Calendula hand cream

This weekend I have finally got round to making some handcream, which I've been meaning to do for a few weeks now.The skin on my hands has got terribly dry this winter, a combination of cold weather and washing in cold water, I will be very glad when we have hot running water.

I've made some calendula cream and i am very pleased with it, it certainly seems to be working as well and if not better than the cream bought form the shop a few weeks ago, so here is the recipe:

place 50ml of oil (I used olive) in an enammel pan or pyrex bowl, with a good pinch of dried marigold petals. Sit this to steep somewhere warm such as the airing cupboard or on to of the range (warm plate only). Allow to steep for a couple of hours, or overnight.

When oil is ready strain and add appox 1 tbsp of gratted beeswax and melt into the oil.Place another good pinch of marigold into a jug and pour on 50ml hot water, allow this to steep for about half an hour. strain and put back in jug and reheat.

Making sure both oil and water are hot (but not boiling) very slowly with a balloon whisk, whisk the water into the oil only adding a tiny amount at a time (like making mayo), if you do it too quick it will split.

Spoon into a jar and hey presto.

Also finally the snow drops are out in full flower in the garden, took them long enough.

Scruff the chook

Here is scruff the chook, our one remaining battery chicken and current freeloading hen as she has stopped laying. She looks a mess at the moment as she is moulting again, but when we adopted her she had virtually no feathers at all hense why she was nicknamed scruff. We used t0 have 6 battery chooks and she was the smallest, scruffiest, hen pecked of them but she has out lived them all.

Hopefully we will get some friends for her soon now the phone works, although she seems to be on very friendly terms with the local blackbird lol

Chitting

Finally got the seed potatos the other day and set them away chitting in the caraven, this is the first time we have grown potatos as a propper crop, I grew a few in pots a couple of years ago. This years varieties are Swift, Edzel blue, Desiree, and Pink fir apple. We will probably grow more next year when we are more established here.

Recycled puss cats

A few weeks ago we adopted two pussy cats from the cats protection and they are settling in brilliantly. Poppy is 10years and Milly is one of her daughters and she is approx 1-2years but act like a kitten, completely bonkers. Here is poppy staring at fresh air and milly sneaking through the garden .

Mad phone men

Finally yesterday the phone men came and put the new cable in so we now are connected to the outside world, yay. Unfortunately they didn't bury the cable it just runs up the side of the drive in the dyke and I dont know if they are comming back to bury it or not! They should have arrived on monday when the weather was nice but didn't show up, instead they arrived yesterday in blizzards, go figure.

A New purpose

After being inspired by many other peoples blogs, I felt it was about time to update my own, afterall it has been 2years almost to the day since I last used it. But now it is with a new purpose, where before it was only to record recipes I tried out (still an obsession) it will now be to record our adventures up here on our smallholding on Orkney, which we moved to in November.