Being Creative

Taking stock

Late last year, I was browsing the shelves of our local library when I came across a book by Mary Lambert called Living with Less:How to downsize to 100 personal possessions. Although the thought of cutting down my worldly goods and chattels to a hundred items seemed somewhat brutal, something about the idea of 'less' appealed to me and I duly borrowed the copy. This spring we will have been living in our current house for 15 years and the fact that it is quite large means that we have amassed an awful lot of stuff over that time. So over the Christmas holidays and beyond we have come up with a plan. Firstly, we are going to sort through the clutter, the things that build up during the course of everyday life and are not necessarily of any use to us. So the filing cabinet, the jam jar store and the food cupboards are in for an overhaul, as are the stash of seed packets and the stack of old magazines. Then there are the things that we no longer have a use for, from clothes that no longer fit or we don't need to old mobile phones and other redundant gadgets and their associated paraphernalia. I'm sure we're not the only home that seems to have a drawer full of chargers, leads,etc. But the part of this process that we are most excited about is the third stage. Anything that is left after stages one and two has to earn its place in our home. It cannot languish unused and forgotten about at the back of a cupboard. So we are really look forward to getting to know these things again and to putting them to their intended use or even finding new uses for them. Rather than craving new possessions that we cannot afford, 2014 is going to be our year for making the most of what we have. I've put this in bold because its going to be our motto for this year, our rallying call to those who would join us in our challenge for a simpler, less stressful way of life. By way of charting our progress, I'm aiming to write shorter but more frequent blog posts. So whilst we will probably never get down to the one hundred personal posessions of the book title, it has inspired us to set the ball rolling . . .

Dazzled by dahlias

Five years ago I set myself the challenge to grow dahlias I could be proud of. Prior to that I had been enticed to buy them with the best of intentions but never actually gave myself the time to plant them. Bizarre, I know, but there we are! Each year now I buy a few more, taking great delight in increasing my colour range and the shape and size of flower. In many ways, dahlias are the ultimate thrifty flower. As long as you have somewhere frost free to store them over the winter, they will reward you year after year with bucketfuls of flowers in a growing season. And all for the initial purchase price! This year I have the best part of half an allotment devoted to them - forty six plants - and then another half a dozen on Si's plot. I think I actually started off nearer seventy plants this spring as you can divide your stored tubers each year to make more plants. I don't divide mine until the new buds have formed on the tuber; the new pieces won't grow into plants unless they have at least one bud on them, so be warned! I gave away about 18 to other allotment holders. There's no fun in having something lovely if you can't share it, is there? There really is nothing I enjoy more than picking a big bunch of these amazing money-can't-buy cut flowers and giving them as a gift. Sadly, I don't live near enough (or have enough dahlias, probably) to give them to everyone who reads this post but I can share some pictures of my favourites. Its a case of 'all hands on deck' with harvesting the orchard bounty at the moment so please excuse the lack of text this time. Just in case you are inspired to try these varieties for yourself, I've added where I bought mine from after each description.

 

This is Babylon Rose, just bursting into flower. I've had large-flowered dahlias before but have been disappointed. This one is incredible and about ten inches across when fully out (see below).

Sharing a vase with Babylon Rose is another current favorite of mine, the ball dahlia, Happy Halloween. And, yes, it really is this intense shade of orange. In fact it is so bright it is really hard to photograph. Pink and orange together is one of my favourite colour combinations. I bought both varieties from Peter Nyssen, though Sarah Raven also sells Happy Halloween (but only from her Spring catalogue).

The other large-flowered dahlia I bought this year is also from Peter Nyssen and is called Mrs Eileen. The shade of orange is very similar to Happy Halloween but, as you can see, one photo was taken inside and the other outdoors so they look less alike here than they really are. One of our allotment holders is called Eileen and I was able to present her with one of the very first flowers.

Englehardts Matador not only has an impressive name but lovely dark leaves to boot. Its flowers are about seven inches across in a deep, intense shade of pink. The only drawback with this one is that the flowers are a bit top heavy on their stalks and tend to lean forward after rain. Also from Peter Nyssen.

I have quite a number of dark dahlias, all subtley different from one another, but this is possibly the darkest. It is not hard to see why it is called Karma Choc. Apparently all the Karma series have been bred as cut flowers so tend to last longer in a vase than most dahlias. From Peter Nyssen (again).

Just to show that not all dahlias have to be bought by mail order, this one is Natal and was bought from Wilkinsons, who have stores countrywide. The blooms are only about three inches across but here is proof - if you needed it -  that small is beautiful!

Another Wilkinson one here, this time Franz Kafka in my very favourite lilac-pink. Possibly even smaller than Natal.

This Blue Bayou is quite similar in colour to Franz Kafka but this time in anemone-flowered form. Generally speaking, dahlia floweres are too fussy and involved to be of much benefit to bees but this type is an exception and they love it. I try to mix both this one and singles like Summertime, below, amongst the other types to keep our busy, buzzy friends in nectar.

From anemone-flowered to sea anemone, the petals of this Radiance flower remind me of the tentacles of that rockpool favourite. In last year's wet weather this variety never made it to flowering but if this example is anything to go by, the rest has done it good. Last year's tubers had grown enormous with all the rain which meant more splittings this year. Another Wilkinson one, though Peter Nyssen sell it, too.

I'm not a big fan of bi-coloured dahlias but this one I love. Called Hayley Jane, I bought it from our local market and it is frequently admired. As each bloom matures, the pink colouring fades to a much softer shade. It flowers prolifically.

And while it's lovely to give dahlias away, it's also wonderful to know that I can pick vase after vase for home without having to be concerned about the cost. A final big plus for dahlias is that the more you cut them, the more flowers they'll produce. I just hope we can enjoy them for a little while longer before the frosts. In my next post,I'd like to give you a guided tour of our orchard and its bumper 2013 harvest.    If you're inundated with pears, do check out our Recipe section for Chunky Pear and Walnut Chutney and Pear and Ginger Cake. Between picking sessions, I'm cooking up a storm in my kitchen and hope to have tried and tested more fruit recipes to add in October.

 

Cost Effective

Last weekend we took advantage of the bank holiday and travelled over to Wales to visit Si's parents.We are usually too preoccupied with the allotments to go in August and generally visit in October with a selection of orchard produce accompanied by some jams made with the summer's soft fruits. So with it being a particularly productive year for us we were delighted to be able to take my in-laws a large crate brimming with new potatoes, recently lifted onions, just-picked broad and runner beans and courgettes, tomatoes and cucumber from our greenhouse and two different sorts of beetroot. (A week later we could have given them much the same again, as you can see above). Whilst we were there I was looking through the weekend papers and came across an article about organic veg boxes. The Money section of the Telegraph were reviewing their value for money compared with non-organic produce from supermarkets. Of the three companies studied, two faired very favourably on price (with free or a 99p delivery charge) alongside non-organic supermarket produce and scored highly for the range of veg they contained, their freshness and their flavour. The article got me thinking about the monetary value of our own organically grown produce alongside a question that we are often asked:"Wouldn't it just be cheaper/easier to buy it all from the supermarket"?

 In other words, are allotments really worth the money? In terms of outlay you have to pay the rent for your plot from the time you take it which is, effectively, in advance. Then you need to have tools for the job which, even if you have these to begin with, are subject to wear and tear and may need replacing. There are seeds/sets/tubers to buy and fruit bushes if you so wish, along with string, labels, netting, canes. Since allotments do not generally allow the use of hosepipes you will certainly need at least one watering can. A shed is useful to keep your gardening kit in and to shelter from a sudden cloudburst;I could continue ad infinitum about all the bits and pieces you might need. Allotments require significant input to get them under way each season and not a little physical effort. Clearing, digging, sowing, watering and weeding all precede the harvesting of your would-be bounty. You will be at the mercy of the elements, wind-borne diseases and a variety of pests, the worst of whom have two legs and visit in the night to wreak havoc of their choosing! If you live at some distance from your allotment plot you may wish to consider the cost in fuel to get to it as you will need to visit regularly, particularly in a dry summer. There may well be more things that I haven't considered but I think I have probably done justice to the downside of allotments by now!

But if there are so many potential costs to allotment holding,then how come it is such a popular hobby with demand outstripping supply to the extent that some councils have closed their waiting lists? Are allotment holders just deluded optimists with more money than sense or is there more to be gained from having an allotment than is generally acknowledged? I will begin by saying that a single veg box in the Telegraph article costs more than the annual rent for one of our allotments. I might go on to say that the box of veg we took for my in-laws was twice the size of the one in the photo at the top of this post and very probably contained twice as much as those quoted in the Telegraph. Even though our allotment rents are low here, two Telegraph veg boxes would cost the same as the national average for allotments countrywide. If I then tell you that we could probably fill a double basket with a seasonally varying assortment of fruit and veg combined every week, from just two allotments, from the beginning of July until the end of October and that single crops like gooseberries, cooking apples, broad beans, rhubarb and even, this year, blackcurrants would fill double baskets on their own, you will begin to appreciate just how productive - and therefore cost saving - allotments can be. Even beyond the main growing season we probably use something that came from the allotment originally every day. We freeze as much as possible and that includes plenty of soft fruit for jams to be made later in the year. Some fruit and veg is made into chutneys, sauces and ketchups. Apples are stored whole for cooking over the winter and Bramleys can last as late as May the following year. From the orchard - though some plots on our site do have apple trees - we press apples for juice (which we also freeze) and for cider. Not every year is a bumper year like this one has been but in every year there are always some things that will do well and some that do nothing. It makes every year something of a challenge and prevents us taking any crop for granted. For all our other largesse this year we have hardly any plums. Rather than being miserable about this we will make the absolute most of the few we have and enjoy them to the full!

One of the best pieces of advice we can give, when it comes to what to grow on your allotment, is to grow what you really enjoy and particularly crops that would otherwise be unaffordable or unavailable. Our Italian allotment neighbour grows wonderful globe artichokes and she harvests every one and savours them in her cooking. I have never seen them for sale anywhere locally. The courgettes above have been so prolific this year that we are harvesting an average of five a day, yet the price in supermarkets never seems to come down to reflect such seasonal gluts. Our own allotments are run on organic principles and so we would have to pay through the nose for organic supermarket courgettes and then we could only have the standard green ones. Yesterday, one of our fellow allotment holders came for tea. We picked courgettes, peas and tomatoes just an hour before she arrived and carried them home in baskets. There were no food miles to consider, the produce was as fresh as possible and we knew that it had not been sprayed or fed with a cocktail of artificial chemicals. This year we have had so much surplus that we have really enjoyed being able to share it with our neighbours and friends. Not our allotment neighbours, you understand. When we have gluts we all have gluts of the same stuff! Our street is a mixed business and residential one and the recipients either live or work alongside us. The prolific strawberries were a particular hit and not only have we been able to share fresh local produce within our community but have strengthened friendships in the process. One of our neighbours, who is recovering from cancer, called round with some fresh cream puffs made with the strawberry jam and newly picked strawberries we had taken round that morning. Apparently we have also inspired another of our neighbours to dig up part of his lawn in order to grow not only strawberries but fresh coriander to supply his own food outlet!  

Harking back to the initial outlay I mentioned earlier, there are numerous benefits that far outweigh your original investment. Yes, you need to put in some physical effort but at least you will have something tangible to show at the end of it. People pay good money to run miles on a treadmill in air conditioned gyms and for all the expense and effort they are not rewarded with the first peas eaten fresh from the pod nor do they get to taste tomatoes still warm from the sun. Advice is exchanged and plants are swapped. Sharing is second nature amongst allotment folk. Many of our own plot holders live within walking distance but for those who drive there they believe the expense on fuel is justified. Allotments are not only a source of food but also a leisure pursuit in their own right and no-one factors in the cost of fuel if they go shopping or for a night out. Apart from a pair of wellies or strong pair of boots, allotmenting is something that requires no specially purchased clothing. If it is a case of keeping up with the Jones's then perhaps the antitheses is true and you keep down with the allotment holders! And what price can we put on the potential environmental benefits of allotments? Our site is currently alive with bees and butterfies, with dragonflies and moths and with a diversity of birds from robins to raptors. As wildlife habitats dwindle, allotments have huge potential to provide both food and shelter to wildlife to the benefit of all parties concerned. This is the subject of a future post so I'll move on here but just look how the bees below are relishing the last globe artichoke that has been left to flower.

As for other expenses, allotment holders are the original frugals, re-users and upcyclers. Some of our strongest and most useful tools have come from car boot sales and have been acquired for very little expense. We do have a stainless steel fork and spade each but they were bought on special offer and they have already given years of service. We look after them and always bring them home with us. The amount of money you spend on seeds is largely a matter of personal choice. I have had expensive ones that have failed to germinate and cheap ones that flourished. This year I bought seeds from Lidl who have a good range at a good price, Wilko, who offer three for the price of two and are also reasonable and More Veg where you can buy small quantities of seed at correspondingly small prices. The golden courgettes are a variety called 'Goldena' and come from Country Value Seeds who sell through Boyes. Prolific is not the word for them. Rampant might be more accurate! Some allotments are let with sheds already on them. Our original one was burnt down in 2009 but we were given one to replace it by a lovely chap who read about our plight in the paper. They sometimes come up on Freecycle and in the small ads in the paper. Or you could have a go at making one yourself from recycled materials. I have read that they can be made from old pallets! The netting for our fruit cages is scaffolding netting that was destined for landfill and it is brilliant for shading fruit from the hot sun and preventing it going over too quickly. Likewise black plastic that has been skipped by builders makes an ideal weed suppressant. Do ask permission to take things from skips. Builders are often pleased to let you have it as they have to pay to skip it. I buy sundries like labels, string, etc in end of season sales, grow my own bamboo canes in our courtyard garden at home and retrieve blue mushroom baskets for storing veg after the weekly market has packed up. I could go on and on but I hope that I have succeeded in convincing even the most sceptical of you that allotments cost relatively little for all the benefits they give - be they of a financial, health, environmental or community nature. Perhaps the biggest threat to their cost effectiveness comes from cash strapped councils in terms of rent rises or, worse still, the selling off of allotment sites to gain revenue and cut costs. Allotments are quite simply a way of life that benefits all concerned. Lets help to keep them that way.

 

Happy Birthday Hector!

I haven't written a post about 'my boys' for as long as I can remember so here is Hector looking relaxed in his armchair on the morning of his sixth birthday. Despite being enormous and weighing 35 kilos he is the gentlest of souls, loves meeting people and thoroughly enjoys being scratched behing the ears. Meat, fish and broad beans straight out of the pod are his favourite foods and recently he has been enjoying the finest of these I could find. Truth to tell we nearly lost him. Two and a half weeks ago he had major abdominal surgery and had to stay in the vets from Saturday till Monday. I never realised that two days could drag by so slowly as we waited to hear if everything would be ok. He wasn't allowed upstairs for twelve days (and nights) until he had his stitches out and so I slept on a camp bed in the kitchen with him to ensure he didn't lick his wound. We did try the big plastic cone but for a dog that size they are enormous, particularly as it has to reach beyond their incredibly long snouts. Poor chap kept walking into things and then getting stuck and howling. To his credit he never tried to lick or pull his stitches once and it must really be very tempting, especially as the wound heals and they begin to itch.

So I think he certainly deserved the organic chicken fillets from M&S, bought just before he was taken ill (in the final reductions, of course). Then we've had a root through the freezer and found some tuna steaks (also discounted) which met with distinct approval, not to mention the bag of broad beans from Monday evening's sortie to Tesco. His for the princely sum of 25p. Hector has been insured with The Kennel Club since we first got him and although the premium has risen as he's got older we agreed that for the peace of mind it gave us it was worth saving up for. The letter arrived this morning to say that the vets have been paid and I paid the excess when he first came home. We also have to pay 10% of the total cost, which is do-able compared with forking out the entire cost ourselves. He has made such a good recovery (fingers crossed) and is back to being his loving, snuggly self. It was raining this morning when we went out and as his coat soaks up water like a sponge he wore his smart coat, below. All sighthounds - deerhounds, greyhounds, whippets, afghans, etc - have very long bodies compared to their girth so it can be hard to find a coat to fit. I got this very smart tartan one from a Scottish deerhound breeder who has them made locally and I have found it to be very good.

At one time no-one below the rank of Earl was permitted to own a deerhound and although he has a princely name he is actually called after a dog from a seventies TV programme called 'Hector's House'. At the end of the programme the character always proclaimed "And I'm a great big silly old Hector". So he was and so is his namesake. Tomorrow, he and Zephyr - whose birthday is on Friday - are going to enjoy chewing a bone each in the orchard. Small treats for my big friends. Happy birthday to them both!

Simple Things

I have been giving a lot of thought recently to what makes people happy. For myself I used to believe that it was having something to look forward to at some future time, such as a day out shopping or going abroad on holiday. It wasn't necessarily that it needed to be something costly but I did feel that it had to be something significant to justify the wait. At the time I didn't live my life in abject misery; it just seemed that achieving real happiness was always just around the corner. There was probably also an element of feeling that happiness depended on achieving certain things or acquiring particular possessions. I freely admit that I gave this belief a very thorough testing indeed - particularly where my credit card was involved - but that feeling of lasting happiness always remained tantalisingly out of reach. So what changed, you might ask. I did. Less income meant less treats. Gradually I came to realise that no amount of 'having' was ever going to work and that 'doing' is so much more rewarding. Really getting involved in an activity I enjoy - like taking the photographs for this blog - is a hundred times more rewarding and happiness-inducing than any shopping trip I ever went on, no matter HOW many shopping bags were involved! Secondly, I now wonder why I wasted so much time thinking that happy was at some future point, when there are so many little things to brighten our every day if only we care to notice and value them. Do you like the picture at the top of this post? You will probably smile when you here how it came about. I went into the garden to hang out some washing and found that the wind had snapped a little piece off a trailing geranium. I brought it inside and grabbed the first thing I could find in the cupboard of a suitable size to put some water in. I then plonked it on the windowsill behind the sink so that I didn't knock it off whilst I was tidying up. But then everytime I went to the sink my eye was drawn to it; to the intensity of the pink flowers, the contrast of the pink flowers with the blue egg cup, the ability of the flowers to perk up once they'd had a good drink. Each time I looked I felt a little buzz of pleasure. Such a small and simple thing and yet it really brightened my day. Being able to photograph the flowers at their best prolonged that pleasure further. Yesterday, Si' and I built a fruit cage out of an assortment of odds and ends that we've been given - old scaffolding net, some warped roofing laths and wooden posts and ironwork that came with the allotment. It took us most of the day but we were able to spend that time together, doing something we enjoyed, to produce something incredibly useful that cost us nothing! Later we enjoyed a bowlful of our first homegrown strawberries for tea. I have added a new category to this blog called 'Simple Things to Make Your Heart Sing!' in which I hope to include posts about the simple things that I feel make life worth living. Perhaps happiness is there to be found every day after all.

Made by Hand

There is always a queue for the car park at IKEA. Or at least there is when we go there, admittedly at weekends, to stock up on batteries, candles and other (not exactly) essentials. I can see the appeal. Everything home-related under one roof, free parking (eventually), cafe with high chairs and plenty of loos! Not just a shopping trip,then, but a whole family day out. You can wander round for hours and examine potential purchases at length (and width, with the tape measures supplied), get fed and watered and return home at the end of the day with at least one bag full of exciting must-have items. The only negatives were the time it took to locate said car again in the enormous car park afterwards and the equally enormous amount that you spent. Every time we go there we look at one another at the checkout and exclaim, "Hoooooow much?" Especially when the things you picked up seemed so cheap that you bought two. Just like the supermarkets, IKEA have developed ways and means of making you spend. In fact, they could probably teach the supermarkets a thing or too there. And once we get our purchases home - and I'm talking about the Marketplace buys here, not big pieces of furniture - did they really improve our lives in any way? Did we gaze on that fruit bowl and think it was something we would enjoy using for the rest of our lives? And how many of us - if we were tested a couple of days later - could remember all (or any) of the things we bought there? Cetainly not me. We went in the week after Christmas, ostensibly for some batteries and some of those boxes for storing magazines upright. But the sale was on, we saw bits that we thought might come in handy - you know, "while we were there" - and then we picked up some useful storage boxes with lids and before we knew it we'd parted with the princely sum of sixty three pounds and sixty seven pence. Two days later I couldn't remember what we'd bought. 

My point here is that most of us will go to IKEA and the like on a regular basis and part with our hard earned cash for things we don't need or - dare I say -  particularly like? Worse, is that a few months down the line it has to go to make way for goods bought in a similar vain. Either that or it is stashed in your capacious IKEA storage. We know this as fact; we have their wardrobes! Yet if I were to suggest that instead of repeatedly buying mass produced one-style-fits-all-taste stuff, you chose something hand crafted and individually made that you would cherish forever, many people would throw their hands up in horror and complain about how much it would COST! Moreover, if I proposed going on a day's course to learn how to make beautiful things with which to adorn your home, personalised to your own taste, a similar number of people would say they didn't have the TIME. Allow me to try and persuade you otherwise.

Two weeks ago we visited an Open Studios event at The Harley Foundation Studios on the Welbeck Estate in North Notts. The studios (up above) are not open to the public ordinarily. They are places where the artists and craftspeople can dedicate themselves to their chosen field relatively undisturbed. Most of the beautiful items they produce are sold through galleries, at exhibitions featuring their work and at craft fairs. The magnificent chair shown above was made by Ian Saville out of walnut and ash and has been carefully constructed to last a lifetime. Ian makes limited editions of his furniture and also works to commission, one of his particular specialties being music stands. His was one of the larger studios on the site and the first thing that hit us was how wonderful it smelled. It seems a silly thing to say, really, because a studio working with wood is always going to smell of .. er.. wood but so much of what we buy nowadays has no sense of where it came from. We discussed the price of his furniture compared to that of the 'better' furniture shops and concluded that their prices reflect the costs of designing, sourcing, construction and materials, transporting, marketing, staffing and their place on the high street. Ian's chair costs £400 and was made and designed by him. Do feel free - as I have just done - to compare this to the price of dining chairs on the Heal's website, designed (not constructed) by Matthew Hilton, for example. In this instance Ian's bespoke furniture actually costs less! Of course this blog is not just about less in terms of finance but less soul-less mass manufacture and less damage to the rainforests to plunder their tropical hardwoods. In contrast, Ian sources all his wood from within Europe and the UK so he offers both a cost effective and ethical choice. And just to add balance we are also about more: more individuality in our homes, more craftsmanship in the items we choose and - last but not least - more fun!

Georgina Bell's felt version of the china plate wall display embodies all three of the above. She works with felt, embroidery, print and drawing - often a combination of two or more of these - to produce original and highly individual pieces with a lighthearted touch. I really liked the idea of taking something you see often, like plates on a wall, and giving the idea a twist. They also illustrate my point that there are handmade creations to suit all pockets. At £22 each, Georgina's plates are probably less expensive to buy than some of the china ones on which they were modelled. And they won't break if you drop them! If we'd had more time I would have liked to join in with the needle felting taster session that Georgina was offering. Perhaps next time. You can join her mailing list to be kept informed of future courses she offers or to find out if she will be exhibiting anywhere near you.

Magie Hollingworth has likewise embraced the idea of taking something familiar and turning it into something special. The fish knife and fork above are made of papier mache, as are the fruit spoons at the top of this post, that I couldn't resist buying from a box labelled '50p per item'! I imagine that these are demonstration pieces from classes she has taught but even the larger utensils such as fish slices in black were only £5 each; very little when you consider that each item is individually made. Artists studios tend to be very neutral in colour but Magie had painted a broad stripe of deep orange across one wall. With the black kitchen implements hanging in front it created a wonderful contrast. I told her how much I enjoyed bright colour and she said she was thinking of painting a bright pink stripe below the orange. So that inspired me to take the photograph above. Do you like the combination, Magie? Something I really admire about her work is that she is taking waste paper and turning it into something beautiful. I'm hoping to display my pieces in some box frames, probably using the same backgrounds as above. The bright backgrounds would not be to everyone's taste but they are mine and surely one of the functions of home is to reflect our own personal tastes, not those decreed to us by the high street. And while the high street allows you to buy ten mass produced mugs that are exactly the same, the particular charm of handmade things is that no two are identical.

If I have suceeded in whetting your appetite for handmade loveliness in your home, what could be better than going on a course to learn to make things for yourself. Pictured above is the very lovely Louise Presley who runs workshops for "all things vintage and sewing" at The Harley Foundation Studios. She trained in fashion and commercial textiles but began working for herself ten years ago under the name of Hope and Elvis and describes her occupation as being that of "professional treasure hunter"! As I have said in previous posts, craft is experiencing a huge resurgence in popularity and in addition to hosting her own courses (both weekday and weekend), Louise attracts some of the biggest names in the crafting world today such as Julie Arkell, Tom of Holland and Viv Sliwka of Hen's Teeth (who I, quite incidentally, follow on Pinterest).

Louise's studio was packed with visitors when we arrived so we decided we'd earned a cuppa by now and a piece of homemade cake in the pop up tea room. So friendly and professional was the service that we thought that the two ladies running it did catering for a living but not so. Elaine and Kim have been on previous courses at Hope and Elvis and as keen home bakers relished the chance to run a tea room for the day. We sampled the banana and walnut loaf and the lemon drizzle cake and both were to die for. In fact Si' - who is not known for giving praise lightly - said it was VERY VERY nice and he could be described as something of a cake connoisseur, having both a mother and wife who bake. This photo shows Elaine in her superb choice of pink pinny; not only does she sew and bake, she makes jam AND she has an allotment. More about this kindred spirit in another post!

I met Louise initially through my mum. Louise used to buy from her years ago when my mum had a shop locally and when my mum gave up the shop they lost touch. They have only met up again relatively recently and my mum introduced us as she knew we'd have a lot in common. Her workshops are sponsored by Brother Sewing UK who have supplied the sewing machines for the courses and Louise caters for all abilities from the novice to the professional. The studio was so busy on the day it was quite hard to find space to take photos but the one above shows the sort of things that have been made or 'upcycled' courtesy of a Hope and Elvis day. The courses are incredibly popular and as Louise puts it on her website are "booked up in a blink" so to get first dibs you really need to subscribe to her mailing list. Now don't tell her I said this but Hope and Elvis courses really are incredibly cheap.(Particularly since it is easily possible to 'waste' £60 in IKEA on nothing!) They start at £40 for the day - which includes tuition and all materials - and go up to £75 for some of the guest tutors. The latter price bracket includes lunch. Car parking is plentiful and free and you can pick up some amazing sourdough bread from the estate farm shop while you're there.

 Don't get me wrong, IKEA has its place. We bought our kitchen unit carcasses from there, made our own doors and they look as good as new 14 years later. But when it comes to personalising your home do you really want what everyone else is having? Whether you like it or not? There are Open Studio events up and down the country, throughout the year and likewise one day courses covering every craft imaginable. Handmade need not be either costly or time consuming. It may actually save you money and you may end up making more than you bargained for. Friends. And you don't make many of those in the queue for the car park at IKEA!

The Positive Side of Public Transport

I am an enormous fan of public transport. Since I've never passed a driving test it is my usual means of getting from A to B if I'm travelling any distance. Other than that, I walk most places or share the cars of others. I didn't set out to be green minded. When I was studying for my A-levels in Lincoln I caught the train every day there and back and I think it shaped me for life. I used to read all my set texts for English, make notes for homework, watch for Lincolnshire's wildlife out of the window or have a good long natter with friends. The train was warm, it didn't make me feel travel sick and I always felt I'd accomplished something. No-one at uni had a car and since my family came along soon after there were more pressing financial issues than driving lessons. To be honest, apart from the odd occasion, I'm really quite glad. Letting the train take the strain gives me valuable thinking time and the opportunity to meet new people who would have remained strangers had I gone by car. And it never ceases to amaze me how many interesting people I meet and how we often have something in common. I didn't set out to be photographed with Ed Miliband - Leader of the Labour Party and potentially our next Prime Minister - last Saturday. I had gone to Lincoln to look at some old books but the man had sold them the day before to a dealer, so I thought I might as well come home and go up to the allotment instead. When I'd arrived in Lincoln, Ed Miliband was doing a question and answer session on the High Street. I took a few distance shots to show my family, listened for a while and then went in search of the books. When I got to the train station my train was already at the platform, despite there being about ten minutes till it was due to leave.There were hardly any other passengers and I sat and waited for the train to depart. Through the gap in the seats I could see a few people chatting and eating sandwiches. Then it dawned on me that this was the same group of people I'd seen on Lincoln High Street and that one of them was Ed Miliband. On a train. The same train as me! I sent both my girls a text that said "I am on a train with Ed Miliband". After he'd finshed his sandwich and the train set off I could see him clearly between the seats. I heard him say that he was shattered. I think if I was touring Britain prior to this week's county council elections I'd be pretty shattered too. I thought my girls would never really believe I'd seen him so thought I'd take a close up snap on my phone from the relative anonymity of my seat. Just as I was lining up my shot he looked up. He asked if I would like to take a  photograph. I don't think I have ever been so embarrassed. I'm not in the least bit sychophantic and hadn't intended to disturb him in the slightest but he was so very nice about it. One of his companions took the photo above on my phone for me and then we sat and chatted about trains, his constituency of North Doncaster - where Si' works - and children. He was pleasant, he was interested and he listened. Attentively. He only moved when I was due to get off. This blog has no political affiliation though it does have a green agenda and I told him that I took my hat off to a party leader who chose to travel by public transport. I think people are fed up of being told what to do by politicians who think the maxim 'do as I say, not as I do' was invented for them. We don't want to be patronised, we want to be heard. And I can't fault Ed Miliband on that score.    

 

Eggs for Easter

The eggs above have been used for Easter decoration at our house for at least the last fifteen years. On reflection, probably nearer twenty. They are actually real eggs that have had their contents carefully blown out and have then been painted with emulsion paints from sample pots. What makes them really special to us is that not only did I make them with my children when they were still quite small but that the eggs we used came from our own hens. Even better is that the previous year each child had spent some money given to them for a chocolate egg on a hen of their very own. I recall there was such excitement as we brought them home and that the choice of names - Wormpecker was one - was heavily influenced by the feathered contingent of Fantastic Mr Fox! Alas our girls have long since departed to the great hen house in the sky and my own little birds have all now flown the nest but the eggs still remind us of those happy times. If you would like to make these with your own little people they are a lovely activity to undertake together during the school holidays, particularly since the icy wind is not exactly beckoning us outside. Click here for the link to the Telegraph Life article on how to make them yourself as described by crafty lady, Ros Badger. And whilst you are in craft mode, the brightly coloured foil from your Easter eggs is well worth saving for future craft projects of your own. Smoothing it out carefully with a damp cloth helps to avoid tears. The very best eggs for me this Easter have not been made of chocolate nor were they laid by a hen. I am extremely honored that after several winters of careful feeding and attention to habitat in the orchard, Robin and Bobbin have decided to nest in one of our sheds. Not only that but they have laid a clutch of four beautiful mottled eggs in a nest built on top of my stored dahlia posts. Although noted for their friendliness to gardeners, robins are very secretive about their nest sites so I am being incredibly careful not to disturb them. If they hatch and rear the chicks then all the hard work will have been worth it. What with a forecast of sunshine (despite the cold wind) and the newly lighter evenings there's lots to look forward to. Happy Easter! 

Anticipating Spring

We have just had two beautiful days full of sunshine in our corner of Lincolnshire and it really has felt as if Spring is just around the corner. Last week Si' had time off for the half term holiday and we spent the whole nine days getting the orchard into shape for the year ahead. There is still lots to do but a lot of the heavy work is out of the way, which entailed cutting back more of the inside hedge that had grown into trees. The increase in light levels now they are cut back is amazing and that is before they had even come into leaf. It was much colder last week than this so we had several bonfires with the brashings from trees felled in previous years. Wood ash is high in potash so we save this afterwards to boost the fertility of our soil. Our blackcurrants do particularly well with a top dressing of wood ash about now. We also cut the hedge that forms the boundary with the main road (the 'outside' hedge). We cut this one every other year but it didn't get done last year as Si' was recovering from an emergency appendectomy. Last year's tall growth had grown into this year's beanpoles and we have made a gift of the surplus to other allotment holders. When we took on the orchard four years ago, one of the first things to emerge from the gloom were a few straggly patches of snowdrops. With light levels restored they improve year on year, both a delicate single variety and a more robust version with multiple white petticoats. Robin and his mate, Bobbin, wait patiently each day to be fed, serenading me while I work and 'helping' when I turn over new ground. There is a new blackbird, too, with an odd quiff on the back of his head. He was along as soon as I had finished digging this afternoon to see what he could find for his tea. There are a number of hazels growing throughout the orchard and we have cut several of these back to the ground to encourage them to grow several thinner stems that will make valuable stakes in a few years time. Trees 'coppiced' in this way tend to live much longer than those with one single trunk and removing the top growth helps wild flowers to establish. I never thought I would say this but I am quite glad to have nettles for a weed. Not only are they a valuable host for butterflies and other insects but they are a useful source of nutrients when added to the compost heap. And when they have to come up, they pull out of the ground in satisfyingly large clumps which grow very near the surface. Some days I look at the orchard and think how much there is still to do. But then I remember just how far we have come and I feel immensely priveliged and grateful to have been given the opportunity.

Pinspiration

Last autumn we decided to have a bit of a move round at home. Now that all three of our offspring have left home we resolved to tackle the clutter in both attics to give us both a warmer workspace for the colder weather ahead. We reorganised the newly insulated loft space to accomodate seasonal items and recycled things via the charity shop and recycling banks. Two trips to the TV studio in London in November and December left us short of time to get finished by Christmas but we had done enough to render our 'his'n hers' attics useable. Prior to moving upstairs I had been using the little back bedroom but it faces north west and felt cold even on a sunny day. One wall of that room was almost entirely covered by a huge noticeboard that I'd managed to acquire moments before it was due to be taken to the local tip. Two coats of paint later and it is eminently serviceable, particularly now it hangs on the attic wall and half of it isn't hidden behind a bookshelf! At the moment it only has a calendar and one or two little things pinned to it but I have plans for it to be both useful and beautiful. Not only will it host lists of prospective blog titles where I can find them easily but also somewhere to stick pictures that make my heart sing, like the one torn from Red magazine, above. I have collected pages I find visually inspiring for all of my adult life and have amassed several folders full. In fact, along with my husband, dogs and family photos they are one of the first things I would grab in a fire! Unfortunately they are quite cumbersome and searching through them for something I think I've put in there can be hugely frustrating timewise. On the other hand, looking through them on a grey day when things have not been going so well can give me more of a lift than almost anything else, so I'm not likely to be ditching them any time soon.

Although the contents of these Inspiration folders, as I call them, are all paper-based the overwhelming majority are pages from magazines. I love magazines. They are a particular weakness of mine. The two I have regularly are funded by subscriptions bought with my Tesco Clubcard tokens so they are not an actual expense as such but what seduces me about magazines is the pictures. All that colour and seasonality; but at such expense! So what if you could have all the pictures you could ever want, enough to fill a thousand enormous pinboards like mine? Pinboards which took up no space in your house but which you could view in their entirety at a touch. And best of all, cost you nothing at all. If you need your soul food fix like I do it sounds like a dream come true. Thankfully somebody has already though of it and it's called Pinterest.

If you already have a Pinterest account (and you can create one via your Facebook or Twitter account) you may wish to skip the next paragraph or so. If not and you are wondering how it works then please read on. When I started out last June I found quite a bit out by trial and error but if this helps anyone it will have been worth the effort of writing it! Pinterest allows you to create your own virtual pinboards on its website. The pictures you choose to attach to your boards are called 'pins' and you can either select your own pins from the Internet via the 'Pin It' button or browse other user's boards and 're-pin' pictures they have already placed there. Pinterest users - or 'pinners' - theme each board to build up a collection of one type of image e.g  home. You are free to create as many different boards as you wish. Some people will have half a dozen whilst others have more than a hundred. The choice of title is down to the creator but something self explanatory will help other pinners to find your boards just as it will help you to find theirs. When you set up your account, Pinterest will ask you what subjects you are interested in and suggest some current pinners who have boards that may interest you to get you started. These are classed as boards or pinners you are 'following'. You can opt to 'unfollow' any boards or pinners that hold no interest for you in addition to selecting new boards or pinners to follow of your own. Once you opt to follow another user (and you can opt to select all or just some of their boards) their most recently acquired pins will appear on the home page for you to browse. Or you can look for pins by subject via the search box. As your mouse hovers over each pin a hand icon appears that invites you to 're-pin', 'like' or 'comment' on that pin. You can keep scrolling down the page until you find a pin you want. If you choose to re-pin you will then be asked which board you want to pin it onto before clicking on the 'pin it' tab. You then have a choice of whether to follow the board that the pin originally came from. You can choose to follow or click on the 'X' in the corner to get rid of the box. Either will take you back to the original screen so you can carry on scrolling. Other Pinterest users will find you quite quickly and if they like what you are pinning will choose to follow you. Here is an opportunity to follow others back who like the same thing. Are you with me so far?

Lots of websites help the pinning and sharing process along by featuring the Pinterest logo. This is an invitation to pin pictures from their site. You can also click on it to be taken to their own Pinterest boards. When Pinterest pins a picture it automatically captures the source details and these will be included below the pin when it appears on your board. Wherever you source your pins from it is considerd good etiqutte to quote the original source. Arguably, if you try to pass it off as your own it is stealing! Being Creative has the Pinterest logo in the right hand side bar under See and so you are more than welcome to use my pictures as long as you ensure they have been credited as coming from here. If you click on my Pinterest logo it will take you to my boards under the username Blackbird Bazaar. Underneath it will tell you that it is really me! The first of my boards is called Being Creative with pictures taken from this blog. Blackbird Bazaar is an exciting new project that I will be telling you about very soon. For instructions on how to acquire the 'Pin 'It' button to enable you to pin my pictures you will need to follow the instructions in the drop down menu on Pinterest under the heading 'About'. Alternatively, at the bottom of each of my posts is a little 'Pin It' button; if you click on this it will give you the option of pinning any of the pictures in that particular post.

If you look at my boards you will see that I am interested in things beyond the Being Creative remit. Although colour comes into this blog it is not really a category I write about but it is a huge passion for me. Likewise the vintage props that are peppered throughout the blog. I also enjoy graphics and illustration in all their forms. It's amazing how the simple design of the perfume box above can have such impact, isn't it? As for the Inspiring Words board, we all need a few of those to motivate us now and then. If I've inspired you with these words I hope to meet you on Pinterest soon. Happy pinning!