Unbought Delicacies: 16/06/2013

Friday, 21 June 2013

Solstice blessing

I wish you all you wish yourself,
Your share of love and peace and health;
Good friends with loving, thoughtful ways
To help you through your darker days.
Sun and laughter, lots of kisses,
Much success and few near misses;
Make the best of every day
Embrace your life in every way.
Blessings.

Monday, 17 June 2013

Good and important article here

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens-life/10124801/Nigella-Lawson-Are-you-in-a-controlling-relationship-How-to-spot-the-signs-of-manipulation.html?fb

A tale of two valerians.............

There is a profusion of flowering False Valerian (centranthus ruber) at the moment, both in my garden and many others, also some escapees into farm buildings, old walls etc - lovely billowy mounds of pink, darker pinky red and pure white. I love them all, and I think they're beautiful flowers and plants, although some folk class them as weeds.

Not my picture, I found it through Google images, but it shows how beautiful it can be.

NOT to be confused with the herb valerian which is used for medicinal purposes

As you can see, quite a different plant altogether. There's lots of info on usage etc on the net for the herb valerian; the centranthus is purely an ornamental plant.

Thought I would just post a seasonal reminder, hope you find if useful :)

Lemon, courgette and poppy seed cake

I made this the other day, and it was a great success. Quick and easy, and it keeps well for several days if you can.

6 oz soft butter
6 oz granulated sugar
3 eggs, beaten
6 oz self-raising flour
milk to mix if required
1 medium courgette, grated
zest and juice of one large lemon
1/2 tbsp. poppy seeds

Cream butter and sugar, add eggs, mix well; add flour and milk if required to a dropping consistency. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well. Turn into a prepared loaf tin and bake for 35 - 40 minutes in a hottish oven. Cool on wire rack. Put the kettle on :)

Sunday, 16 June 2013

Keep on keeping on

'' We all stood there and said 'Someone should do something', then we realised we were that someone. You've got to fight for what you want and believe is right with passion and commitment; look back and be proud that you did, even if the outcome is not what you wished for/intended. Where would the world be without the triers? Just my thoughts. x ''

I posted this in one of the new Scrabble group threads on FB, who are campaigning to bring back the old and proper version

I have found such joy

I have found such joy in simple things;
A plain, clean room, a nut-brown loaf of bread,
A cup of milk, a kettle as it sings,
The shelter of a roof above my head,
And in a leaf-laced square along the floor,
Where yellow sunlight glimmers through the door.
I have found such joy in things that fill
My quiet days: a curtain's blowing grace,
A potted plant upon my window sill,
A rose, fresh-cut and placed within a vase;
A table cleared, a lamp beside a chair,
And books I long have loved beside me there.
Oh, I have found such joys I wish I might
Tell every woman who goes seeking far
For some elusive, feverish delight,
That very close to home the great joys are:
The elemental things- old as the race,
Yet never, through the ages, commonplace.

~ Grace Noll Crowell

Ideas for handmade gifts

Small knitteds - gloves, scarves, hot water bottle covers, hats, tea cosies, phone covers, little toys,,cushion covers, bags. Some of these can be felted/fulled for extra interest.
Edibles - chutneys and jams, pickles, nice teas in a vintage/retro tin, sweeties, toffees, mustard, home made wine and liqueurs, home dried fruits, ketchups.
For the home - trimmed tea towels, handknitted dishcloths, quilted wallhangings, small samplers, restored picture frames, pot pourri, lavender bags, covered coathangers, little scented bags for hanging on handles, framed photos of family,etc you've taken yourself, pincushion,needle book, scissor keeper, book of promises (eg babysitting, 1 hour's housework, the ironing, etc)
Bathtime - homemade soap, bath oils, bath salts, knitted washcloths, herbal bags for the bath, hand sewn toilet bags, trimmed hand towels, homemade lotions and potions packed in pretty jars and bottles.
For the garden - home saved seed in handmade decorated packets; homemade handcream, exfoliating soap, wheat bag for those digger's aches and pains!

Handmade books, personalised printed notepaper and envelopes.
Hamper of bits and bobs from the above lists, packed in a pretty lined basket.

I'll add some more as and when I think of them; These can be used all year round and easily tailored to the recipient - everyone loves a homemade gift. :)

Inspiring thoughts.............

I saw a man, an old Cilician, who occupied an acre or two of land that no one wanted.
A patch not worth the ploughing, unrewarding for flocks, unfit for vineyards;
he, however, by planting here and there among the scrub cabbages or white lilies and verbena and flimsy poppies, fancied himself a king in wealth, and coming home late in the evening, loaded his board with unbought delicacies.
Virgil

I had no theories to prove. I merely wanted to try living by my own hands, independently as far as possible from a system of division of labour in which the participant loses most of the pleasure of making and growing things for himself. I wanted to bring in my own fuel and smell its sweet smell as it burned in the hearth I had made. I wanted to grow my own food, or forage after it. In short I wanted to do as much as I could for myself, because I had already realised from partial experience the inexpressible joy of doing so.

Harlan Hubbard, Shantyboat: A River Way of Life

Pages