'supporting each other through really tough times'

Popperwell

The_Dragon wrote: »

Oh shame about Dressers (and thank you for remembering the name :rotfl:), and the rest of them, Darlo used to be quite good for shopping, I guess everyone goes to Newcastle now

It's been years since I went to Newcastle(decades)but if you have nothing special to buy and you can get it locally...)why do so.

It is only recently I visited Durham and if it was not because of tourists going to the cathedral or castle(and the students living there for the University)it has gone back over too.

My worked in Dressers for a number of years...Robinsons and the Coop...all since disappeared.

smileyt_2

Wow, fifteen pages already!

Mrs Chip, glad you posted, I was wondering where you'd got to.

And welcome newbies, pull up a chair. We need a 'put the kettle on' smiley!

Kittie, thank you for the weather warning. I will do an online dogfood order and stock up now, get some fresh veg tomorrow and then I reckon I can sit out a couple of weeks of bad weather if necessary. Although I hope it's not too bad as I won't be able to cycle to work in snow!

Fuddle, one of my friends is an alcoholic, and although I do love her, I've had to cut ties for the time being as I just couldn't cope. We would arrange things and she would let me down time and time again and could never remember conversations we'd had. I just didn't have the energy to deal with it. Some people are 'energy vampires' and will drain you if you let them. As I have no-one else to rely on but myself, my energy is too precious to allow it to be drained. So I understand your feelings. I think you have to apply that maxim of accepting the things you cannot change. xx

The cat in the Christmas tree - very cute, but I can see the mischief in the eyes ....

I've had to turn my fire off as I was too warm :T. Mind you, I am wearing thermal long johns, hiking trousers and three layers of fleecy stuff, including a thermal base layer! My neighbour thinks I'm nuts but it keeps the heating bills down. I'll put the heating on for an hour later as I think when it's so cold and damp the house needs heating through once a day to stop damp setting in. The house was so cold earlier that I was wearing a woolly hat. However I did shave my head last night and let me tell you, a skinhead provides no insulation whatsoever :rotfl:!

My gold crown fell out last night . Luckily there is no pain so I haven't been scrambling for an emergency dental appointment. But goodness only knows how much it's going to cost to replace. Oh well. I'll have to phone the dentist on Monday and take a deep breath. Perhaps I can leave it a while and save up if they can just glue the crown back on temporarily. Why is dental treatment so expensive?

Before I forget - Stiltwalker, I'm so glad you had a lovely day and I'm really looking forward to seeing your photos!

Right, off to my neighbour's for a cup of tea and a natter. My clubbing days are most definitely over! Lots of love to you all xxxx.

[Deleted User]

Didn't look that way KIDCAT, they had a slump to their shoulders and were looking stressed, but if they couldn't afford him then it was a very brave decision and probably better for the dog. What cost when you love them eh? Love yours extra tonight, Cheers Lyn xxx.

thriftyniftyme

Kidcat, they are gorgeous They look so snuggly together. Do they groom one another? I love it when they do that lol

kidcat wrote: »

Mrs LW - maybe they were going to find him a friend? I hope so, I hate to think of an elderly couple having to give up their beloved pet

Me too. What an horrific way to lose a pet you love.

I got pretty depressed the other day when someone on another thread suggested that people only 'deserve' food bank help in a crisis if they've had their pets euthanised out of desperation first.

I've got a fair bit of food here that Baloo can't eat any more (poor dear has a sensitive tummy!) and I have to admit, I have pondered the possibility of a pet food bank. I had been meaning to call the no-kill shelter to donate the food to them, but now I am wondering about the feasibility of an emergency pet food stash? It'd help the shelters if more people were able to keep their pets - the ones round here are full to bursting, that's why this girl resorted to social networking to rehome him in the first place.

GreyQueen

Oooooohhhhhh love the cat-in-the-christmas tree, it's a dead-ringer for one of my parents' cats, a snooty little piece of probably-oriental & Heinz 57 extraction. She doesn't climb Christmas trees but does look at mere mortals with utter disdain at times....unless she wants a lap or some grub, of course.;)

One of the cutest things I ever saw was back in Xmas 1984 when both the folks and next door had young cats about 7 months old, each on their first Xmas. They sat upright under our tree, each with one paw raised, batting a swinging bauble to and fro between them all wide-eyed with the wonder of it.

Seriously awwwwwwwww moment. And that black and white cat is to die for, shove over Lyn, I wants him too.

Fuddle, I have relatives I can't stand and one day I'll have to go to their funerals and attempt to look sad. You can't choose your relatives but you did choose your DH and you're a Mam in your own right and you're a great one to your girls. You can't change her, she probably can't change herself, and it's something which just has to be endured.

I know someone who emigrated to Australia to get away from her Mum, so you're braver than they were.

Nothing terribly exciting going on here, just pootling about doing a little light gardening (and hiding in the shed from a torrential shower at one point). I took the enforced idleness as an opportunity to consult one of the gardening books up there and balackcurrants apparently really thrive on manure which explains why mine tripled in size this past year.

Who knew? And I should have pruned it in Oct but I'll do it now and hope that it hasn't noticed the month has changed.

Whoo, getting a bit excited about the possibility of snow. I have Yaxtrax and walking poles, hiking boots, will soon have wellies, big faux-fur hat (on head right now) and thinsulate gloves and an ankle-length wool coat if it's really really cold.

Should be OK now. Pal from the Highlands told me that 2 winters ago his van spent 8 weeks stuck in a snowdrift IN HIS GARDEN. Told him he should've SORN'd it.:rotfl:

[Deleted User]

THRIFTY - I'd have me put down first, Docky is part of our family and I'd go hungry myself rather than part with him. Easy to be judgemental about other peoples lives isn't it? I wonder how they would have felt if it had been their own pets!!!! Lyn xxx.

kidcat

I think a pet food bank would be great, we have had several stories on here over the years of owners struggling to feed pets especially whilst waiting for a benefit claim.

I am going to go on Monday and buy more dog food and cat food just in case, as we are down to two weeks worth in store. Bad weather would decimate my store and I dont like the idea of being so low. I was aiming to have six sacks of dog food built up but have been so busy its been difficult to get myself organised and get there.
I was hoping to investigate Costco for sacks of dog food, litter etc but again havent managed to get there again yet. Its all about time for me, my dad was moaning I havent done some stuff earlier today and I pointed out that its been non stop since DD18 birthday nearly a month ago. I genuinely havent had a day where I have said oh look I have some time to myself at all.

If the snow does hit it will certainly make my life much harder as apparently the last major snow (2010) the whole estate closed down as cars couldnt get out onto the main road. I cannot see why the families didnt all get together and spend a day clearing the road - so am hoping that if it does get bad I can rally the troops and get everyone moving again.

I have just looked into benefits in case OH does lose his job and am seriously worried about my mortgage, currently mortgage interest is paid at a rate set by the government, which bears no relation to how much interest you actually pay. If you have a really low interest rate that means you can pay towards your capital as well but if like us your rate is high then it doesnt begin to cover it:eek::eek:. All I can do is hope that we can get the mortgage protection in place and that once that runs out we have managed to get OH re-trained and back into work.

Adorian

fuddle wrote: »

...

This is what we're staying in when we go to France. Tiny but quite nice - it'll do me!


My mam told her friends that we were visiting Paris instead of the South of France and she was embarrassed to tell them we had to get the coach right down to the South of France. I must be such an embarrassment to my mam - good :rotfl:...

Ooh! Jealous, Fuddle! that looks really nice. And also bigger than my flat with an outside bit that has SUNSHINE!

My mum used to tell people I was an accountant when I was actually a graduate trainee in the Accountancy department. I hated it and got a different job and I swear she took it personally. "My daughter the accountant" suddenly was "my daughter in local government admin". :eek:
Parents eh? Lol!

kidcat

Adorian - my mum didnt tell anyone she knew that I was pregnant with my first at all, then came a close family friends funeral, I was eight months pregnant and waddled in, I swear their jaws hit the floor!
In fact she wasnt too keen on telling anyone for any of my pregnancies.

ginnyknit

had a couple of hours shopping today , lots of mince and veggies to make ready meals. I got a ys bag of sitr fry after a lightbulb moment - de-hydrated it all as its ready chopped. It filled the de-hydrator and only cost 60p :j Ds helped me carry all the shopping in and announced he had bought me a present - 4kg of gammon from MR T for £3.99 much better than flowers :rotfl:

Called in Lidl, big tins of mushy peas 13p and 5kg of onions £1.99. 1 litre of tomato passata was 79p. Then Mr S for the mince, cooking bacon and margarine for pastry. Goddness gracious prices have shot up again.

Quick visit to the market for barmcakes and a kg of lemon madeira cake for 75p - wow thats a lot of luscious cake - I certainly couldnt make it that cheaply and he thinks he may be getting other flavours, allegedly M&S but I dont really care.

this is all part of my plan to re-fill the freezers and save cash for the next month. They had huge turkey crowns on the market for £25 but way out of my price range :eek: Fuddle well done on surviving Mums visit. Stiltwalker, glad you had a wonderful day - well deserved, cant wait to see the pics.