Stuff

Sorry for the long time between posts people. I've started a new job (so now I have 2) so suddenly I'm a lot busier - particularly as the new one is out of the home. I've also been having trouble with my migraine so I try to keep computer time for when I really need it (for work).

Anyhooooooo...today Jerry and I did some bubbleglazing in the bedroom and the bathroom to try and keep out some of the cold that seeps through our very thin single-glazed windows. We also discovered bubble-wrap is quite handy for filling in the drafty gaps between timber and mud-brick!

As you can see we haven't bubble-glazed the top sections for the windows as we're quite partial to sitting in bed with a cuppa on weekend mornings and admiring the view. This will reduce the effectiveness, of course, but we think we can live with it. We will see how it is after a few days. As I've said before, the great thing about the bubbleglazing is it's a LOT cheaper than replacing windows, and it still lets in loads of light compared to having the curtains drawn all day.

In the garden, I harvested the giant russian sunflower - I saved some seed for next year and the rest went to the chickens. I also saved a lovely batch of scarlet runner bean seeds - they are purple and brown - very pretty. The first batch of  broccoli / collards/ kale I planted are doing well too. We're still picking raspberries and a couple of the Tommy Toe tomatoes are hanging in there and still producing. I have seen a few mighty fine looking turnips which I will pick for braising later in the week.

To round off the day I spent some time making lotions and potions:

• another batch of liquid castile body wash - this time with lemon essential oil (I bought the liquid castile)
• replenished my supply of lip balm - this time it's beeswax, jojoba, cocoa butter and calendula oil with vanilla essential oil and a dash of honey (local chestnut honey).
• made a new batch of facial cleanser (90ml liquid castille, 10ml apricot kernel oil, 6 drops rose otto and 6 drops lavender essential oil)
• attempted to make an oat body cream but once again my emulsion didn't set. VERY ANNOYING. I think James Wong's emulsion liquid levels are just dodgy as I always have trouble with his cream recipes. Although I love love love the shows and the books and have no problems with a range of other things I've made from them. In fact I also picked some wormwood, sage and rosemary today to dry and use to make moth repellent (from book 2)

A nice long oat bath (cup of porridge oats in fine cheesecloth in the bath - give it a few good squeezes to release the oaty goodness) with a glass of white and a good book (Heal your Headache, which has provided a lot of food for thought) restored my humour!

Tonight's dinner will be pork spare ribs (thanks E!) Chinese style with rice and peas and Dr Who. Sadly the Matt Smith Dr Who not the David Tennant Dr Who (or even the Chris Eccleston Dr Who). Even the guiding hand and scripts of Stephen Moffat (the genius that wrote Blink, the Library and that devil episode) can't make up for the fact that (IMHO) Matt Smith was the wrong choice. He's just not working for me as the Doctor - although I do like Amy Pond as a companion. Oh well, at least I have the others all on DVD (thanks Mumma Jerry!!)

I hope you all had or are having (depending on your timezones) a fabulous weekend!