exciting crafty times

so all is very exciting in the land of barbara – well for barbara it is!
my delivery arrived from The Soap Kitchen today, lots of yummy cocoa and shea butter and oils and things! i’m very excited because now i can make lots of Christmas goodies. in fact i’m not actually buying any pressies this year [...]

Read Full Post »

my blog title

it strikes me as a pessimistic, whiney kind of title so as soon as i feel inspired i will be changing it. i also discovered to my horror today that it’s the title of geri halliwells autobiography – any suggestions gratefully received…. but only nice suggestions please

Read Full Post »

crafty tuesday (post 2 today)

well i should be collecting the girls but i’m not that desperate to hear their arguments yet so they can hang on a bit while i post this.
Boo & I got on with making Christmas pressies this morning. I aquired a large pile of felt from a lovely lady on freecycle and so we set [...]

Read Full Post »

plot planning (post 1 today)

not a major amount of planning goin on i have to say but i think i’ve decided some things. (note – think i have decided)
i think one of the raised beds will become a strawberry bed. the ones i planted earlier in the year have gone mad and now there seem to be hundreds of [...]

Read Full Post »

A recipe for Rach

For Rach at City Bumpkin who has a surfeit of pears!
Heads up Rach, i’ve never tried this but my ex-grandmother-in-law gave me the recipe and i know she & great-grandad used to really enjoy them.
Pickled Pears
4lb firm pears (doesn’t say which)
squeeze of lemon juice
cinammon stick
1oz piece fresh root ginger, peeled & sliced
3-4 whole cloves
1pint white wine [...]

Read Full Post »