Forgotten Fibre

A delightful short documentary.  I'd really love to wear more pure wool clothing but unless it is very soft, it does tend to irritate my rather sensitive skin.  Perhaps I can try to "desensitise" myself!

Out of my comfort zone

My sister belongs to the Redditch Kingfisher Rotary Club, who do all kinds of fundraising/awareness events, and Seahorse Conservation is one such of these.  Last week the club held an online silk painting craft event and Amanda invited me to take part, too.  Now, I'll be perfectly honest and say that I really wasn't looking forward to taking part because a) painting is really out of my comfort zone, and b) I wasn't feeling too good but of course I'd told my sister that I'd love to join in.....so I didn't think I could back out 😄

After a somewhat fraught time trying to get connected to the Zoom meeting on the tablet (I would have much preferred to use our "big" computer but space is very tight where we have it set up), I eventually got there and was able to join in with the class.  Emma (the tutor) took us through all the steps clearly but I confess that I did struggle and didn't find it the relaxing exercise that everyone else seemed to be enjoying!  Now I must stress that this had nothing whatsoever to do with Emma's teaching; it was all down to my own internal dialogue of how bad a job I was making of the painting and how good everyone else's efforts were in comparison to mine.  I really struggle with the belief that I am creative in any way; whenever I make something I look at it and just feel that I am such a bumbling amateur.  That inner voice can be terribly discouraging 😩

Anyhoo, I plodded on and managed to complete the painting.  And to be honest, for a very first attempt at silk painting, it's not turned out too horrendous!

Of course my knee-jerk reaction was that I would never try silk painting again.....but I have leftover paint so perhaps I will have another go at some point, after all 😉 

Using the tablet was a tad difficult as the screen is small, and I did find it a little hard to see exactly what Emma was doing.  If I ever take part in any other online classes, I will just try to make as large a working space as I can with our desktop computer.

Quite the revelation!

I have been merrily chucking my used teabags in our compost caddy for years, only to discover recently that they actually contain a small amount of plastic and should therefore be put in the household waste bin!  Actually, if I'm honest, I feel a wee bit ashamed that I didn't know that most teabags contain plastic 😟  Still now that I do know, I no longer compost the bags.  Instead, because I had bought quite a few boxes when they were on offer (Adrian doesn't drink tea or coffee!), I have been cutting open the bags and tipping the contents into a Kilner jar to use the leaves loose.  This meant that I had the ideal "excuse" to treat myself to a lovely new teapot, complete with its own infuser 😉

There is just something so cosy about a little brown teapot, really "hygge", and if it's possible to be in love with an inanimate object then I suspect that I may well be 😍 

I've had the tea-cosy for years ~ no idea why I originally bought it, actually, as I've never used loose tea or even put tea-bags in a teapot!  Still, it's certainly seeing plenty of use now LOL  I may even crochet myself a second cosy to use up a little more of that yarn stash!

The revelation, though, has been the difference between brewing the loose tea in a teapot and just pouring boiling water over the bag in a mug!  I have been amazed at how much more flavour and scent there is brewing in a pot.  I mostly drink Lady Grey tea at home and Earl Grey in the main when I am out-and-about, both of which are "scented", but it's still been quite eye-opening for me at the difference between loose tea and the bags.

The only drawback to making this changeover is that I haven't been able to get hold of loose Lady Grey in Tesco, which is where I do most of my shopping.  I'm not actually sure that any of the supermarkets sell loose Lady Grey, to be honest.  Tesco do sell loose Earl Grey, though, so I've bought a pack as I drink it at home from time-to-time.  I have been a tad naughty today, though, and have splurged out on a 500g caddy of Lady Grey from the Twinings online shop ~ I know how to live, eh 😉  

"Our challenge today is against stupidity"...

Doing the best we can

The picture above came up on a Facebook group I am part of and it really struck a chord with me.  It's a sad truth that some folk who are trying to be that bit "greener" can be totally disheartened when coming across others who are so much further along the environmentally-friendly road than they may currently find themselves.  Like with so much of what is posted online, we can all feel somewhat lacking when comparing ourselves to others.  It isn't helped, either, when some of the "green" folk out there are so unbearably smug and preachy.  Don't get me wrong I'm definitely not tarring all with the same brush by any means, but often it's the minority who seem to shout the loudest.

No one should be castigated for not being "uber-green"!  Instead, let's encourage each other to do the best we can in our own particular circumstances 😊 

Greta Thunberg

MAN vs EARTH

How to make a Morsbag