show n tell !

this is what the 'scrapmates' do when they get together for some event other than the crop....have a mass photoshoot!!. this was from friday night at Allys ( 2nd from left! ), where we had gathered to take part on the UKS cybercrop. I'll spare you any pics of me in a blond wig and feather boa!.

Below is more veges growing and a lovely snapshot of my condensation. ( tis not safe to leave the windows open at night). from left...beetroot, a cucumber and a bean, cherry toms and sweetcorn.

oh hurry up allotment keys!!.


Soapnuts......they seem to be going well....the washing doesnt have a nasty smell or anything like that....almost like it has been hanging outside. I'm on my 3rd wash with this 3rd bag and after the next was i'll boil this lot up to make washing liquid for the dishes and also try it as shampoo. will let you know how it goes.

arrgghhhhhh!!!!

i just rung the council to follow up on my allotment this morning. I was getting a tad worried cos the deposit cheque hasn't been banked yet and its already 3 wks since i sent in the form and chq. anyway, the allotment lady has been on leave for a week and a quick check on the computer told me that my name wasnt yet on plot 21!. i have to ring and speak to the lottie lady directly and see whats what, otherwise its back to square one and i'll be pissed!. at least plot 21 doesnt have anyone elses name on it!.


i have some photos of growing food to share once i get them off the camera and also have washed with soapnuts for the first time and all seems fine so far!.
will update with photos over the enxt few days.

boysenberries and property porn!.

whilst at the farmers market this morning i came across a boysenberry plant. it was the last one he had, so brought it, along with a blackcurrant plant!. boysenberry ice cream here i come....lol!!.
really need those lottie keys now...hopefully will get the letter this week!.

on one of the forums i visit i came across a link to an estate agents that deals with rural farms. i had a wee browse this morning and came across an 8acre croft on the Isle of Lewis. *sighhhhhh.........*.........its on the coast, has a river boundry with unlimited fishing rights for salmon and trout, a lovely wee whitewashed cottage and some other outbuildings. obviously, i wont be moving as i dont have a spare xxx xxx lying around, but its a nice wee thought for the day!!.

love the term property porn!!.

Soapnuts.

I've just brought some soapnuts to try. They are the 'fruits' of the soap nut tree and the shell contains a natural soapy substance that cleans your bits!!. You can use them in the washing machine, or boil them up and use the liquid for the dishes, your body and hair, as a household cleaning product. and.....once you've finished with the shells you can chuck 'em in the compost!!.
i've been reading a couple of treads on various forums and a few people have found seeds in some of the shells(ones that have escaped detection by some bigwig type!), and have planted them!!. apparently tho, it takes about 10yrs to actually get a crop, but no harm in planting and germinating the seed....you never know, you could become self sufficient in soap!!.


allotment update....there is no update yet....still waiting to hear back from the council re collecting the keys!.

wooo hoooo......

one of my friends has brought a mooncup!!. one down, a few more to go....hehe!!!.

Al, you asked if i'd my allotment planned....yep pretty much, just need to do some fine tuning, check what crops can companion plant etc and find out if i can get some compost from the council...i can get compost bins for a fiver, so am hoping i can get some compost as well, to give my veges the best start possible!!.

not much else to say at present....just waiting for the paperwork to be done and get the ok to collect keys!!.

do you wanna see it?!!!.....

i sent the cheque off for my allotment this morning. theres about a 2-3wk wait for the paperwork to be done, then its collect the keys, and away i go!!.

here it is.....this was taken at 1030 in the morning, and i'm standing on the westen boundry. it looks like it gets good sun for most of the day. its bordered by an allotment to the north and one to the west and thats it....kinda perfect for me...i dont like being in the middle of things!. I'd have liked to have a shed left or a greenhouse, but never mind...considering the state of the other vacant plots on the site, i'm lucky cos the council man cleared it for me off his own bat....i hadnt requested that. 2 plots to the north is another new plotholder, altho her site hasnt been cleared yet, but its good to know theres someone else new on site. also the water tap is opposite her site as well, so not a huge trek to fetch water. i'll keep an eye on ebay and freeserve and see if i can pick up a cheap shed so i can start to harvest my own water.

Now i am going to sit on the sofa and plan all the things i want to grow there. I am excited, but also a little daunted....however, you have to start somewhere!!.

plot 21!!

plot 21 has my name on it!!!!. and the council guy has rotovated it as well. i meet him and see it on saturday morning. i wont moan about the council for at least a week!. if all goes well, i should get my allotment in 2-3weeks!!.....theres paperwork to do!!.
i'm sooooooo excited!!.

nature, butchers and mooncups!!

*warning* this post contains a review of the mooncup, so dont read the whole post if you dont want to know anymore about them!!.

these are my carrots, from my first round of planting on the 15th march....i just smile everytime i look at them...the beauty of nature to provide us with food!. I've since read that root vege dont like being transplanted, so i wont be sowing anymore carrots now, until i have some ground!. I'm waiting for a call back from the council re allotments....apparently its up to 10days for a call back!. i finally heard back from the other person i was waiting to hear from re his allotments, and he has 16 already on the waiting list. so basically i'm back to square one!. i have 2 runner beans that will have to go into Anns garden this weekend i think...not sure how much longer they can survive where they are, altho...they seem to love it...they have taken off like noones business!!.

Last week i made contact with a lady on the Downsizer forum, who lives nearby, and she was telling me about butchers near us. Well this morning i went to one i didnt know exsisted! and found it was great. nice guys and the meat looked good. i brought a mince pie, cos i felt i should buy something, then decided to try their sausages as well, so brought 2 pork sausies...total came to £2!.

MOONCUP REVIEW!.

well, i have now used it for a whole period and think its great!!. one of the things i was looking to see was the reduction in cramps and pain i get on days 1-3. no pain whatsoever!. i couldnt believe it, even tho i had read other women say this is the case. apparently commercial tampons and pads have chemicals in them that draw out the mentrual flow, which seems to be where the pains come from....for some anyway. for me, days 1-3 were painfree!. i had no leaks which sometimes happens with tampons in the first few days and reckon you could go without pads if you use both at the same time.
you do need to come to terms with the putting it.....fold it up and slide it in....much like a tampon, and the getting out...which is what leaves alot of people squeemish!. yes its a bit fiddly...you have to slide a finger in and break the suction then pull it out to empty.....you could just empty straight into the toilet never knowing what was inside, or you could look, like i did!. (ally will be screaming gross!!!!.....serves you right for reading after the warning missy!!!). as you get used to the taking out, it doesnt take any longer than taking out a tampon in my opinion.
its completely comfortable and infact you forget about it after a while. there is a stem on it when it arrives and its suggested you cut that once you get an idea of how it fits in you. i cut half mine off to start with, then found during this 1st period i have to cut more off as it seem to settle into place and began irritating me. so i now have a very short stem that i dont feel at all.
i'll end by saying, if you can get over the taking out and emptying, then i'd highly recommend it....its comfortable, painfree, and doesnt harm the environment.

here endth the review!.