I am Not Going to Scream

I am keeping calm and carrying on ...

And just letting you know that I haven't done the prize draw yet. I've been trying to update my website all day but Mr Site had other ideas. It's just lucky that Mr Marmalade wasn't here.

I am intending to do the draw for my giveaway tomorrow when my brain is less addled by HTML code and web stupidsims.

I will end this short post on a happy thought. After venturing into the empty chicken run yesterday, Mr Marmalade had to have TWO SHOWERS to get rid of the mites which had leapt onto him in a feeding frenzy - having been starved for a week from nice plump chicken. You see how bad the problem was?

Luckily, I have been rescued from the depths of chicken-house despair by the prospect of having one of these ...


Diana (who's nephew makes them) reminded me about them. I know that Gina has one. They seem to be the best option for hens if you don't want an Eglu. Which I don't.

So ... I am saving up for one and I am happy with that thought.

With and Without

I've been sad this week because I've lost my battle with the dreaded Red Mites and am now without my lovely girls, Eggy and Peggy. I'm missing them terribly, but I thought it better that I lose the battle with the red mites, rather than them. After weeks and weeks of scrubbing, spraying, squirting, powdering and squashing, I asked BillyJane if she'd like to give the girls a safe home in her new Eglu palace, and she very kindly agreed to take them in, having lost two of her own to the pesky things.

So I am without hens, and what a quiet, desolate garden I have now. I do feel quite bereft without them and am saving up for my own eglu as this seems to be the only answer, but they cost lots, so it probably won't be until next Spring that I will be able to once more enjoy the sounds of contented clucking. It's not all bad, as Jane is giving me the eggs from my girls as together with her three, she will have more than enough anyway.

To distract myself, I've been tidying up my sewing room and saving my fabric instead. The afternoon sun shines directly into my fabric cupboard, so I've been worried about fading. I know lots of other crafty bloggers have got the same Ikea cupboard as me. I think it was designed by somebody who sews, because it is sew perfect (haha) for storing everything, nice and roomy, lots of shelves, and pretty too, in a plain sort of way. So this is what I did to protect my lovely fabric ...

(ignore the mess on top!!)

This ofcourse promted a tidy up! My sewing space has, over the last two years, grown from the dining room table to this ...

I am hoping that one day it doesn't take over the whole house!!!

Back to Basics

As you know, I have joined up with "That Little Bit Greener" and the topic for this week is 'tips for greener living'.

I'm afraid that when it comes to being 'green', I'm a bit of a fundamentalist. My (estranged) birth family consider me to be a militant bean-eating hippy with socialist tendencies, which is pretty horrific in their materialistic view. Clearly, as you can see, I do not fit this description - at least on the outside. Too many people see being 'green' as being 'boring' or 'crusty'. or 'weird'. It's not true. Anybody can be green, and the best place to start is in the way you think. So my tip for this week is to read this book:

(I've said it before and I'll say it again!)

What's the point of reading this book?

Because being green is more than just recycling our plastic containers and consuming greener goods. It is about changing our values radically to encompass a greener lifestyle.

In order to do this, we must understand and take responsibility for our actions. It's not about simply choosing 'organic' over 'mass produced' or absolving the guilt of buying heavily packaged goods by recycling. It is about questioning both the nature and volume of our daily consumption and re-assessing our role as individuals in transforming the fundamental inequalities in today’s world economy.

The best quote from this book that I can give you to illustrate the point goes like this:

"Each and every quarter pound of hamburger is handed across the counter after the following production costs which i've searched out precisely: 100 gallons of water, 1.2 pounds of grain a cup of gasoline, greenhouse-gas emissions equivalent to those produced by a six mile drive in your average car, and the loss of 1.25 pounds of topsoil, every inch of which took five hundred years for the microbes and earthworms to build. How can all this cost less than a dollar, and who is supposed to pay for the rest of it? If I were a cow, right here is where i'd go mad."

Living a less clutter-filled, more simple life means quality not quantity and most importantly, it means being able to assess the difference between what we really need over what we simply just want. It is therefore about having less impact on our own environment and in doing so, the wider environment, inspiring ourselves and others to ask what is really important: our convenience or the future of the planet? It is about not taking more than our fair share and ensuring that life remains worth living for future generations.

The Government is very good at blaming us for the impending ecological crisis and as consumers we are largely to blame, however, supply matches demand and we can challenge government and industry to adopt greener policies by voting with our pennies to ensure that we buy, and therefore demand, more compassionate and ethically sound products.

In short, being 'green' is a form of self-empowerment based on choice not denial and for me personally, it is a practical commitment to the earth itself.

"Small Wonder" is a collection of brilliant and insightful essays covering topics which range from genetic engineering, and world poverty, through to motherhood, sustainability and conservation and although written from the perspective of an American, the issues discussed can be applied to a lifestyle anywhere in the West. Although I was already writing about environmental issues by the time I read this book several years ago, the lessons I learned from it were life changing for me and I have read it many many times since then. The reason I recommend it over all other 'eco' books, is because of the way it is written. It doesn't preach, it doesn't evangalise, it doesn't tell you what to do and the writer does not proport to be perfect or expert in any way. She simply puts forward her opinions and ideas in a down to earth manner which every woman/wife/mother can relate to and take action upon. In her own words:

"I'm skeptical of evangelism so I'm not going to have a tent revival here. But if you've come with me this far, you are in some sense a fellow traveler and I'm glad for your company. In this congregation we don't confess or sit around chanting "we are not worthy"; we just do what we can and trust that the effort matters."

Strawberries, cream, and all things nice..

Thankyou everyone for all your lovely support, button placements, facebook fanning, and general loveliness. I've had a really fantabulous response to my website, so fingers crossed that some things start to happen soon on the ordering front!!

In the meantime, care to join me with some Strawberry Ice? Here's what you need:

A punnet of strawberries, chopped and boiled down with sugar to taste, a twist of black pepper, and half a tsp balsamic. Make a nice syrup from that.

A custard made from half a pint of boiled milk into which you beat 100g caster sugar, 150 ml double cream, 1 tsp vanilla essence, and 4 egg yolks.

Stir the two together and either freeze the long way (in a dish, in the freezer, stir every 4 hours) or put it into an icecream maker to churn.

Slurp!!

Ready Steady Go!

OK folks here is the news you've all been waiting for! This is what i've been working on! My shiny new shop!

It's a work in progress, still lots to add, but at last, after alorralorra hard work and square eyes, it's ready for you to look at! I'm very pleased with the site and would love you to have a look and let me know what you think - are there any ommissions or errors? Anything I can improve upon?

To celebrate, and spread the word I'm having a giveaway! Here's how to enter...

I've made a little button which I'd like you to post on your blog along with news of my giveaway. The button is over there on the right with the right code underneath. The purpose of this is so that Mr Google and Mr Yahoo can see that I have lots of links and push me up the rankings.

If you 'fan me' on Facebook using the button below, I will enter you twice, so that you have twice the chance of winning! If you don't have a blog, just fan me on facebook for a single entry.

Don't forget to post a comment here so that I know you've entered,  and please do let me know how you find the site, and if there are any glaring ommissions, or errors.

The prize for the giveaway .. One of the kits ofcourse! Your choice from the shop.


I will keep the competition open for a week and post the winner next Sunday.

Now i'm going to sit down, have a nice cup of tea and rest my weary eyes and brain! ahhhhhh......

Moon Magic

I've been waiting for the old moon to wane, the dark moon to pass and the new moon to begin before I launch my exciting new project.  This celestial happening has occurred and today, I will be working like mad to get this up and running and to be able to tell you all about it!  I want it to be just right before you see it!  

Moon lore is such a vast subject, a whole blog could be written on that alone, and due to aforementioned frenzy of typographical activity on my part, as much as I would love to write more on the subject, I can't today!

So, dear readers and friends, stay tuned.  By the time you see the crescent moon this cycle, all will (hopefully) be revealed!

August Musings

There's been alot of musing going on in my little head lately...

It's been a whole year this month since quite a big change of lifestyle happened in my world, breaking, amending, changing habits and outlooks that I had been used to for the last 10 years and leaving me quite outside a large community of people who I had shared many rites and rituals with.  It's not necessarily a bad thing, but it has been a strange and sometimes difficult year.

I feel a bit like I have strayed away from my personal path a little, or maybe alot, but I know it's not permanent, more of an exploration of what's right and wrong for me, losing connections, and finding new ones in my own way.  I guess this might be reflected within the pages of this blog now that it is nearly 2 years old.  In my first year here I spent alot of time writing about nature and green issues, and this year, as I have delved deeper and deeper into my own creativity, the blog has taken a turn in direction away from those types of issue.  It was intentional as I always wanted this to be a crafty blog, rather than a 'lifestyle' blog, but at the same time, I wanted the whole thing to reflect my outlook on life, the universe and everything. 

I am thinking of perhaps starting another blog later this year, to focus more on matters of the spirit, in order to share the wonder of teachings I have been given over the years.  

In the meantime, it's a good job that Emma and Rachel have created a new blog, That Little Bit Greener which gives members the opportunity to write every second Wednesday, about the green issues which affect their lives and which they can share with the wider community.  There are already lots of links on my blog in each sidebar, to ideas and opinions on green ways and light living, but it will be nice to have the opportunity  to focus on these again here, perhaps in a slightly less militant fashion than I did in the past!

In the meantime, it's been such a lovely weekend weatherwise, that we've been down on The Marmalade Patch again.  Check it out!

Another Day, Another Style...

So here is my latest love. Not my usual style and not a particularly original design, it's not haute couture, and dear old Vivienne Westwood, needn't get twitchy, but I love it mostly because I made this skirt from scratch, from the blank peice of paper, to the outfit I wore to work today. Did i say that I love it! It's comfortable, it's pretty, it's summery, it was cheap to make, and it's just what I wanted. But best of all ..

The lining! I was going to sew a boring old black lining as being broderanglaise it's a bit transparent! But then I found some black netting, and some red organza which has been in my stash for ages .. oh such delight!

Just Right

There's something so satisfying about a perfect line of topstitch. The sort of 'satisfied' that puts a gleeful grin on one's face and prompts perhaps a few too many moments of loving stare for any sane (non sewing) person to be comfortable with.  For me, each line represents an acomplishment over the many years I couldn't sew a neat line, nevermind a straight one, but always dreamed of doing so!  

This is my latest project from The House of Marmalade which is giving me much joy and causing me to hop about excitedly in my sewing room chattering to myself in a most congratulatory way.  More details when it's finished - which should hopefully be tomorrow!

A Bowl of Sunshine

After feeling thoroughly snogged by the sun this weekend (as opposed to kissed), we are now back to default rain.

Luckily,  I have these to remind me.  Gathered from the roadside, deliciously sweet and juicy yellow plums.  I fear that eating them all as is, might result in a few unscheduled trips to youknowwhere, but other than that, I have absolutely no idea what to do with them.  Any ideas?

These Boots Were Made For ..

My talented artist friend Sue C has taken to painting shoes, and so I donated some of my favourite "models" to her project "Change your Shoes, Change your Life".  

Click here to see the rest of her work..