Living Well, Living Solo

I think I said that my issues with ironing were because I have a fractured sternum. It is mending but it has really added "ironing" to my list of things to prepare for.

The other area that has come up is travel. My car has been pronounced "dead" after the accident that caused the fracture and I have been shocked to find how few buses there are. Currently I can walk to shops, surgery, etc but I haven't been able to carry anything of any real weight, so I'm having my groceries delivered. Then there are the hospital and similar visits - few buses, currently family are helping but I need to find ways to be as independent as possible.

One thing I need to learn about is prepaid debit cards. I've never come across them but my family are setting one up for me so I can get a taxi in comfort. I've decided I will need a taxi fund when I do stop driving! The pre-loaded card seems a really good idea to me but it's another process I need to learn.

I'm hoping to replace the car but those of us who drive know we will have to stop one day. Do you have any plans for this?

I don't iron; DH 's career was very "brain intensive" and decades ago he discovered that making bread by hand, and steam ironing linen, were mindlessly relaxing. For his therapeutic benefit I let him make all our bread and iron my many linen shirts and pillowcases.

Our cleaner also works for several elderly neighbours and one of them , widower, asked her to include ironing his shirts and changing the bed in her list of tasks. As word of this got round more and more of them asked her to do the same for them. I'm keeping it in mind.

I have manage one item of ironing by the way. So, much though I hate the "pile" sitting there, perhaps we all have to be prepared to spread jobs out over a longer period?

Thanks HelterSkelter. I have a steamer but you use it vertically not horizontally. It's useful, but if I was buying again I would look for one you could use horizontally I think. Also, it's reasonably heavy. I think I should be able to go on using it for some time but it's too much at the moment although my fractured sternum is very definitely mending

Would a hand held steamer be of any use instead of an iron I havent got one but my sister IL has and uses it all the time.. never uses her iron now. But I don't know how good it is for bedding etc.

I think I've always assumed the bit you lift on a clothes pressing machine would be heavy midgey.

How about a clothes pressing machine. I bought my daughter one she found it great. Not suitable for big items but for clothes or smaller things it was ideal.

Thank you Graphite. I have missed jacket potatoes with my ailing Belling.

HS1. DAR has already answered your question but I thought I’d chip in. (That’s probably a bad airfryer joke. I wonder how many people try out their airfryer for the first time with frozen chips?)

I have a Ninja two-drawer airfryer but they all work on the same principle. Mini fan ovens.

I enjoy a jacket potato. It’s made making those a breeze.

I start by by cooking the spud in the microwave for five-six minutes depending on size, then spray it with some Frylight oil and another five-six minutes in the air fryer on 200 degrees which makes the skin crispy.

I’ve had my air fryer for over two years now and rarely use my old oven and hob (also Belling!). Saves on energy too. My electricity bill dropped by £10 a month after I started using the airfryer.

Thank you OP for starting this thread. It is so positive and pragmatic.
We are all going to have to cope with ageing and infirmity at some stage ...if we are lucky to be here... and making good choices based on other people's ideas or experience is so helpful.
Aluminium garden furniture was my good choice when all around me were buying heavy wood or cast iron. I can lift the benches easily on my own off the grass when I need to mow. And after almost 10 years still look good and were surprisingly cheap from Homebase bought as single benches not as a set.
I look forward to dipping into the thread again.

I love my air fryer. It’s great especially for one person. I hardly use my oven now.
I iron as little as possible though more is needed in summer when I wear cottons. When I was pregnant I sat down to iron. I might try that again when my back is bad.

I have an envelope pinned to my notice board which reads - To be opened in event of being taken to hospital.
In that I list first of all - my current medication and whereabouts it can be found in my flat. Secondly my need for things like phone charger, kindle etc and whereabout they all are and also where clean clothes are kept (nighties, pants, bras, etc. etc.)

Last year I was taken by ambulance from my GP's surgery to local hospital where i was kept for a few days, and this proved to be excellent for my daughter to bring a bag of all this stuff in.
Each morning, at my brekkie I send that daughter who lives and works very near to me, a simple message just saying 'OK'/
.If she does not get this by 9.00 am she will telephone me, and if I do not answer the phone she will come round. Means the very longest I could go if unconscious or worse would be 24 hours.
Alexa etc can be set up to call an ambulance or to phone someone. So, anywhere in my flat I could just call out for help through that.

When I had my new kitchen done a few years back, I splashed out on a special boiling water tap. Love this, no need for any kettle, and I have boiling water literally on tap whenever I need it, how much. Uses not just for tea/coffee making, but straight into saucepan for pasta or frozen veg. Hopefully, they will eventually come down in price and more people can have them installed.
Induction hobs are a great safety feature, so much more efficient and cheaper to run that ceramic electric hobs, So very much safer to use than those or the naked flame gas hobs.
I find that hard floors are far better than carpet. So much easier to keep clean (spray mop), and kinder to spills. Also so much easier to move furniture and also my kitchen trolley which I use to move anything and everything from my kitchen to where I am eating.
Just one point about the safety step/ladder that was shown earlier in this thread. I purchased one of those several years back, when still in my house. Yes, it is very safe to use - but is very heavy to move even from room to room, let alone if needing to go up or down stairs etc. I gave mine to one of my daughters, was much too heavy for me to be able to use any more.

Thank you V3ra. What a neat cooker. I have been wondering how I would take food out of a bucket or drawer. The sort of tbings I would cook would be chicken legs or breasts, fish, jacket potatoes, shepherds pies, fish pies and of course some ready meals. All small sizes for at the most 2 people.
It was useful to hear that it was your 2nd one and you were pleased with it.
I shall spend this week looking at all the websites before I make the decision.

In a way it reminded me of the Baby Belling I had in a bed sitter at 21 years old! Although I think that had an electric hot plate/ring on the top. Can't remember what on earth I cooked on it, but I did cook a meal for 4 once or twice. No ready meals then in the dark ages.

amzn.eu/d/0013lANG

HelterSkelter1 I've just had this air fryer which I'm really pleased with. It's basically just a little oven that sits on the worktop.
There's a light so you can see what's going on.
It's very easy to access with the drop-down door and shelves. My previous one was the "bucket" style and that could be really awkward to take the food out of.

I also stock up on jarred salads in the my fridge for a quick healthy snack. Fun to make and easy to take along with you too. All you do is bring a fork and shake it. So many varieties !

I use mason jars (glass jars with metal lids) if i ever cook a meal and then portion the meals for one person into the jar in layers like a cottage pie. After it's cooled the lid goes on, I use a dry erase eraseable pen to write on the lid the contents and pop it in my freezer. My freezer is full of a variety of homemade meals and soups for one. I waste no food. If the quantity of anything, veg, meat, casserole, bread, sauce is too much it simply is labelled and put in the freezer for future use. The jars are stackable, microwaveable and inexpensive.

DaisyAnneReturns

Help! I'm unable to do my ironing after an accident. I will get back to normal but it would be useful to know if anyone has had this problem and what you have found to be the best way to deal with it.

Having fractured my right wrist and then a few years later my left wrist, I am afraid I took the cowards way out of ironing. I now hardly iron anything. I find if I pull things into shape before I put them on a heated clothes horse they look OK. (by my standards)

I have never ironed underwear, socks or towels even in my prime and I have some lovely soft pure cotton bedding that I don't iron.

We have a little travel kettle and it is very light compared with our normal kettle. A good buy DaisyAnne.
I also read that anyone finding it difficult to lift a heavy pan with vegetables etc ready to strain over the sink, would find it easier to lift the veg out with a straining spoon and put into an empty light pan or colander and then to empty the hot water later when cooler using a plastic jug or mug all to avoid lifting a heavy pan of water.
And sell any Le Creuset!

I do HelterSkelter and they are okay. Sometimes I microwave them to soften them first. My airfryer is pretty basic and I have looked at bigger/better ones but so far this works for me.

Apropos an earlier conversation about smaller kettles. Buying one has really gone very well - I have a (healing) fractured sternum at the moment. I can really see it being a better bet if I were to become frailer later on.

I have been looking at a smallish Air Fryer today on the John Lewis website. Could be tempted.
Any one cook jacket potatoes in theirs?
I am cooking just for myself now and in normal circumstances would be buying a new cooker as ours is a 40 year old Belling on its last legs. But I could probaly survive with our microwave, slow cooker, toaster, and an Air fryer. Or at least I could give it a try and see how well I coped.

I've been on this site for a couple of months now and you get used to seeing familiar posters. I haven't seen anything of CariadAgain for a few weeks, I hope she is fit and well, she used to have a lot to say and I've missed her input. Are you ok, Cariad? 💐

Sorry you're feeling down Allsorts. I don't think you're late - this could just keep going gently for as long as we want it to

I have found this thread rather late but what a good idea, I have been feeling very down and its getting worse, this has cheered me up.

I think things like lighter irons (such as a travel iron) are worth investing in for the future as well as now Lathyrus, as I can see weight being a possible problem. I'm stunned at the things I can't manage although I'm on some heavyweight pain killers too which make me fall asleep all the time A day in A & E is also incredibly tiring although full of kind people.

I'm going to look at my ironing board and see if I can use it sitting down and also at extra padded ironing board covers or adding extra padding. I'm not sure how well sitting down would work and what would be best to sit on - a stool perhaps?

DaisyAnneReturns

Help! I'm unable to do my ironing after an accident. I will get back to normal but it would be useful to know if anyone has had this problem and what you have found to be the best way to deal with it.

Perhaps not at the moment, but you might find a little travel iron easier as you recover. I find the lighter weight easier to manage though it doesn’t cover as much ground in one swipe🙂

I have also found the little travelling kettle a good idea as the full size one got hard to lift, even if I only put a small amount of water in.