Midnight feasts and new tablecloths

I know you're not supposed to take photos with unnecessary clutter that will distract the viewer, but I had to show you all my new tablecloth in it's natural environment i.e. hidden under piles of rubbish.
Last night Andrew and I decided to have an early night but lying in bed awake I happened to mention I was peckish. Next thing you know, we're both back out of bed making cheese toasties and eating chocolate-covered hobnobs (a king amongst biscuits) in our pyjamas, having only brushed our teeth less than 15 minutes earlier. It was amazing, cheese toasties taste so much better when you feel like you're scoffing them secretly, lest matron find out a la Malory Towers.

Anyway, this is a roundabout way of introducing my new tablecloth! Here it is in all it's glory, under the remains of last night's midnight feast. I'm quite impressed with this little tablecloth, I bought the fabric in a sale in Ikea for £2.60 (we went for a futon but never mind), came home and just threw it over the kitchen table. It was like they were meant to be together. At some point soon I'll have to hem the edges but for the moment I start back at uni tomorrow so hemming will have to wait.

Windowsill in bloom

So here we are, the updated Windowsill Farm. The peppermint is sprouting away, the strawberries have new leaves, the aloes are loving their new holders and Amy is a happy little gardener. I'm about to potter off and plant my Grow Your Own Christmas tree from Change the world for a Fiver, a sweet little book Frances and Vicky gave me for Christmas one year. I hope they're still viable seeds, they've been sat in the packet for about 4 years now!

RIP teapot

Today is a sad day. Today is the day that I must announce the passing of the World's Greatest Teapot. In his short but happy life, teapot brought joy to many people, especially Amy and Andrew. He never dripped, was easy to clean, always bright and cheerful. Amy has a special bond with him, having rescued him for £4 from the Bethany Shop. Ironically, a week before she carelessly broke him by dropping a mustard pot onto his head, she found the exact same teapot for the exact same price in the exact same charity shop but didn't buy it. What a mistake. A week later we must mourn the passing of the World's Greatest Teapot and reflect on our stupidity for not buying a spare when we had the chance.

Farewell faithful friend, we barely knew ye.





For those who subscribe to the Buddhist faith, you'll be pleased to know that teapot was later reincarnated a plant pot holder.

The ongoing saga of the windowsill farm...

I've recently been inspired to start growing my own food. And by food I mean anything that will grow in a planter on the kitchen window sill. This is proving trickier than I anticipated as I'm now onto my 4th batch of herbs. They just keep dying! I have no idea what I'm doing wrong, I'm not over watering, under watering, they get plenty of sunlight, they're not in a draft...I'm beginning to think there's some conspiracy afoot.

I just came back from a fruitful trip to Dobbies and now have a very smart plastic planter installed, complete with my 2 strawberry plants that I just got free from a lovely lady on freecycle (plus some amazing windfall apples that were quickly made into a crumble and devoured by all my friends). I took a gamble and bought myself another rosemary plant, with the intention of making rosemary-infused olive oil as part of my grandparent's Christmas present. I repotted up EVERYTHING after a strange outbreak of black flies from the cheapo Asda compost, all my plants are now happily sprouting away in Miracle-Gro-infused compost so if anything dares to die I will not be impressed.

Photos of the new set-up to follow, but in the meantime, here's photos of the sad looking creatures pre-Dobbies trip:

The peppermint is the only remaining herb from the first ever attempt at growing herbs. It looks pretty healthy here but let me assure you, it was plagued with flies. The latest photos will show, it's shot up since being repotted!



The aloe, a totally useless plant that you can't eat, was given to me by my grandmother so I don't really feel like I can pass it onto someone else in return for something edible. Ah well, it's pretty resiliant so I can't complain. I've started potting up its babies into vintage teacups with a vague idea that I might sell them (not sure how, they won't post well).



The saddest of the lot, the basil and coriander. The third in the list of Herbs I Have Killed, not long after this photo was taken they were consigned to the compost bin. But not before I discovered they were the root of the fly infestation. Hopefully no more flies now they're gone!