'supporting each other through really tough times'

[Deleted User]

My friend has just popped in for coffee and to arrange doggie walkies this afternoon, she was really pleased that in the local shop she found pork sausages for £1 per pack of 8. Am I totally unprincipled to have suggested they were made from Badger? Followed by the aberant thought , spoken out loud obviously , I wonder how many ready meals you could make from an elephant? I think she is going home to make something vegetarian for tea, Bad, Bad, Lyn!!! He he he he he!!!!!!! Lyn xxx.

missrlr

Ha ha ha , oh please don't make me laugh I cough ... We haven't done shop bought stuff that doesn't look like the bit of the animal it came from for years and for that I am grateful now!

2tonsils

Lyn, you are so right...I hate having to ask for help in any shape or form but my OH was more than happy to help. My shoulder is a lot better and I have my normal grip back in my hand and better movement, which is a step forward from Friday. Since my OH still has a sore back and I have the sling on my shoulder.... I have realised how many people clap you on the back or shoulder to say hello and ask how you are. The Greeks don't ..they tend to fling their arms around you and kiss you instead....but at least it doesn't hurt when they do that!

Pops, that is what I did with the freezers. I had a fridge freezer and the fridge stopped working, so I replaced it with a large fridge with a small freezer top....and used the freezer bit for meat and fish. When it broke completely I bought a small chest freezer. I keep meat , fish and things I have cooked into the chest freezer along with bread and I keep the veg, fruit, ice cream and things like buns and cake in the small section above the big fridge. It works well for me as a system. I also keep all the cheap bargains in the small section and use them up within a reasonable time.

I laughed at your stir fry with so many veggies in ...I once got asked if I kept a vegetarian restaurant as I bought so many fruit and veggies. I was only buying for the week LOL I eat tons of it and so does my OH.....which is a miracle seeing that he would only eat baked beans and peas when I met him. I bought 4 avocadoes from a friend who grows them on Saturday and got them dirt cheap....and the money went to a charity she runs for stray dogs so I was well pleased. I love avocado...especially with prawns....mmmmmmmm

Very cold here but sunny again. There is just no heat in the sun at all. Thank goodness they got the forecast for storms wrong but they are forecast for the rest of the week. I have no doubt we will get hail again and high winds. We seem to be stuck in the pattern for them.

I am enjoying reading all your news and updates. Hugs for all who need them and support and love for all the others. Thank you for the good wishes for my shoulder to heal quickly. I get to see the good looking Greek doctors again on Valentine's day! Hope it gets better soon as my OH is taking me out for a gluten free celebration meal on the night and we are going to a nice get together with friends on Saturday night, when they cut the good luck cake for the new year. I won't be eating any of course due to the gluten, but I might just check the lucky gold coin isn't in my piece of cake before giving it away!

nuttyp

Well ive just finally stopped, done one load of washing and dried it in the tumble dryer. Cleaned bathroom again, and the kitchen worktops. Prepared tea for OH and DD. All put int he slowcooker, so stew thingy for tea. I have a lettuce and salad cream sandwich with a yoghurt :-(

Just taken my mum and her friend to the toen bus station, they are going on holiday together as they are both widowed. Now this may sound bad, but just once can my brother/his wife help. Mum will be home friday afternoon late, i will be at work. She has asked tobe taken home, i can pop out of work but my SIL doesnt work but wont come and collect her. My mum often has there 3 kids. Sorry to sound harsh but over the last week or so ive decided to not let anyone walk all over me again. Things have to change and that includes my husband and kids. Just feel like, oh well 'sam' can do this and do that. So again ive ran around like a blue bottom fly and im tired before i start work.

It is turning very cold here now, have just topped up the prepay meters with £10 each. Hopefully they will last until the weekend.

Have a great day everyone x

Popperwell

Have woke late to seemingly to a sunny afternoon...well I was late to bed, I started burning the music I have on PC to disc again...more upto date and as a safety measure in case pc's or hard drives fail 20+discs and over 16,000 songs:eek:but as long as I can stay online, there is so much access to music and radio what I like(often free)it is just as easy to listen than attempt to buy and I could never store or afford all I would like to own and I am too old now to catch up on all the great music they are re-issuing and making available. There is not enough time to listen to everything even if I tried to do so 24/7.

I can't change that!

No snow and the sun is shining...

Possession wrote: »

DD has been complaining of stomach pains for at least a week now and at times they seem particularly bad. I've been working on the basis that it's a virus but if it goes on much more she'll need to see the doctor. Am slowly working my way through our stores, but have decided to start the 5:2 way of eating, so fasting for 2 days a week - must be the cheapest diet there is! I've lost a stone in 5 weeks so am happy so far.

For anyone who still does buy a newspaper(I haven't for years)I save the money(I gave up on tv listings mags too after losing Mum)I see for this week for anyone interested in the 5/2 diet(well done Possession)that the Daily Mail is running a week long series.

It says "Dieting can be hard work - day after day of surviving on tiny portions of unappetising food and going to bed hungry.

But don't despair - in a major series which starts today, the Daily Mail is bringing you a revolutionary new diet that is fabulousy easy to follow - and clinically proven to work.

Diet just two days a week - eat normally for five. This diet is clinically proven to help you lose weight. Don't miss the 2-day diet all this week in the Daily Mail!"

They are selling this as a diet and many here have had success and found it an easy plan but from memory though weight loss happens, the documentary and the Dr who did the plan on tv was pushing more the way his health had improved rather than weight loss(losing fat, blood improving, less liklihood of certain cancers or becoming diabetic etc...)

Hope that your DD soon feels well, stomach ache isn't nice and though I don't get it often myself, I have had occasions in the last few months where I have had similar problems but long gaps between and recently it seems to have stopped altogether.

silvasava wrote: »

Pops - been catching up - you could also make a pancake and stuff it with your stir fry ingredients for a change???

Another great idea, thank you. Unless, something unexpected happens I am having my stir fry this evening...just have to get a few things about cooking sorted in my head. How much oil in the pan(what kind)I only have olive oil and when to add the sauce I am using etc...

And I suspect I will split what I have into two smaller portions and eat it today and tomorrow(and have my pancakes too tomorrow)

I could vary it slightly by having chicken today and prawns tomorrow.

I have put cabbage, carrot, kale, onion, mushroom, cauliflower, broccoli, celery, leek, beansprouts, red peppers into my version.

But I suppose just about any veg could be used(another time I could add peas and sweetcorn)

Might have to see what recipes are online...

silvasava

Pops - for stir fry you need to have the pan VERY hot so I don't think olive oil is suitable for cooking at a high temperature. (sure someone here can advise) You only need about a tablespoon of oil though at most.

Just done a search Pops - Olive oil is OK - sorry

This might be useful http://www.veg-world.com/articles/stirfry.htm

elizabunny

Well I'm frozen! I have checked the thermometer and it says 20c in here but it feels like about 10c. It started snowing last night at around 7pm and it's still going -possibly around 2/3" of lying slop.

I took the doggie out for her jaunt this morning, we did a couple of miles, but the lane was awash with several inches of slush. Some motorists were very careful and passed us slowly -others, well they just couldn't care less (and the less said about that the better:mad:) Needless to say, I got very wet! I had a hot drink when we got back but I'm really cold still.

'Roland' UPDATE, he has not been spied since last Thursday :T DH keeps checking that nothing has been digging under the fence, but it all looks ok at the moment fingers crossed. I saw some nice heavy duty bird feeders in the garden centre yesterday and there was an optional large tray that can be screwed on underneath to catch the falling seeds. So I think I will invest in a couple of those asap.

I need to do something inventive now with several pounds of cherry tomatoes, otherwise they the will go off and the 4 large punnets I bought for £1 on Saturday will no longer be a bargain. It will have to be low cal. though as today is a fast day on the 5:2 diet. I think some will possibly go into a fish stew.

Managed to get into the Greenhouse for an hour this morning and get some Radish, Rocket and Broad Bean Seeds in -it was obviously freezing in there to (no wonder I am so cold) but I've popped the frost guard heater on now just to keep the chill out a bit. The seeds have a heated cable under the soil, so I hope they will be ok.

Keep warm toughies and watch those slippery pathways. My doggie nearly pulled me over this morning when she took a fancy to another doggie the otherside of lane, little horror.

[Deleted User]

ELIZABUNNY something I've done with our excess tomatoes is to semi dry them in the oven and then put them into sterilized jars in the fridge covered with olive oil. They should keep for 4 - 6 weeks like that.

Cut cherry tomatoes in halves and put onto an oven tray. Sprinkle with salt and black pepper and the grated rind of an orange and a little dried thyme. Drizzle over a couple of tablespoons of olive oil and cook in a preheated oven 80degC/175degF/60deg Fan for about an hour and a half. It's best to do this in the evening then turn off the oven and leave the trays in overnight as the oven cools down. They are really nice and can be used in salads, with pasta, on pizzas etc. It's a very versatile ingredient. Hope that helps, Cheers Lyn xxx.

Charis

stiltwalker wrote: »

Hi Angel Jenny - that sounds like about the amount a full BA or BSc honours degree with the OU will cost you now - but bear in mind that you can get student tuition loans to cover the cost as long as you don't already have a degree) and you pay those back out of earnings but not until you are earning a reasonable amount (was 21k think its going/gone up to 25k) and it is an affordable repayment amount.

Sorry, misread Angel Jenny's amount as £150000. £15,000 is the current fee for the OU Social Sciences Degree, for the whole six units as Stiltwalker has mentioned.

Possession

I'm watching Sugar: the Bitter Truth https://www.youtube.com/embed/dBnniua6-oM
If you want to give up soft drinks watch this and you'll give them up immediately. I have really cut down on the children drinking them and hardly ever have them myself now, but it still made me shudder.