Make Do, Mend & Minimise in 2025 (and 2024)

Green_hopeful

@mandy47 we have a lot of litter in Peterborough. It is utterly dreadful. The Wombles and Mark Fishpool spend all their spare time litter picking and cleaning up the streets. Mark even cleans out road drains and repaints street furniture. It must be totally frustrating to come back and find as before but the lamppost bins get full so I guess it’s saving some effort. I don’t think the council bin people will empty them so the Wombles empty them and put them out for collection. 

mandy47

Green_hopeful said:

@mandy47 we have a lot of litter in Peterborough. It is utterly dreadful. The Wombles and Mark Fishpool spend all their spare time litter picking and cleaning up the streets. Mark even cleans out road drains and repaints street furniture. It must be totally frustrating to come back and find as before but the lamppost bins get full so I guess it’s saving some effort. I don’t think the council bin people will empty them so the Wombles empty them and put them out for collection. 

The wobbles and Mr Fishpool sound like very community spirited folk. We have a lot of volunteer litter pickers in this area and they do a wonderful job. Only for it to be just as bad the next day. It must be very frustrating. It's something I hope to get involved in myself when I retire. 

YorksLass

Mend: Finally got around to shortening the PJ bottoms yesterday and have done a Make Do by teaming them with two somewhat baggy but still good T-shirts that I don't wear but are fine for sleeping in.  

Today I've cooked the last of a packet of spiralli pasta with some frozen mixed veg and added grated cheese for a pasta salad.  I've also made a tub of Mexican-style tuna by mixing a tin of tuna from stores with red kidney beans, mixed peppers and sweetcorn from the freezer and a splosh of sweet chilli sauce.  I think what's left of the odds and ends of frozen veg is destined to become a minestrone-type soup.  We'll finish the last of the bread & butter pudding today - very nice it was too.

The freezer contents are now condensed down to just one drawer - the end is in sight!     

Later this afternoon I'll have a walk to the post box with a couple of letters and drop off a bag of soft plastics at the SM at the same time.  I'm hoping the washing I hung out early doors will be dry by the time I get back but, if not, it can go on the airer overnight.

Monthly energy bill arrived this morning, slightly up on last month, but that's not surprising since we've had the heating on mornings and evenings.  We still have a decent credit balance though towards the colder winter months.

Cherryfudge

@Green_hopeful, that's such a good post, thanks for sharing. We have a 'Wombles' group too and it makes a massive difference. I haven't seen the 'homegrown' litter bins round here but I love the idea.

Green_hopeful

@cherryfudge the Wombles mostly have what they term as lamppost bags where they just tie bags on their local lampposts without the frame. They then maintain them. The Wombles have to change the bags and put them in an appropriate place for collection. You would think the council would be celebrating but sadly they are just a bit down on it all. They also maintain some bins that look like council ones but the bin men won’t collect.  Mark Fishpool has taken to cleaning the road signs. I didn’t realise that they needed cleaning until relatively recently but they are so dirty you can’t read them. 

amber03

I always start to panic when I see room in my freezer, even when I start to empty it for Xmas. Feels like I’ve got no food and should start buying.x

Siebrie

Green_hopeful said:

@cherryfudge the Wombles mostly have what they term as lamppost bags where they just tie bags on their local lampposts without the frame. They then maintain them. The Wombles have to change the bags and put them in an appropriate place for collection. You would think the council would be celebrating but sadly they are just a bit down on it all. They also maintain some bins that look like council ones but the bin men won’t collect.  Mark Fishpool has taken to cleaning the road signs. I didn’t realise that they needed cleaning until relatively recently but they are so dirty you can’t read them. 

My dd1's friend's father is a professional sign cleaner; it's a nightshift job cleaning all the motorway signs. Very dangerous.

Nelliegrace

Same here @amber03, I am trying to use up the three freezer drawers full of portions of meat and fish, and not buy any more until that is done. I shall fill spaces with some supermarket frozen veg which does get used up quickly. There are often good offers and yellow stickered items after Christmas and New Year. I did buy some packs of kippers on offer at Waitrose, they are good in a frugal kedgeree. 

Some friends collected and stored discarded drinks cans and sold them for fund raising, with several schools locally they did well. 

I have an invisible mending project. I noticed a bit of wear, a few threads, about an inch long, need replacing in the vintage Welsh tapestry waistcoat. The side seams are wide enough that I can unweave a few short lengths of the right colours of wool and darn them in to restore the top layer of the fabric. I am still thinking about it. 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zHbnCrIvw1o

Green_hopeful

@Siebrie I think he is only doing local signs. Peterborough is pretty dangerous anyways. People are always walking out into the road. Some areas the parking is a bit Wild West. They either drive straight onto the pavement at right angles to the road or double park and walk away. I always drive slowly because you never know what madness is going to happen. 

Cherryfudge

In the last few days:

Make do/ minimise: finished leftover curry and soup and used up salmon and a couple of frozen baked potatoes. Found a crate in the shed to use as a temporary shelf in the 'emergency provisions' cupboard (which has a few things that need to be used up).

Mend: re-mended a tiny hole in a sleeve. Why does thread used on mending so often fade before the surrounding fabric?

Edited to add - glued the rubber pad back under a sewing machine treadle and managed to get glue in my hair. Not much but ended up minimising a bit of hair!