Make do, Mend and Minimise in 2015

vulpix

Fingers crossed that you sell your house quickly and are soon living in Cornwall Lyn.

FP the good carboot is at Hope School,details on the net.The opposite week there is one at the sports field across the road.A bit of a walk from the station but I think you don't mind a walk.Once at Hope,you are spitting distance from Castleton,nice place to spend an afternoon,maybe not with the dining table bought at the carboot in the morning!Let me know if you go and I will meet up with you.

I have bought a sink,taps and toilet for nearly £500.The shock is real!Such a lot of money,I usually buy second hand everything.

I have been given an undercounter freezer,yay.I can make meals to freeze for when I am too busy to cook,will help my waistline to have a proper meal instead of snack type stuff.

I am looking for a cheap fridge now.The smeg calmed down for a week then began to try to freeze the world again.So beautiful but never been good at it's job.

As I was out n about ordering the cloakroom stuff I went to my favourite 99p charity shop.Gap cardi,other nice cardi and 4 childrens things for 99p.I will use the bunny material from some pjs to make a cushion for the church pew in the kitchen.I am steadily making blue themed cushions for it. 4 down about 6 to go.The other things I will put in my carboot stuff.I also bought some summer sandals from sains--- with nectar points,reduced to £4.We went to the theatre the other night and I put some shoes on and I was walking out of them.I will be like a chineese lady with miniature feet if they keep shrinking.

don't feel like doing anything at the house today,will go on a jaunt and then aldeeeeeeeeeeee.

Laters xxxx

misstara

Morning

I had a lovely time yesterday with my friend, just pottering about in her flat. I didn't get round to making scones so I took round a gf chocolate cake that I got in markies and it was delicious. I ended up having a fairly lazy day yesterday and didn't get any of my jobs done.

Plan to achieve a little more today. I've got bread currently proving and scones in the oven. I'm going to make flapjacks as well, they are such a great snack to take to work. I don't have any dates in but will get some for next time as the layered flapjack sounds lovely.

Me and OH thought we'd go on a little trip out of the city today but it's pretty miserable looking at the moment so I think we'll wait and see if the weather perks up.

FairyPrincessk

Morning all,

Thanks for the details Vulpix--I know exactly where that is. We definitely won't make it for the next two--This weekend OH has football duties and then school stars Monday. The following Monday I'm at a conference so our weekends will be full, but hopefully later in the month as it looks like they meet through October. I'll definitely let you know if we head out to one.

Spider--I hope it passes quickly. Wheezing is awful, you have my sympathy!

I've found out that I have an interview for some temporary part time work in the coming term. This is excellent news as I thought I hadn't gotten an interview. I've also sent out some speculative CVs, so fingers crossed I'll get something. I only need a couple of days of the paid stuff so I can work on writing this year. We would survive without the money, which makes a change, but I would dearly miss teaching and it will be good for my CV when I get ready to look for the full time stuff.

Today's projects--working, baking something--definitely bread, maybe another batch of flapjacks or possibly a loaf cake. Tea is either aubergine stew or jacket spuds, depends on how I feel at tea-making time. I still haven't started knitting the sleeve for the cardi yet, maybe today will be the day at lunch time.

EmberJ

Been a bit of a struggle with things recently - my back has been playing up awfully. feeling better today though, so have put some lemon cookies in the oven, have some onions and garlic roasting under them, and bread proving in the warm kitchen ready for baking when i cook dinner. If my partner gets back in time with more flour then I will be baking a cake too. Have been behind on the laundry, but have finished three loads, and just one in the machine at the moment, all been drying on the line and in the warm kitchen. currently sat with yarn and a hook, trying to decide what to crochet. I've also been to the library and got a book out on learning to knit, have tried unsucessfully since I was 12, hoping that it may just click this time. Have some knitting needles tucked away in the spare room of doom. Spent part of last night setting up my FiL new laptop, so I get the downstairs of the house to myself now, as he can netflix in his room. - more cooking as he wont grumble about the noise over the tv. have managed to only spend 100 out of 200 for this months food shop, as I got some really good deals, and we have been eating food out of the freezer. most of what i spent was on for for the pets. Still trying to rehome our neighbours cats for him, she's currently residing on top of one of our dogs, asleep. doesn't get on with our cats awfully well though. At the weekend we travel down to Lymington to see my partners grandad - a nice free holiday, as he refuses to let us buy food or anything, though we always get him a gift, and pay for a meal out for him. rather excited, I've never been in summer, as we usually spend a long weekend in summer in wolverhampton - my family, and take a week or so on holiday. Cornwall June just gone, and Scotland next year. Those holidays really help keep me sane, so we wont be giving them up.
Sorry for such a long post, have been reading your posts daily, but not posting myself. Reading all of your posts has helped keep me cheerful, especially when you were all talking about gardens.
Em x

iamsalt

Oh Ember, you poor thing, at least you feel a bit more 'you' now. I could never be happy without a garden. It's such a delight, ever changing, and so productive as well as beautiful.

I have been given 2 bags of Victoria plums in exchange for some chillies. Any ideas for them? I am jammed out, so any other suggestions would be really welcome.

Home made fish cakes this evening, old potatoes, reduced smoked haddock, home grown chilli and parsley. They smell yummy as they cook.
Hope all are ok
S x

Lynplatinum

Evening All

Ember J hope your back continues to improve/not be too bad - I suffer with arthritis in my spine and so I do know how debilitating it can be to have pain in the back when moving.

Spider - I do hope that the meds work - my Mum and DS1 both suffer with asthma - not fun

Everyone seems very busy with interesting things - in my case I am busy but doing things like working and CAMRA stuff. Unfortunately these are things that I have promised others that I will do and I always keep my word. However it is not what I need to be doing - I need to be getting rid of carp and decorating to sell this place!! Also due to the arthritis and the weather being wet (wet weather plays the arthritis up) I am getting very tired - so I need to be careful and look after myself! :rotfl:

I would much rather be blackberrying damsoning and jamming! But there you go.

Iamsalt - you can make Chinese plum sauce - I know there is the recipe for it on the BBC food web site. This is savoury and very yummy to use either as a condiment or as a main ingredient in cooking 'Chicken in Plum Sauce' (you need to add garlic and soy). Hope this helps.

Tomorrow am teaching again but Friday I amsupposed to have a day off - will have to do CAMRA stuff then!!! But should be able to world some throwing out around that Also I have no meetings tomorrow night so that is another opportunity to sit and chuck stuff into bin bags/get on the net to sell bits. I'll let you know how I get on tomorrow night!

misstara

Hope your back is better soon ember

Well yesterday turned into a lovely day so me and OH went up the coast a bit and had a lovely walk along the beach. A NSD for me as he paid for the icecreams

Not much planned for today, a coffee with my gran and my friend is coming round to the flat for tea. I'll give the flat a proper clean and also get a few more jobs ticked off my list.

vhalla1478

Hello Everyone,

Tried to post last night as I was ridiculously excited but, true to form, the gremlins were in my computer.:D - just to announce, aside from checking that I've missed no stitches -( today's task along with breadmaking and feeding the freezer) that I have finally finished the marathon that was my rug! I've found someone to square it up professionally for me and then will post (or rather, to be strictly accurate), my DS will post a picture here so that you can inspect the finished work. He keeps dropping hints about how good it would look in his house (Georgian farmhouse) but it's going on my wall for the time being. If my DB ever gets Forest House finished in the Czech Republic, it might go there, but only if I go with it.:rotfl:

I hope all you 'poorlies' are on the mend; it's so miserable when you don't feel 100%.

Have a nice day, Everyone.

Viv xx

[Deleted User]

Ember - such a shame that you do not live near me we could sit in my garden and I could teach you how to knit.

Thanks for the good wishes everyone. I am feeling a bit better, but coughing a lot. Yesterday at work was silly as I also got hiccups. Luckily I am in an office on my own as I making odd noises - "wheeze, hic, cough, wheeze, hic, cough"!

Managed to get some baking done today; pear, apple and blackberry crumble, vegi-shepards pie, celery, potato and blue cheese soup and also a pesto and parmasen pull-apart loaf. This will save me having to cook for the next few days which is a bonus.

Going to take things easy and relax a bit in the garden now. I am trying to document the wildlife in the garden.


Here are some photos taken this week in the back garden.

vhalla1478

Hi again, Folks,

As I was having my afternoon break before tackling feeding the freezer, I worked out that there are 112,892 (one hundred and twelve thousand, eight hundred and ninety two) stitches in my rug; I think I had better put that info on the back after it has been stretched - you never know, in a hundred years it will be an antique and it will add to the value for someone!;)

Vivxx