WHAT A DIFFERENCE A POSTCODE MAKES

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 and the traffic going back the other way was phenomenally bad. So, we decided to just enjoy the drive, maybe find a supermarket and stop off as we needed one or two bits for dinner.

We ended up in Locksbottom (stop sniggering at the back there) as we found a massive Sainsbury's and decided to take a look. We were shocked when we went inside as not only was it huge but it had the best range of organic and free range products we have ever seen!

CHICK-CHICK-CHICK-CHICK-CHICKEN

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 cracked black pepper all moistened up with a tablespoon or so per portion of white wine.

Anyway, we served up and tasted the chicken and it tasted amazing and I mean really good. It was far and away better than the bland, soggy textured rubbish that many Stupormarkets turn out. It actually had an amazing chicken flavour, great texture, didn't shrink beyond belief and seep out loads of water which real chicken shouldn't do.

Cheap Stupormarket chicken is injected with all kinds of water based gloop to make them bigger, plumper and appear to be better value and frozen chicken is the worst of the worst for being full of water.This is after they are pumped full of growth hormones and lord knows what by the battery hen farms who are paid on average 35p per chicken with the budget for feeding them being around 3p per chicken. You simply aren't going to get happy, healthy chickens on 3p per head for food and overheads are you?

Being on a budget we do slightly blanch at the price tag of Free Range, Organic meats but we are willing to eat less of it and get a better meat if it means a better life for the animals and a better, healthier food stuff for us.

We're another step closer to getting our new house and fingers crossed, we should know next week if we have been a successful applicant or not! In the meantime we are taking baby-steps into our new way of life.

A CONCIOUS CHOICE

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 and lows, the laughter and tears of two people trying to get back to nature and improving our lives in as many ways as possible.

In around five weeks time we will be moving to an extremely rural part of SW Cornwall and when we close the door for the final time on our first floor flat in the city of London we will be closing the door on cheap Tesco's chickens, chemical laden lotions and potions and a whole myriad of other things.

We will be making concious choices about the big things like the food we eat and will be making sure it is Organic and Free Range right down to the ingredients in simple things like lip balms. We hope to learn to make soaps, shampoos and many other lotions and potions as naturally as possible and looking at every alternative for things that up until now we have taken for granted.

Before you don your tin hats and wait for the onslaught of militancy about our lifestyle and yours and a serious guilt-tripping session, fear not, that is not what this blog is about. We would love for you to follow in our footsteps but if you don't want to, well that's fine with us too, just stick around, pour yourself a nice mug of Fair Trade tea and help yourself to some home-made cake. There, we're quite friendly really!