At the weekend my eldest son was attacked and now has a broken eye socket and broken jaw. He can barely see or talk and can't eat. He can't work and has no income because he's self employed. He's back at the hospital again in a couple of days whilst they decide if his injuries need to be operated on. He's probably lucky there were others there to stop it going any further - his friend tried to stop it and ended up with his finger being bitten down to the bone.
Just thinking about it makes me so angry and I keep wanting to hurt the person who did this as much as he's hurt my son. Thoughts like that disturb me. Does this make me exactly the same as him? Am I really saying 'violence is okay if the other person deserves it'? Or 'it's okay to use violence against someone who's violent themselves'? But I guess having those feelings and actually carrying them out are two different things. I hate violence, don't know how anyone could enjoy beating up someone else and not really caring whether they kill that person or not. And how must it feel to bite through someones finger?! It makes me feel so sick. I hate that we have to live amongst people like this who just don't care about the lives of anyone else.
The same thing will have happened up and down the country to lots of other mothers sons (and daughters) last weekend and many will have fared much worse than my son.
Why? Well it's nothing new I suppose. There have always been people like this and there always will be. But I'd like to know what makes some people so uncaring of other human or animal life.
Tuesday, 10 May 2011
Sunday, 8 May 2011
Just Chilling Out
Can't seem to get my backside into gear today. I blame Ken Follett. I'm a third of the way through his book, 'Pillars of the Earth', and all I want to do this afternoon is lie on the sofa reading some more. It's very compelling.
I have managed to clean the kitchen and put dinner in the slow cooker - inbetween reading. Dinner is soup made from a half price ham shank I bought and I'll stick some dumplings in later. That knocked down the carrot mountain a little!
I had my boyfriend and son believing that the dog food I'd made was actually our dinner for that night - liver casserole. Both of them seemed a bit depressed at the thought of eating it- Iain even went so far as to say it looked like vomit - "Look. It's even got carrots in it!". Yes dear, everything has carrots in it lately!
I borrowed 'Kirstie's Home Made Home' from the library the other day and I'm really taken with the idea of making a rag rug. It'll be a while before I start though as I need to collect some rags first. There wasn't enough in the book to make me want to buy it, but still a nice read. I'll need to make a list of all my projects as there's so much I want to do. I need to learn patience!
I have managed to clean the kitchen and put dinner in the slow cooker - inbetween reading. Dinner is soup made from a half price ham shank I bought and I'll stick some dumplings in later. That knocked down the carrot mountain a little!
I had my boyfriend and son believing that the dog food I'd made was actually our dinner for that night - liver casserole. Both of them seemed a bit depressed at the thought of eating it- Iain even went so far as to say it looked like vomit - "Look. It's even got carrots in it!". Yes dear, everything has carrots in it lately!
I borrowed 'Kirstie's Home Made Home' from the library the other day and I'm really taken with the idea of making a rag rug. It'll be a while before I start though as I need to collect some rags first. There wasn't enough in the book to make me want to buy it, but still a nice read. I'll need to make a list of all my projects as there's so much I want to do. I need to learn patience!
Saturday, 7 May 2011
The Front Jungle
I finally managed to do a job that's been irritating me for ages now - cutting down the elders that were growing in the front garden. I still need to dig them out but at least it looks a bit tidier. Because I live in the corner house of a square I have the tiniest triangle of garden and yet I still can't find the time or energy to keep it tidy! So much to do....
The worst of the two elders. I wish my blackcurrant and raspberries grew this quickly!
View from the front. Shocking! And just look at that dandelion in the path! This has definately shamed me into tidying it up!
From the corner of my eye I can spot that nosey beggar across the road watching me from his living room window, probably wondering why I'm taking photos of this mess!
Eventually I plan to plant some rhubarb in here. I did put one in last year but I think I planted the crown too low and it didn't grow at all.
In the back garden the clematis along the side fence is threatening to take over the planet. It does look lovely when it comes into flower but it's in need of some serious pruning. It's enveloped a fir tree at the back and a hideous shrub, the name of which I've forgotten, at the front. I don't like the fir tree either so they're both coming out eventually. Ideally I'd like to take some cuttings and start again with this clematis. We reckon it's about 20 - 30 years old and it's very bare and woody at the base.
Veg growing just doesn't seem to be happening this year. I'm really struggling to find the time. By the time I get in from work on an evening, have tea and clear away it's 8.30pm and I'm too tired to start working in the garden. I will at least try and sow some salad leaves though - that doesn't take much effort and it saves a fortune.
Speaking of veg, this is what's left of the mountain of carrots I ordered from Asda 10 days ago.
I pressed the button twice by mistake. Even once was a lot of carrots! So far we've had them in casseroles, bolognaise sauce, chilli, soup, and steamed with some chicken and an omlette. And the dog's had them too in his home made food - several times. We're all sick of carrots and are liable to turn orange if these last much longer! Carrot and coriander soup and carrot cake are next on the menu!
From the corner of my eye I can spot that nosey beggar across the road watching me from his living room window, probably wondering why I'm taking photos of this mess!
Eventually I plan to plant some rhubarb in here. I did put one in last year but I think I planted the crown too low and it didn't grow at all.
In the back garden the clematis along the side fence is threatening to take over the planet. It does look lovely when it comes into flower but it's in need of some serious pruning. It's enveloped a fir tree at the back and a hideous shrub, the name of which I've forgotten, at the front. I don't like the fir tree either so they're both coming out eventually. Ideally I'd like to take some cuttings and start again with this clematis. We reckon it's about 20 - 30 years old and it's very bare and woody at the base.
Veg growing just doesn't seem to be happening this year. I'm really struggling to find the time. By the time I get in from work on an evening, have tea and clear away it's 8.30pm and I'm too tired to start working in the garden. I will at least try and sow some salad leaves though - that doesn't take much effort and it saves a fortune.
Speaking of veg, this is what's left of the mountain of carrots I ordered from Asda 10 days ago.
I pressed the button twice by mistake. Even once was a lot of carrots! So far we've had them in casseroles, bolognaise sauce, chilli, soup, and steamed with some chicken and an omlette. And the dog's had them too in his home made food - several times. We're all sick of carrots and are liable to turn orange if these last much longer! Carrot and coriander soup and carrot cake are next on the menu!
Fun With Carrier Bags
I had a lot of fun yesterday playing around with making yarn from carrier bags and knitting and crocheting with it. Most people use the yarn to make shopping bags, but I have enough of those for the time being so I'm trying to think of other uses for it. First I thought of pan scrubbers, but that didn't work too well. Coasters? I have plenty at the minute. I use this furry knitted one all the time as it soaks up any tea I might spill and it doubles up as a duster - if the coffee table or the laptop are looking a bit dusty I just give them a swipe with the coaster!
I could do with some little household baskets for putting bits and bobs in, so that might work. Also maybe small bags to hang on the wall for storage? A belt? Jewellery? It's so easy to make the yarn and quite addictive. I'll try and do a tutorial later when someone's here to take photos.
I also had a walk to Morrisons in the afternoon. I'm lucky in that I have both Morrisons and Sainsburys within walking distance (20mins and 40 mins). Also Lidls, but the walk is not so nice. Morrisons is via a path which used to be a railway, across a small field and then through a beautiful park that used to be the garden to a big Georgian House.
Through this archway there's an orchard on the left. It's open during the summer and you can go in and pick blackcurrants, raspberries and herbs. There are also strawberries and apple and pear trees but they don't do so well. When the raspberries are in season I can't walk past, I always have to go in and eat some!
Standing in the same position and looking the other way. There's still water at this side! I head along here for Morrisons, which is the building you can just see at the top of the picture behind the trees. The back of the old house is to the left but I didn't take a photo, Also to the right used there are the remnants of a waterfall.
I love this park.
I could do with some little household baskets for putting bits and bobs in, so that might work. Also maybe small bags to hang on the wall for storage? A belt? Jewellery? It's so easy to make the yarn and quite addictive. I'll try and do a tutorial later when someone's here to take photos.
I also had a walk to Morrisons in the afternoon. I'm lucky in that I have both Morrisons and Sainsburys within walking distance (20mins and 40 mins). Also Lidls, but the walk is not so nice. Morrisons is via a path which used to be a railway, across a small field and then through a beautiful park that used to be the garden to a big Georgian House.
There are steps here leading through the trees down to what was once a man-made water course.
This is the view at the bottom of the path, looking towards the water course.
Standing in the same position and looking the other way. There's still water at this side! I head along here for Morrisons, which is the building you can just see at the top of the picture behind the trees. The back of the old house is to the left but I didn't take a photo, Also to the right used there are the remnants of a waterfall.
I love this park.
Friday, 6 May 2011
Wee Cloths and other unmentionables
A few days a go I mentioned that a comment on another blog had set me off thinking about reuseable cloths instead of kitchen roll, toilet paper, disposable cloths etc. The original comment was regarding 'wee cloths' - which means just what it says, to be used instead of toilet paper! I thought about it a little and it sounded more comfortable than using toilet paper, which has a tendancy to shred, so I googled it to get more information on washing, hygiene etc.
This led me to websites which sold reuseable sanitary pads and pant liners and I thought, "what a great idea!". I've always hated the fact that the ones we buy are full of chemicals that can irritate and these reuseable ones looked so comfortable. Also very expensive. So I wondered if I could make them myself, what kinds of fabric could I use and were they cost effective and the fabrics readily available? I found this fantastic website which had all the information you could need http://www.clothpads.org/. I have some old fleece pyjamas that I can use but other materials might have to be bought. Nevertheless, I think this will be very cost effective, should reduce the amount of natural resouces I use and rubbish I produce and it's less to have to go out and buy on regular basis - plus it sounds very comfortable too!
After that I took the idea of reuseable and ran with it - most of my ideas were very obvious but I'd never given it any thought before.
So, here's my list of projects I'm working on:
I made two like this and hemmed them so they wouldn't fray in the wash.
These are the old flannels cut into quarters and ready to be hemmed for use as the dreaded 'wee cloths'!
This led me to websites which sold reuseable sanitary pads and pant liners and I thought, "what a great idea!". I've always hated the fact that the ones we buy are full of chemicals that can irritate and these reuseable ones looked so comfortable. Also very expensive. So I wondered if I could make them myself, what kinds of fabric could I use and were they cost effective and the fabrics readily available? I found this fantastic website which had all the information you could need http://www.clothpads.org/. I have some old fleece pyjamas that I can use but other materials might have to be bought. Nevertheless, I think this will be very cost effective, should reduce the amount of natural resouces I use and rubbish I produce and it's less to have to go out and buy on regular basis - plus it sounds very comfortable too!
After that I took the idea of reuseable and ran with it - most of my ideas were very obvious but I'd never given it any thought before.
So, here's my list of projects I'm working on:
- Cloths to clean my glasses with - much better for the lenses than using toilet paper!
- Washable cloths for taking my makeup off with, instead of using throwaway wipes
- Cotton hankies instead of disposable ones/toilet paper (unless I have a cold of course!)
- A supply of rags - old tshirts etc- for wiping up messes
- Wee cloths (much to Iains disgust, I've decided to give this one a go!)
- Cloth pantyliners (again, to the disgust of Iain!)
I made two like this and hemmed them so they wouldn't fray in the wash.
These are the old flannels cut into quarters and ready to be hemmed for use as the dreaded 'wee cloths'!
I may have to buy some cheap flannels to cut up and use as make-up cloths as I don't think I have anything else suitable, but I'm looking for some old shirts to make hankies with.
And finally, one of the benefits of all this reuseable stuff is that I'll be using hardly any toilet paper! I could probably even manage on loo roll purloined from public toilets! Only joking - but I have actually known a couple of people who did this - never bought loo roll at all!
Thursday, 5 May 2011
A Day Out at Tynemouth
Here are a few photos from the book fair on Sunday. It takes place 4 times a year on the metro station concourse but every weekend there is a fleamarket/crafts market and once a month a farmers market. I used to go every couple of weeks or so, but I reckon I enjoy it more if I don’t do it so often. That way there’s always new stuff to see.
The book fair was on the west concourse and the fleamarket squashes into the east concourse for that day. Even less space than usual for them this week as part of the station was roped off because of renovations. It’s a beautiful Victorian station and I’m glad they’ve finally been able to secure the funding to renovate it.
The fleamarket/craft market.
The book fair.
First stop is always a cuppa at the tea stall – Iain will not move until he’s had his tea! Then a quick look round the fleamarket and craft stalls before heading over the other side for the books.
I noticed the fashion at the minute seems to be for shabby chic housewares and vintage clothing and jewellery. Have to admit I love vintage jewellery, but nothing I wanted to buy today. A few vintage knitting and crochet patterns, but again none took my fancy. Last time I was here everyone was going mad for cupcakes and several stalls were selling them. None today, so I guess the cupcake craze is over! I find it fascinating (as well as daft!) the way everyone seems to follow these ‘fads’ and then they all move on to the next one.
I did make one purchase here – I now have a new netsuke for my ‘collection’!
It's very different from my other two - it's made of wood - but I've seen some lovely wood animal, bird and reptile netsuke so maybe I'll start two collections!
The book fair turned out to be not so good – sometimes there are lots of books that take my fancy and other times nothing. I always visit the stall that raises funds for the rabbit sanctuary (info here: http://www.pipkinrabbitrescue.org/) and I at least make a donation. This time they had a pile of knitting magazines so I bought three for 60p each.
The other two purchases I made were an Art Nouveau cross stitch book for £1 and a biography of Vera Brittain for 25p. The cross stitch motifs might be useful for making gifts.
When we’d finished we went into town intending to walk up to the castle and along the coast for a while as there are some beautiful views.
But after we'd stopped for another cuppa it was getting late so we left it for another day.
Georgian houses along the main street.
Art Deco flats - taken from the back of the metro station. I think this was probably a 1930's factory.
Close-up of the gargoyles on the old church. I love gargoyles.
Long journey home on the metro and bus - almost 2 hours!
Wednesday, 4 May 2011
Budgeting and Nightmares
I had a dreadful nightmare last night involving hiding out and being surrounded by dozens of flesh eating zombies. Had to get up and make a cup of tea to calm my heart rate down! I knew I would suffer for watching The Walking Dead on telly!! Result - very tired today and still thinking zombies!
I took some photos when I went to the book fair on Sunday but haven't had time to upload them yet. Hopefully I'll get that done by the end of the week.
My focus this week has been on budgeting and bringing down the bills, so I've been examining my outgoings to see what I can happily do without and what I can get cheaper. My broadband, TV and home phone costs are more than I want to pay and whilst I'm quite happy to do without the cable channels I need the broadband and landline for future income possibilities. So I've been looking for the best offers and then I'll ring my supplier and see if they can match it. Otherwise, I'll be changing. My gas and electric cheap tariff has just ended so I've been doing some research to find the cheapest supplier and if there's any cashback offers to be had. Then finally my mobile. I have a very cheap tariff at the minute but I don't use the mobile much so I'll be ending the contract and buying a PAYG sim card for the phone instead.
One expense I find hard to lower are charity donations. At the moment I have one monthly direct debit to a charity and I make one off donations to others. I've decided to keep the direct debit whilst I'm still working because I can afford it and charities are having a hard time at the minute (I worked for one till I was TUPE'd across to the local authority 2 years ago). When my income drops I'll end this and will instead offer my time - part time working will mean more of this to spend! I'm really looking forward to doing some voluntary work - it's important, to put something back into the community I think. I used to volunteer at the local primary school and I loved doing it.
One off donations will be scaled down but will always be a part of my budget as I think we can all afford a little to help. One thing I like to do is make a donation to a homeless charity at Christmas and I fund this by doing without something myself over the Christmas period. I could afford just to give the donation, but I think the doing without bit acts as as reminder about how wasteful we are at the time of year and how others could make so much better use of that money.
Well, that sounded very serious and sermonising, didn't it?! But we're all individuals and others will have a different take on this.
Workwise, I have a few courses coming up that I hope will be useful for my future plans. I'm very lucky, in that, because of all the restructuring and redundancies, the council I work for has put together a fantastic package of courses and workshops to help people affected. So far I've signed up for a finance workshop, one on self employment and another on carreer change. I also fancied the 'handling stress' course because you get to practice some relaxation techniquques - useful for when zombies strike in the middle of the night!
I took some photos when I went to the book fair on Sunday but haven't had time to upload them yet. Hopefully I'll get that done by the end of the week.
My focus this week has been on budgeting and bringing down the bills, so I've been examining my outgoings to see what I can happily do without and what I can get cheaper. My broadband, TV and home phone costs are more than I want to pay and whilst I'm quite happy to do without the cable channels I need the broadband and landline for future income possibilities. So I've been looking for the best offers and then I'll ring my supplier and see if they can match it. Otherwise, I'll be changing. My gas and electric cheap tariff has just ended so I've been doing some research to find the cheapest supplier and if there's any cashback offers to be had. Then finally my mobile. I have a very cheap tariff at the minute but I don't use the mobile much so I'll be ending the contract and buying a PAYG sim card for the phone instead.
One expense I find hard to lower are charity donations. At the moment I have one monthly direct debit to a charity and I make one off donations to others. I've decided to keep the direct debit whilst I'm still working because I can afford it and charities are having a hard time at the minute (I worked for one till I was TUPE'd across to the local authority 2 years ago). When my income drops I'll end this and will instead offer my time - part time working will mean more of this to spend! I'm really looking forward to doing some voluntary work - it's important, to put something back into the community I think. I used to volunteer at the local primary school and I loved doing it.
One off donations will be scaled down but will always be a part of my budget as I think we can all afford a little to help. One thing I like to do is make a donation to a homeless charity at Christmas and I fund this by doing without something myself over the Christmas period. I could afford just to give the donation, but I think the doing without bit acts as as reminder about how wasteful we are at the time of year and how others could make so much better use of that money.
Well, that sounded very serious and sermonising, didn't it?! But we're all individuals and others will have a different take on this.
Workwise, I have a few courses coming up that I hope will be useful for my future plans. I'm very lucky, in that, because of all the restructuring and redundancies, the council I work for has put together a fantastic package of courses and workshops to help people affected. So far I've signed up for a finance workshop, one on self employment and another on carreer change. I also fancied the 'handling stress' course because you get to practice some relaxation techniquques - useful for when zombies strike in the middle of the night!
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