'supporting each other through really tough times'

mandym

annie123 wrote: »

I hate driving through that tunnel but as I'm near Crystal Palace and my dad lives in near Romford, it's either that or out and the QE2 bridge :eek:

Good price on the curtains can I ask which shop it is in Romford?

Hiya, have lurked here for ages but thought I'd de-lurk to suggest using the Woolwich Ferry to cross the Thames. I'm in SE9 and if I can, prefer to use it rather than the Blackwall Tunnel (which I also hate) or the QEII crossing (£2 each way!!!)

If you time it right there's barely a queue, but if there is, you can grab a cuppa from the tea hut and chill out with a book, much more civilised than sitting in a traffic jam.

I must say that this is a brilliant thread. I feel as if I know you all and have cried and laughed along with you and have made use of loads of the tips that you've suggested. Thank you.

Back to lurkdom for me now...as you can tell from my post count, I'm a woman of few words

greenbee

Kidcat - I use the biobulb brand of daylight bulbs, although I have used a different one for a desklamp and it is fine. As for the light fittings with lots of bulbs, I just don't bother replacing them when they go until it starts to be too dark I'm lazy, so of the 20 halogen bulbs in my kitchen (on 4 different switches) at least 6 need replacing, but it doesn't yet cause enough of a problem for me to feel like getting the steps out and dealing with them!

kidcat

Greenbee - I was doing that but DS8 and Ds14 get really upset when a bulb isnt working, they panic etc its their auty side

Byatt - thank you, both for the recommendation and the reassurrance that its not that high, it just feels high!

fuddle

It costs 5p per hour just to run those little spot lights in our kitchen. There was talk a little while back saying that halogen lightbulbs were going to be phased out next year because they are energy eaters. The only thing is the energy saving equivalent is said to be so much more expensive cancelling out any monetary savings.

The halogen oven kidcat runs at 17.5p per hour to run whereas our electric oven costs 35p per hour to run. So effectively cutting our oven running costs by half. We sit a lot with the fairy lights on but the amount of times I go upstairs to see 3 landing lights, 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom and 1 toilet light on when the girls are sat downstairs makes me grumble-mammy.

kidcat

Fuddle I walked out earlier to find the downstairs hall light on (two bulbs) the cupboard light (no idea why) the downstairs toilet, the dining room (5 bulbs) kitchen (20 bulbs), first floor hall, DD18 room (8 bulbs - she was in shower), DS14 room (he was in living room) and the top floor light, bathroom, DS8 bedroom, DD6 bedroom and my bedroom and ensuite all on. DD was in shower but everyone else was in the living room!!
I am really tempted by the lights that switch on and off automatically especially for bathrooms, cupboards and halls. I plan on having a chat with the electrician this week to enquire about cost.

whiteguineapig

Possession wrote: »

Yes use plain flour and stick a couple of tsps of baking powder in.

thank you, i fancy having a go at this, as it has no fat in , i have some plain flour that needs using, i will borrow some baking powder,,

many thanks possession

Possession

When we moved to this house 10 years ago and had a bit of remodelling done, we had halogen lights put in all over the place downstairs. It's no doubt why we have such high elec bills since the back half of the house is dark and we often need the lights on all day. Trouble is, I can't do anything about it or we'll have holes all over the ceiling. It's a shame really, if I could do it all again I'd do more than half of it differently.

kidcat

Possession - a few years back we were all being advised to switch to halogen, its amazing what a difference a few years make.

2tonsils

Flash warning of severe weather

Warning type: Heavy rain, strong winds, and flooding.

Heavy rainfall, in association with a complex frontal system, will move into western areas of the UK overnight tonight and into Monday. As much as 50mm of rainfall is possible, particularly across the higher ground of Western Scotland, though even to lower levels as much as 40mm is possible.

Given the already high groundwater levels across the UK, these rainfall totals lead to the risk of localised flooding.

The rain will be accompanied by strong to gale force winds, with winds once again strongest across Northern and Western Scotland.

The public should be advised that disruption to transport is a possibility in the affected areas

GreyQueen

:eek: Blimey, tie a brick to the cat's tail weather (daft family saying, meaning weigh the cat down so it doesn't blow away).

Not that the family cats will be doing anything other than jostling for position on the top of the radiator.

PAH Glad to see you posting again, hun, not glad that you've been in such a bad way with that medication. I would want to take advantage of the neurologist appt myself. I saw a consultant neurologist after a medical procedure coincided with a mini-stoke and also had my brain scanned.

No damage done, which was good to know. And it means if people look at my eccentricities and say You should get your head examined, woman! I'm able to retort I already did and it's perfectly normal in there!! :rotfl:

Although I can report that your eyeballs, seen looking down on MRI through the top of your skull, appear like two boiled eyes wrapped in hankies with the excess fabric twisted into a cord which are the optic nerves. Very odd indeed.

Any more news from katieowl? I was wondering how she got on at the A & E. I too know several people who've walked around on broken limbs (one of them SuperGran).

Smiling to read of people's doggies swiping food. One of the best ones which one of our cats did was when we had the carcase of a half-eaten chicken in the meat safe on the cold shelf of the larder. One of those zinc cupboards pierced with tiny holes, really OS.

Anyway, this one had lost it's doorknob in the course of its long life and we humans had to open the door by putting a knife into the jamb and prising it open. So, imagine our surprise when we came into the kitchen one day and found the ginger monster scarfing the chicken carcase on the floor. He did that looking-up-from-under-his-brows-whilst-not-actually-stopping-eating thing which cats do when they know they're wrong but they're going to get as many mouthfuls as possible before you chase them off their prey.

Unsurprisingly, we didn't fancy the chicken after that so he was allowed to have the rest after we'd picked the meat off the bones. We can only think that he hooked open the cupboard door and somehow managed to slip his claw-tips through enough of the tiny holes to get the meat safe open. You'd never think these animals were well-fed the way they scavenge.

Today has been glorious, in fact this weekend was a dead-ringer for last weekend with the rain on Saturday and the clear sunny skies on Sunday. Beautiful and quite warm once the early frost had burned off. I actually had to stop wearing my stupid furry hat after an hour.

I have found the following (and please bear in mind I've been cultivating this particular piece of ground for 4 years now); a Vaseline jar full of oily brown sludge, a tent peg, several large pieces of waffle carpet underlay, a four foot rusty metal pole of the kind used to hold up barbed wire, several bits of unidentifiable rusty misc and lots of glass, some 1950s lino fragments and a large toad.

Oh, and another bit of what appears to be early Neolithic flint knife. I was most chuffed about the metal pole as people on neighbouring allotments have a few of them and I was casting covetous eyes and now I have one of my very own.

Haven't the faintest clue what to do with it so have leaned in against the shed until inspiration strikes. The toad reburied itself safely, btw.

OK, suppose I should wash the dishes. Feel like I've spent the past few hours doing nothing but cleaning; the kitchen venetian blind, my hair, the rest of me, a laundry load, dishes, the stove, more dishes, the compost caddy...........

VJsMum, this washload shall result in a larger-than-usual Mount Ironmore; 2 hankies (one large, one small) and the cotton curtain out of the bathroom.

I have heard that some people iron towels but I've never met one to ask why.

Hope everyone has a good evening, GQ xx