'supporting each other through really tough times'

Cheapskate

fuddle - so glad you're finally getting your own money back! :j

meme30 - there are loads of 4X4 drivers in these parts, plus some with flash cars, and they all think they own the road! They also can't/won't reverse, take up the wrong side of the road and think they're in the right.... You've def done the right thing, wouldn't have hurt him (except his silly pride!) to back a few feet!

It's blowing a gale here, my bins have blown down the road a few times! Hope everyone else is ok and doesn't have any damage.

A xo

sevenup01

OOOh that wind is cold today! I have been to see eldest daughter and put a bookcase together for her. I had to use a wooden spoon to bang the nails in at the back as she doesnt have a hammer and the spoon broke - whoops! We did giggle though.

Fuddle i am so happy for you that you are going to get your deposit back:j

My meal plan has been non existent for a few weeks and i really need to get back on it. Tonight is sausage and mash with onion gravy though and i have the legs and wings of yesterdays roast chicken in my fridge so i will make a pie with the meat. Its anybodies guess what we will be eating for the rest of the week Probably air pie and windy pud followed by arsenic and old lace as my nan used to say!

maryb

I find Aldi veg does go off quite quickly but I use the Lakeland green baggies to make it last. It's probably cheaper than buying from other supermarkets as you can re-use the bags quite a few times. However, I'm doing my shopping at - deep intake of breath- Waitrose atm.

I had some vouchers plus I get effectively 2% off if I pay with my John Lewis card and it's actually working out about the same. At any rate I'm not spending vastly more which is surprising because individual items are always cheaper at Aldi. I think the difference is, I'm only buying what I need. And the fruit and veg is lovely, I have to say.

I think what I might do going forward is go to Aldi once a month (ideally when they have a £5 off voucher which I think they do about once a month on average) and stock up on the things that are good value such as their frozen wild salmon, free range chicken etc, and then do the weekly fill ins and fresh stuff from Waitrose

Popperwell

shegar wrote: »

Panorama tonight BBC 1 @ 8.30," The great disabilty scam.." will be worth a look at....

Sam Poling , will be investigating the governments expensive welfare reforms that aim to get disabled people back into work, and asks who is really gaining from them...........I think its a " must see prog."

Very sunny here today, but not very warm at all, im going to have a quick shower then off to have a ECG, come home and light the fire for a little bit of cheer in such a depressing January, I hate January......

Well...it does seem that Panorama have started to look at this and been fairer in their reporting. A few months ago they simply had people as all being scroungers and fiddlers(of course their are a few but they are usually found out)and the national office of statistics have fraud as something like 0.01% and most of the welfare budget is spent not on the unemployed or ill/diabled but people who work in low paid jobs/paying pensions.

But the media and politicians will often say otherwise. At a time of belt tightening there is hell on that they might find money to spend on the high speed rail network. Instead of helping the disadvantaged, building affordable housing and trying to keep the infrastructure we already have working and is it so important to save 30 mins off a journey to London for a business person. Many cannot afford to use trains now...

Many more might benefit if they improved the bus services across the country so fares were less expensive and services were more frequent as people tend to make short journeys to work, hospital appointments, visiting friends/family, shopping etc...

Around the time of the Olympics Panorama did a programme that was critical and frightening on this topic and smuggled a camera into some assessments of people who were ill.

The same night Channel 4 had a Dr go under cover to work for the company who does the assessments. Both were depressing and frightening. I doubt things have changed and probably are worse. Or soon will be...

Thank you for the heads up about it being on tonight.

Popperwell

I hope that your ECG went better than feared and yes it is really depressing at present for so many reasons...not least for the horrible weather at present. The snow was bad enough but now we have the rain lashing down and the wind to go with it.

Popperwell

fuddle wrote: »

Oh thanks Lyn, hotpot is scaring me as I was brought up on corned beef hash - a watery mix of awfulness. I should make it myself to see what it's supposed to taste like.

I'll try that nutty. DH ikes stuffing so should go down really very well.

You can use more corned beef/potato and make it better than the one you remember I'm sure...;)

The last sage and onion I purchased I managed to get it in Tesco's in their everyday range for 15p a box...

Funnily enough I have some sausage meat, apple sage and onion stuffing balls left from Christmas I am going to use in the next day or two...

fuddle

I'm for the investment of our country and see it differently, maybe because my DH is in construction and I hear of how construction is a main player of our growth. Of course I want investment of affordable housing and the weak in our society supported, after all I think a country is only as good as the support it gives it's most vulnerable citizens, but I do feel that in 20 years time our rail network will be in a right state. It's bordering kaput now. We do not want to be left behind as a country. The railway network was born 2 centuries ago. Our beloved Stockton - Darlo. I think HS2 will help us up here. If we can manoeuvre from the city to up north in just over an hour, surely more and more people will do business up this way. We were the envy of the world and now we lag sadly behind. I say invest for our future, for our children's future. It's said it will ease road congestion, be a money saver as people move from air to rail, cutting carbon emissions?

We can't not do this just because our social pot isn't very full in my opinion. I support it. Here's to engineering in the UK for the UK.

Popperwell

I can agree with quite a lot of what you say...my Father worked in the railway industry and in the town with the most connection to it...you'll notice they've announced their intentions but are probably holding off because money is tight.

I think they could get the railways into a better state without spending just to save a few minutes on the journey and what is upsetting many is because most of the North is not included in the plan and then of course the price of travelling on trains is expensive now...

I do think getting the buses and roads into better shape initially would benefit many more, then look at improving the railways(it does need looking at)you could without needing to go faster. In countries the size of China and other European countries their is a lot of distance to cover but this country is small...generally I agree with you though...just coming at it from a different angle...

The rain has stopped:)and the wind dipped a little...

Popperwell

Back to the threads main reason for being here...us...I won't go all political. I promise...

Actually this programme is not like the other Panorama programmes and is asking why the system is failing those who want to work...

Final link...connected to the programme Shegar mentioned...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/ouch/2013/01/the_great_disability_scam_as_t.html

Byatt

Does anyone have an electric steamer? I was lucky enough to get a small one from the CS for £8, and have used it, it's very quick...just wondered two things, the cost of using it and what other things I can steam beside the obvious.