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

Possession

Siegemode, I've had good results with freezing leftover roast beef in gravy - last time I did that and once defrosted reheated it in the microwave and it was lovely, so could that be a possibility? I'm quite fussy about substandard leftovers but this is actually very good, and since I roasted a big joint of beef I found at the bottom of the freezer yesterday 3 packs of slices with gravy went into the freezer last night.
I paid £15 for that joint, and while there are obviously cheaper meals it means it isn't so bad if it feeds 4 of us for 4 roast dinners.
I've been awake since 3.30, so not looking forward to a day of work, more planting, fixing chairs and cutting and hanging to dry bundles of hawthorn from our trees for a winter supply for the rabbits.

mardatha

I've been awake half the night too - must be catching. I'm like GQ, always overdo it and get too tired. The RV doesnt believe you can be too tired to eat or sleep, but I tell him you get ME and you'll find out!
Excited today because the new bed is coming... been in agony for years on an Ikea Malm bed with a very firm mattress, I know pavements that are softer. So I got a John Lewis posh new one - pale grey Italian leather no less - half price in the sale. Medium not firm.
Was reading a minute ago in the Scottish weather forums that the ski runs up in Cairngorm have been packed out and busy all of June. Intact full runs of snow, amazing. I'm waiting for my lavender and lilac to bloom - at this rate its going to be xmas

[Deleted User]

Morning Toughies, another one running on very little sleep today, I think it must be the time of year when it's light so late and then light again so early, in our house this is not helped by restless lurchers going walkabout many times because they are hot and can't find a comfy place to sleep, poor old boy, it can't be easy with a built in fur coat in this heat can it???

All the talk of Parkas brought back memories of living in Kent as a teenager and seeing all the scooters driven by parka wearing young men dashing down the A2 at the weekends to Margate for a rumpus on the beach, anyone else remember the furry tiger tails they used to tie to the back of thier scooters, I remember the Esso campaign 'Put a tiger in your tank' and can remember getting the tails for tokens from the petrol stations. Also I remember two tone tonic suits!!!

Hello to PINKTHRIFT it was so nice to see you posting when I read through this morning, I've been seeing your name in thank yous for ages and it's made me feel like hearing from an old friend after a long absence, so lovely to have you post, stay with us and join in, it would be so nice!

Have a good day everyone, I think it's going to be the last dry one so I'm off to change the beds and get the bedding washed. catch you later, Cheers Lyn xxx.

FairyPrincessk

Morning everyone! I'm back from our whirlwind weekend. I think I might need another weekend to recover.

We met the nephew yesterday--just cute as can be and his big sister seems to be adjusting well.

Tonight we're at a work barbecue for OH, so I guess the whirlwind isn't over.

Seigemode--I've cooked chicken in the SC before. It comes out very moist which is nice, but the skin doesn't brown as if you'd done it in the oven so it can look a bit pale and doesn't get the crispy bits. I guess it depends on what you want. I've also done beef roast in the SC--similar experience. I think I overcooked that one though because it fell apart. What about a beef stew type of meal? Those do really well in SC, you can always thicken the gravy on one of the rings.

For all of you suffering with lack of sleep, hugs. I'm afraid I've had quite a lot today.

Forgot to say, D&DD, I'll be thinking about you and your son this week.

FairyPrincessk

On the subject of pleated skirts, I used to use clothes pegs to get the pleats all lined up. I'd then clip the very bottom edge together, iron and then just touch up any bits that needed it after the pegs were taken off. I think I had three of them in the 90s and wore them constantly. I wasn't very fashionable but they suited me, well I thought so.

kittiej

Morning everyone

Just a quickie as I'm about to start work

I really love the social history stuff but I just wondered what memories people had of weddings years ago. My colleagues keep telling me weddings were much simpler and I remember going to a wedding as a child but there was no evening do. Was this the case everywhere?

alfsmum

GreyQueen wrote: »

Oh yeah, round our way it was navy blue parkas with bright orange lining and an 'orrible strip of greyish fake fur around the hood. I had clackers and they were a joy and a hazard. When I saw that they'd later started making them with rigid plastic strings instead of proper strings, so's you couldn't hurt yourself, I thought it had taken all the fun out of it.

Childhood in the 60s/70s was a bit Darwinian, at least round our way. You were sent out for the day with a jam sarnie and a lidded beaker of orange squash and expected to get on with it. I tend to think a childhood without some self-induced broken bones and scars is a childhood which has probably not been lived to its fullest potential. Spent half of my young life running wild in the woods. And the other half on my Warwick Flyers.

Anyone else's childhood summers echo to the following cry Muuuummm! Where's the skate key?

Our poor mother; beech trees cover you with a greenish stuff, pine trees get sap on you, brambles scratch you to pieces. It was a dab of Germolene and a plaster and back out there, with her Mum's handed-down exortation ringing in our ears; Yer neither sugar nor salt! *

Random factiod; if you are in the woods, and have a choice of trees to hide under from the rain, you want to be under the holly as it's the most waterproof.

* Meaning and translation; you aren't made of a soluable material therefore the light precipitation we are currently experiencing is not a valid excuse for cluttering up the house whilst your hardworking mother is trying to have a cuppa and listen to her Jim Reeves records. Go away now, please.

Ah Germolene and Jim Reeves.....

I can smell the pink and sticky Germolene now, it was an answer for every childhood scratch, graze, burn etc. would probably have been administered for a broken leg too but luckily I didn't have one of those. I did fall through the asbestos roof of a neighbour's shed (no idea what I was doing) and sustained an awful deep cut down my thigh which bled profusely. Nowadays an ambulance would be summoned to deal with something like that butI'm sure my mother never even considered that I might need medical help. Probably got a wipe with a wet flannel to get rid if the blood and that had to do. I still have a significant scar to tell the tale.

My Mum used to love Jim Reevs and funnily enough I was wondering the other day if I could get some of his tracks on CD for her and a simple gadget to play them in. She has dementia and is in her own world most of the time but I thought hearing some familiar tunes might give her a boost.

Thanks for the memories GQ.

FairyPrincessk

Alfsmum, you can get basic MP3 players for around £10. You can also probably buy the tracks for around 49p each, load them on for her and then show her how to use it. Not sure how she would feel about earphones, but most speakers can be connected to an MP3 player through the headphone jack. Just a thought.

All of this talk of cakes in top oven has made me brave enough to ask a question. This house has two wall inset ovens--a normal one on the bottom and a slightly smaller top oven. The top oven has a grill option and what seems to be a normal oven setting. I've actually been using it for normal cooking because it just seems to work so well. But honestly, there isn't a book and I think the make has been rubbed off---what exactly is the difference, and is one more efficient than the other? By my logic, the top oven is smaller so should cost less to heat up, but maybe I'm wrong?

[Deleted User]

FPK I have a 2 oven cooker and my smaller top oven has the grill in it with a separate control. The difference in mine is that the top oven is NOT a fan oven but the bigger bottom one is. It makes baking so much easier to do, not having to adjust the baking temperatures from my older recipe books when using the small one. Hope that helps, Cheers Lyn xxx.

mardatha

I use pink Germolene as moisturiser, and I have really good skin for my age. It's also great as lipsil.