Preparedness for when

[Deleted User]

calicocat wrote: »

and new cat toilet.

What on earth is a cat toilet :huh:

katep23

GreyQueen wrote: »

:eek: I wonder how old your colleague is? To someone like me who can remember the 1970s very well, this smacks of irresponsibility. Have they no sense that M & S might not always be stocked?

She's in her 40s but from what I can gather her parents had cupboards filled with out of date food so she has gone to the other extreme.

Broomstick

Thanks Dawn, Mojo and Bob. I'm wondering if I still have an old camping kettle that has seen very much better days tucked away in the shed. I can't remember if it got decluttered during our move earlier in the year. If I do find it, I may have a go with it and see if it works since it is on its last legs. If not, I'll try the charity shops and see if I get success there. I'm also tempted to use my small cast iron (french company) pan to see if that works to make welsh cakes and drop scones on top of the woodburner (and griddle bread too but I've never tried that even on an ordinary stove). I can but try. I also cooked on a coal fire in the past - thanks for reminding me of that. Don't think I boiled water though.

Bx

jk0

It's not just the elderly who get on suckers lists. I have an African friend who is only 43, who I'll refer to as K.

He is poor as a church mouse, and always dreaming about winning the lottery. Unfortunately, he always responds to PPI phonecalls, African lottery, you name it, in hope of getting cash.

The other day he asked me how all these people knew his phone number. I made him laugh when I said they Google 'gullible Africans' and K comes up.

Mojoworking

Broomstick wrote: »

Thanks Dawn, Mojo and Bob. I'm wondering if I still have an old camping kettle that has seen very much better days tucked away in the shed. I can't remember if it got decluttered during our move earlier in the year. If I do find it, I may have a go with it and see if it works since it is on its last legs. If not, I'll try the charity shops and see if I get success there. I'm also tempted to use my small cast iron (french company) pan to see if that works to make welsh cakes and drop scones on top of the woodburner (and griddle bread too but I've never tried that even on an ordinary stove). I can but try. I also cooked on a coal fire in the past - thanks for reminding me of that. Don't think I boiled water though.

Bx

Ooh broomstick an idiots guide to drop scones and welsh cakes please x

Softstuff

Mojisola, you're right, the prepaid plan is a very different thing than the funeral insurance touted on telly.

GreyQueen wrote: »

If the family are trustworthy, might it be possible for a close relative to hold a sum in a dedicated bank account to pay for the relative's funeral expenses, even if it was a fund they contributed to, in whole or in part? For peace of mind and removing the percentage merchants from the deal.

The reason for my family choosing the plan over this was the continual increases in cost of funerals. We noted that the increase in cost was drastically higher than bank interest, therefore for us, it worked out better. And sure as the sun will rise, costs will only continue to go up there.

Believe me we're the last people to head for anything sold by a celebrity :rotfl:

There's a lot of people who prefer everything to come out monthly. From house insurance to payments on a sofa. I've always preferred, with everything I can, to get payments out of the way quick and in a lump sum, that way if the proverbial does hit the fan, as it has for us sometimes, at least that bill is done and dusted. And if I can't pay it that way (unless it's something like rates) we don't have it.

jk0

Here's an odd one:

As you guys know I make my own bread in a bread maker. The other day, I found organic flour at Sainsburys, so thought I would give it a try.

The loaves it produces are only about two-thirds the height of the non organic flour.

Why on earth would that be?

Softstuff

jk0 wrote: »

Here's an odd one:

As you guys know I make my own bread in a bread maker. The other day, I found organic flour at Sainsburys, so thought I would give it a try.

The loaves it produces are only about two-thirds the height of the non organic flour.

Why on earth would that be?

It's not a coincidence in timing and your yeast is just not as fresh? Can't imagine what otherwise, it shouldn't be any different.

moneyistooshorttomention

jk0 wrote: »

Here's an odd one:

As you guys know I make my own bread in a bread maker. The other day, I found organic flour at Sainsburys, so thought I would give it a try.

The loaves it produces are only about two-thirds the height of the non organic flour.

Why on earth would that be?

Wondering if that flour would be milled from a different type of wheat?

There is more than one strain of wheat, so that would be my first thought. Maybe, if bread height is important to you, perhaps you could find a different make of organic bread flour and see if the same thing happens?

Softstuff - I also go for paying some of the bills in yearly lumps, rather than monthly instalments. The tv licence and insurance are "yearly lump" bills in my book, as they work out as costing more if I pay them monthly, but the added thought is there in my mind of "Right...they are paid up for the next year...so if my income takes a hit over that time it will help cushion things". Come my revised State Pension Age then I'll be back to a manageable level of income and it will be secure from there on in, but I'll still stick to those bills being on a yearly basis. Right now...whilst I'm in between retirement age and my revised State Pension Age I have to "save up" over 2 months to pay that insurance bill, but I'm still sticking to yearly basis for that.

GreyQueen

jk0 wrote: »

Here's an odd one:

As you guys know I make my own bread in a bread maker. The other day, I found organic flour at Sainsburys, so thought I would give it a try.

The loaves it produces are only about two-thirds the height of the non organic flour.

Why on earth would that be?

It might well be that the organic flour doesn't have addititives called 'improvers' which cause greater uptake of water and air giving you a bigger, fluffier loaf for the same volume of flour. They're extensively used in commercial bread bakery.

I hand-knead and bake organic stoneground wholemeal flour most weeks and it is a very different product to breadflour and very very different to anything you buy in the shops. Am eating it as we type, just with butter and it's nutty and savoury and is only flour, oil, yeast and water. The loaves are smaller, denser, and stick by you.

If you still have the packaging for the non-organic flour (or can check it out when next shopping) look for the ingredients list and see if there are 'improvers' on there. If you've considered all the other variables such as yeast, temp and time, it may well be that.