A Smoothie A Day - Keeps the Grumpus Away!

A few years ago I made a resolution NOT to make anymore New Year's Resolutions.  I never stick to them, no matter how determined I might feel on the night after a couple (or lots) of cocktails!  But at the beginning of the year I do try to come up with a few things I want to change about the way I live.  One of the main changes this year was to JUICE JUICE JUICE!  And when that was over just get on up and juice some more!

There's so many health benefits to juices and smoothies, they're jam packed full of vitamins and minerals.  Plus the great thing is, if you make your own then you know exactly what you're putting into it.  Hello organic juicer and goodbye sugar junkie!

 There's  a lot of different ways you can go with juices and although there are tons of books out there all claiming to be the 'next best guide to your juicing essentials', it's really easy to do on your own too.  All you need to remember is why you are jucing - is it for health reasons or for the yummy factor?  That gives you a bit of direction to start with as then you know how fatty you're happy with your juice or smoothie being.

 Also keep in mind what your own body needs or is deficient in.  Juicing is a great way to get the vitamins and nutrients into your body that you're lacking.  I'm iron deficient so I tend to use a lot of spinach in mine.  If you want to find out more about the different properties and benefits of individual fruits and veggies go to Reboot With Jo and check out the really great list, you can even download and print out a FREE full colour guide and chart to show you the different benefits! 

Or just take a moment to think about what creates a nice flavour with your juices and don't forget to throw in some seeds or nuts.  Experiment and create in a free and organic way as your juicing grows alongside your confidence.

Good luck and have fun!  Namaste friends xxx

Exploring the County - RAF West Raynham

I've been really into urbexing (urban exploring) for about 10 years now; there's just something so fascinating about finding the forgotten and exploring the abandoned.  Discovering new ways to capture a moment of a beautiful building that may soon be destroyed completely, feels so vital to me.  People move on so fast that places often get left behind to rust, decay and fall prey to the grip of nature. But I love that - the feeling of being somewhere that's forbidden and simultaneously forgotten.  You know you're not supposed to be there, but the beauty and intrigue is just too much to resist.

RAF base West Raynham is quickly being converted into business parks, kids playgrounds and pubs.  But before the re developers got their hands on it, TVs 'Most Haunted' team were the last to visit, finding evidence of several resident ghosts on the site, including a Polish pilot shot down in World War Two.

I decided to take a trip there before it was all gone and see what I could find.  

There was a lot to

see; aircraft hangars, the control tower, barracks, houses and plenty of admin buildings, including the old bank!  I loved all the old dials we found, there was something beautiful about the combination of the rust and the delicate parts.

 Some of the buildings were in a pretty bad way, rotting had made ceilings cave in and we didn't venture too far into these bad boys in case of asbestos!

Part of the control panel in the control tower, it was pretty cool up there as there were so many buttons and dials to play with!  Great views too!  All in all it was a fun day of discovery and I'm really glad I got a chance to look around before this part of our history is turned into yet another McDonald's or Starbucks!

Homemade Plum Loaf

In our garden we have BEAUTIFUL plum trees, they were already really well established when we moved in - sort of like a free gift with the house!  Last year they produced a ridiculous amount of plums. more than we knew what to do with.  So we gave lots away to friends and family, then froze the rest until we could figure out what on earth to do with what felt like several tons of plums!

Fast forward to this year and a lack of tasty things to toast (we have a bit of a thing for teacakes and hot cross buns in this house!) and to the bright idea of making plum bread!  Plum bread is super easy and super yummy!  Plus if you're using home grown plums like we were, then it's got an organic edge to it!

Ingredients

• 375g self raising flour
• 450g plums, stoned
• 2 large or 3 small beaten eggs
• 225g melted butter
• 200g sugar
• little warm water if too stiff

Melt butter then place in a mixing bowl and add sugar, mix.  Add all other ingredients, if the mixture is too stiff add the warm water..  Mix then remove and knead.  Grease a 900g loaf tin and pour in ingredients.  Cook on 180 C / Gas 4 for 90 minutes..  Towards the end, add a little covering of butter and sugar.  Serve warm with butter and jam and ENJOY!

The plum bread lasts about a week if you keep it in a tin and will feed about 10 people if you slice it right! 

Product Review - Neal's Yard Seaweed and Arnica Aromatic Foaming Bath

What Is It?  A foaming bubble bath.  Neal's Yard describe this as 'A delightfully fragrant bath to bring a sense of well-being.'

What Does It Do?   It's primary design is for relaxing and soothing you tired folks and returning you to a restorative sense of calm.

Key Ingredients?   Seaweed - has heavy duty detoxifying properties.  Arnica - helps muscle aches, acne, sprains, bruises.  Lavender extract - good for anxiety and restlessness as well as insomnia.  Geranium extract - relieves stress and depression, improves skin health and circulation, among other benefits.  Marjoram extract - good for sleeping problems, back ache, head ache, muscle spasms and bruising.  A great combination of some wonderfully beneficial plants!

How well does it work?   The foaming bath doesn't create lots of bubbles, like some more synthetic varieties of bubble bath might.  But it does smell wonderful and make the aroma and atmosphere in your bathroom feel very relaxing.  Plus it leaves you feeling like you're floating on air!

What We Like About It?   The completely natural approach of this company, with 54% organic ingredients this foam bath is super green!  The smell is so relaxing and  and the way it makes you feel is like you're getting a big fluffy hug!  Plus it's a vegan product - yay!

Dutty Moonshine - Living Room Tour

So I've mentioned previously on here that I've been training up to work on the radio.  I used to produce and present a show in 2008 and finally having settled in one place I'm getting back into it again.

My first interview happened last Saturday night, a group of friends who run the Pond Farm Party Collective entered and won an exclusive gig night with Dutty Moonshine.  For those of you who don't know (tsk tsk) Dutty Moonshine are to swing what cups are to saucers, without them it's all just a little bit pointless and silly really.  With cleverly mashed up beats and vintage swing samples they create tracks that make dancing quite simply, as essential as breathing.  Pond Farm Parties usually put on all sorts of themed parties, privately mainly, but they do also get involved with some stuff at the ever amazing Boomtown.  Dutty being the nice boys that they are, had decided after a while gigging at festivals and all over the world, that it would be nice to do a few private gigs for their fans.

 

So they put out a shout on Youtube.com (which you can watch above) saying that they had a two week house party tour where ANYBODY could apply, as long as you gave them 250 for the gig.  Now I don't know what you think, but to me 250 for travel, set up and a night worth of entertainment is a pretty sweet deal!  So of course they had a lot of applications, from fans who'd desperately wanted to see them play in their own house!  Pond Farm Parties sent over a ton of photos of their previous efforts for party set ups and won a pretty prestigious Saturday night gig.  So I decided to interview them!

What fantastically grounded, down to earth, nice guys!  I was a little surprised, don't get me wrong I didn't expect them to not be nice, it's just you so often encounter people who've made it big and got a bit of the big time arrogance about them.  None of that though with these two legends.  Not only did they give me a really meaty, interesting interview but they kicked out some seriously FAT tunes for about five hours afterwards!

I have to admit I'd been pretty nervous, despite the pre interview gin!  Listening back I could hear my voice wobbling ever so slightly on my intro, but Dutty Moonshine didn't seem to notice and we even had a few laughs during the interview.  It felt less like interviewing big time DJ's and more like chatting to a couple of mates, if your mates were the sort of people who toured the world playing to crowds of thousands!

I can't wait to put the interview on air and hear what the audience thinks, some pretty exciting exclusive news tucked away in there too!

Homemade Valentine's Card - How to Make a Stencil Card

I decided to make a card with a difference this valentine's day.  I make one every year for Paul and I've done all sorts of cute collages and quirky drawings in the past.  So I tried to come up with something else this year and went for a Spring scene using natural stencils.  Here's how you can make one too!

 

Paint your card with the colour that you want to show through as the scenery.

 

Choose some plants and leaves to make the scenery stencils with, you can choose something from your garden or a nearby park.  Attach them to the card using blu tack as that way they'll stay on when you spray.

 

I used a gold spray paint as I like the colour and it symbolises luxury!  I found a butterfly (which died of natural causes) and used that in the scenery too.

 Once you take the plants, or whatever you chose, off the card the base colour will show through.  The objects come away really easily as well as the blu tack peels off so quickly.

I glued some dried, pressed flowers to mine in the end as well as I liked the added touch of collage colour.

Let me know what designs you come up with?

Lovely Friends!

You know that feeling when you've been out doing things all day and you get home super tired?  You know you ought to eat something, but the idea of actually cooking seems like the equivalent to getting up and running a marathon!

I felt like that the other night; finally rounding my day off with an hours walk home as I'd missed my bus.  By the time I got into the house my fingers were frozen and I was soaked through! I dragged myself inch by inch to the kitchen, consoling myself with the thought of toast and Marmite and I found this waiting for me...

My housemates lovely girlfriend had cooked a yummy vegetarian risotto and left me a huge bowl of it!  All I had to do was stick it in the microwave to warm up and hey presto (or other magic words to that effect) and I had a delicious, nourishing hot meal.  It brightened the end of my day and although I was still soaked through, I had a definite warm glow thanks to her kindness!  I drew her this cat to say thank you!

Pumpkin Loaf and Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Pumpkins aren't just for Halloween you know?  If all you've ever done with a pumpkin is carve it out and stick a candle in it, then you're seriously missing out.  Don't get me wrong, it's great fun and I love scaring the kids with my silly squash faces just as much as the next gal.

But using the tasty orange centre for cooking is really where it's at.  Pumpkins are a member of the squash family and are a nutrient dense plant; which means high in vitamins - low in carbs.  So if you're into eating healthy or just into eating yummy - then this is for you!


There are all kinds of delicious dishes that you can use pumpkin for as it's a super versatile food; from pies to smoothies, salad to soup.  But I decided to go for something a little different this time and perhaps a little less healthy!  Bring on the muffins and the cake bread!

What ingredients will you need for these yummy treats?

• 1 cup plain flour
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1/4 cup olive or sunflower oil
• 300g grated pumpkin 
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 cup oats
• 1/2 cup raisins

Now to make them you need to mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda in a mixing bowl.  Put that to one side and mix the grated pumpkin, oil, egg and milk together, then add to the dry ingredients.  Stir them all together in the bowl until the mixture is nice and moist, then add in the raisins and oats.  

Preheat your oven to 190 or Gas Mark 5.  Grease your loaf tin and spoon in the mixture, then use the remaining amount to fill the muffin cups.  In a small bowl combine 1/3 cup brown sugar with 1 tbsp plain flour and 1 tbsp of butter and cut in until crumbly.  Sprinkle 1 rounded teaspoon of this mixture over each muffin.  Bake for 15 minutes, then sprinkle a few oats over the top and place back in the oven for a further 5 minutes or until a knife comes out clean.

Allow to cool for about 5 minutes and then serve warm.  The pumpkin loaf is lovely as a snack with butter and a big mug of tea!  

Now hold on, because we're not finished yet, you might be thinking "what on earth more can I possibly do with a pumpkin?"  You can toast the seeds is what!  Every time someone just uses a pumpkin for Halloween they throw away easily a hundred seeds or more; yet they're fantastically tasty little lunch box snacks and creative finishing touches for so many meals!  That's if they ever make it that far, mine barely last five minutes they're so yummy!

Keep your oven on as you're going to need it again soon.  So assuming you've already washed your pumpkin seeds and pulled off all the stringy flesh, (if not, now's the time!) you're going to want to spread them out over a baking tray and cover them in a few glugs of olive oil.  Now to choose the ingredients; the essential one is always sea salt but after that it's really up to you and you can make them sweet or savoury!  There's a thousand different ways of seasoning pumpkin seeds and they're all super yummy!  So get imaginative, raid your ingredients and experiment with whatever takes your fancy!  The following are some of my favourite versions (remember all of these have sea salt in too):

• 1 whisked egg white, 1/3 cup sugar and 1 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp paprika, 1 tsp cayenne and 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tbsp ground fennel and 1 tbsp chili flakes
• 1 whisked egg white and 2 tsp curry powder

Once you've chosen your ingredients give the seeds a good toss, so that they're all covered in the herbs and spices you've chosen.  If using the egg white version you'll want to pop the mixture in a bowl and then dunk the seeds in; allow them to drain a little and then place on the tray, don't put any olive oil on this version as you want them nice and sweet.  Oven bake your seeds at 180 or Gas Mark 4 for about 10 - 15 minutes until the seeds are golden, then remove and munch to your hearts content!

Lovely links - Elephant Journal

Something special to carry you into a positively charged and wonderful weekend.



The other day, thanks to a lovely little friend, I discovered a rather magical website known as Elephant Journal.  It was so beautifully put together and with so many interesting posts that I couldn't believe my life had existed before it!  It's a truly divine little net space focused on discovering your abilities, understanding yourself and exploring just what spiritual awareness and harmony can bring.  So open your mind and embrace your adventurous side, because trust me, this time it will really pay off.  The website has a definite female focus and is the most nourishing, gentle, virtual hug I've ever come across.  It not only makes you feel proud to be you and completely beautiful inside and out, it even manages to make your brain feel freshly cleansed and envigorated!

http://www.elephantjournal.com/ 

http://www.elephantjournal.com/2015/01/for-the-free-spirited-females-with-fiercely-sensitive-hearts/

Above is the link to the home page and a link to one of my favourite articles, go and have an explore for yourself and let me know what you think?

Bloglovin' Newbie

I'm Bloglovin'  - this is the new link for my Bloglovin' account!  I'm joining the blogging community one pigeon step at a time and what a wonderful world it is!  A candy floss feast for the eyes with all these beautiful little windows into fascinating and fantastic people's lives!  I think I'm in love all over again <3

How to Produce a Radio Show

Another one of my New Year's resolutions this year which has actually stuck is my promise to myself to get involved with radio once again.  I used to produce and present a show once a week on a Monday afternoon, I'd review new music and even have guests in sometimes to do live sets.  I remember being really excited on the day when Frank Turner came in to do a live interview in the studio, it was around the same time he was touring as support for Greenday.  He was such a nice, down to earth guy!  That was one of the best parts of the job - being able to meet people and get a real sense of who they were off stage and away from the spotlight of showbiz.

So last Thursday I went along for my first training session at Future Radio, it was pretty sweet to meet the other folks who I'd be training with; to swap tips on interviewing, indulge in talking about music for ages and drink far too much coffee!  I returned this week and we had a great time interviewing one another and then making our soundbites radio ready.  

Audacity is a free program which you can download to any computer, whether it's a PC or a mac.  It's super easy to use and has loads of different effects and alterations that you can make so that your track ends up sounding really professional.  A few years ago when I was originally on the radio I used to do a lot of editing, of various interviews or music beds (the music that you hear when the presenter is talking) but as it's been a while my internal decks have got a bit rusty.  It was really fun to play around with multiple tracks and edit soundbites, jingles, songs and news all together to make a smooth sounding show.  I can't wait to go back next week and get more involved!

What do you like about radio?  Would you change anything about it?

  

A look back at: January

Snow, snow, snow!  What more needs to be said about how awesome January has been?  We've had snow several times here and it's been so beautiful, big soft snowflakes like the kind you draw when you're a kid.  They even settled and turned our world into a Winter wonderland for a few days.  It was even more exciting as it meant I got to test run the new RAINBOW wellies!  Big thanks for my sister for once again scoring a big win!  It meant we can now go on proper walks across the flooded fields to see the swans, now the iced over puddles are childs play!

I've learnt a few things this January too, both practical and inspirational.  Best of all I learnt to forge!  Paul (my other half and sometimes better half!) is a blacksmith and he encouraged me to have a go at bashing metal things with big hammers.  How could a girl say no?  It was a lot of fun although really smoky when getting the fire going to heat the metal, but I loved seeing the steel shape up as I bashed with hammers larger than my arms!  We also had a go at melting copper, which was both exciting and terrifying as it was so hot - 900 degrees, that's one hell of a tan if you get too close!

So over all January has been a pretty diverse and fun month, with lots of new avenues for commissions with some new skills!  I really hope February sees me being less flu filled so I can get back out there with my new camera and do some serious exploring!  Roll on the new adventures!

How to Remove Dreads (And Not Become A Skinhead!)

I thought I would do a post on this as it's something that so many people have asked me about! Having dreads was a great decision for me, I loved the way they looked and I loved being able to decorate them with brightly coloured hair wraps and all sorts of beautiful beads. These days so many people make beautiful dread accessories that you're really spoiled for choice. It's also super fun to get some clay and beads to make your own! However it came to the time for me to take them out and make the transition back to my normal hair. I remember that I was in a yoga class and the girl in front of me was running her fingers through her hair and I realised how much I wanted to be able to do that again!

So decision made I tried to think of a way of taking them out, but they'd been in a long time and everyone I spoke to just suggested cutting them off! That would've meant having hair that was about 1cm long, no fricking way was I going to be doing that anytime soon! Especially as my main reason for saying goodbye to the 'locks was to have my long non-dreadlocked hair back. I took the tough road and decided I was just going to comb them out! So, if you're jumping on the crazy train too then welcome aboard! Here's what you're going to need to do: get 2 bottles of conditioner, this needs to be of a good quality as it's going to be the lifeline for your hairs survival. Make sure you have about 2/3 days to spare, it's going to be a really slow process and you're going to want plenty of breaks as your arms will ache like crazy! You will also need 1/2 industrial strength combs, think something that would survive the apocalypse, and then buy two! Also make sure you've got a good series lined up or a few films you want to watch, you'll be getting pretty bored over the next few hours!

It probably took me about two days in total, but that included combing well into the night! I smothered my hair in as much conditioner as humanly possible and then just combed out, starting at the very bottom and working my way to the top. There were a few knots that I had to grab the scissors for, I was never going to win with them and it's good to know when you're beat! I kept a little box on hand for all of the beads and pretty things that I'd had in my hair, so that I could make something cute from them later on. I also had a couple of plastic bags on hand for all the hair I was combing out and the old hair wraps. You will lose a lot of hair when you comb out dreads, but don't worry - if you had normal hair you'd have just brushed it out, it's just that with dreads it tends to stay put.

Once I felt like my arms were going to fall off and all the dreads (but one) were out I visited my hairdresser, The Little Hair and Beauty House. The girlies who work there are delightful little angels and it's such a cute lil place too! I kept one dread in, just as a little bit of fun, but was pleased to have my hair back and really loved the results!!!

Buttons and Twirls (How to Create Social Media Icons Post 2 of 2)

So I told you the other day about how I overcame my fear of HTML and got something to actually work on my blog, now here's some helpful info if you're trying to do the same.

Step 1 - Find the buttons you want to use, like I mentioned in my first post Design Bolts is a great place to look, or you can find links on Pinterest by searching 'free social media icons'.

Step 2 - Choose, download and open the file with your media icons, it may give you several different sizes so spend a couple of minutes deciding on the right ones to suit your style.

Step 3 - Click on 'create new post' and title it something like 'Not to Be Published' as this is a post just for you, in the background editing world.

Step 4 - Click onto the HTML setting and then by clicking the image icon upload all the buttons you want to use on your blog.  Once uploaded make sure there is a blue box around each one by left clicking on the image.  At this point it might give you options as to whether you want to centre your images or not, this is for you to decide how you want it to look on the blog.  Now click 'add selected' a whole load of HTML coding should appear, don't panic!  This means you've done it right :)

Step 5 - Switch to 'Compose' and you should see your images.  Now to link each one simply click on it and click link, if nothing happens do the same again as blogger is a bit stubborn sometimes!  When you click link insert the web address for that button (by copying from the website and pasting in the web address box) then click on 'open in new window'.  By getting it to open in a new window it means you don't have folks dragged away from your blog.  Click OK and repeat this for all the buttons you have uploaded.

Step 6 - Go back to the 'HTML' setting and copy all the text (highlight it all and press CTRL + C).  Click 'Save'.  Now head over to your 'Layout page', this can be found on your blog Dashboard, or if you're on your actual blog just click on 'Design' at the top right corner.

Step 7 -  Click on the 'Add Gadget' text and then when the box appears scroll down and click on 'HTML/Java Script'.  Click in the content box and paste (CTRL + P) your HTML text that you previously highlighted.  Click 'Save' then click 'Save Arrangement'.

Step 8 - View your blog and jump around in delight as you see the magic for real!

Buttons and Twirls (How to Create Social Media Icons Post 1 of 2)

I'm determined to keep my New Year's resolution and get my head around HTML this year.  Since I started this blog I've been spending a lot of time immersing myself in the blogging community. After all the best way to learn something is to get out there into the social cyber space and learn from the pros. One of the aspects I've seen repeatedly and really liked was the buttons or social media icons that folks have. A wonderful and seriously creative array of styles, with everything from cutesy bunting to fun and funky flowers. I didn't have the first clue about how to set these up, so I asked a friend and blogging guru over at Lemon Freckles for some advice.

She pointed me in the direction of Pinterest, so I headed on over and searched for a style that suited my blog. It didn't take me long, icons seem to be an even bigger deal than I realised and everybody who's anybody is apparently creating them! I downloaded some from Design Bolts for free, it's a great website and has a huge range of FREE stuff for your enjoyment!  So I grabbed my icons and downloaded them, then I sat looking at them wondering how on earth I was supposed to turn these pretty pictures into web links?!

 My brain was baffled!  So I turned to You Tube, which I tend to think of as my daily oracle!  If there's anything EVER that I want to learn it's the best place to go.  It never stops amazing me that there's always someone who has the answer!  I sat for a few hours with a pack of jammy dodgers and a big mug of tea, watching as these tube geniuses wowed me with their skills/  Eventually I felt confident enough to do it myself and headed back to my blog, about half an hour later I was squeeing in delight and jumping around the room like a Springtime bunny as my icons linked through to my pages!  I felt so pleased with myself, step 1 of understanding coding - DONE!

Gooseberry, Elderflower and Sauvignon Blanc Sorbet!

Last year I was given a gooseberry bush, the first one I've ever owned and a welcome addition to my little self - sufficient patch of green.  I put it in a big pot to start with so it could settle into it's surroundings happily, without too many weedy invaders.  I got so many gooseberries from it once it had flowered I could have fed a small fruitarian army!  I used some last year but decided to freeze the rest for a tasty treat later in the year.

Well, 2015 has come around already and I decided it was a good time to detox my freezer.  I find this is something good to do every January, which involves making yummy things from all the previous years pickings.  The idea is to free up room which helps my annual de-cluttering of my little nest and to bring in the new year as I mean to go on - with many, many tasty treats!

Step 1 Put 300ml of sparkling Sauvignon Blanc, I used Oyster Bay and 250g of white caster sugar into a saucepan and heat until the sugar has dissolved to create the syrup base.

Step 2 Make sure your gooseberries are topped and tailed (this just means slicing off the stalk and the bit where the flower was).  Add 900g of gooseberries (if you're using frozen like I was make sure they are defrosted first) and 5 tbsp of elderflower cordial to the syrup in your saucepan.  Any elderflower cordial will do, you don't have to use the super expensive stuff, personally I really like the Belvoir range for this recipe.  Allow the mixture to simmer until the berries are squishy and start bursting open, about 5 - 6 minutes.

Step 3 Pour your mixture into a blender or food processor, again anything is good so long as you can mash up the mixture.  Even a handheld blender is good for this, or if you don't have anything a potato masher and a fork will do the job, you'll just need a bit longer.  You can sieve your mixture afterwards to get the pips out if you want, personally I like the crunch, but it depends on your teeth!

Step 4 Pour the mixture into a plastic container, I use an old ice cream tub, and leave to cool.  Place in the freezer and remove to stir the mixture every two to three hours.  By the next day it's good to eat and will be a yummy treat!

I find this recipe a great one for when folks are coming over, it never fails to impress and tastes really unique and scrumptious!

Enjoy and let me know how you get on xxx