From a tiny seed

Our order of seeds arrived today. This is most of the seeds we are going to need for this years vegetable garden. We got them from The Real Seed Catalogue. These are all heritage seeds, some of which are varieties well over 100 years old. As we've looked into growing our own fruit and veg the kind of seeds we use has become more and more important. Here in England the weather is temperamental to say the least. We tend towards moderate and damp but we do get really warm patches and really cold ones too. We chose this company as they test all the seeds themselves, in Wales, to see how they fair in our climate. The ones in their catalogue should all work fairly well for us here. The reason we chose heritage seeds is simple. Less messing.

Most seed that you get from a garden centre of big catalogue are F1 hybrids. These have been bred to perform "better". This usually means more uniform in appearance and the plant fruiting all at the same time. While this is good for a commercial grower it's rubbish for us at home. F1s are bred from 2 or more kinds of plants to encourage certain characteristics. This means you can't really save seeds from them as they will revert back to the parent plants or just be sterile. Heirloom Plants breed true to type which means you can save your own seeds. In fact the company we bought from tells you how to save seeds from each different plant and actively encourages you to do so. What's that, a company encouraging you to not buy from them? Yup, that's right. So we have a bunch of really old varieties, a couple of which are weird ones such as yellow carrots and a cabbage tree! Did you know that orange carrots are relatively new, like the last couple of hundred years?

Anyhoo to get these cool kinds of veg they have to be a bit sneaky. According to EU regulations you can only sell certain kinds of seeds, those that have been certified, to the public. This is leading to many old varieties dying out. So by getting these seeds we have become members of the real seed club and that gets round it.

I like growing our own as we get the perfect ones and the ugly ones that supermarkets aren't allowed to sell. Under EU regulations (again) Vast amounts of fruit and veg are refused entry to our supermarkets based solely on appearance. Thankfully this abominable practice is being abandoned. So Will we eat wonky fruit and veg again?


Now I'm all out of pretty snowy pictures at the moment. I'm sure I'll take more this weekend.
So for now I leave you with a satellite picture of the UK at the moment.

Image courtesy of BBC

Everyone has dreams

When I was younger all I wanted to do was be a doctor. As I got older I wanted to be a teacher. My hidden desire for many years was to be a photographer. I went into training in a call centre as a substitute for teaching. But none of these things stayed with me for long. I was not one of those people who knows what they want to do with their lives and that's it. I had the traditional goals of marriage, children and a career but nothing more fixed than that. And, as with most women, all of these vague goals were to be achieved before I turned 30.

I am now 9 days away from my 28th birthday. So let's look at my 3 goals.
Career: I don't have one and don't really want one anymore. I am working towards a homestead/farm. In an ideal world I will be able to give up any "normal" job and the farm will sustain us.
Marriage: Hopefully one day. Me and Spadger have talked about it so it's just a matter of time. He says the proposal has to top the first date which is a bit of a tall order so we'll see.
Children: Me and Spadger aren't procreating. I'm sure there is another post in that somewhere. However he has a beautiful daughter that I am proud to say calls me her Stepmother. I have a ready made family with out having to go through labour, sleepless nights and nappies. Can't put a price on that really.

I wonder if there is anything more to life than these 3 goals. Once I would have said no. Now I'm not so sure. What is truly important in life? I am far beyond the belief that the latest phone, newest clothes and biggest house will bring me happiness. The consumer rat race is not for me. So what will bring me happiness? The Buddhist view point is that happiness comes from your own perceptions of everything.

Seeking happiness outside ourselves is like waiting for sunshine in a cave facing north.
Tibetan saying

I would be lying if I said that not reaching any of these goals would not make me unhappy. However I choose now to live my life one day at a time and try to find myself lying in bed each evening happy with how my day went. I don't see how I can do anymore.

If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.
His Holiness the Dalai Lama

This is something I think we have forgotten how to do. We no longer live in small communities and with greater amounts of disposable income than our ancestors had we seem to be finding less and less reason to help each other. Do you know the names of your neighbours? We do. Not many people can say the same though. On one side of us we have had several different tenants and the only ones we have known the names of are the owners, who are back in at the moment, and the lovely Polish people who were there when we moved in. No one else really made the effort to talk back to us. The little girl from next door came round to borrow a shovel the other day to clear their path of all the snow and it got me thinking. I can't remember the last time I would have felt comfortable asking a neighbour to borrow anything. How awful is that? We are becoming so insular and loosing touch with our communities.

Jenna at Cold Antler Is having a bit of a tough time at the moment. The sheer level of response from the Bloggosphere makes me glad that there is still some kind of community feeling in the world. Even if it is in a very widespread global way.

Wow so that was a bit of a ramble. How I got from the goals of most women pre-30 to community spirit I'm not sure. Ah well, you guys signed to to look into my butterfly mind :o)

So today I entreat you to say hello to the people you pass on the street, make the effort to become involved with your community and revel in the glorious feeling of connecting with your fellow man.

And just for AngelMC here are some more snowy pics :o) Kristen the place you mentioned in yesterdays pics is Kirkstall abbey. It's a 12th century Cistercian abbey that is 10 mins from my house.

This is the canal by our house. It's frozen solid with snow on it. Man the ducks we're disgruntled

Snowglobe

Image courtesy of Walter Martin and Paloma Muñoz

So last night, while watching the snow, I felt like I was living in a snow-globe. It's just like God/Allah/Creator Spirit is shaking everything up then putting us back on the dresser and watching the snow fall. The long range forecast has this kind of weather, or at lest the temperatures, being here for a month. This means I am in with a very real chance of getting my eternal birthday wish of enough snow to build a snowman granted.


Spadger's declaration

However many others do not share my glee at the snow. In fact, most don't. There are complaints of the cold, how hard it is to drive anywhere, how days off work only make it harder to get through it all. Man when did everyone grow up? Children have the best idea. They just want to play in it. They know that school work will have to be caught up on but they are able to forget about it and live in the moment. My exclamations of "please can I just have 10 days more snow" and the small squeal I let out when it started snowing again today are met with derision almost. Now I am a responsible adult. I would not call in and say I couldn't get to work when I could just to go and play in the snow. However I do wish to be snowed in, to not be able to make it to work. Now this could in part be due to my job not being the fulfilling thing that the farm will be. But mostly it is down to my love of snow.



Snow makes everything pretty. Even the most run down areas look lovely in snow. When I was really small we used to get snow most winters. This has changed as I've gotten older and now it seems we never get it, or it waits until Easter! The last couple of years we have had snowman snow. This winter is the coldest one in 30 years I heard on the radio today. But instead of appreciating this season we moan about it. London and the South get brought to a standstill at the slightest covering of snow. The North of England (I'm in Yorkshire) and Scotland have had much more but have just carried on. Sure many schools have been closed and roads have been hell. But we've just tried to carry on as normal. Whilst moaning of course.



I just don't understand how people can make the complaints the first thing they do. I mean, I understand that very few people over the age of 10 feel about snow the same way I do, but come on. Lighten up a bit folks.

Ok, rant over :o)

More snow and a refashionistas dilemmas

On the way to work this morning

The view from my office

Argh. Somehow managed to not save everything I wrote this morning. I know I pressed save. Ah well. Quick recap then. Tis snowing and I am giddy as a loon. Am also slightly miserable as I am at work with no sign of going home yet. They keep talking about it but no one has made the final decision yet. The last time I went out with a ruler (yes I actually went out with a ruler!) it was 3 inches deep. It hasn't stopped since then so I'm sure there will be much more now. The forecast is for snow for the next 3 days at least with temps not getting much above freezing. It's slowed down a lot now but the sky is still heavy.

12:03
Well my whole department has gone home now and it's just me sat here waiting for Spadger to say we can go. Sigh.

The view from my house today

Not long after the above we went. Now I am home from a walk thorough the Abbey grounds and down the canal side (which included a flask of tea and chili chocolate muffins!) Te snow has currently stopped as 5 inches :oD Glee glee glee. The first thing I did when we got home was make a snow angel.



Someone beat me for ingenuity by making a wall angel at the Abbey.



A quick bit of tidying up and then I think I shall get on with some sewing. We are due for more snow this evening. I'm hoping for enough to stop us from going into work tomorrow.

9:47
I finished taking the sleeves off a dress and turning a too short jumper into a cardigan. Not bad for an evening's work. Almost had a hissy fit at the bias binding I have as it's too thin but I made it up as I went along and all was well. I'm off to play Scrabble with the man now. I wonder how long it will take for me to swear at him.

I leave you with some more pics from today's snow. How can anyone be unhappy when there is beauty like this in the world?

Who watches the watchmen?

We do. That is why this is another post that should have been posted yesterday :o)

Phew, the first day back at work is over! Man going back to work is hard. You get so used to a more relaxed routine that the 7:20 alarm is a killer. I had the sense to make our lunch last night so this morning wasn't as stressed or rushed as usual. I'm gonna try and make that the norm. Work was ok but nothing has really changed. My outlook is exactly what it was before the holiday. I want my farm! However I brought everyone a chocolate chilli muffin and it was nice to see them all again. You can't put a price on getting on with your workmates. You're at work for a third of your day, spending it with people you don't like is awful.

Right now Spadger is stripping a pumpkin (ooh-er) so I can make pumpkin soup with rice. Nice and filling on these cold nights. We're forecast a week of temps at freezing or below and maybe as much as 11 inches of snow by Friday. Comfort food is definitely needed.

I intend to spend the evening tackling the mending pile once more. I find sewing more and more relaxing (despite the swearing that generally happens I really do find it relaxing). There is a great sense of achievement in having a completed garment or from saving something from the back of the wardrobe by tweaking it.

The today that is now yesterday

2:09
Well today is proving to be quite productive. So far I've made a shower curtain out of one side of a single duvet cover I got at a charity shop for £3.00. I think I'm going to use the other half for a top. I've also made 1 loaf of bread and 6 bread buns.

I think I'm going to spend the rest of the day tackling the fixing pile. My sewing is broken down into 3 piles really. Stuff that needs fixing, stuff to be refashioned and material. I think if I can get rid of the fixing pile I might be able to fit everything into my sewing box!

3:50
Still going well :o) I've managed to sew the binding back on the bottom of a dress I made for Spadgersdottier, fixed a couple of split seams in the wrap pants and dashiki I made for Spadger (see this blog for the tutorials for both), sewed up the seam of a cardigan that has been ripped and badly hand sewn together many times since it first got ripped when I was about 17 and sewed a tie back on a skirt I'd made out of an old skirt. Yes most f the fixing pile is made up of my own bad sewing! But I am getting better. These are all my earlier attempts to make stuff. I now have on the pile a top that needs extending, 2 skirts that I don't like being elasticated, a bunch of vests that need the straps shortening, a dress I'm taking the sleeves off, a jumper that is too short which is becoming a cardigan, a pair of Spadgersdottier's jeans that need lengthening, a skirt which needs the side seams sewing (yes it's one of mine. My first skirt to be exact), a dress that needs the straps sewing on and one that needs shortening.

Phew, not much eh? The worst of it is I've just put everything back in the sewing box and it still doesn't fit!!!!!! Must sew more things hehehehe

9:02
Man have I been busy. I've made another loaf of bread and 3 garlic & herb baguette type things, a batch of mayonnaise, 2 batches of scallion scones, meatballs and potato wedges for tea and kept on top of the washing up whilst doing all that. During this time it's snowed and settled so me and Spadger are off for a walk and then home to watch Little Buddha.

00:18
oops, should have posted this yesterday now :o)

It's a New Year everyday

It's New Year's Day and there is snow falling from the sky. Only the tiniest amount but it is there. It's rained for the last couple of days and washed away all the snow we had so I'm happy to see new snowfall. In an ideal world we will be a foot deep in the stuff on the 16th. All I want for my birthday each year is snow. Being practically the dead centre of winter you would expect that to happen quite often but it doesn't.

Last night was a Blue Moon. Unfortunately this does not mean that the moon went blue. However it was a really clear night so I got some nice pics. I love taking pictures of the moon. Just a shame you always get the same side of it. Might have to get some traveling done and take moon shots then too :o)

Today is the day we are sorting out a couple of clothing patterns I bought. Well, I say we. Spadger is sorting them and then I'll sew them and then we'll make any more adjustments as they're needed. The sorting involved is doing a FBA to them. Bless clothing patterns and their being designed for a B cup bust. Man it's been a while since I was at that end of the alphabet! So we altered one of the dress patterns so I could make a dress for the Christmas do and it worked quite well. It wasn't totally right though so we're having another go. I want to get all the bodice patterns sorted so I can start knocking out some clothes. The plan is to have a pile of ready cut pieces so I can just make something when I feel like it. We'll see how that goes.

Before I go back to work I have one re-fashion I want to do as well. I have a green velvet skirt which the zip came out of that I want to turn into a dress. I'm gonna use the V where the zip was as a V neck, add straps to it, take the back in so it lays right and then either add some shirring to under the bust or put a ribbon on to tie it. Not decided that yet.

7:03
Spadger got the 2 different bodice pieces for the dress pattern done and then got bored. Can't say I blame him. Hopefully I can persuade him to do the top pattern tomorrow. I've embroidered our bread towel. Ok I know that sounds weird but you need a clean damp tea towel to cover rising bread with and we got lovely new tea towels of my Momma for Christmas as decided to set one aside for the bread so it doesn't get really grimy. So I've embroidered the word bread on it. Pics to come (yes I know you all really want to see it hehehe). I've also unpicked a duvet cover I got from a charity shop a while back. I'm making a sower curtain from it. More to come on that later. We're heading over to my Momma's in a bit for Dinner and to watch both parts of the Christmas Dr Who. Not having a tv is fine most of the time as there is the Iplayer for the very rare things we want to watch. However Dr Who should be given proper respect and good reception :o) I'll be taking a hanky as it's the end of David Tennant's run and I quite like him.


Lastly here is a pic of the soap at the moment. I got so eager to watch the film yesterday that I forgot to post the picture hehehehe