Steel Kitten

My mother ate my only blueberry....

I've been nurturing this blueberry plant since my parents gave it to me at Christmas as an unwanted gift from someone. I've fed it, watered it, kept marauding cats from lying on it and peeing up the pot.

It's put on loads of growth, developed huge amounts of blueberries and I've been hopping excitedly from foot to foot for the last week as I watched one solitary blueberry develop ahead of all the others. Every couple of days I went out and gave it a little squeeze to see if it was ready yet and decided another few days would see it reach the peak of perfection. I've never eaten a fresh blueberry before so I was really looking forward to trying it.

Yesterday my mother came round on her way to town. Now, granted it was her birthday and you're allowed to be a bit naughty on your birthday, but stealing another's blueberries is not on. I'd got her a birthday cake and put candles on it. I baked special raspberry rock cakes for her with the first of this season's raspberries which I'd hand-picked from the garden. I gave her a new mobile phone and put it together for her. And then it happened.

We were wandering round the garden looking at all the fruit and veg that was coming on and almost ready for picking. I took her into the greenhouse and let her take some gooseberries from my two plants...I'm very protective about my gooseberries as I've lost every single crop I've ever had for the last five years, but this year the crop is brilliant due to the weather and lack of wasps and sawfly.

Then, as she walked back to the house I paused at the blueberry pot and showed her how well it was doing. She reached down and before I could stop her picked the blueberry, gave it a quick wipe and stuffed it in her mouth. I was gobsmacked. You just don't do that in someone else's garden without asking. When I did open my mouth all I could do was squeak my outrage in a voice that sounded uncannily like Minnie Mouse. She just laughed and ran in the house with her gooseberry haul.

The world is a different place today. The rest of the blueberries will not be ready for another 3 weeks or so, but my disappointment will last for much longer.

Quick and easy microwave jam

I've alluded to how easy jam-making is in a few posts now so I thought I'd take a moment in between the money stuff to explain how I make it. For those who have never tried doing it before I'll go through the basics of jam making and then give you a simple method to make in the microwave.

The two basic ingredients for making jam is fruit and sugar, with the amount of sugar used depending on the type of fruit. There's a lot of myth and magic banded around about jam making, one of which is a substance called pectin. All fruits contain pectin to a greater or lesser degree. It's a complex carbohydrate, or starch, that occurs in the rind and core of the fruit where it adds support to cell walls. Boiling the fruit when you’re making jam causes the pectin to be extracted and it is what helps the jam set. However, although many recipes recommend buying commercial pectin to add, I have NEVER added pectin to any jam I have ever made and my jam sets. It's accepted that making large batches of jam that need a lot of cooking cause pectin to break down and I believe part of my jam success is that I tend to do small batches that cook quickly, thus retaining the pectin.

Before you say it, that set of rhubarb jam I mucked up was probably due to making too much at one go in the saucepan and not using enough sugar to achieve a quick set. I have since made a successful small batch using the basics of this recipe.

The other thing that helps a jam set is acid. Again, all fruits have acid in them to a greater or lesser extent, but those naturally low in acid will need lemon juice added to help the jam set. Now don't get all worried and think about finding a list of these low acid fruits. The recipes I'm going to give you here should get you started without the need to hunt for lists. 

One more thing. Never use overripe fruit for jam. Not only does the amount of pectin etc break down in fruit that is past its best, but you also run the risk of adding deacy bacteria to your jam.

What equipment do you need?

Before you start, read the instructions thoroughly and you lay out the equipment so it's all to hand so you can move smoothly between stages once you get started. When I say equipment, don't run out and get a preserving pan and a bundle of expensive Le Parfait jars. It's not necessary. As much as I would love a copper preserving pan it's not a necessity and might actual prove more difficult to get the hang of using then the microwave. The only exception to this is if you want to make huge quantities at one time and then a pan might be a good investment, but don't hurl yourself into making a large batch straight away - build up to it.

Generally speaking a pound of fruit made to one of the recipes below will fill 2 jam jars plus half of a third. If you don't eat jam quickly be careful how long you store that half pot. The large volume of air in the jar makes it more likely for bacteria to develop quickly, especially if you poke a knife in there every now and then.

So equipment. The following will do the job nicely:

• Microwave - the recipes below are optimised for an 850W microwave. A more powerful one will need less time cooking so try testing for jam set 2-3 minutes before the times indicated in each recipe. A less powerful microwave may mean more time cooking time, but cook to the time specified in the recipe and then go from there in 1 minute increments.
• A set of waxed inserts, polythene circles and rubber bands - eBay and John Lewis sell these sets very cheaply. You will need to make sure your waxed inserts are the right size for the neck of the jar BEFORE you do the jam. If they're too big simply cut them down with sharp scissors.
• Empty jars - preferably jam or honey jars but at a pinch an old dolmio sauce jar etc will do. 
• A pyrex jug - jam reaches temperatures higher than boiling water (around 115oC) and you can easily crack a nice jug if it's not heat resistant.
• A pan trivet or something that will protect your work surface as you're going to plonk a hot saucepan on it
• Either greaseproof paper or foil
• A large deep bowl - I have a beige-coloured Mason Cash bowl that I use. The sides need to be deep as jam really boils high when it gets going and you don't want it boiling over.
• A freezer proof saucer - in the absence of a jam thermometer this is needed to test the set of the jam by the 'wrinkle test'. By the way, you don't really need a jam thermometer. I've trashed two in six months and have gone back to using other methods to test for set (see below).
• Double mitten-type oven glove
• A clean tea towel
• Several pieces of wet kitchen roll

Basic method

1. Put the saucer in the freezer an hour before starting. this will be used to test for set (see below).
2. Preheat your oven to 100oC
3. Wash your jars in hot soapy water, rinse thoroughly in hot water and then lay then neck side down on a sheet of greaseproof paper or foil in the oven. The purpose of this is two-fold. You need to make sure the jars are heated a little before you put the jam in to avoid them cracking and the high heat helps keep the bacteria off while you make the jam.
4. Wash and prepare the fruit, then cook in the microwave (with water if the recipe requires it) for the amount of time indicated. DON'T USE MORE THAN 1.5lbs OF FRUIT AS THE JAM WILL RISE OVER THE SIDES OF THE BOWL.
5. Add the sugar and stir well.
6. Cook for the amount of time first indicated in the recipe and then test for set.

Testing for set

Drop a tiny amount of the jam mixture onto the plate you have just taken out of the freezer. Let the jam cool slightly for a few moments then - holding the plate into the light, - push your finger into the jam (that tiny amount will have cooled so you won't get burnt). If the skin on the jam wrinkles in front of your finger the jam has set and is ready for potting.  If the jam is still too runny, let it cook for another minute and then try again.

Potting the jam

1. Once set is reached, put on your oven gloves, take out the bowl, put it on the trivet and let it cool for a couple of minutes.
2. Spread your clean tea towel onto the work surface and place your hot jars from the oven on top.
3. Transfer the contents of the bowl into the pyrex jug then carefully pour the hot jam into each jar stopping within an inch of the top.
4. Add a wax disc to the surface of the jam, taking care to lay it out gently and slowly to avoid trapping air bubbles.
5. Use a wet kitchen towel to wipe off any excess jam that has spilled on the inside of the jar above this wax disc and on the outside of the jar.
6. Take a polythene circle and wipe with a fresh piece of wet kitchen towel.
7. The circle will start to roll and crinkle. Stretch it gently across the top of the jar, smoothing it round the sides with your hands and then add an elastic band to keep it in place. Make sure there are no creases or raised areas. This is vital if you are to seal your jam so no air or bacteria can get it. The water on the polythene helps create a vacuum as the jam cools. You'll know when a vacuum has formed because the outside rim of the plastic will develop wrinkles and you may even hear small pinging noises as the plastic stretches.
8. Leave to cool completely before adding a label.

JAM RECIPES

Plum jam

1lb of plums
1lb of granulated sugar
1/3 pint of water

Wash, stone and halve plums into the bowl. If you want you can also remove the skins, but it's not absolutely necessary. Add water and heat uncovered on full power for approx 6 minutes or until the fruit is soft and water reduced to approx 1/3 of the quantity. Add sugar and stir well. Cook on full power for approx 20 mins or until setting point is reached.

Raspberry jam

1lb raspberries
1lb sugar

Wash fruit and add to bowl. Microwave uncovered on full power for 5 minutes.
Add sugar and stir well. heat on full power for 12 mins or until setting point is reached.

Blackberry jam

1lb raspberries
1lb sugar

Wash fruit and add to bowl. Microwave uncovered on full power for 5 minutes.
Add sugar and stir well. heat on full power for 15 mins or until setting point is reached.

Nectarine jam

1lb chopped nectarine flesh (stoned and skinned)
1lb sugar
1/3 pint water
1tbsp lemon juice

Wash fruit and add to bowl. Microwave uncovered on full power for 9 minutes or until soft and water has reduced by 1/3.
Add sugar and lemon juice and stir well. Heat on full power for 18 mins or until setting point is reached.

Blackcurrant jam

1lb blackcurrants
1.5lb sugar
1/3 pint of water

Wash fruit and add to bowl. Microwave uncovered on full power for 12 minutes or until soft and water has reduced by 1/3.
Add sugar and stir well. Heat on full power for 10 mins or until setting point is reached.

Gooseberry jam

1lb gooseberries
1lb sugar
1/3 pint of water

Wash fruit and add to bowl. Microwave uncovered on full power for 12 minutes or until soft and water has reduced by 1/3.
Add sugar and stir well. Heat on full power for 10 mins or until setting point is reached.

Strawberry jam

1lb strawberries
12oz sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice

Wash and hull the strawberries. Microwave uncovered on full power for 5 minutes or until soft.
Add sugar and stir well. Heat on full power for 11-12 mins or until setting point is reached.

Rhubarb jam

1lb rhubarb
1lb sugar
1tbsp lemon juice

*****requires preparation the day before making the jam*****
Cut up the rhubarb into half inch pieces, add to bowl and cover with the sugar. Cover the bowl and leave overnight. The next day you will find the sugar has softened the rhubarb and caused the water to leach out to form a syrup (at this point you can dilute this to make a great cordial if you don't want to make jam and use the rhubarb for something else like a fruit crumble. Just make sure you keep the cordial in the fridge and drink it within a 10 days). Add the lemon juice, stir the bowl contents and heat uncovered on high power for 18 minutes or until the setting point has been reached.

And there you have it! Jam.

I tend to make different jams according to what's ready in the garden and what's on special at the supermarket. If any fruit is on a BOGOF or at half price I get it and turn the 'free' amount into jam.

At the mercy of the cats..

It’s been a disgustingly dismal day. It's bucketed down solidly since I first got up and the cats have been driving me up the wall. They keep looking at me and screaming "do something about the weather. We want to go out. It's all your fault!". They've been up on my keyboard, the worksurface of the kitchen, burrowed under the sheets on the bed, poked in cupboards, knocked over piles of work papers and generally made a bloody nuisance of themselves. Unlike kids who can be entertained on a rainy day with a bit of finger painting or the contents of a big dressing up box, cats want to play their own games on their own terms and sod you if you don't like it.

After another round of them yelling about the horrid weather, in desperation I opened the back door and as they gathered round to peer glumly out I put my toe under their backsides and gently hoicked them all out. There was a brief scrabble as they desperately tried to get back in but I had already pushed the door closed leaving a crack to see what they were up to. All three cats scattered in the direction of their hide-outs; Georgie to his hut, Sophie to the greenhouse, Fleagle first to a sheltered corner by the back door and then to the back undercover porch when she realised her first choice of dry hideout was in fact a crap one because it was wet.

I left them out there for half an hour and then called them in. Three feline figures streaked up the path and pushed their way into the house squabbling furiously and jostling each other to get to the food bowls. Order has now been restored and there are three wet, tired cats licking various parts of their anatomy on soft warm spots around the house.

Synchronicity at work again....

I've been thinking about this synchronicity thing a bit more today and am realising just how much there is in my life at the moment. In fact, there's so much going on I can't actually write about it all on this blog, but I thought one incident was so worthy of a mention I'd do a second post today about it.

Last week I went on a tip snuffle that proved to be one of the best trips I've ever done. Not because the quantity of things I found or that I discovered something expensive but because of the opportunities that have been presented to me as a result. One of the first things I do when I go to this particular tip is check out the book section. For some reason they usually have particularly decent books turning up and they turf the tat out regularly to make room for new stuff. On this occasion I managed to pick up a load of really good books, including a Rough Guide to Tuscany and Umbria, a Lonely Planet guide to Europe on a Shoestring and amazingly a new copy of The Blue Planet by David Attenborough. I paid about £2 for the lot and wandered off to the car.

Now those of you who read my blog will know that I regularly receive emails from Martin Lewis' site The Money Saving Expert. For those of you who don't get this email go and sign up
for it now. I've lost count of the number of ways I've managed to save money on his advice and the forums are astounding.

I'd been giving some thought to buying his book The Money Diet, as it's on permanent loan from the library with a long list of people waiting for it. The day before my tip snuffle I'd been on Amazon and Play checking out the prices intending to get it the next day. So imagine my delight, as I walked back past the book boxes on the way back to the car, to spot a book I had missed and discovering it's a copy of The Money Diet! Even better, as I'd just bought a stack of books the waste advisor gave it to me for nothing!

If that wasn't enough synchronicity, inside the book was a discussion on personal loans and payment protection insurance, which made me realise, not only has I been mis-sold PPI, but also my loan in
the first place. This has led me to put in a complaint to the bank and I'm waiting for a reply from them and a refund of the totally unnecessary PPI they sold me which they knew I didn't need and would never
be able to get a payout from if anything happened. I firmly believe this has all come about because I decided to shift my beliefs about money and my self-worth and keep my eyes open for the opportunities that present themselves. So, thank you universe. You're help has been much appreciated so far and I'd like some more of it please.

Stuart Wilde's ten laws of abundance

Earlier in the week I found a little gem of a book in the library that I'd been after for a while called The Money Bible (including the ten laws of abundance) by Stuart Wilde.

Now Stuart Wilde always gets mixed reactions from people-in-the-know when you mention his name. When I told a psychiatrist friend of mine I was reading some of Stuart's stuff he raised his eyebrows and said "he's a bit too far out for me". Then again I know others declare him a god. Wilkopedia describes him as a urban mystic and visionary, which doesn't really tell you who is is or what he does.

Bottom line, Stuart is self-help guru. He's into self-empowerment, the metaphysical and helping people free themselves from the restrictions of society. About a year ago I heard a audio of a seminar he did in Australia on money and how our beliefs hold us back and it was the funniest yet uncannily accurate approach to the subject I'd ever heard. Since then I've been reading his books and listening to his audio tapes, although many of his earlier works from the 1990s are no longer in print. That's why I was so delighted to find The Money Bible still in the library. The fact that it's still there after being published 10 years ago is testament to it's popularity.

Stuart puts forward the idea that money is energy that ebbs and flows around all of us. The only reason some of us have less than others is that we stop ourselves. We put emotional and physical obstacles in our way, shoot down our own great ideas and hold resentments about people with money. We end up being emotionally distant and closed from money because we feel pain or shame when we think about it and so sabotage the universe's efforts to give us some.

How many of you have had an opportunity present itself that could have led onto greater things but fear held you back so you passed it up? I know people who have dithered for such a long time over making a decision that could have benefited them enormously that the opportunity just faded away. Irritatingly one person I know constantly laments the fact that their big opportunity had 'got away' and how it could have changed their life. THEN WHY DID YOU LET IT GO YOU BLOODY NUMBSKULL? (Even worse they normally end up on my sofa bemoaning their fate and how life is unfair. Meanwhile another opportunity whizzes past their left ear as they waste time......)

Anyway, this isn't a rant about self-sabotage or fear of change, it's supposed to be a big thumbs up for The Money Bible. The ten laws are designed to help you think differently about money and your relationship with it but I will say it's only a starting point. Don't read it thinking that suddenly you will change overnight and wads of cash will drop into your life. It's more subtle than that. You're re-aligning yourself and your beliefs so when opportunities that will lead to money come up you immediately see them and take them. I think you have to be at a point where you are so cheesed off with never getting ahead in the financial stakes that you're willing to apply yourself seriously and conscientiously to taking action.

Now, I've been reading Stuart's books on money for some time and recently started combining this with Money Beyond Belief course and listening to affirmations every day. This course of action is working for me. In fact, thinking back if I hadn't read or listened to any of Stuart's works I would never have found the Money Beyond Belief course and wouldn't be where I am today.

It all boils down to something called synchronicity, which is defined by Wilkopedia as: "the experience of two or more events which occur in a meaningful manner, but which are causally inexplicable to the person or persons experiencing them." After I'd listened to my first seminar by Stuart, I found it so interesting I hunted down some information on the net about his life and works. I found testimonials from people, successful people who were full of admiration for him and his teachings. One of these people was Joe Vitale, an American copywriter that I greatly admire and had already previously bought several books and courses from. More research about Joe led me to discover he also advocates attracting success and wealth into your life in a similar to Stuart and one of the programmes he personally recommends is: Money Beyond Belief.

By the way, those people that owed me money - all paid up. Cheques received for the full amounts less than 48 hours after sending letters out. I've spent months being polite and businesslike, chasing, writing letters, emailing reminders, phone calls etc etc all of which got me nowhere. Now I've finally started to truely value myself, it all starts coming in. Co-incidence? Possibly, though I prefer to believe it's synchronicity. I put the vibes out there and went forward with an open mind and the universe is now delivering.

The Martha Stewart bug

I've been snared, trapped, entangled. I've been taken over by some strange, powerful force that leads me to Borders in Milton Keynes once a month. When I walk into the store I can hear Her siren call and I'm powerless to resist. I must buy her offerings. I hand over hard earned cash in a daze knowing that I've seen what she has to offer a million times before in hundreds of different craft and recipe books. but still I buy.

I am of course talking about Martha Stewart's Living magazine.

I have to have this American import as soon as it hits the shelves. I haven't felt this kind of desperation for anything since I subscribed to Country Living. It conjures up words in my mind like delicious, scrumptious and yummy. Just like Country Living, half an hour browsing through and any negative or stressful feelings disappear.I find myself thinking "I could bake that cake on Sunday, What colour will the front cover be next? How does Martha feel living in a pink house (I had a pink room once and I hated it. I wanted to start smashing skulls.) Have I ever missed an issue covering Japanese sock toys (you crafty people out there know what I'm talking about). Should I buy as many back issues as I can to find out?"

It's sheer self-indulgent luxury in a world where people starve. And it's on the shelf again in about 5 days time. I'm dead excited.

What a complete saddo. 

My money beliefs are changing...

It's happening!!!! I'm really excited today because I can see the Money Beyond Belief course working! Woohoo!!!

For the last week I've seen proof of a shift in not only my money beliefs, but also my beliefs in general. I've been having problems with money recently that I now think were down to my own self-sabotage. For the moment, writing is how I make my money but try as I might I could not sit down and write a word. I've had jobs sitting there and I've been unable to even start them, let alone complete and bill them. All the time my brain is screaming "DO IT! Hurry UP! The mortgage is due at the end of the month. Just do the jobs and bill 'em."

A little bit of digging and I know the reasons why I'm having a problem writing.

1) Low self-esteem and negative money beliefs cause me to a) under-charge, so I have to do far, far more hours to achieve a good level of income b) feel guilt over being richer than most of the third world (as revealed by Money beyond Belief) so I unconsciously keep my income low c) not demand that people treat me according to my worth.

2) I have been working to only earn money. That has always been the end goal. But it shouldn't be. The end goal should be to help and serve people. Think about it. If you charge a hefty fee for what you do, but give outstanding service and help your clients and come up with lots of ideas to help them because you are genuinely interested in them and their business, do you think they're going to be reticent over paying you what you're worth?

Service, service, service

To illustrate this point, last week I had several possible jobs that just needed a signature on the quote for me to go ahead, but somehow I just couldn't get the client's to sign. Ordinarily I would accept their reason's for not wanting to go ahead and leave them to decide in their own time, thereby causing me to work overtime trying to find more work not to mention a great deal of stress. This week however something inside, my intuition I guess, told me that the reasons they were giving weren't the real ones and they needed help. So I decided to help them regardless of whether they signed or not.

1) One client wanted me to do a DVD script, but was hesitant to sign. Turns out it was the first time he had done anything like this and didn't know what to do. He was also a bit embarrassed to ask for help. I've done DVDs before and knew the score so I was able to advise him on what to do and how to find a good DVD production company and offered to talk them them directly so he wouldn't have to be the go-between. The next day a signed quote turned up in the post.

2) Another client wanted to do a website, but was just starting down the road of SEO optimisation and had high expectations about what could be achieved within a week of his new website going live. This was mostly due to the SEO company he was going to use promising him the earth, which those of us who deal with this everyday know is erroneous. It can take months and considerable daily effort to achieve high rankings with the search engines and keep them. It's not instantaneous. I spent some hours helping and advising him over this, giving him pointers on what to ask his SEO people and how to evaluate their skill. I then got the phone number of the SEO guy and requested more info from him. Next day a signed quote turned up in the post.

3) A small company desperately needed an emailer and company profile written, but didn't have the money at the moment and wanted to wait until they had. By taking the time to find out more about their business without the expectation of them signing I discovered an event was occurring in the second week of July that would give their bottom line a massive boost. I then realised that it would take me about two weeks to write the two pieces (given the work I had to do on the two jobs above) and maybe a further week to edit before sending my invoice. This take us to the second week of July.  I also gave them some quick and simple ideas on emailing targeted offers to their existing customer base to get some money into the bank quickly over the next few weeks. They were delighted with what I suggested and sure enough a signed estimate turned up in the post the next day.

Demanding your real worth

Once my negative money belief patterns had started to change all sorts of things started to happen. I found that several years ago I had been mis-sold a loan with very expensive insurance that wasn't needed and the sales adviser would have known this. This has prompted me to write a letter of complaint to my branch manager demanding to know why I wasn't treated according to the rules the Financial Services Authority lay down. The old me would never had done this! The old me would have rolled over and not said a word.

I've chased all those who haven't yet paid me for work I've completed and informed them I will add interest to their outstanding debts and then take court action if they don't pay. One lady in particular has strung me along for eight months now. Do you think the old me would have done this? Or would the old me have said: "well it's probably not worth the effort." By not demanding payment you're telling non-payers not to value what you do and that it's perfectly ok to treat you like this.

Finally, I went back through my finances for the last year and found instances where I hadn't invoiced someone for work I had done. They were only small instances, but collectively added up to about £300. Again, the old me would have said it wasn't worth the effort because deep down I was too embarrassed to ask for what I was worth.

The new me says "It's a few minutes of effort to send an invoice and a nice letter. What's difficult or embarrassing about that?"

Dig! Dig! Dig! For Victory

For a few years now I've had a little project at the back of my mind but have lacked the time (and, when I didn't, the funds) to do a great deal abou it. I want to create an authentic, 'Dig for Victory' kitchen garden typical of inner city properties during WWII so local kids can come and see a little snippet of history recreated.

You all know that food was scarce during WWII because of the constant bombing of merchant goods ships and for most families, the food that came out of the ground from their garden or allotment formed the bulk of their diet for six or seven years. Many houses in cities had narrow gardens with herbaceous borders before the war and the plants ripped out and replaced with fruit and veg when rationing came in.

A few years ago I read the following account of a girl growing up during wartime watching her grandfather and grandmother supporting most of their family by growing their own food - including meat - so they had an interesting and varied diet. What struck me most about the account was that even after this girl's grandfather died before the war was over, his efforts kept that whole family going for another year with a small amount of attention from the grandmother. I find that fascinating. We all want to provide for our families after we die so we make a will leaving them money so they can trot off down to Tesco and buy their food, but none of us leave a living legacy that physically feeds our family in quite such a way.

Ever since I read this account I've been fascinated by the 1940s. I believe this the 'make do and mend' ethic that was born out of absolute necessity gave England a very strong backbone, a backbone which has considrably softened over the last few years unfortunately. With the war also came an extraordinary creativity and resourcefulness which most of us have now lost. People back then were much more confident in their ability to create something out of almost nothing and I guess this really speaks to the part of me that wants to be self-sufficient, to be provide for myself and my family by the work of my own two hands and a splash of creativity. 

Funny that having access to fresh food, being healthy and living sustainably was an absolute necessity for the majority in the 1940s who faced death everyday. Now it's regarded as a lifestyle choice for a minority in the face of overwhelming consumption. How things have changed.

I've spent the last few years accumulating information about WWII gardens, trying to find out what makes a garden typical of that era. Of course there is the Anderson shelter, a standard feature of most city gardens at the time (I've come close on two occasions to getting an Anderson shelter and been thwarted, once when the person refused to sell a used one to me for the winning auction price (£1!!!) and the other was a new, unused shelter which went for over £100 and I couldn't afford that at the time. I still keep looking though). There was also usually an outside toilet to add a touch of ambience (and smell)! But were there any garden features that were popular at the time, such as ponds or seats, just as our gardens follow fashions today with decking and pergolas? What varieties of veg did they grow? Did they grow flowers to give as gifts etc and if so which were the favourites? Did they edge their beds with anything or leave them open to the pathways? Did they intersperse flowers with vegetables in patches or did they following the Ministry's guidelines and plant in rigid rows? Did they companion plant? If they had chicken's how did they keep them from scratching up the veggies and what did they feed them on? What were typical pest deterrents at the time?

This summer I hope to able to find out some of the answers when St James's Park in London holds a series of events in conjunction with The Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms revolving around a recreated a Second World War allotment and a modern day allotment. The construction of these Dig for Victory gardens can be seen on Flickr here.

I'm concentrating at the moment on creating a plan for the Victory Garden that I hope will capture the spirit of wartime gardening in the 1940s. I'd like to be able to purchase genuine 1940s articles for this garden such as the Anderson shelter, gardening tools, some heritage vegetable seeds if necessary and other odd items such as a mangle, which would have been used extensively at that time on washing day. We're also looking into getting some chickens. I'll report back here regularly as I progress with the garden. If you like what you read and would like to help out, please click on the Donation button on the left hand bar. It's operated by Paypal and is completely secure.

In the meantime, lest we forget:

"Dig! Dig! Dig! And your muscles will grow big

Keep on pushing the spade

Don't mind the worms

Just ignore their squirms

And when your back aches laugh with glee

And keep on diggin'

Til we give our foes a wiggin

Dig! Dig! Dig! to victory!"

Why I don't draw and frames freak me out

Ok....I promised a few days ago I would explain why I stopped drawing as a teenager and have a house bursting with posters and pictures that never get framed. Remember? I was talking about doing the Money Beyond Belief course and how negative money beliefs rule our lives?

This is a very personal memory of something that happened to me many years ago and I've decided to share this with you for two reasons. It illustrates beautifully the power of negative emotions and how they can control your life at a very deep, almost unconscious level, and it shows how money is turned into something negative during childhood and adolescence. It took the Money Beyond Belief course to release it.

The very last sketch I ever did was of a horse. I had been given a art book for Christmas and the sketch I drew was actually very good. What I know today which I didn't know back then is when I wandered dreamily downstairs into the kitchen to show my parents this picture shortly after I'd finished it and remarked on whether it was worth framing, I'd walked into a battleground where everyone had literally just paused for breath. So of course, my question of whether it was worth framing was met by possibly one of the most over-exaggerated responses in the history of hissy fits. My father hit the roof. He ranted and raved like a man possessed (and needing a touch of thorazine) about how expensive frames were, that I had no concept of how much things cost and walked around all day with my head in the sand playing around with silly bits of nothing.

My brain immediately tried to digest the hissy fit. What just happened? What was its meaning? It came to this conclusion:

a) Getting a frame is expensive and whatever went into it would have to be really good to justify the expense

b) My picture was referred to as a silly bit of nothing so obviously the picture wasn't very good.

c) There was not going to be a frame even discussed because the picture wasn't very good.

d) If the picture wasn't very good why would I want to keep drawing mediocre crap?

My brain decided that the rational course of action was to a) not bother continuing to draw and b) never buy a frame unless you earn a lot of money. I stopped drawing and to this day I have never bought a frame unless it was for a present for someone else because I have never considered that I earnt enough money to be able to afford one. Not even during my darkest hours where I ran around shopping with credit cards falling out of my purse at the feet of grateful retailers. Nope - not even then!

Thanks to Money Beyond Belief I now know that my parents were probably fighting about money (my mother's description of a lean 'money' period seems to coincide with about the right time of this event) and having just had a humdinger about it didn't want someone wandering into the picture and mentioning buying something. I was a bystander that's all. My brain just went into protective mode and as brains are designed to do made meaning out of something essentially meaningless and should have been ignored.

So go have a think about your beliefs about money and your memories of money and see if you can link the two. If you find your brain won't let you, go buy Money Beyond Belief to help you start. I'm now going to try and find a sketch pad and see if there's anything left in these fingers that can be brought back to life again.

Oh so quiet...shhhhhh!

After a thoroughly exhausting day yesterday burning jam, dropping things and generally worrying and being grumpy I decided to have a nice quiet day today. Martin and I were due to go to a radio control day together but I cried off at the last minute in favour of quiet pastimes. As Martin's flying buddy was going to be there I figured he wouldn't really notice if I wasn't there and I just didn't feel like speaking or interacting in any way at all with people. In fact when Martin came back in at 7pm I was still being very quiet, although after a day of activity it was a contented quiet, and the poor sod thought he had done something wrong. I did wonder why he started running round emptying rubbish, putting out the recycling bins and offering to dry up. He even ran down to the pub to pick up two bottles of Smirnoff Ice for me while I cooked dinner.

Now, this may seem strange but when I get into one of these quiet 'me' moods I do housework. I don't know why I always have. It's grounding I think and far more suitable than jam-making when you have things on your mind. Housework, even done badly, is still housework. I think it's also the visibility factor - when things are clean and organised it produces a great deal of satisfaction and your thoughts immediately seem clearer and more logical. Have you noticed that?

So at 10am I was up and tackling my large ironing pile in front of the Godfather Part III, in between burst of gunfire cracking through four loads of washing. There's nothing more satisfying than seeing a completely empty washing basket and watching things flapping on the line, especially when it's sheets and you know you're going to be sleeping on them later that night all fresh and sweet smelling.

Of course once I'd done the washing basket I felt an urge to tackle the rest of the room. I ended up dragging everything off the floor and out from under the bed to thoroughly hoovered. Of course then I was compelled to follow the trail of crumbs and fluff out the bedroom door, across the landing, down the stairs and round the entire ground floor of the house! It was a marathon session and I filled up two Dyson cylinders full. Then the bed got changed, pillows fluffed, and sheets washed.

By this time I was itching to tackle a job I had been putting off for around a year and this house has around 50 at any one time.  Today I pulled down the long velvet curtains in our bedroom and shortened them to sill level. Now this may not seem particularly important in the scheme of things, but our cats have got me the measure of me and know my weak spot. When they want attention in the middle of the night, they jump up and hang off the velvet curtains knowing I'll wake up in a flash and chase them off. A game then commences throughout the night until my aim with a cushion is accurate enough that they don't want to play anymore and walk off in a ego-bruised huff.

My beautiful velvet curtains have gone from the very epitomy of elegance to tatty strips of fabric held together by prayer. There are great rips over the bottom half and patches of five werewolf-esque slashes where cats have jumped up and slid down with all claws extended and dug well in. There are even large fabric flaps where slashes have joined over time.

Well no more. Because three hours after starting my beautiful velvet curtains are back and fit to sill level perfectly. I defy any professional curtain maker to have done a better job. I go to bed a happy, contented and tuckered out women.