Recycled Planters and Plant Labels

We were so lucky to get an allotment last year in summer and because it was too late in the year and wildly overgrown, we only started to work it this year. We got some seeds on sale from a local garden centre in autumn to get ready for planting this year and when the lockdown restrictions came, I knew that gardening would keep me busy. But one thing that I didn't have enough of and could no longer get were planters. Internet is full of inspiration and you are just a click away from the next idea for your projects. So here are my solutions as inspired by other keen gardeners and recyclers. 

Lockdown Sketchbook

Take the lockdown isolation, gorgeous weather and an eagerness to experiment with drawing flowers, my sketchbook started to look rather colourful these days. I am not doing it in the hope to transform the sketchings into paintings, but for capturing the flowers from my garden on a different media other than a photo. Not to mention the practising factor which I have been doing rather sporadically lately.

Sundried Tomato, Pesto and Cheese Palmiers

Dyeing Eggs with Turmeric and Onion Skin

As Easter is fast approaching, I thought I would show you how I dyed real eggs last year using natural products - turmeric for yellow and onion skin for red-orange.

Starting Sugar Free February with Healthy Banana Bread as Seen on BBC Good Food

I am not signing up for this challenge as I have no experience with raising money and I have no idea what to do and where to start, but I just want to give up added sugar this February for my own health. However, if I see other people doing it, I will definitely support them. 

My relationship with sugar (in fact, cakes) is a love-hate one and it goes back a few years now when I started to develop a sweet tooth (no idea how as I was into savoury). On one hand, I am craving cakes and I would eat them every day for breakfast but on the other hand, I know that too much sugar is not good for you. Then I discovered no-bake ones with no sugar but dried fruits and maple syrup, yet I would still slip back into the old habits of eating old-fashioned full-of-sugar indulgent cakes.

A Very Folksy Christmas

Banoffee Traybake Inspired by BBC Good Food

Luxurious, indulgent and decadent - this Banoffee traybake is the ultimate dessert for the dark autumn weekend days when you just want to stay in and feel cosy. I thoroughly enjoyed making it, photographing it and, of course, eating it. You can find the recipe here. Enjoy! 

Recycle, Reuse, Re-purpose: Garden Planter in a Bathtub

When we moved into our new home, in the bathroom we had both a shower cabin and a bathtub. As we are shower people, we decided to take the bathtub out and make some more useful room for storage and re-purpose the bathtub as a planter in the garden. We cut it around the edges to make it shorter and we started filling it with soil, compost and grit. What we hope is to have flowers and plants all year round, meaning bulbs in spring and various summer flowers later on as well as decorative grasses for the winter months. I also added the painted rocks to have some colours for the in-between flowerings. 

Other Arty Projects: Painted Rocks

Painted rocks are so in at the moment, you can see them everywhere in people's gardens, in schoolyards, on the Internet, everywhere. It is such an easy thing to do and the results are simply spectacular, no matter what artistic ability you have. It is a great project for all the family, too; I am sure children would enjoy seeing something pretty coming out of their hands and brushes. 

For my rocks, I used acrylic paints, thin brushes and Internet images for the colourful bugs - the species I captured are Coreid Bug Nymphs, Fungus Beetle and Jewel Beetle. I also painted some strawberries and primulas and I just love how colourful they all are. Here are some photos with the results. Enjoy!  😊