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Make do, Mend and Minimise in 2015

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  • vhalla1478
    vhalla1478 Posts: 490 Forumite
    Evening Folks,

    I'm pleased you liked the recipe, Polly; it's one of my 'regulars'. It's strange how you have favourites among recipes, when, if you were so inclined you could cook something different everyday of the year.

    I'm ashamed to admit, that today, as far as I can remember, is the first time I've ever made mint sauce from scratch. As I have a big pot of mint on my mini patio where all my herbs now reside, I cannot think why I've never made it before, especially as it couldn't be simpler. I've given myself a resolution to make/bottle something every day for the next three or four weeks. Apart from the mint sauce, I made a large batch (5 x 2litre bottles) of lemon and orange barley water today and have also started on a needlepoint cushion cover that complements my rug. I'll be spending the rest of the evening looking through craft and cookery books to find things to do, using what I've got rather than rushing out buying extra ingredients. I know my DS has a glut of plums - large sweet ones - in his orchard so I'm going to try and find alternate recipes aside from plum jam and sauce. Watch this space as I intend to report here regularly and that will make me do it - I can't let all you ladies down!:rotfl:

    Have a great bank holiday weekend, Folks.

    Viv xx
  • mcculloch29
    mcculloch29 Posts: 4,972 Forumite
    Rampant Recycler
    I'd completely forgotten it was a bank holiday this weekend. I work from home so it doesn't really affect me.
    I got sent some mesh jelly bags to review, the type you use to replace muslin, I've given them a general review, but I'm looking to find a use for them. I think perhaps making paneer or home made cottage cheese.

    A friend gave me a big bag of tart eating apples so looking at what I can do with those.

    A really simple meal today - a casserole of green lentils cooked with bacon scraps and crushed garlic in tomato passata with a bit of beef stock. I soaked the green lentils overnight, I was gifted them unloved by the same friend who gave me the apples.

    I mentioned that I was going to pick up a new ladle from Ald!'s Specialbuys as Dr C (DS) had taken mine with him and she gave me a really lovely one that she doesn't use.

    It wasn't all one-way traffic, she got my 4.5 litre Breville slow cooker which has just been replaced by the 3.5 litre Crock Pot slow cooker, and was thrilled with it.
    Erma Bombeck, American writer: "If I had my life to live over again... I would have burned the pink candle, sculptured like a rose, that melted in storage." Don't keep things 'for best' - that day never comes. Use them and enjoy them now.
  • Morning all,

    Busy day yesterday, but the eye tests are out of the way. I need new glasses and OH could do with them but his change is fairly slight. We've investigated prices online and I've got a short list. Unfortunately I have a very small face and usually need glasses from either the teen or petite range and only a few of the online discount sights (just saw this--guess I know what is on my mind!) allow you to sort that way--and those aren't the ones that allow you to request several pairs to try on, so I think I'll be going into specsavers as they have several pairs that are a reasonable price. OH is pleased as he has found frames that he likes for a reasonable price online so not a bad result--although would be nice if we could both use the same place and take advantage of a deal.

    Today we're doing the shop, practicing some interview questions for me and I'll be getting my clothes ready. When that is done I have a pair of jeans to hem and then I'll work on knitting. OH has shirts to iron but if I were a betting woman I'd put my money on those shirts not meeting the iron until tomorrow.

    Several options for tea tonight, just depends on what I muster the energy to prepare.

    EmberJ How are you getting on?

    Spider how is the chest infection (think there was someone else feeling poorly but can't remember now).
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 17,413 Forumite
    10,000 Posts I've been Money Tipped!
    edited 30 August 2015 at 12:15PM
    Back from my holidays and raring to go again I brought back two bags of wool from the wool place I found on the IoW.Great place, and the lady does online as well I have enough to knit a cover for my chair in the bedroom,a football 'blankey' in Liverpool colours for DGS Henry, and a pastel 'blankey' for DD 17 balls of 100g d/knit wool cost me just under £28.00 but well worth it as they are exactly the colours I have been looking for.Should keep my needles busy in the coming weeks as the nights draw in and the days get shorter

    I also went to The Garlic Farm and bought some bottles of sweet chilli with garlic dipping sauce that we had already tried at Carisbrooke Castle.

    One bottle for me, and one for DGS Ben to take back to Uni next month.

    At The House of Chilli I bought a bottle of thai chilli sauce which is just gorgeous, and will be used sparingly over the coming months as its so nice and I don't want to run out :):):)

    Time to get my finances in order as holidays are nice, but reality is, you tend to over spend a bit.
    But that's what my frugal ways mean I can do for two weeks of the year:):):)

    Now back home and I am just sorting out the menu's for this coming week.
    I have lots of storecupboard stuff stashed, and my freezer is still fairly full so I shall be using some more of it up in the coming weeks :)

    Today I have to sew badges etc on the boys blazers and name tapes as DD doesn't even own a needle and thread :):):)

    That's what Mum's are for I am informed :):):).

    I don't mind though as I do get a Sunday dinner every week bless her, and usually come home with odds and ends of veg etc left over, which is not enough to feed the 6 of them , but I use up on Monday nights with my dinner.

    Right time to get a wriggle on
    Hope everyone is having a good Bank Holiday I am hoping to get the boys blackberrying if I can find some locally on Tuesday
    Cheers chums
    JackieO xxx
  • Hiya

    It been raining here all day and so I always get a baking urge - such a comforting thing to do on a damp and soggy day!! So made a large bakewell (ish) tart - pastry (half wholemeal and half white) followed by blackberry jam (a using it up effort!) then a fragngipan topping with almonds on the top. V yum and using stuff up again. It cleared a little so was able to go for a walk with my friend - but did end up in a Cos!as as it rained on us!! Hum that was £7.60 that I should not have spent! :o but we both feel a bit flat today - little things have gone awry for both of us which are delaying our goals (his to get to Uni and me to get to Cornwall) not irresolvable but just irritatingly slowing us up! :(

    Still, reading Ember's story I feel I should shut up grumbling about nowt! Only words of caution I would utter, Ember, is have you considered where FIL will go and what he will do? He may pull emotional strings on your OH and you could then land up in a worse position. I understand you are angry with FIL but it might be a good idea to present him with a solution rather than a problem that could end up becoming yours!

    Re what everyone has said about managing with just the essentials - I definitely did! (when I moved in here after my divorce!) My 'bedside cabinet' was the box that the hoover came in covered with a shawl. As the place in Cornwall that I am looking to move into is smaller I have been auditing my furniture - and realised that 20 years later I am still using the old hoover box!!! Ahhh - They dont make boxes like they used to :rotfl: I think its 2 hoovers later too :)

    It just had not occurred to me to change it as it still functioned and looked OK!! :D

    Glad you had a good hols Jackie O. Tomorrow I must get outa hols mode and into getting stuff done mode! rain or no rain BTW folks -- my eye is better now - so may be up a ladder!
    Aim for Sept 17: 20/30 days to be NSDs :cool: NSDs July 23/31 (aim 22) :j
    NSDs 2015:185/330 (allowing for hols etc)
    LBM: started Jan 2012 - still learning!
    Life gives us only lessons and gifts - learn the lesson and it becomes a gift.' from the Bohdavista :j
  • vulpix
    vulpix Posts: 2,821 Forumite
    Tenth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Photogenic
    Good Morning,happy bank holiday if you are having one.Doesn't make much difference to me but I loved them when I worked.

    I hope poorly people are improving and stressed people are feeling less so.

    Did a carboot yesterday,the weather was beautiful and you had rain Lyn!It is raining now though.Got rid of a lot more stuff and made about £60 minus the fee, bacon butties,a lovely £4 blue and white cheese dish( an essential in a modern home?)a gissella graham jug 50p and some 20p bits for the youngest dd.( and a plant) Both daughters and a bf came in the end.The money is handy but I just like the stuff to have some use to someone.I was saving for a new hoover but have been using the money for treats like bacon butties and xmas pressies in the av-n sale.Have saved the notes.We will do a few more carboots then send it all to the charity shop etc.

    Mr V's son came for the day and my Mum and brother came for lunch which I made on Saturday.As I had 4 men I pressganged them into moving the shed from outside the backdoor to a more sensible site.

    The garden is looking great.The knives,forks and spoons in there are causing great interest in passersby.Most think it is where I have planted things.It is so the cats cannot get their bottoms in.Lifted a big rock yesterday and there was the frog,with another close by.I keep putting them in another part of the garden as where they are the builder will be digging up to put the drains in for the downstairs loo.

    I love the fact that you have used a box for 20years Lyn,that is brilliant.I have very little of anything that I have had for a longtime.I buy stuff for pennies and sell it on when I have had enough of it.As my things cost so little I feel that nothing owes me anything and I most often sell them for the same or more than I paid.

    I have some oak drawers that my Dad used to have in his shed.I sanded and sanded and sanded them and I would never get rid of them.They have about 15 small drawers,it was a bookies safe.It weighs a ton as it is lead lined.there is also a hidden door at the back.I also have one of those brass topped tables with folding legs that someone gave me many years ago.Her Dad brought it back from North Africa after the war.I have had those 2 things about 30 years.More recently I have a massive piece of kitchen furniture that I am very fond of.It is similar to a dresser but has sliding doors.I don't have many ornaments.I have a massive copper jug that I like but everything else is pretty much on a revolving door!

    Hope you all have a good day.Vx
     :
  • VJsmum
    VJsmum Posts: 6,999 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Morning all, I love this thread but sort of "forget" to post :o

    Today is our "last day of the holidays". In previous times we'd have done something - Alton Towers, or zoo etc. but with one child at uni and the other about to enter sixth form, those days are long gone. :(

    DD is doing her last day of work today - she has been working full time in a cafe for five weeks or so - has enjoyed it, and it's been really good for her. That's without the money :D. I hope she will use the money earned for her treats through this year - we certainly won't be giving her treat money if she spends it all on tat.

    So my job is to upcycle a nest of G plan tables - got them off eBay, lovely things but very scruffy. I have just shellac''d them and am waiting for it to dry. In between coats I am cleaning the house and doing the washing. After her shift, I have to collect DD and bring her and all her stuff home. There is a lot of stuff :D

    Lunch is "a salad using up stuff from the fridge". Tomorrow I am starting a month long eating clean and mostly paleo regime including no alcohol :eek:

    Our "last night of the holidays" dinner is traditionally take away curry - this is one tradition that is continuing :p

    Have a great day all
    I wanna be in the room where it happens
  • Morning all,

    Successful day yesterday--shopping done under budget, flapjacks baked, bedroom cleaned, linens changed and washed, jeans hemmed (retaining the original hem--ooh, I'm so fancy!) a new cushion cover made from an old skirt and risotto for tea. Progress made on knitting and OH has gotten his things ready for next week....and filled up a basket of washing when I thought I was all caught up.

    OH and I are both doing a bit of work today but on a more relaxed schedule. Since the forecast has granted us a reprieve from the rain I may try to wash a few woolies. I've sorted what to wear for the interview tomorrow but haven't quite sorted the wedding--a couple of options but the weather isn't being particularly cooperative. I have plenty of clothes though and refuse to buy anything although it would be a lot easier if I could wear a black dress.

    I've had lots of cardboard/shawl furniture in my time--bedside tables, coffee tables, side tables etc. Interestingly very little of our furniture has been new--and the things that were bought new were bought with the understanding that they'd probably have to be replaced--the wardrobes and the bookshelves--because we couldn't afford quality even at used prices but needed a place to keep the books and clothes after a year of doing without.

    Leftover risotto for lunch and then OH is making pizza for tea.
  • silvasava
    silvasava Posts: 4,433 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    edited 31 August 2015 at 4:29PM
    Afternoon All - just had a quick skim to catch up a bit! I bit the bullet last week & persuaded DH to come sailing with me across the Solent to Bembridge on Friday for the weekend. I did my passage plan and the timings ( both my mooring and Bembridge are tidal) the access to Bembridge is a bit tricky but well marked. TBH I thought I'd bitten off a bit more than I could chew but I was thinking ' Feel the fear & bu**er it!! Made the trip beautifully although wind in the wrong direction so didn't get the sail up for very long. We came back yesterday cos the weather forecast was pants today. Had a great time and managed to explore a bit more of the Island in the sunshine. Clearing away the stuff and picking the produce from the garden that's sprouted over the last few days.
    FPK - wow you've really been on a mission! Well done you.
    Well done to Vhalla too for finishing the rug - lovely sense of achievement too.
    Ember - Hugs and I'm sure you will soon find a solution that suits you and your fella.
    Just found we've no milk so will take a walk up to the village Co-op
    Have a good evening everyone x
    Small victories - sometimes they are all you can hope for but sometimes they are all you need - be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle
  • Morning all,

    Best of luck to any back to school-ers today or later this week.

    Minimal MMM plans today. Interview just after lunch and then possibly a quick trip into town to pick up a couple of things we didn't manage to get Saturday as I'll have the bus pass. Gym this afternoon and then one of us will cook something off the menu plan tonight for tea, just depends on who has the most energy.:D

    Hopefully I'll get in a bit of knitting tonight before bed--I'm close to finishing off sleeve one:T
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