The Garden Fence - help and support in tough times

Jazee

Westcoastscot, I think you have more shops than we do. We have a l0ndis with PO, baker, chinese takeaway, fish and chip rest/takeaway, and farm shop for fresh veg, eggs etc. In the next village there is a butcher. My trips to town are for stocking up on cleaning stuff, toilet roll and the like as it is cheaper. Occasionally I'll have a shop delivered.

Raining here today and I'd at least like to get out at some point for a short walk with the dogs, but I don't 'do' rain.

monnagran

westcoastscot: we might be at he other end of the UK but our shopping experience is eerily similar.
A 15 minute walk brings me to a small Coop and PO, a Hospice CS, a computerink shop, a tiny deli and a hairdresser. A25 minute walk brings me to the much bigger village which adds another Co-op, a small B**t's, farm shop, wet fish shop, bakers, hairdressers, a bank (that opens for a couple of hours here and there and exists under permanent threat of closure), a couple of artyfarty shops, Chinese and fish&chip takeaways, 2 estate agents and 5 cafe/resteraunts. Being car less means that this is
it as far as shopping goes.
I get the occasional lift to a huge T*sc*s when the blood rushes to my head at the sight of all that choice.

x

ivyleaf

Oh mar, what a shame about your lamb I know just what you mean - if I have to cook when I don't feel well, it always goes wrong!
Do you know WHY your oven is slower than it used to be? When that happened to ours it was due to a leak!

mardatha

I think wcs only has the one shop but I might be wrong. She's a long way from anything really.

westcoastscot

Mar we have butchers etc, but all very expensive. I think our small shops have survived because we have no supermarket - food is a significant proportion of our budget - being really careful I spend at least £300 a month on two of us, and I make everything from scratch, apart from the occasional fish finger.

Monna I'm the same in big shops - don't even recognise 3/4 of the food available!!!! I don't actually go in very often - do a click and collect for basics in bulk. We don't have tele so don't see advertisements, so don't really know what I'm missing - when I'm feeling deprived it's mostly stuff like a lack of bananas or apples - or waiting for the first peas to come in the garden, or raspberries after such a long winter without them.

burtha

Hi all,
Welcome to newbe, Ivy hope your ok and taking things easy.
Funny few days , ....
Fridays we normally run around like idiots, taking kids here and there , but ice stopped play , so very quiet..
Managed not to go anywhere since early sat morning food shop , so haven't even had make up on :eek: ,
Thursday was my hospital appointment, mixed news I suppose , the treatment I had last year has done !!!!!! all , but nothing ventured nothing gained ....They had hoped for it to reduce or kill it down to next to nothing , but hey ho no luck .
But the tumour hasn't grown so that's good news , yes I still have a tumour but he seams to be behaving himself , for now ....
So management of symptoms and go on ...

Our village has a few shops , but a car is essential for work,play ... Dr,pharmacy,small arkwright shop,po,hairdresser,barbers,cafe and our wmc . Within 7 -10 miles to newcastle, durham,gateshead or 2 bigger towns with lots of shops , takes 10 mins in car , 50 mins on a bus ( if there is one) nothing around for kids ,fighting to keep the community centre open .

Lisev, all I can add is boundaries,form a united front and try and keep talking, and mine have couple of shelves that they are allowed to raid after school ,filled with easy homemade stuff or snacks like noodles ,soup in a mug type thing or fruit , fills a gap till tea time . Mine have hollow legs ...

ivyleaf

Oh burtha I'm so sorry to hear the treatment didn't work as everyone hoped, but at least it's good news that it hasn't grown xx

I had a better night with much less coughing, so fingers crossed it's clearing up

A fox has opened a food waste bag and strewn the contents across the pavement by our gate, but I suppose cleaning up the mess is one of the things I shouldn't be doing atm and poor OH with his dodgy hip will have to do it :mad: Blooming foxes, they soon worked out how to get into the supposedly "fox-proof" food waste bins the council gave us!

ETA Turned out if was from the neighbours' food waste bin and they've cleaned it up :-)

monnagran

I don't know about you, but the last couple of days here have been dark and dismal. Is that why everyone has been in hibernation?
I have found it difficult to get myself motivated to move. My warm room, my books, my TV, my knitting and the occasional visit by Pickle have been all I wanted.

However, today the sun is shining, I must have a shower and wash my hair and I have promised Pickle that we will make flapjacks when she gets back from nursery. One more cup of coffee and I will make a reluctant move.

Burtha: Sorry that there wasn't more positive news about the tumour but fingers crossed that it has decided to remain dormant. You are so busy that you must meet yourself back. Try to give yourself space and time for you now and again.

Ivyleaf: Hopefully your cough is on the mend. It makes you feel so tired, doesn't it?

ivyleaf

I'm coughing a lot less, thank you monnagran

It's a gorgeous day here, though the weather forecast said it would be rather colder than it looks. I haven't been further than the front door since I came back from hospital last Thursday, so I wouldn't know

DD1 is coming over later to do some housework, so she's going to help me re-organise the chests-of-drawers in our bedroom so I can have a week's supply of undies in the little bedside one rather than in the big heavy drawer which I mustn't pull open or push closed atm.

Pooky

Mar - I love my halogen too - I use it instead of the big oven for lots of things and am about to pop a chicken in it. It's a lot cheaper to run than the main oven (for us anyway - not sure about the cost against calor gas) and it's lovely and easy to clean - you can pop an inch of hot water and a tiny squirt of washing up liquid in it and set it going for 30 seconds and it whizzes the water round (there's a fan behind the halogen) or the pot will go in the dishwasher too. Makes fab roasties!

You get a stand to put the lid on as that's where the heat is so you don't want to put it directly on a worksurface and that can be a bit tricky to position until you're used to it. I'm on my 2nd one in 7 years, MIL borrowed my 1st one when they were having a kitchen refit and loved it and it's still going strong. I converted my parents to the ease of them too and they use theirs daily. Mum is a dab hand at cooking an entire meal in it.

The only thing I've not managed to make successfully is cake but then we don't eat cake so it's not a problem.