hay box

I came across this a while ago and saw a couple of other videos about using a haybox to cook with. I'm impressed with it. I really like how things can be cooked with just a fist burst of heat. Ideally I'd like to make neat wooden box of the proportions of a microwave, front loading probably so the space on the top can be put to use or have it built into the end of our kitchen table. Haven't gotten around to it yet though. Here is the inspiration.



I mentioned it to Ranger Alan and he said he has used this for cooking whilst camping but I think it could be of use in the home.


At the weekend I gave it a mini-go, for Ranger Time.

I used what I had in the ranger office, bucket, change-for-life promotional fleecy blankets, thingy that is usually in the microwave. The tallow, in a plastic jug, was heated up to all melted in the microwave. This was then put into the nest made of blankets inside the bucket, lid on, covered up. Then this sat in the unheated stone church stairwell for bout 40 minutes until we were ready to make seed cakes. Then out it came, into the park and unveiled to the *excited* folks. Nobody really seemed too bothered at the contraption despite my enthusing. So we poured and stirred and covered it up again, poured etc. The jug was left out once all the mixing was done and it set quite quicky.


So very good I thought. I was worried that this would be an activity that we wouldn't be able to do without direct access to the kitchen. Great. Shame I forgot to take nice photos of it outside.





More haybox.

quilt one

I've made a quilt. I'm so proud. I keep asking ralph if he likes my quilt. I fold it up carfully so the furry buggers can't claim it. I made a quilt I say! Here is ralph decidedly uninterested in my quilt, and adne cat not complaining whilst she got a bit covered up. And a photo to show the working conditions with adne, wu and DOGLAS sleeping at the back of the work table.

Here are the actual pictures of the quilt. Made with half a roll of moda strips, I cant remember which collection, using the more sober colours, saving the pinky ones for other things (maybe you can see in the cat shot). And some random plumy fabric from the cupboard that I think is a poly-cotton mix, it's quite silky but not really unpleasant, good to get it used up. Pattern was done with the help of this, mine is not as big, or as 'weeny. I was worried it wouldn't all match up but it's not bad and only rumpled a bit as I layered and sewed it up.

sushi lesson

I was in westfield to go to a sushi lesson organised by the japan centre's shop there. The lesson was free and it turned out that there was only 5 of us that had booked places that turned up. It had been promoted as a japanese cooking lesson but actually was just sushi, nice to have an expert show us though.

We had the lesson at the demonstration kitchen, quite exposed, lots of "oh, its people making sushi" comments from people who weren't interested in that. But actually once we started I didn't even notice if there were many other folk watching. It seems there were a few.

We made rolls with nori on the outside and rice on the outside, and then I ate it all, this photo was after I had been gnomming it and thought I better stop to take evidence. Yum. The teacher was very nice and the people from umai were also lovely (the japan centre folk are sometimes a bit full on). Apparently there may be more lessons in future.

triumph of nastiness

I did my traipse of westfield yesterday. On my own, up and down. This meant I could go methodically around all the shops.

Oddly I mildly enjoy every now and then going shopping. I didn't really want to buy much but I was looking for a couple of bits for christmas presents. I wanted to see if the john lewis had a haberdasher, I was signed up for a sushi making lesson at the japan center, more of that after. I wanted to look in forever 21, new to me you see and with a window full of orange, brown, plum I was a little excited. Bleurrgh.

Pretty much everything was really nasty. And more than I had expected. And I mean actually all of the normal priced stores. I know I'm a grown up but it is sometimes possible to make clothes designed for teenagers work along side frumpdom, I think I'm vaguely stylish. The shops I'm talking about are top shop, newlook, river island (when did that get a makeover, I never went in there when I was 16?), miss selfridge, zara, h&m, *primark* etc etc.

Everything was nasty. Shock horror! Why the surprise I hear you ask? Because it wasn't quite this bad before, there was always a few things that were made in a nicer fabric, something that actually felt quite nice, maybe something with actual wool in it. So many chunky knits and not a sheep in sight. 5n the olden days an occasional suede skirt could be found, maybe a silk-cotton mix. And the worst of this was in forever 21. It is really bad in there, noting was nice, everything felt loose and nasty. So thumbs down to you. I found a mostly wool cardigan in primark, in nice colours so they win. Crikey, this is really scraping the barrel. Topshop, you have really let yourself slip. New look has some nice bras, I saw a blue sequin knee length skirt on a mannequin in zara but couldn't find it anywhere in the rails, h&m have a snazzy range of nail varnish in pretty stylish colours. I have this one which is darker in real, dark orangy red, it's a good red for my skin tone.

So pah to all you stores, it's a shame affordable really does mean cheap. It's all just for children.


In looking for the picture of nail varnish I see h&m now have a little section to click on for the sustainable range. There is still no way to filter or search so I don't know if the entire range comes up or just new/selected. I like this recycled shiny top with buttons down the back (nasty little fetish for shiny things I have).

They have organic cotton and hemp things too. And home things, I do like this runner...

bag

I still haven't a new bag, I dreamt last night that I pulled the big bow off my worn out bag and magic'd it new. That wouldn't work in real life. I don't know what I want. I know I cant spend two hundred pounds on a bag. I would like a really nice leather bag though.

This one is quite nice, from urban outfitters. I dunno. Too much, or 'spendy' as some say.

building the divide

We have a plan to avoid the plot aggravation with our neighbour. I previously talked about our newly designated 'shared' path which meant our plot got 2 feet smaller and my newly instigated flower edge was in the way and therefore ripe for early removal by our neighbour. As soon as the flowers had finished, but before the seeds had set, the plants were pulled and thrown into our plot. Rude. If you are going to pull something you can at least put it on your compost heap. Rude, particularly if they are not your plants. I really wanted to save seeds so I wont have as much borage as I had hoped for next year. I got the poppies in time though. The shared path was not going to be shared, it would have been down to us to weed or trim, basically it's a bit of our plot that our neighbour can walk along.

I really like to know what is my responsibility and not have others messing with that. So we have put up a defensive wall. Well a permanent row of bean poles that will have climbing things on it. Firstly a big long row of beans for drying, like the old west indian guys do. I figure if they grow well dried beans are a thing you can't have too many of.

Also our new fence will mean that our neighbour won't be able to vocally intrude so easily, it hopefully will reinforce that our plot is ours and not half of a larger plot that she'd like to take over.

We got to use up all the carpet that we have found on the path. We didn't really know how to dispose of this so it's good to have found a use. We have put in breaks, gates, in the fence to we can get to the other side, the shared side, for harvesting. The fence adds some good height on that side and really does make our plot cosier and more private. Lovely.

I had been leaving this allium flower up to dray and hopefully self seed, I love alliiums.

I pulled it to make way for the potato plot for next year. It wasn't an onion as I had expected, giant garlic.

acho cha chut ney

The achochas were the only thing that grew really well on the allotment this summer. We had loads of them. They are not really that tasty, like a bland slightly bitter green pepper cum courgette.

There were boxes of mangoes reduced in *asda* so we got them and have made some mango and achocha chutney. Nigella seeds, cinnamon, cloves, pepper etc. Fruits salted first. All cooked in the slow cooker, need to get the timing on that right next time. Good with a curry hopefully.

necklaces

There is an etsy store that sells really interesting jewellery. ISWASANDWILLBE. I like the way they style their pieces and the colours and contrast and the random nature.

I have posted the link to their shop, go and buy some bits. I wanted to but actually I made my own, I didn't really have the money to buy from someone else so I spent a little on some beads and made up my own. They are not quite as nice, I don't have the range of colours or the shiny gold beads. I would like some of the little gold nuggets. But I used some lapis lazuli and tigers eye and made some straight tube earings also.

I've made some more now so the strands all sit together. I like them. The cats like them.