Friday 23 December 2016

For Christmas, pretty Gisela Gottschlich illustrations.

Merry Christmas everyone!  

Here are some gorgeous retro Christmas illustrations to look at and say 'oooh' and 'aaaah', they're from 'My Big Christmas Book' and I think most of the illustrations are by Gisela Gottschlich.  

For Christmas, pretty Gisela Gottschlich illustrations. From retro book 'My Big Christmas Book'.  Secondhandsusie.blogspot.com #giselagottschlich #christmas #retro #illustration

For Christmas, pretty Gisela Gottschlich illustrations. From retro book 'My Big Christmas Book'.  Secondhandsusie.blogspot.com #giselagottschlich #christmas #retro #illustration

For Christmas, pretty Gisela Gottschlich illustrations. From retro book 'My Big Christmas Book'.  Secondhandsusie.blogspot.com #giselagottschlich #christmas #retro #illustration

For Christmas, pretty Gisela Gottschlich illustrations. From retro book 'My Big Christmas Book'.  Secondhandsusie.blogspot.com #giselagottschlich #christmas #retro #illustration

For Christmas, pretty Gisela Gottschlich illustrations. From retro book 'My Big Christmas Book'.  Secondhandsusie.blogspot.com #giselagottschlich #christmas #retro #illustration

For Christmas, pretty Gisela Gottschlich illustrations. From retro book 'My Big Christmas Book'.  Secondhandsusie.blogspot.com #giselagottschlich #christmas #retro #illustration

For Christmas, pretty Gisela Gottschlich illustrations. From retro book 'My Big Christmas Book'.  Secondhandsusie.blogspot.com #giselagottschlich #christmas #retro #illustration

For Christmas, pretty Gisela Gottschlich illustrations. From retro book 'My Big Christmas Book'.  Secondhandsusie.blogspot.com #giselagottschlich #christmas #retro #illustration

For Christmas, pretty Gisela Gottschlich illustrations. From retro book 'My Big Christmas Book'.  Secondhandsusie.blogspot.com #giselagottschlich #christmas #retro #illustration

For Christmas, pretty Gisela Gottschlich illustrations. From retro book 'My Big Christmas Book'.  Secondhandsusie.blogspot.com #giselagottschlich #christmas #retro #illustration

For Christmas, pretty Gisela Gottschlich illustrations. From retro book 'My Big Christmas Book'.  Secondhandsusie.blogspot.com #giselagottschlich #christmas #retro #illustration

For Christmas, pretty Gisela Gottschlich illustrations. From retro book 'My Big Christmas Book'.  Secondhandsusie.blogspot.com #giselagottschlich #christmas #retro #illustration

I hope you all have a lovely festive season.

Lots of love, Susie xx




Tuesday 20 December 2016

Eco friendly articles and actions, December 2016.


Eco friendly articles and actions, December 2016. From secondhandsusie.blogspot.com #ukblogger #ukecoblogger #ecofriendly

Just in time for Christmas, here are a few easy online actions and interesting articles to make the world a better place, 

Quick grow some wildflowers and stop using pesticides - some species of bees have been put on the extinction list for the first time ever! 

Photo via BBC

I think I'd like to live in Tinkers Bubble in Somerset, please.


Ask supermarkets to switch to paper stemmed cotton buds (the plastic kind are cloggging up our sewers and oceans), by signing this open letter.

Support for fracking in the UK is at an all-time low. Despite the government backing fracking wherever it is proposed, people and communities object to it.  After the ratification of the Paris climate agreement the UK government needs to take action and keep fossil fuels in the ground by banning fracking in the UK.  More than 200 areas of the UK are earmarked for possible fracking - let’s stop it now before the floodgates open.
Via Friends of the Earth.

Sign Friends of the Earth's petition against Fracking.  

So, Theresa May's government wants companies to make lists available of all their foreign workers.  Bit scary, sign this petition to say that's not cool Theresa. 

Photo via mmn.com

If I can't live in Tinkers Bubble, I'll live in this 'agrihood' in Detroit.
 

I post these kinds of things on twitter all month, so find me there if this is your kind of thing too!

 
 
 

Friday 16 December 2016

Vegan rice krispie treat recipe, with Freedom Mallows vegan marshmallows.

These vegan rice krispie treats are sweet, light and yummy!  I was sent some vegan marshmallows from Freedom Mallows to try, they're delicious to eat on their own, but I couldn't resist the opportunity to whip up some lovely vegan treats!

Vegan rice krispie treat recipe, with Freedom Mallows vegan marshmallows. By UK vegan blogger secondhandsusie.blogspot.com #vegan #veganrecipe #ricekrispietreats #freedommallows

You will need

1 75g packet vanilla Freedom Mallows
2 desert spoons vegan margarine
2 or 3 cups of rice krispies

Pan, spoon and a tin or tray.

How to make yummy vegan rice krispie treats

Melt the margarine in the pan over a gentle heat.

Add the vegan marshmallows and stir until they've melted.

Add rice krispies slowly into the pan, until they're covered with a light coating of the marshmallow mixture and are sticking together.

Push into a tin, tray or pyrex dish and firm and flatten out with the back of a spoon.

Chill in the fridge, then cut into squares and enjoy!

Vegan rice krispie treat recipe, with Freedom Mallows vegan marshmallows. By UK vegan blogger secondhandsusie.blogspot.com #vegan #veganrecipe #ricekrispietreats #freedommallows

Vegan rice krispie treat recipe, with Freedom Mallows vegan marshmallows. By UK vegan blogger secondhandsusie.blogspot.com #vegan #veganrecipe #ricekrispietreats #freedommallows

Freedom Mallows come in vanilla and strawberry flavours, and they're free from egg, dairy, gluten, gelatine, soy, GMOs and nuts, and they're suitable for vegetarians and vegans!  Phew!  They're also yummy, soft and melt in the mouth-y.  

My chief omnivore taste tester, Joe, say's the Freedom Mallows are just as good as non-vegan mallows and that my homemade vegan rice krispie treats are just as good as the Kellogs ones he buys from the shop. 

Vegan rice krispie treat recipe, with Freedom Mallows vegan marshmallows. By UK vegan blogger secondhandsusie.blogspot.com #vegan #veganrecipe #ricekrispietreats #freedommallows




Have you tried Freedom Mallows yet?

Disclosure - I was sent the Freedom Mallows to try.  I only work with brands I like and all opinions are my own.  



 

Tuesday 13 December 2016

Ways to be kind, to give and to do good this Christmas.

Ways to be kind, to give and to do good this Christmas. From secondhandsusie.blogspot.com UK Blogger

It's nearly Christmas and I've bought my fair share of presents, but there are other, more important ways to give during the festive season, for a happier, kinder world.  Here are some of them.  

Give money to charity.
This is the effort free option to give at Christmas, (if you have some spare cash that is!).  So many charities have websites that make it super easy to donate.  In general my personal favourite eco friendly charities are Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace and I like the Dr Hadwen Trust who fund non-animal medical research.   

If you're concerned about what's happening in the world right now then here are some more causes to spare some pennies for,

Planned parenthood (in light of the not so pro-choice business going on in America thanks to Trump and Pence).

For charities helping Aleppo check out these lists, from The Independent and Huffpost, and if you want to know why you should donate to help people in Aleppo watch this (warning it's very distressing).

So many elderly people are alone at Christmas, donate to Age UK, who provide lots of services for elderly people.

Your local wildlife refuge will be busy this winter looking after lots of hedgehogs and other beasties, I'm sure they'd appreciate a donation.  My local wildlife rescue is Cuan House and they do great work.

Give kindness.
Simple things like offering to help someone with a buggy up the stairs, holding the door or making way for the person using a wheelchair can brighten someone's day and make a little difference.

Donate your belongings.
There's an idea of a reverse advent calendar going round at the moment, put an item to donate to a charity shop or food bank into a box every day during advent then donate it at the end.  Or you can go the old fashioned route and go through your wardrobe and discard anything that doesn't bring you joy!   I've taken several bags to my favourite local charity shop (it raises money for the day centre my Grandparent's used), I even gave them the bag of 'good stuff' I was saving to E-bay, because lets face it they've been hanging round for 6 months and I'm never going to get round to it!

Buy second hand.
Pick up decorations or Christmas party frocks from charity shops or Ebay, it saves you money and reuses resources.

Give to food or toy banks.
In my area there are collections for both food and toy banks, by the local council and charities.  There are food bank collection bins in loads of supermarkets, so it's super easy to pick up a tin of soup to pop in while you're doing your shopping.  I don't tend to buy toys for the toy bank (too plasticy, my neices are getting nice cotton kitty-cat socks for Christmas this year!) and gifts need to be new, but I have a couple of new craft books I've never, ever read that I plan to donate.  The toy bank caters for young adults as well as little ones, and they're often short of gifts to give them, so it's a perfect opportunity to regift those brand new drawing books, plus some new ones, to a better home.

Shop local this Christmas.
Try to buy some presents or Christmas food supplies from your local market or shops.  Spending within your local economy means more money stays in your area and gets reinvested in more local jobs and services, and it makes your local business owners happy.

Give Compliments.
So far I've told the lady in the wool shop I love her window display (knitted 12 days of Christmas), several library customers I like their Christmas jumpers and one of my Rainbow guides that she has good dance moves.  I plan on giving at least 10 random compliments before Christmas comes.  You can do this really easily on social media too.  Just scroll through your Instagram or Facebook feed and spread the love to your online friends.     


What will you be giving this Christmas?







Friday 9 December 2016

My favourite way to eat left over chips.

What's that I hear you say, left over chips?  Surely such a thing doesn't happen, you eat up all your yummy chips as soon as they pop out of the fryer/oven/takeaway.  But surprisingly sometimes there are left over chips, and this is how I like to eat them up.

My favourite way to eat left over chips. By UK vegan blogger secondhandsusie.blogspot.com #veganblogger #ukveganblogger #loveyourleftovers #chips #vegancooking

Chop the chips up roughly into bite size pieces.

Heat a frying pan and spray in a couple of squirts of oil.

Put the chopped chips into the pan, with a good sprinkle of paprika and
a finely chopped clove of garlic.

Fry for about 5 minutes, add a chopped spring onion for the last minute.

That's it.  Easy peasy, I like to eat it for brunch! 


My favourite way to eat left over chips. By UK vegan blogger secondhandsusie.blogspot.com #veganblogger #ukveganblogger #loveyourleftovers #chips #vegancooking


How do you use up your left over chips?  (if you ever have any, haha!)





Tuesday 6 December 2016

What I've been reading.

Here's what I've been reading recently, lovely library books and some second hand finds too,

Book reviews by uk book blogger secondhandsusie.blogspot.com Dumplin, Royal Wedding, Hag-Seed, Craft for the Soul, lovely library books and secondhand books. #bookreview #librarybooks #ukblogger #ukbookblogger

Dumplin' - Julie Murphy
Oh I loved Dumplin'.  Dumplin' is a self proclaimed fat girl from Texas, a high school student with a job in a fast food joint and a mother who runs a teen beauty pagent.  When her aunt dies, Dumplin' enters the beauty pagent and confonts lots of her own (and others) beliefs about her body (thoughts that ring true to me, as someone who is currently plus sized, but who felt fat even as a size 10!).  There's also a brooding, hot co-worker, high school friendships and Dolly Parton.  Read it!

Book reviews by uk book blogger secondhandsusie.blogspot.com Dumplin, Royal Wedding, Hag-Seed, Craft for the Soul, lovely library books and secondhand books. #bookreview #librarybooks #ukblogger #ukbookblogger

Royal Wedding - Meg Cabot
This is the 11th book in the Princess Diaries series we probably all remember from our teenagery times.  In fact I found the whole collection of Princess Diaries books in a charity shop for 30p each and re-read them in preparation for reading Royal Wedding.  This 11th installment picks up the same characters in their twenties, it's nice to see where they all end up, and there's the promised royal wedding.  Perfect comfort reading.

Book reviews by uk book blogger secondhandsusie.blogspot.com Dumplin, Royal Wedding, Hag-Seed, Craft for the Soul, lovely library books and secondhand books. #bookreview #librarybooks #ukblogger #ukbookblogger

Hag-seed - Margaret Atwood
Oooh this is a clever book, as all Margaret Atwood books tend to be.  Hag-seed is a retelling of the Tempest, set in the unlikely (but workable!) world of a prison theatre group. I love Shakespeare and I love Margaret Atwood and I loved this book! 

Book reviews by uk book blogger secondhandsusie.blogspot.com Dumplin, Royal Wedding, Hag-Seed, Craft for the Soul, lovely library books and secondhand books. #bookreview #librarybooks #ukblogger #ukbookblogger

Craft for the Soul - Pip Lincolne
Craft for the Soul is a nice self-help style book to help you live a happy and creative life.  It's nothing ground breaking, but I found it full of gentleness, inspiration and nice ideas.  I love the craft section at the back too.

What have you been reading?