Make do, Mend and Minimise in 2015

silvasava

OOhh you've got me going again. I've crocheted simple baby shawls for friends and work colleagues that were expecting babies - my lovely neighbour son's wife is expecting so I must get my hook out!

Not going to be anything like your beautiful one Poppy - just simple trebles

babyblooz

I have days when I'm like a little whirlwind, getting all sorts of things done, and then I have days like the last few, where nothing seems to get done at all, I just accept it now as the circle of life, good days, bad days, and I don't beat myself up about it! Sometimes I need a day off to smell the flowers lol!

fuddle

Trying to think of ways to use up the last of the ham.

For lunch we'll have ham and pineapple with melted cheese on a slice of toast. I am going to make a ham and tomato quiche for tea, serve with salad and boiled potatoes fried up a bit to make them a bit crunchy round the edges.

I have a large piece of beef brisket arriving in the shopping so that should be lunches and teas sorted for the coming days. I am liking having cooked meat to hand. I am saving with regard to meat purchasing but I am not sure about electrical costs in the initial cooking.

Also going to be using up all the older fruit in a smoothy in a moment. I will give my rabbit the strawberry tops.

I have dug out my crocheted cardigan and endeavour to get to grips with finishing it for this autumn :rotfl: and seek to buy more wool in the coming days as there's 30% off till end of May.

Hard_Up_Hester

Fuddle, I add chopped ham to a tin of condensed mushroom or chicken soup to make a sauce for pasta bake.
I'm another one who crochet's blankets for my DGC, expectant work colleagues, for pets & dolly prams.
I use up oddments & people often pass on their scraps to me which helps.
Hester

vhalla1478

Afternoon, All,

Just having a well-deserved cup of coffee ( but down to 2 packets per month from 6!) as I've been gardening and painting the furniture all morning. I'm very pleased to report that every seed I've planted up to now is coming up, apart from the ones I put in a couple of days ago, but now I've decided that gardening is not a mystery that I'll never understand, I have high hopes for those as well!

Here's a lovely, light and nutritious recipe for lunch.

Avocado and Cucumber Soup - serves 4

2 large cucumbers, chilled, juice of a lemon, 2 ripe avocadoes, 2 tbsp. Greek yoghurt, tbsp. Worcestershire sauce, sea salt and black pepper, half a red onion finely chopped, plum tomato deseeded and finely chopped, tbsp. olive oil, plus extra to drizzle, 3-4 basil leaves, finely shredded.

Peel the cucumbers, quarter lengthways and remove the seeds. Dice a quarter and set aside for the garnish. Roughly chop the rest, place in blender/food processor with half the lemon juice and whizz until smooth.

Halve, stone and peel the avocadoes. Finely chop one avocado half to use for garnish. Squeeze over a little lemon juice and set aside with the diced cucumber. tip the rest of the avocado into the blender/processor.

Blend the avocadoes with the pureed cucumber, Greek yoghurt and Worcestershire sauce, until very smooth. Season generously with salt and pepper and add lemon juice to taste. Chill until ready to serve.

For the garnish, combine the diced cucumber and avoicado with the red onion and tomato. Toss with the olive oil and shredded basil.

Taste the chilled soup for seasoning and add a splash of cold water if it is too thick. Pour into four chilled bowls and spoon the garnish into the centre. Add a drizzle of olive oil and grind over a little pepper to serve. Great with crusty baguettes.

Have a great day, folks. I'm going to do a bit more to the garden whilst the weather is ok. Where's Cheerfulness, does anyone know?

Viv xx

GreyQueen

I'm getting all inspired about blanket-making again, after your wonderful reminiscences. Still weirds me out seeing that pic in the magazine...... I lived with each of those blankets for months when I was making them, but once they were finished, they were bundled up in huge poly bags (each one is a double-armful) and donated, so I never expected to see them again. Weird. Good, but weird to see one of them.

To get the look, start with pulled out knitwear in a boring colour (we had lots of muted blues/ greys/green and browns as they were from the menfolks' pullies) and then switch one of the top colours every six inches or so to give the illusion of squares. I was always knitting a minimum of two strands, mostly three at a time, very rarely 4 if they were exceptionally fine. This is an easy way of getting subtle colour changes and I enjoyed seeing what different colours would do. If you see in that magazine picture where there are squares with little stripes in, that's where there was only a tiny golf-ball size ball of yarn; I would waste nothing.

I'm in awe of anyone who can crochet as I've tried to learn a few times, completely failed to do the simplest stuff, can't get it together to hold it. Funny, as I can knit, sew, embroider, make grass skirts, paint and sculpt, but get reduced to a fit of screaming frustration by a simple crochet hook. :rotfl:

cheerfulness4

I'm still here and enjoying reading, Viv

Wanted to get some gardening done but next door is changing the top fencing panels and it doesn't seem to be going well. There are 3 men out there now scowling at the posts they are trying to remove and looking fed up.
I think I'd best leave them to it.

Poppy_Golightly

LOL Grey Queen! I was taught the basics of crochet by my aunt many moons ago, however these days YouTube is a great resource when it comes to the "You versus the Pattern" battle. Plus Lucy at Attic24 is great at doing little tutorials and posting freebie patterns.

Rainy-Days

JackieO wrote: »

All the girls wore Max Factor panstick, and had Max Factor powder compacts as well and had small tablets of mascara that you had to spit on to moisten , then put on your eyelashes with a tiny brush.

I used to save up to buy Lentheric 'Tweed' perfume as I didn't like the smell of Boujoise Evening in Paris.My Dad would always get me Grossmiths 'White Fire' in a scarlet box for Christmas or if he was feeling generous Rubenstiens Apple Blossom.The only deodorant was a 'Mum' stick, and then the wonderful Roll-on deodorants came on the market.Rimmel make up was 1s 3d (8p) for what ever you wanted, be it lipstick,nail varnish,powderetc.Every make up you needed was the same price with Rimmel.Ponds cold cream was universal for everyone.by the time I had bought some make-up or a record 5s.6d (31p)I was usually broke again I can remember saving up for weeks to buy a new winter coat in the January sales in
C & A's in Oxford Street It cost me 5 guineas (£5.25p)and was bright red with big black buttons It was the first coat I ever bought for myself out of money I had saved up, and I thought I was the bees knees in it.15 years old and buying my own clothes.I used to walk half way to work to save the extra pennies for my sales hunt in the west end. Sitting in a Kardomah Coffee house with my bright red coat on I felt like a million dollars :):):)Life was so different in those days and you appreciated it more I think.
JackieO xxx

I remember my late mum talking about these things to me, especially so when she was poorly; kind of nice for her to think back to those days I guess. I recall mum using that mascara even when I was little it was in a blue plastic oblong thingy with a tiny little brush that slotted alongside the mascara in it's own compact. She used to use Boots cold cream and cremolia hand cream as well. She told me she would save for weeks to buy a nice blouse and sometimes her dad (who she adored) would give her a few bob extra to splash out on at sale time.

Simple things in life sometimes seem the best. I went walking through John Lewis today in Newcastle and there was not a thing that I really wanted or needed. I went into M&S and looked at the horror of clothes on the racks and the massive prices and decided that the 70's look was not great all those years ago so it won't be too great on a forty plus something now

My mum used to use Ponds cream allot and she had fantastic skin even right up until she died - sometimes the oldest is the best. It was nothing fancy but it worked. I still have a pot of Pond's and I still think it is a really good product.

iamsalt

Hi
I have really enjoyed the stories, I realise how lucky we are to have found the place where we don't feel obliged to count shopping as a hobby, as a number of people I know do. They often say they don't understand how i hVe time to do my hobbies, sewing, knitting, crochet, gardening, am dram and getting involved in my community, but it's because I don't shop. I went to town today for the first time since January I think.
I have been sorting through some bits for charity shop, but my mum's friends son is setting up in his first home, and is thrilled to be getting things like crockery, my fridge, glassware, and a few other bits and bobs. I am so pleased it is going to someone who will make use of it, and it's no longer sitting in cupboards gathering dust or in storage. This helps me so much, as I hate waste and didn't want to throw things away.
I have had an extra long bank holiday weekend, and have done a lot in the garden, seen my mum, and friends, and now I get to snuggle with my cats before heading back to work tomorrow. I do feel recharged and ready for the 3 days before the weekend.
S x