Make do, Mend and Minimise in 2015

Bigjenny

sashanut you can download the instructions from here for your machine if you don't have them, and they may show you how to use presser foot

.http://download.brother.com/welcome/doch000939/uj417ug01en.pdf

[Deleted User]

My eldest grandson who now works in the city, spent an enormous amount on a watch ,one of the 'posh' designer 'jobbies' and I think he wants his head seeing too.At the end of the day it just tells you what the time is

My youngest DD has a Scooby-doo watch that her late Dad bought her when on holiday when she was 8 in 1977, and its her most prized possesion (apart from her OH and children ) Tt cost him about £5 at the time .
Last year I had it in the local jewellers to be cleaned and serviced and it cost my £35.00 !!! but she so loves it and it reminds her of her Dad I didn't mind
It sits on her dresser as the strap is far too small to wear(she is 45 now) and she says she looks at it every morning as she's putting on her make-up for work.

Myself I have five watches all of which sit in the drawer at home, several are dress ones and one really nice gold Accurist one that my OH bought me years ago
I stopped wearing a watch in '95 when I retired .and honestly don't miss it.

My working life was run by the clock and I was always running to catch-up so when I stopped working I put them all away, and just go by the time I need to when I want, its lovely after years of chasing my tail everywhere to do things when I want to, not when the watch told me to:):):)

Bit of a rebel on the quiet :):)

Very small shop yesterday came to £3.30 and bought bread (for lunch for sis-in-law She took the rest home as I don't eat bread)
3 Leeks,1 kilo of carrots, 1 cucumber so nothing else to buy at all this week. Veg will help with soup and casserole making this week.

There was left over lasagne from yesterday which will be lunch today, and my bit of gammon I cooked yesterday will do for several lunches or dinners this week as well. So I'm quite happy with my minimal spend I am out to dinner on Saturday night (my birthday ) and Sunday night at youngest DDs for usual dinner so only have three dinners to cook this week. Gammon should take care of that, and soup and crackers for two lunches .Porridge every morning for breakfast as its warming and filling on frosty mornings.

We came second at Quiz last night so a bottle of wine has gone in the cupboard for saving until we have enough for our team of six to have a share out:):):)
Have a good day everyone and keep wrapped up warm
JackieO xxx

cheerfulness4

Those chicken parcels sound really nice, Viv. I must catch up listing them in my book. I want to try the Orange Chicken one next.

Jackie0 I love that story about the Scooby watch. I overheard some people talking about dividing their deceased parents possessions and how to decide who had what. They chose to alternate picking items for fairness.
I found this all quite upsetting but I suppose practical and started to think about my own parents (both thankfully very healthy in their 80's)
The one thing I would really care about having very much is a very old knife with a bone handle. It has been sharpened so many times that the blade is worn into a curve. They've used it all their married life and its been on every picnic throughout my life.

Money was extremely tight when I was a child and cafes were unheard of, but they always packed butter, tomatoes, boiled eggs, a Tupperware salt and pepper pot and the knife on every day trip, along with a flask of coffee and a big bottle of made up squash.
When we reached our destination they would pick up crusty rolls from a bakers and make fresh buttered rolls for lunch with the tomatoes and eggs and sometimes even a little cheese. I can still see them cutting the rolls with the knife now.
Such a simple thing but we looked forward to it. We normally sat on grass near one of the lovely flower displays in the shape of a clock or something. Happy days!

Now when I go to mums and help them prepare tea I get handed that same knife for cutting and buttering the bread. It makes me smile every time. She needs a Kitchen Devil bread knife for sure, as the old knife is nowhere near as good for crusty bread but somehow it would spoil things. They're happy with what they have and choose to keep it that way so who am I to interfere.

Sorry, went off down memory lane there for a bit.
We've make do'ed and mended again! Fixed the dvd recorder, or rather DS has. :T:T
After checking all leads, changing ports, giving it a shake, all the usual things you do, DH declared it done for.
I was immediately finger fast on my keyboard, checking out forums and c & p'ing possible solutions which I read out to DS.
He got down on the floor and had it out the tv unit (ooh the dust ) and after a bit of messing with screwdrivers, sighing deeply and then rushing off and getting my ear buds from the kitchen (I use them to clean out the centre of the paddle on my breadmaker) he gave it a try and declared it fixed! :j

Added bonus, I flung him a duster while he was down there and now a beautifully clean tv unit, too.

celtic_moon

Ahhhhh memory lane - love that place! I have to say, I am just loving this thread!

Speaking of dividing possessions, I spent a lovely evening with a bestie yesterday. She now has the unenviable task of emptying her mum's house as she has gone into a nursing home. This is looming on the horizon for my mum as my dad is terminal with lung cancer.

Both my friend and I and mum and I have discussed it and found that a) it's the 'daft' things that hold the most 'value' - I am getting my grandad's jug which is more superglue than anything else :rotfl: and b) how hard it is to try and find homes for things - it's almost a taboo.... Both have decided to give me anything that no-one else wants so I can re-home it all.

I am the person that is always asked if I know anyone who has/can/will etc (I think someone else mentioned that on here) and there is always the local homeless hostel and DV unit for giving to. For me, I want to see as much being given good homes and helping others find their feet when my loved one no longer has theirs - so to speak. It's shaping up to be an 'interesting' year........

On a brighter note, I too am hoarding these recipes for trying in the near future - thanks vhalla! BTW my DH says if you have any other recipes with ginger in........ BOYS! Good job I luv him eh?!

Must dash - got to do some paid work so I can feed the car - take care all!

vhalla1478

Thank you, Everyone for the kind remarks about the recipes. One of the things I didn't throw out before my, ahem, let's call it Caribbean adventure (I fell in the water trying to climb on board the first night I got there, after having been delayed at Caracas airport. Caracas, I later found out, is the murder capital of South America) was all my recipes. I've got loads with ginger in, Celtic_moon but haven't posted them because I thought there were too many with the same ingredients; but watch this space and I'll sort some out; it's sometimes necessary to keep the men happy!

I haven't got on quite as well as I intended today, basically because a very upmarket furniture/household goods catalogue arrived( by the way, can someone explain to me, in words of one syllable if possible, why we have to disguise names of supermarkets etc?) The prices are absolutely extortionate - you can go and buy 3 or 4 pieces of Georgian furniture, the genuine article, at auctions and trade fairs for the price of one piece, and it will hold its value far better than anything new, which, if you are lucky, only halves its value (less 20% VAT) as soon as it leaves the store. But I do like browsing in them for ideas, and even feel a little smug because I think my home looks better! Sorry, I know I'm preaching to the converted. Right, I'll sort tea out and find some good recipes.

Love Viv xx

cheerfulness4

Viv, some prefer to disguise names when talking about companies so that they can't 'tail' the discussions we have about them, particularly relating to offers and glitches if they show up on google.
I don't bother personally.


Hope you don't mind but I've decided, after being mighty proud of myself for learning a new skill , to start placing links to recipes (mainly yours at present Viv) in the Post 1.
This is mainly for selfish reasons as I'm losing them all among the other posts. Hope this might be helpful for other too and for those that maybe don't have time to read all the thread.

You might all have to bear with me though as I'm incredibly slow and I'm very new at doing those type of links. Boy I am learning so many new things in 2015 and its only the beginning of February!

You can tell I have a sweet tooth by the first recipe that is sitting in pride of place on the front page. :rotfl:

GreyQueen

Ooh, vhalla, I do agree about the furniture. I'm no antiques expert but I can recognise a nicely-made piece with dovetailed joints and good wood and am astonished at how far a few hundred will take you at the shops near here. The Georgian stuff floats my boat, frankly.

Re having to change names for stores, of course you don't, it just means that if you use the real name, you post can be pulled by a search engine if someone is searching for them. If you're cool with that, it's OK.

Have spent only £1 today on eggs. And have been in prescisely 2 shops after work, one of which is owned by my friend. In which unhappy would be sellers find out that the item they paid £160 last year new is worth £10 as scrap gold, and the jewels are useless (black sapphires and small diamonds). How much better to have bought a used item and not suffered such depreciation. No jeweller in this city will give you jack for anything under 1 carat, they're unsaleable due to the popularity of cubic zirconia.

Weather is cycling alarmingly fast between clear icy skies and loweing clouds, so wouldn't be surprised if we didn't see snow, haven't had more than a very light frosting so far this year, but it's getting extremely dodgy tonight.

I could be going out tonight with my bookclub ladies, but will be staying close to home instead.

littleowl

vhalla1478 wrote: »

Thank you, Everyone for the kind remarks about the recipes. One of the things I didn't throw out before my, ahem, let's call it Caribbean adventure (I fell in the water trying to climb on board the first night I got there, after having been delayed at Caracas airport. Caracas, I later found out, is the murder capital of South America) was all my recipes. I've got loads with ginger in, Celtic_moon but haven't posted them because I thought there were too many with the same ingredients; but watch this space and I'll sort some out; it's sometimes necessary to keep the men happy!

I haven't got on quite as well as I intended today, basically because a very upmarket furniture/household goods catalogue arrived( by the way, can someone explain to me, in words of one syllable if possible, why we have to disguise names of supermarkets etc?) The prices are absolutely extortionate - you can go and buy 3 or 4 pieces of Georgian furniture, the genuine article, at auctions and trade fairs for the price of one piece, and it will hold its value far better than anything new, which, if you are lucky, only halves its value (less 20% VAT as soon as it leaves the store. But I do like browsing in them for ideas, and even feel a little smug because I think my home looks better! Sorry, I know I'm preaching to the converted. Right, I'll sort tea out and find some good recipes.

Love Viv xx

I have never understood why folks buy 'new' furniture which is either mass produced in the Far East or made out of compacted cardboard. Newly weds setting up a home - or anyone with a modicum of sense - would be much better off visiting an auction room - Freegle - friends and family - to source real wooden made pieces which will repay loving care and last for years. Years ago a work colleague asked my opinion of a dining table and chairs in 'Sheraton style' for sale in a local furniture store. I said that she could probably find an original 'Sheraton revival' Edwardian period example at half the price and it would be made of real wood. She still went for the new one!
Perhaps, being and antiques dealer, I am prejudiced but I am also prone to valuing what is real and lasting over what is fake and throwaway.

vhalla1478

This is getting complicated, but I'm quite happy about that because it means I'll learn something new. Cheerfulness, can you translate from the original Chinese, what is post1, please?

And thank you and GreyQueen for the explanation about changing names; I thought I'd committed some dreadful faux pasW when I first had a computer - antediluvian and enormous, I couldn't sort out the caps lock and got into trouble for 'shouting'.

Viv x

vhalla1478

Hear, hear, little owl! x