Share your secrets

Hello. Did ya miss me. Only the usual stuff going on at Tightwad Towers. Today I got the Dyson out, YAY, three cheers, I did some housework. I saw a programme called Trust me I'm a Doctor, and it said that housework and working in the garden is as good for you as a session down the gym. They did some tests, getting people to do some ironing, mopping, hoovering. and dusting, then checked how much energy they had used doing these tasks. Apparently you get a pretty good workout while doing mundane housework, so maybe I should do more of it. In your dreams, ha ha. No, I'll plod on with the housework in my own sweet sedate way, and when I feel the need to limber up I will go outside and do a bit in the garden instead.

Today I went out there with the loppers and shears and attacked the Leylandi hedge. Behind it is a six foot wooden fence between me and the house round the corner, so it's difficult to get to all of it. The hedge is about eight feet tall, and even standing on the step ladders I can't reach it all, so it was a matter of climbing up into the middle of it, and standing on the lower branches. There's a particularly high bit which I would like to cut down, don't know how I'm going to do it. The trunk is too thick for the loppers, I'll have to try the saw. I ran out of daylight and had to give up, will try again another day.

I'm on the home stretch with the picture, spent most of yesterday working on it. I was going to go to the Bake Off in the Village Hall, but completely forgot about it. Fancy that, missed out on the cake, oh bother! I was so engrossed in what I was doing, everything else went out of the window.

When I am at home, I have my computer on most of the day, keep popping back to have a look what's going on. Sit down for ten minutes with a drink, or a bite to eat, have a nosy round the forums. Do you do that? It sort of breaks the day up, I do jobs in bite size chunks, half an hour here, half an hour there, sit down for a rest when a job becomes too boring. Can't stand long boring jobs, Can only Dyson for 20 minutes, or clean two windows, or put a load of washing in, or clean the kitchen for 20 minutes, then I need a break. So I have a look round the blogs and forums, have a nosy on Facebook and Twitter, see what's going on.

I go on Down the Lane forum. It's about self sufficiency, gardening, pets, health and fitness, hobbies, food, bit of alsorts really, It has a big section on chickens, not that I read that, I have no desire to keep chickens, but it's useful for anyone who is interested. Richard who runs the forum is in Nepal at the moment, he has been posting updates. No doubt when he gets back there will be more photo's appearing.

I like the Walking Forum. It's all things, erm, walking. My user name on there is fit old bird, 'cause that's what I am, ha ha. It covers walkers of all abilities, from the novice just starting out, to experienced mountain climbers. There are a lot of trip reports on there, so if you are thinking of walking in a particular area, you could probably find a report from someone who has been there before. There are sections on equipment and what gear to wear, and a meet up section for those who want to walk with someone else.

Does anyone go on Money Saving Expert Forum? I go on there quite a lot, well I would do wouldn't I. There is always something new to learn about saving money. Alright, I do know most of it, but I don't know everything. I know what works best for me, but there might be something I might not know about, something new I can learn. The forum is not just about money saving either. It's a bit like sitting in a launderette and having a gossip, or chatting over the garden fence with your neighbour, or stopping in the street to chat to the postman. There are such a diverse range of topics on there, you can find out all kinds of things about how folks live their lives. Some of it is very enlightening. The MSE forum is so busy, you can have conversations on there. No need to wait for a comment to be published, it is instant on a forum, and if someone is reading it, a reply can come back straight away.

So how about you, what forums do you read, any that I should be looking at? C'mon share your little secrets, what have you seen on a forum  ;o))
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