Post Birthday Post

Last Monday was my birthday, and I had a fab few days celebrating it, on the Saturday before my actual birthday Simon took me to Coleman's Craft Warehouse. This has become something of a birthday tradition since I first discovered Coleman's back in 2016 and every year now I go along and find goodies to bring home and I end up with lots of bargains due to the fact that the Coleman's January sale always happens around my birthday.

During their sale they have yellow sticker items with reductions from 35% to 70% and their non-sale items or white sticker have 30% off for two days. They also have free cake and coffee, so you can shop, take a break and then shop some more! There are usually some demos occurring on the second floor as well from cardmaking to patchwork and stitching and a whole host of other things.

I skipped the demos this year, mainly due to the fact that there had been a bad accident on the M1 on the way to Coleman's which meant that we were delayed nearly 2 hours, so instead of getting there around 13:30 like we'd planned it was 15:30 when we arrived and they closed at 17:00 so there was only shopping time (although I did fit in a 5 minute coffee and cake break lol). I was thrilled this year to discover that Coleman's are now stocking Lavinia stamps, so I picked up a few of them with my birthday spends. They were white stickered so I got 30% off each of them :)

l came home with some fab bargains as you can see, I realised after taking this photo that I'd left some stuff I bought in a bag on the bed but hey ho, you get the gist lol! This year I've vowed that I will actually use what I buy, I bought goodies in 2016 and 2017 that are still in their packaging and never been used! The space to store craft stuff in my room is shrinking as I bring in more goodies, so I have to use what I buy, their isn't space to buy and not use!

On the Sunday before my birthday it was a stay home and chill day and I watched movies and did some gaming and had a relaxing day. The day of my actual birthday started when I awoke and Simon presented with a big bunch of flowers and a card, he doesn't normally do this so I was very touched. I got some amazing cards from friends and family including several from some of my amazingly talented card making buddies, their talent and creativity never ceases to amaze me, this year I also got my first ever Nanna card, and yes I cried happy tears haha! After opening all my cards and having had breakfast Si took me off in to town, where I got some new trainers, some clothes and some pretty magazine style storage boxes for the craft room - I use them to store A4 stamp sets and card stock. As a treat we went into Marks & Spencer's for afternoon tea which was lovely and helped refuel me for a spot more shopping.

The last shopping trip of the day was to my local Hobbycraft to spend the £5 birthday voucher they sent me for being a member of their craft club. I made a beeline for the sale aisle and was blown away to find a Tim Holtz Butterfly Duo Bigz die that had been on my wishlist for a while for just £5 in the sale, I was over the moon!

I also picked up some new B Plates from my little Hobbycraft die cutting machine and a dinosaur die and stamp set plus a cut and emboss folder. Finally we picked up some Thai food, I usually have an Indian meal or a Chinese but this year I wanted to try something different, so Thai it was, and very yummy it was too! This year I decided not to have a birthday cake, instead I bought a selection of fresh fruit and made a lovely fruit salad and we had that with some yogurt instead.

Having reached 55 years and deciding that the life long battle I've had with my weight (well since my teens) will end starting this year, my birthday kicked off a new chapter in my life, tackling the weight issues and moving more. The day after my birthday I went to the doctors to pick up my regular prescription and plucked up the courage to ask if the clinic ran any weight loss schemes. Turns out they didn't but they had contact details for Live Well Derby a free 12 month programme run by my local council, having decided on my birthday that this year I would get healthy and thinner I walked back from the doctors and filled in the online application form.

2 days later I received a phone-call to say that I'd been accepted on to the programme, it doesn't start until the 4th of Feb though so I have a few weeks to wait. To start there are 4 x weekly meetings to get you on track, at the first meeting they take your height, weight and measurements, and test your blood pressure and find out your general level of fitness, then from week 2 you are given more tools and chances to experience things to get you on the road to fitness. After the first 4 weeks and for the remainder of the programme you get regular support and encouragement to help you self monitor weight, eating and activity levels. There is also an 8-week weight management course to take part in and the team arrange from you to take part in a wide variety of exercise classes from Clubbercise (dancing to 90's club anthems), Spin Classes, Circuit Training and they even get you running and doing the Couch to 5K!

I am so thrilled to have been accepted and I really do believe that with the help of Live Well Derby I will be a totally different person by my birthday in 2020 and that this time I will succeed, instead of the too many to count times where I try, and at best lose a couple of stone have a small set back and pile it all back on and more besides. I also had a sobering moment over the new year, and I realised if I want to be at the wedding (assuming they get married) of my niece and nephews, and my Granddaughter. Then I have to take better care of myself, losing weight and ensuring that those weight related illnesses don't happen to me is a huge step in the direction of living to a ripe old age (I plan on 100 or more!) so its a no brainer really.

My health has really begun to suffer recently, some of the problems are down to the menopause, some of them are weight related, I'm having trouble bending over, get back pain and knee pain and things I won't mention publicly all of it has been having a knock on effect on my self esteem and my mental health. So I've started as I mean to go on and started walking again, I was doing 9,000+ steps a day 6 months ago, but it fell by the wayside and my health deteriorated, I get out of breath going upstairs for example. I started back at 5,000 steps and I plan on increasing by 500 each week until I'm at 10,000 steps a day, I've stripped back calories and I'm trying to make healthier choices less junk and more fruit and veg. So far its working and I have a long, long way to go but little and often will win this race this time. I'll do an occasional post as I progress, I've taken some before photos and when there is a difference to see I'll share them. What I do know is next year, the only thing that will be repeating around my birthday is the trip to Coleman's and not the annual I'm fat I need to be thinner 3 day diet! I CAN DO THIS!

A Diffusion of Fragrant Findings

Not Craft Related, but it kind of is because what I'm about to say is an extension of my crafting, I like making things like room sprays, homemade pot pourri and things like foot soak fizzies and bath melts and I love making natural scented things for the home, that sentence made me think that I haven't shared some makes for herbal first aid goodies that I gave as gifts to friends and family a few years ago, despite promising some of you that I would, so I think I will very soon!

Before I get distracted, on to my reason for posting this, many of my friends know that I'm a big Yankee Candles fan, but I think that from now on I will not be buying anymore scented candles or wax melts of any description! That sounds like an epic statement to make and I guess it kind of is, but since I got an Aromatherapy Oil Diffuser its made a big difference to my well being on several levels.  I was actually looking at apps and gadgets that work with Alexa and noticed some Diffusers amongst the gadgets.

They are Smart devices, with WIFI built in so I can control the diffuser from an app on my phone, you can get none smart versions, I'm just a gadget geek lol! If anyone is interested the one I picked up is made by a company called Renpho and cost £16.99 Wifi Smart Diffuser it only holds 120ml's of water, when we get the next one I'm going for its bigger brother that holds 300ml.

I did a lot of research and discovered that a diffuser could maybe help with my chronic sinus problems, I was in the midst of yet another bad sinus attack and when they flare up they usually last 3-6 weeks sometimes less and sometimes more. So Si treated me to one,and within two days of using the diffuser the sinus infection was cleared up! I couldn't believe it I was expecting the usual weeks of misery and after just 2 days I have no pain above the bridge of my nose, the inside of my nose doesn't feel dry and irritated and the nasty smell I get (like a used ashtray) has gone!

I'm so happy with this little misting maestro that we're going to get one for the bedroom and one for the living room and the candles and oil burners that use candles will be going once they have been used up and I won't be buying them anymore, sorry Yankee candles, its been good but the romance is over. With all my years of working with essential oils, I didn't know that using a traditional oil burner (one with a tealight underneath) isn't such a clever thing to use with essential oils, the heat changes essential oils chemical construction and it burns away their therapeutic benefits as well!

Cold diffusion doesn't destroy the therapeautic complex constituents in essential oils like heating them up does, instead it distributes them into the atmosphere of the room so they can work their micro particle molecular magic and you get 100% of the benefits of the oils. They don't just make a room smell nice though, here are some of the benefits I've discovered...

Diffusing oils like Chamomile, Lavender, Cedarwood and Sweet Orange 20-30 minutes before bedtime can dramatically improve and support the body’s natural sleep cycles and combat sleep issues like insomnia, racing thoughts, and stress.

One of my favourite blends mixes the deep 'earthy' aromas of Vetivert EO with the florals of Lavender and Roman Chamomile, its a deeply relaxing blend that will help soothe your mind before sleep.

Diffusers are also great for use during times of cold and flu because they put much-needed humidity into the air which can help relieve dry sinuses and cough. Try Eucalyptus and Thyme blends during cold and flu season!

Not that anybody snores in our house, no sireeeee! But in the event that any body did, I've read that a diffuser in the room can help with snoring, it moistens the dry membranes on the nose that can contribute to snoring.

If it doesn't stop the snoring at least the person being kept awake has some pleasent smells to try and help them fall back to sleep. If I find any evidence that it works for this reason I'll update this post.

If like me you suffer from brain fog and fuzzy thinking (thank you Mrs Menopause) then essential oils like Rosemary, Basil, Lemon, Cypress, Lavender, and Frankincense can help to promote deep concentration, mental clarity, and improved focus. Oils that are high in sesquiterpenes like Frankincense and Sandalwood are especially good for increasing oxygen and blood flow in the pineal, pituitary, and hypothalamus glands which help support mental health and acuity, these essential oils are also known to help clear brain fog.

Another benefit of a diffuser can be witnessed during hot weather and boy could I have used this nugget of information a few months ago, diffusing oils like Peppermint, Spearmint and Lavender and other oils with refrigerant properties - refrigerant means that the oils have a cooling effect; and can help bring down external body heat - can keep you cool! And speaking of hot weather, a diffuser can help keep those pesky flying bugs at bay, diffuse essential oils like Citronella, Lemongrass, Geranium, Eucalyptus and Lavender can help keep pests at bay.

There are so many other benefits, the main one being you don't get carcinogens in the air you breath in like you do with candles. I'm using only 100% pure essential oils in my diffuser, no artificial fragrances in sight, and just plain old cold water from the tap. If you're unsure about what is in your tap water used filtered water or bottled spring water to fill up your diffusers tank.

Keep an eye on quantities, too much essential oil can cause headache, migraines, dizziness and nausea so don't put too much in, the old adage less is more is worth keeping in mind.

For your blends add the following per 100ml of water: -

100ml - 3-5 Drops
200ml - 6-9 Drops
300ml - 9-12 Drops
400ml - 12-15 Drops
500ml - 15-20 Drops

You can add a few more drops but don't add too much, its also beneficial to mix heavy aromas with light ones so if you're using Patchouli oil then add something to lighten it like Sweet Orange or Rose Geranium oils takes the heaviness away as some of the heavier scented essential oils can be rather over powering on their own.

This week's blends since I got my diffuser have included: -

Peppermint and Lavender EO's - That combo was diffused when I had a headache and the cooling vapour really did help.

Rose Geranium, Sweet Orange & Lavender EO's - I was a tad stressed at the beginning of the week and that blend really helped me destress and relax. A bit of music and lovely aromatic wafts of fragrance and I was chilled in about 30 minutes.

Pine Needle, Clove, Cinnamon & Sweet Orange EO's - There has been some slight sniffling going on and both Si and I have woken with a scratchy throat so I've been diffusing this blend with all its anti-viral and anti-bacterial goodness today to help purify the air from any nasties that may have got in lol! The bonus for this one is it smells like Christmas which along with some xmas tunes in the background is going along with my Xmas card making rather nicely :)

I love that I can select colours as well I'm finding that I'm gravitating to the deeper pink and purple hues at the minute, my happy colours. I've actually enjoyed writing this, I got to put my herbal hat on and tap in to my knowledge of essential oils and herbs, if anyone is interested in more recipes and combo's leave a comment and I'll add something to the blog soon. I'm off for a spot of CraftAroma Therapy now in my yummy smelling room, enjoy the rest of your day 😁

What Bank Holiday Weekend?

I've filed this under not craft related, but as I wound up making something crafty, I guess it is, but its not one of my usual crafting activities so it can stay in this section for now lol!

Apparently we've just had a bank holiday weekend, not that you would have noticed it in this house! Aside from trips to local DIY and paint supply places we didn't venture out much at all. We are at T-minus 4 days now to a Dr Who event that hubby wants to take his replica K9 to, only his replica K9 isn't finished yet!

I think some women would panic, but I'm used to it, Simon's robot projects are always last minute, it seems like a tradition to still be sticking holographic plastic on to Chompalot's panels the night before we go off to film Robot Wars. I admit that this weekend though I got a little peeved, I'd spent all Friday cleaning, in the event that we had any weekend visitors (we never do have any to be fair), but by the time he went back to work this morning the whole of downstairs looks like a bomb has gone off in it. His project has spread all over the front room and he's trod fibreglass bits all through the kitchen and hall, its a good job I love him lol!

I had a weekend of card making and reading planned, but things didn't go according to plan, what with the trips to get supplies, food shopping and getting roped in to making a collar for K9, still its nice to be able to contribute something to the robot projects, my role is generally cosmetic, I do the finishing touches and have a say on design elements/materials used.

The construction was easy enough, I covered a strip of leather with some tartan fabric and added some velcro to the edges to fasten it.  The D ring that the tag hangs from I took off a collar that once belonged to my dog Mitzie, she died 17 years ago now, but I've kept her puppy and adult collars in a pets memory box, I've done that with all my cats as well. It just seemed fitting to use a part of my beloved dogs collar on Si's beloved dog project.

Simon 3D printed the tag, but he wanted the words to stand out, he was going to use a felt tip but I thought it would look better gilded, so I spirited the tag away in to my craft room and applied a couple of layers of 'Empire Gold' Pebeo Gilding Wax to the raised areas. I so wish they did more colours of this wax, because its the easiest gilding wax to apply that I've found and I've tried a few, I think also my application technique has much improved because I managed to get this on just the raised areas and nowhere else.

That's thanks to watching a Sara Davies (Crafters Companion) video on applying the wax I think, I'd been using the tip of my finger, she said its better using the ball of your finger rather than the tip and it is! Fingers crossed that Simon manages to get the K9 finished, he's wanted to make one since he was a youngster, he wrote to the BBC asking for plans when he was about 8 and they sent him back a postcard of Tom Baker, not what he had in mind lol! When he was in his teens he made some small models from balsa wood and even a K9 head (about half scale ) but no full scale K9 materialised, he bought one of Ebay in 2007, paid £100 for it and when he collected it... Well lets just say that the photos of the K9 left a lot to be desired, so much so the K9 went to the tip a couple of years ago.

This one though will not be going to the tip, I really can't wait for him to finish this, he's put so much work in to it, I'm so very proud of him, for this build he's had to learn to master fibre glassing and so much else, my fella really is a robot making genius. Once K9 is finished maybe I can get him to finish the R2-D2 he's been toying with and the Wall-E he promised to build me! But first we have to have a robot free holiday and he has some house stuff to do, I've been making a list lol!

Candles in the Wind

Apparently 2016 has been a really horrid year in terms of losing celebrities, there has been a steady stream of them since David Bowie's candle went out in January, the year seems to have taken a large number of celebrities from my generation, wind extinguishing famous lifes seems to have turned to a slight draft putting them out of the game of life. Back in August, Kenny Baker the man who brought R2D2 to the silver screen, one of the most famous robots in the universe died, I had the pleasure of meeting Kenny on a couple of occasions and thought he was a lovely man, but I didn't know him. The latest celebrity loss was Carrie Fisher yesterday, as a huge Star Wars fan, the death of an iconic character is hard, it made me sad that a light went out but I'm just a fan. Carrie was a mother, a daughter and so much more, her family and friends know the loss, what am I to her?

I'm just a 'fan', she didn't know me, same as so many other people, but I'm hearing lots of can't wait to see the back of 2016 comments, and comments that 2016 has taken too many famous people, the can't wait for 2017 to arrive, in the hope that their will be less celebrity death! Why are people wishing their life away? Yes we have seen a lot of iconic people die this year but many everyday people have died as well and whether we like it or not, the grim reaper comes for us all one day.Is this huge out pouring of bugger off 2016 really about the celeb's lost, or fear that you're close to their age and maybe it will be you next?

Losing public figures isn't going to get any better in 2017 and beyond, and no I haven't turned in to Mystic Meg, its a simple fact. We live in a time when we have many more 'stars' and celebrities than our great grandparents did, they had just a handful of iconic figures. Today we all too easily put people up on a pedestal, we even have A list stars, B list stars all the way to Z list stars, the number of 'famous' people seems to be climbing exponentially, so its only logical that their demise will follow the same trend, the more 'celebrities' we have, the more deaths we'll witness.

I remember back to August 16th 1977 when Elvis Presley died, the world stopped, Elvis was my first crush, I loved his music and his movies, it shook me to the core that such a famous person could die, at 13 in my innocence I thought if you were famous you lived longer. Then one month later on September 16th Marc Bolan was tragically taken from us in a car accident, both events were on the news, the radio and in the papers. The year of 1977 also took Bing Crosby, Charlie Chaplin, actress Joan Crawford to name but a few. 1987 wasn't any kinder, that year we lost Danny Kaye, Fred Astaire, Rita Heyworth, Lee Marvin, Liberace, Patrick Troughton, Andy Warhol, Fulton Mackay and John Huston and again many more.

So was 1997 any more gentle as far as celebrity deaths went? Nope, the reaper of that year took James Stewart, Robert Mitchum, Burgess Meredith, John Denver, Princess Diana, and Michael Hutchence. 2007 wasn't any kinder either, it took Deborah Kerr, Anton Rodgers, Jane Wyman, John Inman, Luciano Pavarotti, Marcel Marceau, Mike Reid and Ike Turner. All those people if they weren't iconic to you, they were iconic to your parents or grandparents.

If you look at the IMDB index for celebrity deaths 1967 it lists 1,190 celebrity deaths and if you're a 50 something like me you'll remember some of those celebrities who died that year like Jayne Mansfield, Vivien Leigh, Spencer Tracy, Basil Rathbone, Brian Epstein, Ann Sheridan, and Claude Rains, back in the days of 3 TV channels, no internet and not so many movies and TV shows being made we found ourselves watching the stars of our Grandparents and parents eras, like Gone with the Wind and Sherlock Holmes there weren't as many celebrities so when a star was eclipsed it was like a supernova, now its a damp squib, because before you've come to grips with their loss, the public are demanding to know who will be next?

We even have websites dedicating to predicting who will die in the year, check out the Deathlist, some people must be so proud of the fact that they cleverly predicted the death of Zsa Zsa Gabor, Muhammad Ali and Nancy Reagan, some people are even placing bets on which celebrity will die next, get a life people! As an aside the Deathlist rolls over to the following year until the famous person on the list dies and then they do a little post celebrating the fact that they got it right, eventually we all die, its not a thing to be triumphant about! ::facepalm::

In 1977 there were 1,331 celebrity deaths; 1987 = 1,704; 1997 = 2,076; 2007 = 3,283; 2016 so far 3,641. Now keep in mind that I've used IMDB and they list only people in the fields of movie, TV and music, so famous sports people and professionals like politicians aren't included. But thus far the decade of 2016 is 358 up on 2007 and there had been 1,207 more celebrity deaths in 2007 than in 1997 so this year hasn't been as bad as we think.

The point of this ramble? We live in a time when we have more celebrities than we did 50 years ago, reality TV stars and You-Tubers are quickly given celebrity status in our frenzy to escape our own lives that we perceive to be mundane and live vicariously through our celebrities. Heck even I've been stopped and asked for my autograph in a supermarket because I've been on Robot Wars, I don't consider myself a celebrity, but to a fan of the show I apparently am.

The more celebrities we have, and the more people are on the planet, coupled with having access to instant information about them, then 2017 onwards isn't going to go light on famous people popping their clogs, their will be more of them. So can we all get a collective grip and can we see less of the 'not cold yet, lets be the first to report they've died' kind of twitter tweets and facebook posts, to the extent that celebs are being reported as having died when they haven't. Lets stop subscribing to the death wish list that the media is pumping so it has something to report, its rather unnerving!

People die all the time, its a fact of life, and for every celebrity that has died, hundreds of everyday people have died whose name is known only by their family, and some don't even have that! A celebrity is a person just like you and me, in the rush to take selfie's with a star in the background, see photos of who they're dating, what they're eating etc we lose sight of that. We forget that somewhere and to someone they are just a person; they have/had parents, loved ones, pets and do mundane and ordinary things, their loss when they are gone though mourned by the public is no different than the loss felt by Eric the postman's family when he died, its a loss people and a bloody painful one whoever you are.

We need perspective and to stop dwelling on lives that stopped and look at those that soared in 2016, look at the positive things that happened in the world, outside the bubble of social media and the news empires pushing negative news and gloom and doom at us. Amazing things have been happening in the world, those same amazing things will continue in 2017 and will become more obvious if we stop looking for the doom and gloom and learn to look for the positive stuff that happens in the world. There will be new actors, new musicians, new sports stars, its the cycle of life that stops things becoming stale and allows for new talent and fresh approaches and ideas.

If 2016 has taught me anything its that life is nothing to be taken for granted, we should learn to cherish people whilst they are there, tell them what they mean to you, don't leave it unsaid because you think they know what you feel. Sometimes they don't, we're not all mind readers. Love is important, its the kind of love that we hold most sacred that defines us, for example, I love the music of Rush, I love chocolate but those forms of love pale in to insignificance compared to the love I have for Simon or my Dad. I will be sad when the members of Rush shuffle of this mortal coil, and if the world ran out of chocolate I may feel a bit bad for a while. But when I lose those people that I really love, that mean the world to me that's something to mourn. Let's put more love out in the world people, the planet and people need it!

Making Homemade Beauty Treats for Gifting - Part 2

A little later than planned, here's part two of my article, these fragrant bath bombs and melts went down a storm, I also did a version of the bath fizzes in smaller sizes and used peppermint and lavender foot fizzes, which I've taken to using myself, they leave the feet soft and refreshed.

Lavender & Geranium Bath Melts

These bath melts are so fragrant and you can make them in a variety of fragrances see the suggestions below. The main ingredient in these fragrant and moisturising bath melts is cocoa butter which has several benefits to help keep your skin healthy it contains several fatty acids including oleic, palmitic and stearic acids which have antioxidant properties that can help to reduce the signs of ageing, cocoa butter can also help to reduce inflammation on the skin and soothe skin conditions such as eczema.

Makes 18 – 36 melts depending on the size of case you use.

200g Unrefined Cocoa Butter – You can use refined but the smell is better from unrefined.
100g Sweet Almond Oil
100 Drops Geranium Essential Oil
50 Drops Lavender Essential Oil
18 – 36 Pink Rose Buds for decoration
2g Beetroot Powder – Which will act as a natural colouring to give a pink colour to your melts. N.B. you can buy cosmetic grade dyes in a variety of colours.
Foiled Petit Four Cases or Cupcake Cases
Cosmetic Grade Colouring (Optional)
Large Heatproof Mixing Bowl
Large Pan – Big enough for the bowl to sit in and be supported by the pan rim
Wooden Spoon Heatproof
Measuring Jug

Method: First a note about essential oils, how much oil you add is up to you anything from 50 drops (2.5ml) – 150 (7.5ml) drops per 300g of combined cocoa butter and sweet almond oil. Bear in mind that if you use highly scented oils like clove, cinnamon, patchouli, peppermint you need to use a little at a time, these oils can quickly over power a blend.

These melts are very easy to make, place enough water in your pan to come 2” below the base of the heatproof glass bowl you’ll be using to make the melts, put the bowl on the pan and turn on the heat, it will take a few minutes to start to get warm.

Whilst you’re waiting for the water to heat up take about 1 teaspoon of your almond oil and place it in a cup, add the beetroot powder and stir to make your colouring. Once the water is at a steady simmer put the cocoa butter, the rest of the sweet almond oil and the colouring in to the pan and stir gently until the cocoa butter has melted and everything is thoroughly mixed.

Cocoa butter melts at around 93–101°F (34–38°C), turn off the heat and using oven gloves lift the bowl off the top of the pan. Then add your drops of essential oil, build up the layers a little at a time, remembering the important rule that you can add it, but you can’t take it away. Once you have the fragrance you like then pour the contents into a heatproof jug, you can skip this stage but I find it easier to pour the liquid into the little moulds than trying to spoon it in.

Leave the melts to set overnight, if you’re in a hurry as soon as the mix is cool, you can pop them in the freezer to harden. Note that these melts will melt at temperatures over 75°F (24°C) so don’t leave them near a radiator or in sunlight etc where the temperature can raise above this.

To Use: If you’re making mini melts then add 2-3 to the bath, simply pop into the bath just under where the hot water is running in to the bath. If you make cupcake sized melts then add 1 melt to the water. Bear in mind that when you’ve finished bathing the bath will be slippery from the cocoa butter and oil so be careful when you stand and in getting out of the bath. It should also be noted that some natural and artificial colour pigments may stain the bath, but the staining should be temporary and should clean off easily.

Geranium & Patchouli Bath Cupcakes

A twist on the bath bomb that doesn’t require you to have to buy an expensive bath bomb mould, these super fizzy bath ‘cupcakes’ not only look pretty they provide moisture for the skin and the citric acid can help even out skin tone, unclog the pores, help reduce ageing spots caused by pigmentation and can be soothing to the skin of people with mild acne.

The bicarbonate of soda is a natural alkali which also has antibacterial, antifungal, antiseptic and anti-inflammatory properties. The Cupcake Fizzes are quick to make, require no heating, just mixing, and make an ideal project to do with children to give to aunties and grandmas. Not to mention they’re fun to watch them fizz!

Makes 12 Fizzes

400g Citric Acid aka C6H8O7, Sour Salt & Sodium Citrate
800g Bicarbonate of Soda aka Baking Soda
100 Drops Geranium Essential Oil
50 Drops Patchouli Essential Oil
20ml Jojoba Oil
Pink Rose Buds for decoration

Method: First place the cupcake cases in to a metal cupcake tray, this will help shape the fizzes later. Next put the citric acid into a bowl, then using a sieve, sieve the bicarbonate of soda on top of the citric acid and stir to combine, add the jojoba oil and the essential oils and mix with a metal spoon. Once the oils are mixed in, dampen your hands very slightly and shake a few drops of water in to the bowl, not a lot or you’ll start the fizzing will start! You want to have the feel of just damp sand.

Note that the mix will look very powdery, it won’t form a dough it will just look like dampened citric acid initially. Using a metal teaspoon, spoon the mixture into the cupcake cases, keep adding teaspoons of the mix and pressing down until the cupcake case is level with the top and firmly compressed. Do this for all 12 cupcake cases then press your rosebuds in to the top of the cupcake and leave them to dry out for 24-36 hours. At the end of this time your bath cupcakes will have set very hard and can be tipped out of the mould and packaged for giving.

Other Fragrance Combinations to Try:-

Lavender & lemongrass – Sprinkle dried lavender buds on to the surface of the cupcake for additional scent and decoration.
Mandarin & Chamomile – Decorate with dried chamomile flowers.
Patchouli, Pine Needle & Cedarwood – A Good earthy fragrance suitable for men.
Lime & Ginger – A unisex scent that is both refreshing and invigorating.
Rosemary, Lemon & Sweet Marjoram – Another combination perfect for men.

Making Homemade Beauty Treats for Gifting - Part 1

I thought today I'd write about something a little different and share some of the things I made for friends and family last Christmas which went down extremely well, so over the next few days I'll post a few recipes and methods, these kind of gifts appeal to the herbaholic in me, I love playing with herbs and essential oils to make a vast array of things from balms to pot pourri...

Because let's face it at some points in our gift giving endeavours we hit a brick wall deciding what to get for some people at Christmas and we end up resorting to buying flowers, potted plants or chocolates, the poor men folk get a worse deal receiving alcohol, socks or the dreaded Christmas jumper. It doesn’t have to be that way, with a little careful planning and a little time sourcing your ingredients you can make a selection of fabulously fragrant goodies for bath and body to give as gifts to 6 people and more if you’re so inclined!

I’m talking all 4 items in the photo above a sugar scrub, lip balm, bath melts and bath fizzers which will appeal to chocoholics and fragrant bath pampering addicts alike and they can all be made in just 1 day! My future daughter-in-law commented recently how much she loved her body scrub and said it was nicer than the ones you can buy, which made me smile. As this post would be huge if I added all the recipes at once, I thought I'd split it in to a few parts and start with the lip balm and body scrub today.

The beauty though of all these homemade gifts, is they contain no chemical nasties, they can be tailored to favourite flavours and preferred perfumes of the recipients and you can make gifting goodies for the ladies on your gift list and the men folk as well, because contrary to popular belief, men like to be pampered to, in a ‘blokey’ kind of way of course ;)

As gifts go, these items can be made any time of year for giving for birthday presents, a thank you gesture, to say get well soon, or for occasions like Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. The Bath fizzers can also be made in small petit four cases and packaged in organza bags, then given as wedding favours to female guests, they can be coloured and fragranced to echo wedding décor and make a very personal and fragrant gift.

Remember when you give your gifts to include a list of ingredients either on the product or in a little booklet that you can give with your gift, and if you know that a recipient has an allergy, then don’t make items using things they need to avoid e.g. nut allergy, avoid nut based oils and use sunflower or grapeseed oil instead, dairy free don't add any dairy products! I know that part isn't rocket science but you'd be surprised how many people forget that allergens like nuts and dairy products can be in cosmetics and so many other things.

Chocolate, Ginger & Orange Sugar Scrub

Giving sugar scrubs and lip balms with chocolate box flavours will appeal to the recipients with the added bonus that they won’t pile on the pounds when they indulge in their chocolatey gifts. For several years we’ve made homemade sweet treats for giving as presents, but some of the recipients, although very appreciative of our gifts, made comments about weight gain. We took the hint and last year I decided that we’d give none edible goodies, so we weren’t giving too much temptation.

This deliciously scented sugar scrub is perfect for friends and family who are partial to chocolate orange and chocolate ginger chocolates, but are watching what they eat, it contains real organic cocoa powder as well as some of fragrant essential oils and smells heavenly.

To make it you'll need: -

300g Dark Muscovado Sugar – You can use demerara but the fragrance won’t be the same
100ml Jojoba Oil
2 Tbsp. Organic Cocoa Powder e.g. Green & Blacks
2 Tsp Orange Essential Oil
5 Drops Ginger Essential Oil

Method: This is so easy to make, place sugar in a mixing bowl and sieve the cocoa powder on top then stir, once the cocoa and sugar are evenly mixed, add the jojoba oil and essential oils, lick lips, but do not taste ;) Put into decorative jars and label.

To Use – First dampen the skin in the shower, then take a golf ball sized blob of the sugar scrub in to the palm of the hand and massage in to the wet skin, rinse off with warm water and pat the skin dry.

Try experimenting with fragrances, adding Lime Essential Oil will give you the smell of the old fashioned sweet ‘Chocolate Limes’, a little Geranium Essential Oil or Rose Oil and you have ‘Turkish Delight’, Lavender and Chocolate also work well together. If you want to use cosmetic grade fragrance oils you can make ‘Bounty’ style sugar scrubs by using coconut fragrance oil. Strawberry, mint and coffee are also heavenly variations. If you have time you can manufacture a whole chocolate box full of bath time delights.

Tip - If your recipient has skin that is dry or prone to flaking or itchiness then using Avocado Oil instead of the Jojoba Oil, Avocado Oil can be very soothing and moisturising for dry/irritated skin.

Chocolate Peppermint Lip Balm

This lip balm is really wonderful, make sure that you only use food grade essential oils to make sure they are safe for using in beauty items that may potentially be consumed. The hemp seed oil and cocoa butter are both very moisturising and contain antioxidants, they will help sooth dry cracked lips caused by winter winds.

To make 10 x 30ml Jars you'll need: -

100ml Hempseed Oil
60g Dark Chocolate (at least 70% Cocoa Solids – I used 85%)
30g Organic Unrefined Cocoa Butter
30g Beeswax
16 Drops Peppermint Essential Oil

Method: Place all ingredients with the exception of the peppermint oil in to a heatproof glass bowl over a pan of water that comes about 2” below the base of the bowl. Stir slowly until all the ingredients are melted and the resulting mixture is smooth and dark glossy chocolate brown. Pour the mix in to a heatproof glass jug - you can skip this stage but it’s easier to pour in to the pots from a jug. Add the drops of peppermint oil and stir with a metal spoon to combine everything together, then pour in to your jar or tins.

To Use – Use a lip brush or the tip of your finger to apply a little of the lip balm to the lips. N.B. Because this lip balm contains real chocolate it may stain clothes if it gets on them, it will also give the lips a slight chocolatey look if too much is applied.

You can experiment with other ‘flavours’ by following the suggestions in the sugar scrub recipe above, substituting the cosmetic flavouring or food grade essential oil of your choosing.

That's all for today, tomorrow I'll share my recipes for making bath melts and bath cupcakes!

Healthy Me, Mark... Ummm I've Lost Count

I haven't done as much crafting this week as I would have in previous weeks, that's because last Friday I decided to try and tackle my weight issues and get fitter and healthier. My sister-in-law and a few friends have been using a device called a FitBit and its been helping to motivate them by increasing activity. The gadget comes with an app that you can use to track calories by inputting everything you eat, you can track your activity, how much you drink, your resting heart rate - although not all models measure heart rate - and even how well (or not) you sleep.

So last Friday I invested in a Charge HR and the Aria scales that can be used with it to measure body fat, weight and your BMI, by the time we'd got back from Argos and I'd charged the Charge and set everything up it was gone 7pm so most of the day was over, but I still managed to clock up 4,233 steps. That doesn't sound like much but I estimate that on a very good day where I did cleaning and shopping, I would have managed about 2,000 - 3,000 at best. Only managing more if we went to visit a National Trust place, which wasn't happening that often lately I have to admit.

As you've probably guessed from the title of this post, dieting and cutting back isn't new to me, I've been on so many diets in my life that I've lost count of the number of times I've tried to lose weight, from wacky diets like the cabbage soup diet, to Slimming World regimes and a stint on the F-Plan in the 80's. On every diet I've done well, but as soon as I stopped - and stopped I always have - the weight piled back on with more besides. One thing that never occurred whilst losing weight was taking regular exercise, I'm a keep FAT kind of person and not a keep FIT kind of person. At least I was!

This little gadget may well have been the single most important buy of my life, yes even more than my Big Shot Plus! Since Friday I've clocked up 55,617 steps so far an average of 8,395 steps a day. I've pegged the washing out and changed the bed and a couple of other things since taking my daily step count to over 1,086 so far :) I've seen my my resting heart rate come down from 72bpm to 67bpm in just 1 week and my BMI has dropped by 43.7 to 43.2 not a huge difference but its a good step in the right direction.

I have a lot of weight to loose so I've decided to do it in 1 stone increments, and this morning I got on the scales to discover that I was 19% of the way to my first goal having lost almost 3lb this week. Baby steps but this time I'll get there! Never before have I combined diet with exercise and yes I know I'm not jogging or doing aerobic workouts, but what I'm doing still counts as exercise.

I'm getting extra steps up and down the stairs, for example I bring my breakfast upstairs in two stages now, I work at the PC writing so I generally eat breakfast whilst I catch up with emails or browse Facebook. I bring my coffee up first then go back downstairs for my cereal and fruit, empty bowls and mugs go back to the kitchen the same way, first the bowl, then the mug. I've moved the kettle and coffee etc to the bottom of the kitchen about 5 steps further from its original place, not much but to get to the kettle and back now I need to do 10 extra steps, that's for every coffee I make usually around 4 per day, that's 25,550 extra steps per year!

It's not easy, the photo of me at the start of this post shows me with a very red face halfway round a 2 mile walk, it will get easier! I guess I was hoping that I'd lose a little more weight this week, but its not going to happen over night, I just have to keep working at it, I've started with a goal of 5,000 steps a day, tomorrow I up them to 6,000 and will continue to up them until I reach 10,000 steps a day. I'm watching what I eat, having around 1,500 calories a day, so far I've eaten nothing that resembles diet food, I've enjoyed pasta with mozzarella cheese, green thai curry and even ice cream cones. I've just eaten smaller portions, and I'm now having breakfast, lunch and dinner, I used to skip breakfast or just grab a few biscuits or a banana.

It's very early days, but I'm hoping that the Fitbit will help me get there, as a gamer I'm finding it a challenge to beat my "high score" and try and do better each day. It's the game of life and I have to be better at looking after my health and body, fingers crossed it works, for now we're 1 week in and I'm almost 3lb thinner, I have a lower resting bpm and a lower BMI, baby steps in the right direction. This time I can do this and I will :)

Three Days of Sun and a Little Gardening

A quick post, this is a warts and all blog after all, but I haven't posted anything but card making stuff for a while, so for a little change I thought I'd do a quick post sharing some sunshine! On Docrafts forum I'm known as Herbaholic, that's because I love herbs, but I'd kind of lost my gardening mojo when my depression bit hard in 2014 and its only just beginning to come back, so there is a heck of a lot of work to do to get the garden back in to shape. Here, there and everywhere though, there are reminders, I wish you could smell the heavenly fragrance of my Burkwoodii Viburnum that was wafting about on the warm breeze the past few days, it made a pleasant day in the garden even more enjoyable :)

Yesterday Simon wanted to go to the big local DIY store to get some plywood for the shell of the K9 robot he's building, so I tagged along and managed to come home with 2 x 125 litre bags of compost, 3 lemon thyme plants, 1 rosemary plant, a tray of 6 dwarf lavenders and 6 small dianthus plants! A selection of which were planted this afternoon in my 3 tier planter that I acquired back in March 2014 and hadn't gotten around to planting up until today! It's baby steps but I'm getting back in to the swing of things and enjoying doing it. Still have a lot to do, next jobs include pruning roses, tackling clearing out the greenhouse and tidying the borders up and applying bark chips to try and get the garden back to its former glory.

The above photo was taken in 2008 back in the day when I wrote a herbal column for Grow Your Own magazine. I can restore it, it will just take some time, and as we've made the decision to stay in this house but build on the side to extend and move us further away from noisy neighbours, I kind of feel more like I want to put time in to restoring the garden as I'm staying here. I'm getting back in to the swing of things on a grand scale, today I received 15 packs of seeds from the new Jekka's Herb seed range from Johnson's Seeds to trial and review over on my herbal blog, I've missed flexing my green fingers and growing fresh herbs. Seeds raised will turn in to plants that I can use to help revamp the back garden and some will go in the front garden. I'll post some photos as I make progress over the coming months. It'll be nice to see it in full bloom and tidy and not looking like a jungle!

Spiced Apple & Cider Sauce

I have to admit to getting really lazy over the past few years and turning to jars or ready made stuff like mint sauce and apple sauce to save time. What I forgot was in saving that time I was losing out on flavour and that sense of satisfaction from doing something for yourself. The irony is it didn't actually take that long to make either! I'd bought bramley apples to make a cake and there was some left over, we had roast pork for dinner yesterday so I decided on a whim to make some apple sauce.

It's true that the 'Simple Things' in life really do make all the difference, the apple sauce I made was soooo tasty beating shop bought hands down. I made enough for 2 and there was enough to save some for eating with some sausages or pork chops later in the week.

Ingredients

• 2 Bramley Apples - About 500g in weight it prior to peeling and coring, peeled, cored and evenly chopped
• 100ml Cider - I use sweet cider but you can use any kind.
• 1 Sml Cinnamon Stick
• 30g Golden Castor Sugar - This gives in a slight toffee flavour. Plus 1 teaspoon for when cooked.
• ¼ Tsp Mixed Spice
• ¼ Tsp Lemon Juice - Optional but it does stop the apples going brown

Method:

1. Once you have the desired texture stir in 1 teaspoon of golden castor sugar, more if you like a really sweet apple sauce.
2. Put the apple pieces, cider, sugar spices and lemon juice in a pan and bring the liquid to the boil. Once at boiling turn down the heat, but a lid on the pan and leave to simmer for about 10 minutes.
    
3. After 10 minutes remove the lid from the pan and allow to simmer stirring occasionally to allow the liquid to evaporate. By this time the apple sauce should be the consistency of the photo above, it doesn't matter if there are a few chunky bits left, they will be soft, if you want an overall smooth sauce then use a potato masher to further break down the apple pieces. I like a bit of texture. Make sure you remove the cinnamon stick before serving.
4. Allow to cool before storing, or serving.
   

WWII Eggless, Fatless Gingerbread

Eggless, Fatless Gingerbread

A couple of years ago I got inspired by the BBC programme 'Wartime Farm' to try out some recipes from the WWII era, the whole plan was to grow veggies and try to live a 1940's lifestyle, sadly I found that my life wasn't wholly compatible with the 1940's, cooking everything from scratch required a lot of effort and after just a few months, my efforts bit the dust, along with the blog I set up. However it's still there so I thought I'd take what posts were still relevant and add them to my "warts an' all" blog, then I'm going to delete the WWII blog.

The problem I have found is I have a lot of hobbies and interests, the primary one is herbs which will never change, I've started blogs for my love of France, for crafting and even slimming, they all start out well, but with so many interests their isn't time to keep them all going and do the day job and look after the home, hubby, cats and garden. So slowly but surely French posts will be culled from the French blog, diet recipes may end up here but herbal stuff will always go on my herby blog. If I have almost everything in one place, I have more to write about which means I can blog more often when my work schedule allows ::whispers to self 'Good luck on that!'::

So lets cast our eyes - and mind if you've a half a mind to - to 28th September 2012 and look at my Eggless, Fatless Gingerbread recipe that I made when my copy of Wartime Farm arrived, I'll add some [bracketed annotations] to the text if things worked or didn't....

My copy of Wartime Farm arrived at the beginning of the week and I began reading it with relish, I'm fascinated by the herbs used during the wartime information that's in the book although for a true herbaholic like me the section could have been bigger, but more of that in a later post as I've been doing some research on the WWII herb gatherers, what they gathered and they used the herbs for.

Watching the Wartime Farm series has kindled in our household a desire to do more for ourselves [honestly it did, we did try to be more self sufficient for almost 4 months]. Mr C announced last night he wants to learn how to make furniture, in particular bookshelves, we've been coveting a pair that would cost us almost £1,000 they're oak and rustic looking, something Mr C reckons he could achieve himself for a lot less money [he got as far as buying chisels and a few technique books!]. Don't get me wrong he's a dab hand at lots of things, he can fix plumbing and electrical problems and he's made me raised beds, potting benches and the like for the garden, but they are a little 'Heath Robinson', he wants to learn how they made furniture "in the old days", my comment that they probably took lessons from Heath Robinson met with Mr C's classic 'pickled onion' face lol!

So he's decided that as he doesn't know how to do dovetail joints and that kind of thing, and as there are no surviving family members to teach him, he's off to do a woodworking night class [never happened, we took French classes instead!]. He'll go for a 10 week course, downside is he's missed the start of the September course and has to wait until the next one starts in January! He's disappointed, shades of the allotment here, I said no allotment, until he proves he's willing and able to take it on, so a delay for his grand scheme there to. On the plus side if all goes to plan he'll be able to build a shed on the allotment when we get it lol!

Luckily not everything has to wait, well at least not very long anyway.... The picture of the Gingerbread Cake in Wartime Farm looked so yummy I just had to make it, the fact that it's a fatless and eggless recipe was an added bonus. I had to do a double take though, I thought there had been some cheating going on for the photo because in my mind, no way can a cake be that spongy without fat and eggs! I looked at the ingredients and I had everything in the store cupboard to make it, super thinks I, cake for Mr C's pack up tomorrow.

So I assembled the ingredients...

1/2lb Self-Raising Flour
6oz Golden Syrup
2 Tsps Ground Ginger
1 Tsp Bicarbonate of Soda
1/4 Pint Tepid Water

I also added....

2 Tsps Milk Powder

Making the cake is simple, you put the flour and syrup in a bowl, mix the rest of the ingredients in a jug and then pour the jug contents into the flour and syrup mix until you have a nice creamy batter, you can see the effect of the bicarb almost immediately the batter starts to become foamy, that's the bicarb doing it's egg substitute thing, bicarb is a natural raising agent and that makes the cake light and airy or spongy.

The next step is to turn the batter into a greased tin they say 11" x 7" in the book, but I didn't have one so I used a 9" x 9" tin instead. Next bake the cake in a moderate oven (gas mark 4, 180 degrees Celsius, or approximately 350 degrees Fahrenheit) and leave it there for 45 mins to 1 hour, check it after 45 mins to see if it's done or not.

The final stage is very important to note when you want a cake for serving after tea or for the hubby's pack up the following day... Wrap in greaseproof paper and store in a tin and do NOT cut for 2 days!!! There's logic in that instruction, when the cake first comes out it's a bit dry looking, leaving it to stand for a couple of days lets the syrup work its magic and make the rest of the cake turn into the sweet sticky texture we know and love when we think of gingerbread.

Taste test.... Gingerbread when all said and done is supposed to be more bread like and less like a cake in texture, so don't expect a sponge cake. We couldn't wait and did cut some and eat some an hour or so after it came out of the oven, it tasted okay but a bit 'dry'. By the following morning it was moister and tasted a lot better! In all honesty I can 'taste' the bicarb of soda in the cake, but it isn't unpleasant so don't be put off.

As for the over all taste next time I think I'd add 5oz golden syrup and 1oz of treacle, this gingerbread was a little 'pale' for my tastes. I think I'd also pop in a little cinnamon or mixed spice as well. But overall it's a hit especially when you take into account that WWII housewives could save their precious egg and fat rations and still have cake! Mr C took a slice in his pack up today and we have gingerbread for the weekend with a nice cup of tea, bonus! Just need to remember to make it a few days before we want to eat it in future lol!

The cake cuts into 15 slices doing the maths on the calories in the syrup and flour it works out at just 90 calories a slice you can check the calorie values in other WWII recipes here.

August 2014 Addendum: As this blog evolves I'll be making and sharing recipes from not just WWI and WWII but from other periods in history, some will be authentic, some will have a modern day twist. One thing we did learn from our short WWII cooking adventure in 2012 was that some of the food was not to our modern day tastes, somethings we couldn't eat, others were pleasantly surprising. The whole point of doing this is to save money, and whilst I appreciate that my Grandmother and Great- Grandmother and their families had no choice but to eat the food that was put on the table, today because of their sacrifice I can chose to eat what I want and if it tastes like wallpaper paste and looks like frogspawn I'm NOT eating it, sorry Nanna!

My aim is to make more things for the home, get back to basics and cook from scratch and generally make do and mend, eat with the seasons and revisit old school methods. I'm not going to start wearing a pinny and hair rollers and listening to the Andrew's sisters or Al Jolson, and I know some of my friends do live 'retro' lifestyles, they're happy and I learn lots from them, but I'm a 20th century girl and no amount of mock duck will change that. So onward and upward...

1914 - 2014 Trench Stew

I know its been ages since I wrote anything for this blog, work and herbal things have been keeping me busy. Yesterday was the 100th anniversary of England going to war with Germany in WWI and around the country people held candlelight vigils, their were ceremonies and services and people remembered the those men and women who sacrificed their lives to build a better future.

My hubby and I watched the BBC2 programme 'World War One Remembered' it focused on honouring a lost generation, which were silenced for ever amid the hellish cacophony of the WWI battlefields, and were remembered on the 100th anniversary of Britain’s First World War declaration.
War is never glamorous or pretty, but when you look back it does fill you with awe, battles were fought overseas and here to keep food on the table and some semblance of normality going for those left behind.

I wanted to do more than just watch the programme and light a candle so I decided to cook a WWI inspired menu for our tea yesterday. I chose a dish that was called 'Trench Stew', it evolved to be called Corned Beef Hash where I grew up in Manchester, with additional ingredients and flavourings. In the days of Thai Green Curry and an array of world cuisine foods that we eat on a weekly basis, in many ways basic cooking and English recipes have been left behind in our house.

I made a few dumplings to go in the stew, although I'm sure the soldiers in the trenches didn't have those, I made a simply suet pastry and turned 1/3rd in to dumplings and the rest into a jam roly poly that we served with custard. It was made all the more special because the jam in our roly poly was a homemade jam or 'Dark Red Plum' that had been made by my hubby's auntie and gifted to us along with a lot of other homemade jams and jellies. How I miss making chutneys, pickles and other yummy and tasty homemade items, I think last night has reawakened the urge to get creative in the kitchen again, watch this space!

As we're trying to pay off our mortgage faster and save for a rainy day plain, simple meals seem logical as they make economical sense. I worried about the use of lard and butter for example in wartime dishes, but then realised my parents and grandparents ate them and turned out just fine, so over the next few months I'm dusting off my wartime cook book and seeing what I can find to feed me and my darling hubby that will fill our bellies without emptying our bank account!

I have to say that as I chopped vegetables, mixed everything together, stirred my pan of bubbling stew and watched the dumplings and pudding rise, my thoughts kept turning to wondering what people were thinking that night back in August 1914, hours before the country went to war at 11pm? My Great Grandmother, Sarah Jane Webster could have been making stew for her 4 sons and 3 daughters none of them older than 8 years of age, so safe from drafting but not safe for the perils and dangers that war could bring.

This morning I woke up to my two cats, not a care in the world beyond making sure the days work got done and my article was submitted to the garden magazine I occasionally write for, what a contrast to what my Grandmother woke up to 100 years ago, I've seen films, read newspaper articles and books but nothing compares to the reality.  I find that I cannot celebrate what happened but yesterday did make me realise just how incredibly lucky I am today. To everyone who made a sacrifice, no matter how great or small I am humbly in your debt and eternally grateful!

1914 - 2014 Trench Stew

• 3 Medium Potatoes (1914 - 1 Turnip), peeled and chopped
• 2 Medium Carrots, peeled and chopped
• 1 Medium Onion, peeled and chopped
• ½ Tin Corned Beef, cubed into 1" pieces
• 2 Beef Stock Cubes (1914 - I'm not sure if they would have had access to stock cubes in the trenches, our great grandmothers would have made their own stock and adding stock to this stew certainly improves the flavour.)
• A few generous dashes of Worcestershire Sauce (1914 - I think the same applies here as stock cubes, I would hazard a guess that the soldiers used whatever they could obtain to add flavour to their food.)
• Salt & Pepper to season
• 1 Pint of Cold Water

The method is simple, add the potato, carrot and onion to your pan of water along with the stock and Worcestershire sauce and bring it to the boil, turn down the heat and simmer the stew until the vegetables and cooked through and tender. 15 minutes before the end of the cooking time add the corned beef and season to taste with salt and pepper. If you want to add dumplings add them at the same time as the corned beef.

Serve in bowls with pickled beetroot, cabbage or onions.

2013, That Was The Year That Was - Part 1

How do you see a year when it's past? A whole twelve months have just whizzed by and I have some memories, but its fuzzy in parts. In previous years I've had a tendency to focus on only the negative aspects of the previous year, and sometimes, I've even forgotten when something happened, or that it ever did! I find it useful to look back on the previous years photos, its said that photos never lie, I don't think that's the case, how often have I put a smiley face on in a photo when I feel like crap, I hazard to guess.What photos can do, is remind you of places, dates, meetings and moments be them good or bad. So here thanks to my phone and digital cameras is a look back at 2013, its highs, lows and in-between bits.

January 2013 started out like most years have done since I was about 30, my seed boxes and gardening books come out and I started making plans for the new years growing season. By January I'm usually mentally starving for growth and greenery. Last year the bright fragrant flowers of my bargain witch hazel shrub greeted me on my birthday and there were rose buds on the rose bushes, they didn't last mind, the bitter cold weather we got and the snow saw to that. Plans were made for writing a variety of new articles for Garden News magazine and my contract got renewed, albeit for a shorter time than I thought, but that's life.


February 2013 saw the 3rd and final part of the article I wrote for the Herb Society on their founder Hilda Leyel, her life and the books she published be printed in the society's journal 'Herbs'. The article was well received and I really enjoyed writing it. So much so, it inspired me to get back into my research on the lives of Dr W.T. Fernie and several other late 19th and early 20th century herbalists.

March 2013 was a sad month, we had to say goodbye to our elderly cat Fuzzball, he had wormed his way in to our home and hearts back in 2006. He was old when got him, although we never knew just how old he was, but he was a sweet little character, who could be a bit of a thug, especially to his sister Poppy. I still miss him, and as sad as it was to let him go, I know we did the right and kind thing. RIP Fuzzy <3 March also saw me meet James Wong for a second time and he remembered me and my rose geranium cake :)

April 2013 was a first for my hubby, he got his first ever brand new car, nobody but him had ever driven it before and it had that new car smell. It wouldn't have been possible if I wasn't working now, and it felt good to be able to go and pay for something knowing that we had the money to do it. We timed the purchase to coincide with his birthday, he was grinning like a loony the day we went to collect it and the smile stayed on his face for days after. Money well spent :) It was scary to witness being so grown up though. We'd made cut backs to save up for ages then spent it in an instant.

April saw Poppy have to make some adjustments and not for the first time last year, for a good few weeks after Fuzzy was no longer with us she mooned around at a loss. It hadn't been easy getting the two of them integrated, Fuzzy just didn't want another cat at all, which is ironic as he came in to the house when we had Pyewacket, so being a two cat family wasn't an alien concept. Poppy slowly adjusted, although she did take to sitting in Fuzzball's favourite spots for a while.

May 2013 was a busy month, spring had finally arrived and we started getting out and about again, after the very damp start to the year and the dreadful weather of 2012 it was nice to start being able to make garden plans. My first big outing was to Oxford, it was a duel visit, the hubby met up with some R2D2 robot building friends who were having a gathering not far from the National Herb Centre in Warmington. Lots of new herbs were purchased and ideas for articles blossomed.

The following weekend I had the pleasure of finally meeting the Lemon Verbena Lady, she and I became herbal sisters several years ago via our herbal blogs and kept in touch via emails and facebook. When she came to the UK for a holiday it was the perfect opportunity to get together, and where did we get together? A place where herbs abound lol! I met up with her at Hardwick Hall in Hardstoft, Derbyshire for a wander around the herb garden and hall. Then back to my house for tea with my homemade Lemon Verbena Cake made in honour of my special guest's visit.

The 26th May saw the icing on the cake of the month of May, along with my hubby I went to the O2 Arena in Birmingham to see my favourite band of all time play an outstanding concert. Their 'Clockwork Angels' tour lived up to all my expectations and left me glowing inside.

I've been a Rush fan since I was about 15 which is coming up to 35 years now and I've seen them in concert 7 times and every time was an experience, you feel, see and taste the music as well as hear it when you're in the same space and time as the band.

June 2013 arrived and we had some glorious sunshine, my young niece Zoe came to visit for a week, we had fun going to the beach, visiting National Trust properties and going for walks. On the walks I taught her how to recognise some wild herbs and trees. We baked, and I taught her how to blanket stitch a felt doll. Zoe was also keen to help me with a herb project and posed for photos for a series of blog posts that I'm working on 'Herbs for Children', over on my Herbal Haven blog.

The fine weather continued and in late June I attended the Discovering Herbal Medicine seminar on the subject of "Nutrition and Herbal Medicine for Allergic Conditions", as ever I had a superb time, learned new and interesting things about herbs and enjoyed wandering around a wonderful garden of unusual herbs. I was gifted with a lovely Vitex Agnus Castus shrub, more on that in part 2! I'm halfway through the year so will take a break now and work on July - December next. More from me soon... :)

Sweet Things

I've been talking about making gifts for friends and family for years and this year instead of just talking about making them, I actually set to and drew up a plan and made some gifts for some of my hubby's family, making sweets was sort of his idea after we'd found a book by Annie Rigg entitled "Sweet Things" in a book shop a few months ago. We went through it looking for ideas, and in the end we drew up a list of 4 items to make, Cherry Brandy Fudge, Chocolate & Stem Ginger Fudge, Turkish Delight and Chocolate Peppermint Creams.

We collected together items we needed like a sugar thermometer, moulds, packaging items and of course the basic ingredients which included enough sugar to sink a ship. The downside was all the items we'd chosen to make had to be made as close to Christmas Day as possible due to shelf life. Not to be deterred we decided that the weekend before Xmas eve was perfect, we tackled the fudge first, the Cherry Brandy Fudge came out perfect, but despite reheating and whipping the chocolate & stem ginger fudge to within an inch of its life, we couldn't get it to set despite following the recipe to the letter. We ended up with a product that had the consistency of chocolate spread, which was a real shame as it tasted heavenly, its on the list to perfect for next year!

Cherry Brandy Fudge

This recipe makes about 40-50 pieces of fudge depending on how big you cut the pieces.

Sunflower oil for greasing
100g (3½oz) dried cherries
3-4tbsp cherry brandy
½ a vanilla pod
450g (1lb) caster sugar
50g (1¾oz) golden syrup
2tbsp liquid glucose
170ml (6fl oz) evaporated milk
170ml (6floz) full-cream milk
50g (1¾oz) unsalted butter


Grease the base and sides of an 18cm x 18cm (7in x 7in) baking tin with oil and line with a sheet of baking parchment. Place the dried cherries in a saucepan and add the cherry brandy. Cut the vanilla pod to expose the seeds and add to the dried cherries. Set the pan over a low heat for about 3 minutes to warm the brandy but don’t boil. Remove from the heat and leave to cool.

To make the fudge, tip the remaining ingredients and the brandied vanilla pod into a saucepan and set over a low heat to melt the butter and dissolve the sugar. Pop the sugar thermometer into the pan and raise the heat to bring the mixture to the boil – as it reaches the required temperature, it will turn a rich caramel. Stirring frequently, continue to cook on a steady low-medium heat until the fudge registers 114°C (237°F) on the sugar thermometer.

Slide the pan off the heat and plunge the base into a sink of cold water for 20 seconds to stop the cooking. Using a fork, remove the vanilla pod and leave the fudge to cool for 3 minutes. Beat with a rubber spatula for 3 minutes until it thickens. Add the brandied cherries, then spoon into the prepared tin. Leave to cool completely then cover with clingfilm and leave overnight before cutting into squares.

Next we turned our hands to making chocolate peppermint creams, this recipe isn't from Sweet Things its from a magazine from a few years ago. N.B. you can also make chocolate peppermint creams using beaten egg whites, which is the way I always made them when I was younger, but these days a lot of people worry about eating raw egg whites, so the recipe given below is a safe alternative.

Chocolate Peppermint Creams

450g Icing Sugar, sifted
125ml Condensed Milk
4 Teaspoons Peppermint Extract
Green Food Colouring
200g Plain Chocolate (70% Cocoa or greater)

Sieve the icing sugar into a mixing bowl, then add the condensed milk, peppermint extract and a few drops o
f green food colouring and mix thoroughly until you get a smooth but firm 'dough' and the colouring is blended in evenly, use a wooden spoon to begin and then use your hands to knead the peppermint 'dough'.

When the dough is ready, roll it out on a clean surface that has been dusted with icing sugar to about 4-5mm in thickness and use a small cookie cutter or a milk bottle top to cut shapes or rounds. You can also take a piece of dough about the size of a large marble and roll it in your hand and the squash it flat with the back of a fork to give texture.

Leave the peppermint disks to dry out over night, next day, melt the chocolate in a glass bowl over a pan of hot water, once melted, dip each of the peppermint creams in the chocolate to half cover and put on to greaseproof paper while the chocolate sets. Once the chocolate has set firmly, pack into bags or boxes.

Turkish Delight

The recipe we followed from the Sweet Things book was for a traditional Turkish Delight based on cornflour and sugar, the texture was lovely and it tasted divine, but we noticed that it went 'sweaty' very quickly. In this You-Tube video it shows keeping the delight in a large amount of icing sugar, which would work, but it doesn't look very attractive. The cornflour recipe contains no gelatine though, making it suitable for vegetarians.

A word of warning regarding rosewater, some brands just taste like water with a slight citric acid edge and hardly any rose flavour, as was the case with the rose water we purchased from Tesco. Luckily I had in a bottle of Rose Extract we'd picked up from the Lakeland for making an Indian dessert. When I find a brand of rosewater that is rosier than Tesco I'll update this section, but for now be fore warned!

Next time we make Turkish Delight we're going to use a recipe like this one for making a gelatine based Turkish Delight and see what happens when you come to store gelatine based recipes.The plan is to experiment with recipes and variations over the next 12 months and to improve the sweets, hindsight is a wonderful thing, if we'd had more time we'd have tweaked and played to perfect the recipes. As it stood we gave the gifts warts an' all and explained that it was our first time.

We're both thrilled with the results, and we're inspired to do something similar next year, there were a few minor problems, one small burn from red hot sugar syrup and a little frayed temper from having to do something we'd never done before at the last minute, knowing if it went wrong, we were stuffed! In the end we had some edible goodies to give, our favourites were the Turkish Delight and the Peppermint Creams. The best part of the experience for me was my better half and I worked as a team, we laughed, we danced around the kitchen as we mixed, boiled and decorated.

We enjoyed doing it so much we've vowed that all adults friends and family on both sides are getting homemade gifts in 2014, I'm already halfway through one gift and have a list of other gifts to make, some will be cosmetic, some knitted, some sew, some baked as well as sugared confections, all will be made with love. Some of the best gifts I got given this year were handmade one off's which I truly appreciate and will treasure. Handmade is about the love and effort that goes in to a gift, its about one person giving their time to create something they hope you'll like, my idea of christmas gifts has changed radically and I'm not sure I can go back to the mass produced stuff that everybody gets and gives. The icing on the cake for me was hearing from a friend that myself and a few other friends who make their own gifts have inspired another friend to have a go for next year :)