Make do, Mend and Minimise in 2016

CathA

I was having a sort out the other day and find loads of old pairs of glasses, which I wanted to donate at our local Specsavers. I asked DH if there was any he wanted to keep and he said no. Donated said glasses, then he went and left his present glasses at a customer's job!
Luckily he phoned the customer who kindly sent them on,but in the meantime he had to wear his prescription sunglasses indoors and in the shops-looked like Bono!!
Even luckier, we found a spare pair of his old glasses that I'd put aside but not taken to Specsavers yet, so he was spared further 'rock star' indoor sunglasses wearing!

So, moral of the story, keep some spare glasses at home, even if they are old ones.

misstara

Morning MMMers

Got a good YS haul in the supermarket yesterday - £16 worth of gluten free bakery items for under £4 so have portioned them up and put into the freezer.

I mended a chip in the kitchen tiles and it looks pretty good (I'm generally not great at DIY). It takes 24 hours to dry and then I'll paint them this afternoon. Will need to go and buy a paintbrush first though.

I did a bit of a clear out of my wardrobe. I've lost over a stone and a half in the last year so identified 7 dresses and a skirt which are now far too big. A lot of the clothes that I wear at the moment are too big as I've never really bought any new clothes other than a few tops at charity shops but I just make do by wearing a belt.

Today I'm off work so planning a fairly relaxing day, going to do some baking later. Was hoping that me and OH could go out for a walk this afternoon but will have to see what the weather does, at the moment it looks like it is going to rain.

Hope everyone is having a good weekend.

savingpennies

I've not been on for a while, my family and a couple of add-ons have been keeping me busy. The weather has been glorious so my time has been spent mainly outdoors.

Make do: I emptied one of our compost bins onto a patch of ground that used to be hidden by a large conifer. Last year I chopped off the lower branches of the conifer (I think it's called 'lifting its skirts') and now have a large area devoid of flowers and soil that is in poor condition. I'm hoping to finish emptying the bin later today. I've transferred all my little tomato seedlings to bigger pots and I'm off to get grow bags later this week - after doing my research and finding the cheapest.

I've made lots of soup this past week for our lunches from veg a bit past its best: spicy lentil & carrot soup and broccoli and cheese. I save and freeze all the broccoli stalks and when I've accumulated 4/5 make the soup.

Minimise: We were meant to do a car boot last Sunday but with the bad weather it got cancelled. It's held regularly in the summer so we'll try again next month by which time I am sure I will find more stuff.

Another minimising project is to minimise me! We've booked a cruise with by brother, SIL, mum and auntie, and two nights are black tie. I've a couple of dresses that would be suitable but I can't get into them! I'm blowed if I am going to buy any, so losing weight is the only way to go. Wish me luck.

iamsalt

Hi
MissTara, that's a good stocking up session.
Work has been really busy so I am just dealing with day to day things.
I need to wash and return some branded waterproofs from an old job that I found when tidying up.
I have been gradually clearing things and tidying, but oh keeps saying it's not making a difference. I have a day off on Friday so I hopefully can do some clearing then. So much is his stuff, or stems from not having a conversation when I moved in as to what we were going to keep, and thus there is little storage for the things I brought, as his stuff is in the cupboards. There is even his ex's stuff in the loft, after 10 years, mostly magazines, but he thinks she should have the chance to get them. I say after 10 years, I suspect she has moved on! All I need to do now is get him to contact her to remove it.
Last weekend I made loads of "ready meals" so we eat properly this week despite being very busy with work and drama.
I have managed to give away some of my spare seedlings so that I don't feel as bad when they don't fit in the garden or veg beds.

Right 10 mins of finding more things to get rid of from the house, and then I want to get in the garden for a bit before rehearsals.

Enjoy the summer feeling to the day.
S x

charlies-aunt

What a beautiful day


MAKE DO - demolished our compost heap to provide mulch for our borders and to plant up courgette and runner bean seeds left over from last year. I am trying to make do with my A!di 'cr0cs' from last year - they have seen better days, thanks to puppy chewing - hoping that A!di has them in stock again this years as theirs are a fraction of the price of the branded ones


MENDING - going to tackle my mending pile tonight, mostly small stuff but clearing out my airing cupboard brought to light several single and small double bed sheets from relatives house clearances that I will sew together to make king sized sheets and the surplus will be used for pillowcases. Having white cotton sheets is one of life's little pleasures


MINIMISE - getting rid of most of my patio terracotta plant pots and transplanting the plants into the garden so it will eliminate having to water them twice a day through the summer. Will have to wait for retirement before planting the pots up again as still working full time

iamsalt

Hi Charlie's Aunt, I had been thinking of doing the same. I can't keep up with the watering and I feels so guilty that the plants suffer for me being busy.

Mended -of sorts
Have altered a dog costume ready for the play this week, and sewed a button onto my costume.
Minimised - a bar of chocolate. This isn't like me, but life is quite challenging at the moment, and once the play is over I can focus on minimising the stressful situations which have been arising of late. I know they are for a short time, but I could happily do without them all at once.

A good nights sleep should help me make do and find my usual tigger-like bounce.
S x

elona

There is a large bath outside that has been minimised which will be replaced by a showerbath and proper size basin and a new loo, towel rail and some tiling.

I am so glad I went with my gut instinct to have everything checked out properly as the upstairs bath was so badly fitted by previous owner that the bath could have come crashing downstairs :eek:

Suppose that might also come under the "mending" heading as well.

Making a home made salad with boiled eggs, lean meat etc as I am trying to minimise me as well.

Lovely weather so made builders a cold drink and filled rolls for their lunch as they had a hard job fitting the bath downstairs.

CathA

Spent a long time yesterday minimising the dirt from things outside, now the sun is here they show up more! Cleaned the muck off the awning blind, came up a treat. Cleaned all the downstairs windows (mainly because I killed a wasp on the window) and there was wasp blood all over it. Before anyone gets upset about killing a wasp, I'm allergic to them. Sandpapered the verandah in front of the shed to get it ready for staining again; wish I'd done it yesterday as I've given it two coats today and now it's raining on it!
Minimised all the ironing in between shed painting and going out for coffee with my old boss and managed to put all the washing away. What's wrong with me? Lol

Bubblesmum

Minimising Garden Pots into the Garden.

I too am getting rid of patio pots and putting things in the garden... finding it too hard to manage.

BH Monday I moved a rose into a raised bed on an outside wall which backs on to a flood plain with retired horses in it, they were very interested in what I was doing... too interested

On tuesday... there was a large hole where the rose had been planted and the rose was in the middle of the field being thrown about by Millie :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

It was called Jack Duckworth ( the rose)

Not quite what I had in mind re minimising

CathA

Had a posh jar of marmalade in a hamper we got for Christmas and we aren't keen, so I've just minimised it into the Food Bank . Give someone a bit of a change!