Today is the kind of winter's day that I love: blue skies, sunshine and a light layer of silvery frost. I know frost isn't the gardener's friend but my word it's good at making the world look beautiful! The silvery hue it lends nature and the incredible patterns it can create is quite marvellous.
I didn't get a chance to take any snaps on this morning's dog walk so instead I've found a selection online to show you. Enjoy…
I'm guest posting over at Daisy Green Magazine today, this time it's how to make your own natural skincare products. You can read the recipes here.
I'm becoming quite fond of making edible treats from my local hedgerows. In the autumn I make blackberry jam and blackberry vodka and I'm summoning up the courage to snip some nettles to make tea. This week I thought I'd give elderflower cordial a go. I used the recipe from July's Country Homes and Interiors magazine and although it stated that 850ml of cordial would be produced, I somehow ended up with more than a litre…
In my haste to make, I forgot to take any pics of the elderflower, you can find this image on flickr here
It's really very simple. All you need to do is boil 600ml water in a pan and add 900g caster sugar, stirring until it dissolves. Take it off the heat and leave it to cool for about ten minutes. In the meantime, grate the zest of one lemon and juice it. You will need to have cut ten elderflower heads, give them a thorough look over to pick out any little bugs who have come along for the ride. Add the elderflower heads, the lemon zest and juice and 45g of citric acid (bought from a chemist). Give it a good stir, cover and leave overnight.
Then, simply sieve and pour into sterilised bottles. It should keep for about a month, I'm storing mine in the fridge. It's pretty strong stuff so you only need a little added to water, soda or anything else you fancy flavouring.
This has instantly become my favourite soft summer drink and I think Pimm's is hard to beat as a sunshiney grown-up tipple. What's your favourite beverage on a hot summer's day?
PS I've just added a few new items to my etsy shop, check out the bunting bags when you get a mo…
What glorious weather we've been enjoying! I hope it's been sunny where you are too.
This weekend my hubbie, doggie and I went to visit my brother, sister-in-law, niece and nephew. Having spent a lovely afternoon at their allotment I was inspired to get cracking on my own veggies. So, I have now planted my second early potatoes in their stack of tyres, four rows of red onions, a row of spring onions and a row of leeks. I'll add more rows of spring onions and leeks in the next few weeks so we can enjoy our crops over a longer period of time, plus a few other veggies like beans, tomatoes and salad leaves, and hopefully some strawberries too.
Last year I had moderate success with my crops so this year I'm hoping to do better. I think I've learnt from the mistakes I made last year, we'll have to just wait and see how I get on! For those of you who are interested I use organic peat-free compost and don't use any chemicals to help things grow. If nature and I can't do it on our own, it isn't worth doing! If you're interested in finding out more about organic growing, take a look at the Soil Association's website.
If you've never tried growing your own food I urge you to have a go.
There's something quite soothing about handling soil, planting seeds,
watering and tending to them. And of course eating the products of your
hard work is hugely rewarding. You don't need huge amounts of space (I
don't), a windowbox is enough to grow salad leaves or herbs, most
things can be grown in pots and, as I've demonstrated, potatoes can be
grown in old car tyres! Growing your own food costs a lot less than buying it from the supermarket, plus you know exactly where your meal has come from.
The other great thing about gardening is that it gets you out in the fresh air and (hopefully) the sunshine. Studies have shown that being in nature lifts the spirits and makes people feel happier. So, now nature is well into its stride with flowers blooming, bees buzzing and butterflies swooping about all over the place, I thought I'd give your eyeballs a treat with some images of nature doing what it does best…
…is my new mantra, so, fittingly, this…
… was given to me today by my dear friend Kirsty and sums up a lovely afternoon spent learning how to crochet this…
…small and imperfectly formed, but crochet none the less, and followed by…
…multi-coloured eggs from local chickens for my dinner!
Hope you all had an equally satisfying day.
Hello and welcome to my new look blog! It's a bit shinier looking than the last one and I've added a couple of extra things including some pics of things I have made. Does what it says on the tin. There's not a lot there yet but it will be added to in time! Hope you like it! BTW, anyone who had an RSS feed, I didn't manage to carry you over from my old blog so you might want to set that up again, sorry!
So, to gardening. As you will know I have ventured into the land of veggie gardening, with mixed results. Thought I'd give you an update as to how my little crops are doing and sum up what I've learned so far.
So, what have I learned in first foray into gardening? A lot! To the experienced out there the below will seem pretty obvious but remember back to the first crops you planted, did you get it all right first time around? (Shush if you did.)
Hubbie and I spent a week at Cornish Tipi Holidays and it was one of the most memorable holidays we've ever been on. Brushing your teeth wandering around your own camping area looking at dragonflies is an experience I loved! This pic shows our tipi hidden in the woodland, it was taken from across the stream!
The site is in Cornwall (clue's in the title) in what was once a quarry. The woodland and lake (where you can fish if you're so inclined) belie the fact it was ever such an industrial place.
The lovely CTH people provide you with loads of stuff like a cooking stove, cooler box, cooking utensils, tin plates and mugs, but, like camping, the more you bring from home the more comfortable your stay will be. You'll be amazed how spacious it is inside. If you fancy going on holiday withe friends you can rent tipis together in a clearing. if you want a bit more privacy you can choose a tipi in it's own little corner, complete with picnic bench. There's a log pile providing fuel for your open fire and a water tap near each tipi. Toilets and showers are provided at central points.
That's some of the practical stuff but what's more important is the peace and quiet of the site and the feeling that you're totally immersed in nature. Knitting in the dappled sunshine while butterflies fluttered by was an idyllic daytime moment, while lying on the picnic bench watching shooting stars was a pretty amazing way to spend an evening too!
It wasn't all perfect, I'll concede, crawling in and out of the tipi made the back ache a smidgen and it got quite chilly at night (it was September after all) but in the grand scheme of things they weren't big issues. One tip to note, don't leave food outside unless you want the larger local wildlife to keep you awake with their rummaging!
Whether you're a bunch of mates, a couple or a family, a tipi holiday is one you should try at least once in your lifetime! Check out www.cornishtipiholidays.co.uk
