'supporting each other through really tough times'

grandma247

Fuddle you could get your DD's to help make a paper mache treat pig or some other animal to save the money in

Shortbread with a tartan ribbon tied round it would be "special" for a lunch box.

A sash made from tartan, either a scarf or a cut up item might work.

Popperwell

Had a talk with an organisation that advises people with housing problems(you know the one)I'd have less rights if I was renting now and had not been a tenant for as long as I have but without getting the advisor into trouble he thinks that my HA have been underhanded, devious and heavy and my reasons for why things were as they were are reasonable.

That procedures were not followed. That I should consider complaining and that hopefully I'll get an apology/have the complaint removed. That I was at a disadvantage because there were two of them and only me on my own.

That I have a right to know what they are doing with the images and whats on their records about me and not to take the complaint up with the person who came out but hopefully someone who is independent.

He also suggested taking images of the house to show how tidy it is(as they did to support their case)he seemed to suggest in a roundabout way that it was strange taking images. That there was no mention they were going to inspect the house when they called the reason for the visit was for something entirely different

And getting an official warning is not what was said when they called as they kept emphasising they were only watching out for me and trying to be helpful.

He also thought reading my correspondence was wrong. So I have to decide whether to wait until they return and make the complaint or do so now.

Also to talk with CAB as if this is common practise and others are having problems it will flag up that there are problems with how HA is going about its business and CAB may raise concerns...

If it did go further I can seek legal advice...but hopefully that won't happen.

Emm-in-a-pickle

My lot (including long-term fosterlings) were clad mostly in either Ethel Austin stuff or home-sewn/knitted. Sometimes they were actually envied by their friends, and their friends` mums! OK, I did get a bit fed up of the Roland Rat,and Care Bear jumpers, but there were lots of other patterns that were easy to personalise and one particular dress pattern (think Railway Children, dress & over-pinny/tunic) with options for long or short, frills or without frills, sleeves short puff/long puff/sleeveless that did for summer or winter fabrics, the variations I got out of that were ENDLESS!
Taking the kids fabric shopping was all part of it too.
They could (and did!) do a bit of picking & choosing, and DD loved wearing `home-made` right into her late teens. They loved being asked where did you buy that? and being able to answer " Oh, you can`t BUY these, you have to have them specially made!"

grandma247

Emm-in-a-pickle wrote: »

Oh, you can`t BUY these, you have to have them specially made!"

PRICELESS :T :rotfl:

[Deleted User]

FUDDLE the easiest Scottish costume I can think of is a scottish dancer which is basically a simple white dress with a tartan sash that goes over one shoulder and ties at waist height,tartan ribbon in thier hair, a pair of white socks and black pumps (plimsoles by any other name). Lunch box items a Floury Bap which is served at breakfast in Scotland maybe with honey in it, a piece of homemade shortbread, if you can find them and the girls like some Raspberries as these are widely grown in Scotland, and if they are allowed some Iron Bru to drink. They will be the envy of the class!!! I'd buy the elder one cardigans that the younger one can inherit in the fullness of time for an easier life now!!! Cheers Lyn.

MAR can tell us what else is normal Packed Lunch fare in Scotland I'm sure!!!

FUDDLE I have a spare plain white flat sheet that I don't use that I could easily send you to make dresses from if it would be any use, with GINNYs Tartan that would be the whole thing for both of them, PM me if you'd like it, Lyn xxx.

ginnyknit

Fuddle I have an entire roll of tartan fabric, if you pm me your address I can pop a piece in the post for a sash no problem. Its just sat there waiting till its needed by anyone.

GQ you took me back to long past days - donkey stoning the steps was my job (im only 53 yer know). I also had to help my auntie on wash days and was terrible at pulling the sheets straight, I must have driven the poor woman mad. One big social event in my teens was going to the wash house with a trolley piled with dirty clothes. I loved it for some strange reason. Mum and Dad worked in a factory after the bankruptcy and were dragging us back up to some level of comfort so I offered to go to the wash house as my friend and her Mum went with their extended family in tow. Our treat was chips from the chippy opposite the wash house which we balanced on the clean, ironed and folded washing and ate as we walked. Eeh lass hard times but fun - well it must have been cos I did it for years. I often think I dreamed some of the things we had to do to get through but my friend still talks about it when we meet so it must have been true

Byatt

Thank you for all your lovely support yesterday, it made such a difference. I'm feeling loads better today and back to my onwards and upwards mode!
edit: Kidcat, hope your tummy gets better, I will message you soon to let you know how things are with my DD and her current support. So far I have been very impressed, especially after the last lot. My worries were not dismissed and I felt validated, I also found out more things but that's another story!

Popperwell, in my opinion I would put the complaint in writing now and email/post tomorrow, as I can't see the wisdom in delaying, all you need to do is write it out as you have in the above post, factual and not emotional. You can also add you have written after taking appropriate advice. You don't have to say who from.

Popperwell

Thank you Byatt,
One excuse they gave said that the rubbish in the kitcjen was blocking the door into the passage but how do I explain...it wasn't a bag of rubbish and what was on the floor was not a pile it was level and I could open the door, It was cleared within minutes of them leaving...if they'd been later it would not have even been there.

There is not as much rubbish/debris as they suggest.

Byatt

I don't think you have to explain, but express your complaints as stated in your post above. Attach photos along with the explanation.

The fact that you are taking action regarding the points they raised will be in your favour.

Try not to worry.

GreyQueen

Hey, ginny, I'm only a few years younger than you but sometimes have a similar sense of having lived thru distinct eras, such as the tin bath and the kitchen copper for boiling the wash.

I've talked to quite a few of my peers who grew up in villages in the sixties and no bathroom was the norm. Mum often remarks how she never considered it was strange to be living in a cottage with her foster-parents in the 1950s which had electricity but no water.

If you wanted water, you had to go to the dairy (long since redundant but once a working part of the farm) and pump it up with a hand pump. And slugs would often come out of the pump as you did so. Grandma (her foster mum) used to wash her hair in rainwater from the waterbutts, it was soft water and supposed to be much better for your hair. I guess it also had the advantage of being right at the cottage and not having to be bucketed up from the dairy.

We didn't do donkey-stoning (don't think it's a particualrly southern thing), but there were things everybody did, such as whitewashing the kitchen yearly. Cleanliness had to be done and be seen to be done. Regular working class people were very proud.

To this day my Nan (90 in a few weeks) thinks eating off a table without a tablecloth is uncouth.:rotfl:

Although we're not as strong as we were 30-something years ago, I suspect some of us would adapt to privations more readily than those coming up behind us who've always had central heating and hot running water, and cannot imagine life otherwise.