An early Saturday morning's errands produced a plethora of goodness from a local organic 'eco' supermarket. The stuff in the picture? Oat cakes, most wonderful to eat. 'Safe' washing-up liquid from Bio-D. Shampoo from Faith in Nature. Multi-surface cleaner from Ecover. Toothpaste from Weleda (unlike some 'green' toothpastes, this one tastes good). Vegetable soap (which smells gorgeous) from the Co-op, and organic, local blackface-lamb sausages. All chemicals completely safe, green and not terribly expensive either.



Of course, I can't have a nice jaunt to a local town without visiting all of the local charity shops, now can I? I was lucky enough to be perusing a local charity shop when two books caught my eye, a Norah Lofts (I had heard mention of the author from Amy) and, more interestingly (to me at least), a Beverley Nichols. I hadn't heard of this writer before (it was the sing-song name that caught my eye), and going by the name, presumed it was a woman. How wrong I was! But what a good book it's turning out to be. Possibly too boring for most (those people not interested in all things garden), but for me provides a wonderful look into the past, into the writers head, his thoughts, and the musings of his curiously-shaped London garden. It is most amusing, light-hearted and happy - something to read in the garden, sipping something cool after a long day.

Feeling contented (and with a clean, green conscience), we spent the afternoon gardening with reckless abandon. Planting out more beans, weeding, and clearing the top bed where the purple sprouting broccoli have lived for the last year. It has now been fertilised to within an inch of its life - organic, of course, using nothing but the best 'fish, blood and bone'. The bed itself has become home to some pumpkin seedlings, which are doing their best to grow, although they have to be cloched to protect them from the nightly onslaught of the local slime brigade.

The end of the day held a lovely meal, the promise of good weather, a cup of tea in the garden as the sun set and a lemony sky to behold. I couldn't be more grateful.

Going green is an ethical minefield. When one starts out on the crusade, it seems easy enough if you're willing to do something about it in the first place, but boy it gets complicated! Not to put any readers off, perhaps it is my own mind making things more difficult than they have to be - and lets think about it, I am prone to the odd philosophical outburst. Thinking about the impact that our lives have on the planet, has made links in my head to power consumption, local sourcing and using ethical companies. If for instance, you want to follow the 100-mile diet, does that mean not drinking tea and coffee, giving up chocolate and not going organic if your country doesn't produce those foods. What about buying organic produce that doesn't come in "safe packaging" (by this I mean packaging that could contain phthalates)? See what I mean? Ethically I want to do the best thing for all concerned. I want to eat local, organic produce, causing as little impact on the countryside as humanly possible, but it's not easy.


[The thought that these bees might not be here in a hundred years scares me to death]

In my green crusade, I've come across some really interesting things. My beliefs about being green were really called into question watching a BBC4 interview with James Lovelock, the incredibly intelligent and down-to-earth scientist behind the Gaia theory. The theory that Earth is a self-regulating system, controlling temperature, weather, and life itself (think of the earth as a human body, and we are similar to bacteria on its surface - not quite what Lovelock himself says, but it seems rather apt). The interview brought a few things into the limelight. According to Lovelock, the damage that we have done to the world is irreperable by ourselves alone, so "being green" is not necessarily going to help the world if large economies like the US and China refuse to make the changes too - nothing we can do will help. I agree with that, but as we make "green choices" we too are making a difference, and educating those around us, to stop wasting, to reduce what we use and to recycle more. I hope, and this is a pretty large hope, but I hope that in the future, generations will look back at us and think "I can't believe people weren't environmentally conscious back then", with a similar view that we hold of the 1970's with the use of CFCs and DDT. Lovelock also went on to say that the best and most effective way of getting power is by going nuclear. I am torn on this issue especially, because there are so many conflicting reports and ideas. I love the idea of nuclear power, the fact that it's a long-lasting, clean, green way to get electricity and that the environmental impacts are few. Until a disaster like Chernobyl happens that is, then it turns into something malign, something that has killed hundreds of thousands of people, tainted the ground for 600 years to come, and caused hell to so many. There is also the issue of where to dump nuclear "spent" fuel, the stuff that doesn't pump out as much 'juice' as fresh uranium does. Some nuclear plants use as many as 400 fuel rods in any given year, meaning that 400 are dumped, usually in cement-lined, water-filled pits. Anything that is run by humans is fallable, lest we should have another disaster like Chernobyl.

If it weren't for the dumping issue (and human error), I don't think I'd mind as much about nuclear energy being used as a fuel source. But, like all natural resources except water, air, light and heat, nuclear power is a finite source. Almost daily there are warnings about oil shortages, gas prices rise because the north-sea gas field is being used up, and coal mines shut because they're not as productive as they once were - it'll only be a matter of time before all of the nuclear sources have been used up too. Then what? It might not happen for many hundreds of years, but it will one day happen, and I don't like the thought of a world lacking the ability to use nature and harness it. If you sit down and have a good think about all of this, then it seems rather dispiriting, but I am still sticking to my view that if everyone made some pretty small changes in their lives, then the world would be a lot nicer place.

Over this last week I've been formulating plans for our household to adhere to, so that we can live as ecologically as possible. It can be expensive if you plan on buying nothing but eco-friendly products pre-made, but things like washing powder, soap, washing-up powder and household cleaners can all be made yourself, saving lots of money.

Our long-term green plans are this:

Aim to stop the use of all chemicals in the house and on our bodies that aren't 'safe'.

It's really simple to do, it means cutting down on your consumption of products like washing powders (make your own - recipe coming soon), washing-up liquids, handwashes, shampoos and household cleaners. If you use a liquid handwash, swap it for soap instead - it cleans just as well! Shampoos? Try a green alternative! Cut down on parabens, sodium laureth/lauryl sulphate/sulfate, things containing PVC and phthalates, overly-packaged items, things in non-recyclable packaging. Usually this means anything commonly available in a supermarket.

Source Locally - follow the 100-mile diet as often as possible and eat organically.

Having read this and this, I am absolutely taken aback. Admittedly this is centered around America, but products like DDT (banned as a pesticide over here in the 70's) were used in the UK, and have been shown to linger in the body for decades. Finding out too, about what is really in every-day objects has swayed me so much that there will be a serious crack-down on what comes into this house.

Using only seasonal vegetables is an area particularly close to my heart. Having grown up with Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's enthusiasm for seasonal produce, how could one not follow suit? Many people claim that eating seasonally is better for our bodies, and I agree wholeheartedly. Strawberries at Christmas? Pheasants in summer? Insane. By eating all produce (meat included) when it comes into season, you're putting less stress onto the producers to buy vegetables that aren't in season. You're also doing good things for your bodies. We need certain vegetables and fruit at certain times of the year. Why don't we take some of nature's advice? Shopping at small greengrocers is usually a good place to start - less likely to have organic produce (I speak from personal experience only - there are great organic greengrocers around too, you just have to find out where), but are great at sourcing locally. Again with the ethical minefield of "Is organic produce from 400 miles away better than non-organic produce from 2 miles away?". That, dear readers is for you to decide. To paraphrase Buffy the Vampire Slayer, that is between you and your inner moppet.

Then there's the meat question. If you had to slaughter your own chickens, for example, would you eat meat less often?

Save electricity, gas and petrol.

It's simple to do, it's wearing a jumper rather than using the heating. Already, despite a considerable drop in temperature recently, our heating has only been turned on once in the last 2 ½ months. Our boiler is a condensing 'combi' boiler, making hot water and heating on demand, rather than heating a tank-full of water that isn't always used. It is about as energy-efficient as mainstream boilers get. If you insist on having the heating on, turn it down by 4°C and you'll be saving a good deal of money and energy.

To save electricity we turn off the television rather than leaving it on standby (something which very few people do). Whilst on standby your TV is still using 70% of its overall running power. Swap your bulbs for energy-efficient lightbulbs, they last much longer than normal bulbs, and can nowadays be bought very cheaply from places like Ikea (some organisations give bulbs away free at events).


[a car very similar to my own]

Being the proud owner of a Smart car, I can say that I am using one of the most efficient cars on the market. My Fiancé uses a small car too, one that does produce slightly more emissions, but has some of the lowest emissions on the market. When, at some point in the future, we have our small-holding, I will use one of the best forms of transport possible; a horse. But until then, I'll stick with Red, she's my little baby. But I digress. Use the car as little as possible. Don't repeatedly go out, do all of your errands at once to get them over with in one burst. Buy a car with good mileage (miles per gallon or mpg - the more the better) and the least emissions. If you use a diesel car, why not try bio diesel. If you can't be bothered to make it yourself, you can now start to buy it from petrol stations all over England!

Make our own electricity and hot water, come "off-grid" and live sympathetically with our surroundings. To be completely self-sufficient.

Like I said, this is a long-term goal. It's not cheap to go installing photo-voltaic (or PV - electricity producing) solar-panels, neither is it easy to install wind turbines, but both options are things that we'd like to install at some point. A cheaper alternative is to think on a slightly smaller scale. Instead of aiming to produce all of your electricity, how about installing a water-heating solar panel. At less than half the cost of a PV panel, all of your hot water could be heated from a set of tubes strategically placed on your roof. Or using small PV panels to run things like your household lighting, or a certain appliance. If you have your own source of water on your property, perhaps you could make like the Strawbridges and have a water-wheel connected to a dynamo to create power.

This might all seem a little far-out to most (and in some aspects, it could be construed as out-and-out hippyism), but it is in fact one of the sanest possible solutions to our current energy 'crisis'. The more we do to become self-sufficient, the less we have to rely on out-dated and failing public-sector resources to make sure that we have light, heat and food around us for the long haul. In the current political climate, who in their right minds would trust their government anyway?

As things go, it's also not easy to be completely self-sufficient, as this entails dealing with everything yourself. From your own water supply to food, clothing and life as whole. But it's something that I strive to have, hopefully for a good long time in my life. Living sympathetically means working with nature to live healthily and grow our own food, rather than smothering nature with chemicals. Life survives really well on a small scale, growing enough food for us and our neighbours, it's when large-scale food production starts that the problems escalate. I understand why farmers use huge amounts of chemicals on their produce - they have acres, sometimes hectares of land to tend, perhaps with only one or two helpers, with deadlines to meet, and poor pay - who wouldn't take short-cuts? It's not right, but it's because we want "perfect" looking apples that they are now insipid, tasteless and last five minutes when removed from their chemically-impregnated bags. But they look really pretty. You decide which is better.

This week it has rained. And rained, and rained and, just for good measure, thrown in some more rain. In one week we've had the whole monthly allowance of the stuff! But on Sunday it let up long enough for me to be able to make the most of a nice day (and good damp fertile soil) to get some hard work done in the garden. Slightly perturbed since four of my lovely, healthy pumpkins were savagely eaten by nameless slimy beings (my own fault, of course), I had held back from planting anything else, save yet another humiliating dose of slug rampage should come my way. But in the nice weather, it really was a good time to plant out some of my veg seedlings and do some much-needed weeding. My policy with weeding is thus: if it effects vegetables in any way (onions will definitely not tolerate competition), or decorative beds start to become overrun with weeds, then they will be pulled. Weeds in the lawn are fine, and also in the 'wild' part of the garden nearest the compost bins, where lovely, large, looming beauties are positively encouraged.


[The purple sprouting has sprouted, and then gone on to flower! How beautiful are these blousy blooms?]

The weather held, and I was able to plant out the rest of the peas, the 'Pickwick' runner beans (a short variety (max. 18 inches), good for windy or exposed plots, with good-flavoured beans) were planted, staked to their a-frame and tied on, each and every pea got the same treatment (that was an awful lot of peas and string!). Sweetcorn found a new home in the ornamental beds - it's a structural plant, why not? All in all, the garden was graced with 3 1/2 hours of pure gardening - it was fantastic. The red squirrels came and fed from our feeders, eyeing us with suspicion at our every move, yet perfectly happy to remain there whilst we ploughed away.


[Variegated lemon balm 'Melissa officinalis 'Variegata'' - a bargain find from a plant sale, all of 50p]

The poppies are going to open any minute, just in time for a rather nasty rain storm, so that they lose all of their gorgeous papery-thin petals - or am I just being overly pessimistic? The wallflowers have been out for a couple of weeks, their heady warm scent reminding me of better things. Enchanting bees with every fresh breeze that blows. Our three new roses from David Austen, Rosemoor, William Morris and Félicité Parmentier seem to have settled into their new positions, and are sending up tiny leaf buds in earnest. They will be fed soon, and top-dressed with fish, blood & bone. Zephérine Drouhin, planted much earlier in the year is now covered in leaves and looks happy, albeit swamped with wildflower seeds.



[a gorgeous poppy head, one of many]

The hawthorn bush (top photo) at the end of the garden, apart from smelling absolutely amazing (halfway between almond and a sweet vanilla - I have yet to smell one that is even slightly reminiscent of rotting flesh, as some people describe), has the most fantastic sprays of white flowers. Altogether a romantic-looking bush, knarled and intertwined trunks, with beautiful oakish leaves. I have proclaimed it to be my favourite tree, and love it as such. How could anyone fail to love the home of the fairies?

Spinach has been planted and cloched, to protect them from a slimy invasion, and the pumpkins that didn't get eaten - 12 in all - will be planted out tomorrow, having also been cloched to protect them from wandering hungry slugs.


[Melaleuca squamea - swamp paperbark, from the plant sale also, a native of Tazmania]

Nettles are coming up in one part of the garden, and as well as being fabulous food for certain caterpillars, it's also time to turn the greatest survival experts green with envy - I'm going to make nettle string. Apart from being randomly painful if you're not always alert, it is an incredibly useful skill to acquire. From making bracelets, to sewing and knitting with the stuff, to just being able to have string whenever you need it - it's a skill that is being sadly lost. If all goes to plan, I'll post pictures, if not, then I'll just sit and weep gently with my bottle of calamine lotion.


[A Very Happy Blackcurrant bush, last year this same bush was affected very badly by mildew, a result of the warm damp summer we had here last year. It has recovered every bit thanks to a harsh prune and destroying the spores as best as possible.]

Oh, and the green promises are also still being kept, I'll update more on that in due course!

Firstly, thanks to everyone who left such supportive comments - I am so glad that you're interested in becoming green - if only a few people on the 'net take this on board then I'll be satisfied that I've done something good!

I mentioned in my last post that I'd make some green promises, and have come up with some. If anyone out in the blogosphere wants to have a go, join in with the same promises, make their own, or just have a day of complete green-ness, then go for it (and leave a comment so that I can see how you're doing!)!

For this month (what's left of it) my green promises are thus:

• Use as few chemicals as possible, in the house and on my body.


• Research alternatives for shampoos, toothpastes (am going to make a batch of stuff tonight to see if it works!) and washing powders.


• Put the three Rs into practise - Reuse, Reduce, Recycle!

In the next couple of days I'll do some posts about green household ingredients, things I know to work, things I use, and things I'm going to be testing! Good luck! :)

If I asked you to tell me what a cigarette, a liver in a bottle and some washing up liquid (dish detergent) had in common, could you tell me? Go on, have a good think. It isn't obvious. Want me to tell you? Ok, it's formaldehyde. A common ingredient in cigarettes, pickled body parts and also washing-up liquid. I kid you not. You didn't see that one coming, did you? But it's there, in black and white on most bottles (bottles which have good labelling, some just put 'preservative') of washing up liquid. It occurs naturally, as most gasses do, and when taken in small levels throughout a lifetime it's unlikely to do anything to us. But when it's found in cigarettes, many wood products, and washing up liquid, something we put on our hands at least once daily, the risk becomes more palpable. I don't want to be alarmist here, this is not what I'm getting at, but I do believe that this knowledge should be out in the public domain.

This might seem like a long post, but please stick with it.

In May 2002 (I think), 4 years ago, I read an article in a Which magazine that had uncovered information relating to so-called hazardous plastics. Apparently these plastics, containing chemicals like bisphenol A, which are known hormone disrupters, can be routinely found in tinned vegetables (not all but some) and also in plastic bottles of all sorts, including baby bottles. This is just one example, and upon reading this story I was not only shocked, but actually quite worried. Why, when this infomation was openly available, were baby bottles still containing these chemicals which could have a marked effect on them when they were older? This got me interested, so running to the bathroom I grabbed the nearest shampoo bottle I could find, and googled the ingredients. What I found made my heart skip a beat, and then come down with a thud. Ignoring all of the very extreme sites, proclaiming that everything chemical was bad, I went onto the fact-based sites, and read.

It made me take a good long look at all of the things we take for granted, like shampoo, toothpaste and shower gel (more information and links will be available at the end of this post). So, I made a vow. The chemicals that were in those products, would no longer touch my skin. No more sodium laurel sulfate or bisphenol, triclosan or parabens. But it's not as easy as that. Finding products without those chemicals is no easy task, in England at the time very few companies stocked the shampoos and toothpastes without these nasties in them. But I found a shop selling a small selection of Urtekram shampoos and bought them. I loved them immediately. They contain a cleanser made from cocnut and/ or palm oil, which is not nearly as nasty. It makes a difference because I found we don't need to use chemicals on our body, chemicals that in the end are doing us harm. Simply switching from SLS-based washes/toothpastes and handwashes to soap and a non-sls toothpaste can make such a difference.

Around that time I was also becoming interested in the eco movement. Growing food organically, sustainably and naturally. Sourcing locally, eating healthily and reaping the benefits of it. But not just food, my interest went further, what about sustainable power? Electricity, water, heat, light and using less energy? If everyone made those kind of changes the world would be a profoundly different place! Isn't that a wonderful thought? That if everyone remembered to turn off their telly rather than leaving it on standby, turned off lights when they left a room, filled their dishwasher to the brim before they used it, and filled their kettles only to the amount they needed - the change in the world would be quite amazing. Before you dismiss me as a hippy with a bee in her bonnet, think about it. Most of the readers of this blog will either have children, know children, or want children. What sort of world are we leaving them? That was my most sobering thought, the thought that this world might not be the semi-utopia it is now, that one day we might destroy it to the point of no return.

From that point on, life wasn't just about my comfort, it was about a feeling of needing to do something better, something more. I am a member of the human race, a member of society, and as such I had to pull my weight. But all around me I saw people in their petrol-guzzling cars, using every last resource with gleeful abandon, not thinking of the future generations who will have to pay the price. Nor listening to the world, herself, this self-regulating being that we live on, or Gaia as some call her.

So I looked at my life, and decided to change. Nothing happened much at first, at the time I was but 16, and not living on my own. I had some support, but I also remember friends laughing at me when I mentioned what I believed in. Which was dispiriting, because all I wanted to do was make a difference. But I carried on, and kept that little bit of knowledge and information inside, knowing that one day I'd have the chance to use it. And use it I can. When we moved here in May 2005 (a year ago now!) we were already aware of green issues. We had visited the hallowed Eden Project and I knew quite a bit about gardening and ethnomedica (using native plants to heal), but I made a conscious decision to learn as much as I could.

We knew that the garden would be used primarily for the growing of our own produce, vegetables, herbs and 'useful' plants. It would also be a place where we'd keep chickens - something that we're planning for later this year. A way of having our own eggs daily, and a way to implement the three Rs (not those three Rs...) reduce, reuse and recycle, something we take deadly seriously here.

Why am I writing this post? If you're still reading to this far, I commend you, because honestly many people would've stopped reading a while ago, but I had to say something on the matter, because it's something that I believe in. Just as I believe in being kind, smiling lots at anyone and everyone, and in the human capacity to do good. Idealistic, yes, but true nonetheless. So, I'm going to make some 'green promises' monthly, and as well as keep those promises, I'm going to post about how and why we are becoming more green. Just as I detail what's going on in the garden. I hope that you might feel inspired to do something to follow the three Rs yourself. I'll be posting about ways you too can do simple things, to get your whole family proactive in doing good for themselves and for the rest of the world.

That was the original aim of this blog, to give 'green' household tips, having seen firsthand how many people use really harmful chemicals in their homes, and don't seem to care about the consequences. I'm also going to post 'green' recipes too and feel free to ask advice - I'll help if I can (although I freely admit to not being an expert)!


Linkage:
Urtekram friendly cosmetics
perusing the crossroads of style and sustainability (a very good blog)
a few effects of formaldehyde
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's River Cottage
The 100-mile Diet
National Association of Farmers Markets
The Big Barn - find your local producer (no registration required)
Olives Et Al - their habas mojado is just too moreish!
Organic VOC-free paint
Allotments4all - a lively discussion forum
BBC Gardening
Energy Savings Trust
National Society of Allotment and Leisure Gardeners
Become Carbon Neutral!
How do you live a carbon neutral lifestyle?
The Healthy House Ltd.

It's really beautiful here at the moment. It's not overstatedly so, just small flowers opening, some weeds, some not. The last of the cherry blossom hanging delicately on the branches of the tree, waiting for a gust of wind. Rain, the rain comes and pours, slowly seeping, deep into the roots, and feeds the thirsty.



The Fiancé found a frog in the middle of the road, and rescued it. Calling to me all the while to see him (am I the only one to call a frog beautiful?). Scillas, poppies, wallflowers alike, all vying for sunlight and attention, some flowering some waiting patiently for a nice day. How the poppies will flower this year! Their heads so large on long, slender necks.



A walk down the garden is an assault on the senses. The Blackbird, humble and true, singing his song deep into the evening twilight, terracotta pots filling with life, window boxes fill of seedlings and the occasional weed.



Leaves slowly unfurling, a wasp lazily looking for a place to call home, and a bumblebee doing the same, darting from dandelion to wallflower, to dandelion again.



The small plants that everyone overlooks, in the fields and on the heath, cow parsley, moss and nettles. Perhaps, gently stirring underground a wild orchid, tangling itself in the clover. The plantains with their small white flowers, too small to capture and these spectacular plants, as yet unnamed...



As well as all that we found ourselves at what can only be described as a plant car-boot sale. My idea of saturday morning paradise! Staffed by inveterate local growers and allotment holders, all of which had a wealth of plant knowledge, they were able to advise on what location the plants would thrive in, what colour their flowers would be, and if they themselves had grown the plant. I could see the palpable look of shock upon seeing me, presumably because I am so young (not something commonly encountered in the gardening world), they were quite surprised when, in some circumstances, I was able to tell them more about the plant than they knew!

I came away with some real treasures, two small lavender cuttings, 20p a pot(!), a lychnis or rose campion, something I didn't recognise by the latin name alone, but will be perfect in the cottage garden bed. Plants just known by their latin names, many without any further details, so it will be a complete surprise when they flower, because I know not what colour their flowers will be! I came across the prettiest shrub, upon looking at it, the lady at the stall told me its story. She had been to Tazmania and had brought back the seeds for this plant because she loved the look of it. The only name I know it by is Melaleuca squamea or 'Swamp Paperbark'. I am sure I'm one of the very few people in this part of the world to have one of these shrubs! It is pretty, and according to the lady will do well in a south-facing plot (lucky we have one!). We also found more than one gorgeous (and edible) Jerusalem artichoke, variegated lemon balm, alstromeria, an achillea 'paprika' and a lysimachia ciliata 'firecracker', which the man at the stall promised would give beautiful yellow flowers and already has a gorgeous profusion of bronze leaves.

Now, if only the weather would brighten a bit, I'd get the chance to have all of these planted before the wedding!

I was tagged to take part in this meme a while ago, and didn't (I'm terrible at such things) but I've got some time to have a go, although how I'm to keep it to ten - I don't know! In no particular order, my Ten Simple Pleasures...

1. Being out in the garden, flowers all around me, drinking in the rain or the sun, feeling every single plant and creature, and being at one with my surroundings. I love sunsets, the likes of which I can happily sit and watch every night of my life.

2. Hanging out washing on the line. Something people see as a chore, but it has to be my favourite household 'chore'. We don't own a tumble-drier as they are really bad for the environment, and we try to be as 'green' as possible, so if it's raining everything gets dried inside the house. The smell of bedclothes hung out on the line is amazing.

3. Cooking 'soul food', food that isn't gruelling (should any food be gruelling?!) and that perks you up as soon as you step in the kitchen.

4. Love. From my Fiancé, my mother and my dog. From the neighbours next door to a man on the street. I'll take love wherever and whenever I can get it, and hope to give some back in return.

5. Knitting (and crafts in general). I love knitting, I like learning new things, I like feeling cool needles in my hands, and the gentle, rhythmic 'click click' of them. The thought of all the women before me who have sat in my place and done the same thing.

6. A summer thunderstorm. It almost always gives me a headache, but seeing the clouds darken, as if viewed through milky water. Darker still, a deep grey cloud lays overhead and then the inevitable crash, flashes of lightning and the sky that returns to blue afterwards.

7. Music. I can't go into it more than that, but music is my vent, my way of coping, dealing and moving on. It doesn't fail me (unless the CD is scratched, the vinyl bent or the iPod out of charge...) ever, and has the power to make a bad day turn upside down with one song.

8. The stars. The body of which I could not do without. Looking up there brings me right down to earth, reminds me that we are small and insignificant, and yet they hold promise, hope and wonder. To see falling stars is a sight so spectacular it eclipses the most beautiful rainbow, the most violent snow storm, the most amazing sunrise.

9. Reading a good book, somewhere quiet, comfy and relaxing. From the bath to your bed, indoors, outdoors, anywhere at all. Storytelling is one of the most important ways of keeping information, and has been around since man gained the use of their tongues. It should be interesting, have an outgoing heroine, preferrably history, and should immerse the reader completely. If books were heroin, I'd be a junkie.

10. Sleep. The art of a good night is harder than you'd think.

Ironically, the song that popped up in iTunes was 'Nothing Gives Me Pleasure' by Josh Rouse... For once, I couldn't disagree more!

It is time to cook, for me at least. I have felt like attacking the kitchen and, like the alchemists of yore, coming out with something so different from the bare ingredients that I started with. I have been adventurous, and everything has been attempted. From lemon surprise puddings, to bacon, pepper and broad bean risotto - from Nigella to ad-libbed stuff from little ol' me.


[My take on Nigella's 'Pasta with meatballs in tomato sauce' which was heaven on a plate. Interestingly we don't have a pasta maker, which completely passed me by until I realised that it was needed. But fear not, if you don't have a pasta maker, all you need is a rolling pin, a flat surface and some very good upper body strength! Working on the principle that women have been making pasta in Italy longer than men have been with machines ;-)]

It has been a nice escape, and good to get back to cooking, something I enjoy passionately. I go through phases of not really wanting to be in the kitchen, then I get a spark of inspiration and I'm off. Which is nice, because it's taking my mind off the insanity that is wedding preparations. Talking of which...

So far, The Big Ol' Wedding Checklist (hummed to the tune of 'Big Rock Candy Mountain') is coming together piece by piece, but there is still so much to do. Shoes, wedding favours, and still people haven't RSVP'd (it's just a month away, is it too much to ask for a phonecall or a card in the post?!?!?!). Ugh. Not that I'm stressing (the lines on my face don't give away the wedding-related nightmares I'm having almost nightly, do they?) - much.

On a better note, I've just finished Du Maurier's 'Rebecca' which was as excellent as I'd hoped it'd be and more - my mother found me an ancient reading copy, with an old-book smell to it and foxing on its pages, the smell taking me every bit back to the old halls of Manderley. I heard the second Mrs. de Winter narrating it all from the gallery, or from the rose garden so beloved of her, those immortal lines 'Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again'. Having read Sally Beauman's 'Rebecca's Tale' first, it gave me a taste for Manderley, and I'm now onto Susan Hill's sequel to 'Rebecca' entitled 'Mrs. de Winter'. They are enchanting novels, and well worth reading, especially the original, it is tangy and has bite, which for its time was well ahead of itself.

Back to the kitchen for me, book in hand ;-)

It's warm here, getting to be really warm. Perhaps I just feel it more, but I am absolutely sweltering. This could be because I have a headache (yay), though, and have been running about left, right and centre all day - doing one thing or another.

But on the upside, the garden is doing really well without any intervention. Our local thrush, a species of bird which is rapidly decreasing in British gardens because of the use of slug poisons, has been taking care of any rogue slugs and snails for us. Dandelions growing everywhere in the lawn provide a source of food for the hoverfly, which in turn eats the aphids. Everything in the garden seems to take care of itself, all we have to do is plant things, mow the lawn and enjoy it all. To stop the dandelions going everywhere, a great tip is to dead-head them once they have passed their best, this means that they won't run to seed and create too many more. Making sure the plant will continue to flower throughout the season.


[the much-maligned dandelion is one of our most beautiful native plants, and a vital foodsource for beneficial insects like the hoverfly and the bumblebee. We can eat the leaves, too. They are great in salads, just make sure no dogs have cocked their legs nearby!]

So much has been happening since last week. The hawthorn bush at the bottom of the garden has started to bud, and true to its country name of May, should flower very soon, the smell of which is heady, almondy and sweet.

The Dicentra spectabilis (or 'bleeding heart') has flowered, and a lot more tulips are up all over the place.


[Dicentra spectabilis or 'bleeding heart' - you can see why!]


[Tulipa clusiana 'Cynthia']


[Tulipa bakerii 'Lilac Wonder', a sweet little thing, that has gorgeous lilac outer petals and a bright yellow centre]


[Our informal flower beds were planted with all sorts of bright annuals, and some perennials too, in early April. The seedlings are now large enough to be transplanted and thinned out elsewhere.]


[Purple sprouting broccoli, which is nearly as visually impressive as it is as gorgeous to eat]


[Prunus incisa 'Kojo no-mai', a small Fuji Cherry which is absolutely adorable and flowering its heart out. Great for small gardens this cultivar grows no higher than 6-8 feet.]


[Pisum sativum 'Meteor', our pea seedlings are growing!!]


[My mother bought me this most distinguished Corydalis flexuosa 'China Blue'. It dies down in summer to reappear in autumn, ready for a spring flowering. It is dainty, gentle and the most beautiful shade of blue.]


[A tulip in a vase; my Fiancé buys me flowers, which I love him dearly for, this is one of the gorgeous lilac tulips he bought for me last weekend]

I have been realising alot lately how soon the wedding actually is (1 month 2 weeks 5 days), but also about things like make-up, flowers, photographers, the Fiancé's suit, hair and the reception itself. On Sunday we spent a manic, horrid morning fighting our way through the metro centre, once Europe's biggest shopping centre. It was hellish, but getting there early made it more tolerable. We managed to find the Fiancé a gorgeous suit, it suits him wonderfully and is very summery. We found him shoes too, something I'd also been worreting about.

But this weekend I managed to get nearly everything sorted, thanks to my mother, who helped tremendously with the planning of it all. My mother came up to visit for the weekend which took a load off my shoulders and meant there was someone I could discuss the wedding fripperies with. We had lots of time to prepare wedding stuff, get our thoughts down on paper and make sensible decisions. Another choice we had to make was the venue itself. The staff at the original venue didn't seem to be that bothered whether we came or not. I had visions of turning up on the day, only to be told that we weren't expected, which for a bride on her big day isn't really acceptable. They didn't send us a menu, despite promising us that they would on more than one occasion, and if one tried to phone them at any time, the manager that we needed to speak to would not be around. We had a look around for other places that we liked the look of, and not finding them to our satisfaction, went back to my original (and preferred) idea of having the reception here, at home. The only problem about having it here was catering it for ourselves, but the food we have chosen is simple, easy food to prepare, local summery food, and a BBQ in the garden.

The plan will be to have gazebos in the back yard, and then on the lawn in the back garden itself. Homemade bunting will line the yard and garden, with tea-lights and lanterns strung throughout. Tables full of summery food, decorated beautifully will sit under the gazebos and music will serenade us through the afternoon into the evening and as long as we like. This is how I'd really wanted the reception to be, and hopefully it will be absolutely perfect.

Another problem were the flowers, I had absolutely no idea what to have, or whom would do them. Fate took care of this one; a drive to our local farm shop which is usually open on bank-holidays but was closed on this one, prompted us to drive to our garden centre instead. We found a florist there who does the most gorgeous wedding bouquets possible. Not only is she really friendly and approachable, but also very knowledgeable about what colours and style of flowers would go with my rather 'unique' dress. The dress itself is a deep aubergine colour, a high-waisted 1920's affair, it suits open, blousy flowers and deep, rich colours. So having a good long talk about what I wanted, I ran back to her with the dress so that she could see the colour for herself, and arranged the flowers for me, my hair, a corsage for the mothers and lots for the gazebos and tables, all in-keeping with the colours of my bouquet. That was a weight off my mind, and made planning the rest alot easier.

As for hair and makeup, like the rest of the wedding it'll be done by myself/ my mother, and will be very natural. We're going for a soft pre-raphaelite look, gentle curls around the face and a lose ponytail/plait with seed pearls running through my hair and thin loose ribbons holding it all together. I am so glad we've got it mostly sorted, it's been a real worry, and with such little time to go, it needed to be sorted. Now (fingers crossed) it's as sorted as we can make it at this point in time, I'm less worried. I can go back to getting a better night's sleep - I was so exhausted last night I was in bed at 9pm and wide-awake at 6am, ready for the next challenge...

Which would be the mice, well, a mouse I suppose - I don't know how many there are. We have a hole in the kitchen wall, left by some lazy past-residents, leaving us with a slug problem (not a problem if the kitchen is kept warm) and now a mouse problem. This means a trip to the local DIY centre to get some bricks and cement, to block the hole up before a mouse moves in and demands squatters' rights! But for now I'm not letting anything rain on my parade, not mice, not holes in walls and definitely not rain (thankfully it's sunny!).