make do and mend for tougher times

Mrs_Chip

Hi Kate - Was this a trip north or east? if east, which were the suppliers? Mr B one I guess.

Glad doggie's ear cleared up - vets bills are eye watering. We spent £140 in a week on cat. Mostly down to the fact the vet would not listed to me, infuriating!

Fuddle - that old chap, does he live on his own? If so you may be the only peeps he gets to talk to? Perhaps you could make discrete enquiries. Althoug with a dog, he might get out and about I guess.

mcculloch29

Hello again, finally got a chance to read through.
Pops, I'm wondering about the Princess Royal Trust For Carers (PRTFC) having something to offer you/you them. They're in the offices behind Argos. I used to work with them quite closely when they were based at the PCP at Cobbler's Hall as I started off my teaching career there in what was then the training room. (The PCP has lots to offer as well.)

You may/ may not have received support from the PRTFC when you were caring for your Mum but they also support former carers.

Three older friends of mine were involved with them for years after their caring duties ended, attending coffee mornings, helping out at fundraisers. If that doesn't sound like you, they also use befrienders - people who visit those unable to get out, sometimes so that their carer can pop out to do what needs doing.

Those unwell or with loved ones unwell, (including pets of course), thoughts to you and wishing you and them strength.

A chance for me to count blessings... no new clothes needed for the winter or shoes is one. I bought a pair of sturdy boots a few years back that were quite expensive (for me), they didn't get worn last winter, but I have them.

My income from work has dropped greatly since this time last year and the future is not exactly clear at the moment, that's as much as I can say really.
I've not often had a comfortable income. I would say that for 90% of my life I've been near the edge, so it's nothing new. It was lovely when I had it though!
Oh well, it was good whilst it lasted. I used most of the surplus income to reduce the mortgage, pay for house repairs /maintenance and to get new furniture. My only extravagance is my lovely cleaner for 2 hours a week (I can't manage all my housework due to a combination of arthritis and not liking housework much anyway) There's also the tiny share in a racehorse I have. He is down to run in a few weeks. Both cleaner and horse may have to go, but not yet, hopefully.

I have tax rebates and a redundancy payment on to see me through for a while.
The work is still there, at the moment, just not at the level it was.

I expressed interest in a new project that's being launched - something completely separate from my current job - so will see in months to come if anything comes of that.

Now for some positive things.

All the talk of liver got me digging in the freezer. Lambs' liver is £1 a 450g pack in Her*n, so that was flash -fried in the griddle pan. My DS bought the cast iron griddle pan to do steak. I think I've used the pan for steak three times at the most. DS's bought his own steak a few times...

The liver was lovely, it really was. Served it with mustardy mash (mash flavoured with wholegrain mustard), peas and gravy.

From not watching TV for weeks at an end, I'm now getting some value from my TV licence. I watched Getting On late last night - gritty, true humour with the fantastic Jo Brand in it. I must remember to catch The Thick of It as well. QI too, love that.

Must get on with the aforementioned work now...

2tonsils

Well ,after five horrendous days of non stop thunderstorms and torrential rain we have now gone to the other extreme here in Greece. The sun is out and its 30 in the shade and the forecast says we have ten days of it to come. Very unusual at this time of year but it is more than welcome to stay like it. I had a peek in my diary and at this time last year we had 20 degrees in the day , torrential rain and down to 2 degrees at night! Last night it was 19 degrees.

All the wild flowers are coming out on the mountain roads we take to town and the hillside was covered in tiny wild irises and little cyclamen, it looks gorgeous. Most of our trees do not shed their leaves so it stays green for most of the winter.

Decided to take the car this morning and go shopping as its quieter on a Thursday. Pleased I did as the shops were near empty and the shelves were full of bargains compared to normal prices. Got some lamb chops for the equivalent of 8 euros a kilo which is very good and got the same amount free on offer. Usually its 14 euros a kilo and beyond my pocket, so stocked up the freezer. Both the fridge freezer and new chest freezer are now stocked full so won't be buying any more frozen stuff for a while.

On the 30 percent off section I got (all gluten free ) turkey cooked sausage, pork chops, pork cubes on sticks, seafood salad, honey roast ham and some chocolate biscuits for my OH. So did really well, if you go on Friday or the weekend there are never any money off products left. I also stocked up on cheap fruit and veg, but the potatoes were still at 75 cents a kilo...its a good job we don't eat many at that price!

Have done the last of the washing and its ready to hang out to dry. I don't have a tumble dryer and its too warm to put any heating on so I depend on the washing line to get the clothes dry. Even in the winter we get cold dry days so I can usually manage to get them dry by timing my washing according to the weather.

Still no firewood available for ordering , at this rate it is going to be Christmas before they start cutting it! Have all the doors and windows wide open at the moment to let the fresh air and sunshine blow through the house.

I have just had an email from easyjet asking if I would like to book flights for early next year to the UK at 60 pounds return....mmm...don't mind if I do! An early holiday might be nice in March or April and it means we could bring back stuff that is too expensive to buy here in Greece. Off to peruse the flight plans.....have a lovely day folks. Love and healing to all who need it xxxx

katieowl_2

Mrs_Chip wrote: »

Hi Kate - Was this a trip north or east? if east, which were the suppliers? Mr B one I guess.

Yes Mr B was one, the other is Castell Howell. They supply so many of the eateries around here, that it's rather disheartening to eat out. I recognise so much of the menu as being brought in from them. Not that there is any fault with the quality of the food, you understand, just the lack of input from the kitchens concerned!

When we called about joining we asked if they had a couple of specific things from the catalogue stocked there (we have the cats. at work) and they said they weren't regular stock items, but if we call in advance they would get them in. Next time we will do that. I've discovered simply the most wonderful chorizo made in cardiff, and I want some of the Halen mon vanilla salt to play with.
You should come with me when we go??? Won't be for a few weeks. Work were being weird about us ordering through them, but they are being weird about lots of things at the moment...I suspect the effluent may not be far from the air con! They presented the girls (including DD) with a zero hours contract to sign, and they are not happy bunnies. I don't know if there's one there for me yet - but I'm toying with the idea of just concentrating on the stall and my own stuff anyway. I MAY have a booking for our first pop-up private tea party last week of the month, so that looks promising!


Kate

Mrs_Chip

I'll have a look at them Kate, if it looks ok I can join then you could buy through me .

Just been told it looks like the car is a write-off, gutted is not the word

ginnyknit

Monnagran, understand your joy as GS completely, its the same here with DGS , every cuddle is a blessing. yesterday he cam and Oh was having a meltdown, DGS looked concerned and came over and took his grandads hand and led him into the kitchen to get him some currants then sat on his lap and ate them. OH soon calmed down and all was well.

Tried the doctors, next Tuesday before theres an emergency appointment but they will ring me if theres a cancellation. I have had a mix of meds/rest/pottering/ hot water bottle/ ibuprofen gel and things are improving, just a dull ache now instead of searing pain and the good news is Im covered for hard pad/distemper for 3 years :rotfl:
And my sense of humour is back

thank you all for caring, OH was worried which probably led to the meltdown as he was stressed all day, also posted ATOS form yesterday - recorded delivery and photo copy on file - along with another letter from his shrink pointing out that nothing had changed in the 6 months since she last wrote. She was really annoyed with them bothering us again.

Possession

For those of you with older children, just wanted to let you know, if you didn't already, about the Jamie home cooking skills website. It has step by step illustrated instruction for a wide variety of dishes and is great for teaching how to cook. I'll be using it with mine.
http://www.jamieshomecookingskills.com/index.php

fuddle

Thank you P I might actually learn something too

I did Home Economics at school but only really cooked every few month. I don't remember any real ground roots cookery skills just weeks and weeks of talking about and drawing about making pizzas etc. It was definitely more technology/scientific based as opposed to cookery skills.

Does anyone know what home ec. is like now in schools?

Tawny75

My dd does home ec for one term a year, she cooked all sorts of things, a lot of it seemed to be towards nutritious and cheap meals and treats. The stuff she cooked was really nice too.

mardatha

Sorry to hear that re the car Mrs C xxx