Dusty's Frugal Fortnights

dustydigger

beanielou wrote: »

Take it no good making all the porridge in one go?

Nope,it sets as soon as it cools down.Its a different consistency from our porridge,made from maize meal instead of oats

dustydigger

Mr D is slightly better,the dam has broken,if you get me,and the pain has lessened.But he is still acting as if he has been at death's door,and wants me to go out again to town,as he doesnt trust being too far away from a loo for a while!:rotfl:
So I am already boiling the potatoes and veg,Did the beef casserole yesterday.Should leave to go to town at 11 am and be back to roast the parboiled potatoes by 12.
Glad to see that the very thick fog is dissipating,and that wind has gone.The bins - and the rubbish - are still lying all over the garden,but I dont have time,or desire,to pick everything up from the soaking wet garden. Maybe tomorrow All day yesterday it was like Wuthering Hights,with the wind moaning through the small vents in the bedrooms. The wind has to be in a precise position and that fortunately only occurs a few days a year. Its very eerie,like being in a haunted house. Certainly didnt cheer Mr Dusty up much yesterday:rotfl:

dustydigger

I think I told you several months back about the terrible fright my granddaughter suffered when her nasty ex,undeterred by her changing the locks,or his being served with a restraining order not to even come in our town,piled up the wheelie bins and climbed up to the bedroom windows,and appeared on the stairs carrying a hammer. Finally had the court case,pretty much a waste of time. he got a suspended sentence,and our town is an exclusion zone for him for no less than TEN YEARS.If he comes near,he goes to jail
Poor girl had to give up her house and has moved nearer to her other gran with her 2 little kids 8 mths and 23 months.We just have to hope that he gives up and goes off to make other people's lives a misery. Anyway,its good the case is over,one less thing tumbling around in what passes for my mind these days.:)

dustydigger

Bit depressed today. My daughter who lives across the road is going to move!Her eldest daughter is moving to Gateshead,near her work since she hates her. 90 minutes each way commute to work. She has a bus pass that her former boyfriend gave her when he did law work for a the bus company,and it expires in December,and she would have to find a lot of money to pay travel costs if she stayed on in our little town.She is going to live within walking distance of the hospital where she works so as to avoid forking out a fortune. My other granddaughter will move in with her brother near her job,and my daughter herself very unexpectedly has been allocated a one bedroom council flat,she thought it would take years. She feels if she refuses this one she may not get another chance for years.And she reeally wants to get back into council housing.She only gave up her council house 4 years ago because of the crime and drug dealing in her street,but has had a rotten experience with having a private landlord..
The flat is in our town,but the other side,no direct bus link,so I am going to see a lot less of her and all of them.
Strange how things seem settled then a complete change occurs The one close if chaotic family unit will now become four. But at least she will be only 2 minutes away,in the next street,to her daughter with the 2 babies.. At the moment i get a visit from someone from the household every day,or at least a cheery wave as they pop up the street to the corner shop.They have never lived more than 5 minutes away over the last 25 years,so its a bit of a shock for me - and I just cant seem to cope with change or surprises these days.Well and truly getting old - and selfish. My daughter has had so much to cope with the last few years and she really feels she needs some peace and quiet,a relief from stress.
Lots of work to do to dismantle the home,and I dread being asked to store stuff,my house is already packed to the rafters!:rotfl:
I am measuring my battered old dining table to see how it compares with hers,to see if it will fit if I take it over.My present table is drop leaf,tucks neatly into the space,and hers isnt,so I will have to think about if I can rearrange the dining area. I would be able to store more boxes under the tble,but where would the book case go?
I REALLY wish I had a garden shed to store stuff and take some of the strain of storage out of the house:D

beanielou

That is sad news & will take some getting used too.

Sayschezza

You may be getting older Dusty but selfish you aint.

dustydigger

Poor Mr Dusty is still laid low by this gastric attack. The 4 days of suffering apparently feel like 4 years to him,and it didnt go down well when I said he still probably has 2 or 3 days of misery still to go.Trying to get him to take fluids is like pulling teeth,and he wont take the sachets of replacements of electrolytes Its like taking care of a fractious child!
Not helped by me having a rotten cold,:mad: My lungs are totally clogged up with phlegm,because with my rotten immune system my body makes valiant attempt to get rid of nasty gunk via my lungs,battling the enemy,but never seems to finish the job,So we have the situation of Mr D obsessing about giving me his germs,so that we spend lots of time wiping down the bathroom and door handles to kill the germs,and me trying to take care of Mr Dusty without giving him my nasty dose of cold.I think it would kill him off:eek:What a life!:D
Healthwise,the only good news is that the arthritis flare up has calmed down,pains subdued,and so I dont need a pencil to type with. But I feel so miserable with my cold I dont feel up to spending time online,for long,nor do I feel up to reading,though I did finish a 4th book for this month,making it 4/12.Should be 7 at this point in the month,so I'm way behind
I seem to be lolling around watching gormless old disaster movies on TV,must be at least 6 hours watching TV yesterday.Up till the last 3 months when I have been so low I barely watched TV at all,instead,reading or being online in my spare time. Better pull myself together,dont want to rot my already dodgy brain with mindless TV rubbish.:)

dustydigger

Not a single potato in the house,and Mr D wants mashed potatoes.Got the bus instead of doing the usual 10 minute walking to Tesc* Express since I feel a bit dodgy.Not a single potato! They are waiting for deliveries. same thing with the next shop I visited.Hopped back on the bus and went to the corner :shop up the street,and the only potatoes they had were a kind I picked up by mistake once before,and they were awful,Mr D wouldnt eat them and they ended up in the bin. I've taken a chance on them this time,and perhaps they will be OK mashed,heavily disguised in milk,pepper and butter! Live and learn,I made mash the other day,with Mr D impatiently waiting for the potatoes to cook - and he ate exactly 2 mouthfuls!I'll make less,give him only a little bit,and have some left for later!:D Glad I havent got the usual elaborate meals to make while I am off colour myself.
Off to make the mash,then I am going to make a big pan of mixed veg,which I will then mix with stewing steak ,it will make me at least 3 mealsso that will keep me going. for a while.
I put on an incredible 4 lbs so far this,stress eating,irregular snacking,half a dozen slices of bread a day and lots of sweets,chunky KIt-Kats and packets of Smarties.I seem out of control.Really bloated,panting when walking,right back to the old situation I was in a couple of years ago. But without the pain in the knees thank the lord.
But I did refrain from buying sweets this morning,and intend to keep to low carb is possible today.
Will try to get on afterdinner to post my fortnightly budget.I did intend that this be my final budget in my diary. I've been on MSE for a year at the end of this month,for the mostpart have sorted things out like finances,decluttering the house and keeping it in better condition,etc. But I am feeling so islated and stressed I think I will continue on here for a little while longer,though not perhaps as frequently. I so miss my sisters,I have no one of my generation to confide in or go for help,so I hope you dont mind this moaning minnie continuing to ramble on.Never seems to be much good news to tell you.these days!:(
Although it was nice this morning to hear that Meghan and Harry are going to have a baby.Helps to counteract at least a little bit the depressing tale of that poor journalist who went into the Saudi embassy to get papers to get married and then never came out again. It seems that powerful nations no longer even pay lip service to behaving decently or obeying international laws..

Onebrokelady

Hi Dusty,just popped in to catch up on your diary,I've been a bit lacklustre with my reading and posting lately
I'm sad to see you are feeling down and stressed,you have had a lot to cope with over the last few months and you don't seem to have any support,does Mr Dusty do anything to help around the house at all,I think he should be made aware of just how much you do and the fact that you are not well yourself,I'm so glad I'm single:D

Onebrokelady

Also meant to say in no way could you be considered selfish and I do hope you carry on posting on here,I enjoy reading your posts and you need somewhere to vent your feelings to avoid a spell in jail:rotfl: