All Change

Sourced from HERE

So things have been very quiet recently for Springy Beard on the world wide web. But in reality things have been a little bit crazy and I have been having to make some very difficult decisions. After much soul searching I decided to close the Springy Beard shop.

After a year and a half of doing markets I started to look into how to push the business forward. I realised without an injection of lots of cash and time, I just can't move forward. It has also come down to personal time. The day job has gotten super busy and our home still needs lots (and lots and lots...) of renovation. I really want to devote my weekends to improving my home rather than doing markets.

I now realise that I want to be my own boss but I don't want to do it alone. I want a business partner who will share the load and help inspire me. To me, this person has to be my other half Carl. Over the last month or so I have slowly been selling off my stock, and with the newly acquired space me and the other half can now share an office. We are currently brainstorming plans and ideas for a future business together. So Springy Beard will not be gone forever, it will just evolve into something new and exciting.

I hope to continue with occasional posts about what we are up to so please check in on us. I don't know if it is the change in the weather, I do love Autumn, but I sense these next few months are going to be great!
xx

Inspiration: Rachel Cave

Loving all of this from Rachel Cave...

xx

Allotment: Plant Markers

Things are coming along nicely at the allotment. We have one bed completed with fruits growing, the foundations for the shed complete and plans for the other beds ready and waiting. One thing I did realise I would need is plant markers - especially when someone plants a redcurrent and black current next to each other and then can't remember which is which! I decided to hunt the internet for some inspiration...

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I am torn between the bricks and the bottle, at the moment leaning more towards the bottles, mainly because I think it would be nice to have a drink in celebration to every plant!

xx

Tutorial: Elderflower Cordial

One of my interests is foraging, but in the past I have had very little opportunity to exercise this pursuit, but with the allotment being surrounded by beautiful countryside I have been keeping my eye out for any edible goodies in the wild. We have noticed some sloes and some blackberry bushes but the first on my foraging list which is ripe for harvesting at the moment is Elderflower!

There is a lovely looking elderflower tree near the allotment which I couldn't resist picking. I took a bunch home and decided to make some elder flower cordial. I took the recipe from one of my favourite books, called Through the Kitchen Window by Susan Hill. If you don't own it but dream of a country kitchen then this book is for you. It has inspired me for many years.

YOU WILL NEED:

• A large bowl
• A tea towel
• A colander
• A large spoon
• A sieve
• Large bottle for storing

INGREDIENTS:

• 25 heads of elder flowers
• 2lb sugar
• 2oz citric acid
• 2 lemons, zest and juice
• 2 pints cold water

METHOD:
1. Remove large stalks and leaves from the elderflower and place in the colander
2. Give the flowers a wash under running water to remove any bugs or dirt
3. Place the flowers in a large bowl and cover with the sugar, citric acid, lemon zest and lemon juice
4. Cover the ingredients with the water and give a stir. Leave covered with a tea towel for 2 days stirring occasionally
5. After 2 days sieve the ingredients thoroughly to ensure no flowers remain and decant into a bottle 

Use the cordial by diluting it with water or lemonade to taste and keep in the fridge once open. Why not try adding some cordial to your cocktails this summer for a lovely refreshing kick or make in a larger batch, decant into smaller bottles and save for Christmas presents (yes I just said Christmas)! One of my favourite things when I am feeling a bit under the weather is to make elderflower cordial with hot water, you can even add a slice of lemon and a spoon full of honey to make it truly medicinal.
xx

Bathroom Wishlist

I have started collecting together my Wish-List for the bathroom makeover! It is very exciting as it gives you a sneaky glimpse at what the end results may be! xx

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Sanding for the Big Boys

I thought I would give you some of the background story to us prepping the house before moving in, we wanted to try and get as much messy work done as possible. This involved stripping out as much of our wood cladding as we could, steaming off the lovely textured wall paper that covered every wall and sanding down the floors....

To do the floors we rented an industrial sander. Luckily we have a tool hire place just down the road and to rent the sander for the weekend ended up being about £90. It was so heavy though! But thankfully I have my amazingly spacious Berlingo, so transporting was not a problem - getting it up the stairs was a 3 man job!

It saved us so much time and actually gives very good results. It is not as difficult to manoeuvre as you would have thought, once you switch it on it doesn't feel as heavy to push backwards and forwards as it is then positioned on its wheels. My main tip though? Make sure you have hammered down all the nails in the floor properly before you start sanding, seeing sparks fly out from under your industrial sander is not a good sign!
xx

Summer Drinks

My aim this year has been to enjoy every bit of sunshine that I can. If you are in agreement then I highly recommend investing in some items to make your summer drinks a real statement! xx

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