Make do, Mend and Minimise in 2015

Rose_Wood

Morning All

Grey Queen. I know what you mean about old and battered tools. My sewing machine is nearly 40 years old. My Dad lent me the money to buy it when I was 19 - over a hundred pounds!! I was doing my teaching degree at the time but advertised in the local shops to do dressmaking jobs and did them until I had earned enough money to pay back the loan. Incidentally, I was offered a job by someone making skirts for his clothing company which I turned down as it was too much commitment as he wanted 4 or 5 per week - he is now a major retailer worth millions of pounds!! The machine has been used ever since. It only does a basic straight stitch and a zig zag but has been worth its weight in gold to me.

The doll is actually going to be used in a window display I hope as my DDiL is planning to open a baby and children's clothes shop in the next couple of weeks. I suggested making the doll for displaying some of the clothes if she liked it. She seems to be quite keen - hence the plans for the boy doll - and maybe a couple more. I might even try a couple of different ethnicities if it goes well.

Rose

vhalla1478

Morning All,

I practically spring cleaned the house yesterday and did the washing and ironing as well so flaked out around 9.30 and all I did with my weekend leftovers, which were mostly vegetables and stock was to add some pasta and make a saucepanful of 'minestrone'. It tastes fine and will do for 2-3 lunches this week. I'm off to view an auction in Lincoln this morning and then have a visitor later so will post recipes this evening.

Rose Wood your doll has inspired me to get on with the rag dolls I've started for two of my grandchildren - but must get daughter-in-law's dress finished first. As I've said before, I don't know how I found time to work.

Have a good day, All.

Viv xx

MandM90

My challenge this weekend will be sprucing up OHs old coat. We're going to try to dye it (black), fix the lining, and put on new buttons. It's going to be a huge learning curve, but even if I mess it up, at least I've tried to save it from the landfill!

I've also starting saving jars, polystyrene and cardboard for the garden. Polystyrene can be used in the bottom of pots to allow draining (and much lighter than stones), jars for my beery slug death traps and cardboard for mulching and weed prevention. Will try to follow this thread more carefully and see where else I can become less wasteful

Floss

Rosewood what a fab idea, will you do a newborn for christening / naming ceremony outfits too?

silvasava

Busy Busy day - Gym then to DS1 to return his mattress topper I washed in our local launderette last night. Called in to the local repair shop to see if my little Dirt Devil could be mended but its obsolete so no spares then down to the boat to oil the teak running strake - managed to get two coats on. Cleaned the old glue from stickers off one of the cabin windows then came home via Tosco to pick up some bits. Got home & made two pot pies and a small pie from Sunday's leftover pork mixed with yesterdays leftover chicken, some sweet corn, leek and a tin of condensed chicken soup and a pack of ys short crust pastry. Put DS2's car seat covers in my washing machine - what would they do without Mum? Sat down now at last to read all your lovely posts with a nice glass of red

vhalla1478

Evening, Folks,

I've just finished the last of my 'minestrone' for my tea and have decided to do an inventory of my freezer's contents; it's a little bare as I've had quite a few visitors this month but still more than enough to see me through until the end of the month and I'm well within the £10 per week challenge that I set myself.

This is an old (2001) recipe from a Sainsburys' recipe card - good enough to give to guests and filling so that they won't want too much for a main course!!

Stilton and Cranberry Scones with Celery Soup - serves 4

For the soup: 15ml spoonful of oil, 15 grams butter, finely chopped onion, head of celery, trimmed and finely sliced, 750ml vegetable or chicken stock, salt and freshly ground black pepper, 4 x 15ml double cream.

For the scones: 100grams wholemeal flour, 125grams plain flour, 15ml spoonful basking powder, pinch salt, 15 grams butter, 150ml milk, 75grams extra mature stilton, 40grams dried cranberries, a beaten egg.

Pre-heat the oven to 220degrees/gas mark 7. For the soup, place the oil, butter, onion and celery in a saucepan. Cook for 5 minutes, until the onion and celery begin to soften. Add the stock, bring to the boil, then simmer for 10 minutes.

For the scones, place the flours, baking powder and salt in a bowl and gently rub in the butter. Add the milk, stilton and cranberries and stir until the mixture forms a soft dough. Roll out onto a floured surface until 2.5 cm deep. cut out 12 scones, using a 5cm fluted cutter. Brush with egg and bake for 7 minutes until golden. blend the soup until smooth, stir in the seasoning, drizzle over the cream and serve with the scones.

Have a good evening, Folks.

Viv xx

Lynplatinum

Hiya all

Rose - that doll is just fab!! I had one like it that i cherished for years!

Cheerfulness - glad that cold type thing has not seemed to develop into anything!

Well - I resisted the temptation to offer a trip to the supermarket to my son and his OH. I treated them to a lunch out @ £25 and took cake and some Chinese supermarket bits (£20 ish) that they cant get down there and Te!cos varieties of costa lota.

To explain further - I never minded taking my son to the supermarket because it started when he was @ Uni and I was on 30K a year. Once a term i visited and treated him. He always came home from Uni with several hundred pounds in his bank account (most of his friends were in debt or begging off parents by mid-term); then he would work at any job going in the holidays (building work/drivers mate/ warehouse work) to make more money. He did a degree in 'Contemporary Crafts Practice' and his live project was to restore a church - so making tiles (the way it was done in medieval times) - creating bannisters - stained glass - carving pulpit ornaments to match ones already there etc. But his costs were very high - he had to buy gold and silver for his jewellery component for example - and he never asked me for penny. Later, when he took a year out from doing his degree (for various reasons) he worked via agencies full time and bought me; this laptop; a big TV; built me a tower computer; re plastered a bed room; built a large covered awning for our yard; put in a washing line etc. So a good lad - not just with money but thoughtful too. He also paid me rent (to cover his extra costs) all year. However, his OH seems really bad with money. for example, this month he has given her £750 - £660 for the rent on their house and the rest for other bills AND bought all the food. While I was there she was still asking for an extra £60 for the rent. He works ad hoc on building sites to earn this much and cannot concentrate on his jewellery business - which is what he wants to do with his life. she is a nice girl and they get on well and laugh a lot together. but the money thing is driving him mad. Which is why I did not want to subsidise her bad habits. I know he can live on his own for much less. She only works when she feels like it - on agency work with troubled youngsters.

Shame when money seems to threaten an otherwise brilliant relationship. I so want them to be happy. I did suggest that reading this site has saved me when the crash of 2008 left my business nearly in ruins. And that it might help them budget, as it has me. I hope the hint will be taken - and that she will spend time on here - not buying off E-bay! (£60 for a pair of boots worth £120 is only a bargain - if a) you need boots and b) if you have a spare £60!)

But thanks folks for your tips - and re-training my thoughts!

anyway will stop moaning now! Had a bargain at my little co!p tonight - 99p loaf down to 50p - £2.99 pack cooked chicken down to £1.50!! yea! Also following low calorie diet as was spoilt with cake and lovely goose eggs on butter ooozing toast over the weekend! So chicken is esp. welcome!
Will go to bed now and stop rabbiting on but its good to be back :-):j

Prinzessilein

Morning all!


I have gone done with a snuffly cold....so have been sipping hot water with lemon and a drop of honey (no need to pay for hot lemon sachets when I can make just as soothing a mugful on my own for half the price...and have it less sweet which is what I prefer!)


I have some home made veg-and-barley soup in the freezer which will make a comforting lunch.


Rose - the rag doll is amazing!

vhalla1478

Good Afternoon, All,

I've been commandeered by DS to help make a Roman blind for the boys' bedroom later, so will post a recipe now, whilst eating lunch. I've a whole glut of vegetables at the moment so I've been scouring my vegetarian recipe books for ideas and this one is a cracker - absolutely delicious even if you're a meat and two veg family; it tastes meaty because of the mushrooms.

Fried Mushrooms with Aubergine, Garlic and black pepper - serves 2

2 tbsp. soy sauce, 2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed, 3 spring onions, white parts only, shredded lengthways, masses of freshly ground black pepper, 350grams mushrooms, quartered, 250 grams aubergine cut into 0.5cm slices, 2 tbsp. olive oil.

Mix the soy sauce, garlic and spring onions together and season liberally with freshly ground black pepper. Leave to one side while you prepare the rest of the dish.

Steam mushrooms for 4 minutes, keep warm, reserving juices. Brush the cut surfaces of the aubergine with olive oil and place in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake at 180 degrees/gas mark4 for 15 minutes. Cool then slice into long thin strips. Mix 2-3 tbsp. of the mushroom juices into the sauce then add the mushrooms and aubergine slices and toss well together. Serve warm with jasmine or basmati rice or egg noodles (still using mine up!) and a salad.

Prinzessilein, I do exactly the same with honey and lemon; I just can't see the point of paying for something like that. Hope you get well soon.

Lynn, I sympathise and empathise!!

Viv xx

mamaninie

Well I put some of my daughters boots in to the shoe menders But at a cost of £20 to replace a broken zip, I'm not entirely convinced of the wisdom of it They were good boots, £65 new, and still fit her - the soles could do with redoing too though... Hopefully they will do her for another couple of months with a new zip. I don't normally hand shoes down through the children, but the youngest dd might get a bit of wear from them for occasional use.