Make do, Mend and Minimise in 2015

vulpix

GQ,hows the garlic doing?Mine is looking good in the leaf department,hope that's a good sign as to whats going on underneath.

Silversava,you are so brave,hats off to you.

I wish the country had a unified recycling policy.Things I can put in my bin I can't at my MIL and I think it would help if the bins were the same colour her green bin is a different colour to mine etc.We could do so much more as a country.Hmm my nephew has just been elected as local councilor,might bend his ear on at least collecting tetra packs.

Lyn,I reward myself with a bubble bath but odd in the middle of the day.Any coffee mornings on?Where I live there is one every Saturday morning,it's booked up a year in advance.I only ask as it's a good place to buy plants,for me anyhow.

I had to go into the village yesterday for patchwork and saw a plant in the charity shop window £1.50 the lady said it was a geranium but it is in flower and looks like non I have already,looks like white anenome.

I have a confession,I have started Christmas shopping.Bought a white stuff scarf with tags for £5 and a brass porthole mirror £10.When I was a child we had one in the hall,my Mum often regrets giving it to my Auntie who will have binned it years ago.So that's for her.Scarf for son's GF.I also got 2 chocolate orange handwash for our Mothers which I will give with the real chocolate orange,so difficult to buy octogenarians who want and need nothing.I always have an eye out for Christmas bits.

Lyn that might be a treat for you.Chocolate orange hand wash,it is lush and £1 in tosco at the moment.

Need to do some housework as I am home alone.Think Kevin the teenager attitude "do I have to".Laters Vx

GreyQueen

Hi vulpix, of the dozen garlic segments planted out, a couple didn't strike and of the remaining, only one is really large, but I did plant them about 3 months after they should've been done. They aren't taking up much room on the end of the white onion bed, so it's by way of an experiment really.

I had a pleasant surprise with the daughter blackcurrant bushes. Last Dec I cut off 6 branches from mama bush and shoved them into the ground in a row a few yards from mama. They were all in bud when this was done.

Thought that 4 out of the 6 were dead, and the 2 which were alive were far behind the mama bush, which is flowering. But, on inspection yesterday, one of the 'dead' ones has actually come into leaf and all 3 of the live daughter ones are starting to flower. So, presently have 50% success rate and am leaving the other 3 for a few months, perhaps even a year, to see if they do anything.

Today's plan will be to bring the newly-germinated courgettes in pots out of the shed again for an airing, then sow runner beans and dwarf beans in the shed in pots also. I have found out the hard way that we have a late frost in May and that runner and dwarf beans are irrestistable to slugs and snails and need to be well-grown on in pots or the beggars will eat them to ribbons overnight if sown in open ground.

I will also be weeding. If I am MIA in the next few months, I will be weeding.:rotfl:

[Deleted User]

Good Morning chums,bit dull looking at the moment but forecast to brighten up later.Yesterday's history was really interesting especially about the boat full of 'lady convicts. that were sent out.Normal travel time was around 4-6 months for the men,but when the ladys went out it took elebven months to get there and apparently stopped off at various venues on the way:) the sailors were in their element with a boat full of women. One of the convicts was an 11 year old girl when she went to Australia and when she died at 82 had over 300 descendants living .now thats really helping to populate the country.

We had a lovely picture of an old aboriginal chap with one of his proverbs written underneath which I thought was great

"We are all visitors to this time,this place.We are just passing through.Our purpose here is to observe.to learn,to grow,to love...and then we return home "
I thought how apt it was for many of us on here .

We do have such a good time at History and you can imagine the comment floating about re the jolly matelots :):)
Before I went I made two big litres of soup and used up left over veg
half a celery chopped and diced
an elderly onion diced up small
two carrots that had started to get a bit bendy
three small potato's cubed
a decent dollop of lazy garlic, a teaspoon chilli powder and a teaspoon of curry powderthis was topped off with a handful of dried herbs.Three veggie Oxo stock cubes and topped the pan up with water .Put on to simmer with a tablespoon of lentils 20 miunte later a large pot of very tasty soup.Whizzed through the blender and potted up in two big jars for the coming weeks lunches.Cost very little and used up some clapped out veg rather than bin it :):) my kind of feast. This, with crackers and philly cheese and sliced tomatos and cucumber will do me until middle of next week for lunches. If I get peckish after that I have lots of fruit to nibble on.My morning mile is coming along nicely and I have seen lots of nice people on my walk,mostly dog walkers but they seem a friendly bunch and smile and say good morning.Its nice living where people still do that, and although London is the city of my birth I don't think I could live back there again.
Right breakfast for me then my morning mile to do.No shopping needed though which is good
Have a great weekend every one and silvasava I envy you your trip to the IoW its a beautiful spot, and 13 weeks today I will be just leaving for two weeks there in Cowes with my family.Not that I am counting or anything :):):)
JackieO xxx

camelot1001

I used to visit the IoW often as my parents had a holiday home in Gosport so we had lots of day trips there. Maybe I will get to visit again one day to see if it has changed, I would imagine it is completely different now.

I wish the weather would cheer up, my little greenhouse is bursting at the seams! Funnily enough I sowed peas straight into the ground and they are doing quite well, hope we don't get a nasty frost. As this is my first year trying to grow veggies I have no idea what I'm doing but as long as things grow (albeit slowly at the moment), I'm happy.

DD was going to throw out a nearly new bra, the strap had come unstitched, I have put it to one side as I can fix that, young folk have no idea that you can mend things!

Have a good weekend.

VJsmum

So I have upcycled my wardrobe and bookcase

here is before




And here is after



I have to say that i am rather chuffed. they are by no means perfect, but has probably given them many more years of life.

[Deleted User]

I have made do!!! I really wanted a nice pudding this evening that did NOT involve rhubarb!!! so I looked in the fruit bowl and found 3 rather wrinkly braeburn apples looking back at me. So.....I peeled then, cored them and cut them into quarters then popped them on to a baking sheet and sprayed them with a tiny bit of low fat spray, sprinkled on some cinnamon and topped that with a sprinkling of icing sugar and chucked them in the oven under the casserole. Result, kitchen smells like apple strudel and they are going beautifully golden on top. I'll serve them with some L/F greek yoghurt Mmmmmmmmm!!!

Beautiful furniture VJsMUM looks amazing, you are clever!!!

camelot1001

I love the furniture VJsMum, grey is my favourite household colour - I may have to come and steal them!

GreyQueen

camelot1001 wrote: »

I love the furniture VJsMum, grey is my favourite household colour - I may have to come and steal them!

Stand in line, please! I'm gonna steal them first!

vulpix

VJ's Mum,excellent job,I have done a wardrobe that colour recently too.

Now wise people I need your advice.
We have decided that we will wait and see what comes on the market up to the end of May.If nothing suitable comes on then we will give our tenants notice and move there,not ideal but needs must.
My friend who lives in another village was asking if we had found a house yet and I was saying that there was nothing suitable on the market even if I had lots more money.Specifically I want,not isolated,parking,detached,garden etc she told me that a friends parent had died recently and the house sounds perfect.I put a letter through the door on Thursday and the daughter phoned me.We do know each other and she said they were going to sell but someone else in the village was keen to buy it and she needed to discuss with her siblings the next day,Friday.She hasn't got back to me:oshould I txt her?put me out of my misery,We don't even know if we can afford it.WWYD?help! Vx

camelot1001

vulpix, a text to remind her that you are still interested and had she managed to speak with her siblings wouldn't do any harm. That's what I would do anyway.