Make do, Mend and Minimise in 2015

silvasava

Vhalla - there's a clematis that's evergreen with white flowers called Armandii - its got large leaves and is highly scented but grown quite big.
There's also one called Avalanche that's evergreen and only grows 8/10 ft but can be grown in a pot
L
x

bargainhunterss

Feeling very chuffed this morning, last night got out the sowing kit and mended a top, pj bottoms and a sock! Sorry just wanted to share my new-found mending ways!

fuddle

It's very easy to gather skills that you didn't have before. In just 6 years I have learned a lot solely by being on these threads, reading books and blogs and having no option but to learn.

It's now ingrained and I am really rather good at making do, stretching out and finding decent ways to solve a problem. I trick is having a positive frame of mind and wanting to learn and do.

For me, no amount of money or job satisfaction can bring what a frugal home maker can bring. The best thing is all this frugal energy I have will be ingrained in my girls and that is something I am really pleased about because hopefully they won't enter down the consumerism, have, need, want lifestyle that I went down early on in adulthood. Hopefully!

silvasava

Gold stars to you Fuddle - have followed your 'journey' (hate that expression!!) over the last few years and boy have you really taken everything to heart. Its so lovely to 'hear' you in such a positive and contented frame of mind and that you are passing on your skills to your girls :T:T

meritaten

I have the evergreen clematis called Avalanche in a pot - bought it last year and nearly lost it due to slugs really liking it too! managed to save it by moving it to back garden and smothering the rim of the pot with Petroleum Jelly. This year it flowered again and was so smothered in beautiful little white 'stars' you couldn't see any of the green! wish I had taken a pic now - which reminds me - must get the Petroleum Jelly out again!

vhalla1478

Thank you, Silva and Meritaten for the advice on clematis - I've put them on my 'wish' list ready for my next trip to a garden centre sometime soon if the weather improves.

It's truly horrendous here; even the pheasants are hiding in the long grass - I don't blame them one little bit. At this rate I'll be posting recipes for casseroles with dumplings instead of all the light and lovely food I'd envisaged!

Viv xx

vulpix

Viv,I would like to know your tips on home bargains.Am I right in thinking that you were an antiques dealer?
I have a few pieces of nice furniture picked up over the years,mainly oak.The rest I acquire very cheaply and most of it is sold on.My trouble was that I love all styles and have done them all too.I did mid century 15 years ago and now am settled on classic english country.Did shabby chic in the 80's, no need to go there again.
We have a power cut at the moment,It's wild out there.
I do love a clematis,such good value.I have one in flower at the moment which i only planted last year and it has done so well.It is white and has trailed along wires I put on the fence.No idea what it is called,it was cheap as chips from aldeeeeeeeeeee.
Getting on top of the packing now.Had to stop earlier as ran out of boxes,c'mon people of the High peak eat more bananas.I think we will need a week to sort the garage.I have put more furniture on eeeeeeeeeeeeebay,sslowly getting there and I made fish pie which was lovely.Vx

meritaten

probably clematis montana - grows like a weed and has pretty little flowers about two inches across? I have a montana too, which grows against a wall gets hardly any sun and doesn't matter how much you cut it back - grows back very quickly? mine is pink but the white variety is just as popular - it loves growing horizontally!
the one out the front which is in an old water cistern (a huge one I found in a skip) has been there nearly thirty years. its 'Sarah Bateman' and has been cut back many times and always sends up new shoots and in a couple of years grows lush! with huge white flowers. the purple varieties of clematis don't like my garden! had no success with them at all.

Lynplatinum

Evening all

Was thinking that I couldn't claim MM&M today but, upon reflection: HM beefburgers with grilled sweet potato and garlic fried green beans (from frozen) yielded 4 extra burgers so 2 more meals there; made a chocolate sponge cake once heating had gone off tonight so not only an 8 slice cake but also warmed up house; boiled up some wrinkly and sprouting potatoes at lunch time and made a sardine (from can) and potato salad this yielded extra boiled potatoes which will be put in something tomorrow. so mostly on the cooking front but it is all money saving and making do - most folk would not have bothered to boil the spuds (I could have put em in the garden but I dont have the space and need my pots for other stuff later in the year! LOL and many folk would have bought a cake and turned the heating on! Must learn to pat my self on the back for how frugal I always was and how much more frugal I have become - definitely inspired by you folk on here!!:A

VJsmum next time you are going to drop an :eek: like that one - please give us advanced warning and allow us to sit down - put down the coffee etc!!!:rotfl: Phew!!! What a shock!! No wonder you did not register the Brand - did you manage not to fall over? I would have been flat on my back! **** and other words! that's more than I have ever spent on a car! Well a fool and his money are soon parted is all I can say!

I am afraid I hate those P!ndora bracelets with a vengance! One 18 year old decided that for her birthday she wanted everyone to get her 'some' (and I quote here - 'some' :mad:) of the beads for her birthday present - well when I found out the price - she got one of the cheaper ones (£25 - usual budget for birthdays £10! Unless it is my own kids and a special birthday at that!) All the girlies at the party were asking who gave what and they could all tell how much each one cost - talk about competition! One girl (who's mum I know to be on Job Seeker's allowance following the break up of her marriage) looked totaly miserable so I took her into my friend's kitchen along with me and gave her great praise for helping out - she had bought one of the cheaper ones too! I wont pander to commercialism I wont!!! I very nearly bought her something totally other because I was so annoyed!

AND BREATHE - sorry will stop ranting now :rotfl:

Anyway - I have definitely passed on the frugal gene. My son has just acquired a new set of drawers - he saw them left out for the bin men in a nearby street - asked if folk would mind him taking them and his lodger/come friend who is currently living with him is gonna upcycle them (she's mad on Alice in Wonderland - so she will paint that kinda thing on there - she is a very skilled artist!)

Other son was telling me what time his local Morr!sons reduced their bread and what time a local green grocer reduced their veg etc - he came home with 2 giant carrier bags of veg while I was there for £2.50!
Also folks an NSD for me and stuck to my meat and veg diet plan (only non veg carbs at breakfast time - potatoes and sweet potatoes come under veg on this scheme!)
Frugal on folks!

vhalla1478

Hi again, Everyone,

I should really get off the computer but just wanted to thank you for the gardening suggestions which I'm adding to my list.

Yes, for my sins, vulpix, I did used to be an antiques dealer and I do still 'dabble' from time to time (it's a disease, but such fun).

Tips if you're buying from a dealer - please do be polite - you catch more flies with sugar. Potential buyers who think they know it all and are aggressive do NOT get a good deal; what you see on television programmes does not happen in real life in my experience. A pleasant and friendly potential customer wins every time. I grind my teeth when I hear 'we've got to make a profit at auction' on these programmes - they're playing a game for goodness sake, it's not their livelihood.

Second buy what you like, not what's fashionable - for example 'industrial chic' is all the rage and people are paying fortunes for metal cupboards and bits of shelving, cubby holes and worn out leather chairs etc which will not increase in value. If you like the look, go for Georgian furniture, whether 'town' (ie mahogany, rosewood, walnut) or 'country' - oak, early pitch pine/ painted pine etc; it's all well made and has stood the test of time and is incredibly cheap at the moment because it's out of fashion. I bought a 1740 oak oval drop leaf dining table for less than £100 quite recently and teamed it with a harlequin set of eighteenth 'Country Chippendale' chairs at £25 each.

Look on ebay etc for good secondhand curtains which are lined and interlined; not only are they beautifully made, mostly by hand, including the headings, but they keep the draughts out like no modern curtains can unless you can afford/have time to make them in the same way yourself.

Old lamps and lighting in general can be found - think outside the box - lamps can be made from lots of different items, but if you do buy an antique one do make sure it has been 'pat' tested (otherwise it should have its wire cut off and be sold as an ornament) - that's a legal requirement.

Look out for nice old frames which can be made into mirrors, but please don't use 'gold' paint over an antique gold mirror you will ruin it, Any missing bits can be moulded with plasticine and then replaced with polyfilla.

Porcelain/glass/paintings/silver/prints etc - what are known as 'smalls' in the trade are a matter of taste. Just be aware that there are a lot of fakes around, coming from the East. If it seems too good to be true, it probably is. But the more you handle things, the more you research, the more knowledge you gain, the less likely you are to be duped. Sadly there are crooks in the business as in a lot of others but there are plenty of honest dealers around as well so use your judgment and get a second opinion if you're not sure about something. Some items will be repaired and that's ok - a 200 year old item is not going to look as if it came from Oka etc - if it does, start asking questions - it might be over restored or be a reproduction.

If you have been lucky enough to inherit what you think is a good piece and want to find out more about it, take it to the V&A, they have an appraisal day once a month on a Tuesday.

Consider going to a trade fair and/or a live auction - your eyes will be opened at the sheer amount of affordable items out there. Take cash.

If anyone wants to ask me a specific question and/or needs a valuation for insurance purposes, please pm me; I'll be delighted to help you (for free).

Viv xx


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