Tutorial: {Making Peg Doll Angels}

{Soulfood Friday}

Beautiful Winter Light.

 


Below are some beautiful traditional Carols that we have been listening to over the last couple of weeks while baking florentines, eating mince pies with cups of tea and putting up decorations.









Every Friday I'll be pausing to notice something from the week that has nourished my soul. 
* 
A special, sacred-everyday moment captured on camera, or perhaps a snippet from a book, a recipe still warm from the kitchen or something whimsical that simply made me smile.
 * 
Here are a few simple things that have fed my soul this week. 

What has inspired/fed/nourished your soul this week friends? 
*
 Feel free to link up to your own soulful spaces either at the bottom of this post or in the comments.

 I will be taking a break from Soulfood Friday Posts until the second Friday of the New Year. Look forward to seeing you then :)


   

    An InLinkz Link-up

   

Hedgerow Medicine

Come November the Rosehips are ripe and ready for picking.

I like to dry a batch to keep over Winter. To dry them I place them on a baking tray in the lowest possible oven setting for about 6 hours, checking regularly to avoid burning.
^

To make a vitamin C rich Rosehip syrup I add the Rosehips to a pan of water. Measurements are rough but anything similar to the ratio above should work.

I leave the Hips to simmer on a low heat with a couple of Star Anise until they soften and their skins begin to plump up and burst. 

I crush the Hips against the side of the pan with a fork and once the mixture reduces by about a quarter I sieve it into another pan where I add honey by the tablespoon until the mixture becomes sweet but not cloyingly so.

I further reduce the syrupy mixture by simmering until it glistens and thickens. Then once it has cooled a little, not too much as it will be hard to pour by then, I freeze it in an ice tray. One ice cube adds a perfect dash of sweetness and extra vitamin C to a mug of Berry, Ginger or Cinnamon Herbal Tea.

I make an Elderberry Syrup in a similar way adding Juniper Berries, Clementine halves, a Lemon Half and about two inches of fresh Ginger along with the Star Anise when simmering. I don't add more than a couple of tablespoons of water to the pan with the berries as the warmth from the stove soon unlocks their glossy, deep magenta juices creating it's own liquid.

I also Simmer the Elderberry mixture for a little longer so all the flavors can seep fully into the aromatic syrup, (at least two hours on low heat.)

Once the Elderberry syrup has cooled a little I freeze it into an ice cube tray. One cube of Elderberry Syrup is delicious stirred into fresh, natural yogurt or added to a Juice or Smoothie.
*

I made this wonderfully soothing honey mixture while trying to recover from a bout of Tonsillitis earlier this Autumn.  I chopped some Garlic and fresh Ginger into some honey and sprinkled in some fresh Thyme although Sage, Lemon Balm or Rosemary would probably work as well. Do however, remember to avoid Rosemary if pregnant or breast feeding. The honey absorbed the properties of the steeped herbs and had a real tang to it. I took a teaspoonful 4 times a day.

Soulfood Friday.

One of my favourite things about the season is getting all our best loved Christmas/Winter stories down from the shelves.

Stories that will weave themselves in word and image into the memories of these cold, grey, cosy evenings.

What are your favourite things about the season of Advent/Christmas/Winter?

Every Friday I'll be pausing to notice something from the week that has nourished my soul. 
* 
A special, sacred-everyday moment captured on camera, or perhaps a snippet from a book, a recipe still warm from the kitchen or something whimsical that simply made me smile.
 * 
Here are a few simple things that have fed my soul this week. 

What has inspired/fed/nourished your soul this week friends? 
*
 Feel free to link up to your own soulful spaces either at the bottom of this post or in the comments


 
   

    An InLinkz Link-up

   

{Soulfood Friday}

For Soulfood Friday this week I'm sharing a picture of some cranberry oat cookies that Boo made all herself using her own recipe which I would share except, of course she forgot to write it down and well, it's full of secret ingredients anyway don't you know :)

   
Every Friday I'll be pausing to notice something from the week that has nourished my soul. 
* 
A special, sacred-everyday moment captured on camera, or perhaps a snippet from a book, a recipe still warm from the kitchen or something whimsical that simply made me smile.
 * 
Here are a few simple things that have fed my soul this week. 

What has inspired/fed/nourished your soul this week friends? 
*
 Feel free to link up to your own soulful spaces either at the bottom of this post or in the comments.

 
   

    An InLinkz Link-up

   

Kin

Apparently scientists can trace the DNA of every 7 billion people on this planet back to two common ancestors who lived around 135,000 years ago.

Maybe this is why we all share the same basic needs, desires, dreams, hopes and fears.We all bleed red, weep salt tears and laugh at silly jokes.

It's just that strange ideas about borders, flags, nationalities, tribes, anthems and countries get in the way from time to time.

Half of my family has to pay enormous fees to send their documents halfway across the world in order to apply for a visa to visit us never knowing whether they will be denied the freedom to travel or not. Are they criminals? No they were just born in Albania.

Surely us, ordinary folk of the world who have no say in whether bombs get dropped or how the money gets divided or where the borderlines are drawn can see through the manipulation of those who seek to divide us?

Maybe we can stand on tip toes, stretch our necks and see over those walls.
Maybe we don't have to call off the rescue boats.
Maybe we are just kin who have not met before.

Cartoon Kate: Below an excerpt from{The Calais Cartoon} To see more click here.