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How to Get Through The Tough Times The Old Style Way.

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  • jumblejack
    jumblejack Posts: 6,599 Forumite
    ceridwen wrote: »

    Now - re those haybox cookers...and this is guilty admission time that I havent actually tried it out yet (though I must have had for a coupla years by now:o:o) - I got a couple of "cushions" filled with those white beany things made for me by a LETS member and duly decided that a small garden trug would be the ideal "holder" for them. Place cushion 1 in bottom of trug, put in casserole dish, place cushion 2 on top - job done.

    So peeps might like to try experimenting with cut-down old duvets/old thick floppy cushions/etc. Big smile and 3 stars to the first person who comes back to tell us how the experiment went....errr...little clue...it probably still wont be me...:o

    Hi. I have just been reading up on haybox ovens. I am so inspired!
    Natures very own answer to slow cooking for free!!!!
    I read that one guy keeps a home made box in his kitchen using those bean bag beads instead of hay. He pops a cushion on the top of the box too to make it double as a kitchen seat!!!

    Please please post if you've tried this!! I can't find any other threads pm this subject but as it is a completely free way of cooking which is not too way out and can be done in the comfort of your kitchen too, I am astounded!!!!

    I love the idea! You can even use a plastic storage box if you don't want to make a box out of wood! There are so many adaptations of this idea. I love the fact that you only have to thoroughly heat the food up to a rolling boil and transfer it to the box to let it continue cooking without electricity. The perfect slow cooker!!!!!
    :A Every moment is a gift. That's why we call it the present.!:A
    Grocery Spend Weekly Challenge (Sat-Fri):£30.50/£40
  • jackieglasgow
    jackieglasgow Posts: 9,436 Forumite
    Mrs VP our soil is clay here too, we sent a lot of time and a fair bit of money, buying sand and topsoil and mixing it through. Two years on, it is even better quality than it was, the sand seems to have been the key.
    mardatha wrote: »
    It's what is inside your head that matters in life - not what's outside your window :D
    Every worthwhile accomplishment, big or little, has its stages of drudgery and triumph; a beginning, a struggle and a victory. - Ghandi
  • jackieglasgow
    jackieglasgow Posts: 9,436 Forumite
    Jumblejack there is a haybox thread here
    mardatha wrote: »
    It's what is inside your head that matters in life - not what's outside your window :D
    Every worthwhile accomplishment, big or little, has its stages of drudgery and triumph; a beginning, a struggle and a victory. - Ghandi
  • GreyQueen
    GreyQueen Posts: 13,008
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    Greyqueen we have the opposite problem with our soil as its good old Cheshire clay hence the raised bed. I lost count of the tonnes of top soil we bought when we moved here 11 years ago but it has all turned into clay. I have kept the side borders in good condition but the bottom order that has trees in it is quite poor and has so many roots from the trees and shrubsnothing I do seems to make a difference.
    :) Sounds like Mrs VP and jackieglasgow and me should get together and mix our soils up for an ideal blend! I have a mate who lives about 10 miles away who swears that part of her garden is so clay-ey that water stands on it and she might was well build a kiln and get some pottery made! My lottie site is now at the top of a gentle slope but in geological time it was a river bed. If you go down a couple of feet you hit pure golden-yellow sand. I know, because I went down that far with a pickaxe-style mattock after bramble roots.:rotfl:That patch of brambles was about 20 feet square, 8 feet tall and had been more than a decade in the making but I'm bl00dly stubborn and I beat it. Got a lovely crop of spuds off there, very fertile soil.

    The plus side it that it isn't too heavy to work and warms up quickly in spring. The down side is that it drains very quickly and turns to fine dust when it hasn't rained for a while, so fine that it sifts in thru the fabric of your clothes and also forms a crust so you have to tickle it a lot with a hoe or it hardpans.

    Ceridwen I've tried most of those weeds and all I can say is that you quickly find out why they are famine foods and not part of our everyday diet! Nobody needs as much fat hen and hairy bittercress as comes up on my lottie. You can use fronds of horsetail (which grows an inch a day in season) as pan scourers and I shall start this the day I have to cook on an open fire on my allotment.;) They also crop up as an ingredient in shampoos and that probably means that somone, somewhere, is DELIBERATELY GROWING HORSETAIL. That's a strange thought. Perhaps I can find out where they are and offer them mine.:rotfl: Joking aside, part of my lottie site is so badly infested with horsetail that some people have given up in despair. but I'm bl00dy-minded and will keep on digging it up. I don't expect to get rid of the blasted stuff as the roots go down six feet but I will seriously dent it's performance.

    Typical call from a variety of friends to the GQ mobile on the weekend or weekday evenings between March and October; "Are you on that ruddy allotment?!"

    Yup. And do you want to pop up and share fresh strawberries?

    Imitates that insurance dog voiceover "Ohhhhhhh yes!"
    Every increased possession loads us with a new weariness.
    John Ruskin
    Veni, vidi, eradici
    (I came, I saw, I kondo'd)
  • ChocClare
    ChocClare Posts: 1,475 Forumite
    Charlies-aunt, if you're using flat buttons rather than buttons with a shank, then you can just transfer them to the WRONG side of the right-hand button band, and you can then overlap the shirt right over left without moving the buttonholes or having to make new ones. Makes the shirt slightly more fiddly to do up, but not greatly so. And it also makes it look as if you have one of those posh shirts where the buttons are hidden by an additional band :D
  • charlies-aunt
    charlies-aunt Posts: 1,605 Forumite
    edited 13 March 2011 at 5:34PM
    Just got back from the allotment - had gone to admire the rotovated ground - managed to ferret about at the base of the unidentified bushes and if the labels don't lie - we have inherited 9 raspberry and 3 blackcurrant bushes, a large rhubarb plant and two dozen strawberry plants :j Its raining today so the spud planting has been postponed until a drier day :p

    Thanks for the help re: mans>ladies shirt. ;) Will be tackling that tonight . . . if all goes well, I'm going to & get a few more, the brushed cotton type from the CS to extend my wardrobe a bit.

    My work trousers are in critical condition too. . . . but I work on a call centre now away from public gaze so I'm gradually changing my wardrobe from being smart booted & suited to casual cheap and cheerful especially I am going to bike to work when the weather gets warmer :eek:
    :heartpuls The best things in life aren't things :heartpuls

    2017 Grocery challenge £110.00 per week/ £5720 a year






  • MaLarkin
    MaLarkin Posts: 132 Forumite
    edited 13 March 2011 at 11:49AM
    Good Morning all

    Just got caught up with the thread as our internet was out of commission yesterday. Glad to see everyone having good weekend and sounding upbeat.

    Charlies aunt - I second grey queen I never bother changing buttons around. No-one notices and if they do who cares?

    One thing I do sometimes is take off the top part of the collar (pointy bit) and neaten collar band to turn them into peter pan type collars. I love mens shirts because you get the extra length and can find some great "loud" pattern ones in the cs.
  • flowertotmum
    flowertotmum Posts: 1,043
    Debt-free and Proud!
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    Hi all..hope your ok...
    Choc-clare..your recipe is so good i'm going to write it in my book of family faves..thank you...
    Mrsvegplot..congrats on the new star...and i hope your nana is feeling better...
    I got up early and went for a quick meander around the garden in my pj's with wellies and big pink fluffy housecoat on...god what a sight...anyway just sorted the chickens out and there is next doors cat about to take a dump on my grass..i chased it off...only to hear the man next door start shouting about who scared his cat..i popped my head over the fence and said ME...he had a go at me for chasing it off...so i told him next it takes a dump on my grass where my little ones play i'll bag it up for him and he can deal with it..i'm the wrong person to mess with in the mornings before i have had my breakfast...anyway he started shouting at me..think coz he is ex army sergeant he thinks if he shouts loud enough then i'll turn onto one of his soldier boys...not me i ain't no shrinking bloody violet..told him to stuff it up his ars*..and get ready for the carp bags..coz his cat always sh*ts in my garden..he went in and slammed his door...plonker..he was giving my house the mean eye when he went out..so i stood in the window and stared back ..hubby thought it was funny...so are officially not speaking to him...
    Back on topic..had a lovely day yesterday painting and cutting and gluing with the girls..took me ages to clean it all up..glitter everywhere..nevermind my carpet sparkles in the sunlight...
    Having lovely roast for lunch..and old fashioned tea with trifle later...
    Better go and check on it all..
    take care all
    ftm
    Be who you are, not what the world expects you to be..:smileyhea

    :jDebt free and loving it.
  • ceridwen
    ceridwen Posts: 11,547
    Combo Breaker First Post
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    :rotfl::rotfl: You tell him Flowertot:D
  • bertiebots
    bertiebots Posts: 1,433 Forumite
    Good for you ftm!!
    Had a complete non day yesterday because I woke up with a migraine again. I have so much to do and am sure its stress thats causing them...need to go to the docs and get some meds although I have no idea how the hummer I am going to fit that in! Am feeling a bit overwhelmed today with the amount of stuff I have to do this week , as I recieved a letter from my solicitors requesting I get the house valued x 3!
    Eeeeek the house is a tip (I suppose sitting on here isnt helping!) but its the decorating that has me in a panick because I basically have 2 free hours a day to get EVERYTHING done. Its times like this that I really wish I had someone to help. Well I dont supposed wishing is going to change that..so I better get on and see what I can get done today.

    Talking of clay soil my garden is terrible, I built some raised beds because the ground gets so waterlogged but the majority of my garden is unusable 6 months of the year, even digging out 2 tons of topsoil and putting in a long deep gravel path hasnt helped..its very frustrating and I cannot afford to get proper drainage installed to remidy the situation. Needless to say I am praying for a dry summer! Ooooh almost forgot I am very pleased to discover that I have lots of frogspawn in my little pond..cant wait to see if we get some frogs!

    Sorry to be so miserable folks ..must go get on with it x
    JAN GC- £155.77 out of £200:D FEB GC £197.31 out of £180:o. MARCH GC - out of £200
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