Food, Frivolity and Fun

Mr Flower and Myself aren't really ones for television, except maybe with a curry and beer at the end of a really hard day but recently we've stumbled on a totally engrossing programme that combines shows such as Ready Steady Cook, I'm a Celebrity, the 1900 House and Supersize Me.

"The Supersizers Go..." see's (lovely)Restaurant critic, Giles Coren and writer and performer Sue Perkins try the food of different periods whilst emersed in that age with everything from wigs to clothes and work to passtimes.

This week saw them head for "Restoration Britain in the 1660s, a time of fire and plague. They both don wigs, with Giles in tight breeches and Sue in wide skirts. They snack on coxcombs, eel pie and copious amounts of small beer".

It's fascinating to view our gastronomic and cultural history so playfully bought to life. Watching Coren and Perkins trying some of the most gross looking dishes is hysterical; kind of repulsive and riveting at the same time.

Having done Victoriana, and the 17th Century they head for the 70's on Tuesday 10 June 9:00pm - 10:00pm onBBC2.

A slice of heaven on earth

As the rain held off this weekend and we were actually at home, it meant we were able to get some of the much needed weeding and feeding done in the garden. It's such an exciting time with the plants growing practically as you watch and all the time you spend out there being rewarded with another bloom, a little more colour, height and reach. Ordering the jumble of ever expanding stems and leaves also does something to the soul, making space, reconnecting to creation and the creator. I love this time of year, it's already looking great and it's not even summer yet.

Trawling through my favourite blogs earlier this evening I came across this poem on Simply Simon

Dear God,
let us prepare for winter.
The sun has turned away from us
and the nest of summer hangs broken in a tree.
Life slips through our fingers
and, as darkness gathers, our hands grow cold.
It is time to go inside.
It is time for reflection and resonance.
It is time for contemplation.
Let us go inside.
Amen

Michael Leunig, A Common Prayer, Collins Dove, 1990.

In the first instance it seemed sad that just as we're rejoicing in coming outdoors and rediscovering the healing of sun on skin and life-giving breezes others are preparing to wrap up and put away...only fair though I guess and necessary for the amazing diversity of our planet.

Dear God,
let us prepare for summer.
The sun has turned towards us
and the nest of summer is woven in a tree.
Life grasps at our fingers
and, as light increases, our hands grow warm.
It is time to go outside.
It is time for activity and awareness.
It is time for exploration.
Let us go outside.
Amen

I have a good friend...

...called Amy and every time I wash my face I think of her! Why? Well it's all because of a great new face wash I found.

Amie (Ok, so it's spelt different)is an all natural skin care range and as well as using yummy floral ingredients and essential oils, it's free from parabens, animal extracts or any ingredients of genetically modified origin.The packaging is also 100% recyclable and they're made locally in the UK.And if all that seems too good to be true it gets even better as it's sold on the high street for really competitive prices, more mainstream than top-end organic.

In fact the only problem I had with these products is their slogan "purely for young skin", it left me in quite a dilemma as I'm not sure if thirty-something counts as 'young'. And I wondered what could go wrong if you used it when you were outside that ambiguous age bracket? Then on a recent shopping trip to my beloved Waitrose, I overheard an assistant telling a customer how the stores own-brand "baby's bottom cream" had sold out nationally after a beauty journal recommended it as a face moisturiser! With this in mind I decided my visage could cope with something for the teen market and am now slapping it on, with great results.

At the beginning of the year I decided to consciously try to cut back on synthetics and chemicals such as parabens after reading Janey Lee Grace's Imperfectly Natural Woman. She writes "the Ecologist listed all the common ingredients in many skin care products including: dimethicone,ethylhexyl salicylate, disodium EDTA, ethylparaben, propylparaben preservatives and parfum. All of the above can cause skin irritation; some have hormone disrupting potential, alter skin structure and allow cheminals to penetrate the blood stream and, in the case of the preservatives, have been known to mimic oestogen and been linked to breast cancer". Such information may be from largely small scale investigations but I decided I have enough problems with my own hormones thanks and I'd rather not risk it! Besides new products that are full of goodies at great prices, like Amie and Daniel Galvin Junior Hair Products, means there's no need.

Inspired to iron!!

Gunilla Norris might have been illuminating the holier aspects of housework to me recently but a new purchase has actually inspired me 'to iron'.

Sad it may be but I would like to take a few moments to wax lyrical about the Tefal Express Steam Generator Iron! Yes they are a piggy bank job at about 6 times more expensive than a normal iron BUT they get the ironing done about 6 times faster. It really is incredible, you only have to iron things on one side and both sides get done, bedding and tea towels can be folded up and just have their top surface done and they're pressed right through.

Mum's had one for ages and the cost had really put us off but it was every penny well spent...I love ironing (almost)!!