A Simpler Life 2018

LameWolf

maryb wrote: »

Apparently male pee is an excellent compost activator - but I have no clue why it's better than she-wee

Floss wrote: »

Maybe also hormonal

Notably, girl doggies' wee turns the lawn brown, but boy doggies' wee doesn't.

Grumpysally

fuddle wrote: »

I know money, it's something that I am primed to think eeeeeeeew about too but on reading a bit about the subject last night a gardener shouldn't wee water (and it should be well watered down too) produce that is going to be eaten in a month. So it seems there's a cut off point that is a little less eeeeeeeew but I do think I'll be adding a wee bit (terrible pun) to the dalek and over the winter I guess there no harm in adding it to my squash and pumpkim patch too.

Lots for me to learn on this!

This is something I got a bit obsessed about last year when we first got our brand new allotment ( at this time last year it was a field of mud ) that doesn't have any 'facilities'
There's a lot online about using liquid gold. There are quite a lot of elaborate, Heath Robinson, type loos around, some very high tech and costing much money.
I use a makeshift, compost toilet, in our shed. It's my camping loo with a thick layer of coir compost to absorb liquid and smells. Every so often I mix it into the compost in the bin.I'd like to say it makes fantastic compost, but the compost hasn't being going long enough to tell yet.
Possibly too much information. ......:eek:


I keep trying to persuade OH to share some recycled beer with the bags of leaf mold at the bottom of the garden, but so far he hasn't obliged.:beer:
I go on the assumption that any hormones will be well and truly 'deactivated' by the time all the compost has rotted down.
I also have my suspicions that the idea that it should only be men's pee has it's roots in some ancient misogyny, the same as the Victorians not providing public toilets for women, to prevent them from spending any length of time away from the home.

Sorry veered somewhat off topic.

Yes I think I will sign up for this. I'm planning to take my pension next year. It won't give me enough for us to live on so I shall continue to work part time, but fewer hours than I do now. I'd like to gradually simplify my life so it's more sustainable on less, whilst being able to afford treats like the occasional trip to the theatre and our annual weekend away to a music festival.
We don't exactly live an extravagant lifestyle as it is but I am aware there is still room trim things without getting too 'hair shirt' about it.
( I'm not suggesting anyone on here is being hairshirt. In fact everyone is making it sound positive and achievable. )

GreyQueen

My 'facilities' on the allotment are a plastic jug inside the shed and a discreet decant into the compost Dalek beside the shed. I turn the Dalek out about every two years and nothing in there is recognisable as its origins. Except for those blasted adhesive labels from pieces of fruit which sometimes escape notice and end up in the compost.

Have been to the allotment briefly after work towing the heavy trolley of coffee grounds. I arrived at dusk and just slung the bag onto the soil and walked off again - will deal with them in the next day or two as will be getting more grounds tomorrow after work.

Glancing around, I can see a considerable amount of simplification which needs to be done asap, so must crack on. GQ x

moneyistooshorttomention

AlisonW wrote: »

the same as the Victorians not providing public toilets for women, to prevent them from spending any length of time away from the home.

? Seriously? :eek: I didnt know that - that's my new info. for the day there. I'd taken it as read there would always been exactly equal numbers/maybe even more for women.

How can you guess I've been browsing a book only written in the 1990s today and a mental shriek came out when I spotted the sentence about "cooking meals for HIS work colleagues when the HUSBAND comes home":eek: and thought "I do hope said husband cooks meals for when the wife brings her work colleagues home unexpectedly too".

Mind you - it's worse when one reads something only written within the last month and it keeps referring to "tradesMEN":eek:

There's a long way to go still:rotfl:

Floss

Probably because the majority of trade workers are actually men. There are lady decorators, electricians & plumbers around my area but to my knowledge there are no lady scaffolders, gas fitters, brickies, roofers, mechanics, car body shop technicians...

Grumpysally

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

? Seriously? :eek: I didnt know that - that's my new info. for the day there. I'd taken it as read there would always been exactly equal numbers/maybe even more for women.

How can you guess I've been browsing a book only written in the 1990s today and a mental shriek came out when I spotted the sentence about "cooking meals for HIS work colleagues when the HUSBAND comes home":eek: and thought "I do hope said husband cooks meals for when the wife brings her work colleagues home unexpectedly too".

Mind you - it's worse when one reads something only written within the last month and it keeps referring to "tradesMEN":eek:

There's a long way to go still:rotfl:

Had to read that a second time, initially thought I'd read 1890's!

There's some information here about Victorian loos
https://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/discover/womens-right-work-toilet-bathroom-victorian-london-wwi-factory-protest

moneyistooshorttomention

Thanks - interesting read.

Nope - the book I was reading today definitely was 1990's - when I saw that sentence I gave up taking it seriously at that point:rotfl:

It's astonishing (horrifying) how things havent totally equalised yet. I've got a new motto - which goes "Would a man say that? Have that said to him? Do it?" and if the answer is "No" - then I aint going to either.

sistercas

fuddle wrote: »

It's started in our house. DH and I have rejigged the budget to claw back more of his wage for savings. We start 15th of this month and intend to carry it through to next year. Although I have the 'simple life' in mind DH is clueless that he's fitting into place nicely. He just wants to save more.

This strategy has worked in helping develop his money mind for sometime now. He doesn't know he's about to strip it all back even further but he'll slowly embrace it as if it was all his idea.

That's Fab

One_Bullet_Five_Zombies

I'm loving reading this thread with a brew on this quiet snowy morning in work :coffee:

I've not been enjoying the 9-5 grind for some while now, and I've spent the last couple of months setting myself up as a self-employed bookkeeper (registering with a professional body, setting myself up as an agent, getting insurance etc). I'm qualified and have the experience but have never been brave enough to set up on my own.

My current job (NHS) has nothing to do with finance and I'm feeling overworked, underpaid and undervalued, to the point that it's affecting my mental health. I have one monthly bookkeeping client at the moment, and am hoping to build up enough work to drop my NHS hours by at least half. Obviously this would leave me with less stability money-wise so if I can simplify my life now all the better.

My only dilemma is that we've been trying for a baby now for over two years. We're just going through all the fertility tests etc. before they can give us any treatment. Do I stay full time until that happens and take advantage of the (excellent) maternity benefits, and build my business up properly on maternity leave? It would be the sensible option and I'd be happy to wait it out if I knew I was going to fall pregnant in the next six months or so. But if it doesn't happen for another year, or at all? I'd be putting my life on hold for no reason :undecided

RicardaRacoon

I guess the thing I love most about this board is all the random things you can learn, like stuff about public toilets in Victorian times :-)

Re Zero Waste shopping. I guess for most people it only works out if the shop is in walking distance or if you have a car to go to the shop - which then makes me wonder if it would not be more ecological to walk to another shop and buy packaged stuff there..
The only shop that sells grains, sugar etc. unpackaged is at the most unconvenient end of town from where I live. It is a 2 hour round trip from home, and I don't want to give up half a morning for that... I thought about going there when I am in town anyways for knitting group, but that would mean having to take jars etc. into work - in addition to lunch, knitting etc. - and then carry everything around for about half an hour, from the shop to knitting group, to the station and then home as there is no bus anymore at that time.
So for the time being I will just try to get the things with the least packaging in the regular supermarket.

Does anyone has an idea for a small present for a 20 year old man? We do secret santa at work and I managed to get our trainee who is the one I know least about. Should be something for around 5£.
Funny enough he was my secret Santa... His messy handwriting gave him away... Had my parcel on my desk today. A teastainer in the shape of a squirrel. Could have been a completely useless thing somehow, but in my case it is highly appreaciated as I wanted to take some lose tea into work but had to get a tea stainer first because I am strangely down to one at home. I could swear I had three not too long ago, wonder where they went...

Have decided that I will venture into the shops on Tuesday as I will meet friends for dinner anyways so I could as well just go out and buy the remaining Christmas bits and pick up some other things as well along the way so that I don't have to go into town again - unless for knitting group. but not to the shops - for a long time. So I will go and get the three remaining Christmas presents - I know what they will be, so it will be fairly quick -, stock up on shampoo and face cream as I will walk past that shop too and get a new pair of jeans as one of my two pairs is beyond repair and one pair of trousers is simply not doable during winter, not even for a person who wears skirts at least half of the time...