It's getting tough out there. Feeling the pinch?

muffin_man_7

Yorkslass if u are better with knitting u could knit squares 
I've never been able to get the tension right so I opted to do long strips and then join together bit less hassle than squares too I can crochet but not very good  dolls clothes with no pattern just trial and error I did get good athoodies though still got them somewhere  and my youngest daughter is 22 in December  hth

Floss

@YorksLass I love poached egg on spaghetti hoops on a piece of toast - it was a cheap & filling tea as a child & one I have nowadays too.

YoungBlueEyes

We often had cheesy beans on toast as kids. Toast, thin slices of cheese, then hot beans on top so it melts the cheese. Now I'm a fully growed person I love a thick smear of mustard on the toast, then cheese then beans. Yum.

Himself calls it paupers food! 

annieb64

YorksLass- the only place I have been able to find the dried peas lately has been the local wholefood shop.

Katiehound

Instead of crochet squares you could do a straight forward stripe. No sewing up required!

 I made a full sized blanket that way years ago. Sorted my yarn into colour groups . I had a pulled down jumper in a neutral colour-  it's 3rd creation! So bands of blues/greens, then a chunk of oatmeal, then pinks & reds, oatmeal etc. The whole thing was edged with oatmeal. it came out rather like a cellular blanket  because the rows are Treble, ch treble in a space- right across the row. Rather long cast on row if you are doing a full sized throw!!

I make knee blankets like this to go with my shoeboxes.
Sorry- large photo- don't see a way to reduce it!

London_1

YorksLass I can knit for England and have done for over 70 plus years since my late Mum taught me back in the 1940s.
In my time I helped to knit and reknit socks for my two bigger brothers, as back then often you had to scavenge wool from jumpers bought for pennies in Saturday morning jumble sales.

Being a skinny small child I would weave through the crowds of ladies at the Jumble sales, and my skinny little arm would pop up and snatch at anything wooly which I duly delivered to my Mum to pay for. . We were a pretty slick pair of operators when it came to Jumble sales .No charity shops back in those days. Wool was often hard to obtain so outgrown jumpers were bought ,taken home ,unpicked the wool wound into hanks and washed and dried then reknitted.grey wool was prized by Mum for socks for the boys .I hated knitting the darned things though as grey is such a depressing colour.

Today I knit for a charity called The Linus Trust and for the past 10-15 years have knitted blankets for this charity that go around the world to children who have very little ,often only the clothes they stand up in. I don't mind and get a good bit of wool donated and if I run short I will trawl a boot sale for cardi's and jumpers which are sometimes not very expensive ,but again they are taken home ,unpicked ,wool washed and rewound and reknitted.

Over the years I wonder sometimes about the children who have benefitted, and like to think somewhere in the world a child will at least got to sleep a bit warmer from one of my blankets

All of my grandchildren have had throws knitted for them My eldest grandson Danny, I knitted one in his West Ham colours ( Claret and Blue ) and he took it with him when he went to live in New York 6 years ago.  
Another grandson Ben, lives in North London and he too has one in red and blue ,they get to choose the colour they want .

I still enjoy knitting , but I cannot crochet to save my life  I have tried many times but it just won't sink in so I still keep clicking away with my needles . My late husband used to say I was reincarnated from the women who sat in Paris by the guillotine when the revolution was in full swing Its a great hobby, and very relaxing and I usually watch TV or listen to the wireless.  

Katiehound I'm impressed at your skill it looks amazing, I only wish I could do the same.

I must admit I've not seen dried peas in the smkt for ages, I must have a scour next time I'm out as it would be good to stash some in my 'bookcase' storage 

I like poached eggs on cheese on toast .my late ma-in-law used to make her cheese on toast the way her second husband taught her to. (he was a lovely little ex miner from Tredgar in Wales.
In a saucepan with some dried mustard and milk and butter I have tried to make it this way but never suceeded to get it the same as hers it was delicious. he also taught her to make welsh cakes which were gorgeous
I am off to Porthcawl in October for 5 days so I'm hoping to have a taste if I can , or at least search the CS  for  some recipe books.

I'm still full from my luncch out I was treated to so I don't think I will be making much in the way of food tonight    

JackieO xx

P.S. My neighbour gave me some surplus apples this afternoon so they will be peeled ,sliced and gently poached in a little water with some honey then cooled and portioned up for the freezer for the winter. I think I'm turning into a squirrel  

JIL

I get my dried peas from Tesco.
I buy 4 boxes at a time, soak them then cook them in the slow cooker and then freeze in portions.
So much better than tinned.

JIL

I also remember the tv advert recipe, I used to make it for the family to give my mum a break.
It was a slice of toast, topped with a slice of ham, topped with heated spaghetti with a little sauce and cheese and grilled. 

Ami13

Definitely seeing a difference now and making changes, which in all honesty I should have been doing anyway but hey ho.

luckily we had a new boiler fitted 12 months ago which is more efficient than the fossil we had. Hybrid car I decided to get 12 months ago which at the time didn’t seem like a life line but it really is now.

this year I decided to try my hand at urban food gardening that is going well. 

It looks like I’ve been preparing for the slump sun consciously by hoarding moisturisers, make up and perfume …… so I won’t need to buy anything to a very long time 

However I’m now working from home…… which is a good thing in one way. I had a high street shop and high streets have took a huge drop, when your out there in the thick of it, it looks stark. So I didn’t renew my lease and now I purely sell online, which I’ve only been doing for a month…….but it means I’m at home, with the laptop on, kettle boiling so obviously high electricity usage. But hey I’m saving money on shop rent and business rates. 

So my next plans are

1. to definitely meal plan - I kind of do already but seem to get off track and a take away slips in now and again. 

2. buy a thermal flask to reduce kettle boiling ( any recommendations would be appreciated) 

3. swap all light bulbs to energy saving 

and I’m just working my way around the house to see where else I can save money.

GaleSF63

Katiehound said:

Instead of crochet squares you could do a straight forward stripe. No sewing up required!

 I made a full sized blanket that way years ago. Sorted my yarn into colour groups . I had a pulled down jumper in a neutral colour-  it's 3rd creation! So bands of blues/greens, then a chunk of oatmeal, then pinks & reds, oatmeal etc. The whole thing was edged with oatmeal. it came out rather like a cellular blanket  because the rows are Treble, ch treble in a space- right across the row. Rather long cast on row if you are doing a full sized throw!!

I make knee blankets like this to go with my shoeboxes.
Sorry- large photo- don't see a way to reduce it!

Lovely colours! I was going to say the same thing for the same reason - no sewing up. And far fewer ends to deal with. I sometimes just go round and round rather than than row on row.
The other advantage of a one piece throw is that as it grows, it is already doing its job of keeping you warm!