tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35900263419906711472024-03-13T13:16:11.576-07:00Ramblings of a Sunflower GalSunflower Galhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01495425058573063300noreply@blogger.comBlogger22125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3590026341990671147.post-47390502733872771672014-03-31T14:17:00.003-07:002014-03-31T14:17:57.906-07:00Extreme food waste.Food waste makes me sad, I hate it!! I am really proud that we waste very little food in our house, due to our mutual dislike of waste but also because we have no desire to waste money. Of course having chickens in the garden really help with those table scraps, that you always get with having young children.<br />
According to the Love Food Hate Waste website:<br />
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"Almost <b>50%</b> of the total amount of food thrown away in the UK comes from our homes. We throw away <b>7 million tonnes</b> of food and drink from our homes every year in the UK, and <b>more than half</b> of this is food and drink we could have eaten."</div>
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This is a subject that has had lots of media coverage of late, there have been many tools set up to help people use up their left overs and oddments at home.<br />
But what about businesses? I would have thought that hospitality venues, would be keen to monitor their food waste as after all food waste equals a loss in profits.<br />
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"Research from WRAP in 2009 found UK hotels, pubs, restaurants and quick service restaurants disposed of 600,000 tonnes of food waste."</div>
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Last week I witness some of this extreme waste for myself. My hubby started a new position as the Executive Head Chef of a local hotel, knowing that he was extremely busy I offered my services for a few hours. I was asked to organise the dry store, as I am pretty good at organising and tidying. So I organised all the shelves for the dry products, then I went on to the fruit and veg. During this time I threw away two loaves of bread (but I did ask if I could take these for the chicken ha ha) and a couple of lemons. Hubby asked me to clean and sort the fridges, first the salad fridge that was cleaned with no dramas. I then moved onto the meat and dairy fridge, it was like a graveyard. I was threw away a whole box of smoked haddock fillets, buckets of duck legs and breasts, a box of fillet steaks plus countless buckets of oddments, beef cubed up of casseroling, bones for stock, sauces and more. This <span data-dobid="hdw">detritus had cost the hotel about £400, and someone had not had the sense to use it up. All the time that I was sorting this out I could not help thinking , that this would have fed my family of five for more than three weeks. I disgusted me to bin it all, but what can you do when its all rotten? I tried to think of a way to remedy this situation, but I know that Hubby is much more organised and will not allow his kitchen to get into such a state. But I have also struck a deal so that hubby brings home bits for our chickens, in return for some eggs for work. Win win.</span></div>
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Sunflower Galhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01495425058573063300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3590026341990671147.post-44241761585478888822014-03-01T12:48:00.002-08:002014-03-01T12:48:51.469-08:00Cheese and Potato Bake <div align="left">
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Last week a friend sent me a link to a recipe that had become a favourite with her family, she had taken the idea from Netmums. I have found Netmums a good source of frugal recipes, but I found that I could tweak them to be a bit more to our taste and budget. This dish calls for leftover roast chicken, but I think that any bits that you have in the fridge will work just as well. I used a few bacon lardons and a leek from the garden. I have not given amounts for the recipe, as that will depend on how many you are feeding, and what you have available.</div>
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INGREDIANTS:</div>
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- Potatoes.</div>
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- Cheese sauce.</div>
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- Cheese.</div>
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- whatever left overs you have in the fridge (bacon, chicken, mushrooms, onion, leeks, sweet corn etc.).</div>
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METHOD:</div>
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-Layer a ovenproof dish with thinly sliced potato.</div>
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-Lightly fry some chopped onion, mushrooms and bacon lardons or whatever takes your fancy. Mix together with the cooked left over chicken, if you have it.</div>
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-Spread this mixture over the potato slices and top with a layer of cheese sauce. Then a layer it up like a lasagne. Finishing off on top with a layer of grated cheese.</div>
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-Pop in oven (180 C/Gas 4) for about an hour, but check that the potato is cooked. </div>
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This is nice eaten with leafy salad, but again that depends on your budget. I hope you enjoy this as much as we all did, this is now set to regular appearance on our meal planner.</div>
Sunflower Galhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01495425058573063300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3590026341990671147.post-73706243210508540632014-02-24T14:31:00.000-08:002014-02-24T14:38:08.232-08:00Frugal February.For the last couple of weeks I have been racking my brains as to how we can save more money around the house. I have read so many ideas on websites and blogs, but I thought I'd share some of the things that we are already doing in the hope that something may help someone else.<span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br />
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1) Second hand clothing for kids and myself. We are really lucky that we get
given lots of hand me down clothes for DD2 and DS.</span><br />
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2) Meal planning and cook from scratch. I try to cook the amount needed to
avoid leftovers.</span></div>
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3) Grow as much veggies and fruit as possible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Preserve gluts of this food by making jam, chutney or freezing. If all
else fails feed it to the chooks.</span></div>
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4) Swap/barter for things. I recently swapped homemade jam for some bookcases
for my sons bedroom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But my favourite swap
ever was eggs for Eco tampons. That one never fails to raise a smile from others.</span></div>
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5) Looking in skips. Some of the raised beds in my garden as made with wood
from a skip, same goes for my garden table.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In the past I have picked up a table lamp from an expensive High Street
retailer, complete with a £55.00 price label.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p>6)This is one that everyone is talking about at this time of year, but keep the central heating turned down as low as you can cope with. We have cavity wall and loft insulation, which help a bit.</o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p>7) Saving water. Last year our water company were offering free water saving devices to all of their customers. I jumped at the chance, and they were fitted for free to. These included t<span style="color: black;">ap aerator inserts, aerating shower heads and water saving bags that go in the toilet cisterns (we already had these). We also only run the dish washer and washing when they are full. Sorry to gross anyone out, but we stick to the old rhythm of "if its yellow let it mellow, if its brown flush it down". We try to only shower, but sometimes as we all know only a bath will do. We also have a water butt in the garden. Last month we received our water bill, and our water usage is the same amount as the average two person household. I was thrilled with that, clue smiley face.</span></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p><span style="color: black;"></span></o:p></span> </div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p><span style="color: black;">8) Save electric. We don't own a tumble dryer, many of my friends can not fathom this at all. Instead I line dry, or hang over the banister or clothes horse.</span></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p><span style="color: black;">I would love to hear anyone else's money saving tips.</span></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p><span style="color: black;"></span></o:p></span> </div>
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Sunflower Galhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01495425058573063300noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3590026341990671147.post-5472128371077234072014-02-02T10:33:00.001-08:002014-02-02T10:33:38.278-08:00New Chookies.Last summer my five hens decided that they were no longer going to lay eggs for us, but since then we have sadly lost two of the oldest ladies.<br />
So when a Mum at school offered us four more hens, I jumped at the change. My youngest and I went to see the birds on Friday, and WOW they were a bunch of beautiful ladies. We were over the moon, and bought the birds home to live in our back garden. Sadly my photos are not brilliant, and one lady was a little camera shy.<br />
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In the top photo we have a Speckedly and a White Star. We have another Speckedly, who's feathers are super soft. She is a real character, and recently visited our girls school were she was a big hit. Hopefully our new Speckedly will be as fantastic. We lost our old White Star, they are fantastic layers of pure white eggs.<br />
The bottom photo is a Cream Legbar, this pretty girl should lay me some blue eggs. I have wanted one of this breed for a long long time. My Light Sussex girl managed to escape the camera, but she is equally as lovely as the other three. <br />
I think that chickens make the most fantastic pet, they can become really tame and give cuddles. They eat all of the scraps that you have, and bits from the veg garden that you are not going to eat. You can use all of the old bedding and poop to fertilise your vegetable beds. When I last worked it out their layers pellets cost less than £1 a week.Sunflower Galhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01495425058573063300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3590026341990671147.post-61297151460278774282014-01-22T11:37:00.001-08:002014-01-22T11:37:26.858-08:00Sowing the seeds of ......................Today I have dusted off the tin that I keep all of my vegetable seeds in, and attempted to work out what we will be growing this year. This is always such a great time for me, I am filled with excitement and hope for the forth coming growing season I always want to try and grow as much as possible, so that we have amazing fresh food and save money at the same time. I love the summer days when everything for dinner comes from the garden, these are normally omelettes and salad or ratatouille.<br />
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Hubby and I went a little crazy at the end of last summer at our local garden centres sale, and bought lots of packets of seeds for 50p each. Last year I also started saving our own vegetable seeds, (we had lots of success the year before saving flower seeds) I saved seeds from runner beans, broad beans and sugar snap peas. Its a really simple process of leaving the pods to dry out, then removing the seeds, and storing them in paper envelops in a dry place. Today I managed to sort out the seeds that we will not use, as we now do not have our allotment and I have donated some to my girls primary school for use in their allotment. The school have the most amazing allotment, it is situated on an island just a stones throw from the school. They have a shed, raised beds, mature fruit trees and a big grassy area that they use for forest school. I am hoping to go and help the children with their planting, I always find helping them to be extremely rewarding and so much fun.<br />
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Next month I will sew my tomato plant seeds indoors, and try to get an early start on the plants. As last year we were really late in starting to pick tomatoes, but they did carried on through until October. I will also start the peas off early, as my kids can never get enough of them. Last year I managed two plantings of peas, but the third and fourth failed thanks to help from my chickens and some dodgy germination. Peas rarely make it into the house here, the kids pick them for snacks whilst playing. This is also true for the strawberries, sugar snaps and my middle child has a thing about red currants. <br />
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A while ago now I was asked what sort of gardener I am, I answered that I am a survivalist gardener. Its a miracle if any of my plants survive the" help" that I receive from my cats, chickens and children :-).<br />
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Sunflower Galhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01495425058573063300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3590026341990671147.post-26867974268059268592014-01-17T06:00:00.000-08:002014-01-18T08:49:03.264-08:00Cheese and Onion soupA friend of mine was talking about an amazing soup that she has recently made, it had become a firm favourite with her family. Once I found out that it was really cheap to make, I asked her for the recipe. I am always interested in frugal recipe, that help me to keep to the food shopping budget. I made this Cheese and Onion soup and WOW, I love it!!!<br />
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Ingredients<br />
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<ul>
<li>2 chopped Onions (you can use red or white, I have even used Welsh Onions from my garden)</li>
<li>3 pints of chicken stock</li>
<li>A handful of Grated cheese</li>
<li>Seasoning</li>
</ul>
Method<br />
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<ol>
<li>Chop the onions, and fry them gently in the butter.</li>
<li>Once the onions are soft, add the chicken stock. </li>
<li>Add the grated cheese, stir until melted.</li>
<li>Blitz with your stick blender.</li>
<li>Season to taste.</li>
</ol>
All amounts are approximant, as I keep tasting as I go when I make it.<br />
A slight variation that another friend came up with, was to make the soup without the cheese. Then make cheese on toast, once the soup is in the bowl float the cheese and toast on top. I have to admit that I love this version too, and it makes my lunch a bit more filling.<br />
Sunflower Galhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01495425058573063300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3590026341990671147.post-68041408289803462612014-01-15T05:39:00.001-08:002014-01-15T05:41:59.397-08:00Breakfast ideas.We very rarely buy or eat any processed food, and choosing instead make most things from scratch. But breakfast gave me lots of cause for thought, as my children love cereal. As most other Mums I am in a rush in the mornings,as my girls go to a school eleven miles from our home. So cereals on a school morning were fast and convenient.<br />
I tried to choose healthy option cereals, but my kids always wanted the type that are marketed at them. Either those or the very expensive diet version of cereals that contain the freeze dried fruit, if I bought that type I could easily spend £8.00 a week just on cereal. It wasn't just the cost that I was concerned about I was also the amount of sugar, preservatives and general junk that they were consuming. After eating cereals the children were never full for very long, and would want snacks before lunch.<br />
So in August of last year I stopped buying cereals, with the hope that by the time that the kids went back to school in September I would be up to speed. We have experimented with lots of different recipes and ideas. I made breakfast muffins that contained different seeds and dried fruit, I thought these were yummy but my middle child acted like I was trying to poison her. The fantastic thing was that these frozen and de-frosted beautifully, making them a brilliant back up. The standard mid week breakfasts are now yoghurt, fresh fruit, wholemeal toast with homemade jam and porridge. When I have more time we made crumpets, American style pancakes, and cinnamon buns. When Mr Sunflower Gal is home he likes a bacon sandwich, poached eggs, or the occasional full English for brunch. <br />
As I said at the start of this post we made most things from scratch, however I do like bargain. When I see English Muffins, broche, croissants or pain au chocolate reduced I do buy them for a treat, who could resist a Broche loaf for 19p?? Yummy toasted with some homemade jam. Below are homemade Cinnamon buns, shout if anyone would like the recipe.<br />
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Sunflower Galhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01495425058573063300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3590026341990671147.post-19560884031181743752014-01-09T06:16:00.000-08:002014-01-09T06:16:43.619-08:00Black Banana Cake<br />
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I really dislike food waste, and between trying to be careful not to over cook, using up leftovers and our chickens we waste very little. <br />
However I am not sad if I find that we have overlooked some bananas, as it gives me a great excuse to make this fantastic cake. Its one of those cakes that everyone wants the recipe for. It was originally a Nigel Slater recipe, but I have changed it a bit. His recipe calls for Hazelnuts, but we are not big not big nut eaters. My kids adore this cake, so we more often than not make it in muffin cases so its easier for lunch boxes. If you make it in muffin cases just remember to reduce the length of time that you cook them for.<br />
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Ingredients<br />
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<li>
<div class="ingredient">
175g/6oz unsalted <a class="name food" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/butter">butter</a>, softened</div>
</li>
<li>
<div class="ingredient">
175g/6oz <a class="name food" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/sugar">sugar</a>
(half light muscovado, half golden caster) </div>
</li>
<li>
<div class="ingredient">
2 free-range <a class="name food" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/egg">eggs</a></div>
</li>
<li>
<div class="ingredient">
175g/6oz <a class="name food" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/self-raising_flour">self-raising flour</a> </div>
</li>
<li>
<div class="ingredient">
2 very ripe <a class="name food" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/banana">bananas</a> (about 250g/9oz total weight)</div>
</li>
<li>
<div class="ingredient">
drop <a class="name food" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/vanilla_extract">vanilla extract</a></div>
</li>
<li>
<div class="ingredient">
175g/6oz dark or <a class="name food" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/milk_chocolate">milk chocolate</a> chips</div>
</li>
<li>
<div class="ingredient">
a little <a class="name food" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/demerara_sugar">demerara sugar</a></div>
</li>
</ul>
<div class="ingredient">
Method</div>
<div class="ingredient">
</div>
<ol class="instructions">
<li class="instruction">
Preheat the oven to 170C/325F/Gas 3. Line the base and sides of
loaf tin with baking parchment.</li>
<li class="instruction">
Beat the butter and sugars until light and coffee-coloured.
Slowly add the eggs to the butter and sugar mixture
and self-raising flour. </li>
<li class="instruction">
Peel the bananas and chop them the small pieces. Gently fold the vanilla
extract, the bananas and the chocolate chips into the cake mixture, turning
gently and taking care not to overmix. </li>
<li class="instruction">
Scoop the cake batter into the loaf tin. Dust with a little demerara
sugar. Bake for between 1 hour and 1 hour 10 minutes, covering the cake with
foil if the top starts to darken too quickly.</li>
</ol>
<div class="instruction">
This cake is well worth a try, and I hope that you will love it as much as we do.</div>
<div class="ingredient">
</div>
Sunflower Galhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01495425058573063300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3590026341990671147.post-91161356777192098202014-01-05T11:56:00.001-08:002014-01-05T14:18:43.728-08:00Growing PainsI have been looking for more land for our family for quite a while now. At the moment we grow as much organic fruit, vegetables and herbs that we can possible fit in our garden. We also have a chicken house with three chickens, a greenhouse, plus a trampoline and jungle gym for the children. Visitors are always impressed with the amount of things that we have managed to fit into the small space, their comments always make me smile.<br />
Our three children love to help in the garden, and love eating the fresh produce. In many ways I am spurred on by them, they now eat a far wider range of vegetables and have learnt so much. My youngest two are pea crazy, and I struggle to grow enough to keep them happy. Peas never make it into the house here.<br />
Last year I managed to get my hands on a local allotment after being on the Parish Councils waiting list for four years, its a five minute walk from here with water, a shed and regular deliveries of manure. Sadly for me this allotment could not have come at a worse time, as it was three weeks before I went into hospital for knee surgery. I tried hard to clear the plot, but it was in a terrible state some of the weeds were taller than me. Unfortunately this was not good enough for the council, and I had to give the plot up.<br />
Another idea was to rent this property from the Church of England.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCbnz5uirKP8jEkLD3wnit1JoOvXpFXUW4xQvswoo7Srno5M8N4zGfARxTMQgw2uUK4w9mLvkiOy8qj5qeEuumwZM1vSvu2ZEqkic3vcxupJimFMkGsybBR2rE2-kAZa4qXxqOoIvoigI/s1600/Starveal+Farm+House.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCbnz5uirKP8jEkLD3wnit1JoOvXpFXUW4xQvswoo7Srno5M8N4zGfARxTMQgw2uUK4w9mLvkiOy8qj5qeEuumwZM1vSvu2ZEqkic3vcxupJimFMkGsybBR2rE2-kAZa4qXxqOoIvoigI/s320/Starveal+Farm+House.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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What do you think? Most people that I showed this to were totally horrified lol. We came across this place when a friendly beekeeper showed us his hives. The house itself is in a terrible state after being stood empty for years, the kitchen has been used to house sheep, its got terrible woodworm, no mains electric or gas. The access is pretty tricky and after September was not passable by anything less than a 4x4. But you know I just loved it, it is in the middle of an organic mixed farm, with no neighbours for a mile and our children's school is about two miles away. The house is in the middle of an acre, and that would have given us lots of room for all the things that we love. Sadly that was not to be either.<br />
I am excited to see what opportunities are in store for us in 2014.Sunflower Galhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01495425058573063300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3590026341990671147.post-13618612053894970962014-01-03T15:37:00.000-08:002014-01-03T15:37:41.889-08:00Happiness Jar.<span class="userContent"></span><br />
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<span class="userContent">I heard a friend of a friend talking about her family tradition of making a Happiness Jar. I had no idea what this was, and needed an explanation. It went a little like this; during the course of the year all members of your family write things that makes them happy, on little bits of paper then they fold them up tight. Then on New Years Eve you read them out to each other. This fits perfectly with one of my new years resolutions, 2014 the year of trying to focus on the positive!!</span><span class="userContentSecondary fcg"> Isn't it easy to fixate on the negative, and get carried away by it? </span><span class="userContentSecondary fcg">So I made this jar, which is currently sitting on my kitchen windowsill. My kids are really taken with the idea, and the two little ones keep coming up to me and asking me to write notes for them. I also intend to add a few addition things, such as the funny comments that my kids come out with, amusing incidents that happen and anything that really makes me laugh out loud.</span><br />
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<span class="userContentSecondary fcg">I made the label with a beautiful kit that I bought from a friends Stampin' Up party last year. Goodness me I have never such beautiful craft bits, I was all of a dither and did not know what to buy with my very small budget. I could have spent £100s. My Mother attends classes in her local area that are organised by one of Stampin' Ups consultants, she has made some wonderful things including paper wreaths, cards and gift boxes. I am always hoping that she will make some of these things for me.</span>Sunflower Galhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01495425058573063300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3590026341990671147.post-18882029722073158432013-12-29T12:43:00.001-08:002014-01-03T15:39:37.892-08:00Storage on the brain.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZsrOXVYuO_Pv_cpispQPpXQIU_SALfyDPePLN5f6VaK3tRsNOGgbggoXhYDNzhNDylTM-V-rZl7SMYPFEQqfFmVVm6HyBflpD67p_-xkB1_lnt5ktM8K5-8D-HdxX6LjwuulTqFqo7SM/s1600/bath.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZsrOXVYuO_Pv_cpispQPpXQIU_SALfyDPePLN5f6VaK3tRsNOGgbggoXhYDNzhNDylTM-V-rZl7SMYPFEQqfFmVVm6HyBflpD67p_-xkB1_lnt5ktM8K5-8D-HdxX6LjwuulTqFqo7SM/s320/bath.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
I am sure that I am not the only parent that thinks about storage, in fact it drives me made trying to find homes for everything!! In the last eight weeks we have had three birthdays and Christmas, and our eldest will be in nine in two weeks time. Even with a massive declutter, we have still got too much stuff. So I am always on the look out for inventive ways to maximise the space that we have.<br />
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I spoke to a carpenter about making use of the space underneath our bath, it seemed silly to have so much wasted space when we needed more storage. Our bath panel was all broken, and pretty unsightly. This is what he came up with, a wooden frame that sheets of MDF fit onto. The end of panel is fixed, but the side is attached by clips. The whole thing was finished off with a few coats of heavy duty vanish, that is designed for outdoor jobs. Now we have storage for bath toys, extra toiletries and toilet rolls. I really could not be more pleased with the end result, and now I need a few more brain waves like this .<br />
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<br />Sunflower Galhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01495425058573063300noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3590026341990671147.post-3668419106059676772013-12-22T12:02:00.000-08:002014-01-03T15:41:04.962-08:00Wash day blues.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHId5j68qQGsJZ2Ca7tSffzFafOhin1CPVoDXHsJzvhWozRWxxhs-yvnqgSt1VO9yXAESE1BdkKCKZCveyhK3xhCZ8zc3b3yiAp1KVpqxxgKADzPkDp0waZLvqDd8QAtpWlM_JZHmR9AA/s1600/wash+day.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="262" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHId5j68qQGsJZ2Ca7tSffzFafOhin1CPVoDXHsJzvhWozRWxxhs-yvnqgSt1VO9yXAESE1BdkKCKZCveyhK3xhCZ8zc3b3yiAp1KVpqxxgKADzPkDp0waZLvqDd8QAtpWlM_JZHmR9AA/s320/wash+day.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
This isn't me at the moment, for one thing our washing machine has been out of action for three week. I have been relying on kind friends to help me out, and do all the washing for our family of five. You certainly find out who your friends are. We are waiting for parts from the manufacturer, but they do not seem to be in a rush.<br />
I am really surprised at the amount of people I know that think that they can not function without a tumble dryer, and even use it all summer. We have not had a dryer for years now, due to environmental reasons and the running costs. I dry our washing outside all year, apart from when its raining and then it goes on the clothes horse.<br />
After reading Fly lady's organisational wisdom, I wash a load everyday to try to keep on top of the carnage. I can't say that I am that organised about the ironing. Hubby has just asked how high is the ironing pile exactly, its not too high as it hasn't fallen over yet.Sunflower Galhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01495425058573063300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3590026341990671147.post-18847163547810645192011-09-20T09:52:00.000-07:002014-01-15T13:30:32.268-08:00How time flys!!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUDZxwMu9DA_6mybjLkxd9NoY_u0Xh8idl3-dKBD_TjMxRokVWVTOcxvc42pgBd2dgD2oct3N65ITZEVJfWhBnS18I1WkVsEoZ4lWLaY5fWh5wzjAsWwv97_UlezCB3yvzN8bq15aOMZA/s1600/piggies+after+a+bath.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5654498683876999618" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUDZxwMu9DA_6mybjLkxd9NoY_u0Xh8idl3-dKBD_TjMxRokVWVTOcxvc42pgBd2dgD2oct3N65ITZEVJfWhBnS18I1WkVsEoZ4lWLaY5fWh5wzjAsWwv97_UlezCB3yvzN8bq15aOMZA/s200/piggies+after+a+bath.JPG" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 150px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 200px;" /></a><br />
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I can't believe <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">that</span> its been nine months since I last blogged. Well come on yes I can, life seems to get crazier everyday. This is being written <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">whilst</span> my three and one year <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">old</span> use me as a trampoline. If only I had not been so selfish and decided to get chickens, they could have had a real trampoline and I could have been sat here quietly with a cuppa. </div>
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The summer was full of growing veggies and fruit, spending lots of time with the kids and hubby, and trying out our new hobby camping. We rescued two male Guinea Pigs, and the girls named them Dilbert and George. This piccie was taken after they had had a bath. </div>
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Sunflower Galhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01495425058573063300noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3590026341990671147.post-53534937585023072712010-12-01T07:25:00.000-08:002013-12-29T13:17:19.974-08:00Lavender Bath SaltsWe having been making lots of homemade gifts for friends and family for Christmas. For a couple of years now we have been giving foodie things such as jam, chutney, sauces, and chocolates. So this year I decided to try something different.<br />
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I made this with my five year daughter and how we did it:<br />
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We added 2kg of Epsom Salt into a metal bowl. Onto that my daughter dropped 180 drops of Lavender Essential Oil. Add 1kg of bicarbonate of soda and mix together. Put into jars. I used 200ml kilner jars, and this filled thirteen. Once I had finished I decided that some dried lavender would look nice in the jars, so this will be a job for tomorrow. They will then be tied together with some ribbon. My daughter will take some to school for her teacher and TA, hopefuuly they will enjoy them.Sunflower Galhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01495425058573063300noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3590026341990671147.post-29345508601620168322010-11-28T09:58:00.000-08:002010-11-28T10:53:22.953-08:00A month of mixed blessings.I have felt that my feet have hardly touched the floor this last month.<br /><br />My middle child turned three, she is also completely dry during the day. Her speach is coming along in leaps and bounds, but we are waiting for an appointment with the Speach Therapist. She is a constant source of amazement to us, and every birthday is a very proud day. I also find it a time when I reflect to her terrible start in life, but I hope that in future years i will not think about it.<br /><br />My baby is now one, that year flew by so fast. He had a great day with a little tea party. He gets more confident each day with his walking, and he is a very cheaky little chap.<br /><br />Mr Sunflower was made redundant in the same week as his birthday, so it wasn't much fun for him. The owners of the restaurant decided to shut it, so there was nothing that could be done. However he got straight back out there looking for work, so we will see what happens. I feel a lot more confident this time because I have learn't lots of skills from people at the <a href="http://www.selfsufficientish.com/">www.selfsufficientish.com</a> its well worth a look, especially the forum.Sunflower Galhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01495425058573063300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3590026341990671147.post-61141666046663872952010-11-28T09:50:00.001-08:002010-11-28T09:56:07.653-08:00Flossie Kitten<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVjOQAD0tQ5MEcIMavLecKB7OoKtvGDAbxuODXOuIe9V6bqnJokr758gSZc2XKcUoKuRb_l75ZBOuCSzd3z9sBgtiTE3kKHkkoX08CM3kOe_etQcwy1G6gXJtvgAx1_OWZQ9x7-qSZFjk/s1600/flossie+13+weeks.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 150px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5544660725920044402" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVjOQAD0tQ5MEcIMavLecKB7OoKtvGDAbxuODXOuIe9V6bqnJokr758gSZc2XKcUoKuRb_l75ZBOuCSzd3z9sBgtiTE3kKHkkoX08CM3kOe_etQcwy1G6gXJtvgAx1_OWZQ9x7-qSZFjk/s200/flossie+13+weeks.JPG" /></a><br /><div>Meet our latest addition to the Sunflower family her name is Flossie, and she is 13 weeks old. She still can be a little bit shy but I can't really blame her in this mad house. The children love her and hopefully she will fill the hole left by our last cat. Here she is with the little mouse that I made for her.</div>Sunflower Galhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01495425058573063300noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3590026341990671147.post-21845146030087695492010-09-09T03:01:00.000-07:002010-09-09T03:08:01.794-07:00Finger Puppets<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY2cinQg3PQ1m5FrDuqzYlmrTgsaW_pT2cUqkPsrkU75jX-beqQ_HPy_FxBb42ORh-pZD853YeJFTacLuet3TLmLkArU6t9GEK4Lt8RCflXE-q0YNij-K10racpW_TQfaCCeiBMF0_3kM/s1600/Finger+Puppets.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 150px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5514853387925049634" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY2cinQg3PQ1m5FrDuqzYlmrTgsaW_pT2cUqkPsrkU75jX-beqQ_HPy_FxBb42ORh-pZD853YeJFTacLuet3TLmLkArU6t9GEK4Lt8RCflXE-q0YNij-K10racpW_TQfaCCeiBMF0_3kM/s200/Finger+Puppets.jpg" /></a><br /><div>My eldest daughter decided that after I made her a cushion for school,that I can now make anything. She wanted a mouse finger puppet, so I made her one from odd and edds of felt that I had. So then her younger sister decided that she now wanted one. I got a bit excited by this and made her a fairy. Since then I have been busy making a princess. I can't make up my mind whether they are good enough to give as gifts? I would welcome any thoughts that anyone has please. I would either give a couple of different finger puppets, or a tooth fairy bag (please see earlier post) with a fairy puppet.</div>Sunflower Galhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01495425058573063300noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3590026341990671147.post-67310832859883598402010-09-09T02:49:00.000-07:002010-09-09T03:00:25.936-07:00New Chickens<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTpAMxB89ahOcFUC-GmTkEqqPzrBBtwJ1eEfcDAy9-bymo8G5XXtC7g2Ut_sDGW0AHZV_LLK60JK1FEaDSRx0cV7PPgSKTVYdgBrpL48DZ5ZCJk6F3_09roPLz9804sCqnMSBOUASEZic/s1600/Sept+2010.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 150px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5514850962937300802" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTpAMxB89ahOcFUC-GmTkEqqPzrBBtwJ1eEfcDAy9-bymo8G5XXtC7g2Ut_sDGW0AHZV_LLK60JK1FEaDSRx0cV7PPgSKTVYdgBrpL48DZ5ZCJk6F3_09roPLz9804sCqnMSBOUASEZic/s200/Sept+2010.jpg" /></a><br /><div>Last week with the remains of my birthday money I went a bought myself two more hens. We had lost one of our other girls in July and she was sadly missed, I was also having to buy egg as the other girls pretty much stopped laying. We decided after much thought to stick with hybrids, and we bought a Speckledy Hen and a Bluebelle. The Speckledy is called Poppy. The Bluebelle has been named Dr Mumbo by the ever crazy hubby.<br /><br />This is a photo of their first adventure in the garden.</div>Sunflower Galhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01495425058573063300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3590026341990671147.post-39219425521367786762010-07-04T14:17:00.000-07:002010-07-04T14:32:09.984-07:00Garden ProduceI have a normalish sized garden, on an end of terrace plot on an average housing estate. But I am moving away from pretty flowers and trying to feed my family from it.<br /><br />The last few years we have been growing lots of fruit and veg in various sized pots. This year I managed to squeeze a Raspberry and Goosegog bush in the boarders. Along with some thyme and lemon balm. At the moment we are eating spinach, mache, raspberrys, strawberry, peas, watercress and rocket.<br /><br />We also have four Mrs Chickens. These are called Dottie, Daisy, Rosetta and Shadow. Shadow has just started laying after being broody for three weeks. I lifted her off her nest and realised that she was trying to hatch some snail shells, crazy bird. So at the moment we are getting four eggs a day. <br /><br />I have bigger and better plans for next year. I am planning to build two new raised beds, so I have much more room to grow goodies.Sunflower Galhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01495425058573063300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3590026341990671147.post-66111417961506304092010-06-25T13:05:00.000-07:002010-06-25T13:40:20.194-07:00Where has my baby gone??<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig-6xQG3-pQbgFK6AIwy6gbDU7HO2YevG1oM9jbrS27yHyArXMYrUaI_LjsmlC7sYXAAMqAfdcAim3w1OpRC5v2XdOVZ6lF51i2YDqCBCMkvqTftTsjf_AW6gC-SUnq4HA2Hqalc0E33Y/s1600/IMG00099-20091119-1249.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 150px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5486811596083817026" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig-6xQG3-pQbgFK6AIwy6gbDU7HO2YevG1oM9jbrS27yHyArXMYrUaI_LjsmlC7sYXAAMqAfdcAim3w1OpRC5v2XdOVZ6lF51i2YDqCBCMkvqTftTsjf_AW6gC-SUnq4HA2Hqalc0E33Y/s200/IMG00099-20091119-1249.jpg" /></a><br /><div>My son is sadly the last of the sunflower seedlings, he is now seven months old and time has flown by. I am always so grateful that he is a strong, happy and healthy baby. This afternoon I was thrilled when he sat up on his own. This evening we where sat in the lounge when he crawled, I was amazed. Arrrr, where are those stair gates??? What a clever boy, two milestones in one day. I wish that he would slow down a tiny bit, just to give me time to enjoy the rest of this precious first year.</div><br /><br /><div>This is him an hour or so after he was born, by emergency c-section weighting 9lb 2oz.</div>Sunflower Galhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01495425058573063300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3590026341990671147.post-85736424862089217172010-06-22T14:40:00.000-07:002010-06-22T15:00:11.318-07:00Elderflower Cordial<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg9doxF7W_81DU0WThOa7qS3qj77Yp-zxN98v54J0EBKPtVPBFIstfylzyzk6dh9utQ6Yt9KFd0qsvfZG3IBLtMPBOjj1PIxCgEtakQo8BNXrEmX3UbTNnRi7mke2b7C7ydzO8HKyx7I4/s1600/Elderflower+Cordial+2010.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 200px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 150px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5485720039287433890" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg9doxF7W_81DU0WThOa7qS3qj77Yp-zxN98v54J0EBKPtVPBFIstfylzyzk6dh9utQ6Yt9KFd0qsvfZG3IBLtMPBOjj1PIxCgEtakQo8BNXrEmX3UbTNnRi7mke2b7C7ydzO8HKyx7I4/s200/Elderflower+Cordial+2010.jpg" /></a><br /><div>Yesterday I spent a fun few hours collecting Elderflower with one of my ishy friends, this included lots of chatting, tea and homemade cake.</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>Last year we followed the Cordial recipe on the <a href="http://www.selfsufficientish.com/">http://www.selfsufficientish.com/</a> This is a fab site full of useful info, with a forum full of very helpful people. I have learn't so much from them including how to make bread confidently, and lots of help with keeping my chickens.</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>However this year we made it up as we went along. We borrowed a huge industrial catering pan and filled it half up with water, adding sugar, juicing some lemons and oranges and adding. Boiling all of this up, then adding your Elderflower heads, leave for 48hours. Then strain through a muslin and bottle. I then put the bottles in a hot water bath and boiled for 5 mins, hopefully that will preserve the cordial for about a year.</div><div> </div><div>My eldest is converting her friends to what she calls Princess Bubble Juice. She even took some into her reception class as they have been learning about flowers.</div><br /><div></div>Sunflower Galhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01495425058573063300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3590026341990671147.post-84745434447751393672010-06-20T12:08:00.000-07:002010-06-20T12:17:23.723-07:00Father's Day and Firsts<a href="http://felting.craftgossip.com/files/2009/10/tooth-fairy-bags-arch-425.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 425px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 415px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://felting.craftgossip.com/files/2009/10/tooth-fairy-bags-arch-425.jpg" /></a><br /><div>Today has been a day of firsts here at the Sunflower Gal house. </div><br /><div>Our eldest daughter lost her first tooth, she was so excited at the thought that the tooth fairy will visit tonight. Yesterday I bought felt to make her a little bag to put the tooth in, but it beat me to it. </div><br /><div>Our other daughter did her first wee on the potty, Daddy and I where so proud as this has been a long time coming.</div><br /><div>Our baby son was seven months old yesterday, so today was his first Father's Day.</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>Happy fifth Father's Day babe, your a wonderful daddy to the tribe xxx</div>Sunflower Galhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01495425058573063300noreply@blogger.com2