Make do, Mend and Minimise in 2015

[Deleted User]

I shall be making the first jam or the season tomorrow, He Who Knows has just picked me two pounds of lovely ripe gooseberries from the allotment, and so it begins..............

silvasava

Just taken a look round the 'estate' and my solitary gooseberry is starting to ripen but we have had strawberries nearly every night for the last couple of weeks! My excuse is that they don't freeze well. Busy morning sewing bits & pieces, went out to the boat this afternoon with DH to do some minor tidying & checking, came home & DGD came round after work for me to pluck her eyebrows as they grow so quickly. Made fajitas for tea but passed on strawberries again lol. DH going to Goodwood Festival of Speed tomorrow with DS1 - our young neighbour opposite who is a 'petrol head' like DH gave him 2 spare tickets as DH has loaned him tools so many times - such a kind and thoughtful thing to do so I have a whole day to myself........ hmm what shall I do?????

Lynplatinum

Evening All

Mrs Lurcherwalker - gooseberry jam - YUM!!! Miss my gooseberry and my raspberry bushes!

misstara - we all fall off the MM&M wagon occasionally - the thing is to climb back on with the help of your pals on here :A and know that if you had not been on here - then you would have been in a worse situation and no idea how to recover from it!!!! That's why this is a brilliant thread!!! :j

Well, today was as busy as predicted! Also had me long hair up in a twist above my head - and I have carefully wiped half the flippin paint off the ceiling and onto the ends of my hair!! I know Im goin grey so in theory it shouldnt show but I m not white enough yet!!

nearly finished kitchen - just another coat to do near stove - and where my friend's cider exploded all over the ceiling at a BBQ last year!! Just a bit of fillering to do! Onward then to the next job - knocking broken panes of glass out of a 12 paned door and getting more glass; re puttiying it in and then re painting the door! Dont know how much the glass will cost to have cut nor putty! The last time I used putty was about 20 years ago - the window I re puttied in is still in and not letting water or anything else into the house - so that worked OK then! LOL

Jackie O remind me by PM how I can donate to RFL for you. Dont do on line banking so is there someother way? PM me plse. Also melting moments hummmmmm - havent made any for ages but you may have started me off again!!:)
Nite all frugal fun day tomorrow all!

silvasava

Well part of my 'free day' has been decided. Push Cat caught a Starling and kindly brought it up to the bedroom for us at 4am this morning. Starling rescued minus the feathers that now decorate the bedroom! I've got a load of stuff to take to the CS and DH has put the bin that we use for glass in my boot for me to take to the bottle bank & have a smashing time lol!
After that I have the day to myself...........maybe
Have a good day everyone x

vhalla1478

Good morning, Folks!

I haven't been posting lately as something is wrong with my internet connection - I keep losing it just when I'm trying to read all your lovely posts; an SOS to DS is in order I think!

I've stayed on the MMM bandwagon this month as I have spent only £79.95 on groceries, cleaning materials and toiletries and overall this year, since I started making notes of it, my average daily spend on these things is £3.90.

Apart from hating waste, I'm frugal as I want my money for the things I enjoy most (apart from my DB!) which is the garden, holidays and clothes. And I also bought half an organic pig (butchered) for £75 last month, so I don't think I'll be shopping for pork for some time. I just need to look up my recipe for brawn as my DDil has 'donated' her half of the head to me - the young are pretty squeamish sometimes.

Jackie, I hope you got my pm - help, please!

Have a good day, All. Am having a visit from my singer friend this afternoon - his album has just got a gold 'disc', presented to him by Billy Fury's mum - still alive and kicking at 94! I have ambitions in that direction - I keep telling myself 70 is the new 40!

Viv xx

[Deleted User]

4 jars of beautiful pink Gooseberry Jam are cooling on a tray in the shade. Why is it that green gooseberries make such a lovely PINK jam? It also happens with crab apple jelly, that muddy khaki liquid that drips out of the jelly bag turns into crystal clear baby pink loveliness when the sugar is added, it must be MAGIC!!!

Bluegreen143

Well I've just spent a pleasant couple of weeks reading this thread from start to finish - all 163 pages!! :cool:

I'd love to join if you ladies will have me? I've learned a lot about budgeting and being frugal the last couple of years, and used to post on the grocery challenge regularly, but it's the perfect time for me to start making do and mending a bit more now because...

Tomorrow my husband and I get the keys to our dream house - our first home we've bought :D:D sooooo happy to be moving from a teeny wee rented flat to a proper house with a garden and a big kitchen - perfect for MMMing! However we've gotten very used to our cheap cheap rent (it's a housing association flat) and our mortgage and other bills will be much higher now.

And we also have an exciting but very expensive development - I'm currently 17 weeks pregnant with our first child, due at the end of November :j

So here's where I'm at and what I want to learn:

- cooking + meal planning - this is where I excel normally (morning sickness + the chaos of moving has meant an increased budget for a while). I learned sooooo much doing the grocery challenge for a couple of years and love cooking from scratch. Once we've moved this weekend, and now I'm feeling better, I wat to get right back into this.

- knitting - I can knit and want to get back into it and do a few bits for the baby might see about learning to crochet too.

- gardening - I've grown salad, herbs etc in pots at our flat, but am SO excited about the new house, which has a large garden, including a veg patch, a real greenhouse! and establishing apple and pear trees.

- sewing - apart from hand hemming a few pairs of trousers, this is a skill I don't have and want to learn! I have a teeny wee mini sewing machine I've never used and my sister has one I can borrow, so I'll see how much I do before I invest myself

- other stuff - my husband is really handy at making stuff and really frugal with most household stuff (eg buying stuff on eBay or charity shops rather than pay full price). He needs training in limiting other spends e.g. beer, random bits when out, nights out etc. He's a lot better than he used to be though

Sorry about the epic post! I'm going to have a think about any specific challenges I want to set myself, but I'll definitely be asking you lovely ladies for gardening and sewing advice - thanks in advance lol :rotfl:

silvasava

Welcome to the ' gang' Bluegreen - so much excitement for you and DH & so much to look forward to - wonderful!
There's plenty of support on here so pull up a chair & join in!

Bluegreen143

Thanks silvasava!

Did a tiny wee bit of MMMing tonight - we're on the last dregs of food here due to the house move (and don't want to buy more as well have one night without a fridge). My husband had a SM pizza, but I concocted a pasta dish with olive oil, Parmesan, sundried tomatoes and peas. And I made twice as much so don't need to buy a sandwich for lunch. Can't wait to get in my house so I can get cooking properly again though!

Bluegreen143

Here's a pic of my pasta - sorry about the quality, my phone camera is a bit broken and I've packed my actual camera