The OS Doorstep - a helpful and supportive thread in these tough times

candlelight_2013

VJs Mum. That is good news. I know you were worried about how to approach DD without upsetting her.

These young people know a lot more than we give them credit for, and she is obviously a very wise young lady. You will worry of course when she moves away, but she clearly has coping mechanisms already so she should be fine and you are only at the end of a 'phone if something crops up that she isn't sure how to deal with.

I wish her all the luck in the world at Drama school and in her career.

Candlelightx

[Deleted User]

Hi IVYLEAF thank you for caring the Dockling is fine now, just a blip but he's good at those since puppyhood!!! We gave the treats that upset his tum to the little cocker spaniel pup next door who loved them and consumed same with no ill effects. His biggest threat today is ME as I called He Who Knows to do the 1.7 mile trip to the local centre to collect me and heavy shopping and when we got back some 10 minutes later he's shredded into postage stamp sized pieces the emergency bit of lino by the front door, pesky puppy, ne'mind I've forgiven him now, it was close though, Lyn xxx.

mardatha

Where would you buy a cloth old fashioned shopping bag??

[Deleted User]

Local market is always a good chance MAR or places like M & S or the big supermarkets. I have some cloth ones I got all those years ago in Germany and they're still going strong 25 years on. My best and strongest bags are a set of 3 Jute Shopping bags that I got from Fleabay from a third world collective and cost quite a lot £17.99 if I remember correctly but they are tough as old boots, hold an awful lot of shopping if you pack them right and are going to probably outlast me . They are foldable into my 25 litre rucksack for going into town too so very much what I'd reccommend IF you think the outlay is justified, Lyn xxx.

ivyleaf

I've got a canvas shopping bag I bought at the height of the "Keep Calm and....." craze. The economy was going downhill, and I was too embarrassed to use it for a while because it says "Keep Calm and Carry On Shopping" :D but I love it because it's so roomy and has shoulder-length handles. So I used to wear it with the slogan facing my body

In the same shop I bought my best friend a card in a pretty frame. It reads "Keep Calm and Eat Chocolate" , a sentiment with which most of us will agree

anakat

mardatha wrote: »

Where would you buy a cloth old fashioned shopping bag??

If these are the sort of thing you are looking for I could send you a couple
http://www.morsbags.com/
or there may be someone in your area making them

kidcat

Mardatha I have a few from a variable of stores mostly. The best quality one I own is ironically primarni its way better quality than their clothes.
otherwise I find they are common giveaways at events here at the moment. Although I noticed jute is starting to take over the giveaway market now.

fuddle

Primarc ones are quite roomy too. I have used crochet 'string' bags that I have made myself but as They were acrylic wool they didn't last long. I am favouring the PVC type at the minute because if I am using a shopping bag it means I am walking and therefore doing chores in town - library books, bank stuff etc so want something a little more weatherproof.

I am on-call this weekend so the sole port of call of something goes wrong. I am pooping my pants but I volunteered to push myself a little further. I don't like being in my comfort zone any more. Time will tell if I have pushed myself too far! It means I have a few big gaps this weekend, in case I need to cover sickness/emergency.

I awoke to a wet kitchen floor this morning. The freezer had defrosted. You remember it was given for the move and saved us a big outlay when money was tight? it's been over freezing for a few weeks now so we knew it would go soon. Seems that the part between the fridge and freezer is overheating causing the thaw. We had wondered if we could do without a freezer (not really as I am time poor) but we're not sure how reliable the fridge is with the heat. So needs replacing. It's killing me. I want to make do!

Thankfully I have been burned with freezers going before so only had 3 days meat, 2 x packs of back up mince, fish fingers, burgers, some back up potato products and 2 x bread. It could (and has been on the past!) a whole lot worse.

[Deleted User]

FUDDLE join freecycle and ask if anyone has a freezer they don't need any more (usually due to getting a bigger/different type freezer) we got a second chest freezer a couple of years ago to move the home grown stuff into while we defrosted our big one. We've still got it as it was in perfect condition and nothing wrong with it, the folks said it was noisy but we found it had been turned onto fast freeze permanently and turned it down to normal and it's almost silent. Worth a go petal, yes?

maryb

British Heart Foundation electrical shops sell secondhand freezers which look surprisingly good value (given that their clothes shops are the worst for trying to sell washed out tat for more than it cost new)