'supporting each other through really tough times'

Popperwell

kidcat wrote: »

Pops - I meant to say earlier, I think your shopping budget sounds good, if you can manage to shop and turn out meals for £1 a day thats excellent, I have never worked ours out, to be honest with all the different meals I end up cooking it would depress me to know, but I can guarantee you I cant bring my meals anywhere near £1 a head every day.

Apologies if I miss some of you with Thank You's, I appreciate all posts even when I can't add anything...

Occasionally Kidcat, I can spend more but that is usually when I am having to use something up...

Tonight, I added some fish and later may have a small desert and a cup of coffee so I have cheated today. Back to normal tomorrow.

it's been trying to snow since 7pm but so far it has not laid and it doesn't look like flakes.

I did go out earlier to a free concert, the first by a newly formed Town Choir...they were good but the two pieces they chose I have to admit were very hard going and very heavy.

They asked for a donation at the end which was split between the foodbank on the town and a charity that is run by/associated with the footballer Alan Shearer.

wondercollie

cat_smith wrote: »

I have Lassie. (See avatar). We found a wonderful brush that we use about 5 minutes a day on the difficult bits. But if you leave it 2 days it takes 20mins.

Your avatar could be our boy's twin! He was rescued when he was four years old. His family got divorced and nobody could take him. He picked us and has ruled us with an iron paw ever since. He's been with us two years this month.

kidcat

Pops - what an excellent idea for them to support the food bank, it will also raise their profile so may well be worth more than just the money IYSWIM.

the_cake

Wondercollie - just a thought about your chap's matting problem - could you look into using some horse grooming spray? We use stuff like Show Sheen, or Cowboy Magic Detangler (I think that's what it's called!), and once you have got the hair smooth and untangled, you spray it on, and it helps keep it untangled for quite a long time. I think you would have to check with a vet. that it was OK to use on a dog, though, as they lick to groom, where horses don't! HTH
Very grateful that it's not as cold here as it is there .... best wishes, the cake

savingqueen

Did lots of food shopping today, plenty of veg, some meat and fish to make various meals with, fresh stuff for fridge etc. Already topped up tins and dried stuff and flour etc for baking in the week. With stuff in stores, fridge and freezer (including last of Christmas goodies) and extra cat food and litter and toiletries/loo roll etc, we should be fine if the weather turns bad as predicted. Feel so much better knowing we are prepared, before Christmas I ran down the freezers and felt quite insecure.

Off to bed with lappy now, DH wants his PC back hmmm
sq:)

cat_smith

wondercollie wrote: »

Your avatar could be our boy's twin! He was rescued when he was four years old. His family got divorced and nobody could take him. He picked us and has ruled us with an iron paw ever since. He's been with us two years this month.

Oz is a rescue too. He was about 7 when we got him. He picked us too. He's now 12. He rules - we've bought a house based on the fact it has no laminate flooring for him to skate over:D We were told his owner got married to someone with a child who was scared of the dog. Having seen him being ridden by babies and small children I can't believe that. I think they couldn't be bothered with grooming and walking. :eek::eek::eek:

Will post more photos.:T:T:T

cat_smith

He's who gets me through tough times.<a href="http://s1204.beta.photobucket.com/user/cat_smith1/media/Picture064_zps7e53ddd9.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1204.photobucket.com/albums/bb401/cat_smith1/Picture064_zps7e53ddd9.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"/></a>

Own_My_Own

I have been though all our food cupboards and the freezer, and I feel a little calmer.
There is enough food there to keep us going for a couple of months, bar fresh bits.
I have listed everything, and tomorrow I will work out what meals we have.
I will not say 'make', as I am not a great cook. I really don't enjoy it at all, so compared to most of your kitchens our cupboard contents probably isn't great, but it does us.

I tend to just add to jars of sauce rather than make my own. Ds, who has asd, only likes very plain food, so I dish the kids up first then season mine.

Am watching a repeat of the Sweeney on ITV4 (well it would be a repeat wouldn't it) My goodness, it is bad.:rotfl:

stiltwalker

Unix - good luck for tomorrow.

Wondercollie - Absolutely no idea on the matting problem and that is after having (being owned by!!) a full collie and a collie cross patterdale terrier - Sadly both are gone now and much missed and although both DH and I would dearly love another dog and even DD piped up the other day "I wan dogdee" it would not be fair on any of us considering all else, but I do love hearing everyone else's doggy tales. Thinking on though it may be at the root of my current interest in felt making!!! lol

I tell you what I must be poorly - I forgot to tell you our really wonderful joint birthday pressie from the oh so wonderful MIL. A voucher for dinner at a ....wait for it.... 2 michelin star restauraunt near my parents that I have only been lusting over forever. We are so going to have the poshest evening ever!!!! MIL has been coluding with my parents as they will be babysitting and acting as taxi service for us. Part of me thinks OMG I could feed us for a month for that!!!!! but the complete foodie part of me doesn't give a monkeys as someone else has paid! It is also so wonderful that both our families have really taken on board and are supporting the promise we made each other when we got married - to make sure we took time for just us rather than getting us yet another next voucher bubble bath set or something like that. DH's brother also got us a nice chunky cinema voucher for our birthdays as well. Think we might have to keep the resaurant trip secret from DD though as she may never speak to us again if she thinks we've been eating 'nice' food without her!! Family joke is that she'll be a restaurant critic when she grows up (DS is going to be a pot holer or a mechanic - he is such a boy - we only have to walk past the garage in the village and his little eyes are drawn and he's making his interested face).

If I were feeling better I'd be dancing round the room - as it is I'm just jigging on the spot!

ETA: See I said you had it all in hand OMO - And sometimes a great variety can be a drawback rather than a bonus, the number of times I stand in front of cupboards/fridge and have completely no idea what to cook is legend. If you tend to use jarred/packet sauces anyway do you use Approved Foods at all? They do short/past date stuff for sometimes silly prices and you can have a serious store cupboard for really quite a small outlay. I don't get a huge amount from there unless they have some basic ingredients stuff available as I tend to cook from scratch - having said that I was a chef before I gave up work when DD came along so that's my thing and I'm as fond of a jarred sauce in a lazy or simply haven't the time moment as anyone else.

wondercollie

Oz is one handsome senior Collie!

WC has his doctor's appointment this month, so I'll ask about mane spray. There are a lot of horses near us (the Army stables are up the road) so it shouldn't be too difficult to find.

A friend who adores and has German Shepards warned me about the fur shedding issue while we were thinking the adoption over. I thought she was just trying to get me to take a GSD because she knew of some local rescues!

Enjoy that Michelin restaurant. We once ate in one by accident when we were young, foolish and in Brussels. Still remember it fondly.