No Magic Money Tree....

culpepper

Duolingo is very good. I recently read an article about a man in America (I think) learning 4 or 5 different languages and using them in his job of aeroplane porter or some such thing.

Im doing spanish using this and other learning strategies and it is excellent

Here is the link to the Welsh version...
You can do them online on a computer or on a phone or tablet.

https://www.duolingo.com/course/cy/en/Learn-Welsh-Online

moneyistooshorttomention

I find the most confusing thing that there isnt just A Welsh language - there's North Welsh, South Welsh, West Walian version, this dialect, that dialect, t'other dialect, historical version, Wenglish......I counted at one time and think it comes to 16 or 17 versions of Welsh.

I'll stick to my standard English and, once in a while, I'll throw in one or two words or phrases from my West Country area (eg if I want to say something was "back along" - then people may not have heard it before - but will quickly realise what it means). If I want to learn another language to keep the brain cells going I'll re-learn French (which I learnt at school) or learn Italian (well I learnt Latin at school - so guess that maybe why I can pick out what a fair number of words mean in it).

The lessons - the drop-out rate was extremely high (and that wasnt just the students...). There is a group of us that started going at the same time and I "think" one of us is still learning it. The others gave up because of lack of time after house renovation taking up vast amounts of time and having our social lives and I gave up because of protest vote against it and lack of time after house renovation taking up vast amounts of time and having my social life and we're all retired...

Katieowl

Put away a huge load of crispy Rayburn dried tea towels this afternoon, they weren't completely dry this morning, but I stacked them on the rack over the hotplates and finished them off.

Cooked dinner in the Rayburn oven, started early, to give it plenty of time, without turning it up (Chicken over red onions, with the remains of a box of mushrooms, the other half of a chorizo, sage that needed using, half a jar of passata, and some thyme) Stirred in the bag of spinach that needed using at the end and served with some brown rice, which had a couple of cups of the pan juices stirred in. Served four adults and a hungry small, as DD and her little one were here. There's enough to make lunch for two tomorrow left over.

Bought in another load of washing and have managed to hang it over the Rayburn, and when I finished cooking, on the front rail and the racks. I have two cake cooling racks I don't use as they are a bit too tall, that stack, sitting over the hotplate Brainwave I had some time ago, so much cheaper than the proper racks they sell for the Aga and Rayburns.

So I must have saved some pennies already I have to say the monitor owl thing looks a bit lower than usual...

ETA I also filled the kettle and set it on Rayburn so that I had warm water to start rice (on gas hob)

greenbee

Well done KatieOwl! Sounds as if you're getting the hang of making the Rayburn earn it's keep Frankly it needs to... Make sure you use that warm water to boil a kettle for hot water bottles so you keep warm at night.

YORKSHIRELASS

Hi all

Interesting discussions about heating. We live rurally and have oil heating (cook with electric). Our oil usage varies a lot depending on how cold the winter is but it usually costs about £700 for the year. Our electricity is £70 a month on DD even with us using the slow cooker and halogen oven a lot rather than the "big" oven.

We have an electric shower and with 2 adults and 2 teenagers in the house it gets used a lot (although I shower at the gym quite a bit). We also have two freezers which isnt very energy efficient but being 3 miles from the nearest small shop it saves us money in other ways.

I bought a dehumidifier last winter after we started to get some damp in our bedroom. I wont dry washing over the airer without it running now but it costs just over 3p per hour so not too bad, and it does help to dry the washing. Astonishing how much water it collects.

Sometimes its just about approaching things in new ways, will be following your progress!

Katieowl

greenbee wrote: »

.. Make sure you use that warm water to boil a kettle for hot water bottles so you keep warm at night.

That's where three well fed dogs come into their own :rotfl:

Kate

Katieowl

[QUOTE}

Interesting discussions about heating. We live rurally and have oil heating (cook with electric). Our oil usage varies a lot depending on how cold the winter is but it usually costs about £700 for the year. Our electricity is £70 a month on DD even with us using the slow cooker and halogen oven a lot rather than the "big" oven.

We have an electric shower and with 2 adults and 2 teenagers in the house it gets used a lot (although I shower at the gym quite a bit). We also have two freezers which isnt very energy efficient but being 3 miles from the nearest small shop it saves us money in other ways.

I bought a dehumidifier last winter after we started to get some damp in our bedroom. I wont dry washing over the airer without it running now but it costs just over 3p per hour so not too bad, and it does help to dry the washing. Astonishing how much water it collects.

Sometimes its just about approaching things in new ways, will be following your progress![/QUOTE]


I'm three miles from town too....I keep stock of little cartons of long life milk to tide between shops. OH has mastered the bread maker too, I'm GF so I don't eat it, and I also buy cheap half baked baguettes. All three of those things keep me from too many trips to town.

I keep a little running list of things I need in town, and try and make sure it's worth going, but I often just send my Mum who lives in town, to save on parking and then pick everything up when I take her supermarket shopping
.
I was wondering about a dehumidifier...the annexe isn't cold, because it was all done to current regs, but it is terribly damp...

We do have chookies, which are a new batch this summer, amazed they are still laying IDK if its because they are all still young. We grow some veg too,

greenbee

I keep longlife milk in stock too. And make my own yogurt. I also go through phases of sprouting seeds. Most of the rest of my food I have delivered as my lifestyle is somewhat erratic.

Heating & hot water are oil, cooking is currently all electric although I plan to change to a calor hob when I redo the kitchen next year.

If your annexe is new, you shouldn't be having damp problems as ventilation as well as insulation should meet regs too. You might want to try to establish why it gets damp. Is the extractor running for long enough after showers? Does it improve if you use the heating?

As far as keeping the rest of the house warm goes, other than putting another dog on the bed, have a think about where there are draughts and fixing those, and if your windows are cold (I had crittall windows in my last house so know ALL about this) look at adding layers of fleece, blinds and even bubble wrap behind the curtains. I have thermal lined curtains, but used to add fleece on curtain wire behind the north facing ones, and had blinds behind them all for added insulation.

Katieowl

greenbee wrote: »

I keep longlife milk in stock too. And make my own yogurt. I also go through phases of sprouting seeds. Most of the rest of my food I have delivered as my lifestyle is somewhat erratic.

Heating & hot water are oil, cooking is currently all electric although I plan to change to a calor hob when I redo the kitchen next year.

If your annexe is new, you shouldn't be having damp problems as ventilation as well as insulation should meet regs too. You might want to try to establish why it gets damp. Is the extractor running for long enough after showers? Does it improve if you use the heating?

As far as keeping the rest of the house warm goes, other than putting another dog on the bed, have a think about where there are draughts and fixing those, and if your windows are cold (I had crittall windows in my last house so know ALL about this) look at adding layers of fleece, blinds and even bubble wrap behind the curtains. I have thermal lined curtains, but used to add fleece on curtain wire behind the north facing ones, and had blinds behind them all for added insulation.

I'm sure it would improve if he used the heating, but he likes being hair shirty and toughing it out, words have been exchanged! I have sausages at all the doors, and all but one window in the main house is double glazed (That's in my room) and its only tiny, doesn't often take the brunt of the weather either.

I was used to living in a drafty Victorian house with no heating either, so it's not a complete shock to the system, I'm used to lots of layers and thermals. I've got some quilts that I throw over the windows when its really cold, over the curtain poles so they are doubled up. Toasty.

I did go through a spate of making yog last year, I really need to get back to that, its just time.I don't do well with sprouts, they seem to go from not ready to waaaay past ready in the blink of an eye, but I am quite partial to them,

I've been doing home deliveries more this year, because it keeps me out of the shops and I recently discovered A*da deliver here which is brilliant, because they do all the cleaning basics that Mr T stopped selling like washing powder, washing up liquid and dish tabs. They are cheaper even than A!di

Katieowl

Well we had another Rayburn cooked dinner last night. I was given a shin of beef in the market this week for looking after someone elses stall as well as mine for the morning, so I decided as it was a slow cook joint, I'd risk it. Layered it on onions, carrots and celery, put some fresh herbs in, and used a can of beef consomme for liquid. Sealed the lid tight with foil, and put it in at 3 pm, and forced myself not to look at it again until six. Cooked beautifully, but had to put the fan oven on as DS decided he wanted wedges with it.

I have dried two more lots of washing over Rayburn too now, and I haven't used the drier for several days :j but the place does look a bit like widow twankey's laundry.

Leftovers for dinner tonight And having a good furtle in the cupboards before I go supermarket shopping tomorrow. I've started making a "Not Shopping List" where I write things that need using that I have in the house to eat, and plan back from that. Seems to be working after a fashion. Keep filling in the Spendy Breakdown spreadsheet I made, December prob not the best of months to try to be frugal, but if I can do it at Christmas the rest of the year should be a doddle.