Green deodorant update

Well, I promised you an update after a week and.........IT WORKS!!! I can't believe it but it really does work!  (In case you didn't catch the original post, here's the link...)


I mixed one spoonful of bicarbonate of soda (baking soda in USA) with 6 spoonfuls of cornflour (cornstarch in USA) in a little container which I keep in the bathroom. Each morning, when I've done my usual ablutions, I dampen my underarms then use my still damp fingers to pat the powder on till it feels dry. I do this leaning over the sink in case I spill any. It doesn't mark my clothes and it keeps me fresh and dry all day. It even worked when I did my exercise class - the rest of me got hot and sweaty (as it should if it's doing me any good) but there was no smell and no pit stains! (sorry if I'm being gross here) AMAZING!!!


And, of course, as well as needing no throwaway plastic container it is so cheap to buy. I reckon the amount I mixed will probably last a month or so, easily; and there's loads left in the packets I bought. Wow!


Sorry if I'm sounding a bit evangelical about all this but I can't believe how well it worked.  To think of all the money I spent on useless chemical formulas in planet polluting packaging.... (Ooh, good bit of alliteration there.)  Bet this is something the cosmetics companies want to keep veeerrrry quiet!   ;-)

Homemade nightie

I needed a new nightdress: my old one was developing holes where it had worn thin on the back. Remembering the works of art some girls created for needlework CSE at my school in the 1970s,  I wanted to make one myself, a long, old fashioned nightie, but hand sewing it. I found a pattern for beginners:

Now what fabric should I use? Cotton was recommended by the pattern envelope but I wanted something a bit warmer. Fleece was too warm, so I went for a kind of jersey fabric. As usual I bought everything from my local haberdashery, The Fent Shop. Oh how I love the Fent Shop!!! It's an Aladdin's cave of fabrics, threads, wool, curtains, embroidery supplies, buttons, ribbons, and hundreds of other things too. I can spend hours there just looking at it all! Best of all it's run in the old-fashioned way, with assistants who know what they're talking about, who add up how much you've spent by writing the sum on the brown paper bag your goods are packed in.


Anyway, back to the nightie....there were two kinds of fabric which seemed warm enough: one was blue with sheep on, but the one I chose was creamy with chickens on it! It was not an easy fabric to cut out or sew because it was so stretchy, but I persevered. I adapted the pattern, choosing to make the sleeves with cuffs on the end instead of elastic, and accentuating the buttonholes and some other bits with contrasting red thread which matched the chickens' red combs.


Soooooooooooo are you ready for this??? Ta da!!!!

I LOVE IT!!!!  It's just the right length and is so warm and cosy.


 I intended to use 4 bright red buttons but only had one, so Daughter and I searched my button box and chose some favourites. These were intended to be temporary, till I had chance to pop into town again but I decided I rather liked the eccentricity of 4 different buttons  ;-)

You won't find anyone else wearing a nightie covered in chickens with 4 different buttons, that's for sure!! Hee hee!!

Some Piccies for May

After weeks of almost constant rain we've finally had some sunny times - between showers. Took the camera out yesterday in the back garden and thought I'd share the piccies with you.

Bluebells - the very epitome of England in May.

The gooseberry bush is showing signs of the beginnings of berries forming - an amazing feat since Bramble (my cat) keeps catching the Bumble bees that visit here.

Solomon's Seal. Look how the raindrops stay on the leaves, making little beads. I am always astonished at how fast this plant grows each year! Some years it gets completely eaten by grey caterpillars from an insect which only feeds on Solomon's Seal.

Jack-by-the-hedge (or Jack-by-the-compost-bin!), a wild flower which has decided to make it's home here.

Beautiful, beautiful apple blossom from the Jonagold tree I planted this year. Will they make apples this first time? No idea - we'll have to wait and see. The label said it 'probably' doesn't need another tree nearby to pollinate - probably??!!

The onion sets have shot up this last week.

The 'darling buds of May'. Hopefully they'll open out this week, as the nearby hedgerow ones have.

White dead nettles and stinging nettles. I allow some to grow for the butterflies but have to be careful not to let them overtake the garden.

Unfurling fiddle heads of Ferns - now there's poetic!

And finally some pics of the beautiful animals whose lives I am privileged to share. This is Bramble, probably looking for more Bumble bees to catch!

Luna, Bramble's sister, investigates the pond.

Can you see who's hiding here?

Yes, it's Flopsy the bunny!

Hope you enjoyed my May photo album! Blessings  x x

'Green' deodorant

I HATE PLASTIC! 


Well, that's not quite true. Plastic is a wonderful material in itself; lightweight, strong and colourful BUT (and it's a huge, mega-sized 'but', bigger even than mine, and that's saying something!) it takes hundreds of years to break down and, not being a natural product, never actually decomposes. It also requires oil to make it, which we're rapidly running out of. (Have a look at Soul Soup Sister's blog post about where a lot of plastic ends up.) So I am trying to avoid buying products in plastic containers - for example, I buy rice pudding and custard in tins, which can easily be recycled.


One product which always comes in plastic containers is anti-perspirant/deodorant. (Except spray cans, but they can't be recycled either.) On the recommendation of another blog friend, Ember, I tried a Lush dry deodorant bar. Lush cut down the need for packaging by taking the water out of things like shampoo and deodorant, and try to use natural ingredients. I have to say that this is the MOST EFFECTIVE deodorant I've ever used. I love the zingy smell too! It takes a change of routine to use it since it is neither a roll on or a spray but a bar. I found it quickly broke into pieces so I keep it in a little lidded pot. To use it I wet my fingers and scoop up some of the powder (you only need a very little) to make a kind of paste, then apply to my underarms. It has never marked my clothes and keeps me fresh all day, unlike my old roll ons which used to give a sour smell by the end of the day.


However, I have now run out. My nearest Lush store is 40 miles away. I can order online, as I did last time, and Lush are committed to recyclable and biodegradable packaging, but it still seems a waste to send it all that way.  I looked up the ingredients in the Lush bar and the main active ingredient seems to be bicarbonate of soda, with most of the rest of it being a combination of essential oils to make it smell nice. Sooooo I have come across what looks like a good recipe for homemade deodorant. When I've tried it for a week or so I'll let you know how I've got on!

Sleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeppppppppp

A friend posted this on Facebook. It was so apt after yesterday's post that I just had to share it.

In the mood...

My moods have been all over the place this last week or two, changing from day to day and from hour to hour.  At present on a scale of 1 to 10, where 10 is very happy and 1 is downright miserable, I'd put myself at a 4; so bear that in mind as you read this post!  There are many possible causes for the lows - my completely changed circumstances since last November when hubby died, the constant rain we've had over the last 3 weeks, tiredness etc. 


Doctor is investigating the tiredness; we suspect sleep apnoea, probably caused by sinus problems. She's also told me to lose weight. I bought some new bathroom scales the other day but they're obviously defective as they say I'm a whopping 13 stone 13 pounds!!! That's the heaviest I've ever been and, at a height of 5 feet 1 inch, I certainly don't want to be any heavier. I've made an effort to increase my exercise regime, and have been going to classes two to three times a week and, to my surprise, I'm really enjoying it. I'm also getting my bike repaired and I like to walk when I can. BUT I really, really don't want to change my eating habits. I know where I'm going wrong - snacking  in the evening. When I stop to ask myself why I'm doing it I realise it's comfort eating because low moods usually hit me after sunset, and because I'm tired. How silly to compensate for tiredness by eating chocolate or biscuits! Surely the way to help with tiredness is to have a nap?!


Anyway, to try to help myself keep track of what's going on I've devised this sheet:

Hope you can see it alright...


Perhaps after a week or so I'll be able to see some trends to help me set achievable goals.


And maybe, after I've had a nice hot bath, my mood level will go up to an 7 - or even more if the sun comes out!

Roots and Rhizomes!

Roots and rhizomes? Sounds like something Trumpkin would say, in 'Prince Caspian'!

A week or so ago, when the weather here turned quite Spring-like, I decided that not only would I dig over my usual veggie-patch but would also extend it. This meant moving a lot of logs (left over from when our silver birch tree suddenly died), lifting some broken concrete slabs which marked the border of the current veggie patch, and digging up a LOT of roots and rhizomes from the white dead-nettles, stinging nettles, lemon balm, ivy and brambles that had been growing in happy abundance there. I moved the lemon balm to another part of the garden, but the rest went in the brown wheelie bin to be taken away to be composted.

Of course, a certain lop-eared Bunny couldn't resist getting in on the act. He enjoyed munching the roots and helping to dig.

Just then, my beautiful, beautiful Daughter arrived home from school and, to my joy, decided to don her wellies and join in!

This was also a momentous day for our two rescue cats, Bramble and Luna, as it was their first day outside. True to form Luna (the female) very quickly felt at ease and disappeared over the fence to explore further, whereas Bramble (her brother) was much more cautious. Here he is, shinning up a fence....

.... and perching, rather uncomfortably, on top.

By the way, since these piccies were taken Bramble has not dared to venture this far again, preferring instead to hunt for such dangerous prey as dead twigs, which he likes to bring in through the catflap and chew to bits in the dining room.

Some signs of Spring on the way:

rhubarb appearing...

... and daffodils (or maybe narcissi) waiting to burst forth.



Since these piccies were taken the weather has not been so kind. Rain (which, admittedly, we badly need in this part of England if we are to avoid a drought later in the year) and cold temperatures have prevented further progress. Having all the windows and front door replaced with double-glazed versions, washing curtains, replacing old net curtains and worn out curtain rails, and searching for new curtains for awkward sized windows have kept me pretty busy too!