Monday 3 August 2009

Friday 15 May 2009

Wolfram Alpha

This is exciting...link on side bar!

Monday 9 March 2009

Our wholesome homemade meals slideshow

I've always had a passion for food...taste, colours, textures, aroma, vitamin content. I started encouraging my boys whilst in their highchair to be involved in the preparation of meals and also to experiment with cuisine and foods from various cultures. As a result not only do all three boys eat a very varied and well balanced diet but they have also developed a keen interest in making up their own recipes, presenting meals and serving in ways that appeal to the eye. I believe a wholesome diet preferably organic is the backbone to good health. So my hope is that whatever toxins we are exposed to throughout life whether it be environmentally, socially or any other which way...the vertebrae which forms this particular backbone will be one of our most important and solid allies. As a great friend says "It's the belly that keeps the back up!" Useful links on side bar where you can find out about how to balance your diet and interesting information on vitamin and mineral contents.


Here are some of the photos of our recipes for our Groovy gang rainbow recipe book. The concept behind this recipe book is to encourage children to eat a good variety of wholesome foods...involve them in a fun way with preparation...it also includes many ways to encourage toddlers to experiment with food...labour and energy saving tips...whist using as much local organic produce possible on a tight budget!

Our book will be available to buy as a paper back and e-book as soon as we have finalized all the writings and everything else with the self publishing company....Thought I'd give you a sneak preview....I will provide links for purchasing when everything is finalized.



P.S Occassionally some of the images are presenting themselves twice on this slide show, don't know why, doesn't seem to happen every time but bear with it as eventually you should see 50 seperate images!

Sushi night and preparing the vegtable patch

Thought we'd have a go at making sushi for ourselves, couldn't get wasabi paste without lots of horrible E numbers in it, so just used horseradish instead this time....have learned not to spread it onto the nori sheets and next time need to make sure I have a much sharper knife to slice with.... will also remember not to wet the edge of the Nori sheets too much!!! Was a good night and they tasted delicious, had a laugh too as we were inclined to fill the nori a little too full as though they were fajitas.... wooops if at first you don't succeed try...try...again!

Have added more recent images to the art page dated 14-03-09 for sketches, water colours and pastels too.





I had a vegetable garden years ago when we had a massive garden it was so nice, the taste, smell of the earth preparing fresh veg just lifted out of the soil. We had leeks, potatoes, lettuce, cabbage, carrots, spring onion, peas, tomatoes, strawberries and chives along with all the various herbs. My organic veg box has not been such good quality so decided to grow our own again, had wanted to wait until we had a bigger garden but can't wait any longer...Dean started preparing the ground last week and Craig has drawn out the plans and bought the seeds....Cmmmon SUN!!!




Tuesday 3 March 2009

Nutrition...remedies, ideas.

James Wong uses food to create natural beauty products and remedies, something I love doing myself with essential oils and foods...

Below are two recipes from the first of six programmes by James Wong....WELL worth watching! "Grow your own Drugs" programme and link details below.


Sleep remedy

Ingredients:

3-4 handfuls of hops
(can be bought from garden centres, online or better still grow your own)

3-4 handfuls of lavender
(much cheaper to grow your own...straight into the ground or in pots)

Method:
Sew up the sides of a square of breathable material and fill with hops and lavender. leave beside your pillow or at the side of your bed.

James Wong used this remedy on the programme with a few people who had some massive problems with insomnia and they all experienced profound positive changes with their sleep pattern!

Cold remedy Chicken soup to boost the immune system

Ingredients:

2 litres of organic chicken or veg stock
2 onions
approx 4 inches of ginger
2 chili's
12 shitake mushrooms
3 chicken thighs
Couple of handfuls of Goji berries (Used in TCM..Can be grown in pots or bought dried from health food stores)
10 cloves of garlic


Method:

Bring to boil then Simmer stock for 1 1/2 hrs with Chopped onions, grated or finely sliced ginger, chilies, mushrooms sliced or whole and chicken thighs.....add gogi berries and chopped garlic in the last half hour....break up the chicken thighs remove skin and bones and serve.


James Wong tries out more of his home-made remedies.

Ethnobotanist and gardener James Wong turns the spotlight on flowers this week, as he continues to explore plant-based natural remedies and beauty treatments.

He reveals the historical use of some well-known flowers to relieve the symptoms of three common minor ailments. Using elderflowers, James shows how to makes lozenges which could soothe a sore throat; with marigold flowers, he makes a gel for acne; and he makes a cream for eczema from violas.

People with each of these ailments, who are keen to try out a more natural approach to their health problems, can try out James's remedies.

BBC TWO Monday 9 March 2009Next week, James reveals more about the fascinating properties of trees.

Grow Your Own Drugs Ep 2/6
Monday 9 March
8.30-9.00pm BBC TWO
www.bbc.co.uk/growyourowndrugs

Sunday 22 February 2009

Autumn at Beatrix Potter gardens slideshow

As a child Beatrix and her family enjoyed long summer holidays in the Birnam area of Perthshire. Staying in the countryside, away from the more formal life they led in London, Beatrix and her young brother, Bertram, were able to study the local wildlife. It was from Eastwood, Dunkeld, in 1893 that Beatrix wrote the now famous picture letter to Noel Moore which was later to become The Tale of Peter Rabbit. The following day she wrote a letter to Noel’s brother, Eric, about a frog called Jeremy Fisher. People she had met there on holiday inspired the loveable characters of Mrs. Tiggy-winkle and Mr. Jeremy Fisher.

Beatrix Potter is renowned not only as an author and illustrator, but also as an eminent scientist. During her time in the Birnam area she met and formed a special friendship with Charles McIntosh - the Perthshire Naturalist - sharing a mutual interest in fungi and wildlife.

The Birnam Institute houses a wonderful exhibition telling the tale of this 'Fascinating Acquaintance', and the nearby Beatrix Potter Garden magically recreates the lovely countryside which so impressed the young Beatrix Potter and features flowers, fungi and characters associated with her relationship with the area. Footpaths lead past the houses of Mr. Tod and Mrs. Tiggy-winkle , alongside the stream and pond where Mr. Jeremy Fisher lives and 'Peter Rabbit's burrow'.


The Birnam Institute, Exhibition Centre and Garden, Station Road, Birnam, Perthshire.

Below is a slide show of our day at the Beatrix Potter Gardens....I have warm memories of many an evening snuggled up reading the tales of Jemima Puddleduck and all her friends and their adventures to my kids when they were smaller...We have strolled these gardens a number of times but it is all especially beautiful in the autumn....Dunkeld with its architecture, art, scenery and scrumptious dining experience is beautiful all year round.

Link for art exhibition sculptural ceramics at Ivy cottage venue.. by Shona Leitch is on side bar. There were a number of galleries featuring local art throughout this week in October 2008 with many local artists also exhibiting at certain times in their own homes.







Saturday 14 February 2009

Sketches, pastels and water colours by Lorna Cameron

Some more recent paintings inspired by nature and dance....What I'm working on from now on is creating more depth and movement in paintings named after my favourite dances....


The Offering
Storm Brewing
Serenity
Mamboleo
Arboreum

Rhumba


Waltz







Below......Apart from all the ZZZzzzz this is what I've been doing whilst in bed recovering....Yes even though I covered it with a large towel my bed covers did end up with paint on them and glue and clay! .Happy Valentines day!












Friday 13 February 2009

November Art exhibition at gallery 8

It would seem I've been neglecting my blog over the last few months....Just had a lot to deal with that's all...So reflecting back to November...I have some photos of our art exhibition to share and over the next while I will be sharing more adventures, creations and discoveries...Some of the photos are a little out of focus which is unfortunate as it makes it harder to see the finer detail or true vibrancy of colour.

The art exhibition was at Gallery 8 in Aberdour(web addy link in side bar). Lewis very kindly cleared the gallery of all his work and gave us the whole studio for five days free of charge. We exhibited work from the clients of re-create Special needs group and some of our own work....Half of the proceeds went back into the re-create account to sustain future development. We all designed tshirts and I decided to try my hand at some canvas painting using gouache, water colours and acrylics, I was delighted to find out that I love to paint...For now it seems most relaxing for me to paint abstractly and it was more of an experiment than anything...as I had bumped into an old school pal of mine at an art exhibition and she wondered had I done anything with my art as apparently I was very good at it at secondary school...I have no recollection of this at all and was pleasantly surprised when I sold two canvases, a t-shirt and a poetry book!

Last year half of my poetry frames went to new homes, which was encouraging considering I spent the best part of the year struggling with ill health amongst other things. Now having overcome obstacles, a fresher perspective is shinning through creatively as I am beginning to feel more like myself again....Looking forward to many more developments as I pace my creative self alongside my commitments.




Sheila's work...Sheila is a textile artist and photographer, she also runs the re-create workshops.





Ali's work and she is wearing the t-shirt she designed
.







Ali's other T-shirt design




Gillians Masterpiece



Arthur's masterpieces...Arthur paints and weaves using only his head which has a helmet and copper pipe attached in which he inserts either a paintbrush or a fork for weaving...Fantastic! He sold most t-shirts and his achievements were recorded in a local art and poetry book.





Dora's weaving, which wasn't quite finished in time for the exhibition





My creations






My son Craig playing his guitar and some of the guests who attended the preview night.