'supporting each other through really tough times'

alfsmum

fuddle wrote: »

Can I ask about lavender? Is it a plant that comes back every year? Would it grow in a pot? What uses around the house would lavender have?ight it help with the midgy problem?

Ta

Slippers finished they're more like socks but work all the same.

Sheila your environment sounds lovely. Whenever you talk about it I get a picture in my minds eye where I can be very happy indeed.

Oh alliums! I like those too. Do they come back year after year?

Fuddle, yes, lavender is perennial and will grow just fine in pots. It can get quite leggy if left unpruned so will need a good haircut every so often. There are some very pretty varieties and colours, I have a pretty white butterfly lavender bought as a present to myself after a particularly draining visit to the dentist a while back. There is a green grocer right next to the dentist so I promise myself a new plant just for going if I see something I like the look of.

You can hang up the stems to dry and make lavender bags or add to pot pourri. Dried lavender is also used in cakes though I haven't tried it.

Mrs_Chip

Afternoon All

Perishing freezing here, with a bitter NW wind blowing in off the Irish Sea. Sun popping it's head out now and then, but wind is so cutting, it feels like January!

Just been up to the garden to construct a wire netting cage around the bird feed to keep the Warmints off - big black greedy birds :rotfl:who are eating us out of house and home. Now my hands are frozen, but the cage is up and I can see on the cam the little birds are getting in ok, and very grateful for the suet being back. It's a very Heath Robinson thing involving chicken wire and bamboo, but as long as it works...

Came back in to the house and a lovely smell of pheasant stock - I got a brace of frozen birds for £3.99 in Cornwall, and made a delicious braise with white wine and butter beans with them. There was loads left so have pressure cooked the carcasses and made stock, to add to the meat to make Pheasant pie - I'm on a fast day and the smell is making me drool! .

Fuddle, I do think SAD can happen at any time - if someone does not get out of the house, or it there is just so little sun like now, it can affect your mood. Gawd help us if this is the pattern of weather to come in the future - we will all be grumpy and have webbed feet!

D&DD

Fuddle I seem to remember reading somewhere that Mint is good for keeping Midges at bay..or was it spiders or ants :rotfl: I'm not much use am I..*wanders off shaking head to kickstart brain*

Possession just had a thought do you have any stretchmark cream or know any pregnant ladies who have some??? Might work and be a tad cheaper,come to think of it I think I have some somewhere and my last pregnancy was 16 years ago..hoarder..me?? :eek:

Possession

LOL D&DD, that is a long time to keep it! No I don't have any and all my friends had their babies at least 8 yrs ago.

fuddle

I don't mind the smell but not sure if I'd like lavender in my cake:eek:

Possession I used to use neutrogena cleanser when I was younger but erm I'm 33 so that my not be a very helpful or up-to-date recommendation.

Meatballs and spaghetti for tea.

... And I'm very sorry but I can't make a nice cup of tea in the pot! :eek: using twinnings lose leaf breakfast tea and absolutely hopeless at the process.

No washer engineer :mad:

Wilkos cheapest for plastic growing pots? Am I right in thinking frost will crack terracotta pots?

Byatt

I really don't understand why people are saying HA's can't do this or can't do that, they can do what the hell they like within the letter of the law. Renting is very different now from what it once was, even the council in my area are taking a very different stance about length of leases, most often offering 5 years to 7 years. HA's are also a business I presume, when I was bidding for properties I pulled out of a HA one because I read their terms of contract and it was as bad as if I was private renting. edit, worse because I wasn't allowed pets.

No longer are houses for lifetime rentings to be treated as your home for ever ad infinutum, Popperell may well be treated differently because his name may have been joint but is now his alone, they are also a HA. Whatever the reason, they are presumably nipping in their bud what they see as a potential problem and no doubt have guidelines for hoarders or potential hoarders. For a house to take that long to set to order means there is a lot of stuff. I am not judging, I know what stuff I have.

I have hoarding tendencies and it was only last year as the result of a wonderful thread by Jo-Jo that I at last acknowledged it. If my LL had visited as the previous one did, it wouldn't have got to such lengths as motivation is key for me. I am not suggesting anyone on here has hoarding tendencies at all, but I understand it to be a mental illness often triggered by loss. Loss, has been my trigger. I now have a lovely home, yes a home, not a place I lived in and actually love it here but still know it's not "mine" and if I had to move again I would. You take you with you wherever you go.

Well done on your post Mrs LW, I was going to say something, not as well put, but along the lines of life now is a lot safer than it used to be and if there was a time to choose to live, this would be it. You can't go through life being afraid, it robs you of so much, I know as for very real reasons I have lived in fear. As for people swearing, well my grandfather was always praised for not swearing, my parents held him up as some kind of saint, what they didn't know was that he was molesting their daughter (me) on a regular baisis from the age of 4/5.

So I'm not afraid of life.It's not going to stop me going anywhere, day or night, or being who I am.

The saying "Feel the fear and do it anyway", has become a cliche but is no less true when first said than it is now.

shegar

Byatt very good post.....I do agree with what you say about the councils rules.....When I had mine , and moved out of it in 1997 things were different to what they are now, as you say a council house is no longer for life......

In our area now they are not accepting couples on the housing list...If you have a family you have to go through hurdles to get on the list..........

My friend as 4 children and she has been on housing list since 2000, she says how things are going the children will be grown up and left home before she even gets a chance to have a council house, she is in a 2 bed house,cramped is not the word for it.........

Each council set their own rules........

When I was in council housing I felt at least 90 per cent safe, then we moved to a smaller house private rental and I lost every bit of security I had, it was dreadful worrying if and when the LL knocked on the door that he was giving me notice to get out....But its the way it is going with social housing now........

Byatt the hoarders prog is on at 9 tonight, its the last one ..............Sheila

kezlou

Thats the thing byatt, council and housing association's have changed.
When i signed the lease for the property i'm in, its literally for one year. After the first year and house is in a good state of repair, had a suitable inspection then apparently its turns into a rolling contract.

Apparently they are allowed to have spot checks, inside and out, snoop around the garden to make sure it is kept tidy. Any complaint and apparently i could be out on my a$$ as its a breach of contract.

If i wish to change anything e.g !!! a fence / gate etc then i have to apply for permission before i do so.
My dad (he's my adopted step dad) on the other hand has lived his house for about 21 years his tenancy is secured and has never had his house checked. But he is an old tenant, if he chooses to leave his house then he has to make sure all repairs have been made or he will be charged for them. My dad is also coming up 66 and pays the majority of his rent and council tax, he doesn't come under the bedroom rules etc.

I think its a way to make sure they properties are kept in a good state of repair. I understand why they are checking pops property as he is a single person living in an under occupied house. Also he has had complaints which means they need to inspect the house and pops to make sure nothing is happening out of the ordinary.

To be fair for the amount of tidying pops is doing in the house must have been pretty cluttered. Not that i can judge as i did the same thing in my old house . We threw tons out and still have loads in the garage.

But like i say and i understand about living in the same house, my dad is living his house where my adopted mother died. I grew up there with him. It was our family home for all those years, but he is choosing to live in the same house. He knows if the council say leave then he will have to. I was on the council list for over a decade before getting this house, and i know a lot of people who are in the same boat. To reiterate what byatt said all private / social housing is not ours, it is not owned by us, we live by they whims and rules.


On an other note i've had some lovely recipes given to me for suet definitely going to bacon / leek one and the sweet dumplings. The children will love them. I was going to make them tonight but found a pack of sausages in the fridge so used them up instead in a casserole.

Just hoping DS2 will be able to eat some mash, poor thing as has half a slice of bread and five spoonfuls of chicken soup all day. Poor thing .

Popperwell

Not that much stuff really, what's taken the time is mainly deciding what documents should be kept/shredded and I am going through "Mum's" stuff.

I have(supposedly)the advantage of living here decades and my name on the rent book for over 30 years but it is true we all have to jump through hoops these days and yes new renters have a limited lease...the house itself only became untidy whilst actually clearing stuff to reduce what is here. So oing the right thing went against me.

There have been no complaints from anyone. And the property is in good condition. The central heating is checked annually and recently the wiring was checked and given the all clear.

The original Landlord(council)were ok with how it was...anyhow we'll just keep our fingers crossed. Its been virtually all paper work...you know bank statements/insurance/correspondence with DWP etc...

I rarely buy anything these days. My luxury is food. Entertainment is mainly via the internet.

[Deleted User]

POPS this is probably me being ultra suspicious but, you are absolutely certain that the people who came to look you over WERE from the Housing Association and not part of some sort of scam? Did they have official identification with them from the authorities? I assume that everything is above board and OK but that little thought of doubt keeps creeping into the back of my mind, Cheers Lyn xxx.

FUDDLE you can too make a nice pot of tea, heat the pot with almost boiling water and leave it stand for a couple of minutes. Boil your kettle and as it is beginning to boil empty the hot water from the teapot and put in the leaf tea, 1 good sized teaspoon per person and one for the pot. Make sure your water is actually boiling in the kettle and take the pot to it and pour the boiling water into the pot, pop the lid on, pop on the cosy and leave it to brew for about 7 minutes. If you don't like the tea you are using you might find a different type that tastes better to you, it's such a personal thing tea. If you are in a hard water area Yorkshire Tea make a special blend for hard water areas, I know you've mentioned Ringtons Tea in the past, do they still make it? if so might that be nice?

Lavender bags are made with the lavender seeds in the autumn and are lovely to put in with the bedding and undies to keep them fresh, they are also a moth deterrent, hope that's useful, Lyn xxx.