Make do, Mend and Minimise in 2015

[Deleted User]

Westie = Icing on the cake (or if he's like most westies I know, unless you're quick, icing in the dog!).

It is Lyn but I also answer to most things including Who???

vulpix

Quite agree with all the latest posts.I began my working life as a nurse cadet then went on to nurse train and then trained as a social worker when I was 28.After I married and had children I put my foot down and became a housewife,I wanted my children to have a similar upbringing to mine.When my husband left I made the choice to never be flush and work as a teaching assistant in the village school so I could look after the children myself.I could have gone back to social work leaving for Manchester or Sheffield at 6:30 am and returning at 7-8pm.Paying for a childminder being exhausted and stressed.I made my choice and loved it,it was the right one for me.
I have just been to a car boot sale with DD1 she was just passing through on the way to her pub job.She was moaning cos it's a nice day so more tourists and they can sit in the garden too if its nice!She got the job by the way so will work at the pub 3 more weeks till the end of exams and uni.
I bought a massive planter and a lovely watercolour of people in russian dress.So that's most of my selling of garden furniture money spent.Did not buy any plants,which must be a first for me.
Havent car boots gone dear?I think all this shabby chic/vintage bubble will burst soon.O I also bought my Mum a little blue and white bowl for her dresser,50p
I cannot say how much better I feel.That bloomin gall bladder was dragging me down for years.I feel 40 again!Off to dig some stuff up and repot in the garden.Oh all those seeds I planted up that I found loose in the cutlery drawer have germinated,anyone need a million popies?Vx

silvasava

Vulpix - so pleased you are feeling much better. Ill health is insidious 'cos it drags you down bit by bit until you can't remember what it felt like to be well. So glad you are recovering your 'mojo' (In time for the summer - yay!!)
Mrs L - did smile at your post - agree with your comments. When DH1 & I moved into our first house the previous owner was emigrating and left me her cooker (only two burners working!) and fridge. I was SO pleased I had a fridge. I had a second hand washing machine for my 21st birthday from DH and a sewing machine from my Mum & Dad & I felt so lucky! Sobering thought when I'm waiting here for a new dishwasher to be delivered.....in my defence its cost about £20 more than having my 10 year old one repaired. Its brought home to me why I got one in the first place - I'm the only one who washes up!!

littleowl

I really feel for women who are running a home, children and a job - I know what it is like!

After starting in the Colonial Office in London when I was seventeen I married at 21 and had two children. When they were very young I began a degree course as a mature student and had to learn to run a home. organise the children and travel twenty miles for lectures every day. In these circumstances you become super-organised! My then husband was in the Royal Navy so there was never a 'normal' family life. After a divorce (right in the middle of the degree course) I became a Further Education lecturer ending up running an Access course for adults who had not had the opportunity as teenagers to get into University. That was supremely rewarding and I believe I was more effective in helping them with their studies because I had had to fight the same battles running families and studying as they did.

I took early retirement and opened an Antiques Shop (I had always been involved in antiques in my time outside college). Then I moved to France and thoroughly enjoyed life there with so much open space, empty motorways and plenty of the French antiques I had been dealing in for years. Now back in the UK I am still a dealer but in a more restricted way.

Oh heavens! Don't know why I wrote all that except to make the point that women especially - and a few men I know - learn to manage to balance many claims on their time and all the time fighting with restricted incomes. Make do and Minimise was - is - a way of life and perhaps we are all the better for it!

vhalla1478

Hello again, Folks,

I forgot to say that when I went to look at the plants I was hoping to get cheaply yesterday, there really wasn't any point; it was a plant mortuary, not a hospital. All was not lost, however, as we found a tiny outlet in someone's garden. they had just retired and were starting up; the plants were wonderfully healthy and cheap, so I had a little splurge and also bought 3 x 6 foot trellises for £4 each.

Here's an economical and quick pasta dish when you're hungry but don't have much time and/or want to be in the garden.

Tagliatelle with Spinach and Soy Garlic Cheese - serves 4

8 ounces tagliatelle, 8 ounces fresh leaf spinach, 2 tbsp. light soy sauce, 3 ounces garlic and herb cheese, 3 tbsp. milk, salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Cook tagliatelle and drain. Return the pasta to the saucepan. Meanwhile blanch the spinach in a tiny amount of water until wilted, then drain very well, squeezing dry with the back of a wooden spoon. Chop roughly with kitchen scissors.

Return the spinach to its pan and stir in the soy sauce, garlic and herb cheese and milk. Bring slowly to the boil, stirring until smooth. Season to taste.

When the sauce is ready, pour it over the pasta. Toss the pasta and sauce together well and serve hot.

Have a pleasant evening, Everyone.

Viv xx

vulpix

littleowl I love to hear peoples stories and opinions.I think we all seem to have had limited means and difficult circumstances which makes people on this thread so tolerant and just generally nice folk all round.

Hard_Up_Hester

Today I dyed a pair of shoes, I bought them for £4, 3 or 4 years ago but they were looking tired.
They look as good as new now, pics of before & after are on my blog.
Hester

[Deleted User]

Mrs LW ah the days of a couple of ounces of sweets(if you were lucky dolly mixtures or those tiny pip like boiled sweets.You got a lot of sweets the smaller they were :):).I lived with rationing until I was almost 12 so sweets off ration were the most wonderful thing in the world.My Mum getting a Mars Bar and slicing it so thin it was like paper and sharing it out between my two brothers and I.

60+ years later I still put a Mars bar in the fridge to get really cold and still slice it up thinly to eat:):):):).

In my sitting room I still have the first new piece of furniture my OH and I bought.We had been married by the almost 15 years and had just got used to second hand stuff.
I saved and saved, and my friends OH worked at the Alstons factory in Colchester and we went there and picked out our three piece suite. It cost us £258.00 and he said for another £20.00 we will fit a fold up double bed inside it .So for £278.00 it was a bargain:)
I no longer have the armchairs but the settee is still going stong and the double bed inside has been used countless times over the years to put folk up. I had a set of loose cover made for it about 10 years ago and now although they have faded a bit, I have a couple of cream throws over the covers, but the sofa is still in pretty good condition. Its 38 years old and very comfy,I have a recliner chair, plus the sofa in the sitting room.No reason to get rid of something just because its old I am happy with it and it reminds me of times when the girls were young and they had their pals over for sleepover etc. It will probably see me out now and I hate to think how much sofa's cost today.
Just off to Dds for dinner now and for a noisy game of cards with the boys I expect
Cheers chums
JackieO xx
P.S. All being well I too shall meet some of you at Jans next month:):):)

FairyPrincessk

Jackie we had a similar sofa when I was growing up. My Grandmother had bought it sometime during my mother's childhood. We inherited it when she 'upgraded' (I say upgraded, but I don't think what she bought lasted more than a few years) and my mother used it for years. I think my mother recovered it twice. The first time she used a fabric that wasn't particularly robust but in hindsight I suspect it was the best she could afford. The second time I thinks he may have paid someone to do it and then looked at what they did to recover a couple of old second hand chairs to match. It had a fold away bed as well and many people slept on it over the years. I think it finally disappeared when my parents moved overseas permanently when I was in Uni. We'd lived overseas before but they were always temporary arrangements so things were stored.

My mum always worked, part time when she did her PhD, but always full time. Dad was often unemployed but would always do anything going. He would often step in and cook and clean in the way my friends fathers didn't. I think it gave me a sense of how the most important thing isn't who earns the money or how much they earn but that families and couples work in teams.

Today has mostly consisted of chores--the shopping came in well under budget, I've ironed all of the handwash items including my CS finds that I cleaned yesterday, changed the bed linen and vacuumed upstairs. There is a loaf cake in the oven and the enchiladas for tea. The wash is dry and folded, just ready to be put away before bed. It has been a good day all around, particularly as a few people have been in touch with joyful news. I wish I'd gotten around to working on my sewing projects, but they'll keep until next weekend,or even next month.

nursemaggie

Jackie you can probably still get a sofa for that price but you would be lucky if it lasted a year. You can spend £5,000 on one but then it would be too big for a modern house.