From Frugal Foundations to Fortified Family Future

badmemory

It was even worse in those places in the 50s. My parents made the mistake of taking us in one & they had a marmoset in a small cage. All our saving certificates cash in & we took it home. Check up with a vet & it had only been fed fruit since it got on the boat here & wouldn't be expected to have a normal life span. The whole class was catching spiders for it & bringing them to school in matchboxes. It did live longer than the vet expected. Much to my surprise I went into a garden centre near here about 5 years ago & they had 4 of them in a very big cage. Actually surprise is not the right word, more like shocked, I stood & stared for some time & then quickly walked out. I wish even now that I had asked some questions as they hardly moved.

Cherryfudge

Our local pet shop in the 1970s had a puma - not for sale. It was caged of course and probably the cage was too small but there was plenty for it to see as the shop was popular. My other memory of going in there was not noticing the sign about not putting fingers into some of the cages (rodents not puma) and I got a bite off a rat that bled copiously. That is, I bled copiously. The rat was probably fine.

For many years after we moved to our current house, there was a parrot in a pet shop near here. He was quite a character, but I don't remember now what he used to say. I think those personal pets of the owners used to get quite a stimulating environment, though not ideal in terms of space and privacy.

beanielou

Teachers now tend to not live in the areas in which they teach. Sadly it’s all very different now.

Greying_Pilgrim

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81922805#Comment_81922805

I agree beanie - and know why. I mean some of my primary school teachers didn't live in the village either, so it's not new - and far, far fewer of the secondary school teachers lived anywhere near the school - there was some with quite a daily commute, even all those years ago. But it does mean that the head at LG's school really doesn't understand the community in which the school is based. Crowbarring 'buzzwords' into every missive doesn't make community, or friendship, or collegial bonds, or neighbourliness happen automatically - it has to be modelled, nurtured and supported.

badmemory - are those the sort of monkeys that were thrust on punters shoulders for an overpriced picture at the seaside?

Cherryfudge - ow!

Well, I've made lunch, but DH did the lawn mowing, and then went off on a tangent with tidying up the garden, and has now invented a new thing to do 🙄 It wasn't a priority, and I told him not to, but he went ahead regardless and now there needs to be cement and goodness knows what else to be bought for repairs 🙄 A purchasing party has set out to the builders merchants by way of the (possibly heaving) recycling centre/tip 🙄

And children at school wonder why my hair is grey……….. 😉

Greying X

LotsOfTea

I understand your concern about LG having outside of school activities that they enjoy but I would say from my experience with my now 13 year old that it will very likely change as they get older. We did a few different things at primary school that he wasn't terribly committed to and I worried that he wouldn't have any interests outside of school and then near the end of primary school he started going to a local tennis group that his friend went to and after a while started really enjoying it and he still plays now whenever the weather allows. He also started enjoying table tennis after trying it at secondary school (PE lessons seem to offer more options than at primary) and he and friends take their bats into school and play at break times (there are outdoor tables in the playground). That's something he's just got into on his own with friends rather than me encouraging him into it. I can't imagine him having done that at primary school but he's really gained confidence and independence after a year and a half at secondary school and there really are more activities on offer there across the board. I'm sure LG will find their 'thing' too.

beanielou

Absolutely so. DS & I have been talking lots of school things today. I don’t know how the teachers do it as there are absolutely no sanctions for those who don’t behave.

badmemory

My sister retired 25 years ago after the final straw when she told a girl in her class off for talking whilst she was talking. Next day father came up to the school & threatened to punch her. Head did nothing & that was the final straw. There are teachers going back in my family over 200 years, but no longer & they never needed to use a strap or cane.

redofromstart

we had a little flock of Siskins (also identified by that App) which visited every day for a few months one year, not seen them since sadly. Lovely little things and they used to let me get quite close.

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Morning MFW'rs

Happy Mothering Sunday - and I mean that in the broadest context.

I think my crew thought they were doing me a favour leaving some 'Chef' prog on the TV. I'm getting quietly infuriated that in showing 2 ways to cook a whole leg of lamb (circa £50 a piece), the programme has in fact prepped and cooked 4 lamb legs…… £200 of meat alone. And Jane McDonald is still waiting for her piece of fish - salmon?

Back to frugal matters.

The rugger was very good yesterday - all of the matches. Although I was impressed with England's better performance, their ill-discipline let them down again and they not only lost their match (I'm not convinced France would have won otherwise - there would have just been a point in it), but they snatched victory away from Ireland. Although France played very clinical, skillful matches, Ireland played with heart and skill. I know which I prefer to watch.

We had curry plate for tea. It was a repetition of Thursday's tea for DH and me. Butternut squash and chickpea curry, lentil dhal and basmati. We had apple crumble and yoghurt for pud. I do still smirk to myslef that the crumble was so 'appley' tasting, and yet it was full of apples that DH and ergo LG wouldn't have picked out of the fruit bowl. Having different ways to use different foods is key. I had the second MrL waste box avocado for breakfast yesterday. There was a patch on some of the flesh, eminating from the stone. I did exclude that from my plate, as it looked diseased rather than bruised and was an unattractive grey colour. However, I was lucky that it was a relatively large avocado, so excluding about a sixth of it, still left plenty to top a slice of toast. And let's face it, I could have bought an avocado from a shop and have that happen - I don't think it was bruising.

DH and LG bought a slice of cake from the builders merchants yesterday 🤔 Apparently there was a charity stall selling cakes. It was a slice of Vicky sponge. It was a treat for me (despite us having HM cake in the house 😬), so I cut it into 3 pieces, and we shared it. It had been LG's idea to buy it apparently, so only right that Fam Greying share together. Just as well I've not a sweet tooth 🤣 It was lovely cake though, and raspberry jam - proper! I have a hand made card (made at club), so that's me spoilt rotten 😁

The sun is shining - rain was forecast on the beebeecee site - so going out cycling plans have been scuppered yet again 🙄

Right, I've off in search of a Yellow-stickered avocado to make me some brekkie.

Ta for popping by. Greying X

greenbee

re the TV programme - try to reframe it. Hopefully the food will be eaten by the production team, and that’s 4 legs of lamb that farmers have sold. Farming is really struggling at the moment (you may have heard that some farmers have worked out they can make more money selling their fertiliser stock and leaving the land fallow than by using the fertiliser to grow crops), so if a TV production company is buying food, there’s at least some demand.