Monday, 14 September 2009
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.
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!
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!
Friday, 21 August 2009
Toothbrush pot
My mum made this pot back in 1995 when she was taking a pottery class. It hung around the house for ages until I appropriated it and took it to uni with me and it's been mine ever since. It spent the last 4 years as a pencil pot until this year where it was reassigned to the bathroom and now holds toothbrushes. What a marvelous little pot, I salute you!
The sideboard cometh...
Andrew and I were back in Inverness this weekend for his folks 25th wedding anniversary and while we were there, the in-laws took the opportunity to clear out the summer house into my car! Not that I'm complaining, we came away with 2 wool blankets, 2 bedside tables and a sideboard and Rod and Viv were happy to reclaim some space so everyone won.
The sideboard is definitely worth blogging about though, it's lovely. I'm not sure how old it is, it came from Andrew's late grandfather's house and must be at least 20 or 30 years old. I feel like a proper adult with alcohol in the side cupboards and 'the nice cutlery' in the drawers!
The sideboard is definitely worth blogging about though, it's lovely. I'm not sure how old it is, it came from Andrew's late grandfather's house and must be at least 20 or 30 years old. I feel like a proper adult with alcohol in the side cupboards and 'the nice cutlery' in the drawers!
Antique Swedish spice pots
I've been meaning to write about these for over a year now. Last July 2 of my friends got married in Sweden, in a little place about 2 hours outside of Stockholm. It was a really lovely day and has definitely set the standard for weddings from now on!
I spent about 3 days in Stockholm with my mum before the wedding and we did some browsing in the old town, where we stumbled upon this amazing little antique and vintage shop. It was literally *bursting* with items, I could have bought half the shop but in the end I settled for these 2 little spice pots. The shop keeper dated them from 1910 so I live in fear of breaking them, they came as a set of 4 and I really regret leaving the other 2 behind now. They were the equivalent of £10 each though and as a penniless student I couldn't really justify £40 on spice pots! I will probably live to regret that in the future when I go on Antiques Roadshow with them and am told they would be worth £10,000 if I had a full set but as I only have half....a fiver. Still, we buy these things because we love them, not because they're worth anything.
I spent about 3 days in Stockholm with my mum before the wedding and we did some browsing in the old town, where we stumbled upon this amazing little antique and vintage shop. It was literally *bursting* with items, I could have bought half the shop but in the end I settled for these 2 little spice pots. The shop keeper dated them from 1910 so I live in fear of breaking them, they came as a set of 4 and I really regret leaving the other 2 behind now. They were the equivalent of £10 each though and as a penniless student I couldn't really justify £40 on spice pots! I will probably live to regret that in the future when I go on Antiques Roadshow with them and am told they would be worth £10,000 if I had a full set but as I only have half....a fiver. Still, we buy these things because we love them, not because they're worth anything.
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