Indoor Gardening...

I wanted a house with a garden...I got a flat with a balcony.  I therefore intend to fill my home with plants and do my gardening inside.  (I'll garden on the balcony too of course, I have a few pots out there already, but it's a bit cold for much more than that yet!).

I have lots of lovely house plants  some that came with me and some that have been presents...hyacinths, aloe vera, dangly plant, Christmas cactus...

Spider plant, Swiss cheese plant, umbrella plant, false castor oil plant...

This is my kitchen windowsill, I have lots of succulents and in the bottom photo you can see my experiment in growing veggies indoors.  I have spinach, kale and spring onions, all the seeds have germinated, I'll let you know how they get on!

 Are you growing anything exciting?

from here

Easy Green Things To Do This Month...January 2013...

I thought I'd do a round up of a couple of easy eco actions each month, just little online actions, interesting reads or things you can do in your daily life...

Sign Friends of the Earth's online petitions to help bees and to ask for investvent in clean energy.

Sign Greenpeace's online petition to protect the North Pole.

Recycle your Christmas cards - if you haven't got round to it already you can take your cards to Marks and Spencers until 31st January and for every 1000 cards M&S receive a tree will be planted by the Woodland Trust.  

Check out Climate Revolution, endorsed by Lush and Vivienne Westwood sign up for email updates and have a read of their blog.

Take part in the Big Garden Birdwatch organised by the RSPB to help discover the state of UK birdy-wildlife.  Watch the birds in your garden or local park for an hour sometime on the weekend of 26th-27th January then record your findings online.

Love Food Hate Waste have a list of food waste related new year's resolutions, in case you need a push in the right direction!

Signatures are still needed for the online petition to end fishing discards. Even though the TV hype has finished the work is still going on and changes are being promised. (Suggested by Dreamer - I don't eat fish, but if you do then for goodness sake don't waste it before it even gets to the plate!)

The Vegan Society offers support, info and advice to those thinking about going vegan... take a vegan pledge for 7 days, 2 weeks or 1 month, might be a nice new years resolution. (Suggested by Kay)

If you have any ideas to be added to this months list, then let me know in the comments and if I like it, I'll add it!  And feel free to share any of this info (or the whole post) wherever and with whoever you like! 

Faith, Hope and Charity Shopping Christmas Swap...

I took part in a Christmas Swap this year, run by Lakota at Faith, Hope and Charity Shopping.  The rules were to swap between 3 to 5 items, including at least 1 handmade thing, 1 thing from the charity shops and 1 with a link to a Christmas song.

I was partnered with Sian (who is vegan and likes reading and works in a museum - awesome!).  This is what she sent me...

Some embroidered felt snowflake decorations.  These were perfect for my new Christmas tree this year.  I always really appreciate hand embroidered stuff, cos it's a craft I don't do myself.  There were some lovely paper-cut snowflakes in the package, they found their way onto my tree too...

She also sent a book...Rock Crystal by Adalbert Stifter...haven't read this one before and I'm looking forward to starting it!

And a pretty sparkly stone...which I belive is a blue  goldstone...

Sian sent me some lovely pieces of blue vintage fabric, one with spots and one with little flowers.  To my shame I have buried this somewhere in one of my 'I've just moved house and need to organise this' piles, it's lovely fabric and I will add a photo when I've rediscovered it!

Thank you Sian for a lovely swap! 

What I sent...

Some vintage circus glasses, a stripy granny triangle shawl, some vintage mini crackers, a little vintage black cat brooch (she has a black cat) and a book which I forgot to take a photo of.  I had great fun finding stuff for this swap!

2012...

This year...

I've moved...

I've gardened....

I've Crafted...

I've Read...I've read 52 novels this year, and loads of non-fiction!

My blog has grown from having 2000 hits a month to 5000, so thank you all for visiting and being my blog friends!


Here's to 2013!!

Delightful December...

This month I've loved...

* MOVING!!!!! into my lovely little flat! * Unpacking and making everything pretty * baths * several Indian takeaways * Christmas trees * being given sweeties at work by a customer to say thank you for helping her * Christmas swaps * stuffing balls * friends being home * bucks fizz * Father Christmas coming - he bought me a new purple nighty with owls on, ear muffs, polar bear socks, chocolate and some pennies * fleece nighties * hot water bottles * being given a lovely peace lily for my new flat from my friend at volunteering * Christmas quizzes * watching my mum singing carols * The Hobbit - soooo good! * new purple laptop * 

This is the tree at the National Trust house I volunteer at..isn't it huge and pretty!?

Hope you had a lovely December!  And a happy Christmas if you celebrate it!

Back again...

Helloo!  I finally have the internet sorted out in my new flat and a laptop to go on it!  If only I could find the cable for my camera I'd be really sorted!!!

Moving...

I am moving!  I have not organised internet at my new home yet and my laptop is broken.  I will be sneaking back to mums to use her internet.  But things will probably be a bit quiet round here while I get sorted!

Winter Garden...

Even though it's frosty cold outside we still have some brave little flowers cheering up our garden...

These are my pots ready for putting on my balcony when I move...there's a mixture of all sorts of things in them, crocus, daffodil and snowdrop bulbs in the bottom, pansies and violas, ivy, fern, cyclamen and forget me nots (last years seedlings coming up, they won't flower till next year, but they're nice and green for now!)...

I bought this orange, bobbly article for 20p in homebase (in fact I bought pretty much all the pansies for 20p a tray in homebase a couple of weeks ago too!)...

Mum bought me a little christmas tree too...it's soo cute!

My hyacinths are doing interesting root-y things.  They're also doing mould-y things (I don't know if it was getting sweaty in the box, I've stabbed some ventilation holes in it now just in case!) I hope they survive long enough to flower in my new home...

The veg garden is now pretty much bare, apart from the giant brassicas and some little leeks...

And I picked the last of my peppers.

Are your gardens surviving the cold?

Sad Hedgehog-ish News...

The little hedgehog I posted about a week or so ago has died.  Mum contacted the rescue centre to ask after him and the lady said even though he was given fluids and put on a hot pad he never warmed up.  She said this is often a symptom of slug pellet poisoning.  

Please, please, please, please, please, if you garden don't use slug pellets (I'm sure most of you don't already anyway!) It's so sad that such a lovely little creature died just so someone's lettuces didn't get nibbled.