tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-79811101996494163072011-07-08T07:34:48.562-07:00Sky Blue 1971http://www.blogger.com/profile/01812045784084266102noreply@blogger.comBlogger171100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7981110199649416307.post-52438358457641938372010-02-17T20:24:00.000-08:002010-02-17T20:24:33.184-08:00

So I was sorting out my cross stitch floss today and considering buying some of those stitchbows that you slip the floss around and hang up. Well, being thrifty and not wanting to wait ages for them to arrive from e-Bay. I know patience is a virtue but I wasn't blessed with many virtues and patience has never been my strong point. This in mind I was suddenly struck by a radical idea after

Sky Blue 1971http://www.blogger.com/profile/01812045784084266102noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7981110199649416307.post-46156422317539641362010-02-16T16:22:00.000-08:002010-02-16T16:23:55.414-08:00

Well, so far we're loving living down here by the sea, it's so wonderfully peaceful and relaxing and the people are just great, so friendly and warm. As for health well, my mental health has improved and I've already lost weight and feel much more calmer and settled, I never really felt like that in London as it was too busy and noisy. P's Psoriasis is clearing up as the stress is melting away

Sky Blue 1971http://www.blogger.com/profile/01812045784084266102noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7981110199649416307.post-7188917156191505332010-01-31T16:38:00.000-08:002010-01-31T16:41:21.581-08:00

Well we're finally here in Cornwall and it is absolutely beautiful, the people are friendly and the weather... well... it's being weather... all kinds of weather! The move wasn't without hitch, first of all our removals company tried to rip us off. After turning up at 7pm in the evening after being told they would be at our flat at 1pm they loaded half our stuff onto a van and decided that it was

Sky Blue 1971http://www.blogger.com/profile/01812045784084266102noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7981110199649416307.post-31293131657056123072009-12-27T06:59:00.000-08:002009-12-27T07:06:16.180-08:00

I taught myself to knit last year when  friend of mine and his partner were expecting a baby and I wanted to send them something nice. I also wanted to make it myself and after a great deal of thought decided on some knitted beanie hats for when their little one was slightly older. Everyone gives expectant parents tiny baby things and pretty soon they grow out of them so I made the hats for

Sky Blue 1971http://www.blogger.com/profile/01812045784084266102noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7981110199649416307.post-44438042467582952772009-12-25T06:55:00.000-08:002009-12-25T06:55:13.429-08:00

Hope you're all having a wonderful day or have had a wonderful Yule! Here at Gaia Cottage, todays menu consists of slow roasted Organic Brisket, Roast Potatoes and Parsnips, Shredded Cabbage and Carrots followed by Hughs Pear and Almond Pudding Cake. Unusual Christmas fare granted but where is the law stating we have to eat turkey every year? Brunch was a wonderful mixture of Toasted Waffles,

Sky Blue 1971http://www.blogger.com/profile/01812045784084266102noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7981110199649416307.post-416345797538367612009-12-10T12:41:00.000-08:002009-12-10T12:41:30.131-08:00

No, not a greengrocers insult but the perfect ingredient for Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstalls Pear and Almond Pudding Cake... possibly the most heavenly of food I or everyone who had a piece of the one I baked had ever tasted! So, move over Lemon Coconut Cake, I have a new love in my life and it doesn't contain lemon nor coconut infact it contains almonds, wholemeal self raising flour and hard pears

Sky Blue 1971http://www.blogger.com/profile/01812045784084266102noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7981110199649416307.post-69193252081996509482009-12-05T12:44:00.000-08:002009-12-05T12:50:41.431-08:00

Where has the month since I last posted gone? Well, for us it has been a crazy frenzy of packing as we have finally gotten the thumbs up for our cottage in Cornwall. It's a beautiful two bedroomed, stone built cottage circa 1780's in a teeny, tiny place just outside of St Just. To say we are excited would be the understatement of the millennium and so on the 8th January we will be spending our

Sky Blue 1971http://www.blogger.com/profile/01812045784084266102noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7981110199649416307.post-16517773436199264152009-11-08T15:56:00.000-08:002009-11-08T15:57:32.490-08:00

We currently live in SE London and I have to be honest, a non Halal butcher or the BBQ pre-packed / pre-frozen butchers (if you can call them that) are really hard to find. However, we were driving through the Blackheath Standard last week looking for an entirely different butcher and came across GG Sparkes. We hastily parked up and walked up the road back to the store front and were absolutely

Sky Blue 1971http://www.blogger.com/profile/01812045784084266102noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7981110199649416307.post-79132546293691070152009-11-08T09:09:00.000-08:002009-11-08T09:09:56.090-08:00

We've been getting into the Christmas spirit this week here at Gaia Cottage, well not getting into as such more... creating! You've seen the Limoncello (far left) in the last post but since then we have made (from left to right) Vanilla Liqueur, Vanilla Extract (for baking), Kahlua (Coffee Liqueur), Lime Liqueur and last but by no means least Orange Liqueur. I know some people have been asking

Sky Blue 1971http://www.blogger.com/profile/01812045784084266102noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7981110199649416307.post-26326516859988380792009-11-05T16:30:00.000-08:002009-11-05T16:32:01.067-08:00

I've always wanted to replace those horrible mass produced ketchups and chutneys that we buy from time to time and decided recently to have a go. My ever wonderful fiancé brings home some really odd things from time to time when I send him to the shops for some bananas and the like. This time he came home with some Seckel Pears which we both presumed would taste pretty much like any other kind

Sky Blue 1971http://www.blogger.com/profile/01812045784084266102noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7981110199649416307.post-9155434485590820072009-10-30T05:20:00.000-07:002009-10-30T05:25:50.836-07:00

We had to pop out a couple of days ago to get a wing-mirror glass for the car after some kind soul had clipped the housing and smashed the mirror a few months ago. The parts dealer was out in Orpington, Kent which wasn't too far so we set out but somehow missed it and got lost. By the time we had realised we'd gone to far down the road it wasn't worth turning back as it was almost closing time

Sky Blue 1971http://www.blogger.com/profile/01812045784084266102noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7981110199649416307.post-46693612957371597372009-10-18T08:54:00.000-07:002009-10-18T09:23:09.529-07:00

So we found a recipe for 'Tuscan Pumpkin Soup' online and thought at first that would be a nice recipe to use the pumpkin in. After further consideration it appeared to be no more than chicken stock cubes, a few beans and some pumpkin and didn't appear to be appetizing in any way nor even remotely Tuscan so we opted to make up our own soup with what we had to hand. This is what we ended up with:

Sky Blue 1971http://www.blogger.com/profile/01812045784084266102noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7981110199649416307.post-27183989460075687692009-10-14T17:34:00.000-07:002009-10-14T17:35:57.460-07:00

We bought a medium pumpkin on one of our shopping trips a couple of days ago, we've never eaten pumpkin before but we like butternut squash so why not try pumpkin too? We've planned a rather interesting Roasted Pumpkin and Soya Bean Soup with Roasted Pumpkin Bread which will hopefully feature some of the roasted pumpkin seeds which we are going to roast ourselves. We've gone pumpkin mad here!!

Sky Blue 1971http://www.blogger.com/profile/01812045784084266102noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7981110199649416307.post-75106846836437273422009-10-13T10:51:00.000-07:002009-10-13T10:52:55.984-07:00

I went to Morissons tonight to pick up my organic cheese which I know they stock but while looking on the shelves I noticed another bit of Supermarket psychology... or just plain trickery and this isn't just Morissons, it's most of the Supermarkets I've shopped in. Their own cheap inferior produce is always priced clearly and there's always lots of it but just try looking for the prices of

Sky Blue 1971http://www.blogger.com/profile/01812045784084266102noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7981110199649416307.post-4521347474442202102009-10-13T05:25:00.000-07:002009-10-13T05:30:58.823-07:00

Yesterday we went shopping at Tesco whom I’m sure you are aware are one of the largest Supermarket chains in Europe. You’d think they would stock a good deal of organic and free range items for their customers wouldn’t you? Sadly, this isn’t the case at all. I am aware they stock their stores according to their area but please, are you seriously telling me that there are that many people who are

Sky Blue 1971http://www.blogger.com/profile/01812045784084266102noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7981110199649416307.post-33339691345763791472009-10-05T16:50:00.000-07:002009-10-05T16:50:55.810-07:00

Following on from our cheese choices last time, we decided to pay that little bit extra for some Free Range, Organic Chicken Breasts for a meal with a friend yesterday. We made Chicken and Sweet Potato Parcels which are steamed in a foil parcel and consist of layers of finely sliced sweet potato, a chicken breast, a scattering of cherry tomatoes, a sprinkling of tarragon, salt and freshly

Sky Blue 1971http://www.blogger.com/profile/01812045784084266102noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7981110199649416307.post-40948078683457441342009-09-22T09:39:00.000-07:002009-09-22T09:39:52.500-07:00

Today we made our first concious choice to buy Organic Cheese and not just... Cheese. This represented the first foot on a total lifestyle change brought on in part by perhaps watching a little too much River Cottage. My 'name' is SkyBlue1971 and my fiancé and co-author of this blog is Cyberpaddy66, welcome to our little piece of cyberspace, Gaia Cottage. In this blog we hope to share the highs

Sky Blue 1971http://www.blogger.com/profile/01812045784084266102noreply@blogger.com0