baking for the freezer

It's a better use of my time to spend a morning in the kitchen (cup of coffee and the radio on) making a selection of cakes and freezing them. It saves the panic of an empty cake tin and packed lunches to make. In fact I've discovered that fairy cakes freeze especially well and if the tin really is empty at 8am on a school morning, then frozen ones packed into the lunchbox will have thawed perfectly by lunchtime

Today I made a large sultana cake, 3 dozen chocolate fairy cakes ( Lovely 'iced' with melted white chocolate) and a roasting tray sized plain sponge - not pictured. All are cooling nicely and will be packed up for the freezer shortly

Rejecting the Rules

Something a friend said got me musing. She walked away from the 'downsizer/downshifter' label since she didn't make her own bread etc so she felt it didn't 'fit' and this got me thinking about the self imposed rules to a green or simple life. I can only ever base all on my own humble experiences and who am I to dictate, but it raises some questions about how we approach our chosen lifestyle

One sees so much of rules in trying to be 'green' or 'simple-living' or whatever current title is in fashion - only eat homemade bread, pledges to buy nothing new for a month or longer, avoiding the supermarket, only cleaning with vinegar and elbow grease.
Are they things to beat ourselves up with if we don't do them? Possibly. I've witnessed and heard enough guilt from those who have apparently 'broken' the rules. Caught eating a McD's!! Horror! Found in a supermarket - excommunicated! Not to mention the media who love to scorn that a self confessed ' greenie' dares to take the plane for a holiday. Justifications and back tracking abounds with self penance and punishment taken. I don't believe this to be at all helpful for anyone.
Are they a way of belonging? Is there a tribe mentality that says in order to call yourself a true ... (fill in gap) then you must only....? Very probably and that's not necessarily a bad thing per se but we're back to rules and the guilt of breaking them

Do we need rules like that? I've come to the conclusion that perhaps we don't. It excludes somewhat and makes it intimidating for others to join. Guidelines and broad aims, yes but strict rules, no.

Its true humans naturally crave order and routine, and without apparent rules, perhaps because its a new movement, we'll invent some. I'm currently unconvinced that's the right way to go. I'm actually coming to think its a life that should be more fluid than that. Day to day routine aside. Its complicated to explain.....

Reading John Lane's Timeless Simplicity over the holiday he states that what will suit one won't suit another and making your own simplicity, your very own, is what its about. Thinking about it that has to be the truth. A simple ( or eco) life in a town flat is bound to be different to a simple life on a smallholding in the country. So what works for one can't possibly work for another. One's family situation, money, land availability ( or none), interests, and talents or skills must make a difference.

Some examples from my own life to illustrate the futility of setting rules with the guilt that they bring -

Making own bread - love doing it and homemade pizza dough is favourite in this house for a Friday night supper. But currently I'm not making many loaves. The kids in a bid for independence prefer to grab a shop bought roll or bagel for lunch and packed lunches. Homemade bread was going mouldy since only me and Tim were eating it. Shop bought doesn't go off so quickly. I think there is a seasonal element to this. Winter soup lunches needs fresh warm bread and a loaf will be completely eaten in one meal so there is little waste. So homemade bread will ebb and flow in this house depending on the eating habits of its occupants. Its what works for the family. Whilst previous generations could demand their kids eat all in front of them, we are products of our generation and society and much as we may silently wish for clean plates we can no longer demand it. I'd hate to waste something I'd spent time making.

Old fashioned household cleaners. Been there, done that. They're reasonably effective although time consuming to use and the eco shop bought versions work well but there are times with animals and kids and country mud ( not to mention limescale) when only bleach will do. I like a clean house, not obsessively, but still, I have standards.

I've discovered that eco washing liquid will eventually make the machine smell. It seems to need a regular dose of normal powder to cleanse its pipes out and keep it fresh. So I've evolved to using a mix of regular non bio powder and ecover. Its not perfect but it works for us.

Buy nothing new - hmm ok in theory but its too crude a stick for every eventuality. True it makes one mindful of unnecessary purchases but I can think of plenty of examples where it just doesn't work. We needed to equip our joint study with desks and cabinets. Its an odd shaped room and much as we looked, it just wasn't possible to find second hand things to fit and make best use of the space. So of course we got new that was shaped to make a co-ordinated run of desks. Much as I'm a fan of second hand books and love a good jumble sale there are times when saving up for the real brand new thing is actually more eco friendly if its exactly what is wanted and will be used for years. To me an appreciation of things new or old is better so that purchases are considered and will have a useful and hopefully long life in the house.

The supermarket - I try to avoid the supermarket and we do well with the things we grow, bulk buying and local shops but there are things I just can't get anywhere else. I don't need to do a 'big shop' at all now, but there will always be the odd thing I need which luckily I can grab whilst in town for other things. So I can't say I exclusively avoid the supermarket ( would be nice but I'm being practical) but I've reduced our reliance on it hugely - probably by 80% or more.

So without guilt or justification I'm setting it out as it is for us. We're not perfect (I'm not sure I'd entirely trust someone who claimed to be, would you?) but we do our best within our family and within the society we inhabit.

And yet of course there are similarities in all the variants of eco/simple living, but I think they are at a less practical level than what you clean the loo with. A desire to appreciate the earth and be mindful and careful of resources ( be that food, energy or water etc). A sense of being in the present as much as possible which also encompasses a sense of having enough ie not always hankering after the next big thing so therefore rejecting a materialistic lifestyle. Being in the present is also about working fully on whatever is being done currently which might be writing as I'm doing now, or a craft or the garden. It also means not necessarily trying to recreate or live in the past if its not practical to do so; there is nothing inherently wrong with modern technology. It can be more efficient and time saving than the old way although there can be great pleasure in learning an old skill.


I read quite a few blogs on self-sufficiency, frugal or simple living and whilst I find them a great source of inspiration and guidance there is often a sense of an almost monastic life with self prescribed constraints, routines and rules. If there is but one of you, or your household is as one in your common aims, then great, but imposing ideals on the rest of the household who are just as immersed in our society with its temptations as you are, is surely undemocratic. I admire these blogs but know I can't live like that all the time -something would give and I am determined not to live a life of guilt if I fail at some green expectation or other.

I understand the sense of comfort that constraints bring and am not knocking it as such, but surely one of the big bonuses in having a more self-subscribed life with control ( that's not the right word but you know what I mean) over own food or employment or whatever must be the freedom to define things for one self. With the absolute right to evolve or indeed change all of it, if circumstances or interests change. Why tie down that hard won freedom to live outside constraints of our time scheduled society with arbitrary rules? Leave guilt outside. Evolve, and live with spontaneity!

Processing Harvests

Trying to keep on top of this work if possible this year. I haven't always been able to and then all of a sudden there is this daunting mountain of marrows or beans to deal with.

The french beans were slightly too tough to slice so I've podded them instead to use as kidney beans and added them to the borlotti bean pile.

I've diced the large marrows and they are right this minute simmering away in passata to make soup.

The turnips have all been washed and the chickens have eaten the leaves. I've saved a handful of turnips for our suppers for the next couple of days but the others have been peeled and sliced and I intend to simmer them with the cooked beans, garlic and a jar of sweet red peppers to make a veggie stew mix. This will then be frozen to be either served with rice or it could be turned in to a pie or savoury crumble. Smells very nice!


And cos its Sunday Tim has cleaned out the chicken's house so we let them have the run of the garden whilst their 'vacuuming' was being done. Photo is of Prue poking about as only a chicken can......

Post Holiday Plot

Set off with some trepidation to the plot yesterday. Having been away a week and been unable to get up to it before we went on holiday due to rain we were expecting the worst.

Well it was weedy ( of course) but nothing that a good mow and bonfire wouldn't begin to put right. We worked hard yesterday afternoon and you can hear a little audio conversation we had whilst up on the plot (called an Audio Boo) by pressing this link - Working at the Allotment

Underneath it all was plenty of food though. The above picture shows what we bought home. There are marrows and smaller courgettes, borlotti and french beans, baby turnips, sweet peas, roses and lavender. We also rescued an onion and a couple of wayward spuds which are also in the photo.

Holiday Pictures - wordless post 3

Holiday Pictures - wordless post 2

Holiday Pictures - wordless post 1

Pembrokeshire Sunsets

Tim captured some stunning sunsets from our holiday cottage

Reverting to being 6

at Fecci's Ice Cream Parlour in Tenby. I had a totem pole which is the first photo and Tim had a train which is the 2nd. And yes we ate them all up!!

Summer Hols

Bosherton Lily lakes - quite Monet-like but for this photo I was sheltering from heavy rain so it was rather a quick snap!

Tenby's little harbour

Barafundle Bay

The boys are away with their dad so it was a cosy week for two as Tim and I headed for Pembrokeshire. We stayed in a lovely cottage at Broad Haven. It was only a small field away from the sea and the view from the bedroom window out to sea was like an ever changing landscape picture. We could watch the clouds roll in and a see the twinkling of a distant lighthouse. One could waste plenty of time just watching it all change.

The weather was to be honest mixed but we soon settled in to a lovely routine. It was often drizzly in the morning so we'd get up and read after breakfast. I got through nearly 6 books - bliss! It would brighten up at lunch time so then we'd venture out and it tended to be quite warm and sunny right in to the evening

We explored the nearby towns like St Davids, Fishguard and Tenby but also the smaller and more romantic coves like Monkshaven and Abercastle. We visited the National Trust's Stackpole estate and walked over the cliff to Barafundle Bay where the weather allowed us one hour of sitting on the beach before it rained again.

We wandered around the Bosherton Lily Lakes nearby. Oh you have to visit the old tea room in Bosherton! Orders are taken by ringing the front door bell of a low but wide old cottage. You are ushered in to literally the front room with family photographs on the mantlepiece, to take a seat at 2 communal tables before pots of leaf tea are bought with plenty of milk and hot water and thick slabs of buttered bara brith. It proudly states that no tea bags have ever been used on the premises! Wonderfully comforting place

The whole week was wonderfully gentle and restorative.

More photos to follow - the ones for this post are just simple snaps from my phone.

New Policy

Going to try and write this up more often. Its not that I don't think of plenty of things to write - I do but sometimes the moment goes and I think I'll write that up later and then never do. So what if I left the blog open more regularly and just made it easier for me to jot down what's happening.

Can't guarrentee what you'll get and the posts might be shorter, dunno. Lets see....

Upper lawn border

Hopefully you're not bored with the garden work. Set out to tidy up this area today. I've trimmed back the ivy and generally fluffed up and dug over, under the trees.

The cordyline will be moved shortly but I'm short of a suitable container currently so thought it best to leave it there until I do. The aim for this area is to grass it but then place plenty of spring bulbs under the maple and the mountain ash in the corner.

And can you spot the chickens in the corner of their run watching me?

garden turfed!

Isn't that better? I can tell that the area shown in the second photo is going to be a lovely sitting area under the tree.
There is still some work to do in other areas of the garden; I've an old rockery I'm half way through digging out but the garden has gained in openness and space. It looks simpler with more emphasis on sweeping grass areas and smaller borders.

There is a fashion for making gardens have secret areas with 'room' divisions. Also a fashion for hiding views with lots of dense planting. In our case this approach had made it look hemmed in and had given it a somewhat claustrophobic feel. In urban situations a feeling of hiding how close you are to the neighbours is perhaps appropriate, but in a small village its nice to work with the countryside and I wanted to create a simple open space. In short there were too many overgrown shrubs. I'm looking forward to planting up the new borders but will be aiming for English cottage plants which will show seasonal variations to get away from the previous (owners) planting of grasses, bamboos and structural plants that remained green and unchanging all year around.