'supporting each other through really tough times'

GreyQueen

Possession wrote: »

Fuddle I wouldn't put stout into your tea ...

My thoughts exactly. A brandy might be a better option.

maryb

had a busy day today making my sister's Christmas prezzie - she wanted marmalade and the oranges have only just come in the shops. I couldn't find my tried and trusted recipe and dug out several books which all had completely different amounts of water and how long to cook it for.

Eventually I remembered it's 2 pints of water to a pound of oranges and cook for 2 hours then add 2lb sugar. Nice and simple. So many of our traditional recipes are much easier in imperial measurements than metric. Another example is crumble topping - 6oz flour 3 oz butter 2 oz sugar. and i think shortbread is similar. There's no intuitive sense to those recipes when they're translated into metric. I did try very hard to get used to metric when my DDs were born because I thought they wouldn't have a clue what I was talking about otherwise but imperial is just so much more user friendly. You can divide 12 by 4, 6 or 3 so easily

Interestingly, they do use inches more easily than centimetres despite all their maths lessons and textbooks being metric. So maybe my OS recipes stand some chance of being used when they eventually cook on a regular basis - as opposed to just baking cakes (AKA eating most of the cake mix)

fuddle

Stout in my tea? I have no clue what ive wrote now. Hang in there folks, normality will resume Tuesday.

Just found out they've altered the bus route to school and no longer serves where I live anyway. We will be soaking on the wet days.

Why is everything so damned hard. I'm searching so many solutions and nothing is working

Edit: well, just spoken to DH and there's a plan. He asked what my worries were and its crossing the dual carriageways at peak times. I'm petrified I make the wrong call. Yes the distance is a big nuisance and now we have no choice but to walk in the rain and over the bridge in strong winds. All the worry is bubbling away. First decision - no holiday to Provence. We used the holiday money to move here. £650 bond, rent in advance and £350 agents fees, we had no choice but to use it. We were planning on using our old deposit to pay for our holiday but its not a guarantee we're going to get that back, not all of it anyway. So, as soon as we get whatever we can of that money and save as much as we can in the next month or so then it goes on a runaround car. In order to pay for it's upkeep ill have to get a full time job and pretty quickly. I'm really scared. I feel like we're spending money we just don't have in order to get by. I'm worried our bills take us under again. Anyway, that is the plan. I'm alright with plans, even if it doesn't work out that way at least I can cope with the here and now.

Thanks for listening. I feel at rock bottom. I was so determined to be successful with this wasn't I? I rely on myself. I don't cost money. I do things but its just not safe crossing the roads. The distance although a right pain would never have scuppered me but my anxiety tears its ugly head agian. I'm not a failure though, and I am not buckling at the first hurdle and I am not getting something (car) that is a want not a need... I don't even want a car, I feel I need one. anyway, there's a great possibility that I could be on the job market in the next few months! I will celebrate that fact. I did want a new life.

DH is going to try and collect us on the afternoon crossing as that's the worst. If he can't well walk to tesco and do a bit shopping an visit the cafe until he can get us .always a way huh?

kidcat

Fuddle contact your educational welfare dept, cry if you need to, explain that you are desperately trying to do the right thing and get your children to school but its too far and too cold etc, your youngest is only four. They can access stuff that isnt ordinarily available, especially if there is a risk a childs attendance will drop. Which is entirely possible if one of you falls ill, lets be honest, if your youngest was poorly, none of you would go.

Uniscots97

katieowl wrote: »

I'm not sure I used a recipe as such I'd been eying up one on the internet that was clementine and vanilla...and I'd been told by someone to make it set, I needed to add the juice of a lemon to it to increase the pectin. I think I followed a hybrid of the WI recipe and the one online, but I forgot the vanilla!

WI tangerine marmelade is 1kg of fruit, with a grapefruit and a lemon (I just used a couple of lemons) and 1.5kg sugar. I just sliced the clems very thinly as I wanted lots of peel, simmered it with some water (they said 2.7l for a kilo of fruit) until the peel was a bit tender (not two hours as suggested) and then tipped in the sugar, and lemon juices and boiled to setting point on a Jam therm. It's quite a solid set as it happens, but heavy on the peel as that's the bit I like best! My benchmark for marmalade is the one i used to get on day trips to France which is whole slices of orange set in orange jelly

Kate

Hi, I'm going to be making this tomorrow and I meant to ask how long will it keep?

fuddle

mardatha wrote: »

Fuddle just buy a tins of Birds custard powder and mix it with sugar & milk!

kidcat wrote: »

Fuddle contact your educational welfare dept, cry if you need to, explain that you are desperately trying to do the right thing and get your children to school but its too far and too cold etc, your youngest is only four. They can access stuff that isnt ordinarily available, especially if there is a risk a childs attendance will drop. Which is entirely possible if one of you falls ill, lets be honest, if your youngest was poorly, none of you would go.

Thank you kidcat it's all stored in case I need it. Educational welfare. Ill remember that .

katieowl_2

unixgirluk wrote: »

Hi, I'm going to be making this tomorrow and I meant to ask how long will it keep?

If it sets well and you pot it up in properly sterilised jars..months, dare I say well over a year :P

If it's a bit slippy sloppy, I'd keep it in the fridge and use it before it goes mouldy or at that point.

But this is me you are talking to. I keep jam/pickle forever/until it's used whichever happens first....and I ate Haloumi dated begining of December for dinner....

Kate

Rowan9

bluebag wrote: »

I always try these days to surround myself with positve people. I don't mean happy, clappy everything is always alright people.
Just, honest, optimistic , willling to offer support, people with integrity.

Freindship to me is something that needs to be nutured, it is also very much a two way trade.

I have reached an age where I can ditch the negative without agonising about it and getting angry. At my age I haven't got time to waste on wastes of time.

I try to see the good in everyone, but sometimes I have to dig too hard for it to be worth it. I find it best to peacefully let them go.

Thanks for posting this Bluebag, I really enjoyed reading it. I agree with the positivity in your post. I also wonder if being a lovely age has something to do with it . I walk about at work with a big smile on my face and think I am lucky to have a job I love and even to have a job these days. Sometimes I might not feel like smiling but i still try to. The same thing with surrounding myself with positive people - I know what you mean. If lunch break turns into a moaning session, I usually go off and read a book or go for a walk. I really think listening to constant moans can bring your mood down. re seeing the good in people - I think it's a good thing to do/ try to do. Everyone is 'me' to themselves, if you know what I mean. If I can't see anything obvious I sometimes say thanks for the good within so-and-so. But then, I believe in all this you are what you think about most stuff .
Now, having said all that, I also understand depression and also understand a problem shared etc.
Colder here tonight but the sun was shining all day:T.
Been round to DD's for tea which was delicious. She is off travelling tomorrow for 3 months so I am looking forward to pics and emails from here from warmer climes.
Have a good evening all
Stay safe Softstuff
W

Softstuff

bluebag wrote: »

Softstuff,

Have some rain... please, as much as you like, plenty, even lots. Feel free, fill your boots, load up, go mad with it.

We have loads and loads of it to spare here. Loads!

We don't need enough to flood again either! The last floods are what caused the growth that's now on fire. But thanks for your kind offer, we'll have some.

fuddle wrote: »

Softstuff, it's dreadful situation for you over there. Is it likely to cease any time soon or is this a season long risk? I know my friend who moved over there a few months ago is really struggling with the temps.

It's likely to be all season this year. It's the hottest for a bit, so no wonder your friend is struggling. It's just one of those things in Australia though, we get the lot, golf ball sized hail, floods, fires, thunderstorms that rattle the house. And don't get me started on bugs, those are my real problem :rotfl: You sort of get used to it for the most part though. Winter you wait for flooding, summer you wait for fires. I really struggle to understand the people who live in very bushy areas though, as it is so dangerous. I was surprised when the inlaws moved there. The thing is, in Australia, people prefer to live in huge acreages even if they're in a fire risk zone or flood plain, rather than a house or smaller unit in town that's safer.

Sorry to hear about your walk Fuddle *hugs*. It is a bit of a trek in the cold and I agree it might be worth looking at alternatives like a bike.
I haven't made gnocchi yet, but I gather they're easy to make and harder to cook correctly.

Katieowl, that just sucks. Plain and simple. They need a piece of your mind :mad:.

Kidcat, you had a similar day in the kitchen to what I had yesterday! I did a cheese and ham loaf, a carrot cake, a batch of marzipan cookies and a tray of chocodile slice. Though my OH was more impressed, mostly because he'll be eating it all!

Thanks WMF, I'm sure we'll be fine. I made hubby assess our fire risk the other day, we should be ok.

Oh and incidentally.... ooh mi knees :rotfl:

bluebag

Softstuff wrote: »

We don't need enough to flood again either! The last floods are what caused the growth that's now on fire. But thanks for your kind offer, we'll have some.




It's likely to be all season this year. It's the hottest for a bit, so no wonder your friend is struggling. It's just one of those things in Australia though, we get the lot, golf ball sized hail, floods, fires, thunderstorms that rattle the house. And don't get me started on bugs, those are my real problem :rotfl: You sort of get used to it for the most part though. Winter you wait for flooding, summer you wait for fires. I really struggle to understand the people who live in very bushy areas though, as it is so dangerous. I was surprised when the inlaws moved there. The thing is, in Australia, people prefer to live in huge acreages even if they're in a fire risk zone or flood plain, rather than a house or smaller unit in town that's safer.

Sorry to hear about your walk Fuddle *hugs*. It is a bit of a trek in the cold and I agree it might be worth looking at alternatives like a bike.
I haven't made gnocchi yet, but I gather they're easy to make and harder to cook correctly.

Katieowl, that just sucks. Plain and simple. They need a piece of your mind :mad:.

Kidcat, you had a similar day in the kitchen to what I had yesterday! I did a cheese and ham loaf, a carrot cake, a batch of marzipan cookies and a tray of chocodile slice. Though my OH was more impressed, mostly because he'll be eating it all!

Thanks WMF, I'm sure we'll be fine. I made hubby assess our fire risk the other day, we should be ok.

Oh and incidentally.... ooh mi knees :rotfl:

Just watching the burning trees and smoke and devastating property damage on the news, my heart goes out to those who have lost homes.

My dd just came in as it was on the news and thought it was footage from a disaster movie ( I watch a lot of them), it was so vivid it looked unreal!

Sincerely hope for no injuries of loss of life.