Garden, June 2016.

Don't you think gardening is a little bit stressful in June?  So many jobs to do, not enough time!

I think the garden's looking beautiful right now though, and I'm working on the weed situation!



Look at all those strawberry plants!  And can you spot my new shed at the back of the garden?  Joe had to put it up for me as I have proved myself a bit useless with a power drill.  I'm so happy with it!  I'm making a string of pomting (pom pom bunting) to decorate the inside and I've hung up my plus-size garden fairy to guard the door!



I finally got round to filling the second raised bed in the front garden, using the same lasagne method as I did for the first bed.  I planted two courgettes in there straight away, and now they've been joined by some peas and lettuce.



There's lovely colour everywhere!









My top garden friend this month was this teeny tiny mouse!  Last year I piled up loads of turf and weeds I'd dug up to see if they'd compost.  They did compost, but also provided a lovely burrow for Mama mouse and her seven babies.  I accidentally destroyed their home when I was digging, then watched as mama carried each big baby to safety in her mouth.  I'm not sure where they've gone, but I'm a bit nervous of finding them again!





This little corner houses my fruit in pots.  There are loads of blueberry plants, 2 with a good crop of blueberries, the rest are too immature.  My tomato plants grown from seed are doing good too, the varieties are San Marzano and Mortgage Lifter.  I have Tiny Tim tomatoes growing away in the greenhouse too. 



I've been clearing the weeds from the bottom of the garden, for the last 6 weeks or so, I've only got a little bit left to do!

This is the bottom end of my garden.  Once upon a time the front end of the garden looked like this too, all full of weeds and grass and nettles.  The time has come for the weeds to be dug up and flowers and vegetables to live here.  This is a 'before' shot. #gardening #weeding #extremeweeding #gardenersofinstagram

A photo posted by Susie (@secondhandsusie) on Apr 28, 2016 at 7:56am PDT

Little bit of progress made so far, new path laid (previous house owners left us a lovely pile of rubble!) and weeds dug out :D #gardensofinstagram #gardening #weeding

A photo posted by Susie (@secondhandsusie) on Apr 28, 2016 at 8:00am PDT

Do you remember the bottom of my garden I was de-weedifying?  Mum lent me her green bin (she only lives across the road, so I didn't have to wheel it all over town!) so I've made the most of it by filling it up with lots more weeds.  Because I'm skimming the top layer of soil/roots up the green bins are kind of full of heavy, heavy soil, I'm not sure if the bin men will take them tomorrow beacuse they're so suspiciously heavy!  Anyway, happy with my progress for now, the rest is all tall nettles, any tips on how to tackle it without stinging myself too much?  #gardening #gardenersofinstagram #growyourown #sustainable #extremeweeding

A photo posted by Susie (@secondhandsusie) on May 24, 2016 at 12:32pm PDT

I like to measure my weeding progress in paths laid.  I laid my second path through the weedy patch today.  Yey!  Number of times stung by nettles so far , one.  #weeding #gardening #gardenersofinstagram #makingagarden #vegetablepatch

A photo posted by Susie (@secondhandsusie) on May 26, 2016 at 1:43pm PDT

Oh my gosh, I'm so hot!  Weedy patch is nearly ridded of nettles.  Total number of times stung - 2 #gardening #weeding #nettles #futurevegpatch

A photo posted by Susie (@secondhandsusie) on Jun 7, 2016 at 3:58am PDT

Progress on the weedy patch this morning, not much left to go!  However, have discovered a mousey little problem!  At the very end of the bed I piled up some weedy turfy bits from digging the front end last year, in the hopes it would compost itself.  And yey, it did compost itself!  But it also provided a lovely, soily burrow for mummy mouse and 7 mouse babies! eek! #gardening #mygarden #weedypatch #vegpatch #mice #eeep

A photo posted by Susie (@secondhandsusie) on Jun 21, 2016 at 11:17am PDT

Seeing that progress is SO super duper satisfying! 

How's your garden doing? 

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Street art, Digbeth.

Digbeth in Birmingham is home to lots of awesome street art and graffiti.  It's also home to a seasonal market with lots of yummy food, which is why I find myself wandering through there fairly often. 

I love to see the new street art, and I always visit my old favourite (this huge, beautiful piece just through a gate on Floodgate Street).

These were my favourites this time, there was so much new stuff that I loved!

Do you have  interesting graffiti and street art where you are?

Don't forget to check out my other street art photos! 

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5 things to do to cope with Brexit.

photo from here.

Oh dear!  I have no proper or clever words for what I think about Brexit.  Apart from really sweary ones!  

I hope something positive comes from it, but I honestly think it's a political and economic disaster and I'm so sad that I don't get to be a European any more.

I don't know if I can honestly say I'm feeling positive right now, but I'm trying to work towards it.  When something sad happens I give myself a day or so to wallow in it, then try to move on, so that's what I'm doing now.  Time to remember the good and lovely things in life I think,

Turn off the TV and the Radio and the Internet. 

Even if it's just for a little bit.  A constant stream of opinions will do you no good.  Social media is not your friend at this time.  The rage you feel from people being objectionable online doesn't usually outweigh the comfort found from those who share your feelings.  Turn them all off, for a few hours, days or weeks, and do something else.

Go outside.

The night before the vote, full of angsty tension, I pruned 3 trees.  Yesterday Joe hacked down the back garden hedge.  Today I've watched some birds hopping about the garden, and planted some vegetable seeds.  Breathe in and out, look at pretty flowers, the world is still going on, it's still beautiful and hoppy sparrows are still hopping.   

Do your favourite things. 

Since the referendum result was announced I've had a Chinese, read, watched Star Wars and Doctor Who, danced around to my favourite music, hugged my husband extra tight, been charity shopping and to the pub to see a friend on her birthday.  It's good to remember that good things still exist, and lots of them will still exist even though our politics are a pile of poop. 

Use your voice.

Find a petition to sign or write to your MP.  This petition for another referendum is currently doing the rounds, and has over 2.5 million signatures.  I'm not sure how politically sound it is to say I didn't like those results, can we have another go?  But it felt good to register my feels somewhere.  I like this one too, to show Jeremy Corbyn we still want him as Labor leader and the one asking the EU to offer EU citizenship to those who want it. 

Be excellent to one another.

Times are tough, be kind to each other.  Do random acts of niceness for friends and strangers.  Avoid anyone who'll spout opinions at you that you can't cope with.  Smile at people.  Do you know who I'm extra-smiling at?  Immigrants.  I would hate to think anyone feels unwelcome in our country.  A lady was most excellent to me at the pub tonight, my husband had got involved with a ranty, angry young man talking about the EU ref, and she, a stranger, tapped me on the shoulder and asked me if I'd like to sit with her instead, where we discussed life stuff and eventually did talk about the EU, but only so say how sad and shocked we were.  Lovely lady!  More of this kind of thing please.      

If all of that fails, plan your escape to Scotland (my research tells me we can probably afford a lovely 3 bedroom house in Dumfries, which has a train station, cinema and a library!).  Also read this poem, it always calms me, 

Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others,
even to the dull and ignorant; they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter,
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.

Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals,
and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love;
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is as perennial as the grass.
Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be.
And whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life,
keep peace with your soul. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

Desiderata - Max Ehrman

I hope you're all holding up ok.  xxx

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Photo an hour, June 2016.

Photo an hour day was on the 12th of June this month.

Photo an hour in organised by Jane and Louisa, anyone can join in and post their hourly photos on social media throughout the day tagging them #photoanhour.  Why don't you join in next time?

Here are my photos.

 

10am - I started the day with a healthy breakfast.

 

 

11am - Just popping into town to pick up some shopping, I needed hooks to hang things in the shed and some passatta for tea. 

12pm -  Someone post-it-note-bombed our little town with heart EU signs.  Yey!

1pm - In my favourite supermarket.

2pm - This was my lunch, violife cheese quesadilla, salad and BBQ cashew nuts.

3pm - I so wanted to play in my new shed, but it was sooo raining!

4pm - A bit of cooking chaos, making a chili for tea.

5pm - The rain stopped for a sec, so I ran out and planted some seeds!

6pm - Joe had work in the evening but we managed to squeeze in an episode of Doctor Who before he went.  We both love this season with the Donna Noble in it!

7pm - Joe's finished laying the kitchen floor and he's onto the conservatory now, I had to empty the room so he could start.

8pm - I made enough chili to freeze 5 left over portions.  I love leftovers!

9pm - I spent the rest of the night watching TV (catching up on recorded episodes of The Durrells and Love Nina, both are Lovely!) and making teeny tiny pompoms.

 

This time last year we'd just moved into our house!  Looking back at last June's photos I can see how much progress we've made, especially in the lounge (but also notice the bedroom curtains I promised Joe were temporary are still up, a year later!).

 

Did you join in this month?   Let me know if you did, I'd love to have a nosey at your day!

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Graze box - for vegans!

I've subscribed to Graze box, to get yummy, healthy, vegan snacks posted through my letter box every month!

When you subscribe you say your food preferences (no bananas, olives or pinapple, thank you!) and diet (Graze has 54 vegan options).  Once you've started getting boxes you rate the snacks, from 'bin to 'try', 'like' and 'love'.  If you really love something you can ask the people at Graze to 'send soon' too! 

This is what I got in my first box,

Sesame garlic crunch - I didn't like this one, the sesame sticks are too wholewheat-y and hard, and not garlicky enough.  I quite liked the multigrain soy crackers though.  Bin.

Honeycomb flapjack -  This vegan friendly flapjack is soo good.  It comes in three little pieces, so I had a flapjack-y treat in my lunchbox three times one week!  It's buttery and sweet and the only reason it's not a 'love' is because I can make my own flapjack for a lot cheaper!  Like.

Belgian speculoos - Oh noo, I didn't like this at all!  The cinnamon pretzel sticks are quite salty, and the speculoos cookie dip is too thick and gakky.  Bin.

Hickory smoked BBQ - I actually didn't think I liked this when I first opened it, but I kept coming back to it and when the packet was empty I wanted more!  The peas are sweet with a crispy, yummy coating which go perfectly with the creamy cashews and crunchy, salty corn.  It feels quite protein-y and good for you too, I'm trying to eat healthily!  Love.

Do you get Graze boxes?  What are your favourites?

Subscribe to Graze with my code to get your 1st, 5th and 10th boxes free - it's SUSIEE65P

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Our tiny wedding.

We got married last month!  

Our wedding was small and simple, and the best one I've ever been to! 

Venue.

Our venue was so lovely!  We got married at the Guildhall in Newport, Telford.  They took care of all the decoration and put out the red carpet!  Also, it was super pretty.  We hired the little ante chamber off to the side of the ceremony room for an hour afterwards, so we could do a toast with some fizzy wine and so my little nieces could wriggle about after sitting still during the ceremony.   

Outfits.

I wish I could say my dress was second hand or eco-friendly, but it wasn't, it was from Hell Bunny and cost £40, so at least it was thrifty.  I did my own hair and didn't wear any make up, I wanted to look like my normal self on my wedding day!  The girl's rainbow fairy tutu bridesmaid dresses were from Etsy, and Joe had a new shirt, tie and cufflinks, but already had the rest of his outfit.  I meant to get married barefoot, but forgot to take my £4 Primark flipflops off! 

Music.

We chose our own music for the wedding, because the music offered by the venue was super cheesy.  I walked in to 'I want you to want me' by Letters to Cleo and we walked out to 'Here comes the sun' by the Beatles.  We chose background music together too, which included,

'It must be love' by Madness

'Kiss me' by Sixpence none the richer

'Take me on' by Reel big fish

'Happy together' by Simple Plan

'Crazy little thing called love' by Queen

'Mr blue sky' by ELO

'I think I love you' by Less than Jake

'You and me song' by the Wannadies

Here Comes The Sun, The Beatles.

Here comes the sun, here comes the sun 

And I say it's all right 

Little darling, it's been a long cold lonely winter 

Little darling, it feels like years since it's been here 

Here comes the sun, here comes the sun 

And I say it's all right 

Little darling, the smiles returning to the faces 

Little darling, it seems like years since it's been here 

Here comes the sun, here comes the sun 

And I say it's all right Sun, sun, sun, here it comes 

Sun, sun, sun, here it comes 

Sun, sun, sun, here it comes 

Sun, sun, sun, here it comes 

Sun, sun, sun, here it comes 

Little darling, I feel that ice is slowly melting

Little darling, it seems like years since it's been clear 

Here comes the sun, here comes the sun 

And I say it's all right 

Here comes the sun, here comes the sun 

It's all right, it's all right

Readings.

My mum and Joe's Dad both did lovely readings, which we chose for them.  Mum read an excerpt from Brambly Hedge (a children's story about mice), when I learned to read it was the first book mum bought for me.  Joe's dad read Union by Robert Fulghum, which I found after lots of googling and perfectly sums up what marriage means to us.

Excerpt from Brambly Hedge, Summer Story by Jill Barklem.
The wedding was to take place at midday, and Dusty and Conker arrived just in time.  The guests were all in their finest clothes.  Three young mice, dressed in smart blue suits, had been chosen as pages, and were busily directing everyone to their places.  Mrs Apple discreetly tried to dust down the groom and best man, but to no avail. 

At last old Mrs Eyebright, Poppy's grandmother, spotted the bride and her little bridesmaids coming through the grass.  The pages squeaked with excitement, and got into place.  Every head turned to watch the bride as she made her way through the buttercups and stepped onto the decorated raft.

The Old Vole, who had been asked to perform the ceremony, stood up, and said in a kindly voice:  "Poppy Eyebright, do you love Dusty Dogwood, and will you love him and care for him for ever and ever?"  Poppy vowed that she would.  "Dusty Dogwood, do you love Poppy, and will you love her and look after her for ever and ever?".  "I will," said Dusty.  Mrs Apple blew her nose. 

"Then in the name of the flowers and the fields, the stars in the sky, and the streams that flow down to the sea, and the mystery that breathes wonder into all these things, I pronounce you mouse and wife."

All the mice cheered as Dusty kissed his bride, and the bridesmaids threw baskets of petals over the happy couple.  Mrs Apple wiped a tear from her eye, and the dancing and feasting began.  First they danced, for no one could keep still, jigs, reels and quadrilles.  Mr Apple proposed a toast.  "To the bride and groom!  May their tails grow long, and their eyes be bright, and all their squeaks be little ones."

Union by Robert Fulghum.
You have known each other from the first glance of acquaintance to this point of commitment. At some point, you decided to marry.

From that moment of yes, to this moment of yes, indeed, you have been making commitments in an informal way. All of those conversations that were held in a car, or over a meal, or during long walks – all those conversations that began with, “When we’re married”, and continued with “I will” and “you will” and “we will” – all those late night talks that included “someday” and “somehow” and “maybe” – and all those promises that are unspoken matters of the heart. All these common things, and more, are the real process of a wedding.

The symbolic vows that you are about to make are a way of saying to one another, “You know all those things that we’ve promised, and hoped, and dreamed – well, I meant it all, every word.”

Look at one another and remember this moment in time. Before this moment you have been many things to one another – acquaintance, friend, companion, lover, dancing partner, even teacher, for you have learned much from one another these past few years. Shortly you shall say a few words that will take you across a threshold of life, and things between you will never quite be the same.

For after today you shall say to the world –
This is my husband. This is my wife.

Food.

We had cupcakes, crisps and sweets to go with our fizzy wine right after the wedding ceremony (to soak up the alcohol?  I was hungry anyway, and was glad to be eating cake!).  Then we went for a curry and ate more cake.  The vegan cake was a lovely and delicious wedding present from my sister in law, check out her website if you like cake! 

Traditions.

I had bridesmaids and Joe had a best man, I wore my great grandmother's necklace, which was old and borrowed, and my dress was new and blue.  Apart from that we were tradition free.  We had 14 guests, our parents, siblings, their partners and kids, and a close friend each.  I sent e-vites, Joe helped me choose my dress,we saw each other on the morning of the wedding and his dad gave us a lift together to the venue, I didn't carry or throw a bouquet, I didn't wear a garter, and we had bubbles instead of confetti. 

Changing my name.

It took me so long to decide what to do with my name!  In my heart, I don't think people should be obliged to change their name when they get married.  However, I never liked my last name and it's quite unusual, a pain to keep spelling to people and it made me pretty identifiable (google says I was the only Susie W..... in existence!).  If I became Mrs W.... I would think I was my mum, I like the idea of Ms but not how it sounds, and I didn't want to double barrel.  So I've become Mrs Evans, I'm happy with it, but unhappy with the amount of time it's taking to change my name on everything!  

My honest thoughts about weddings and marriage so far.

• I stressed a lot more than was necessary.  Way too much stress!

• People expect your personality to change, because 'wedding'.  I repeated a lot that I only wanted a small, simple ceremony, and that no, I wasn't getting my hair and make up done!

• You can choose the bits of traditional wedding-ness you want, and leave out the others, and it will be fine.  Promise. 

• I had a happy day, the sun was shining, everyone I love was there, but I'm not sure it was the best day of my life.  It would definitely make the top 5 though.

• Neither me or Joe can remember what our wedding vows were!  It passed in a blur.  I keep telling him he definitely vowed to do the washing up more regularly!  I'm so glad our parents did readings, because those are the bits I remember.

• I think all wedding dresses should have pockets.  (mine did!)

• I don't feel any different now I'm married.  (everyone married person I've asked says they didn't feel any different too!)

• I enjoy calling Joe my husband though.

• Changing my name is a massive and expensive hassle (£75 to update my 2 year old passport!!!). 

• We're going to have a big party for all our friends and family, as a sort of wedding reception, probably for our 1st anniversary.  I'm really looking forward to it, but at the same time I'm so glad we didn't do it on the same day as our wedding!  I would have been so stressed!  

• I can't recommend enough going on honeymoon the same day as your wedding, especially if like me you're an introvert who gets all peopled out after a couple of hours.  We were married by 12pm, had finished eating by 3pm, on the train by 5pm and at our holiday cottage by 7.30pm.  Perfect.

Phew!  I think that's the longest blog post I've ever written! 

I'm going to post some of our honeymoon photos on Instagram over the next couple of days, so check them out if you'd like to see our week in (surprisingly!) sunny Wales! 

Some of these photos were taken by our lovely wedding photographer, Nikki, from Royal Touch Photography.

Thanks for reading!

Love Mrs Susie Evans xxx 

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How to grow your own mint from cuttings.

Mint is one of my favourite things to grow and luckily it's really easy to grow your own from a few cuttings.  

First cut a couple of sprigs of mint, strip the leaves off the bottoms of the stems leaving just the very top ones.  If you don't have your own mint plants, see if a friend will give you a couple of mint cuttings.

Pop the mint stalks into a vase of water, and wait for roots to appear.  It takes a week or so for the mint cuttings to root.

Fill a plant pot with peat free soil and use a dibber to poke some holes for your new mint plants to go in.  Put the plant-lets in the holes, being careful and gentle with the roots, then fill in with extra soil and firm down.

That's it, your mint cuttings have become plants, make sure you keep them watered while they're settling in and unless you want a garden full of mint, grow the plants in pots or containers!

What's your favourite way to use mint?  I like mint tea, but I mostly like the smell of it wafting around the garden.

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Charity shopping, the one with the jugs from Aberystwyth.

Ahhh charity shopping, I love it so!  Here are my latest finds, 

In fact this is not one of my latest finds, I've had it about a year but it's been buried in moving-house-detritus.  I love how simple these matryoshka dolls are, and their facial expressions.  They feel like they're really quite old and the biggest one has a paper label with Russian writing on it.  

Matryoshka, £7, local charity shop.

I bought this little jug on honeymoon, in my favourite charity shop in Aberystwyth, Craft.  We really wanted to buy a little mid century corner cupboard that would have fitted in perfectly in our living room, but we wouldn't have been able to get it back home on the train (especially as we'd already bought a 3mx2m rug we had to carry back!).  So I made do with this little jug instead, and very nice it is too.

Orange floral jug, £1, charity shop Aberystwyth.

And this little jug was a present from my mum for Easter.  I went to uni in Aberystwyth and we've had many day trips and holidays there, my love for Aber runs deep.  And now I can display my Aber pride with this cute little jug.

Aberystwyth jug, present, local charity shop.

Have you bought anything amazing from the charity shops lately?

Linking up with Vintage Charm, Flaunt it Friday and Vintage Bliss. 

 

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10 reasons to stay in the EU.

So, the big EU vote is coming up soon and tomorrow is actually the last day you can register to vote in the EU referendum.   

 

If you need to register to vote, it takes 5 minutes on the gov.uk website.

I don't usually talk politics, but the image below pretty much sums up why I'm going to (a little bit) now,

from twitter

Here are some helpful articles to read if you need help deciding,

Stephen Hawking thinks leaving the EU would be a 'disaster'.

This month's Vegan Life Magazine explains what leaving the EU would mean for animal welfare.

The Green Party say we're fairer, safer and greener in Europe.

Friends of the Earth have pointed out what the EU has done for nature.

And then the RSPB and WWF agreed with them!

Friends of the Earth can also tell you 7 things the EU has done for our environment, including helping our beaches stay clean and our bees buzzing.

250 creative, arty people signed an open letter to the Guardian asking us to stay in Europe for the sake of our culture.  Signatories include Benedict Cumberbatch and Helena Bonam Carter.  

British charities would lose £200million in funding if we left the EU, according to Third Sector.

38 Degrees have fact checked the 'in' and 'out' leaflets, to give you a fair, acurate view.

Jeremy Corbyn thinks we should stay in.

And just to be fair, even though I really, really, really do think we'd be better off in the EU, because I like being able to travel to Europe without a visa, and I definitely like that there's a whole load of MEPs to keep an eye on our government, and stop them doing anything too heinous to our environment, workers rights and other important stuff, and because I'm honestly scared of what the Tories will do to us out of the EU, here's the BBC's guide to the EU referendum, and the arguments for Brexit and Bremain.  (you didn't think I'd write a whole blog post on the EU referendum and not use the terms 'Brexit' and 'Bremain' did you?  It will be the first and last time I ever use them, promise!)

If you need to register to vote, it takes 5 minutes on the gov.uk website.  Don't forget to vote on June 23rd!
 

Disclosure - I get a digital subscription to Vegan Life Magazine in return for giving them a shout out every month.  I only work with brands I like and all opinions and ideas are my own.  Vegan Life Mag is ace, you can subscribe here.

 

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