A busy week

It's been a busy week! A slight crisis at work has meant I've done more hours than usual, at all times of the day, including staying overnight. I also went on a surprise visit to my family at the weekend. All this would have been fine, but I've had a dreadful cold too, and been completely worn out. I've been burning tea tree oil in an attempt to avoid giving it to guests. 

We had two guests last night, and we had curry, baked potatoes, and home made bread. I also made a version of another Entertaining with Stork recipe - a ginger and cherry loaf, with banana instead of the ginger. It was beautiful straight out of the oven with hot custard, and tasted very nice cold this morning too.

In a break from the phd this morning I made another batch of the face scrub. I've enjoyed using this for the past couple of weeks, it feels nice and smells gorgeous. It's quite abrasive the first day or two, then softens a bit as the days go on. This little jar holds enough for about a week, so it's a scrub for a couple of days, then a paste for 5 or 6 days, then the new batch starts as a scrub again. It works well. 

Something unusual happened this morning - a man knocked on the door and asked if we'd like to buy some fresh fish. I vaguely remember there being a fish man when I was little (although I don't think we ever bought anything). I don't even eat fish, but we decided to have some for Peter. We had to change our minds slightly when we discovered the price... But we got 5 pieces (about a pound) of oak smoked kippers for £8. Probably not a bargain, but apparently it was very nice, and it'll do a few meals. 

I've said before that we spend lots of time watching the birds out of the kitchen window. The other day we were having a cuppa and this squirrel turned up.

He stayed for ages, snuffling up all the seeds on the bird table, and ignoring a wood pigeon that was trying to intimidate him. I know some people try to keep squirrels off their bird food, but we don't - and isn't he cute?

Working hard and enjoying life

I've had another productive day today, which has included lots of writing and finishing off a phd chapter. Slowly chipping away at it is doing the trick after all! 

This is the view that greeted us through the kitchen window on coming down for breakfast this morning. 

Our garden is small, and the bird table close to the kitchen window, so we spend many an hour, tea in hand, watching the antics of the birds. This wood pigeon and it's mate, and occasionally another couple, are daily visitors, and make us laugh by sliding incompetently down the branches, being intimidated by sparrows, and sitting right on top of the pile of seeds like Smaug the dragon. You can see the lilac buds in the background too. 

As my toiletries run out, I'm experimenting with making replacements. This morning I tried a face scrub, adapting a recipe from The Fragrant Pharmacy by Valerie Ann Wormwood. It's a lovely book about using essential oils to promote general well being and healing, and I often refer to it to deal with cuts and bruises and colds. 

The face scrub is just a couple of spoons of medium oatmeal mixed with a teaspoon of sweet almond oil and a couple of drops of lavender. The book called for ground almonds too, but I didn't have any. 

I patted it onto my face with damp fingers, and massaged it in. It was beautiful! It smells divine, and feels gorgeous, and there was no need for moisturiser. My skin has stayed soft all day. I'll definitely be experimenting further soon. 

Talking of experimenting... I checked the soap again today. There's a layer of oil that's separated and formed on the top. I had a scout round the internet, and found this site which recommends checking the recipe and remelting, which is what I did. The result looks much more like I think it should, so it's wrapped in a towel now and I'll check tomorrow if it's hardened. 

All in all, a good day!