Useful things you don't see anymore

[snapdragon]

Seems a variation on those string bags would be easy to make with a crochet hook.

nod nod should be simple enough - midweight cotton and a double treble/three chain mesh

[citizentwiglet]

When was the last time anyone saw a hand mincer for sale? (For mincing meat by hand, not for mincing your hands - though I'm sure that could be a possibility too); my mum was attached to hers for many years of the 70s. Knife-sharpening blocks?
I had to search high and low for waxed disks for the top of my preserves - eventually found some in Lakeland, but the sheer amount of useless plastic crap that shop sells rendered me severely traumatised, so I'm glad I bought 100 disks in one go, because I do not want to see such horrors again for a while.

Funny thing is, as soon as you notice something you can't get anymore, within a few weeks JML are advertising the very thing on TV. My mum had a wee battery operated machine back in the day to take fluff and 'pills' off jumpers. Lo and behold, they are back - and advertised as though they are brand spanking new!

[Green Aura]

I've bought a hand mincer recently - off e-bay. Brand new and with a sausage maker attachment.

The only problem is - we threw one away (long pre-ish) a few years ago, which we'd had for years! Stupid huh?

[Millymollymandy]

We bought a hand mincer several years ago so that we could buy el cheapo stewing beef to make mince with to save money - can't remember where we got it from but I imagine off the internet somewhere! I don't use it anymore because it is such a faff trying to clean meat gristle out of the holes in the discs, and the disc with the smallest size holes was so absolutely impossible to clean that I had to throw it away. They rust as well if you don't dry them immediately. Then I discovered Lidl mince which comes in a bag you can pour out as much or as little as you like, meaning we use a lot less (individually frozen it looks bulky but actually isn't) so saves us as much money!

[Millymollymandy]

The only problem is - we threw one away (long pre-ish) a few years ago, which we'd had for years! Stupid huh?

So the moral is, don't throw away that sandwich toaster lurking unused at the back of a cupboard!

Talking of which, had toasted sandwiches at the in-laws when I was in England recently and I'd forgotten how yummy they are - but it's just another thing which seems like a faff to me, with all the cleaning out nooks and crannies.

[Cligereen]

Stirrup pumps. A body can never have enough stirrup pumps. They're great for watering seed beds from a bucket, great for clearing small floods, useful for cleaning the car and all without electricity.

My great grandmother gave me hers many years ago which she had used to clear floods out of the air-raid shelter in the garden. Sadly it eventually broke and I haven't found another. I am still on the lookout though. I'm amazed that some 'green' company doesn't manufacture them again.

[Green Aura]

Thimbles! That's all I have to say.

[Milims]

Stirrup pumps. A body can never have enough stirrup pumps. They're great for watering seed beds from a bucket, great for clearing small floods, useful for cleaning the car and all without electricity.

My great grandmother gave me hers many years ago which she had used to clear floods out of the air-raid shelter in the garden. Sadly it eventually broke and I haven't found another. I am still on the lookout though. I'm amazed that some 'green' company doesn't manufacture them again.

My mum had one of those for years - to water the carpet with! Seriously! We had some kind of coconut carpet squares in the hall and up the stairs when I was wee. The problem was if the got too dry they shrank so they had to be watered every now and then - hence the sturrup pump!

[Cligereen]

Milims, if you'd have thrown some cress seeds on that watered matting you could have a good crop! A sort of very posh greenhouse!

[marshlander]

Here's some instructions for netting your own;- http://wampumkeeper.com/netstringbag.html

If you buy from Suma wholefoods they're avail in lovely bright colours and not expensive.