The green post

I was really excited the other day when this delivery arrived from CAT in Wales.

'What on earth is it?' you ask...


It's my new compost bins!!! Hurray!!

I bet no one has ever been sooo excited by compost bins before! I am over the moon because for ages I have been sending all the garden waste off for recycling by the council and putting the kitchen peelings and whatnot in the bin, but now I can make it all into lovely compost for the garden instead!

They were sooo easy to put together too. They just slotted together... no hammering of nails or messing around with screwdrivers. Just the feeling of satisfaction you get when you've made something!!

Who knew a compost bin could look so beautiful!! :-)

So we immediately started filling it. Delia's Kitchen Garden book recommends putting small woody branches at the bottom to keep it aerated, then a layer of brown waste...

Then a layer of green waste... never before have I been so eager to mow the lawn!

We're building it up in layers like a big cake. :-) We've also added chopped, soaked straw, horse manure and herbaceous prunings. I had a peek this morning and there were already some compost creatures roaming around in there.

As this is the green post I thought I'd share a few other acquisitions that are greening up our home. I know they look like little planets but they're Eco Balls to replace the washing powder. They work by ionising the water which cleans your clothes without any nasty chemicals. They work too! Not only that it says that they last for up to 1000 washes! I'd just like to mention that I am in no way connected to this company... I'm just really pleased with my little planets!

Same goes for our kettle. It's called an Eco Kettle. You put your water in, press a button and end up boiling just the right amount of water. It's great! A fast boiler too. Saves so much time, water and energy. According to the website on average people boil twice the amount of water they need to and with a 3w kettle this amounts to wasting the energy of about 50 light bulbs!

I'm certainly no angel but when things need replacing I think it's worth thinking about the environment. I'm looking forward to choosing new appliances for the kitchen when we change it. Especially the fridge freezer. I think I'm right in thinking that they are the most energy guzzling out of all the appliances? Ours is off the ark so it will be satisfying to replace it.

P.s. Somebody has been asking about our dancing classes... I will have to spill the beans in a separate post. Hopefully I can get hold of some photos!

Sweetness and Light

Don't you think these biscuits are cute? I know they are aimed at children so I must be a big kid! I was completely sold on the packaging. It's based on the poem by Edward Lear - The Owl and the Pussycat. If anybody knows who the illustrator is I would love to know.

Speaking of owls there is an enchanting 10 minute BBC film here about a family of Little Owls living in an orchard in Herefordshire. Ever since I first saw it months ago I have been hunting for a real Little Owl but so far they have all eluded me.


Sweet pancakes of love!!

And finally a little bit of magic through the Royal Mail. Thanks Astrid (middle name Amelie)!! You're a star. You really cheered me up the other day with your surprise package of giraffes, mini teapot and this little fella who has been endowed with special powers to stop me from being locked out. Thank you x

A very eventful day...

So I was found out! Thanks for the birthday greetings!

I was very surprised that anyone worked out when it was. :-)

Here I am at P's mum's house cutting the first birthday cake anyone has given me in a long time. Heehee! Not the best photo of me ever taken... I think I look a bit deranged with that grin and a knife in my hand!

Having a birthday cake was so nice! It made me feel really special. A big thank you to P's mum who was already really busy with her son's wedding on the same day.

P also made me some fairy cakes which was a really lovely and very tasty surprise!

I have to slip a few photos in of the wedding. This is the groom about 10 mins before the ceremony. He looks remarkably calm don't you think?!

And the happy couple after signing the register.

After all the photos had been taken we headed on to Ruthin Castle Hotel where there were some very moving speeches and one very risque one by the best man which made a few of the older guests wince a bit. It was fun watching people's faces ;-)

Later on P entertained everyone with his very 'expressive' dancing. I only had 1 person come up to me to ask how I put up with him. It's usually much more!

Now you know why we're taking dancing lessons!! ;-)

Raindrops - Lino Print

Spot the difference:

I forgot to make the number a mirror image! Doh!! So I completely removed it from the lino. It's too late now but I think I prefer the original print. :-( That's what you get for working until 4 in the morning!
Oh well, at least I have the proof to keep. I think I will put it in the bathroom in a white frame. It is just the right colour.

Last weekend was great. We went to see James at the Manchester Arena. To say they were good would be an injustice. Ah, those songs take me back to my school days. The atmosphere was electric. Can anybody dance like Tim Booth? It's the only concert I've been to where everyone has been standing and singing along, even right at the top where you feel like you could fall out of the stand it's so steep. Wish I had some photos to show you. Instead you will have to make do with flowers from my garden.

There's a bit of a pink theme going on at the moment.

I love the bleeding heart plant. My mum bought it for me last year. :-)