Forgiveness
Yesterday I woke at six fretting about someone who bullied me at work seven years ago. “You have to let go.” I told myself. “This is eating you up.” I didn’t like this guy. Let’s call him Len to save his blushes. I didn’t respect him. Every now and then Len would order me into a private office and declare. “I know what you are doing.” Clearly someone had overheard me talking about him and reported back. I would try and stare him out and then he would say. “I have a very sensitive nose – you smell.” It was hurtful and...
read moreLove anytime cards for the stand
For a few weeks I’ve been squirreling away bits and bobs to make some cards for the gate side stand. But as with so many things I have put the project on the back burner as I didn’t really know how to begin. I probably made my last handmade card as a teenager. I did serve the Blue Peter apprenticeship and enjoy making things but how was I going to design something to sell on the stand? I trawled through hundreds of Folksy shops for inspiration. There were loads of great ideas but I was getting nowhere. So two days ago I set myself a...
read moreHow to Feed Your Whole Family a Healthy Balanced Diet, with Very Little Money and Hardly Any Time by Gill Holcombe: a review
I woke this morning feeling low and dispirited. I haven’t felt inspired in the kitchen for days. After a large mug of tea I reached for Gill Holcombe’s book – How to Feed Your Whole Family a Healthy Balanced Diet, with Very Little Money and Hardly Any Time. I was looking for inspiration and a much needed lift. We don’t have a family but Danny has a huge appetite. So I follow family recipes. I got this book a few months ago. After a brief enjoyable scan it has lain on the bed, waiting for the intense treatment that it...
read moreAndrew James premium halogen oven plus accessories: a review
I want to introduce you to Andrew. He is our new kitchen assistant. When he arrived he was given the night off but in the morning was up early to cook a perfect full English breakfast. It took the same time to cook as using the conventional oven but instead of using two hob rings, the grill and the fan oven Andrew took care of the sausages, hash browns, tomatoes, mushrooms and bacon. Leaving me to make the fried eggs and work out how much electricity we were saving. Andrew is quite chunky. With his 12 litre bowl he takes up a fair amount of...
read moreThe Cottage Smallholder February gardening competition
It’s competition time again at Cottage Smallholder. I really enjoy running these competitions as I’m picking up so many tips from around the world. I’ve been looking for sponsors and have two lined up already – this is great as they will help with the judging and of course the prizes are much more deluxe than the rather humble prizes that we’ve offered before. As I mentioned yesterday, Erika from Lunar Organics is sponsoring this competition. The prize is a beautiful moon gardening calendar and explanatory booklet plus three packets...
read moreBiodynamic gardening update for January
It all started with The Gaia Book of Organic Gardening by Patrick Holden and Cindy Engel. The Chicken Lady gave me this book for Christmas. I absorbed every page. It’s packed with ideas on how to improve the soil in your garden without the need for chemical fertilisers and very useful information and pointers to make a garden more self sustainable. Exactly the book that I needed, as I’ve become obsessed with improving our kitchen garden soil. Then I started to read more widely and discovered that biodynamic gardening is like organic...
read moreSimple Seville orange, ruby grapefruit and lemon marmalade recipe
When I was a decorator I’d often dream about decorating as it was an integral part of my life. I’d often wake exhausted in the morning having been ‘decorating’ all night. Decorating was the backbone to all these dreams overlaid with the classic dramas. Anxiety dreams – would I finish painting the room in the allotted time? Adventure dreams – scaling roofs and walls with a pot of paint and a brush. Travel dreams – decorating around the world. Even frightening dreams – decorating alone in a haunted house. The decorating...
read moreBest recipes for leftovers: Spectacular goose, red pepper and tarragon risotto recipe
“Would you like goose risotto tonight?” “Oh yes please!” We eat a lot of risotto at the cottage. The perfect easy comfort food. What I didn’t mention was the age of the goose. I’d found some last week in our freezer left over from Christmas 2008. It looked a bit stringy and unappetising so I hid it from Danny as it defrosted. Leftover goose – even if it’s been lingering in the freezer for months makes a risotto to die for. It smelt and tasted fine and once it was chopped up and stirred into the risotto it transformed the...
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