make do and mend for tougher times

monnagran

I also had a 15th century cottage before moving here. Wattle and daub walls, a bread oven, beams a-plenty, a buttery ( not for making butter but something to do with water butts I believe), a beautifully stone lined Tudor well which had to be covered as it was right outside the back door, view to die for - over hills and fields, I could see for 20 miles - not another house in sight. Veg, flowers and chickens in the garden, my own paddock (no horses) and my own wood - handy for keeping the wood-burning stove going. It was also Grade 2 Listed which meant that every tiny repair had to be passed by multitudinous committees and was VERY, VERY, expensive. Couldn't wait to get rid of it in the end but fun while it lasted.

Now opted for something more manageable and affordable.

Allotments are great, the camaraderie and friendly competition is lovely and there is usually someone around to give advice.

Do try to get a load or two of manure, (or Horse Poo, as it's advertised over here) until your compost heap gets established. Lets all pray for better growing weather and a plague on all slugs next year.

fuddle

It's that time again. You know, when I can't sleep. Happens every couple of weeks and is so annoying. I guess it's another sign of ageing.

piece in The Guardian about trade unions considering anti-austerity strikes It's coming. Winter of discontent? A day of striking won't make a jot of difference IMO. If there's strikes it needs to be ongoing to make any leeway, again in my opinion, but the hardship faced by those who do it makes me shy away from the whole striking idea. I just don't know. T'werly to think about it really.



Back to battening my hatches and live in my world from day-to-day. At least I know what is going on in my four walls and just hope to heck my family can stay afloat.

Ergh! Need some happiness. I'm blaming this ruddy diet. :mad: I did very well yesterday but craving cheese and chutney sandwiches :mad: *shakes head. Going to have chilli and rice tomorrow evening, side plate portion and all. Jacket potato and tuna with tomato and lettuce if I can pick some up cheap in the Coop, for lunch and I need to restock the fruit supplies. We're down to apples, bananas and pears now (sometimes nectarines or plums if they're on £1 a punnet). I can't look at strawbs, grapes, rasps and blueberries anymore - they are just too expensive for the little amounts you can get.

Also going to work with cash as opposed to handing over my debit card. I'm very good at budgeting and recording what I spend but I'd like to see how much I have in my purse in the hope it will help keep the costs down and no more impulse rubber glove buys :eek:

Gales due this week

paidinchickens

Morning everyone.

Not that I'm a tennis fan but well done Andy :T

Going to try and have a good day as I have cat pens to paint and feeling a little run down to be honest.

Seriously dieting here as well. Fitness pal is permanently on the computer, must make it my new wall paper. I think I am in for a struggle as the pills I'm on put weight on but then so does emergency Ben n Jezzers on Saturday nights :rotfl:


Must dash, done all the mucking out etc so sat here for 10 mins with radio 4 and a strong coffee for company but the peace will be shattered any minute when the kids come down stairs.

Have a great day everyone

PiC x

Cheapskate

Morning folk

fuddle, I couldn't get your link to work, don't know if it's a hiccup or something more sinister (like being prevented from reading it due to social unrest reasons!), or simply the story's been removed - very strange! There's another article on there, though, that talks about the right to strike being connected to the ECHR, saying that right to protest about govt policy that directly affects social and economic welfare (i.e. losing jobs, no money therefore no food, etc.) should be legal under Human Rights Act. Something to keep an eye on, that could enable a general strike in quick time!

Well, the rain's arrived now, and it's rather windy, too. Hope to have a NSD today, use something from the freezer for tea, and need to bake as well. Like fuddle, I need to start concentrating on just us now and make sure we're ready for the harder times I'm convinced are around the corner. DH and DS call me Lemony Snicket, after Meryl Streep's character in the film, seeing catastrophe around every corner! :rotfl: Still not managed to see dr, scarce appts and I have to work all next week, but me time IS just around the next corner!

ETA: missed last of tennis, so absolutely delighted Andy Murray won at last, even more pleased to be half Scottish! :j:beer:

A xo

Pooky

Morning all, the rain has hit here too! I'm sure the garden will be very pleased of it.

DD1s first day at college yesterday, she was so nervous but came home happy, she made friends (she always does) and a group of them all went out for lunch together in the city centre. Another hurdle jumped!

Have two funerals next week, mon and tues, so need to have a serious wardrobe rummage and find something suitable to wear, cropped jeans and a vest aren't really going to cut it are they? I refuse to buy anything new. My main funeral outfit is a bit wintery for this time of year and probably a bit to snug.

Did some major bulk cooking yesterday afternoon and now have zero freezer space. I made some chicken stock too but have decided to use it in tonight risotto so I don't have to try and do the freezer jigsaw again.

mardatha

If anybody has any info on the info Cheapskate has posted about the right to strike for welfare/humanitarian reasons going to the European Court of Human Rights then please would you post it? Has anybody else heard anything on this?

[Deleted User]

Am enjoying reading about the cottages. We used to have one in the middle of no-where in n wales, it was so lonely and being English, we were isolated in more ways than one. Huge inglenook fireplace and surrounded by pawing snorting bullocks that were threatening. So nice to move away even though it had hugely thick walls and an aga, we were poor as church mice and had no water except from a tank on the hill that ran dry. An experience but not one to recommend

Having an easier day today, just have to finish off the crab apple/hedgerow jelly that dripped all night

Have a dilemma now re supplements. We take some supplements and have done for 30 years or more, also have a practitioner account at very respected manufacturer and supplier who adhere to the strictest uk standards ie not china and imported. The supplements are not cheap anyway but I have just had an offer of clinic sizes ie much bigger pots that work out cheaper anyway but also 5 for the price of 4, use by dates will be good ie 2014/16. I can save about 22% in all if I get these but I will have to find yet more storage. I am thinking about emptying the rest of my brined stuff out of the small fridge and keeping it at 10 degrees to store these and my bulk almonds, linseeds etc. Oh heck I could do without stuffing more stuff into the house but 22% is better than savings at 2.6%. I think I will do it, just have to transfer some savings first. So I`ll add sorting that fridge to jobs for today

Re cooked parsnips yesterday after making preparing parsnip juice for wine. They were excellent roasted, crunchy and tasty so wine for the cost of a few tsps of extras and 6lb of sugar, which I bought last year. Saved 20p on each bag of sugar so was also a good economic storecupboard buy. Haven`t had to buy any this year and still have quite a few bags left

Cheapskate

mar - took ages to find it again, moved well off the front page!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/sep/10/tuc-general-strike-anti-austerity-legal

Has it been shuffled away on purpose? Am I being a tad paranoid?

A xo

FairyPrincessk

I've just finished reading all of the new posts and now I've forgotten half ot it:rotfl: I don't know how the rest of you do it.

There has been another very large mess created at work. I'm so frustrated with the process and it makes me feel quite depressed about getting a job after I finish my studies, particularly if other Universities work this way.:( I do have some very lovely colleagues, however, and some of us have banded together and decided that we won't go along with this. When one of us is offered anything on a nod and a wink we bring others in. It just shouldn't work this way and it makes me quite happy that some of us aren't willing to participate.

The downside is I suddenly lost half my week in one feel swoop yesterday and still have no idea how many hours I'm employed for or which days. This creates problems as I have two part time jobs and really need to tell my other manager which days I can work. It makes me feel like such a flake. On top of that some of my training this week conflicts with training for the other job--it shouldn't be a problem to re-arrange, but again one boss has her stuff together and booked in ages and I hate making her re-arrange because others can't be !!!!!d. I try so hard to be professional, but I can't make up for all of the people around me.:mad:

That said, OH and I had a cozy night in last night. Gammon joint in SC got very positive feedback from OH, even if my yorkshires are still a bit heavy. I blame it on me being American;) Actually, they always puff up so nicely but as they cool down they shrink a bit. They look nice, they're just quite chewy and dense. I thought the gammon was still a bit salty, so will probably rinse it a bit more thoroughly and soak it for longer next time. Might do it with lentils in future.

Probably won't get to go scavenging for tin cans now, as will be working on someone else's clock for the rest of the week. However, I've got a trip to the craft store scheduled for the weekend's stock up tour of town so I shall endeavour to see if there is any bright paint suitable for painting tins. If it isn't too dear I might get some. I've scoped out a local plant man across from the leisure centre and it looks like he has some lovely flats for not too much.

Mardatha, not sure I'll have a chance to get on much in the next few days, but is there anything specific you want to know? OH knows a bit about things like this, could ask him although then he'll probably chew my ear off about something only tangentially related:D

Possession

So glad Andy Murray won. What a fantastic couple of months of sport we've had haven't we? And I don't even particularly like sport!