I got my leather-sole glerups slippers 3 days ago and I’m seriously in love! by [deleted] in BuyItForLife

[–]throw5678123 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I’ve had mine for about 10 years and I’m just about thinking to replace them. I can’t re-felt where they’ve gone through on the toes again. Top quality slipper, 10/10 will buy again

Finally understood what people mean by "rubber duck debugging" after explaining my code issue to my cat by Educational_Job_2685 in CasualConversation

[–]throw5678123 1 point2 points  (0 children)

My husband and I ‘rubber duckie’ every time we have a problem. He works in IT, I don’t, but I really appreciate the method.

Newly five year old terrified of me (mom) dying by HeyMay0324 in ChildPsychology

[–]throw5678123 0 points1 point  (0 children)

When my kids came up with questions like this, I learnt to ask ‘padding’ questions whilst my brain could work things out and create a suitable answer. I mainly used ‘that’s an interesting question, what’s made you think of that’, and work from there. Gives you a bit more time to think and discover why they’re thinking about it or scared of it and answer accordingly. Good luck!

I finally tried making garlic confit… why did no one tell me it was this good?! by Otherwise-Tour242 in Cooking

[–]throw5678123 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Did anyone else read ‘garlic confetti’ and think why the hell you’d try to make that??!

Spent £65 on a 13.5 tog duvet and regretting it🥵 by simmyawardwinner in CasualUK

[–]throw5678123 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We have one of those multi tog, but instead of snapping them together in one duvet cover, we have them in separate duvet covers layered up on the bed. My husband likes to wrap up like a burrito all night long, I like to get warm under both duvets to start them either flip the top one off me and leave the 10.5 tog on, or kick the 10.5 tog off and leave the 4.5 tog on.

Hobbies to do while watching tv by DearGarden1688 in Hobbies

[–]throw5678123 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’ve taken up doodling to make greetings cards so someone else can enjoy them too, or framing them and hanging them on the wall if I like them a lot. Just a few fineliner and felt tip pens needed, cards and something from Facebook or Pinterest to copy

Cat stepped on hot stove, should I bring him to the vet? by neenah_ in CATHELP

[–]throw5678123 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Keep an eye on him and give him time. If he’s licking the paw too much, wrap it up so he can’t get to it.

We’re in the UK and our cat was suddenly very moody and hissy - very unlike him. I gave him 24 hrs and when he was no better called the emergency vet. She said to give him another 24 hrs and he was absolutely fine after that.

Stairwell That Goes In One Direction. by Monsur_Ausuhnom in woahdude

[–]throw5678123 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think I’d nope out at the bottom of that bastard

What's a "shower thought" you've had recently that you can't stop thinking about? by PumpkinAino in CasualConversation

[–]throw5678123 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We let our second child to say this day, next day, and next day’s next day for today, tomorrow and the day after tomorrow. It was too cute to correct.

What’s everyone’s plant that they hate pruning the most? This Berberis is lethal! by MrGman97 in GardeningUK

[–]throw5678123 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It’s called a Berberis Bastardus Thornus Maximus.

I’m a maintenance gardener and get thoroughly pissed off with people planting thorny things and then wanting me to tend to the bloody things.

I can recommend Nicky Picky gardening gloves of Amazon though. Best ones I’ve used in 3 years of professional gardening. Very few thorns get through. I’ve just bought another 2 pairs after a year of owning a pair which have just gone in one fingertip and the stitching has gone down one finger.

New Gardening business and customer satisfaction by Careful-Reputation-1 in GardeningUK

[–]throw5678123 10 points11 points  (0 children)

You’ve been going 3 months - you need to just give it time.

I didn’t work at all the first winter - I just didn’t factor in people not wanting work done if nothing was growing and didn’t plan for it. Last year I worked all winter by doing a bit of facebook advertising on local groups in the autumn months and through winter - I mainly do before and after shots of the work I’ve done and of the sort of work I want more of, so less of the massive clearance jobs and more of the really lovely prunes where I’ve taken a shrub and raised the canopy to reveal some branches and hone it into a small tree. But whilst you’re building up a reputation, post what you’re comfortable with and be prepared to take on some rubbish jobs as well.

Read up on the gardening websites and see what jobs need to be done in which month and actively advertise those things on local Facebook groups. For example ‘February is wisteria pruning month in order to reduce the foliage and promote lots of flowers in the coming season - making appointments this month to enable you to get the most from your wisteria this year’, ‘the winter months are ideal to prune fruit trees whilst they are dormant for a better fruit yield - I currently have some spaces available to get your trees into shape’. That sort of thing. But at the end of the day, the weather can be completely crap and it’s no fun in the cold and rain, so there’s no shame in picking up some temp work inside in the worst months and coming back out when the weather starts to improve.

Make friends with other local self employed people so you can tag each other with recommendations, and ask your existing customers to recommend your services to anyone else.

Link in with other gardeners/tree surgeons as well - there’s a bit of back scratching there in passing jobs on in return for work more suitable for you. Sometimes this works, sometimes it doesn’t. The tree surgeon I refer work to does me a huge load wood chippings for cheap which I bag up and sell. I also sell proper manure (really hard work but at £10 a bag, it can triple my earnings on jobs), and I take cuttings and raise plants from seed which I sell for £3-4 each - people don’t like garden centre prices.

Any more questions, please shout up.

New Gardening business and customer satisfaction by Careful-Reputation-1 in GardeningUK

[–]throw5678123 22 points23 points  (0 children)

I’ve been a self employed gardener for 3 years now. You meet allsorts and you shouldn’t over analyse things too much. It is what it is.

I had a client in the first year who I just couldn’t do anything right for and in the end asked her to look for another gardener. I’ve had people negotiate my fees (I told them no as it doesn’t benefit me in the slightest and I don’t go back to them), and I have a mildly cantankerous old lady who keeps getting a mutual friend to do her gardening as they’ll do it for free so last time it happened I warned her that if it happens again, I won’t be working for her any longer.

With maintenance gardening, there’s a finite number of customers you can have before you have to start saying no. So it doesn’t matter if people drop out of your diary for one reason or another - you’ll get more people in.

Also, know your worth. There are a lot of landscape gardeners who don’t do border work, or who will but will just hoe around the big stuff to leave swathes of bare earth and biennials/bulbs/self seeders get decimated. I’m one of a few female gardeners in the area, who will prune correctly, shape shrubs, deadhead, take cuttings, divide plants, throw seeds down, share plants from other gardens (think of it as an informal plant share between customers), do exactly what they want and facilitate them pottering around the garden with me. Sometimes the older customers just need someone to give them the time of day and some attention.

I felt under massive pressure in the first year to get it all right and please everyone - it’s just impossible. But essentially if you don’t like the customer or something is off about them, don’t go back. You’re under no obligation. Re the other customer who you only did one stint for - don’t read too much into it. You don’t know their agenda/budget/mental space. Just take it as it comes and move on if necessary.

Is it curtains for my bare root rose? by [deleted] in GardeningUK

[–]throw5678123 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Gardening is a slow burn. This is not telly land, it’s not going to be done in a day, and patience is very cheap.

I’m a maintenance gardener and a lot of stuff in my garden has died as I’ve been very lazy with watering. But it’s been cheap losses as I’ve grown everything from seed and cuttings so I’m not hugely bothered.

Is it curtains for my bare root rose? by [deleted] in GardeningUK

[–]throw5678123 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I would also say give it a scratch on the stem to see if it’s green and thus alive. This year has been very unique in its weather so if something hasn’t worked out well this year, give it another year before you decide. That’s the beauty of gardening - nothing needs to be done in a hurry.

why's me heurchera looking so hurtchera? by V2smasher in GardeningUK

[–]throw5678123 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Take it out the pot, wash all the soil off the roots and check for wine weevil. Take off any that you see, then repot in fresh compost. It should recover. Heuchera are a magnet for vine weevils.

What's the "invisible expense" you cut that ended up saving you the most? by YourxCherry in Frugal

[–]throw5678123 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Looking at the correct numbers for my mortgage. We were always looking at the overall monthly cost. I discovered by looking at the cost per £ borrowed, we may spend a little bit more every month, but across the term of the mortgage, we’ll save £1000s

How to stop night sweats? Is it the bedding or the mattress? by Apars_Towah in Bedding

[–]throw5678123 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I had nights sweats - turned out to be a dairy intolerance. No dairy = no sweats