Shall we solve each other’s simple problems?

[Merryoldgoat]

So. I have a whole load of shit I’m dealing with that cannot be easily solved.

However I also have a variety of very straight forward issues that I could do with people helping with - so how about we all solve each other’s simple stuff??

Things I need help with and would appreciate answers from people who know:

1. How many towels do I need for a family of four?
2. What is the best way to keep Tupperware properly organised?
3. What shoes do I need to be smart in all weather?

TIA?

Will try dishwasher tab thanks.
Sunlight????

I rate the ikea Tupperware style storage. Stacks together brilliantly, bases and lids. We have a mix of plastic boxes and lids also with glass boxes that go in the oven and are used as oven to table serving kit.

Tupperware - old takeaway boxes stack so neatly and also nicely in the freezer, there's 2 depths so some are for single portion with carb and some are family (of 3) sized base meal only. Plus nesting sets from ProCook or similar for larger items, baking, etc. and then bento type lunchboxes with sections that seal off seperately so no need for faffy little pots for a handful of grapes, some raisins etc. The ones we have have a long section that 2 Warburtons soft white rolls for into perfectly, plus a large section you can lob an apple into whole, and two smaller pots all of which work for some crisps and then a random selection of mochi, Iced Gems, grapes, Gogo fruit thingy or fruit yoyo, Oreos, whatever 😎

Try wetting pit area with white vinegar and layering on bicarb then more white vinegar til it fizzes. Leave to soak. Wash as normal.
I do it slightly hotter if the fabric can stand it.

UV light. I've a chem degree and can't remember how it works but it does 😁

My lovely new toaster has these brown marks on the stainless steel (??).... Does anyone have any suggestions please as to how do I get them off without scratching it or murdering the toast obsessed teen that's probably caused it?!

My problems:

1. I’d like really good quality tea towels that are absorbent but don’t leave fluff. I’m minded to recycle all my current ones.
2. Likewise I’d like 10 quality linen napkins for dinner parties etc.
3. I have a three month need for childcare - nanny and on payroll is fine. I don’t want to use a nursery. Best place to source childcare for shorter period?

Thank you!

Nordic Socks are brilliant! Non itchy wool (wash on gentle wash). I slob around our cold house in them.

@JohnTheRevelator I have one of the those big single slippers that you plug in so it heats up. some days it's the only thing that will defrost my feet. A hot water bottle would do the same though, I only have it because it was a gift, but I do really love it.

Based on your username, you need 2x washer dryers. It's revolutionary! All the bedding done and dry in one trip. Ditto underwear or towels. And if you bring down one big basket of mixed dirty stuff you can sort into dryer / not dryer, or darks and brights etc in front of the machines and then forget about it for a while rather than listening for the cycle to end and trying to get back to put a 2nd load on or move stuff to the dryer.

I love Dusk. The White Company quality or better at much affordable prices. And they regularly offer discounts, I never bought anything full price

dusk.com/collections/bed-linen-duvet-covers

@MrsSquirrel1013 these?

@motherofawhirlwind Cif Cream Cleaner should do the trick, or the all round workhorse of baking powder mixed into a thick paste and left for ~15mins

My parents did this for my sibling and their first born GC.

As time went by sibling never took the opportunity to better their life and GC never did well at school knowing hand outs were available, it became more an entitlement.

Sibling is now in their 60's, GC now in their 40's and my parents are still subbing them from their pensions as neither held down jobs, don't work, and are not good with any money they do get.

As much as my parents moan I refuse to give them what little I have so they can continue to sub two lazy people of their own making.

I've got these feet. My solution is ordinary skinny cotton socks followed by men's socks from the army surplus store (I'm a woman) and slippers way too big so it all fits in. My winter boots are a size too big as well and furry lined. Then never letting the feet get too cold, so wool (army surplus again) or thick faux fur blanket (supermarket) on my lap and tucked round my feet when I'm home, both together when it's really cold. Hot water bottle down the feet end of the bed half hour before I get in it, a big enough duvet that no draughts creep in underneath it and when it's really cold bed socks too. If feet have become blocks of ice I find a hot bath or a hot water bottle is the only way to get them warm again.

Bags for life. There's a YouTube video in Spade Maker Method channel it's one of the Dutch lady's ones, she shows a demo of how to fold them down and use the handles to keep them there. I got two huge canvas bags for life of folded bags down to 2/3 of one bag folding them with her method, it works for folding any bags even the thick bulky ones. I'll see if I can find the name.

For the napkins the absolute best will be vintage ones - antique centres often have a basket or two of table linen and you can find lovely huge white damask or linen napkins.

Alternatively I’ve bought good French cotton (not linen) napkins in Anthropologie (and in French supermarkets!) and I think Sarah Raven also stocked some on her website.

@GargoylesofBeelzebub found it, it's Laura & Jasper's playlist, the first video.

@JohnTheRevelatorget some heated socks, they’re electric and DH uses them for skiing. https://amzn.eu/d/0VrVthu

Mediterranean diet. You don't have to change to another diet after you've lost the weight. There's pictures online in a triangle (Google image search) so it's easy to see what you're supposed to be eating. Buy it, eat it, simple. No fancy rules, long gaps or calorie counting, no obsessive need to weigh everything.

Just remember a portion is the size of your palm. Get smaller plates if you need help with portions. Vintage dinner plates are the size of modern side plates. Modern dinner plates more closely resemble vintage serving platters for the centre of the table in size. So if you use a modern plate it's supposed to look like a small pile of food in the middle, not a full plate to the sides.

Rub gently with a soapy Brillo pad

Poster upthread who hasn't told their Dad about their partner's child because the child is only recently back in his life... I'd just sit Dad down and explain it exactly how you explained it here. Your partner honestly thought child was unavailable to him, but now child is... it happens. Particularly in that generation! (My ex's elderly father one day announced, a propos of nothing that he had two children from a previous marriage, and would we help him look for them please?)

My simple problem is that I am back at work, but wfh for the next week. All the tasks I can do from home are admin or copy writing, and aren't holding my attention much. Hence posting on here! I can't even make some follow up phone calls to break it up, as most businesses are off til the 5th. Bah!

Please kick me up the bum and tell me to go write good copy. Outstanding copy. Beautiful copy.

Hubby, an expert in stuff like this, suggests Solbol. Which doesn't seem to exist. However, he thinks they have changed their name to Autosol (available on Amazon). An alternative which apparently takes loads of elbow grease is the sort of Duraglit which comes in a tin with wadding, rather than the liquid sort.

Contact local childminders, they may have a gap between clients etc. The local authority usually has a list.

@ThatGapBetweenXmasAndNewYear is this what you mean, at 12.44 mins in?

It's -3º and snowing and very windy. Should I go for a walk, or put the kettle on?