'supporting each other through really tough times'

nuttyp

morning everyone, just had a lovely letter hand delivered by DD. We have been invited to a wedding later in the year, im so excited!!! Its the whole ceremony and then a sit down meal, so i feel very privaliged to be invited. It is DD fiance's sister, complicated i know. Nice tho that we have been included in the close family section.

Lyn, what a nice way to have put things. I am now at the stage where i have start to either re sell anything that is not needed and mend what is needed. Any one have any advise on how to mend vertical blinds, far to expensive to replace but i washed all the slats and they just aren't the same now. Should i starch them before i rehang?

Fuddle, my youngest has been bullied because of height and also have the most amazing curly hair, it is lush. Envious little bogers used to call her curley cabbage head etc. Nasty!!! So we enrolled her in a school club for tae kwon doe. She competed for over 2 and half years and hers the proud moment, she represented team GB in the world finals in spain for 2011. She was there, no medals unfortunatley but she went and showed em' girls are capable too. She doesnt do it anymore, mainly as i cant afford the fees nor the competition fees either. Bullying stopped as soon as the school got told of her first medal, they announced it in assembly.

Yesterday i picked up a picture from the art place that had framed it for me. It is stunning, has my 2 girls with a dolphin that they swam with. What makes it even more special is we saved so hard for them to be able to both do it. Something a few years ago i would never believed we could ever do.

I watched the prison aylesbury show again from yesterday, what a shocking sight. One lad continualy got into trouble and had over 500 days added to his sentance. Mind you he did do loads of mad things, a hunger strike for 1 and a half days!! and then had a messy strike, it involved poo i will leave the rest to your imagination. OMG thats one job i dont think i have the urge to do.

Well must sort out, need to get cards for birthdays - i will be 41 monday- shocking.

nuttyp

just noticed on the grabbit board, dogs trust are doing free micro chipping for doggys. might be handy for some of you, as they are talking of it becoming compulsary in a year or so.

savingqueen

Hi everyone,

sitting here feeling sleepy after lunch. DH was snory last night and I didn't sleep that well.

Had a nice morning in the school nursery - lots of hugs from kids including a girl walking past from reception class who doesn't know me at all. There is a high (higher than average) number of children with behavioural problems this year and today I noticed a real difference in the behaviour of most of those children. Its amazing what the right teaching and environment can do. It's a joy to see them grow and develop.


Most of the parents do their utmost to bring their children up in the best way they can but there are a few children there with parents who often put their needs before their kids and it shows. I'm talking poor nutrition but money for fags, parent with a coat, child with none, swearing/belittling kids etc, it's a long list unfortunately. Those adults might put on an act for the teachers but I see them outside of school. There is only so much a school can do. Sorry to rant.

Just over an hour to do something useful. Going to make some biscuits for the kids after school and I'll make them a babychinno for a treat. Sort out pile of dishes and laundry and who knows might even have 10 mins for a last cuppa!

Hope everyone's ok today?

look after yourselves my friends

sq:)

[Deleted User]

I'm glad to say that this OS way of living has rubbed off on the girls. Youngest DD who got engaged at Christmas has just found the wedding dress and veil she wants. She didn't like anything in the big bridal shops, felt it was all too much both in cost and decoration and didn't like the pushiness of the salespersons saying you must have this and that, everyone does these days. My lovely baby girl has discovered that Oxfam have some shops with a designated bridal room and found the dress of her dreams and a beautiful veil, both brand new for £280 the lot!!!! She has also found a venue where she can have her wedding cake as the dessert for no extra cost, she is her mothers daughterI'm VERY PROUD to say!!!!! Proudly, Lyn xxx.

She even says she's planning to sell it on after the wedding as she wants some of the money back for other things!

the_cake

Advice please! The horsemeat scandal coincided with us getting a new kitten (Jeeves!) from a local rescue centre, and as OH and I now cook and eat everything "from scratch" I would like to feed the cats better quality food too (We have a 15 year old cat as well, also a rescue, been with us since he was 1). I buy as many YS bits and bobs as I can, so last time I went to the SM I managed to get some raw chicken wings, salmon, fresh sardines all reduced, and also bought some Basics beef (hopefully!!) mince. I cooked the chicken wings in the SC with a little water, then picked the meat off them with some nice jelly which appeared and put them into freezer bags, 2 portions in each bag.
Served the cats the beef mince raw, but with a little dash of hot water and Marmite (smelt yummy). Have also bought a bag of Iams cat food (reduced to £4 at the moment). I am planning to alternate the Iams with the fresh food ... reckon this will only work out very slightly more expensive than the pouches and tins I have been buying, and I prefer the look of it - cat food seems to look more and more "extruded" !
I know lots of you have cats, so any thoughts of how else, or how better, to use this new feeding regime, and what else to buy for them (we have a nice butcher in the local market I am going to see next time I'm in town on market day) would be really appreciated - by all of us. Many thanks.

Pooky

MS LW - good for her! I didn't have a big white wedding as its just not my thing, the thought of me in a white dress was to hideous to bear. I actually got married in a black velvet dress (that I still have and have worn loads) with a purple velvet long dress jacket (I sold it on afterwards at a profit). DH wore a new suit but he then went on to wearing it for work until it was fit for nothing. DDs had gorgeous floaty little pink dresses with tinker bell on, a very pretty bolero cardi and a fairy wand each (they were 3 and 5). The wands were from the £1 shop, the dresses and boleros were worn as party dresses until they'd both grown out of them and then I sold them on to a woman in Sweden who payed silly money for them (more than double what I'd spent originally and then £25 odd in postage). We did our own catering, had the reception at ours and had the best day ever. It was a small intimate wedding just the way we wanted it.

In other news, kitchens ordered! Eeeeek

mcculloch29

Angel_Jenny, my buddy, now sadly lost to dementia, used to call me Pollyanna as I had such a sunny outlook - except it wasn't as straightforward as that!
A lot of it was front, my life with my violent alcoholic ex could be very nasty at times. I had to look on the bright side as I needed to keep demons at bay.

Also when I moved to this town I needed to make friends and I smiled at EVERYONE when I was out and about. I still do, usually.

Thankfully, this place is lovely, nearly everyone talks to you, and I quickly built up friend networks through the kids' schools, childminding, clubs and societies etc.

Nuttyp, what a shame that you couldn't have got some sponsorship for DD - look at how taekwando star Jade Jones is now a household name following her Olympic win. Her whole town got the funds together for her to compete abroad and Olympic gold resulted.

SQ, I used to childmind for a right little beetch many years ago who sent her kid to me in the skimpiest clothing in the depths of winter. I would try and dress the child warmly but there wasn't always time to get her changed before the nursery/school run. I had to send her home in the skimpy stuff though as the warm stuff never came back.

My buddy (same one as above) used to ritually wash and dry the filthy clothing that a childminded child arrived in, dressing her for the day in borrowed clothing and sending her home in her own clean clothes.

The child's house was in a horrendous state and the child would inevitably be filthy again the following morning.
The Social Services driver who brought the kid reported that he was nearly sick when he went in - the furniture was caked in faeces, insect infestation was physically visible...
The mother was actually an outwardly pleasant person but had very poor mental health.

The last two weddings I attended, Lyn, the bride got the dress from eBay. One was my niece's. She saved about two grand on her dress. There's a sad story behind your daughter's brand new dress, so it's nice to think of it having a happy use in the end.

Pooky

the_cake wrote: »

Advice please! The horsemeat scandal coincided with us getting a new kitten (Jeeves!) from a local rescue centre, and as OH and I now cook and eat everything "from scratch" I would like to feed the cats better quality food too (We have a 15 year old cat as well, also a rescue, been with us since he was 1). I buy as many YS bits and bobs as I can, so last time I went to the SM I managed to get some raw chicken wings, salmon, fresh sardines all reduced, and also bought some Basics beef (hopefully!!) mince. I cooked the chicken wings in the SC with a little water, then picked the meat off them with some nice jelly which appeared and put them into freezer bags, 2 portions in each bag.
Served the cats the beef mince raw, but with a little dash of hot water and Marmite (smelt yummy). Have also bought a bag of Iams cat food (reduced to £4 at the moment). I am planning to alternate the Iams with the fresh food ... reckon this will only work out very slightly more expensive than the pouches and tins I have been buying, and I prefer the look of it - cat food seems to look more and more "extruded" !
I know lots of you have cats, so any thoughts of how else, or how better, to use this new feeding regime, and what else to buy for them (we have a nice butcher in the local market I am going to see next time I'm in town on market day) would be really appreciated - by all of us. Many thanks.

Please don't add marmite to it, far to salty for moggies.

All mine have been poorly on I ams so watch for signs on runny tummies, I steer well clear of it now.

I do Make up some pots of SC chicken chopped up, a spoon full of chicken stock (just water and bones, no seasonings) when it's nice and jellified, a spoon of cooked rice or mashed sweet potato is nice to add in and some finely chopped cooked carrots or peas. Mine wolf that down.

They have a tin of mackerel in oil once a fortnight, I split the tin between the 5 of them. I also buy the bags of frozen white fish and empty the bag into a lidded dish to cook from frozen, the resulting liquid goes down for them too and they fight over it.

They do have tinned food and biscuits too, I couldn't afford to feed them fresh every day.

the_cake

Very helpful, many thanks Pooky. Will avoid Marmite and feed Iams with care. Oh, and very good luck with your kitchen.... I am thinking of tackling our tiny utility room, which has been a complete tip since we moved here over 10 years ago, so please keep us posted on your kitchen; I am looking for inspiration and encouragement!

katieowl_2

mcculloch29 wrote: »

There's a sad story behind your daughter's brand new dress, so it's nice to think of it having a happy use in the end.

I thought that at first, and then it occurred to me that it might have been some lucky womans narrow escape from an !!!!!h*le and she found out in the nick of time!

One of my child minded kids...sure I've said this before...used to get sent in his sisters cast-off clothes. Not dresses, or skirts, but pink and flowery and 'girl' prints were apparently OK.
I used to change him into DS's stuff, not difficult to pull off subtly, as there was usually breakfast down his front. It was OK if we were staying in, but he came on playgroup day, and some of the other mummies were very sniffy. Poor little blighter didn't stand a chance in school. His favourite film was the 'sound of music' I believe he ended up in the army...

Actually thinking on about what a bunch they were at play group, they were very sniffy indeed about a mum who was only 19... I'd love to be able to tell them that that boy, is now 24, a good mate of DD's and was a visitor here when we moved down, and he is one of the most functional, polite and charming of all DD's friends! So there!

We had Environmental Health visiting the market today, which made us all quake in our boots...not that anyone has anything to quake about...it's just 'officaldom' and the effect it has! LOL. He want me to get a water hand washing unit, on top of using hand steriliser, because I am cooking, so I came home and made one out of a 2l bottle, a pump from handwash, and a drinking straw to lengthen the tube. Will pair it with a dedicated bucket and some anti bac. wash. Simples. It looks like a purpose built thingy is £150. Don't have that to spare!

Back to my washing up!


Kate