Hardup Hester's stretching the penny's blog

Please explain sizes to me

2012-01-28T05:41:00.000-08:00

My last few posts really seem to have struck a few sore spots, I have a friend who is a TA, she also has had no training & regularly spends a whole day on her own supervising 3 children, all statemented.

Sizing
Can anybody explain why, when I buy ladies tights in mega fat, 7ft tall size, they come up to my ears (very warm, but inconvenient if one needs to move), but when I buy same size, mega fat, 7ft tall hold ups, they barely reach my knees? Now there is no way my calves are bigger than my bum, so what is the makers reasoning behind this. Maybe it is to dissuade mega fat 4'11 ladies like me from wearing hold ups!

Another boring work post

2012-01-27T23:44:00.000-08:00

Firstly thank you for all your kind comments, especially Foster Mummy, yes it would be good if support staff were treated with the same respect as teachers, unfortunately some teaching staff view us as second class citizens & treat us accordingly (the comment about anyone without a degree being pond scum still rankles.) The child who stabbed me in the leg with a sharpened umbrella 2 years ago has recently upped her game & threatened a teacher, instead of just assaulting support staff, she may finally be excluded.

We have about 30 pupils who are rude, unpleasant & generally lacking in respect, 10 of these are violent & aggressive, out of over 1000 pupils this isn't bad but unfortunately these pupils take up 90% of everybody's time.

There is a lot in the papers at the moment about failing teachers being sacked, this is of course bad news for failing teachers, but probably good news for the children they teach. Quite how teachers are supposed to keep up their commitment & enthusiasm until they are 67 I'm not sure, most of our staff are between 30 & 40 & they are beginning to struggle, they have to be in school by 7:30 for briefing, they must attend after school training sessions 3 days a week for themselves from 5 til 6 they have to run intensive sessions to help failing pupils 3:30 til 5 & on Saturday morning, we also have a series parents evenings coming up. We have a couple of failing teachers, but fortunately ours are just failing to attend, both only work part time & both have at least 10 days off sick every month, this of course puts more pressure of the staff that aren't off sick.

I had intended to reduce the amount of lunch duties I do now I'm 60, but unfortunately we don't have enough cover so I may even increase them to help out. I have dropped my first aid stint as the threat of litigation was keeping me awake at night, one of the other first aiders had an identical experience to me, a child presented themself as having been hit by some apple peel & was treated accordingly, by the time said child arrived home the apple peel had morphed into a brick & claimed to have been severely injured but ignored, first aider has now been disciplined & that will stay on her record permanently & is still under threat of litigation, all for £33 a month, it's not worth the sleepless nights.

Another day another dollar

2012-01-26T11:19:00.001-08:00

Marjorie, there is nothing that can be done about my sight, I have macular degeneration, incipient cataracts & a tent in my left eye, combine that with the hospital having 'lost' me, despite the numerous phone calls I have made asking for an appointment that was due last June.
The boy who told me he had sweaty balls was questioned & denied it, it seems I made it up, his mother was phoned, she assured the teacher that her son never lies, so it must be me lying. It is such a shame that 60% of the staff spend 90% of their time dealing with 10% of the pupils!
Doris appears to by getting stranger by the day, today she had a scarf wrapped round her head, leaving just a slit for her eyes, saying she was cold. I'm very torn, I am worried about her, she seems to be losing the plot, but then her inability to do her job affects the rest of us who have to pick up the slack, the last 2 people who left were not replaced & we have all had to take on extra work that they were doing so to be expected to do her work as well is a bit much.

The joy of work

2012-01-25T21:04:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we had a window smashed during a fight, quite why this is dealt with by 2 admin staff is beyond me but, the deputy head on duty took ages to arrive as she wears stilettos & can't run anywhere, the behaviour team all have their lunch at the same time (who's bright idea was this?) & there was no-one else around.
Another child walked over to me just to tell me he had sweaty balls, this was way more information than I needed & I get annoyed by this, if I were to share with him information about the condition of my anatomy I would be sacked, still I'm sure his mother is proud of him. I get tired of being told we must not infringe their human rights, but they can be as obscene as they choose to us, I get told to fuck off most days & a couple of our little charmers have taken to announcing that they are going for a wank when they walk past & we have to put up & shut up. Hey ho, I must be getting old & crabby.
We now have our new team leader, Doris has already decided she doesn't like her, cue much wailing & gnashing of teeth, I think she'll be ok, I'm pretty autonomous in my department, I keep my head down, work hard & do what I'm asked. I'm using the new card system, I've had no training but didn't expect any, lol. I'm getting lots of complaints from the staff who don't like the system, but I just smile & shrug, it's making it a lot easier to work out who is abusing the system & it's made it a lot slower to get through my workload, that's progress for you.

2012-01-24T12:55:00.000-08:00

I'm planning a post on my version of a capsual wardrobe, but the post will be no good without photo's & the weather has been so dull here that I haven't been able to take any. I've also been coming home from work too tired to type, hence the lack of posts. Here is a copy of my post on MSE explaining the joy that is my life at present, I'll try to post again soon.

Fed up & pissed off here, I'm supposed to have 2 -3 hours help per day at
work, so far I've had 1 hour in the last week & a half, the computers are
down, my right eye has deteriorated again so I spent today holding bits of paper
near my ear to read them (it's called eccentric looking) it means you look
through the bits of your eye that do work. I've buggered up my knee ( don't ask
how, I know I'm too old to be attempting that position!). Daft Doris has been in
hysterics all day as we have a new Team Leader starting soon, Doris can't cope
with change & can't do her job properly, keeps wittering on about how she
needs allowances made because of her age, well no one makes allowance for my age
& I'm 4 years older & can now only see out of my ears. Some idiot
child decided to roll in a puddle so he could be sent home, so another dozen
tried it, they didn't get sent home, they just had to sit in wet clothes. We had
a new pupil start today who we were warned 'needs watching', I caught him
carrying to other boys round by the throat, I decided I'd better do more than
just watch & eventually persuaded him to put them down. It was 94deg in my
room as the machines were all running & the heating was on full! And best of
all? I get to do it all over again tomorrow

40 Things you'd love to say out loud at work

2012-01-20T23:06:00.000-08:00

I know this is just one of those emails that circulate at work, but after the week I've had it seems particularly appropriate today.
1. I can see your point, but I still think you're full of it.
2. I don't know what your problem is, but I'll bet it's hard to pronounce.
3. How about never? Is never good for you?
4. I see you've set aside this special time to publicly humiliate yourself.
5. I'm really easy to get along with once you people learn to see it my way.
6. Who lit your fuse.
7. I'm out of my mind at the moment, but feel free to leave a message.
8. I don't work here - I'm a consultant.
9. It sounds like English, but I don't understand a damn word you're saying.
10. Ahhh. I see the screw-up fairy has visited us again.
11. I like you. You remind me of myself when I was young and stupid.
12. You are validating my inherent mistrust of strangers.
13. I have plenty of talent and vision - I just don't give a damn.
14. I'm already visualizing the duct tape over your mouth.
15. I will always cherish the initial misconceptions I had about you.
16. Thank you. We're all refreshed and challenged by your unique point of view.
17. The fact that no one understands you doesn't mean you're an artist.
18. Any connection between your reality and mine is purely coincidental.
19. What am I? Flypaper for nutters?
20. I'm not being rude. You're just insignificant.
21. It's a thankless job, but I've got a lot of karma to burn
22. Yes, I am an agent of Satan, but my duties are largely ceremonial.
23. And your cry-baby whiny arse opinion would be?
24. Do I look like a f'ing people person to you?
25. This isn't an office. It's Hell with fluorescent lighting.
26. I started out with nothing and I still have most of it left
27. Sarcasm is just one more service we offer.
28. If I throw a stick, will you leave?
29. Errors have been made. Others will be blamed.
30. Whatever kind of look you were going for, you missed.
31. Oh, I get it. Like humour. Only different.
32. A cubicle is just a padded cell without the door.
33. Can I trade this job for what's behind door number 1?
34. Too many freaks, not enough circuses.
35. Nice perfume, but must you marinate in it?
36. Chaos, panic and disorder - my work here is finally done.
37. How do I set a laser printer to kill.
38. I thought I wanted a career; turns out I just wanted a salary
39. I'll try being nicer if you try being smarter.
40. Wait a minute - I'm just trying to imagine you with a personality

A tale of two teeth

2012-01-18T08:56:00.000-08:00

About 6 years ago a friend & I both had tooth trouble, we both had a back tooth that had been filled & we both lost the filling in the same month.
We both had the filling replaced, & within 6 months both fillings fell out. My friend returned 4 or 5 times to have the filling replaced & each time the filling fell out after a few months, she paid a lot of money to have the fillings replaced but to no avail. Last week when chatting on the phone she mentioned that she had finally given up & had the tooth extracted, her dentist tried to persuade her to have some sort of post fitted to hold a crown, but my friend had by now spent a fortune & so refused.
I on the other had did nothing after having the replacement filling fall out. I wasn't getting any pain from the tooth & so I left it.
The same week my friend had her tooth extracted mine snapped off, so we now both have a gap in the same place & at least I didn't spend money on mine.

Bargain

2012-01-17T11:41:00.000-08:00

I found 2 large pizza's in Tesco today, £4.50 for the 2 of them, I cut each pizza into 6 pieces & put the slices in the freezer. The Minder doesn't like pizza but I do & when he is on lates we eat a different times, a slice of pizza will do me for tea, 40p is a cheapish meal, maybe with some home grown salad leaves when the weather warms up

Reverse Vampire

2012-01-16T10:48:00.000-08:00

Buggering bloody Network Rail, BT & bloody Windows!
I've just collected my PC from the menders, fortunately there was nothing seriously wrong with it. No virus, no hardware issues, just buggering bloody Windows which is not very stable at the best of times! Oh well, £24 later & it's all working for now.
Nothing is ever straight forward though is it, I've said before that I don't drive at night unless I know the route & it's well lit. Well today I set off to collect my computer, only to find that the road I wanted to drive along was closed so by the time I'd followed the diversion signs, got there, paid for the PC repair & discussed the work that had been done, it was getting dark on the way home, I felt like a reverse vampire trying to get home, or at least on to roads that I know well before it got too dark. I was just wondering whether to pull over & park up & phone me son & daughter to drive over to collect me & drive me, when I finally made it back onto the main road.

Soap Sacks

2012-01-08T05:19:00.000-08:00

Soap Sacks.
Small knitted sacks, each one contains a bar of soap. Washing with these has a gentle exfolliating effect on the skin.

I feel like a bloody Yoyo

2012-01-06T23:31:00.000-08:00

My phone line & internet access have been on & off so many times I don't know whether I'm coming or going. I have, as Clive suggested, emailed the CE at BT & await his response. I have been back online since 4th, after an engineer finally visited, but I don't have a lot of faith in remaining connected.
We have massive road/rail works happening nearby & Network rail managed to cut the BT cables to most of the surrounding area. But it has taken almost 14 days to get a reliable connection, which I feel is unacceptable.
On to more interesting things, I've started a Facebook page for all my makes & I'm looking at starting a website too.
I arrived home yesterday to find my rotary washing line had snapped because of all the high winds we've been having, fortunately my DD has a spare & she is sending it over with DS today. My neighbours mentioned how surprised they were that their fence didn't blow over in the wind, I didn't have the heart to tell them that last time they went on holiday the Minder refixed their fence, it had caused so much damage & inconvenience to us, it had been erected very badly, only one nail per panel, per side & it blew over every time on of the local cats farted!
DS is taking the Minder to a local timber merchants when he delivers the washing line, to buy a length of wood to finish off the 3rd raised bed. The Minder is determined to grow even more veg this year.

Resurrecting an old love affair

2011-12-31T22:54:00.000-08:00

It is very daring of me I know, especially as I have my beloved Minder, though yesterday he was very grumpy, probably something to do with the fact that he decided to swap the beds over. We have a beautiful bedstead, like something out of Bedknobs & Broomsticks, also know as our bondage bed, lol. Sometime ago the Minder decided he fancied sleeping at the front of the house instead of the back, the back bedroom has an ensuite & the front bedroom doesn't but as we have no lodgers now, that isn't really a problem.
So we swapped rooms but left the beds where they were, recently the Minder has been pining for a head board, so I suggested we moved our old bed into the front room, I didn't mean for him to do it as soon as he got up & whilst I was cooking his breakfast that he's just asked for & couldn't help him. Hence one very grumpy Minder.
Eventually, tired of being grumped at I went to sort out some more books, this is when I decided to resurrect an old love affair. On the bottom shelf in the furthest corner I found my book on Dorset Feather Stitchery.
Now I had seen some lavender bags with machine embroidered lavender sprigs on them & had looked at the price of a sewing magine that would produce such a thing. I had palpitations at the prices, they seem to be between £2000 &£6000, not that I was seriously thinking of buying one, but did wonder how many lavender bag's you'd have to make to recoup your money on one of those!
I have a few meters of calico, lots of lavender, it grows in my garden & I will make some lavender bags with these & try out some Dorset Feather stitch on them. I used to love these stitches & I hope I will enjoy doing them again.

One more squeeze

2011-12-31T10:32:00.000-08:00

As I've said before, we help out my DD by taking her a large bottle of milk every week & a bag of fruit & a dozen eggs twice a month, I try to add a little extra as well, a loaf of bread, of something on a buy 1 get 1 free. We're also planning on helping BIL out, but I don't write about that on here for 2 reasons, firstly one of BIL's ex who is a bit of a wedding cake addict, reads stuff on here & spreads tall tales amongst the family causing general alarm & distress, secondly the inlaws are in general as mad a box of frogs & we are still dealing with the repercussions from our Handfasting, that none of them liked/approved of.
Anyway, back to the squeeze, my SIL is a serving soldier & currently in Afghanistan & I am sending him a care package as often as I can & I am also sending one to Support our Soldiers, so someone else can receive on as well. I've printed out the list of suitable items & will carry it in my bag & try to pick up things on offer when I see them. I'm not sending very big parcels, but I have some shoe boxes that I think will do nicely.
I'm still decluttering my book collection & have had messages from people interested in the books I have already sorted out, they have offered payment, but as they were destined for a charity shop I have asked instead for a donation to Help the Hero's charity. It is a charity we support at school, so any donations I receive I can add to the school totals.
So my next book collections to go are some of the Jim Butcher Dresden Files, some James Patterson & some Micheal Connolly.

Decluttering madly

2011-12-29T10:04:00.000-08:00

Now that the Minder & I both have Kindles we have decided to get rid of all the books we have on the Kindles, we both had Amazon vouchers for birthday & Christmas & have stocked up on all the books that we know we will read repeatedly, for me that meant Terry Pratchett & for the Minder that meant all the Lee Childs. The local charity shop is in for a treat, lol.
I did look into selling some of them on Amazon, but even the hardbacks are only selling for 1p so it's not really worth the effort, especially since a lot of people complain when I send their books in reused jiffy bags.
We have decided to get rid of our unused bed in my sewing room, this will give me a lot more room up there to sew. We are also going to swap the bed round in our bedrooms so that we have a bed with a headboard.
Tomorrow I am collecting the Minder from work along with all the tools he has there, he finishes the following Friday & starts his new job on the following Monday.
I shall have a look for some new bedding whilst I'm in Basingstoke as most of ours is looking very old, stained & thin or bobbly.

I'm back

2011-12-28T09:18:00.000-08:00

Not that I've been away, oh no, nothing so exciting, I have been without a phone line & internet access since 21st.
It is, it seems all my own fault, oh good.
On the 20th I had no internet access & although I had a phone line it had been crossed with a line belonging to a very nice man called Barry, we were receiving each others calls for 48 hours, BT refused to help as firstly the lines were working (Yes we know this, but the lines are crossed) & secondly we had caused the problem ourselves (WTF! How?) as there was no BT work being carried out in our area. (Really, what about the various BT vans in the area who are rolling out BT Infinity!
Eventually this problem was sorted out, it took a while because BT kept sending updates via my email, which I couldn't access as I no internet! I only had my line back for about 40 minutes, when BT cut me off again, as I'd signed up to Infinity, BT had sent me an email with a list of instructions on how to retain my phone line until 4th January when I would be connected to Infinity, as I didn't follow these instructions (Well I couldn't could I, I couldn't access my email with no internet!) My phone line was cut off & wasn't due to be reconnected until 4th Jan. In the mean time I have spent many a pleasant hour on the phone to BT, via my mobile, speaking to an endless stream of BT muppets, who all wished me a Merry Christmas & assured me that they were very concerned about my lack of service but totally unable to offer any help except to send me emails THAT I COULDN'T ACCESS AS I HAD NO INTERNET!
And breath.
On top of this we had a very heavy rain storm on 23rd, which swept a tile off next doors roof which in turn knocked out out Freesat, so no TV either, this wasn't much of a loss as the Grand Prix doesn't start til later on in the year & we don't watch much else. Another neighbour popped over & straightened it on Monday & today I finally had my phone reconnected.

I hate shopping

2011-12-21T11:51:00.000-08:00

I had a list of jobs to do today, going to the post office to collect a parcel, buying some coke & ginger beer for me for Christmas day, drawing money from one account & paying it into another as a I am unable to access one of my online accounts, etc. In amongst all this I tried to find some new clothes, all I wanted was one tidy day wear outfit. I have work clothes, 5 pairs of black trousers & an assortment of tops, these are all bought from charity shops & thrown away when they become to damaged/stained by work to wear.
I have one pair of posh trousers, they look smart & are fine if I'm standing, but uncomfortable to sit in as they fit as though my knees are on the wrong side of my legs. I have a black lightweight jacket & 3 tops suitable for evening wear, I've had the jacket 16 years & the tops are all at least 10 years old.
I have a black leather skirt & a red corset for 'performance evenings'.
I have nothing suitable for a trip out with my DD's & I usually wear my cleanest work wear. Today I decided to look for something suitable, tidy enough to wear out. I find buying clothes a nightmare, I cannot buy dresses as I'm shortwaisted, if I buy skirts they almost always drag on the floor, most of me fits into a size 16, but my boobs need an 18. Today I was determined, I had £60 & I was going to find something to wear come hell or high water!
I bought 3 dresses for DGD who has suddenly changed from being a jeans wearing tomboy into a girly girl, insisting on wearing a dress everyday to nursery, even though all her dresses are summer weight, so as not to leave out DGS, I bought him 2 Mario tshirts, I spent £24 on them. What did I buy for me? a 4 pack of cotton knickers as mine were all falling down as the elastic had gone in them!

A nearly finished gift

2011-12-19T23:05:00.001-08:00

This gift isn't quite finished but I'm not going to have time to photograph it between finishing it & giving it to the recipient, it's a Knitting Needle Roll.

Yes I do have a lot of the red & white stripey fabric, my DD gave me 2 huge curtains made of it & it's lovely heavy duty cotton, I was considering making another rag wreath from it, but decided it's too useful to use for that & so I will make the remaining curtain into more peg bags & needle rolls.

Another hand made gift

2011-12-18T11:35:00.000-08:00

The photos aren't very clear, partly my poor skills & partly the stripey fabric. It is a peg bag.

Yet another wreath

2011-12-17T12:13:00.000-08:00

The final wreath for this year, I have other things I need to concentrate on.

Pea sticks & Pussy Willow

2011-12-17T12:08:00.001-08:00

Having reorganised the living room we don't have anywhere to put the tree, so this year I have pea sticks & pussy willow in vases.

So what else would I do when someone is throwing away a kettle?

2011-12-17T06:36:00.000-08:00

Someone was throwing away a kettle at work yesterday & asked me if I wanted it before it went into the skip. I bought it home & today in the garden center they had these beautiful flowers, £1.99, the Minder was happy to buy them for me. I'm very pleased with the result. We also bought a bunch of pea sticks, I'll show you what I have done with those later.

Fair exchange

2011-12-16T22:23:00.000-08:00

We usually do our Secret Santa on the last day of term but this year, for various reasons it was decided on Monday to bring it forward to Wednesday, it was a nightmare & I tell you more of that in a sec.
On Tuesday I told a colleague who was out sick on Monday of the change in the arrangement, this caused her a problem as she hadn't bought her gift yet & as she's working at her 2 job that night she had no time to get anything. I offered her a gift set that I had received 2 years ago & never used, she offered payment but I refused as it hadn't cost me anything. I wrapped her gift & mine & put them in Santa's sack. On Thursday she gave me a gammon joint in payment for my help, lol. it may have seemed a strange exchange to some people, but I was delighted.

Now onto the nightmare that was Secret Santa, one colleague, who is leaving soon (good riddance) gave another colleague a picture frame with a nasty spiteful message in it, not a jokey one, just really unpleasant, along the lines of 'Mrs X is a fat cow' in it. Fortunately he was so proud of his cleverness that he boasted to another team member & we were able to swap the message in the frame with a Christmas message & add a box of chocolates to it. What a horrible & malicious thing to do, thank heavens he's leaving soon.

Rag Wreath part 2

2011-12-15T20:50:00.000-08:00

Two more rag wreaths, the top one was made using the same fabric as the first, but using 6 pieces of fabric at a time & then changing to the next colour, this time in a set pattern, rather than 'Ooops it's time I changed colour, lol.

The bottom one is just made with 2 fabrics, a cream chiffon with gold stars, leftover from a table runner, & a ruby satin from a nightshirt, bought from a CS ages ago as I thought the fabric 'looked useful'.

Baskets

2011-12-13T10:40:00.000-08:00

Ok, as you have probably all realised by now, I am slightly batty, ok, ok, more than slightly.
But I have just signed up for a course of evening classes, basket making, but not just any old baskets, these will be made from such items as parcel tape, old magazines & electrical wire, even my mind is boggling. The classes start in February, if I manage to make anything that even vaguely resembles a basket I will post pics.

Rag Wreath

2011-12-10T22:03:00.000-08:00

I sat & made this yesterday evening, there were a lot of things & could have done, such a vacuuming, cooking or tidying, but I made this instead. It is a rag wreath, I copied the idea from Mooloo, she added bells & ribbons to hers. I have no ribbon or bells, so I used some gold net to add sparkle & scrap satin from an old pyjama top.

All the fabric is green, red or gold, although some of it looks blue in the photo's. It took me a couple of hours to make & now I fancy making one in just the 'luxury rags' the satin & gold net but first I need to find another metal coathanger.

1 packet of bacon scraps = 4 meals

2011-12-09T11:40:00.000-08:00

Thank you for all your comments about the Minders job, I'm so relieved he was successful & it will save us a lot of money.
Now on to the bacon scraps, I'm sure you all know about rubber chicken, it's something I do regularly. I make one chicken do for a roast dinner, then a chicken & ham pie, pasta bake, special fried rice & finally soup. Sometimes I use bacon scraps instead of ham in the chicken pies, I can buy a bag of scraps for 99p & this is what I make. I use about a quarter of the pack in the chicken pie & pasta bake.
I use another quarter to make bacon hotpot, fry the bacon scraps, layer the bacon in a dish with sliced potato & onion, starting & finishing with a potato layer. Make a thinnish white sauce & pour over the layers, sprinkle with breadcrumbs cook in the oven til the potato is cooked through & the top is crunchy.
Breakfast toad, This is like toad in the hole, but uses fewer sausages, cook another portion of the bacon scraps along with some sausages. Cut the sausages into 3, scatter the sausage pieces, bacon scraps & some mushrooms in a metal dish, pour over batter cook as for normal toad.
Minestrone soup Fry the bacon in a large heavy based pan, add a pint of water, any veg sulking in the corner of the fridge cook until veg are done, add 2 tins of tomatoes & some tinned beans even cheapy baked beans will do & some oregano, serve hot with chunks of bread.
Of course the scraps can also be used for bacon sarnies, quiche & omelets.

Gissa Job

2011-12-07T21:56:00.000-08:00

Well not me but the Minder, I worked a bit of a fast one. I heard that 2 people were giving their notice in within a week of each other so the Minder got a copy of his updated CV ready & presented it, between the job advert being prepared & it showing on the website. Strike while the iron is hot, lol. He had an interview yesterday & came away with a written job offer in his pocket. He doesn't even know what the salary will be, but the minimum is £60 a year more than he is on & he will save £1500 a year in fares. So we will be better off whatever. He starts in January & will hand his notice in at work today, we no longer have to worry about the 'restructuring' & the threat of his hours being reduced

Conversation at work

2011-12-06T21:08:00.000-08:00

'Hester, Mr Smith wants to know why his copier bill has tripled in the last 3 months?'

'Because he is now paying the copier bill for the garden project'

'Can you give me the request slips?'

'Here they are'

'Aargh, only 3 people are allowed to copy against this project & you have slips from 15 people at least'

'And you tell me now, 3 months after the project started? Well done!'

Say What!!!

2011-12-04T23:00:00.000-08:00

No full on punch ups at the do, just a lot of bad tempered sniping, well there might have been a fight after we left at 11, the place didn't close til 2.

I had 2 funny conversations during the meal, people were talking about foreign travel & I mentioned that my son has just returned from Vienna, someone said their mother had been there but found the canals very disappointing! It seems she had visited in April during the week when the canals were closed for cleaning. I smiled & nodded, I have no idea if all the canals are closed for a week in April, the canals were all open in the April I was in Venice & it seems unlikely they would all be closed simultaneously, but if her mother was in Vienna then no doubt the canals were a disappointment!

The second conversation that surprised me was when one of guests mentioned that her mother was bedridden with a broken hip, I said how sorry I was & the reply came back 'Thank you, but she is very old, so it's only to be expected, she's nearly 64' What! Bedridden a 64 & considered very old!
I was dumbstruck.

It's the weekend

2011-12-02T21:34:00.000-08:00

I need to run round like a small fat running thing this morning. We are going to hubby's Christmas do tonight & we have to set off at 12ish so I can drive there in daylight (if DS manages to sort my car out in time) & have a snooze before we go to the do as I have been up since 4 this morning & between 2 & 3 most other mornings this week.
The do is just a meal in a restaurant, 15 people, most of whom are all at each other throats, I can envisage a brawl breaking out once alcohol is added to this already explosive mixture!
I need to do the washing & tidy the kitchen before we set off, hubby needs to do a few things too, including repairing the garden gate. Some lowlife must have seen the postman drop a couple of parcels over my garden gate & they have tried to force the gate open & damaged the latch. I don't know what has been stolen as I have a few things I've ordered from Ebay, I hope it isn't the Barbie dolls for my foster granddaughter, I really hope it's the cellophane bags or candle wick, either of which will be a great disappointment to the thief.
Friday was a bad day at work, lots of problems & lots of shouty people, as I am pond scum I'm sure it will turn out to be my fault, hey ho.

Strike

2011-11-30T20:42:00.000-08:00

I'm not in the union so I didn't strike, I used to be in the union, but the only time I had a problem & went to them for help, they were no help, too afraid of the management.
It was busy at work as many teachers spent the day at work planning future lessons, one prepared all her lessons through until Easter, boy did that keep me busy producing all of that.
We only had to work from 8:30 til 3 as we didn't have enough premises staff to open for longer, we didn't take a lunch break, just 10 minutes to grab a bite to eat.
The Minder is applying for jobs, I hope he finds something soon, he current company can't decide what they want to do & he is being advised of different alterations to his hours/rate of pay on an almost daily basis, this is causing him no small amount of stress.
My son tried to repair my car yesterday, but the wrong part was sent, twice, by the time the right part arrived it was too late. He cannot do it tomorrow as he has a day long job to do, he will do it Friday now.

Soup

2011-11-29T22:20:00.000-08:00

Taaleedee The button on the mug hug fastens under the handle.
Justine. The recipe I start with is this one but I just chuck in whatever quantities I have

1 tbsp oil, but I use a knob of butter
1 onion, sliced
225g/8oz potatoes, cubed
2 medium leeks, sliced, I am using one large leek
1.2 litres/2 pints vegetable stock or water
salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Soften the veg in the butter, add the stock/water, when everything is cooked blitz it with a hand blender til smooth, add salt & pepper to taste.

And today's bargain was!!!!!

2011-11-29T11:40:00.000-08:00

Three large leeks for 5p, yes just 5p. I bought them & gave two away, I still have one huge leek left. I can feel a batch of leek & potato coming on.

Mug Hug

2011-11-28T19:35:00.000-08:00

We do a Secret Santa at work, it's optional, it is just between 15 of us, we pick a name out of a hat & the maximum cost is £5.

This is mine for this year, plain white mug, £1 from Tesco, the hug I knitted from some wool I have in my stash & the button is from my button tin, it took me about 10 minutes to knit. I made this at the weekend & at the time didn't know who's name I would get. I would normally add a couple of tea bags or hot chocolate sachets to this mug, but as the person who's name I picked out is a particular friend of mine I am making her home made G string from a length of black elastic & some feathers & sequins from my sewing stash. Believe me I wouldn't do this if I thought she would be offended or upset, she will think it's funny & probably wear it on her head for the day!

Update

2011-11-28T12:45:00.000-08:00

We have spread the word that the Minder is looking for a new job.
The starter motor is going to cost £104 ex vat, DS will fit it for free. I have £100 in savings so can cover the cost of getting the car repaired.
If we do take another financial hit with the Minders wages we will survive!
We already have our coping strategies in place, this is how we live all the time & this is why I had £100 in savings.
I have piles of HM quilts & blankets around so we don't put the heating on.
I don't use my TD ever, it is purely for decoration.
The Minder grows most of our veg in our very small back garden.
I buy largish joint of meat from the butcher, slice it thinly, bag in small quantities & freeze.
I usually manage to get a large ham & large rolled turkey reduced to less than half price after Christmas, they usually last as Sunday roasts until Easter.
I know my butcher well & ask him what's cheap, lol.
I cook everything from scratch even though I'm often knackered after being on my feet all day, sometimes on a Sunday I cook enough meals to last 2 or 3 days, that makes it a bit easier.
One day a week, usually Saturday, we have 'on toast' for tea, beans or egg, it's cheap & filling.
I walk through the door after work & straight into the kitchen & start cooking, if I sat down I wouldn't get up again & start.
Hubby is a big meat eater, he does a strenuous outdoor job, so if there isn't much meat I go without, this isn't a hardship, I love pulses & vegetables.
I pad out mince with oats, lentils & grated onion, carrot & celery as well if it's not too expensive.
We eat old fashioned food, cottage pie, casserole, rissoles, sausage & mash, liver & bacon etc.
I make jam & marmalade & HM soup & waste very little.
I buy chicken & pork a lot as they are often cheap & I can make a small chicken last most of the week.
I always serve yorkies, stuffing balls etc with a roast dinner, it makes it go further.
If you are serving chicken or pork & don't have enough, cook a few sausages as an extra 'go with'.
I spend time with my grandchildren, baking etc, I don't spend much money on them & when I do it's on food, milk, eggs & a bag of fruit once a fortnight & the occasional box of cereal, this is a lot more useful than a box of plastic crap & they don't love me any the less.
I give very few Christmas presents, partly as I celebrate Yule & not Christmas, lol.
I make as many gifts as I can, this year it's Mobius scarves, mittens, & mug hugs.
I buy gifts from eBay, this year, the current foster grand daughter is in to Barbie, I was given a Barbie train & have a couple of dolls from ebay. My grandaughter is into her baby doll, so I'm knitting & sewing dolls clothes for her.
I don't know what the 2 boys want yet, they are 6 & 7.
I have bought hubby a pair of slippers as he attacked his last pair with the strimmer.
I give as much as I can to friends, neighbours, colleagues & family, I give a listening ear, a jar of jam, a few cakes or biscuits, a recipe, a few hints on how to save money, in return they give me anything they don't want & I pass it on to someone who can use it.

Cheesy Cauliflower

2011-11-28T12:13:00.000-08:00

Hi Penny Saver
Cheesy Cauliflower is just Cheese sauce poured over florets of cooked cauliflower, I sprinkled a mixture of grated cheese & breadcrumbs over the top & browned it under the grill before serving.

Ingredients
25g/1oz butter or marg
25g/1oz flour, any sort
600ml/1 pint milk
salt and white pepper
80g/3oz cheese, grated, any cheese that is going green is fine.

Preparation method
1.Melt the butter in a saucepan.
2.Stir in the flour and cook for 1-2 minutes.
3.Take the pan off the heat and gradually stir in the milk to get a smooth sauce. Return to the heat and, stirring all the time, bring to the boil.
4.Simmer gently for 8-10 minutes and season with salt and white pepper.
5.Stir in cheese and allow to melt. Don t re-boil the sauce or it will become stringy. Pour this over cooked cauliflower.

Sunday Lunch

2011-11-27T12:26:00.001-08:00

This in my Sunday lunch, I did try to take a pic of hubby's plate, but he said 'Gerroff, I'm eating,' lol. As you can see I have a huge mound of cauliflower cheese taking up most of my plate. I made a big dish full as I got a reduced cauliflower that was huge. I was going to freeze the rest down as I'm the only one who will eat it, but I'm trying to reduce the contents of my freezer to make room for my Christmas meat order. When DD & DGS came over to collect her eggs, milk & fruit, DGS was looking at it & said 'Is that cheesy cauliflower Nanny?' I told him that it was & asked if he liked it, he assured me that it was his favourite, especially with sausages. So DD took it home with her & they will all have it for tea tomorrow with sausages. A great solution, it leaves me with a bit more room in the freezer & they get a cheap meal tomorrow.

Oh Bugger

2011-11-27T03:12:00.000-08:00

We have been told that there are changes afoot with hubby's job, he currently works a 8 hour day & it has been decided that the job needs to be extended to a 12 hour day, but instead of getting another person in to do the extra 4 hours they are looking to economise by making it 3 x 4 hour shifts. Hubby has been informed that he may only get one shift. So his hours will be reduced to 20 a week & as he has to reapply he will return to the minimum wage. He will be earning about £6500 pa. His train fares will remain at £1500 a year plus he will have £17 bus fares on top as I will not be able to drive him to the station, hmmm, it's going to be tight. If he gets 2 shifts they cannot be consecutive so his train fares will rise to £3000 pa, plus £17 a week bus fares, but it's hardly worth coming home as he'd only have about an hour & a half at home before he had to go back.

Yesterday the starter motor went in my car, so fingers crossed for some dry weather as I shall be walking to work in leaky shoes, lol. I have put a couple of pairs of socks in my handbag so I can change into dry socks at work.

I found 4 slices of roast beef in the freezer, so dinner today will be roast beef with yorkies, roasties, peas & cauliflower cheese, hubby can have the beef, I'll have everything else. We will keep battling on, but I just wish it wasn't such a battle all the time.

Can you see what it is yet?

2011-11-25T18:59:00.000-08:00

This is, if I ever work out what I'm doing, my DD's Yule present, it is a Mobius scarf, I'm hoping the colours will draw the eye away the mistakes I made in it!

Thanks for all the comments about the 'child' who punched me, as is usual in these situations the child has issues, I was in the wrong place at the wrong time & actually got in the way of his fist, so it doesn't count as assault!

One of those days

2011-11-24T23:02:00.000-08:00

When I got up yesterday I was struggling to get my dressing gown on, eventually I realised that the sleeve I was trying to get my arm in was in fact the pocket. Maybe I should have realised then it was going to be a bad day & got back into bed, but I didn't.

I went to the bathroom for a wash & brushup & only had enough deodorant for the left armpit, so I spent the day standing side on to everyone.

I'd stayed up far too late trying to buy a pair of shoes on ebay, but everyone seemed to be going mad & I was outbid on everything, I eventually ordered some shoe goo but didn't sleep well as I was overtired.

As I walked across the carpark at work I realised I was getting wet feet again, this time my other shoes have sprung a leak, it is the body of the shoe that has come away from the sole, lets hope the shoo goo arrives fast & works, otherwise I shall end up with webbed feet.

I was asked for feedback on a trainee staff member, this was very difficult as this person has been very rude to me on numerous occasions, I bit the bullet & told the truth as I feel she needs to be told before she antagonises another school's support staff. We have the power to make a teachers life a bloody misery if we so choose, so I'm now dealing with the backlash, what joy.

I got punched in the stomach by a pupil and as I was already having a bad day I was very close to punching back. Which would have meant me losing my job, even though said child is 6'2.

I'm just hoping for a better day today!

Wet Feet

2011-11-22T23:00:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure if you can see what this is but it's a photo of a huge split in the sole of my shoe, hence the wet feet. I can't complain as the shoes are Rohide & cost me £4 in a local charity shop & I've had them about 3 years I think. I shall still wear them when the weather is dry.

Shoes are a bit of a problem for me, I take a 4 & a half, I have very wide feet & a high arch, so I can't buy cheap shoes. I'm on my feet all day, mainly walking, sometimes standing still, so I need something comfortable & comfort doesn't come cheap. There are also work restrictions on what I can wear, no crocs, no trainers. I pay a lot of money for shoes, I have to as I can't buy what I need cheap. I happily paid £60+ for court shoes, but then my last pair lasted me 15 years, but work shoes usually only last 3 or 4 years & ideally I should have 2 pairs to allow for a change.

So the hunt is on for some reasonably priced comfy shoes, wish me luck!

Cake

2011-11-20T11:26:00.001-08:00

Here are a couple of photos of the cake I've made for my work colleagues

Gazebo

2011-11-19T08:12:00.001-08:00

The Gazebo now has walls & fairy lights, already for tomorrow

Upping our game

2011-11-18T12:14:00.000-08:00

Firstly thank you for all you comments, the guy with the heating problem makes us laugh now, though at the time it wasn't funny & as for the lady who calls the Minder 'Roger' she is what the Minder refers to as a 'no bloody care in the community' tenant, hence his patience.
As for Raveys comment!
There has been a distinct lack of the 'Hiding the Sausage' game here lately. Other games are being played, all very nice but a bit one sided. I'm not one for beating about the bush, so I enquired politely as to why said game was no longer played. The Minder huffed & mumbled for a while & eventually admitted to 'having a rash'. The idiot was reluctant to say anything in case I thought he'd been playing away.
Brutally to the point I demanded he dropped his keks & showed me the rash.
A brief glance told me he has Fordyce's spots, he's had them as long as I've known him, but he's only just noticed them.
Normal service(ing) is now resumed!
To save you googling, Fordyce spots, they look a bit like goosebumps.

Who'd be a caretaker

2011-11-16T22:54:00.000-08:00

The Minder has had to leave his works phone on for a while as there were people working on his site who might need to get hold of him. The downside to this was that the tenants were phoning at all hours. 2 or 3 people phoned in the early hours because they were too drunk to remember the code number for the front door, but here are 2 of my favourites.
The guy that phoned at 22:30.
'I've had no f*cking heating since 7 this morning, get over hear & f*cking fix it'
TM 'I'm sorry I only deal with the communal areas, not problems within the flats.'
'I've had no f*cking heating all day get over here & fix it'
TM 'I'm sorry I only deal with the communal areas'
'So you'll fix the heating for the posh gits who live in the communal areas, but not mine'
TM 'I don't do repairs in the flats, I look after the corridors & car park, do you own your flat or rent it?'
'Rent'
TM 'Who do you rent from?'
' I don't f*cking know'
TM 'Who do you pay your rent to'
'I don't pay no f*cking rent'
TM 'Ok, I'll text you a number, ring them & they will send someone to fix your heating'
'I've got no f*cking heating in my flat & if you don't come & fix it now I'll come to your flat & kick your f*cking head in'
TM 'If you ring the number I'm going to text you they will send someone to fix your heating
'I'm coming over there to kick your head in'
TM, is by now losing patience 'You'll have a bloody long walk I live in Reading'
The Minder then text's him the number & rings Bluebird housing & reports the fault & the threats & abuse'
The following morning the same tenant knocked on the Minders door, 'I'm glad your here, I got no f*cking heating & the bloke I spoke to last night was no help at all'

Another phone call
'Is that you Roger'
TM 'Yes Beryl, this is Roger, what's the problem'
'I've got flies Roger'
TM 'Ok, I'll drop some fly spray up to you tomorrow morning'
'Can I have a dustpan & brush too?'
TM 'Yes, I'll lend you mine tomorrow morning'
'Is it morning now Roger?'
TM' No, it's 10:30, time you were in bed'
'Oh, I was just going to go shopping'
TM 'No, don't go shopping, go to bed,'
'Are you sure it's bed time'
TM 'Yes I'm definite, go to bed'
'Ok, roger, you won't forget my fly spray will you?'
TM 'No, I'll drop it off to you tomorrow, good night'
'Good Night'
The minder isn't called Roger, but the caretaker in the flats Beryl used to live in was called Roger & it seems to be the only name she can remember, so he answers to it.

2011-11-16T11:33:00.000-08:00

Twiggy, the Remoska comes in 2 sizes, I have the Grande, it depends a bit on how you want to use it which one would be best for you.
NTO, we haven't decided what to grow under it yet.
EEK, Claire & SFT, I see you agree with me about labels.
Christine, I don't have a dog & my freezer is crammed full, so I really need to get portion size under control.
I'm glad you like the gazebo, it now has curtain walls & fairy lights & will be very useful on Sunday when the family come for dinner. It's too dark to take pics of it by the time we get home.
I'm still decluttering & have passed on some more wool to other knitters, but that is about all. We are very short staffed at work & so very busy & by the time we've arrived home & I've cooked a meal, I'm ready for bed or at least a snooze on the sofa, lol.
Tea tonight was lamb casserole, cooked in the slow cooker, made with the rest of the joint that I cooked on Sunday, but we didn't eat it til Monday, it was really 'Hunt the lamb' casserole, there was lots of veg in it, but the Minder didn't complain, it was hot & tasty.
I'm busy planning for Sunday, eight adults & five children to cater for, I'm cooking Jerk chicken with rice & salad, chocolate brownies & custard, cheese & tomato pizza for the foster children who are vegetarian & a big bowl of soft fruits as well for everyone to pick at.

Grab a coffee & take a seat.

2011-11-12T22:20:00.000-08:00

This is going to be a long rambling post covering subjects such as my Remoska, charity shops, friends, family, a dog & the new gazebo.

NTO, it took me a while to save up for my Remoska, but it was worth it & we sit wrapped in quilts & blankets in the evening.

EEK, It's very hard to be frugal with heat & hot water, when you have littlies.

Claire, Penny, SDG, The ex was a bit OCD, before spreadsheets he was into 'Time Management'.

Homefire, SFT, Sue, I'm glad you like my choice of charity.
Learning Slowly I have the large Remoska too, I don't really use recipes in it, I use it as a mini oven, I cook joints, chops & sausages in it, I usually cook my potatoes, rice etc on my gas hob, I also use it to reheat cottage pie/lasagna & they brown nicely on top.
Friday evening DD1 came round to collect some food I'd made her, she took home cottage pie, fruit crumble, banana bread & 4 different home made soups.
Saturday I went to DD2's & dropped off some kitchenware that I didn't need, I treated DGC to a box of variety cereals & she has managed to feed 3 adults & 3 children, 3 meals a day including packed lunches on £170, including nappies, cleaning stuff etc. She was very grateful for all the help I've given her, but I only spent about £8.40 on fruit & a few £s on treats, most of what I've given her has been from my existing food budget.
Charity shopping, I bought 3 jumpers & 2 cardigans, they were all around £2.50/£3, not particularly cheap, but they are all Next/M&S/Boden (I thought they made teapots) etc, I won't buy 2nd hand Primark as they are nearly priced the same as new. I also bought another very small pyrex casserole with lid, the small ones fit in the Remoska better. & they help with portion control as I still find it hard to cook for 2.
Dog

This lovely chap was abandoned, tied to a lamppost, he now has a new owner & is a devoted companion, he shadows BIL's every move, he is obedient, gentle & it took him about 3 minutes to realise I was the soft touch & the one who would cook an extra burger, just for him.

The Gazebo
This is now finished, it did cause a major financial hiccup as having paid for the roof to be sorted & having bought a new dishwasher, we could really have done with leaving the gazebo til after Christmas, but the Minder & I discussed it & decided that it would do BIL good to come over & be able to help, so we bit the bullet & purchased all the wood & polycarbon sheets so the gazebo could be done this month. It has been very worthwhile to see BIL happy & busy & we've managed to do this without using a credit card or going into our overdraft & I've still managed to help DD & her family.

BIL & his son left, about 3ish, taking with them a garden umbrella for BIL's garden that was surplus to requirements & an Acer to deliver to MIL as a birthday present, it was taking up space where the Minder wanted to grow more veg.

We were sat, relaxing on the sofa & there was a knock on the door, one of the Minder's friends had turned up unexpectedly, I stretched the HM Chinese meal to feed him as well, he & the Minder sat to have a natter & a few beers. I went upstairs to check on the spare bedroom as I could see he would not be able to drive if he was going to continue drinking. He stayed the night, had breakfast this morning & set of home about 10ish.

All in all it's been a busy weekend, but lovely to see so many family & friends.

Appropriate for 11.11.11

2011-11-11T11:11:00.000-08:00

We were asked to suggest a charity for the next fundraising at school, my suggestion was Help for Hero's, I found out today that it has been chosen, I'm so pleased.

Catchup

2011-11-09T23:10:00.000-08:00

Frugal Freesia, SFT, Claire & Never to old, thank you for your comments, it seems most of us need to declutter. I have decluttered some more wool & I am gradually sorting out & packing up my books in anticipation of getting a Kindle soon.

I used my Remoska yesterday, I layered thinly sliced potatoes & onion in the base & topped it with lamb chops, just before the chops were done I stirred in a couple of handfuls of frozen peas. I'm using the oven as little as possibly & trying to manage with the Remoska, slow cooker or gas hob, in the hopes of reducing the fuel bill.

A work colleague is on long term short hours due to a family crisis & another has given her notice in, she's been offered the same job at a different school for almost double the money. The school don't want to replace her, but no one else wants to take on her job. She produces spreadsheets & it can get very boring, which reminds me, my ex loved spreadsheets, towards the end of our marriage he made speadsheets of my housekeeping & sexual abilities, so he could point out in detail where I was going wrong! I wonder why he is the ex.

Going round & round

2011-11-09T10:29:00.000-08:00

Not me, but stuff.
Hubby & I had a lovely weekend, we went to the top floor of a tower block & watched all the surrounding fire works. We stayed in a 12th floor serviced apartment in the same block, so I didn't have to worry about driving in the dark. We also collected 3 bags of books & a bag of CD that were due for the bin.
I sorted through the books, kept 3 to read myself, gave 2 bags full to a colleague who is fund raising for a local charity, I gave some to the school library & sold 3 on ebay. The CD's, once sorted were divided into those we will keep & the rest to Music Magpie, we'll only make a few quid, but every little helps.
When I got to work on Monday with the books someone was going to the tip with some of her old kitchen stuff, she asked me first if I knew anyone who wanted it. She had some battered old cake tins, square ones. Exactly what my DD wanted but couldn't afford, she also gave me six loaf tins. DD & I will have 3 each, so stuff is going round & being passed on to be used, so much better that it all ending up in the local tip.
Hubby & I also went shopping on Saturday & spent twice as much as we meant to. I wanted an exfoliating glove from Poundland, whilst there we bought some deicer, so we spent £2 instead of £1, never mind, I think the budget will cope. After all this we'd had enough shopping & so went back to the flat, sorry, apartment (it was free, by the way) worn out by our shopping experience!

2011-11-02T00:07:00.000-07:00

SFT, I'm really looking forward to having my porridge made with milk instead of milky water, lol.
Following on from Angela at Tracing Rainbows & A Thrifty Mrs, who are decluttering by throwing out 3 things a day in November, I will try to do the same, but I'll try to pass on some of the stuff to other people if they can make use of it. Most of my clutter is made up of my sable (Stash acquired beyond life expectancy) & books I cannot read because the print is too small. In just over 2 weeks I am 60 & I have asked everyone for Amazon vouchers as I hope to get a Kindle.
So far I have disposed of 4 lots of wool via Ebay, 1 bag of wool to a charity knitter, 3 bags of wool to a colleague who knits, a set of card toppers & a craft magazine to a cardmaking colleague, 3 pairs of knitting needles to school, 1 box of books to the staffroom for people can help them selves & a bottle of wine to a colleague who is fundraising for a charity. So 15 items in 4 days, not bad, to counter that I have also been given/sent 3 bags of wool & a length of fabric, these items though I have been ruthless with, the wool I was given by a friend I split with a workmate, the wool I was sent (which is beautiful & soft) is already being knitted into mittens & scarf sets & the fabric has a pattern pinned to it ready to but cut & sewn to make a top from.

Finally some good news

2011-11-01T12:34:00.000-07:00

SFT. we had 7 or 8 groups & I didn't run out of sweets, so that was good.
Learning Slowly, you will get more confident with time.

My DD phoned today, her husband has finally had his pay rise agreed, it's taken long enough, it was promised last Christmas & then delayed. This means that this month is the last time I will water my milk down so I can spare some for DD, the last time I have to eat porridge every breakfast so I can spare a dozen eggs for DD, etc. I'm so happy for them it will make a big difference.

Halloween

2011-10-31T12:29:00.000-07:00

Keshling, desperate is the word, not admirable, lol, but thanks, I did offer to write a column in our local parish mag, but they said no.
Gill, I love quiche, but as the Minder doesn't eat it I rarely make one.
Attila, sounds like my keyboard at work, the J & K don't work & since the person I email most is called Kelly Jones it's bloody inconvenient.
Lazylol, I find packet meat goes watery, but home cooked ham doesn't seem to, I pack 4 or 5 sliced in a plastic bag & dump it in the freezer.
Learning Slowly, I don't have comment moderation running, so I haven't deleted any of your posts, but blogger can be a bit tempramental at time, it often won't let me leave comments.
SFT, thank you, yes she is lovely & was so good.
Claire, I hope you enjoy the jelly if you make it.
Purplepain, it's second nature now to stretch food, but I do need to get things made into meal & in the freezer before my beloved eats it all.

I'm sat here with all the lights on & a bowl of sweets by the door, all the littlies have been round, the bigger ones will be here between 8 & 9. I'm beginning to nod off, it was busy at work, lots of rushing about. I will put the sweets on the doorstep soon & go to bed.

Comments & Food

2011-10-30T03:32:00.000-07:00

I'm starting today by answering the comments from yesterday, I always mean to do this & always forget & I really do appreciate your comments & the time you take to make them.

SFT, I do have a jelly bag somewhere, but I couldn't find it, hence the use of the pillowcase.

Claire, I serve the jelly with meat or cheese, like a chutney, or I spread it over pork chops or joint before cooking. The bulk of it will go to my son's in law they both love it.

Attila, my apples were given to me & we grew the chilli's too.

Willow, great heavens you have some stamina if you've read my entire blog, my post do tend to be more interesting when I have lodgers, but my life is more peaceful without them.

I like it when I have been able to pass on an idea that someone else will find useful, such as using a pillowcase instead of a jelly bag & using empty milk bottles to store soup.

I got a lot done in the kitchen yesterday despite having DGD2 for the day. DD2, her hubby, DGS & DGD1 were treated to a trip to Legoland & the firework display afterwards & thought it would be a long cold day for DGD2 who is only 10 months old. She was very good & between her usual naps & the Minder being a doting Grandad I managed to get done what I needed.

Bread Pudding

Apple & Chilli Jelly

Today I shall be in the kitchen a lot again, I have a chicken from Tesco, 3 for £10 & a piece of ham from the butcher, £3.99. I'd like to buy my chicken from the butcher, but I cannot afford £8 for a chicken.

I'm trying to make these two pieces of meat plus 6 sausages, £1.68 into 6 evening meals for us both & lunches for us both for the week.

I cooked the chicken & ham yesterday & to fill up the oven & use up some bread I made a bread pudding too. I gave half the bread pudding to DD2 yesterday when she collected DGD2 & this morning so far I have stripped all the meat from the chicken & sliced the ham thinly I shall make a batch of stuffing balls & cook the sausages. I'm simmering the carcase for soup as I type. I've divided all the cooked meat into portions, the sliced ham will by made into sandwiches & will make one meal of ham, egg & chips. The end piece of ham that I couldn't slice will be added to sliced onion & mushrooms & some chicken scraps & some white sauce, half of this will make a pie, the other half will make a pasta bake. The meat from the legs & wings will make special fried rice, again with onions, mushrooms a few frozen peas, one sausage sliced up. The stock will be turned into soup for my lunches for next week.

Today we will have roast chicken with HG roast pots, stuffing balls, yorkshires, HG veg from the freezer & a sausage for the Minder, he doesn't eat puddings or cake so he eats a substantial main meal. We will have chicken & stuffing sandwiches later on in the day.

Monday Ham egg & chips

Tuesday Chicken pie

Wednesday Sausage & mash

Thursday Pasta bake

Friday Special fried rice.

I stretch everything, not just the meat, I often make my own stuffing, but even when I start with a packet of stuffing, I add HG sage, a sausage or sausage meat & breadcrumbs, I make stuffing balls in batches of 20 to 30, open freeze them on a tray & then put them in a bag & just take out a few as needed, it's cheaper than reaching for Aunt Bessie's

I have some HG veg in the freezer to serve with the meals so I think we'll be ok.

Apples

2011-10-28T23:41:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I finally got round to processing the last of the apples I'd been given, peeled & cored them all. I cooked all the good bits in one pan, see above.

All the peel, cores & squishy bits went into a second pan, see above

When it was all cooked I made lots of little pots of stewed appled for DGD2 & these four crumbles from the good apples.

Once all the manky bits were cooked they were strained through a jelly bag, or pillow case in this instance.

The contents of the pillowcase were thown into the compost & the remaining liquid was measured, had sugar & HG chillies added, was boiled & poured into sterile jars. I have 11 jars of Apple & Chilli Jelly.

It must be love, love, love

2011-10-28T02:16:00.001-07:00

My new toy! I was going to wait until after Christmas but the Minder decided otherwise. We bought it from John Lewis, other places had cheaper dishwashers, but not in stock, or their delivery charge was higher etc etc. It has an eco setting & a 30min setting, the eco setting uses twice the amount of water & power than the half hour wash, so I've set it to the 30 min wash & so far it seems to be working well & getting everything clean. Oh & it's quiet, no more having shouted conversations over the noise of the dishwasher.

Shopping & cooking like Grandma

2011-10-27T10:54:00.000-07:00

No, not like me, although I am a grandma, I'm talking about my Grandma. My Grandma had a larder & in it was 3 of everything she needed for cooking, one was open & in use & the other 2 were new & unopened. A replacement was purchased when the first item was finished. This way she never ran out of anything. She shopped every other day for bread & checked the price of every item in the 3 food shops in town before she decided where to buy from.

My Grandma also cooked to a repeated weekly meal plan, she bought a joint of meat & one other meat item, usually sausages or liver, from the butchers, this had to last the week, the joint for for Sunday lunch, she then served it cold with mash & chutney on Monday because Monday was washday & there was little time to cook. Tuesday was rissoles, made from the minced leftover meat with a slice of stale bread & a spoonful of chutney added & fried in a little fat. Wednesday was macaroni cheese, Thursday sausage or liver with mash & gravy, Friday was fish, usually rock salmon served with parsley sauce, Saturday was boiled egg & soldiers.
Bread & butter was served with every meal, pudding was also served after every meal, semolina, tapioca, flaked rice, lime jelly or tinned fruit cocktail with a little milk poured over, jelly & tinned fruit were served with more bread & butter & HAD to be eaten.

All meat fat was strained & stored in a jar. Any breadcrumbs left over from making the rissoles were fed to the birds.
Grandma had her 'posh outfit with hat' that she purchased for my parents wedding, she still had it 15 years later when her other child married.
Like many other of her age group she saved elastic bands, bits of string etc. Clothes were mended, collars turned, socks & stockings were darned. Her sheets were turned sides to middle, pillowcases were turned to rags, the rags were boiled on the hob every week & hung on a washing line that was under cover & out of sight, underwear was also hung on this line. Only polite clothes were hung on the garden line!
So which of the above do I do, I don't turn sheets sides to middle, I cut them down into cot sheets, I turned collars on my ex's shirts, but not on the Minders, he wears polo shirts. I strain & reuse cooking oil, stretch my Sunday joint, serve HM bread with as many meals as possible, but never with pudding. I shop most days as I park outside a supermarket when I collect the Minder from the station.

Just a day in the life

2011-10-25T06:51:00.000-07:00

So far today my world has included, a gallon of soup, here is a pic of what's left, DD2 already has hers.
A pair of stray knickers that I realised were draped over the kitchen tap, just a a friend turned up for a cuppa! No pic I'm sure you will be relieved to hear.

A runaway toad, I found it under my recycling bin after the bin men had been, I moved it to some long grass, as I couldn't see it lasting long on the pavement.

A fat lip, is it possible to get your very first coldsore at age 59 & threequarters?

Some banana bread & muffins, made for the Minders cleaning team.

Today I am the Soup Dragon

2011-10-24T23:23:00.000-07:00

As I cooked a joint of pork for the Minder at the weekend & I don't eat pork, I made a lentil roast for myself, today I have turned the lentil dish into lentil soup. I am also making a big pot of mushroom soup from a punnet of manky ones & a big pot of tomato & pepper soup with the last of the tomatoes & peppers from the garden, all three are simmering on the hob. I have a piece of ham in the remoska to make the Minder's packups with & a lamb shank defrosting for tea tonight. I'm making soup whenever I can as DD1 has a very stressful placement ATM, the children have been badly treated & are challenging, she's loving making a difference but the first thing that goes is her appetite, however she can always manage Mum's homemade soup, DD2 is feeding DGD2 mashed up proper food & again my homemade soup is great for little one with a bit of mashed potato added to thicken it up.

All shopped out

2011-10-24T11:09:00.000-07:00

I popped in to DD's at 6.30 this morning with a loaf of bread & some milk, DD was still in bed but DGS was up & asked if I'd make him some breakfast, I asked him what he wanted he looked very soulful & said, 'We only have weetabix until Friday when daddy gets paid' My DD gives her children weetabix every day & they are allowed a sprinkle of sweetened cereal on top. I made DGS some weetabix & some for DGD1 when she came down. By this time the baby was awake, so I got her up & gave her weetabix too, DD was up by 7:15 so I came home made my shopping list & counted out the money in my Christmas change box, there was £198 so I paid £160 into my bank for Christmas much to the annoyance of the cashier, who tried to tell me they could only accept 3 bags of change per visit! I then went to the shops & bought, half a leg of lamb, 2doz chilli sausages, 12 for me & 12 for DD as her hubby loves them & 3 bananas from the butchers, as the Minder has promised one of his cleaners a banana loaf on Wednesday. I bought a cardigan & a jumper from the charity shop, hubby's painkillers, a kilo of oats for me & 3 boxes of cereals for DGC. I dropped the cereal & sausages off with the DD & then came home.
It took me ages & 3 different chemist to get the painkillers, now nurofen plus is off the shelves I get him Cuprofen plus, only everywhere keeps running out & not one of the chemists had thought to up their order quantity to make up for the loss of the nurofen. Every Wednesday the Minder moves 17 huge wheely bins & it causes problems with his back every time.

Tits & cat shit

2011-10-22T04:01:00.000-07:00

Joy of joys, I spent this morning picking up cat shit from my drive, 22 piles af cat shit to be precise, is this a weeks worth I hear you ask? No it's bloody not, it's one days worth. Yesterday I picked up 17 piles of cat shit. As I as you may gather I'm seriously pissed off, so much so that I have asked for a super strength, mega watt, never mind the cats this will scare a bloody tiger away, cat scarer for Christmas. The back garden isn't too bad, my DD visits often enough with her dogs for their scent to keep the cats away, add to that the dogs reaction if one should dare poke it's nose over the fence whist they are visiting, we also have a couple of super strength water pistols & some beanie balls to throw. All this keeps the back garden relatively clear. But I am in despair at the drive, we regularly step in cat shit as we get out of the car, especially during the winter months when it is too dark to see it. I have dissuaded them from crapping right next to the front door by dint of a plastic snake, a ribbeting frog & liberal portions of olbas oil, I've tried orange peel & it has no effect. I cannot afford to cover the entire drive with olbas oil & so I'm at my wits end.
Last night the Minder & I went to see High Tease by The Ministry of Burlesque.
I bought him the tickets as a birthday present & we both really enjoyed it, the costumes were fantastic, corsets, killer heels seamed stockings & that was just the audience, if I'd know, I'd have got dressed up too. The show was very funny, believe me you haven't lived until you've heard hiphop played on a banjolele. It was very much like watching caberet in a night club & I'd expected there to be more titillation & I mentioned this to the Minder, being a little deaf he replied 'Well there were 3 pairs but they did have tassels on their nipples.

A new adventure & a small spend

2011-10-19T22:49:00.000-07:00

I'll start with the small spend, my hands are so painful that I have ordered some bamboo knitting needles to replace the metal ones I am using currently. £2.99 a pair. I have almost finished knitting the dolls jackets, but for Christmas I am knitting 6 sets of mitts on string with matching scarves & I can't take the pain anymore!

And now to the adventure, I've already said how exciting my morning journey to the station with hubby during the winter months. What with pedestrians who run out in front of me because they see their bus on the other side of the road & the cyclists who dress head to toe in black & ride bikes with no lights or reflectors on. Well we now have a whole new layer of excitement & adventure for the journey. The drivers who collect workers & deliver them to site. These used to be minibus's sign written & sensible, now with the economic down turn these are large private cars, the drivers either don't use or more likely don't have indicators, most have no brake lights. They also don't seem to have a definitive list of stopping places. This means they stop suddenly with no indication & no warning brake lights, often they stop for the wrong people & so start off again with no warning. They are often overloaded, they have cars of a similar size to mine & no way can I get 10 people in my car & transport them safely. I've now taken to scanning the pavement for loitering people as a way of working out when & where these people are likely to stop.

Big spends, little savings & little extra's

2011-10-18T10:38:00.000-07:00

Big Spends.
Today I spent a huge amount of money, £1000 to be exact, but the roof is now safe & should last a lot more years. At least with the Minder being an ex roofer he knows the price was fair & he also can tell they have done a good job. It's a bit of a shock to the system parting with big bucks like that, but I'm just grateful we had the savings to do it with, albeit that the savings were meant for something else.

Little Savings
Today I withdrew from the union at work, so that means an extra £9 a month in my pocket. There are 3 reasons for this. Firstly, the only time I had a problem at work, the union didn't want to get involved, not because I didn't have a good case, I did. But because 'it would be complicated & time consuming'. Gee thanks!
Secondly we are being asked to strike & if I strike I lose a days pay & I can ill afford to lose a days pay.
Thirdly when the pay negotiations took place last year, the teachers unions negotiated a payrise of 2.5% for the teaching staff, our union was unable to negotiate a pay rise for the admin staff, so in lieu of that non-payrise, I'm giving myself £9 a month payrise by not paying it to the union.

Little extras
We have 3 staff members out sick this week, all of them do lunch duties that now need covering, I have offered to do 2 or 3 extra a week until we are back to full strength. I know I'm going to be worn out, but hey it's an extra £5 per duty, it will soon add up.

Tonight tea & Yesterday's beef

2011-10-17T11:34:00.000-07:00

Tonight's tea was pasta with ham & mushroom sauce, I used up the last 2 or 3 slices of a gammon joint I cooked a while ago, I chopped them up along with a couple of mushrooms & some onion, sauteed it all together, then added flour & milk to make a sauce & served over spaghetti with a couple of chunks of HM ciabatta. The beef I cooked in the slow cooker yesterday has been sliced & diced, the slices have been frozen to make about 4 roast dinners, the tail end has been cut into chunks & put in old clean margarine tubs, the veg & stock in the slow cooker have been blitzed to make a really thick gravy & poured over the chunks of meat, that is enough casserole for 4 & the leftover gravy, that wouldn't fit in the tub will be served as soup, I added some jerk seasoning & it will do me a lunch one day soon.

I have taken a portion of dauphinoise potato out of the freezer, tomorrow I will serve it on top a couple of pollack fillets that have been covered in HM parsley sauce

Trying to help

2011-10-17T10:22:00.000-07:00

My DD is a bit strapped for cash at the moment, they tend to have more month than money most of the time & at the moment SIL is having a flareup of his arthritis & so is on short pay. I'm trying to help a little bit.
Every Monday I take her 2 liters of milk, I'm watering mine down a bit more to make sure I have enough.
I've ordered a fruit box to be delivered fortnightly when my eggs are delivered, £4.50 a box.
I took half the fruit round this morning, I gave the other half to my other DD.
I also gave her a dozen of my eggs & I'll eat more porridge this week.
When I went to Tesco for some bread it was on offer, 2 loaves for £2, I bought 2 & took one round, I also bought some crumpets on offer & took her those.

All in all I took
2 liters of milk
12 eggs
1 loaf of bread
1 packet of crumpets
4 bananas
4 apples
4 satsumas
2 pears
1 liter HM soup
2 peppers & a cucumber from the garden.

When DGS got up this morning he looked in the fridge & called to his mum.
'There's no milk for my cereal'
DD replied 'I'll make you some toast instead'
DGS said 'I'm going to check the porch for milk'
DD replied 'The milkman doesn't deliver here'
DGS returned from the porch, shouting excitedly 'Thank you God' 'Nana's been we have milk'
All that joy from a 7 year old & it's cost me less than £4!

In the kitchen from the garden - Update

2011-10-16T03:02:00.001-07:00

A piece of beef in the slow cooker with mushrooms, & HG potatoes, carrots, onions. This will be served with roast potatoes, runner beans & yorkies, before & after cooking.

This is courgettes (so big they are almost marrows) cooking in chicken stock (not quite defrosted) with onion & seasoning, this will be turned into courgette & Cheddar soup, it should be brie, but I haven't got any, & here it is cooked & blitzed.

Hubby picked these four beautiful red peppers this morning.

And finally the first 2 dolls jackets, I'm knitting a yellow one next.

Heaven, I'm in heaven

2011-10-15T06:30:00.000-07:00

Well not quite, but I'm trying to look on the bright side, my dishwasher has just died, I had it repaired a while ago so I think this time it is proper defunct, still I can manage without it & will for a while. The bright side? I bought a digital set top box for my little TV in the kitchen & I was able to watch Fred & Ginger singing & dancing.
I also have a loose crown, bugger, that's another £140+ to have the post's removed, bleugh. I'm running out of teeth to chew with, I shall be on pureed food soon.

Guessing game

2011-10-14T23:47:00.000-07:00

Can you guess what it is?

When it's finished it will be a dolls jacket, the first of 6.

Trust me to make the first one way more complicated than it should have been. To start with I realised after the first few rows that I wasn't going to have enough of the green yarn I was using, so I decided to make it a stripey jacket. I also don't have any stitch holders, or if I do I can't find them, so all the little pieces were on separate needles & kept sliding off. Now it is finally finished & I can't find a wool needle to sew it up with, I'm sure it will turn up soon, I shall keep looking.

The next jacket will be simpler, I shall ensure I start with a yarn that I know there is enough of by weighing it first!

I may pop to the wool shop today & buy a stitch holder & a wool needle to save me wasting any more time looking for them. But if I do I am sure to buy more yarn, and I have loads already & someone gave me 4 more part balls yesterday.

No, I will be firm, I shall go & have another look & not buy anything!

Teeny Tiny Pass it Forward

2011-10-12T11:45:00.000-07:00

Earlier I was queueing in Lidl's with a pack of butter, just the one, the lady in front of me had a huge basket full of shopping. When she noticed I had just one item she let me go in front of her & I was very grateful. As I was paying for my butter & heard her telling her daughter to pass her a couple of carrier bags as she'd left hers at home. I had 2 carrier bags in my handbag so I passed them to her. It was a few small moments of mutual help. Meanwhile in the adjoining queue someone was refusing to let someone past who hadn't bought anything just to be bloody awkward & a huge argument ensued which included various racial insults & lots of use of the 'F' word!

Pregnant

2011-10-12T09:42:00.000-07:00

No, not me, lol. We have a student at school who is pregnant, it's not that unusual, there is usually one pregnant teen each year. The difference with this one is that according to her parents it is the schools fault? How do they work that out?
Did she get pregnant on school property? No.
Did she get pregnant during school time? No.
Is the joint culprit of said pregnancy a pupil at the school? No.

So how is it our fault? It seems they are not the sort of family that this happens to, therefore we, as a school have been remiss in instilling her with the proper values! That's ok then, I'd hate for her parents to feel they had any responsibility towards her!

Catchup

2011-10-11T12:28:00.000-07:00

On Sunday I picked the last of the runner beans & some carrots to have with lunch, I picked a few tomatoes too. The bean plants have now been cut down & the Minder planted garlic & onions.

Yet another blanket, I expect you are all getting sick of seeing them by now.

Getting ready for winter

2011-10-08T23:23:00.000-07:00

I'm getting ready for winter, but it doesn't take long. The Minder is getting the garden ready, indoors there isn't much to do.
The quilts & blankets I snuggle under are always folded over the back of the sofa as I use them all year round for visiting babies to lay on.
I have got the slow cooker out of the cupboard & put the Minders coffee maker away (he hasn't used it for months).
My work colleagues have spent hundreds of £££ shopping for new boots, new trousers, new jumpers etc.
I moved my 5 pairs of trousers from the bottom drawer to the top drawer of my wardrobe, 3 pairs of these are over 5 years old, I threw one pair away as they were looking very tatty & I was given a pair by DD's MIL who bought them & found they were too small, so I still have 5 pairs.
I moved my 5 jumpers that I bought last year from the charity shop back into my wardrobe from the spare room.
The thick mohair cardigan I wore indoors all last winter is hanging on the back of my bedroom door, my friend gave it to me when we were clearing her mother's flat ready for sale.
I put the sandals I've worn all summer in the bin as they are falling apart & I got out the 2 pairs of winter flats & lined them up besides my black court shoes. One pair of flats are Rohide, I paid £5 for them in the charity shop &I've had them 3 years, the other pair came from a Clarks outlet shop, I've had them 5 years.
That's it, I'm done, I'm winterised.

Fantasy Dinner Date

2011-10-08T11:48:00.000-07:00

Some colleagues at work were debating who their ideal fantasy dinner date would be, names such as Brad Pitt & George Clooney were being bandied around. Someone turned to me asked who I would most like to have dinner with, after some thought I replied 'Phil Harding'. It took me a while to explain to some of them who Phil Harding was. He's the guy with the hat & west country accent on Time Team.
As I hadn't really been listening I didn't realise I was supposed to be choosing a cinema heartthrob. I therefore chose someone who I though would be fascinating to listen to, I'd especially like to see him demonstrate flint-knapping.
If was to choose some to have a meal with who I think is drop dead gorgeous & sexy, I'd choose my beloved Minder

Ups & Downs

2011-10-07T23:29:00.000-07:00

Life is full of ups & downs where children are concerned, fostered or otherwise.
My DD1 has had to buy a new door as one of the foster children managed to completely destroy their bedroom door. The first few weeks are often the worst time in a new placement, hopefully things will calm down eventually. The children are terrified of being left, as Mum sometimes 'popped out for a pint of milk' & was gone for weeks. DD feels that the only way she can prove to the children that she will return is by going out & ALWAYS returning when she says she will. It breaks her heart to leave them, but if she never goes out then they will not learn that she will return. She will even leave the children with a babysitter, drive off in the car & park up round the corner for 10 minutes & then drive back just to get them used to her leaving.
She is also going into school 3 mornings a week at the schools request to help with one of the foster children.

My DD2 has had her tumble dryer & microwave both stop working this week, the TD has been repaired 3 times already & the microwave caught fire. My ex has 2 microwaves, but he wouldn't lend her one of them as sometimes he & his wife both want to heat some food up at the same time & they don't want to have to wait!
I counted out the money in my penny jar & had £26 in there, I managed to find a microwave for £30 & bought it for her, her youngest is 10 months old & DD has a freezer full of HM food in small portions ready for her & so I feel a microwave is a necessity.
Last night I took both my DD's to the theatre, we went to see Penis Puppetry, it was very funny, but most of it looked quite painful!

All around my hat

2011-10-05T22:51:00.000-07:00

My beloved Minder has spent the last couple of weeks having his sleep disturbed because of my cough/cold. I'm very congested & therefore I'm snoring a lot, I'm also coughing a lot & this makes me fart!
All this he has tolerated without complaint but last night was the final straw, he nudged me awake at 4am & asked plaintively 'Will you please stop singing that bloody song'.
It seems I had been singing 'All around my hat' by Steeleye Span, for a couple of hours. Normally he doesn't mind me singing, but on this occasion I was only singing the chorus over & over again & it was getting tedious.

A photo of some of the Teddies

2011-10-05T11:50:00.000-07:00

Here is a photo of some of the teddies, they have all been washed & are now waiting for the final touches to be made.

48 Teddy bears

2011-10-04T11:24:00.000-07:00

I have 48 teddy bears hanging on my washing line, I was given them by a work colleague yesterday. They have all been washed & checked over, some that are a bit tatty will go in a box with other assorted toys to be kept at DD's house for any foster children to play with.
The better ones, I will refurbish, once dry they will be given a good brushing & have a new ribbon tied around their neck, or a new outfit of clothes. A couple of then have stitched noses or other features missing, these features will be re-embroidered on. So along with a blanket from me each child will now get a teddy or dolly that they can keep & take home with them.

A _ Z

2011-10-03T12:46:00.000-07:00

Another blog idea pinched from another blogger.

A - Age 60 next month, but inside I still feel 30-40.
B - Bed Size - Queen size in every room, that way any bedding fits any bed.
C- Chore You Hate - Vacuuming, Henry feels so heavy these days.
D - Dogs - Staffies are my favourite breed, but we won't get a dog as we both work full time & it wouldn't be fair & when we retire we won't be able to afford one.
E - Essential Start to Your Day - Tea, tea & more tea., then scrambled egg or porridge
F - Favourite Colour - Anything bright, I'm not a fan of cream & beige.
G - Gold or Silver -Gold to match my wedding ring & eternity ring.
H - Height - Dwart (this is what my ex described me as) 4'11 on a good day
I - Interests - Many & varied, crafts & history being the main ones.
J - Job Title - School admin, very boring
K - Kids - 4, 2 boys 2 girls, stepchildren 2, both boys, grandchildren 3 so far, boy & 2 girls, foster grandchildren, variable currently 2, 1 boy, 1 girl..
L - Live - Reading, but born in Lincolnshire, have also lived in London, Bristol etc .
M - Mother's Name - Eileen & she hated it, she hated her middle name even more, it was Gertrude..
N - Nickname - None, though my Dad used to call me Tod.
O - Overnight Hospital Stays - One for the birth of each child & one for a termination of an ectopic pregnancy.
P - Pet Peeves - Disorganised staff who then put pressure on me to bail them out on a daily basis.
Q - Quote From a Film - You were only supposed to blow the bloody door off.
R - Right or Left-Handed - Left
S - Siblings - None
T - Time You Wake Up - 5:30am.
Underwear - White cotton for work, red or black lace or nothing at the weekends
V - Vegetables You Hate - Green Peppers.
What Makes You Run Late - Other people.
X - X-Rays You've Had - Chest when I applied to be a childminder
Y - Yummy Food That You Make - Thai Chicken or Jerk Chicken.
Z - Zoo Animal - None

Just an average day

2011-10-03T11:36:00.000-07:00

When I'm stuck for what to post about I browse round a few other blogs for inspiration, Sue at The Quince Tree posted about her day, so I will do the same.

5:30 The alarm goes off, I get up make tea & start cooking breakfast for the Minder, egg on toast or a bacon sandwich, whilst breakfast is cooking I make sandwiches for lunch & start dishwasher.
6:00 The Minder comes down to eat breakfast, I go upstairs to the bathroom for a wash & brushup & get dressed.
6:20 I return downstairs, make coffee in a thermos & then drive the Minder to the Station.
6:45 I return home, make my breakfast, either porridge or scrambled egg, I eat breakfast in front of the computer screen with a cup of tea. I check my bank account & post on MSE.
7:00 I set off to DD's with a birthday present for DS & leave it in her porch.
7:20 Arrive at school, fire up the machines & my pc & start producing all the work that has been emailed to me over the weekend, usually about 40 -50 emails
7:45 The staff who don't use email arrive with the work they need producing for the day, usually about 20-25 people.
8:30 The bell rings, lessons start, I deliver all completed work to the staffroom, & visit various staff members who may have work for me.
9:15 I'm back in my room with all the machines whirring away, working my way through all the work still arriving via email & in my in tray, I make 7 trips to the staffroom to deliver work, today I am interrupted by 22 students with memory sticks who also have work they need printing & 2 students who think I can retrieve their work from their home computer!
11:30 Eat my lunch
11:35 A colleague brings me in a doll in a rocker, 2 puzzles & 2 books for the foster children.
12:00 Lunch duty, patrolling the corridor, restraining pupils from fighting & limiting the female students to 5 minutes each in the ladies so that all of them get a chance to renew the 3 inches of slap they feel they need to apply before appearing in public. I'm coughing severely by the time break is over, 35 minutes breathing in Lynx & Impulse is a killer.
12:35 Back to my room to carry on working through the intray & inbox.
1:00 Lunch break, 20 minutes sat in the sun with a drink of water
1:25 Another colleague arrives with 2 dustbin bags full of soft toys
1:30 Carry on working, producing 162 booklets & 155 laminated posters amongst other items & do another 5 trips to the staffroom to deliver more completed work.
3:30 Leave work lugging large quantity of soft toys, drive to station to collect hubby
3:45 Arrive at station, rush into Lidl's to buy juice for work colleague who's son only likes Ace juice.
3:58 Return to car, the Minder arrives & we drive home
4:20 Start to heat up shepherds pie & prep & cook the veg to serve with it
5:00 Eat shepherds pie, make a cuppa
5:30 Unload & reload dishwasher & set it going.
6:00 Drag huge quantities of soft toys from car, sort into colours & set 1st of approx 5 loads in washing machine.
6:30 Start to crochet, breaking off every so often to hang soft toys on the washing line, reload washing machine & empty dishwasher. Continue this until.
9:00 Go to bed to watch Embarrassing Bodies or something else, but fall asleep before the end.

From the Garden

2011-10-02T03:47:00.001-07:00

Here's what I picked today, runner beans & carrots to go with today's roast lamb, tomatoes, red peppers & chillies & there is still lots of lettuce, cucumber & tomatoes for next weeks lunches. When I saw my DD's on Friday both of them were given a bag of toms & runner beans peppers etc.

The Minder & I have spent the morning at Wickes, Selco & B&Q, pricing up the gazebo, & the Minder got his fix of tool porn whilst we were out.

I also bought some white sliced bread for the Minders sandwiches next week, buy 2 for £2 I bought 4, one for sandwiches & 1 for the freezer & 2 for DD Lizzie, I'll drop them round to her later.

Shopping & other stuff.

2011-10-01T04:12:00.000-07:00

I went to the butchers & spent £76.62!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
As I spent so much & paid cash they gave me a 10% discount so I only paid £68.96.

For this I bought
4 x sirloin steak
10 x lamb chops
10 x pork & chili sausages
1 x ham hock
1 x ham joint
1 x rolled pork
3 x minced beef
1 x rib of beef
1 x half leg of lamb
2 x 5lbs back bacon
2 x lamb shanks

This will last well over a month, probably 2 months.
The beef joint will do at least 2 roast dinners for the 2 of us & make lots of sandwiches for pack ups, the pork will go even further as I don't eat it. The bacon will last 2 to 3 months used for cooked breakfasts & bacon sarnies. The ham hock will make some sarnies & a batch of pea & ham soup.
Other food shopping consisted of onions, mushrooms I didn't buy any other veg as I still have stuff growing in the garden. I also treated us to a crusty bloomer that was sliced for me.
Whilst I was shopping I also bought 4 x 100g balls of wool for £5.40, 2 tops for work £3.75 each, 4 plastic dinosaurs & 2 newborn sized babygro's for the foster children.

I've just bagged up the bacon rashers & have enough to last until the New Year, lol.
DD came round to borrow the Minders tile cutter & so I gave her half the bloomer as we won't eat it all.
It's the Ex's b'day tomorrow & all the family were supposed to be visiting, until, that is he phoned DD to ask what colour the foster children were! He will now have a very lonely birthday.

Ho Hum

2011-10-01T04:08:00.000-07:00

I've been saving for a new car, very slowly I might add, still I have £920 in my savings account & another few quid in other account that I can transfer too.
On Monday we realised there was a problem with the roof so we got a couple of quotes done, it's going to cost £1000, bang go the savings but at least we have the money to pay for the roof. What's the betting the bloody car packs in next week!

Payday

2011-09-29T23:06:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was payday, so last night I did my online banking & transferred the leftovers from last months pay packet £168.72 into my savings account.
Tonight the Minder will give me £400 which I will sort into envelopes for the milkman, egg man, petrol etc & tomorrow I shall go through the cupboards, fridge & freezer & then go shopping. Anything left after that(& it won't be much) will be paid into my bank account.
I know I need mushrooms, butter & eggs & I also need to visit the butchers as at the moment my freezer looks like it is owned by a vegetarian.
Petrol £120
Milk £14.42
Eggs £7.60

Thursday's Thrifty tip

2011-09-29T13:34:00.000-07:00

Better late than never, first here are the pics of what I have made so far for the cake sale tomorrow.

A chocolate sponge, as soon as it's cooled I'll cover it in butter cream icing & cut it in to squares

A batch of Milo biscuits, recipe pinched from

http://justlikemynanmade.blogspot.com/ , I hope she doesn't mind. I just happened to have half a tin of Milo in the cupboard

Finally a ginger tray bake made with black treacle, I found it difficult to take a good photo of these as they are very sticky & shiny.

Finally my thrifty tip. When my children were younger & took packed lunch to school there was a lot of disparaging comments made to children who took 'value' or 'basics' biscuits in their lunchbox. My kids took homemade biscuits or cake in their lunchboxes, they probably worked out even cheaper, but my children were not teased about the homemade stuff, as most of the other children thought it meant we were posh, lol. So if you are making up a packed lunch, put in homemade goodies if you can, if not, take the biscuits out of the wrappers & wrap them in a bit of tinfoil.

Thrifty Thursday let down

2011-09-29T10:36:00.000-07:00

Sorry I arrived home from work to a message reminding me I have to make cakes & biscuits this evening, so I have no time to blog, I'll try to post a Thrifty tip later on if I finish in time.

Goodbye Hello

2011-09-27T11:30:00.000-07:00

On Sunday we went to say goodbye to the foster children, DD was told she could have a months break between placements as she is still supporting the mother of the children who have just gone home with visits 3 times a week.
At 5 o'clock she received a phone call from social services, could they drop a brother & sister at her house within the hour, aged 6 & 7, the children have nothing apart from the clothes they stand up in, DD phoned me, bubbling with excitement at a new challenge, she was rushing round Tesco's buying toothbrushes, pyjamas & underwear for 2!

Woe is me

2011-09-26T12:27:00.000-07:00

I've gone from having a hacking cough, sore throat & headache to having streaming eyes, explosive sneezes & headache. Enough already, gimme a break! I was sent home from work for the third day running, bleugh.

Yesterday we went to say goodbye to the foster children & are now looking forward to meeting the next batch & wondering how many we need to plan for, for Christmas.

Thursday is payday, woohoo, I shall go to the butchers this weekend & stock the freezer up a bit, the only meat I have left in there now is 1 x mince & 4 rashers of bacon. So spag bol & bacon & egg are on the menu this week, I'm still picking runner beans, lettuce, toms, peppers, chillis, cabbage & onions from the garden.

Blankets

2011-09-25T03:13:00.000-07:00

I have 3 more baby blankets on the go, for 3 pregnant colleagues, one is cream, pale blue & pale green, one is green random, peach & white & the last one is blue, white & lilac.
Babies seem to be like buses, none for ages then 3 come along at once.

Update

2011-09-24T10:29:00.000-07:00

The Minder & I comforted each other last night in the best & cheapest way we know.
When I got up this morning my lacy red knickers were danging from the handle of the kitchen door!

Bleugh, life can be pants

2011-09-23T22:09:00.000-07:00

I have a cough, the sort of cough that has me reaching for the paracetamol & the tenalady simultaneously. I went to work both Thursday & Friday but both days I came home early.
The Minder is not a happy bunny, his company make a big thing of recruiting from within, he was told he could apply for promotion, and that he was guaranteed an interview, but was then told that the job was given to someone else & there had been no interviews!
I'm glad you enjoyed hearing about my ex BIL & SIL, they were/are fanatical about doing everything a cheaply as possible, unfortunately it sometimes backfires. One year when we were all on holiday together in Cornwall, they decided to treat themselves to a lobster dinner as it was their wedding anniversary. MIL recommended a restaurant nearby where we were camping, where you could get a lobster dinner for £10 inl ice cream for dessert & coffee, the restaurant overlooked the harbour, it was a beautiful setting. SIL decided to shop around, sure she could find somewhere cheaper. She spend hours in the campsite phone box (this was in the days before mobile phones). She finally found a restaurant 30 miles away where the lobster dinner was £9.50, the evening arrived, their 3 sons left in the campsite for me to babysit & off they drove.
A few hours later they returned in a very bad mood, the had had their lobster dinner, but that was all they'd had! The lobster! The side dishes, the sauce, the dessert & coffee were all extra & to buy the full meal would have cost £15.50. They had taken exactly enough to pay for the meal so all they had to eat was lobster, plain & unadorned!

Make a list, take a list

2011-09-22T06:02:00.000-07:00

Before you go shopping, make a list. Go through your cupboards/fridge/freezers/cupboard under the stairs, anywhere you keep food & cleaning stuff etc. Make a list of anything you are running out of. This will ensure you don't buy things just because you cannot remember if you already have some at home.
Even more important than making a list is actually taking it with you when you shop, this in my downfall, I'm very good a making a shopping list, but I usually either leave it at home of bury it in my handbag & can't find it once I arrive at the shops.
Another useful list is one that contains all the things you use regularly, tinned tomatoes, pasta shampoo etc & then if you can afford it buy extra when these items are on special offer.
Many years ago my ex BIL & SIL who live in Bristol used to time their visits to SIL's parents, who live in Stoke on Trent, to coincide with the local supermarket chain having Heinz baked beans on special offer, 10p a tin. Each person was only allowed to purchase 6 tins, so ex BIL, SIL, their 3 sons, SIL's parents & SIL's very aged grandma were all allocated 60p & all eight of them would troop solemnly round the shop (not speaking to each other as BIL was worried that they would be refused if they were seen to be together) & each pick up 6 tins of baked beans, arrive at different checkouts & purchase 6 tins of baked beans. There were 4 stores in the area, so the visit to SIL's parents only lasted 4 days, each store was visited on a different day & after 4 days BIL & SIL would return home with 192 tins of beans!

Pink & White Baby Blanket

2011-09-20T22:55:00.000-07:00

I've finally finished this blanket, it's for a friend who's niece is expecting a little girl later in the year, she has knitted her a set of clothes but wanted one of my crochet blankets, so here it is.

What can I make with these?

2011-09-18T07:52:00.001-07:00

They are 3 items of clothing I bought from the charity shop.

The red stripe is a very short, very wide blouse, it's a sort of flocked chiffon & I'm going to make some gift bags from the sleeves. I'm giving my DD's a piece of my jewellery each & they will be presented in a gift bag. I haven't yet decided what else to make with the fabric.

The white is a huge pure linen over shirt, I'm thinking maybe a large cushion with a gingham heart with chicken scratch on it.

Lastly there is a skirt, black satin with huge stylised flowers worked on sequins, I'm at a loss with this one, any suggestions?

How to feed 4 people with 2 beefburgers

2011-09-17T09:20:00.000-07:00

It's been a weekend for unexpected visitors today here's what I made for today's visitors, I had 2 thick beefburgers in the fridge so I cut them into 8ths & rolled them into meatballs, I browned then in a little oil with a finely sliced onion & a couple of mushrooms, I added some herbs & spices with a chilli from the garden to give it a kick, then added flour & stock to make a sauce. I served this with noodles & part baked baguette along with lettuce, tomatoes & cucumber from the garden & apple pie & custard.

The burgers were yellow stickered, £1.35 for 4 & I only had 2 left, part baked baguettes 2 for 39p & the noodles were 99p.

It was cheap & cheerful & filling.

Unexpected visitor

2011-09-17T06:46:00.000-07:00

So what do you do when an unexpected visitor turns up & all you've got is lots of potatoes?

You make this, layer thinly sliced potato & onion in an ovenproof dish, add one rasher of bacon & 2 mushrooms, fried & chopped into small pieces, add another layer of potato & onion, pour a little milk over it all & top with a mixture of grated breadcrumbs & cheese. Cook til potatoes are soft & topping is brown & crunchy.

Keeping track of the £50

2011-09-17T03:51:00.001-07:00

I said that I was going to try & manage this month of £50 for food shopping, but it's proved difficult, not to keep within budget, but to keep track of the spends.
So far I've topped up the Minders work phone twice at £20 & he's given me the money back, I've also bought some Ace juice for a work colleague as I collect the Minder from outside Lidl's every day & she lives a long way from there, so I have spent £1.98 twice & she's paid me back.
We have had 3 birthday collections this month at £3 each, I don't mind these though as we each put in £3 to 17 birthday collections & when it's my birthday in November I receive £51 in vouchers of my choice, usually Tesco.
What I have bought for us so far.
Mushrooms £2
Bread £4 on offer, 2 for £2, I keep one & give one to my DD.
Porridge oats 84p
Spread 89p
2 x cooking marge £1.28
Plus yesterdays spending, where I went a bit mad & treated myself to some fruit.
4 bags of sugar £3.28
1 tub of spread 89p
2 oranges 60p
Bananas 99p
Mango 89p
Cheese spread 99p
I decided not to go to the butchers, I still have minced beef in the freezer, one chicken breast, some pollack & one of the bags of bacon was actually a pork loin chop. so I still have £9.36 left I will make this up to £20 to carry in my purse next week & see how far I can stretch it.
I've spent just under £25 since 1st of the month & it's two weeks til I get paid again. hopefully I will manage not to go much over my budget of £50 for the month. I am lucky that I keep a full store cupboard & freezer & have a productive garden or I would not be able to manage.

Keeping tight hold of the pennies

2011-09-16T12:34:00.000-07:00

I've managed quite well this week, I started the week with £20 in my purse & I still have £9.36 left. I shall spend this at the butchers tomorrow.
What did I spend the money on?
A birthday collection at work £3
4 bags of sugar £3.28
1 tub of spread 89p
2 oranges 60p
Bananas 99p
Mango 89p
Cheese spread 99p
I know that sounds like a lot of sugar but I'm making apple crumbles, apple pies, apple jelly & stewed apple tomorrow.

Replies & update

2011-09-15T22:56:00.000-07:00

Yes I agree it can be hard to say no to to party plan invites, but sometimes it's easier to say no to the invite than it is to go & then say you won't buy anything. If I go I usually take a bottle of wine or a plate of biscuits with me. That way the hostess doesn't mind if I don't buy anything. I always have a couple of bottles of wine in the cupboard as the Minder & I both are given bottles at Christmas & we don't drink wine. I was unable to attend the last Jamie Oliver I was invited to as it clashed with another appointment but I did want a garlic press, I was glad I'd been unable to go when I realised that the garlic press was £17.99!! I'd expect a months supply of garlic as well as the press for that price. Even if I'd bought a bottle of wine to take it would have been cheaper than spending £17.99.

I'm still waiting for the start date to be confirmed for the Saturday job, it seems to be a new venture in this area so I will have to be patient.

I now have 7, yes 7 carrier bags of apples in my kitchen, they are all Tesco or Sainsburys bags & they are full to the brim, I also have a bag of cobnuts. & the Minder is digging up the rest of the potatoes tomorrow too I can see I'm in for a busy weekend & you will find me mainly in the kitchen.

Thrifty Thursday

2011-09-15T11:28:00.000-07:00

Just say no!
No I'm sorry I cannot come to your Jamie Oliver Party.
No I cannot go to Starbucks/the Pub/out for lunch.

As I said in an older post, if you don't go you won't want.
Don't wander round the shops in your lunchbreak.
Don't wander round the shops at the weekend.

I take the Minder to work once during every school holidays, he works in Basingstoke. I make a list of anything I need, go straight to the shop concerned & then go for a walk round the old part of Basingstoke. I don't wander round & round the shops or I will only see things I want but don't need. Last time I went there I spent £12 on knickers in New Look as I had £12 left on a gift voucher. £15 in M&S getting the Minder a belt, again I used a gift voucher. The only actual cash I spent was £8 in the pound shop, where I bought 2 A4 binders & 2 packs of dividers, to make recipe books for my DD's for Christmas, a photo frame wrapping paper & card for a Christening present & a plastic frog that goes 'ribbet ribbet' & stops the cats from crapping in my garden!
Like I said, if you don't go you won't be tempted.

Gold

2011-09-13T12:20:00.000-07:00

I sold my gold to Hatton Garden Metals, they are recommended on the MSE website, http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/family/gold-selling-sites.
I received very good service.

I wouldn't send gold to any of the places that advertise on the TV, they are mostly pants.