make do and mend for tougher times

VJsmum

MrsLurcherwalker wrote: »

Cor GQ I'm really glad you haven't got Damsons too, I was beginning to think there was a pandemic brewing. Just back from loosing the Pub Quiz again but at least we're consistent!! I've just had a bright idea, all of you who have pylons could band together and start a new OS energy company - howzat for a good idea? Gawd help us - ducks and runs!!!!!!!! Night, Cheers Lyn xx P.S. Hope the anti biotics have kicked in by now and you are feeling much more comfortable L.

So now you've got a touch of the damsons and the pylons? you'd better get some horse pills too!

Hope you feeling better, GQ.

Well, Typhoon Sanba seems to have burgered off and hopefully my flight will go today. Loads were cancelled yesterday - and I got absolutely, bl00dy soaked. Literally to the skin - even my undies were sopping YOu only get an OO with a typhoon (sorry, I'd get my coat only I left it at home) (checked - my flight has left for Seoul but is already scheduled to be a late departure - and it ain't due to go for about 5 hours!!)

Not keen on the winter weather predictions. I'd stay here in Seoul but theirs are worse and I'd have to live on pickled, fermented cabbage with chilli. Times is tough - but not that tough. (actually it's quite nice!). THanks for the "what to grow linky" will look at that when I get home.

I have been awake since 4 - it is now 7.30. I won't get home till 11.30pm tonight - so I hope i get some kip on the plane. Goodness knows what state the house will be in but it will all have to wait as am at work Wednesday and Thursday. Won't be making much sense, I think.

Keep talking - I will spend most of today sitting around at airports so i need you to keep me entertained!!

Popperwell

Stay safe and wishing you a safe journey VJ...

Just watching that programme i mentioned about food...they talked about the wax on lemons(one is mainly plastic)the other is shallac which is natural but really the pee and waste of a type of beetle but what interests me is how many recipes on tv show a cook putting the zest of a lemon in the dish they are cooking so does this mean they are putting either of this in the dish?

Can you buy unwaxed lemons?

And perhaps the information of which type of wax the lemons we are buying should be on the lable/packaging...

Glad the link about Winter vegetables was of use to you...

Now they are showing how they make formed pork and they use salt peter in the curing of the ham...what you find out about the food you eat...

smileyt_2

VJsmum wrote: »

S


Keep talking - I will spend most of today sitting around at airports so i need you to keep me entertained!!

It's nearly midnight here so I think you're going to be lonely as we are all off to bed! Popperwell might stay up, he sometimes burns the midnight oil, but I don't know of anyone else on here who regularly posts in the wee small hours!

I'm a bit frightened for this winter, actually. I was using Martin's excel budget sheet earlier on. I need less than £11,000/annum to cover absolutely everything - insurance, dog stuff and vet fees, travel to work, utilities, food, rent, Christmas and birthdays, everything - but I find myself in a position where I can't get a job to pay that much as I can't work full-time due to my health. I do bring in some money from the supported lodgings, but my current lad should be going at the end of November and I think I will need a few months' rest and recuperation before I get the next one! My GP was asking today if I'd applied for DLA, but I have no chance of getting that. I'm not disabled/ill enough for benefits but I'm not well enough to work enough hours to make ends meet. I would still do the supported lodgings even if I had a good job, I just wish I wasn't in a position where I need them as much as they need me. At the moment the future looks quite bleak. I could save money if I didn't have the dogs but I would rather live in a cardboard box under a bridge first!!! In fact it's safe to say I wouldn't still be here if it wasn't for them.

I'm sorry, that's a depressing post, but I'm sure there must be others on here who face the same dilemma. WestcoastScot for one, I know! Anyway I will go to bed, things will no doubt look better in the morning, tiredness always casts a grey haze over everything!

It could be worse - I could have an attack of the damsons ..... :eek::rotfl:

Greyqueen I'm not surprised you were feeling poorly. I'm thinking just where did that nurse put that spatula before or after its intended destination!

I will be more cheerful tomorrow - it's my friend's birthday so I will be making her a card, a teapot design with 'Happy Brewday' on it, and a box of Earl Grey teabags (her favourite) to go with it .

VJsmum, have a safe flight home xx.

Popperwell

Its a worry isn't it Smiley, no wonder we are depressed. Like you I wonder what I will be like income wise and what I can absorb or what they'll take off me...

It's all up in the air...we do try to stay cheerful though...like you I may be taking in lodgers in the future...

Try and sleep well and lets hope tomorrow is a better day and we can see something good in it...

x

fuddle

VJsmum have a safe flight home. I've never been wet through to my undies :eek:

smiley your doggies are your babies and they don't cost any where near as much as a couple of kids You can't put a monetary value on your little ones as much as I need to make sure the girls have hearty meals and warm clothes. Do you know about PDSA? They are a pet health charity. https://www.pdsa.org.uk/pdsa-vet-care/eligibility you are required to pay a donation towards any vet care a pet needs but it's a donation, not a high required amount. HTH and take some of the strain away

I too appreciate the veg link. I think what I'm going to do is see how I get on with my spring cabbage and turnip. I'll plant some garlic now but nothing else until the turn of the year on the window sill. I'm going to be on the look out for pots, labels, blood fish and bone and compost over the winter, as well as seeds when I see them at a good price. Also save yoghurt pots and look into how to grow on my kitchen window sills.

I trimmed back the shrubbery yesterday and today I'll dig out the weeds running alongside the drive. That is where my peas will go next year. Also when I'm taking Alfie for a walk I'll look to take a few cuttings of the blackberry plant that has given berries profusely this year should that have fruited out now.

It's roll up my sleeves time and try to get a working garden.

Also, thank you to whoever it was who suggested making their own broth mix. I looked into my packets to find they consist of pearl barley, lentils and dried peas. I have pearl barley and lentils in already and can do without the dried peas. So obvious really.

Popperwell

Fuddle,
Hopefully your turnips will be a success. I tried many moons ago and failed but I really wasn't trying...They that say garlic is real easy.

Political point coming...It's bad enough the changes coming in for those who need help from the state and I always make the point others working are struggling too.

Well, it has just said on the radio the government are now thinking about stopping the automatic increase people who are on benefits or have their wages topped up that puts perhaps an extra £1-£2 in their pocket to allow for the increase in inflation. Certainly they are likely to be frozen for two years...

So that is really another cut. Not sure how much more they can keep chipping away at those who are in the main at the bottom of the pile...

Oh well...

Back to other topics in line with this thread about being OS.

And hopefully we'll hear from Soft Stuff about working in the CS and her first day.

Speaking of which I must try and have a look in some of the larger CS when I get my next bus ticket that allows me to travel out of town.

For anyone around the UK looking for discount on clothes, shoes, wellingtons etc...try this place...I was in one last week and they had some great bargains and may have more suited to winter soon such as hats/coats/pj's/scarfs...it still seems funny that ours in the small and virtually shop free town of Shildon. It is a pretty big store. The latest clothes are in the leaflet but they may only be available at the shop not online...

I see there are branches in Liverpool, across the North(including Spennymoor and Crook)Northumberland, Yorkshire, Lancashire, Wales, Cumbria and parts of Scotland etc...so there could be one near many of us...Reminds me a bit of B&M but they don't sell food.

http://www.theoriginalfactoryshop.co.uk/

Well, I'll go back to sleep I guess(all seems well when you drift away)

fuddle

I'm not hopeful of any success pops. I have not got a clue what I'm doing.

A question for you all. If I can make my own baked beans using haricot beans and don't have a canning machine could I store them in sterilised jars? I would like to batch up baked beans for the month. I doubt my batches would last any longer than that. Is it a viable option health and safety wise?

VJsmum

Don't the americans use jars for "Canning"? Maybe an american site might help?

Popperwell

Hi Again...

Found this...

http://www.deliciousmagazine.co.uk/recipes/baked-beans

Who would have thought?

Anywhere near your flight home VJ?

So much for me going to sleep...

fuddle

That's the best recipe I've seen for them. Thank you. It says I can freeze so that may be an option.

Thanks VJsmum, I'll look canning up american style.

Looking at the price of haricot beans it doesn't look like it's a money saver to do it myself. I'm pondering. I feel an experiment coming on :rotfl:

If you're wondering why I'm up it's because youngest DD woke me up screaming as there was a spider next to her face on her pillow and then the dog was ill regurgitating a stone. I haven't slept since 1.30am.