Spring, food and feet

Spring seemed to have taken forever to get going this year and and although it has taken a few shaky steps recently I'm sure a heavy frost or two will scupper any seed I plant out just yet unless they are of the hardiest variety.  With that in mind I set about looking for potatoes that will sit happily in the soil with a few frosts about and onion sets that will go in the ground now.  I found these and planted them up without a second thought.



I've left the pink fir apple potatoes out for now cause they just won't cope wth frosts and they are too special to lose.  I have to say I am hoping I haven't jumped the gun with the others.  The frosts have been pretty bad and nothing is showing it's head yet.... I'm sure it will be ok.....

Early peas and second planting of garlic ( the first planting are making a good recovery after the chicken massacre) as well as second planting of broad beans are also in.  I'm not worried about these guys as they love a bit of cold, just got to keep the chickens and bunnies off them!

In the mean time I found myself a lovely mushroom growing kit at Hulme garden centre.  It's a box with everything you need inside, literally all you do is add water and 6 weeks later start munching 'shrooms!  In my excitement (and hunger) I scoffed the first crop before taking pictures....Sorry, but I promise to hold back for the next lot so you can see my first crop of the year.  All I need now is an egg off the girls and I can have myself a 'shroom omlette, thanks to Kippax towers mini farm!

Spring also has another effect on me, other than itching to get muddy outdoors.  I always have the urge to redecorate and rearrange my house!  I've been here for 8 years and have always said this was a stop gap home, not somewhere I wanted to stay, it's too small and inner city manchester isn't where I want to be, but life seems to have planted me here and I may aswell make the best of it.  One space that doesn't work well and I've never touched apart from putting some laminate down, badly is my hall. So here it is in all it's pokey shabby glory.  Not very welcoming....
I'm stuck with the size of it but I can make it look nicer and not have my coat rail so high up only a giant can use it.

So, I have started stripping the woodchip off...  Have you ever stipped wood chip?  AARRRGGGHHHH!  Nearly done though. The gloss has been sanded and on the laft hand side and the door has been painted, looking good... I've even started putting an edging down by the skirting board to neated the laminate! 
PS that large thing with a cushion on it is a TV!?  Why do things like that appear in my house?  ....MEN....
I'll repaper with lining paper which I will paint on the left wall and I will paper the right hand wall with something glorious.  Photo's to come soon!

And just as a little something to make you scratch your head..... This thing appeared near to my local food superstore.  It's a giant shoe box!  Io said the BFG dropped it on his way home from the shops.  Apparently he needs some decent trainers for all that running from giant land he does.....   Kids..... :-)

Catch Up!

Right, are you ready for this onslaught of info?  Weeks have gone by without a post and surely I've got lots and lots to talk to you about.  Well, there is a bit...
Last month, I took part in a Valentines swap with other crafters at Folksy.  The theme was 'handmade heart' and I chose to make a cute little pin cushion for my recipient, Bethany.

She seemed happy with it!  What do you think?

I was really excited when my parcel arrived in the post from Talking Beads, I was even more excited when I opened it.  The ladies at Talking Beads had made me a perfect little heart made from beads.  Each one was sewn in place, I can't begin to tell you how neat and beautiful it is.  What clever ladies they are!

I think it looks extra specially fab on my crafting drawers.  Love it!

Another bit of Folksy news is that I have sold my first two MONSTERS online!  I am so pleased.  I was feeling a bit down and degected about the whole selling online thing and I was beginning to feel like jacking the whole thing in.  Then, like a message from the cosmos, two sales in three days.  So to celebrate I made a few baby MONSTERS and popped them in the folksy shop today.  They are very sweet and quick and easy to make so I can put them in at a lower price.  Who knows, maybe the fabled Folksy Sales Fairy may visit me again soon.

The other bit of news is that although the chicken haven't started laying yet, one of them, Pluck, has been showing a bit of behaviour that signals eggs are imminent!  She's dug out a shallow nest at the base of my tea rose bush and everytime I come over to her she 'assumes the position'.  Basically that means she kind of squats down ready to be mounted by any rooster that has his eye on her!  I heard if you rough them up a bit (nothing scary just lift their tails and ruffle their feathers on the back of their necks) it makes them feel like they've had some rooster action and they get up fluff their feathers and go about the day in a state of chicken loved up mist!  I gave it a go and sure enough, Pluck fluffed and shivered like she had the best night of passion any chicken could dream of and went about her merry way cooing and showing off to the others.  I feel, strangely dirty about all this, but if it means I get eggs soon, I'm willing to try just about anything!

I'm back!

Hi guys!

So sorry for no posts for the last few weeks!  I promised you an update on my adventures in homemade deoderant after a week and well, I've posted nothing at all!  Why?!!  I hear you all ask... Well my beautiful offspring managed to break my internet dongle 2 hours into the half term holidays,  2 HOURS!!!  Kids hey?!  Well I was faced with a bill of £70 for a new one off Orange so I said 'Knickers' to them and got myself a pay as you go dongle for £20.
Anyway, I'm back now so I'll let you know how that deodorant experiment went.  I have to say I am impressed!  I certainly works so far as keeping fresh and staying dry but there are a few problems with it that I think with a bit of jiggery pokery with the recipe could sort it out.
  Firstly it goes on a little clumpily, and therefore flakes onto clothing.  It brushes off easily though and doesn't stain like shop deo's on black tops but it could do with being a tad smoother.  Maybe it's because I used potato starch instead of corn starch?
Secondly, and this is a problem not everyone will come up against but anyone who suffers with a tendancy to get yeast infections easily, like me (I'm embarrassed to say) may find their pits getting a little red and itchy after a few days use.  I had been warned of this problem by the web site I got the recipe from and a qiuck application of cannisten cream knocked that on the head.
So all in all I think it has been very successful and I will continue to mess about with scents and oils and starch to come up with a recipe that's suits me best.  I would say this deo wouldn't be to everyones taste but if you are feeling adventurous I would hartily recomend giving it a try.

No piccies today sorry, but as I have lots to catch up with and tell you about, you can be sure that the next post will be full of them!