What's your bargain of the day?
 

I casually asked next door's gardener how much he would charge to cut down our tree, £30 including taking away all the pieces, how's that for a bargain? Pictures are before and after. What's your bargain of the day?

http://img844.imageshack.us/img844/9639/p1010778h.jpg Uploaded with ImageShack.us http://img826.imageshack.us/img826/206/p1010781a.jpg Uploaded with ImageShack.us
http://img705.imageshack.us/img705/7922/p1010782j.jpg Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Re: What's your bargain of the day?
 

Very nice indeed Tinky and that certainly is most definitely a bargain.

Re: What's your bargain of the day?
 

A Le Crueset-style 5 litre cast iron flameproof casserole, from Sainsburys, also £30. Reduced from rather more than that (don't know exactly, Mrs T did the buying). Quite a few of the recipes in our Hairy Bikers book need a flameproof casserole. Cannat wait, man. :D

Re: What's your bargain of the day?
 

Sure was Den I was expecting him to say at least twice that! :)

Sounds a bargain, pictures please Chris.

This was our garden last summer, the tree may look good, but when it looses it's leaves, not good.
http://img201.imageshack.us/img201/1492/p1010430vj.jpg Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Re: What's your bargain of the day?
 

Yes you certainly have got a bargain there Chris as Le Crueset-style stuff is pretty pricey in my experience.

Re: What's your bargain of the day?
 

Just looked it up on Google Chris, you certainly got a bargain there.

Re: What's your bargain of the day?
 

that tree cutting job was a real bargain - I had the same thing done with a similar looking tree and it cost me £350 - and they took a load of BT lines down with it as they misjudged the fall of a section of it

Re: What's your bargain of the day?
 

the boss is taking the whole team for breakfast at a local pub

so free fry up =:)bargain

Re: What's your bargain of the day?
 

So even bigger bargain that what I originally thought! :)

Nice one Papa, don't forget the black pudding, enjoy!

Re: What's your bargain of the day?
 

Forgot, sorry. Here you go.

http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/at...1&d=1364240962

Of course we now have had time to cook in it. Here's a Hairy Bikers saag gosht, just out of the oven. Very tasty it was too. :drool:

http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/at...1&d=1364240962

Re: What's your bargain of the day?
 

I think you benefited from an 'elf and safety exempt' quote there. ;)

The old lady opposite was charged £150 for lopping the top off a Christmas tree she'd planted in her garden a few years ago. I could have done it in 10 mins.

Re: What's your bargain of the day?
 

Today's bargain 3 and a half pounds of topside reduced to £6.21. :):):)

Re: What's your bargain of the day?
 

I feel several hearty stews coming on... :)

Re: What's your bargain of the day?
 

Bought £200 worth of medical textbooks for £147 :cool:

Re: What's your bargain of the day?
 

Mrs Osem just came home with a £28 turkey she bought for £3.50. I'm busy looking for stock and turkey recipes... :D

Re: What's your bargain of the day?
 

That it indeed a good bargain and this link might help you as well.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/se...grammes%5B%5D=

Re: What's your bargain of the day?
 

lol Cheers Den.

126 recipes!!! :eek: It's big but not that big. :)

I must say I have never been a big fan of turkey but a few decent recipes may help.

Re: What's your bargain of the day?
 

Well that's your meals sorted for the week, lets see now there's Turkey hot or cold, on sandwiches, curried, hot pot, salad.............need I go on lol? :D

Re: What's your bargain of the day?
 

Bargain :tu:

Re: What's your bargain of the day?
 

That's what I'm worried about... :erm: :)

I decided to bone it last night and will probably roast the crown and use the legs in some form of stew or curry. The carcass made some nice stock too.

Re: What's your bargain of the day?
 

Should do us for three or four meals with all the trimmings, yummy. :):):)

So you're not just a pretty face then Osem? Tell you what, you can't beat a bowl of home made soup. :drool:

Re: What's your bargain of the day?
 

Hmmm not sure the missus would agree with that lol.

Yes, we've been having a lot of home made soup in recent months. I'm really into spicy chorizo and tomato made with loads of beans etc. Have been experimenting with red kidney beans, chick peas, butter beans, borlotti beans, cannellini beans etc. and it's really healthy, hearty stuff. I make a massive pot full which does 3 adults for 3 main meals each for less than a tenner and of course all sorts of leftovers can get used up this way. The beans etc. are so cheap when bought dried and it's amazing how they soak up the flavours... Yummy! :) In fact I'll probably use some of the lovely jellified turkey stock I've just frozen for the base of my next soup.

I reckon if more people cooked their own, simple, food instead of relying on branded ready meals, take-aways etc. their money would go a lot further.

Re: What's your bargain of the day?
 

Tell you what, buy 6 and send Mrs Osem the others. She loves it... ;)

Re: What's your bargain of the day?
 

I doubt anyone checked with the council for TPO. Also the waste is usually sold on as logs for burning.

Re: What's your bargain of the day?
 

I take it that means tree protection order. We have been in this house for 15 years and in that time we have not been advised by the Council or anyone else even Solicitors when we bought the house, that the tree was protected. However it's gone and good riddance, stops our neighbours complaining about the leaves. :)

Re: What's your bargain of the day?
 

Doesn't mean there isn't one in force. There might have been an oversite by your solicitor and they failed to mention a TPO. Are you in a conservation area? Trees in conservation areas are covered with TPOs.
The potential penalty for cutting down a tree covered by a TPO is £20,000. Even pruning a TPO'd tree can lead to prosecution if the work has not been granted.
By the way, it's Tree Presevation Order.

Re: What's your bargain of the day?
 

It can be seen from the original photo that the tree had been pollarded in the past, so I'm sure if any preservation order was in place it would probably have been enforced, then. I don't think Tinky has any worries. :)

My most recent bargain day was due to 'achieving' the age of sixty - I had a free eye test, 25% discount off the resulting pair of glasses & then popped into the chemist to pick up my, now free, prescription. I'm currently filling in the form to get a further rebate on the glasses courtesy of my company 'health scheme' perk :cool:

Re: What's your bargain of the day?
 

I'm not worried about the tree, I doubt very much that it was the subject of a TPO. :rolleyes:

Happy belated birthday Idio, don't forget to apply for your bus pass, normally done for us at our local library. :)

Re: What's your bargain of the day?
 

The point I'm trying to emphasise is that before anyone reduces or fells a tree check with the planning office first unless your sure its NOT covered by a TPO. I've worked for a tree surgeon and he always checked with the planning office before work was carried out, it's only a phone call. You'd be surprised what trees are covered and what's not particularly in areas that are older than surrounding areas. Not all trees in the same garden are protected. Just because someone has worked on a tree previously doesn't mean it hasn't got a TPO on it.
You occasionally get the disgruntled neighbour who makes that phone call enquiring as to whether the tree been worked on has a TPO. As Tinky admits, she DOUBTS that a TPO is in force. I DOUBT that the work would have been allowed if applied for if it had a TPO and IF the Planning office were to find out, questions might be asked as to the previously work. IF there isn't a TPO in force then luckily your right not to be worried but your NOT sure are you. Yes, I have been about to fell a tree on the assumption that a TPO would be unlikely only to find out that there was. I wish i had a pound for the number of occasions that customers say that a particular tree is not covered only to find out that it is.

Just bit of info before anyone else puts their bank account in jeopardy.:D

Re: What's your bargain of the day?
 

I appreciate that you are trying to warn others who may be contemplating having a tree removed without checking on whether it is subject to a TPO. However we were 100% sure ours wasn't, as shown in the attached photo, our tree is barely discernible from the leylandii hedge prior to it being cut down.

Re: What's your bargain of the day?
 

So apart from oak trees what sort of trees would be subject to a TPO?

Re: What's your bargain of the day?
 

Re: What's your bargain of the day?
 

https://www.gov.uk/government/public...dures-guidance

I hope this helps

Re: What's your bargain of the day?
 

I think my neighbours would have a problem if they decided to cut down their tree.

http://img707.imageshack.us/img707/5383/tree1n.jpg

My bargain of the day 500 gram Lurpak for £1.60 instead of £3.29, I bought 4 of them.

Re: What's your bargain of the day?
 

My bargain of the day:

http://www.qvcuk.com/Panasonic-TZ25-...N-_-3-_-503688

Seems to get very good reviews for a pocket cam costing under £100.

Re: What's your bargain of the day?
 

My best bargin was a 20m Monster 400 DVI cable for £20, it was originally over £200.

Re: What's your bargain of the day?
 

Ah Monster, comparable to a coat hanger.... :D

20 metres though wow, sounds like a strange set up for that length.

Re: What's your bargain of the day?
 

Oral B 3D toothpaste 75ml £3.49 at Tesco.

BOGOF not recognised at the till, so reimbursed £6.98.

Free toothpaste is always nice. :D

Re: What's your bargain of the day?
 

3 and a half pounds of Siverside, 3 pounds of pork and 1 pound of mince for under £10. :):):)

Re: What's your bargain of the day?
 

That's great value Tinky.:tu:

Re: What's your bargain of the day?
 

I like to think I have an eye for a bargain Den. They were all today's date, but that's only a guide and they are vacuum sealed so they'll be OK in the freezer.:)

Re: What's your bargain of the day?
 

Planning a CF banquet are we?? ;) :D

---------- Post added at 08:21 ---------- Previous post was at 08:16 ----------

Yeah, some time ago I cooked a duck I'd had frozen down in the garage which had been left in there for about 4 years and been forgotten. It was absolutely delicious. 100% sound packaging obviously makes a big difference.

Re: What's your bargain of the day?
 

We bought some bits of lamb at half price last week to use for stews and we put them straight into the freezer.:)

Re: What's your bargain of the day?
 

At our local tesco they have the handheld self scan machines, so you go around and scan your items as you go.

Our little one fancied a new hat, so I duly picked up a genuine branded NY baseball cap thing that should have been £7

We scanned it and it came up as .... FOUR PENCE sadly there were no other ones, but I think a £6.96 saving isn't bad.

I expect it should have been £4 and someone got it wrong.

Re: What's your bargain of the day?
 

Nice one techguy it's not often we come across these little gems. :)

Re: What's your bargain of the day?
 

Bought this morning 1.83kg Topside £.4.83, that's several meals sorted. :)

Re: What's your bargain of the day?
 

That's great value Tinky as we a while back bought a big piece of beef at half price and cut it into three and now we have one piece left in the freezer.:)

Re: What's your bargain of the day?
 

Well it's certainly the right weather, brrrr......, for some proper warming 'comfort' food. I have some topside here and am thinking of making a nice hot chilli out of it to warm us all up.

Re: What's your bargain of the day?
 

Sounds good Osem, you'll have to give us the recipe.

Re: What's your bargain of the day?
 

500 grams of cooking bacon 81p :):):):):)