We’ve had an email from Riann:

I’ve seen you’ve got suggestions for ham bones but what about lamb ones? I can’t think of anything I’d use a lamb stock for! Could I give them to my friend’s dog?

Our dog Lily got rather poorly sick from eating a raw lamb bone last December – but other people seem to feed their dogs all sorts of raw bones without any problems — your friend will probably know how their dog reacts to raw bones. Most people say not to give dogs (or cats) cooked bones though, as they are more likely to splinter.

Lamb stock isn’t as commonly called for as chicken or beef stock as it has such a striking flavour but you could use it in Shepherd’s pies or lamb stews/casseroles or tagines, or to make a gravy for with your next roast lamb joint/chops. (Don’t forget you can freeze stock – condense it first so it doesn’t take up as much space.)

Anyone else got any other suggestions for things to do with lamb stock? Or any other reuses for lamb bones?

Over on the Suggest an Item page, Valerey explained:

I work in the medical profession and I open and use medications all the time. I was wondering is there any way to reuse the flip seals on the top of the single use vials. I have a quite a few and need some suggestions….thanks.

I’m not a medical person so I’m not familiar with the caps – but after a bit of time with Google Image search, I think I know what Valerey means – the flat top bit in that picture (if it’s not that, please do let me know). It’s a disc with a protruding centre, which seals into the top of the bottle. Some seem to have “flip off” stamped into them too, which seems a little redundant as it’s inside the bottle but gives them a bit of fun attitude…! :)

People who know what they are: do you know if the caps come into contact with the medication at all, or is there another seal in between? If it does come into contact with the medication, that will probably limit the potential reuses – they look like they could be used as coins in a toy till/cash register but you probably wouldn’t want kids getting their hands on them if they had the slightest traces of medicines on them.

And for those already familiar with them, any suggestions?

UPDATED TO ADD: lots of people have been asking for pictures of flip off cap creations for inspiration. Here are some that I can find – if anyone knows of any more examples, let me know and I’ll add them to my list:

• Dottie’s shop on Etsy
• A wedding bouquet made from them!
• FlowerReels4U’s shop on Etsy
• Flower blooms for ID cards
• Ms Sara’s rings & earrings

Those who follow my simple/DIY living blog The Really Good Life as well as Recycle This will know that I’m doing a clothes rationing exercise in 2011. For those that don’t know, I’ve limited myself to buying a maximum of 12 items of clothing – be it brand new or second-hand – across the year. I didn’t think an outright “buy no clothes in 2011” ban would be realistic due to the gaps in my current wardrobe (no smart clothes, few jumpers that fit) or because of wear and tear throughout the year — but as it happens, since I implemented my quota and got incredibly conscious about using up my allowance, I’ve not bought anything at all so far.

I do keep getting flashes of “something new would be nice”. Since the start of the challenge, I’ve regularly done exercises to “shop from my wardrobe” — sorting through my existing shirts or tops to remind myself what I’ve got, what fits, what needs repairing and mentally linking items together into outfits. But by the end of winter, I was still getting a bit bored of the few jumpers/hoodies I own (especially as the hoodies are very same-y) and now, after a warmer than expected Spring, I’m already getting a little tired of my t-shirts.

Then at the weekend, I spotted a how-to which started my mind cogs working. In that tutorial they used doilies to make cute short sleeves/shoulder accents for vest tops (aka sleeveless shirt, tank top, singlet, or camisole – the outerwear, t-shirt like version rather than underwear). I’m not sure I’m a doily type of girl but I have a number of cute (or even just plain but nice coloured) vest tops that would be made considerably more wearable with the addition of some sleeves, new straps or a little more support/coverage around the cleavage area. (I usually wear the vest tops underneath other tops or shirts to disguise these defects but when it’s warm, I don’t want to wear multiple layers.)

So I started looking around for some other vest top revamp ideas. I found some more ideas for adding mini sleeves onto vest tops; I could combine two vests – making sleeves, a length extension and a boob-cover up from one all sewn onto the other. There are also the usual ideas for hiding stains or embellishing plain tops too, to add more excitement to the festivities.

Before I go snip happy with my pinking shears, I’d love to hear more ideas though – have you revamped any vest tops into something more covering or just something fresh and new? Have you seen any how-tos or inspirational ideas?

We’ve had an email from Natasha:

It seems a good number of my terracotta plant pots cracked in the cold over winter. What can I reuse them for?

Holding your horses, you may be able to repair them if it’s just a relatively clean crack – this Instructable fixes a broken-in-half pot with epoxy resin, this how-to uses silicone sealant and wire, and this eHow also uses wire. Anyone got any fixing/mending advice?

Even it’s beyond repair, don’t discount it as still being useful as a planter – some people make very effective use of broken pots to create a shabby chic/Roman ruins feel for the garden.

If it’s even beyond that though, broken up, it could still be useful in the garden – providing interesting/useful shade for aquatic life in a pond or as water draining crocks at the bottom of the new replacement plant pots.

(And don’t forget to stop history repeating itself by protecting terracotta and the like over winter. From what I’ve read, pots fired to a higher temperature are more frost resistant too, so look out for “frost proof” pots too.)

Any other repair or reuse suggestions?

We’ve had an email from Simone:

My hubby and I have been homebrewing for a couple of years but our last batch was not nice at all! We’ve got 40 bottles of it but don’t want to drink it ourselves and don’t think it would be fair to force it on others either! Is there anything to be done with it other than pouring it away?

Since I’m obsessed with gardening these days, the first idea that springs to mind is slug traps – they’re not fussy about the quality or taste of the beer. (We’ve not had to use slug traps this year because it’s been too hot and dry for the critters but I’ve used some five years out of date four-for-80p lager for my beer traps in the past and they’ve dived in as if it’s the finest ale of the gods.)

Other ideas may depend on why it’s “not nice at all”. If it’s a problem with the mouthfeel or strength of flavour, you might be able to reuse it for making something like beer bread or in pies/stews.

And if there is a possibility it’s just a matter of taste, perhaps you should try it on some less discerning friends — or if it’s really vile, use it to teach kids not to drink (“this is what all beer tastes like, you should stick to lemonade” “yes mum, it’s horrible” – perhaps an unwise idea from the “smoke a whole box of cigars” school of parenting ;) )

Anyone else got any other ideas?