Make do, Mend and Minimise in 2015

vulpix

Hello all and a special hello to new joiners.

Have calmed slightly about the house move.I think it was all mixed up with an awkward phone call I had from a friend who upset me a while back.She lives in the village I am moving to.I have realised we will probably not keep in touch in the future,after 45 years.I think we were only friends because we had been friends 45 years iykwim.

Was at the theatre last night to see the woman in black.A great achievement for the actors,a huge amount of script and they were faultless.

Today stressed eldest daughter is here to pack some stuff.Her 3rd sharer has dropped out.She is now looking at 2 beds with her friend but there are none they like!!!!so she doesn't know if she wants furniture or not.So i may or may not have to get rid of her bed.Of course we will be moving her at the end of the month,wherever she goes.No pressure.I may have to also send the massive victorian wardrobe to the hospice shop.

On the plus side Mr V's grown up son is coming to help us for a couple of days.we are going to put a shed up in my Mum's garden to house stuff for a while 'till we get sorted at the new house.He is such a gem.Anyone got a nice eligible daughter? he is 30 and rather quiet but a lovely person.

Enough with the headless chicken impression.Have a lovely day.Vx

oh,love the bug house fuddle,how is it held together? Also I love the idea of a cable knit cushion,can I have one in Christmas red pleas?

silvasava

Oh vulpix - where are the eligible ladies? I'd like one for DS1 and for one of his friends. Lovely guys but not a princess in sight (or even a Cinderella) I keep hoping .......

pinknfluffy28

Please excuse my multiple posts, feel free to skip over them, but I feel that this thread is my new bible, and that by posting my "achievements" somewhere (here seems appropriate, and much easier than trying to figure out that blogging thing) I will be more focused to stay on track!

Make do: Looking very overcast here today, so bedding has been washed, and is now hanging on an old airer I found in garage, or over doors. I have told DH to get rid of the tumble dryer, because I have been so lazy and wasteful using it all the time.

Mend: Not really mending as such, but last night dd1 (age 14) ran up a beautiful little waist apron on her sewing machine, which she gave to me as a gardening apron ready for when we move. She then went back and made a smaller, matching version for dd2 (age 7) who is keen to help grow our own veggies. I really must get dd1 to help me rekindle my love for sewing, she is a very talented girl and we are expecting great things from her textiles GCSE!

Minimise - Fathers day this weekend. I have minimised my spending by letting the kids loose with my card making stash, they have made cards for dh and fil (we dont have contact with my dad). Also found out the tshirt I got for dds to give dh at xmas, but forgot, so thats his pressie sorted too. Need to pop to mr t later and hope to get a box of chocs cheap for fil.

I have done a spendings/budget spreadsheet, I aim to cut our monthly food shop in half (scary), christmas and birthday budget in half, and clothing budget down by almost 3/4, as well as cutting out almost all non essential spending (bar our fortnightly pint, and £10 a month to buy dds tea and cake during our fortnightly library visits), and reducing bills etc.

With all the money I aim to save, not only will we be able to afford the home improvements, but also going to try and save enough to hopefully take dh to silverstone next year to watch the F1, its a huge passion of ours, and we have never been! It seems a great extra incentive to us both :-)

celtic_moon

Hi All!

I am back from working away for 2 weeks. Good for the bank balance but missed my DH and furbaby loads! Still, it will keep the housing association off our backs for a little while so........

Sounds like you all had a fab meet hopefully we will get one oop norf at some point too. Welcome to the new posters - this is a very happy thread and you will learn lots from some lovely people! Get well wishes to all who are recovering!

I am very happy with my DH. He has kept to the MMM whilst I was away and didn't spend loads. He kept up with some of the housework - especially the washing - after working 14 hour days himself. Unfortunately, it also means I have returned to a humungous pile of ironing so I have a 'hot' date tonight...... Will download some TV to watch so it isn't quite so painful......

I haven't had much MMMing to do but managed to catch up on some VERY much needed sleep. I am no longer dragging my knuckles along the floor with tiredness and I have just managed to get my Vit D levels into the bottom of the 'normal' range - only taken a year of massive supplements but I am getting there

Wishing you all a sun shining fab MMM day - I am steadfastly ignoring the rain atm xxx

iamsalt

Welcome pinknfluffy and welcome home celtic_moon

We have glorious sun most of the day today although the pollen count has been so bad even I am affected!
Quite a bit MMM here. Oh is industriously using up the last of last year's redcurrants which I had frozen. They are going to hopefully become wine.
Washing done and on the line drying. Salad for tea from the garden, and then if it stays dry we will walk to the next village for rehearsal, it's down a footpath across th e fields and has been so dry it's easy underfoot at the moment. Need to water the greenhouse veg before I go. Almost out of water from the waterbutts so need to save some more or hope for overnight rain!
Been drying fruit while working at home so I have some lower cost healthy-ish snacks for when I am in the office, trouble is they taste so nice i eat them before I go in next.
Vulpix it's always hard when friendships have run their course, but it can sometimes make space for new treasures to be found. My friendship wasn't quite so long running, but I have made good, more compatible values friends since.
Have lovely evenings

S x

silvasava

Where's JanB - did the meet up wear her out?? or is she just MIA?

monnagran

sashanut wrote: »

That sounds great Monnagran! I too love cable cushions, do you have an easy pattern?

The pattern I have is Hayfield 9804 and it seems relatively straightforward although I am customising it a bit as it has a zip along one edge and I don't do zips. I rather fancy having it fastened with a nice wooden button, but we'll see.

monnagran

Vulpix: I'm afraid that atm my wool is a very boring but in the best of taste sort of stone colour. Red sounds much more exciting and if I have time before Christmas I'll have a go.

Fuddle: Oh yes, you can grow out of hay fever. I had it really badly as a child but suddenly, in my early twenties found that I didn't have it any more. Poor DS1 is mid 40s now and still gets it from time to time but nowhere near as badly as he used to as a child.
Never mind knitting, you are excellent at crochet which is a craft I have never managed to master. Why is it that whatever we are good at we really want to be good at something else?

I am trying to get all the house deep cleaned and up together this week because next week is manic. It includes making a cake for someone's garden party, accompanying the Rev to an all day hospital appointment to hold her hand and keep her calm, (yes, you can wish me good luck with that), cooking and serving lunch for 45, (this is me not getting involved in church activities), having my baby brother and his wife to stay for the weekend to celebrate his 70th birthday and having a big family party on the Sunday. Sometimes I want to fall on my sword.

Not much time for MMM I'm afraid, but the week after next...............Ah. Then I'll be back in the fray with a vengeance.

Celtic_moon: Congratulations. You have done a good job with training your DH. Did it take long?

pinknfluffy: I am so impressed with you. I also make promises about cutting down grocery bills, clothes spending, and generally living a spartan life on a minimal budget but a quick visit to a garden centre usually puts paid to all that.

Memo to self - Steer clear of sinful Garden Centres.

x

misstara

Evening all,

I've been off all day today so have been been busy cleaning, laundry, etc - all the boring flat stuff that has to be done. I'm off work again tomorrow, hopefully it will be a nice day as me and OH are planning to go for a walk and I'm going to treat him to a wee spot of lunch.

Have been MMMing the fridge and freezer. Lunch was avocado, cheese and cucumber to use up some salad stuff and tea was frying steak from the freezer plus an assortment of veg from the bottom of the fridge. Also used up the last of the strawberries with some cream for pudding, very yummy

I went shopping yesterday to see what I could get with my birthday vouchers. I went into n*xt and as I walked into the shop, an assistant said can I offer you a voucher for £10 off a £25 online spend. So I tried on some jeans that I liked and then ordered them online to pick up today. When I went to pick them up today, I also bought a pair of canvass shoes and a top with the leftover vouchers. Very pleased with my purchases and the extra £10 to spend :j

GreyQueen

Had a quiet day today, went to the day job and then returned a library book, visited a pal on way home and did a favour for another pal.

Simple supper of baked potato, with the last of the butter in the butterdish, sardines and slices of cucumber. Also baked an apple in the residual heat of the oven and ate that as dessert.

Have been spending time fragments knitting pulled out and also donated yarn into a blanket, 30 stitches wide, stocking stitch, making colour changes so that each strip is a 3-block, IYSWIM. Started one late last night and am half-way through it, and that's just on time fragments waiting for the computer to start up, the kettle to boil, etc.

On my second library book since Monday, there's some cracking good stuff out there, such a shame my job cuts into my reading time, lol.