Trip out to Malvern

Fabulous display of Bluebells on the Herefordshire side of the Malvern Hills, Jubilee Drive/British Camp

Logging the hours, making some gift tags and a visit to Newent

Yet more rain fell overnight - the ground is so sodden there is nowhere for it to go and we are getting flooded patches in the wood, garden  and many of the raised veg beds and flower beds are under water.

Today I got on with sorting out documents to do with filing my Tax return, I have all I need to hand and am just inputting the data to the website - I think I may be owed some back tax, but am not 100% sure - we shall see.


I have also been sorting out the hours I volunteered as a Master Composter and Master Gardener, although I am very good at recording my hours I am much less good at actually sending them off to Garden Organic, and the same goes for expenses! I really must get more on top of this aspect of volunteer work.

Late morning we decided we were fed up with the rain and being indoors. We needed a few bits of shopping and had planned to go out, but rather than visit Ledbury we went to Newent for a pub lunch and a look around. Newent has some excellent charity shops as well as a couple of craft shops which I love to visit.. So after a very nice lunch, I visited The  Patchwork Shop and The Wool Garden  so I had a "fix" of crafty chat. I also collected some money from the sale of some stuff in The Stock Exchange  ( a shop selling " pre loved" stuff  - clothes, shoes, dvds, books etc), while Compostman browsed the books in the charity shops. He found an interesting History book but I found nothing I really wanted to buy(!) so I just came away with some quilting thread, bought with the money from The Stock Exchange sales :).

We returned home past very flooded fields in time to greet Compostgirl from the school bus and then after all the evening jobs were finished I settled down to some crochet, watching Big Bang Theory re runs on E4 and making some gift tags from cards.

These are from Christmas cards

And these are from "other" cards and will be good for non mid winter presents

Anyone else make their own tags? I guess a lot of you do :)

Message on my bottle

The first parcel which arrived yesterday was a very special bottle of washing up liquid from Ecover UK :-) Can you see why it is special?

Thank you Lauren from Ecover HQ, I have used a bit already and it smells lovely :-)


As you may remember, I am off to Hampton Court Flower Show sometime this week, thanks to some tickets given to me by Ecover UK. I can't wait to see The Ecover Garden and meet designer Matthew Childs :-) I have spent a very hot couple of hours online today making sure I have all the trains worked out; yesterday we went over to Malvern and I gave my friend Maria her tickets just in case we get separated - I don't want for her to not be able to get on the train!

I am a bit concerned about the heat we are expecting this week  - travelling for 4 hours each way on trains and underground in this heat is not something I am looking forward to, but it is such an adventure to be going somewhere so exciting that I am sure I will manage :-)

Message in our bottle

No, not the Police hit single!

I was lucky enough to be invited to London yesterday by Ecover to the launch of their new campaign ‘Message in our Bottle’ - but sadly I could not attend ( my back is not yet up to a 3  hour each way train journey yet)

As I was sent the press release, though, I thought I would share it with you all as it sounds really interesting. and is a positive step forward in both reducing packaging waste AND reducing marine pollution.

From the Ecover press release... 

Ecological innovator, Ecover, today unveiled plans to launch a world-first in packaging in 2014 - an entirely new form of fully sustainable and recyclable plastic incorporating post-consumer recyclables (PCR), Plantastic – plastic made from 100% sugarcane and plastic fished from the sea, along with an influential art project designed to attract mass attention.

Ecover launched  100% sugarcane-derived plastic (Plantastic) as packaging  in 2010. This was followed by a further move to tackle the growing plastic waste mountain, resulting in its most recent announcement of the inclusion of PCR into Plantastic bottles.

The press launch yesterday was to announce the aspiration to create an entirely new plastic incorporating a percentage of sea waste into its Plantastic/PCR packaging by 2014. 

Ecover says...

Research from the Marine Conservation Society reveals that plastic debris accounts for almost 60 per cent of all litter found on UK beaches and it is widely recognised that vast amounts of beach waste ends up in the sea.  Working closely with Waste Free Oceans (WFO), Logoplaste (who are supporting the development of the new materials) UK plastic recycling plant Closed Loop, Ecover will be working with fishing communities to collect plastic* and reintroduce it into the recycling chain via its bottles – a solution which will help protect the delicate sea-based eco-systems and give a whole new meaning to ‘catch of the day’.  Trials have already begun on the exact mix of the three plastics which allow the brand to deliver what will be the first ever fully sustainable and recyclable plastic.

 The press launch was also used to unveil an ambitious art project designed to influence and engage.

 Ecover say...

Renowned sculptor Ptolemy Elrington, will be creating a free-standing, attention-grabbing art installation which will be unveiled at Glastonbury 2013.  Using recycled content – including sea waste – the installation has been designed as a focal meeting point for festival goers – and an education opportunity into the bargain.  

After Glastonbury, the new installation will then take pride of place at the RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show alongside Ecover’s show garden by Matthew Childs. An upcoming gardener, Childs won the Conceptual Gardens category at Hampton Court in 2012. This year he is designing the ‘Ecover Recovery Garden’ which will also be championing plastic from the seas, and will help further convey the importance of sustainability within plastic materials.

All this sounds really interesting and I was really sorry I had to miss out on attending. But, even though I could not go to the launch Ecover sent me the goody bag I would have received if I had gone, which was jolly nice of them and which I will enjoy using. The bottles are made from Plantastic - if you use Ecover products look for a distinctive green and blue Plant-astic logo

What do you think about this? I have mixed feelings about using land to grow sugar cane to make plastic, rather than using it for food BUT I totally applaud the idea of retrieving plastic waste from the seas and recycling it.

If only we could stop people throwing the stuff into the seas, in the first place...!

Visit to the Scrapstore

I had a trip to the Scrapstore in Worcester ltoday, with Compostman. I am running various recycled material based craft workshops over the next few months, so I needed to stock up on supplies.

The Worcestershire Resource Exchange ( aka Scrapstore) is very well run, clean, tidy, well thought out and with loads of really good items for the bargin price of a trolley load for £10 ish, if you are a member. membership is worth while if you go more than once or twice a year!

I got lots of lovely card making supplies, also a raffia weaving kit that is excellent and will be great for craft workshops, lots of art supplies, some cross stitch kits and oven baked clay making kits, some big wool carpet samples which are ideal as rugs in 3 places we need to buy rugs for, and Compostman got lots of wire and a 6 ' length of slotted angle.

All this wonderousness for £22. The raffia kit alone was £5, reduced from £40 online.

I estimate that, if I had bought all of it from a craft supplier, it would have cost me in excess of £150.

If you have a Scrapstore nearby, I recomend using it!

On a sadder note, Treacle the hen is injured again and sitting down when she tries to walk....