Make do, Mend and Minimise in 2015

[Deleted User]

Good morning all,I joined 11 years ago in 2004, as someone had told me about it and I ,being a curious sort of person, thought 'I'll have a shufti at that'.
One of the best things I ever did , over the years I have met a few of my fellow MSE'ers.Had a memorable trip up to Blackpool serveral years ago where we all ended up drinking vino and silly o'clock in the morning singing

I have beem to various meets over the years and found everyone I have met great fun and being a chatty sort enjoyed every one of them. Fingers crossed and the hospital op. ,all being well, I too shall be toddling off to Bromley from my north Kent cottage to meet a few more of you. I am hoping I will have had my last reconstruction op. by then and will be sporting a matching pair of bosoms :):)

When I was having chemo back in 2008 many times I would be online,sometimes just to take my mind of feeling yukky and always found some one to have a natter to, and sometimes I was the shoulder they used to rant at life .
I know that at almost anytime of the day or night you will find someone on here, who maybe like me, is somewhat of a night owl at times .

I cannot estimate how much I have saved over the years as I have always been a canny lady,but you are never too old to learn new tricks and I have picked up quite a lot from here.No question is too daft or odd and usually someone will come up with a solution if you get stuck.The recipes are pretty good as well
So thanks to Martin and his ideas there is a huge community of people who have got together using the internet for communicating to each other .
Far more interesting than F/book or twitter

This morning I toddled off to cast my vote and for the first time in over 50 years I had to queue to get into the polling station !!! Hopefully who ever gets in will be the best for the country and not themselves for a change
Onwards and upwards chums
JackieO xxx

nursemaggie

Jackie I agree about chatting to people late at night. I too am a night owl as you may have noticed. I went quite early to vote. We did not have to queue but it was quite busy.

I thought about going and asking DS if he wanted to go vote early just after 7am. I thought he would complain so I waited. at 8am he asked if I wanted to go before it rained. Thinking it was going to be yet another wet and windy day I said rain is bad for Labour. He said why are they all frightened of getting wet? Anyway it is not a wet day after all.

By the time we came away there was a queue of mums voting on their way back home after the school run. I had to tell DS what to do it was his first time to vote.

Think we may have to wait weeks now to find out what sort of a government we will get.

Floss

janb5 wrote: »

I am amazed that amongst all the stores that we have such a lot in common. I empathize with a lot of you feeling ashamed to be divorced and bringing up three boys on my own. My husband left me for another woman and also managed to get sacked from his job shortly after we split up. So he only paid for their upkeep for about three months!....

Were we married to the same chap?! My ex-H left me for a colleague, he lost his job not long after & tried to skip his maintenance responsibilities on & off for the next 5 years by not telling me when he changed jobs. However, teenage boys aren't as daft as they look and they used to tell me, so I'd tell the CSA, who on one occasion had to write to his employers requesting they gave him the letter he was ignoring and deducting his maintenance from his salary as Works Manager. He also told the CSA that he was living on his own, whereas my divorce solicitor had a signed statement from him that his (now wife) had paid the deposit on their house and they had a joint mortgage. That cost him £3,500 in back payments because he hadn't fully declared his finances to the CSA. Daft !!!!!!, did he really think I wouldn't catch up with him?!

I joined in 2006 to reclaim my bank charges after living on my own with my boys for 6 years. I had built up quite a large debt over those years - council tax, water rates, car loan, c/c etc, most of which were cleared after the big CSA payment and after my mum died. I have enjoyed the support & friendship of lots of posters, most of which have moved on now (apart from JackieO!). I got lots of tips & hints and some of them have enabled me & DH to have an MSE wedding, honeymoon and life together!

[Deleted User]

I first joined because of the Preparing for Winter and the Tougher threads, I'd read along on He Who Knows registration for ages and decided I'd like to have my own username and join in as me. It just made sense to gain ideas and knowledge and maybe to give a little back in return. I've certainly made some very good friends via these OS pages and the sense of community is warmth on a cold day and the good humour makes me smile and the feet on the ground commonsense and sharing of experience makes this difficult world a much friendlier place.

vhalla1478

Afternoon All,

I've managed to have a productive day; the ironing got done and I then started to tackle the chicken that I'd cooked Tuesday night to feed my guests who had to cry off. I'd already had both the legs with salad for a couple of meals, so I made half a dozen chicken pasties with half a block of puff pastry - five to freeze, one for later today. the whisked egg left over from glazing the pastry will be added to another egg to make me an omelette for breakfast tomorrow: Remind me to tell you a story about an omelette.There was also enough meat on the carcass to give me a boxful of cooked chicken. The carcass has been turned into stock - two boxes of that. I've also made some wholemeal bread; well, the breadmaker is making it now, and done my quota on the rug. In the garden, between the showers, I've managed to feed all the plants - everything is blooming including the dandelions and buttercups so will tackle that tomorrow.

If your towels go hard, give them a good shake after they're dry. I do this anyway, whether they're hard or not - only fluffy towels are allowed in this establishment.

Here's a gorgeous starter or a light lunch - 336 calories per portion.

Crispy Brie Bites with Peach and Red Onion Salad - serves 6

100 grams fresh white breadcrumbs, 3 limes, two cut into wedges, and the grated zest of one, 20 gram bunch flat leaf parsley, finely chopped, salt and freshly ground black pepper, four peaches, half a red onion, finely diced, 2cm piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated, 400 grams brie, medium egg, beaten, groundnut oil for deep frying.

Mix the bread crumbs, lime zest, half the parsley and seasoning. Blanch the peaches in boiling water for two minutes, plunge into cold water, then peel, stone and slice. Mix the peach slices with the red onion, ginger, lime juice and remaining parsley.

Cut the cheese into 18 wedges and coat first in the beaten ehh and then the breadcrumb mixture. In batches, deep fry the brie in oil heated to 180 degrees centigrade for 30 seconds, or until crisp. Drain on kitchen paper. Serve with the peach and red onion salad and lime wedges.

I'll post the story of the omelette later; just going to have a well-deserved cup of green tea.

Viv xx

Hard_Up_Hester

I'm on here because of my divorce too.
I was married for 25 years, we had a 6 bed house & our own business, my then husband decided we should try swinging (wife swapping) as he felt he was entitled to have some fun with some nubile 20 year olds. But swapping whether it be wives of stamps tends to mean you get out something similar to what you are putting in he & I were both in out late 40's & both overweight, so the only people who wanted to meet us were other similar couples, much to his disappointment.
We got divorced, & everything was divided equally, he got the house, business, pension & savings, I got DS1, DD2, DD3, & DS4! Though only 2 of them were still living at home. He lied to the CSA & they chased me for money for about 5 years for children who were living with me. Eventually he met the woman of his dreams (a wealthy widow) & they have lived in marital disharmony for the last 14 years.
I was left trying to support myself & 2 children with no money from the divorce for 3 years & only low paid work as I have no marketable job skills.
I met my DH who was as skint as me, we've been married 4 years now & I love him to bits. We pennypinch our way through life, he grows lots of veg in the garden, we rarely go out but we have each other & 9 grandchildren!
Hester

Floss

Hard_Up_Hester wrote: »

...I met my DH who was as skint as me, we've been married 4 years now & I love him to bits. We pennypinch our way through life, he grows lots of veg in the garden, we rarely go out but we have each other & 9 grandchildren!
Hester

Don't forget your other hobby of "hestering"!!

Hard_Up_Hester

Lol, Floss, no I won't forget that, it's fun & free
Hester

silvasava

Evening All - just been reading all the back stories of how people came to join the forum. I joined after I retired as like Nursemaggie no state pension in my own right and I needed to make sure we could manage on our income.
I've had so much help in all sorts of areas on the forums - both practical and emotional (BC & family health problems) & I hope I've been able to reciprocate in a small way.
BTW - DH2 and I will have been married for 41 years this year - at least I seem to have learned from my first mistake!!! I'll always remember someone at work sympathising that one of the chaps was on his own with 2 children - when I said what about the women on their own with children she said 'its different for women' yeah right - all the single mums I knew didn't have the earning power of the single dad! Thank goodness attitudes have changed in the main.

janb5

Floss wrote: »

Were we married to the same chap?! My ex-H left me for a colleague, he lost his job not long after & tried to skip his maintenance responsibilities on & off for the next 5 years by not telling me when he changed jobs. However, teenage boys aren't as daft as they look and they used to tell me, so I'd tell the CSA, who on one occasion had to write to his employers requesting they gave him the letter he was ignoring and deducting his maintenance from his salary as Works Manager. He also told the CSA that he was living on his own, whereas my divorce solicitor had a signed statement from him that his (now wife) had paid the deposit on their house and they had a joint mortgage. That cost him £3,500 in back payments because he hadn't fully declared his finances to the CSA. Daft !!!!!!, did he really think I wouldn't catch up with him?!

I joined in 2006 to reclaim my bank charges after living on my own with my boys for 6 years. I had built up quite a large debt over those years - council tax, water rates, car loan, c/c etc, most of which were cleared after the big CSA payment and after my mum died. I have enjoyed the support & friendship of lots of posters, most of which have moved on now (apart from JackieO!). I got lots of tips & hints and some of them have enabled me & DH to have an MSE wedding, honeymoon and life together!

Floss - I just about choked when I read your post! I did have the fun of forwarding on his Access bill ( that no longer exists) and also informing a certain London Council that they were claiming single person discount on their council tax! I did worry about his taste in women as he didnt like cats( she had one) and the said cat was called Cat...yes very imaginative!

I was more worried that this woman would take over my children but she didnt thank goodness. I would have killed her I think and would have `swung` for her but emotions were very high. She died very recently and I felt that an era was over at long last.

P.S. I hasten to add that she died of natural causes in case anyone was wondering!