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

savingqueen

Morning all

Yes my sentiments too - we made it through another year and that is something to celebrate in itself.
I slept through until 10am!!!! Although I feel better, I know my body is still recovering from the lurgies and so have resisted setting the alarm clock. It will make getting up for school run harder but you have to get your lie-ins when you can eh?
There is beautiful sunlight here and we are off for a walk in the woods this afternoon. Feel the need for simple fare and knowing the walk will tire me out, we are having sausage pasta for tea. Haven't enough sausages for sausage and mash so pasta it is, a firm favourite in this house. I am going to resist the sweet treats as much as I can today and eat fruit to substitute, melon and grapes need eating, not exactly a hardship!
Our garden has been officially registered as A Very Muddy Place. Grass was already lacking where the trampoline sat for majority of last year and now we have 2 footie mad lads...... Even my mock crocs without the holes are insufficient for washing hanging so wellies* it is. I am the only household as far as the eye can see still hanging out washing.

Pooky - I would also be your beach friend. I was thinking yesterday that I would love more like minded friends. I have one friend who is very similar to me in outlook and since she moved from London, we both lament about the distance. Having said that my 2 good local friends both have increasing OS tendencies but I would love a more experienced local OSer mate to hang out with. I know some people have me down as a "tree hugger" and the jokes can wear a bit thin. Well they ain't seen nothing yet as this year I am upping the stakes. I need to think of some counter "jokes" I think

I love the way the spelling check auto corrects to willies right enough chatter, chores await

savingqueen

Possession - just wanted to say how brilliantly you coped last year. Onwards and upwards!

Possession

Thankyou, SQ, how kind of you to say. I know lots of people have a great deal worse to cope with, but it was a crap year! While I'm having a little moan, I have a bad feeling about our buyers' mortgage. I think it will be turned down. But we shall see. Our in-laws now think we should just remortgage and stay here. But they don't seem to really believe we can't pay the mortgage anyway so they might not be the best advisors!
I would love a beach walk friend too (and a beach!). Shame we don't all live near each other.

[Deleted User]

SQ I hate to even begin to think how the locals see us, tree hugger would be a compliment, but they've had us a long time and even if they don't understand the why of how we live our lives they do understand the how of the practicalities and are always more than willing to join in and help if it's a big job. We're known as the place to contact about either taking down trees or picking up big bits of wood for the stove, we're the place to bring all your windfall apples in the autumn as they know we do the cider making, in fact this year He Who Knows got asked by an aquaintance if he'd show how it was done as they had access to lots of fallen apples and they ended up making perry from fallen pears too. Folk always offer jars for preserving, when we kept chickens a lady up the road who cut up her own logs used to deliver us big bags of sawdust for them, rather than throw it away. We're part of an alternative eco system that uses rather than throws away all sorts of things. We've never found anyone who is quite so into being OS and living 'green' as we are, but we've got lots of folks who are a little bit green, and getting greener. I always did say you can only lead from the front, and that holds true for OS living too. You might find that people start to ask you how you do what you do, you never know, you might end up being a pioneer for OS living in your part of the world and teaching others who are interested how to be OS and useful, Lyn xxx.

Softstuff

Pooky, if you bring the flask of tea, I'll bring some cake... er... fruit salad . Though given how many of us from here will be there, you'd best bring some extra cups. Yesterday my friend suggested going out for some coffee around lunchtime. That generally involves more than just coffee, so on this occasion I suggested lunch here instead. Probably cost less for me to put on lunch than it did for just a coffee out.

You made me giggle mentioning Morecambe Ginnyknit. It's where I'm from originally. Though I still have sea and sand here (and it's warmer!) you can't beat a bit of Morecambe sea breeze to blow the cobwebs off.

Went to see a house today. I'd describe it as having good bones. And nothing inside that a crowbar, skip, 6 months hard work and $40,000 wouldn't fix :rotfl: And that's not just me being fussy. The previous owners had a delightfully eccentric idea of making themselves a walk in wardrobe, all fitted out with cupboards, hanging space and so forth. The problem was that to do so, they knocked through and blocked off half the bleedin' garage. So it's so shallow now you couldn't park a fiat 500 in it. Still, as I say, I could fix it up. And at the lower end of the market (albeit an extortionate price) it's the kind of thing we'll find.

Still, was thinking I needed a new hobby and moving internal walls (though not the loadbearing kind) would be something new for sure. I think 2015 could well see us sleeping on a mattress in a bare house with me covered in paint and plaster. And vegas is looking less likely!

mardatha

MrsL, why did you get rid of your hens?

savingqueen

thanks Mrs LW, one of my very non OS friends is so impressed with my tips she reckons I should write a book. What she doesn't realise is that I am OS-lite (for now....) compared to many on here. I don't think she could cope with the real hardcore OSers' lifestyles on here. I have converted her to the joys of charity and second hand buying though. I am out and proud with OS now so yes hopefully more of the people I know will follow suit.

[Deleted User]

Hi MAR we didn't get rid of the chickens, more that they grew old and died one by one and then made the decision not to have any more as we have such a large urban fox population here it was getting to be a regular thing at 5.30 in the morning to have to go and chase the fox away that was trying to take the side off the chicken run. It wouldn't have done Mr Foxy any good to get in though as we had one of those triangular ark type chicken houses where the roost and nest boxes are at the top and the chicks climbed up a ramp to get there at night and we pulled up the ramp to seal them in so there was no chance the fox could actually get to them, but it upset them mightily and put them off lay.

mardatha

Ah ok, I just wondered. I still feel bad about selling mine. We have no foxes here in the depths of the country as we have big shooting estates around us with loads of gamekeepers .

nursemaggie

I would love a beach walk friend too and a beach. Was not easy to walk on our beach before we moved as Sussex is shingle all the way.

I have got a lovely park. Ginnyknit will probably know it, Victoria Park. It is only a few minutes walk away. Very steep though. Anyone with children will love it it just had a makeover last year with all the latest play equipment, curtsy of the National Lottery.

SQ Pity we are at opposite ends of the country I think your two would love our park.

Could do with some decent CS most of ours have nothing but stuff I would have put ready for the rag man at a jumble sale. Not only am I shocked that people are not ashamed to send such rubbish to a CS but that the staff dare ask for £4 - £5 for it. Curtains for this room are just what I need, velvet ones would be lovely.

Welcome back Mrs Veg Plot. Everyone who has been missing for a while Happy New Year to you. We are always pleased to see you.