Make do, Mend and Minimise in 2015

GreyQueen

Yup, I was punning on instructions/ destructions. As destruction can be what happens if you don't read them properly. My lovely Mum, who never swears, still laughs about reading the effing manual for some things. Which she'll normally do after the event.

Have been at the watch repair place, proffered the injured casi0 watch and asked if they can re-strap it. They can't, but the lovely lady showed me the part number on the steel back and said you can go on their website and order these resin straps. I'll check that out in the next few days, see if it makes economic sense. She also said these resin straps always snap, so worthwhile avoiding them. They seem to be pretty common now, on the big-faced outdoorsy digital watches such as I favour.

I did wonder what would happen if I cautiously heated each end of the break in the gas flame and pressed them together, would they form a secure bond where they'd previously snapped? Anyone with any ideas or who has tried it already?

There are a lot of things in the modern world which aren't repairable and some things which are, if you have the apititude and the time. If you always throw money at the problem, or replace any injured item, you're not using your human skills to their limit. We are tool-using animals and I'm all for pulling stuff around if it's not liable to have life-limiting results.

I do encounter members of the public who treat screwdrivers as specialist tools which they neither have at home or feel competant to use. Whatever do they do when a handle on a saucepan comes loose, bin it?!

silvasava

GQ - don't think you'll be able to 'fuse' the strap together. I have a feeling that DH tried it with my old Casio dive watch & it didn't work - well it stuck but not for long!
Funnily enough DH has a penchant for watches & as they are all waterproof they have to be sent away & he was sending them via the local jeweller - who then added on his 'bit' Needless to say now they are always sent direct & the bill is about half!!
He did once say he's like a Rolex Submariner - until I told him it has to be serviced & resealed every year & costs about £120.00 - so that died a death haha.

Sam1984

I'm another one for destructions, drives my dh mad but he's the worst for not using them!

Not sure GQ if they aren't useable anyway, nothing lost in trying, have you checked YouTube?seems to often have videos for stuff! I dread to imagine what people do probably bin and replace or maybe just ask someone that knows, I'm more of a try and see what happens person!

GreyQueen

Thanks, Silvasava, I'm probably not going to attempt it, then. I did wonder what is meant by 'resin' in terms of these watches, as my understanding of the word is stuff which comes out of trees.........

Is it a resin, does anyone know, or is it a petroleum by-product?

I stopped idly last week at the window of an upmarket jewellers and they had a display of pre-owned Rolexes and they were north of £2.5K. :eek: Ye gods and little fishes, I would want something with four wheels and an engine for that price!

I also went to the indy watch shop as recommended by my greengrocer and they had a display full of watches, each labelled, all vintage. Told you what they were, what year, but nothing so vulgar as price was on show, so I cleverly intuited that they wouldn't be my price band (sub £20 typically ) and didn't dare go in.

Clytemnestra

Delurking to say that I think resin is a posh name for plastic, as in "resin figurine" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dADTD5lL0B4

Loving the thread.

As you were:)

Prinzessilein

Afternoon all! Hope everyone is keeping warm! (It's cold and wet here....and more snow promised!)

Today is/has been a very frugal day foodwise....Porridge for breakfast....pea soup for lunch (made with dried peas, an onion and a couple of rashers of bacon, plus some stock - made 3 good portions, really cheap but oh son tasty and perfect for a cold day!)...tonight it will be spag bol sauce(made with half minced beef and half mushrooms) with courgette pasta (courgettes cut into long thin strips like spaghetti and steamed) followed by baked apple.


I was looking at an old jumper today...I still wear it (it's a favourite because it is just SO soft! It has been darned quite a few times and is wearing thin. I was thinking of turning it into a cushion cover! It already has a zip in it at the neck (so this could probably be adapted for the opening to insert/remove the cushion)...and I could remove the sleeves easily enough...maybe use part of a sleeve to make a feature pocket on the cushion....it's not an immediate project - I will get a little more wear out the jumper! But it's nice to have a plan.

Anne_Marie_2

GreyQueen wrote: »

I also went to the indy watch shop as recommended by my greengrocer and they had a display full of watches, each labelled, all vintage. Told you what they were, what year, but nothing so vulgar as price was on show, so I cleverly intuited that they wouldn't be my price band (sub £20 typically ) and didn't dare go in.

You really should give it a try, nothing lost really if they can't help you. My Mum had been quoted an extortionate price to have a jewel which had come loose in her watch face. I took her to a little watch shop, which had tags with numbers, but no prices in the window, and just asked how much. We were both shocked at how little it was, to have repaired, compared to what she had been quoted in high street shops.

sashanut

Hi all :j


Am popping in to report a couple of successes & ....well a bit of a fail TBH.


First the fail...box of assorted sewing machine presser feet (universal fitting) arrived in double quick time, but sadly I can't see any way they fit on my machine :mad: Will ask DH when he returns to see if he can work it out, he's most UN- handy but can sometimes figure out this kind of stuff....would have been cheaper just to buy one presser foot direct from Brother & have done :mad::mad::mad:


Now the wallpaper - well I managed to get it right at the second attempt & it makes me smile every time I pass it on the stairs...however I am still waiting for either of the other 2 adults in this house to notice.....it is right at the bottom of the stairs, at head height, the paper has been stripped off & the bare plaster showing since well before Christmas :eek: I'm determined not to mention it, see if they EVER notice LOL.


Oh and our dishwasher upper basket thingy broke, meant you could still use it but it was a dreadful struggle to get it just right. We even contemplated buying a replacement :eek: shame on us....however, I found a place online who for £11 sent me 2 of the little plastic thingys (like paperclips) and 2 for the front basket (not yet broken)....little struggle to fit, but did it & it now is as good as new/ Now how many months have I been wrestling with this thing?


And just a final one - the Danish pastries I made were so lush I had to put them in the freezer STRAIGHT AWAY after eating one each......


Just off to rehang the painting that I had to take down to paper the wall....bet they don't notice that either :rotfl:

vhalla1478

Hello again, everyone beavering away successfully; well done all! I've had a productive day as well, the lemon and orange barley water has been made for the tribe along with some for myself - I was going to walk the 250 yards next door, but went to empty the rubbish and came back after 3 steps, very icy underneath the snow. I've made bread and biscuits, (did I post the recipe for honey and ginger cookies? If not, please ask), and I've rescued the rest of my dying coriander to go into my stuffed pepper which I'll have tomorrow. My son's quiche was heaven at lunchtime, I had it with some homemade coleslaw, and some 'posh' carmelised balsamic onion chutney, which was part of the Christmas hamper I received by way of an apology from Npower along with £200 compensation and the writing off of my supposed bill. This is the reason I was first on the site; I'm now with Scottish Power and they're just as bad!

I also caught up with 3 days worth of stitching on my rug, but couldn't do any more sewing for daughter-in-law today because everything started swimming before my eyes. Not to worry, tomorrow is another day.

My aim with this £10 challenge is to eat well on the items I have in stock, not just to save money.

In total, a great day, especially as I've just had a phone call from the man in my life (oh yes, there's romance after 65) who works offshore and lives in the next county, to tell me that, weather permitting he should be back on the beach on 13th February and here for Valentine's Day! Sorry, that's not relevant, but I needed to share it.

Have a good evening and keep warm, Folks.

Viv xx

mothernerd

sashanut I planted several things at the end of my yard when the car park changed to a multi storey, so that the view from my kitchen window was not too awful and it cut down a bit on people watching you.

One of the things was a eucalyptus in the corner, so small I could carry it home from the market stall but a rapid grower but only light foliage so didn't block the light. At the end of each growing season I cut off the larger branch and let a smaller sub-branch take over the next year. After five years I decided to remove it altogether as didn't think I could cope with it the following year.

So at the end of the day I had two 10' plus sub branches and a 9' main trunk and all three of my sons asked where I had got it from - none of them believed me when I said it had been growing in the corner next to the fence for the five previous years.

I have done the patching wallpaper trick with anaglypta type paper. It started off patterned, painted it all white when it started to go grubby (everything was white then, all I could afford and each Autumn when the boys went back to school I went round covering up all the finger marks near the doors). One of the boys had been having a 'pick' at the wallpaper and some had come off.

My mother always loved woodchip because you could patch any damage so I thought how much more difficult could this be. Mum had just done her hall in the same pattern, different colour so I brought the spare half a roll home, matched it and then cut one piece of the major feature (2 flowers entwined) and stuck it on top so that if anything caught the eye that would, rather than the site of the original tear just below and to the left. Left it to dry and then painted it the same as the rest of the wall and did for several more years - much cheaper and less hassle than re-papering the whole room.