to connect the dots. I told him about the just in time delivery system for shops, reminded him of the three day week, salt, sugar and bread shortages and the time local harvests failed and the only potatoes you could get were foreign ones that cost a fortune. It just does not sink in!

It gets really lonely and dispiriting when the people you are trying to look after are the ones who do not appreciate what is happening
and you have to smuggle in stuff.:(

Popperwell

After my shop at Aldi on Sunday, I plan to slow down a bit regarding shopping for the store room but will still look for bargains...

I wanted bread, milk and bottled water today but came back with coffee(this time some decaff ground coffee and a cheap cafetiere which will do 3 cups)a loaf tin, some wagon wheels(knocked 69p off)and 8 cartons(4 pots in each)of different fruits in juice and some in jelly by Dole(knocked around £1 off)so they cost £1.61 each and the dates run to 2015 (I think)

I did get the three things I went for.

Having a rest now...but I have just had a salad, bread bun, pork pie and a vanilla milk shake...

Thanks for all the advice in the posts whilst I have been away shopping...The bread advice Fuddle, That tea(ginger, lemon and honey)looks interesting...

ginnyknit

Convinced Ds last night that buying lunches near work were not just adding to his weight problem but were wasting money - which he hates - and after watching the hairy bikers diet prog last night I can see why :eek: So for a tenner a week I am going to make his lunches, wraps and a pot of salad plus chunks of meat. I also got some economy apple juice which I can decant into his fancy bottle. He is careful what he eats ie. no choccies or sweeties but Im guessing pannini's are high on calories and the odd pie weighing in at I think 500 calories. I don't want him obsessing about his weight just want to gently guide him for his health.

The odd bowl of chilli or hash will do well too as a packed lunch.

been all over the place today doing various errands and managed to visit Mr A, Mr T and the co-op, got a few whoopsies and a few extra cans of value rice pud and stuff. Feeling quite pleased with my spend to quantity and quality ratio :rotfl: Also nipped in several charity shops but not much around for me at the moment.

Dehydrated a good few onions and whoopsied peppers last night and have a bol sauce in the sc so am ahead with preparation for an easy weekend, just got to swop the sauce in sc for the chicken and I am done! Also planted some kale in the greenhouse this morning, thought I would use it as baby leaves, so did 6 pots.