Make do, Mend and Minimise in 2015

cheerfulness4

Lyn, I don't know of any particular sellers but check the feedback and if they have plenty and its good then I give them a try. I do find the growers very good mostly and many tell you on their listing about their nurseries.
I often just search for the basic plants and then browse the different varieties among the listings.

katherinedrex

Silva saver I do so agree with your signature - "Small victories - sometimes they are all you can hope for but sometimes they are all you need - be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle"

Hard_Up_Hester

In the spirit of making do, we had the last few slices of Christmas turkey for lunch yesterday, it was delicious. Th last few scraps went to my DD's dog who is staying with us for a few days. He is a very big staffy who is currently asleep on my knee!
The sun is shining so I will hang some washing on the line in a minute when I can persuade the dog to move, hubby will spend the day gardening,
Hester

[Deleted User]

I came home from Dds last night with a bowl of left over veg which I will use tonight with my dinner (not sure what it will be yet as I have to do some freezer tetris:) )
Still no shopping at all to get this week definitely as my fridge is still fairly full of salady bits and bobs. I am going to try to shop almost completely from my stores this month,apart from saving cash I really do need some space ,especially in the freezer.Next Sunday I have a £6.00 off a £30.00 shop at W8rose and I want to try and get some meat and Sunday afternoon is usually a good time for YS there, so hopefully some reduced bargains made even better by the voucher, that should get me through most of May with luck:):):) I do enjoy forward planning ,plus I shall probably be having a few days in hospital in May so I won't feel like shopping and definitely won't be driving for awhile.
Today I am going to do a bit of knitting, and a little bit of sewing (by hand ) as I noticed one of my hand towels seams are getting a bit ragged so I want to sew that up and also a bit of mending.The weather seems to have perked up a bit at least
Hope you all have a good MM&M day
Cheers chums
JackieO xx

silvasava

Cheerful - well done on the lovely Honeysuckle & Paeony. I have a soft spot for Paeonies too. My mum had a beauty in her garden - Sarah Bernhardt. When her house was sold DH dug it up for me & I replanted here. I've always been told that they don't transplant but I made sure it wasn't planted deeply & gave it a feed & it flowered last year. Did take a year to settle & its just started to poke its shoots up this year so hopefully it will continue.
Katharinedrex - thank you for your comment on my signature. Its not mine but I can't remember where it came from but it had a resonance for me and still does.

Lyn - just reread through - there's quite a few politicians I'd like to stuff with something but not necessarily paper lol

Prinzessilein

Morning!


Didn't get a good night's sleep - so am really sluggish this morning....but getting up early means I have managed to nip down to the laundry room before breakfast and snaffle a machine! I have since been down again and transferred it to the drier....will go down shortly and bring it back up for sorting and putting away.


And I have given the place a desultory going over with the vacuum cleaner.


And that's my lot housework-wise...I've done enough!


Mum is coming round for a postponed Easter Lunch...which was all sorted and paid for a month or so ago...YS lamb steaks from M&S have been taken out of the freezer....honey glazed and bung them in the oven!....Mum is bringing up the veggies.


Might do some knitting this afternoon - but have mislaid my row counter...which means counting up to see what row I am on!...not so easy when you are knitting with two colours!


have a good day all!

vhalla1478

Morning All,

Hope you had a good Easter Sunday and a good rest for all of you who are working.

First of all, many thanks for the bra suggestions - I shall look into the various sites that you've mentioned. I find it rather amusing that there are many padded bras available in large cup sizes - if you're well-endowed the last thing you want to do is make them bigger!

Cheerfulness, many thanks for the info on the sites - I appreciate that. My garden is almost completely prepared for planting, thank you for asking. In spite of the iffy weather here, I've managed to get almost everything cleared in the front and the side garden as well as sorting out the planters and hanging baskets. All I have left to do is clear some large lumps of chalk from an area near my trellising where I have decided to enlarge the existing flower bed. I'm now tempted to order some plants online having seen the beautiful pictures you posted. However, first things first, I have a dozen box plants and the same amount of lavender to place first. I'm so impatient for the weather to improve so that I can really get stuck in.

As far as politicians are concerned, I would observe that going from past scandals it would probably give them a great deal of pleasure if you did stuff them, with something, so I shall decline to give them a thrill!

Prinzessilein, hope you're beginning to feel better.

I apologise for not posting a recipe yesterday - try this one, it's a good time of the year to do it or it would be if this mist would disperse.

Summer Pudding serves 4-6

1-2 pound soft fruit (those cheap frozen fruits of the forest packs from the supermarket are ideal), half a loaf of white bread , crusts removed, 3-4 tbsp. sugar.

Line a pudding basin (two if they are small) with slices of bread, leaving some extra for the top. Pack in fruit, adding a sprinkle of sugar as you go. cover with more sliced bread. Stand a saucer or small plate on top that fits within the bowl and weight down with stones, tins, whatever. Let stand overnight - a pyrex basin allows you to gauge whether the pudding has reached perfection. Turn out onto a plate or dish. Any spare fruit can be arranged on the top or round the dish.

I got all of my touch up painting done yesterday, so the house is beginning to look nice and fresh for spring - I just need the garden to live up to the inside of the house now. My DB goes offshore for two weeks today, so I've no excuses not to work hard.

Have a great Easter Monday.

Viv xx

Rosanna79

Seems ages since I posted as I've been lurking on this and the various tough threads. Interesting to read what everyone's been doing to save money. OH and I grow a lot of our own food in what is a 1930s property's garden. It means we can always see what's happening with our crops. I took the advice of an old chap on an allottment open day we went to and took out a subscription for kitchen garden magazine for a couple of years. I really didn't know much initially but the magazine taught me a lot. That and personal experience with various experiments on the way showed me what frut and eg we grow best. The important thing for those gardeners starting out is not to let failure deter you. My first attempts at growing tomatoes from seed were truly pathetic. By 2010 I'd grown so many I had to make 45 jars of chuttney with the leftovers!! Now we are much more realistic and grow sufficient amounts of what we both like and will eat. It's barely a month since we started buying onions again from last summer's harvest. I also do a variety of crafts, having attended a large no of classes over the last few years. Unlike the ghastly domestic science / needlework teacher at school who made m y life hell the person I metsince retiring is a lovely, gentle kind woman. She has not only taught me a lot but enabled me to believe that I can do stuff despite being dyspraxic and having arthritic hands. Trouble is I've acquired a massive stash as crafting makes one acquisitive! My mininmising at present is to finish unfinished projects and work with what I've got!

vhalla1478

Rosanna79 - was just having an idle browse whilst having a mid-morning coffee, saw your remarks about your needlework teacher and then noticed you are from my neck of the woods; I was wondering if you had the same teacher as mine - we were terrified of her, even though I was quite good at needlework - she was called Miss Ellis.

Viv xx

misstara

Hello ladies,

It is the most beautiful day here, sunny and warm. I went for a short walk this morning but unfortunately won't enjoy much more of it as I'm working shortly. It's double time though so I won't complain too much.

I went to Morries yesterday and got some good YS bargains - some blue cheese 49p, muffins 10p, bread 10p, apple turnovers 19p and sausage meat 29p. Not quite as good as the bargains cheerfulness got but still pretty good.

Hope everyone has a good Easter Monday.