Make do, Mend and Minimise in 2017

Siebrie

Mimimised: bits and pieces from the freezer and fridge for dinner, because I had just me to cook for. Dds are at my parents for half term and dh works the late shift and made and took his own dinner. Tonight's dinner for both of us will be another freezer/fridge surprise

Sorted through dd2's bathing suits and sent three to the attic for donation (I have about thirty bathing suits and bikinis in my stack, in all sizes. They were all given to me, most by a high-ranking colleague with a rapidly growing daughter who is into competitive swimming ).

Mended: four tiny holes in a very old fitted bedsheet, a legging, cut the fraying from two pairs of pants (dd will wear those only if she does not have to change in public, so not when she has swimming lessons or pe), a cinderella costume, dh's longsleeve.

crazytree

Mmmmm chocolate brownies....
Make do - with sad eating apples turned into an apple sponge for pudding. Eaten while watching the Bake Off :T
Mend - broken wind chime from the garden glued back together! I know it was a strong mend coz when I dropped it again it was a different corner that broke off :mad:. It is now repaired and back in the garden:T.
Minimise - bought two new small roasting tins in Aldi and in order to fit them in the cupboard I had a clear out. Got rid of rusty cake tins and horrible silicon sheets and stuff I've never used! It's lovely, I can find stuff in my cupboard:T

In order to minimise Chr****** stress I've got a "do one job a day" through November checklist from The Art of Doing Stuff. I'm not sure how well that's going to go coz I've not got round to printing it out yet!!!!

Have a great day
T

RainbowHippie

Afternoon all.

Crazytree i like the idea of your 'one job a day' for the C word. I'm lucky enough not to have to host (my parents do every year) but need to get organised to make some gifts. I'm in the process of writing my gift list that i do every year to remind me who we need to buy for, and then list gifts for each person as i think of them (also do this throughout the year in a memo on my phone as things come up). I need to be strict this year and minimise spends - gifts must be from the stash of possible gift-things i've accumulated over the years, handmade, or bought with vouchers we already have. Fortunately most of our friends and family appreciate handmade so it shouldn't be too hard - BUT i need to organise myself to make sure everything gets done in time! So once my gift list is done i will be making a planner like yours to plot when i need to have things done by. Have to get my bum in gear and do the blinkin list first tho!
Also thanks for the tip re. tomatoes - they have been in a bag with a very brown banana and we now have lovely red tomatoes!! :T

Make do - bendy veg from the fridge roasted in a sauce about to go out of date at the back of the cupboard. Ended up with a big tub of veg which is sat in the fridge and will form the basis of my lunches for the next few days. Also making do with old clothes in my stash to make myself some new tops - have been having fun with my overlocker and combining more too-short or too-knackered tops and tshirts into longer, more comfortable things that i will wear.

Mend - nothing since last time. Hopefully my procrastinating ways with the gift checklist...we'll see!

Minimise - breathed a sigh of relief putting the green bin out on Tuesday as it was so full i could hardly close it! Minimised all the fallen leaves from the patio yesterday once i had a nice empty bin to put them in. Hoping it will stay dry today and tomorrow so i can finally give the lawns their final mowing of the year. One of the friends currently living with us is now staying longer (2-3 months more rather than the anticipated couple of weeks) so i need to minimise some carp from kitchen cupboards to give him some storage space.

Have a lovely day everyone xx

silvasava

Hi All

Well my Fajitas for last nights tea turned into a stir fry as I had no fajitas! Still I did use up the end of the cabbage and half a cauliflower as well as all the other ingredients. DH is very sanguine (good word for a Thursday ) as long as he's got a full plate so that will do for my make do and minimise!
Havn't mended as such but we did get out in the garden today and minimised the compost heap over the front garden. The wood is rotting round our compost heap & now its nearly empty so DH will be able to mend it - hope that counts
Its been a lovely day but turning cold now - hope everyone has had a good day x

villagelife

Minimizing lots at the moment. Took a small thermos and a travel mug into work for a colleague who said she had been thinking of buying them.
Shoes sorted and some beyond repair were binned. I glued the sole down on another pair so have mended sonething.
Made do with food in the freezer and cupboards this week.

house_elf

Hello Folks,

Minimise (start with the easy one!)....sold some things on EBay. Posted a bike off yesterday, shredder already collected and bike rack going today, so space in shed :j DH has moved some tools from 'Futility' to shed, so we have space!

Mend: friend came to fix kitchen lights which have been on for a week.

Make do: DH saw a beautiful briefcase last week. Too expensive, so he has made do with buying it off eBay for a third of the price :eek: Put away for his Xmas present.

MMMerry Sunday!

bargainhunterss

Hope everyone has had a nice weekend!

Actually managed all three Ms today!

Make do: made a Bolognese cheese toaster with leftovers
Mend: fixed a fraying sleeve on a winter jumper that I think I'll be using this week!
Minimise: listed a few bits on ebags that will hopefully sell. Otherwise they'll be going to the charity shop.

Slowdown

Silva save- if you find you have no wraps in future, you can knock them up in minutes if you have a bit of flour, salt etc. Very simple to make and just roll them very thin and toast them in a dry frying pan.

Make do - nearly ordered some logs for the burner but then remembered a friend who had them piled up in her garden for years after tree cutting. Popped round there, filled a few wheel barrow loads and stacked them in the boot. Drove home and left them in the garage to dry out. Getting my own trees cut next week so will be adding to my free stock pile.

Mend- oh I tried. And tried to mend an awkward upside down zip in my sons coat. Agghhh. So failure here.

Minimise - my box of oats by making granola and porridge and biscuits. Also my overgrown patch of mint in the garden. It's attempting to take over the world.

Happy days.

YorksLass

Slowdown wrote: »

Mend- oh I tried. And tried to mend an awkward upside down zip in my sons coat. Agghhh. So failure here.

Minimise - my box of oats by making granola and porridge and biscuits. Also my overgrown patch of mint in the garden. It's attempting to take over the world.

Yes, those zips can be tricky. And yes again to the mint - it's a garden thug. Try confining it to a pot instead of in the soil. It's difficult to kill off so won't do it any harm.

MMMing seems to have slowed down here - I think it's the change of season/weather (well, that's my excuse :rotfl:) - but I've had some small victories so it hasn't stalled altogether. An OOD box of ginger & lemon teabags used up, also the last two veg cup soups, also OOD (only Sep 2015 ) but they tasted fine. Knitting magazines sorted through and filed away neatly, with a few in the CS bag. An unused clothes rail dismantled, now ready and waiting for DS to collect. A cardboard storage box, beyond repair, has gone in the recycling bin.

Must try harder!

villagelife

Been fairly busy.
Minimised rubbish to bin, old cupboard that was well past best was burnt on bonfire. Highlighter pens to work and given to colleagues who received them with delight.
Magazines recycled either in recycling bin or DH work.

Made do by painting shelves in hall cupboard which had seen better days but look better now.
Also not buying any good other than bread and cheese.

Mending my back still with physio exercises.