Jane's Rambling Blog

Spring Time

2012-03-11T23:33:00.000Z

It has been a very mild winter for us only one week of cold weather and no snow this year and during mid Feb I looked in the garden for signs of spring. Daffodils were out several weeks earlier than last year. In the front garden which faces north the snowdrops were flowering and also the first of the wild primroses where showing colour. There has been less garden birds visiting this winter which I am sure is due to the mild weather but all of a sudden they have now appearred happily eating the sunflower seeds and sultanas I put out for them. There are goldfinches, sparrows, backbirds, chaffinches, long tail tits, great tits a robin and I have even seen a bullfinch which I have not seen in the garden before. Of course I can never manage to get close enough to get a picture but it is great to stand at the window and watch them feed or spash in the bird bath!

There are only a few snowdrops in the garden and always the first thing to flower so I always look out for them to appear

Wild primroses another sign of spring. We even get them growing up through the grass!

The first of the daffodils and it also shows the grass needs cutting!

Flower Arrangement

2012-03-08T22:00:00.003Z

My Mum won this flower arrangement in a WI event today. It looks so lovely she asked me to take a picture of it.

Apricot and Nectarine Jam

2012-03-03T23:39:00.002Z

One of the things I like about reading blogs is the inspiration they give to try out new things. Making jam is something I have never made. I don't know why but for some reason I thought it was complicated with sterilising jars etc. When I saw this recipe for apricot and nectarine jam over on tinnedtomatoes it looked so delicious I thought I would give it ago. So I popped round to a friend with the ingredients and we made jam! We carefully followed the recipe. Softening the fruit did take longer than the recipe suggested and after mashing it we were still left with lumpy fruit and I was not sure if this was right but the lumps of fruit made it even more delicious. It was quick and easy to make and we tested the jam on a cold saucer and it set straight away. There was just enough jam to fill 4 normal sized jam jars and made a very fruity tasting, tangy jam.

My homemade jam!

Kopi Coffee Review

2012-03-01T23:59:00.001Z

I was sent a sample of Kopi coffee to review. Kopi is a coffee subscription service, delivering Gourmet Coffee to your door every month. There are a number of different coffee subscriptions to choose from. You can also choose to have ready ground coffee or coffee beans. The coffee arrives in a resealable pouch along with a booklet about the coffee giving full tasting notes and info on where the coffee comes from.

I was sent Malawi Geisha AB Mses District an East African coffee with a sweet lemony kick.

You do need to be careful when opening the coffee as it was filled right to the top and some spilled out when I opened the pouch. When you do open the pouch a wonderful fresh coffee aroma fills the whole room!

I am not an expert in explaining the finer points of different tastes of coffee but I do know this coffee tasted very good!

This would make a great gift for a coffee drinker or even a treat for yourself. For more information Kopi

Disclosure I received a sample for review via fuelmyblog but all opinions are my own

Competition with Sudocrem

2012-02-17T16:19:00.001Z

Sudocrem are running a competition over on Facebook to promote their new cream.

Sudocrem Skin Care Cream is an innovative beauty related sister product to the iconic Sudocrem Antiseptic Healing Cream and is the perfect handbag accessory, especially in this weather!

How to enter

Step 1– Go to www.facebook.com/SudocremTube and ‘Like’ the page

Step 2– Click on the Diane Von Furstenberg & iPhone 4S Competition page

Step 3- Follow the competition page instructions: Enter your email and answer the three product related questions correctly

Step 4- Keep your fingers crossed that your name is drawn from the hat of correct entries on 25^th February 2012

Competition Finish Date– 25^th February 2012

Competition winners announced– 29^h February 2012

Good luck

All Babies Count Campaign

2012-01-22T23:55:00.003Z

It is so important that babies and children are brought up in a safe and caring environment but sadly this is not always the case. Sudocrem is supporting the NSPCC's All Babies Count campaign.

Sudocrem is best known for its nappy rash cream and I also use it for minor cuts and grazes.

For every 'Like' on the Sudocrem Facebook page Sudocrem will donate 50p to the NSPCC. Sudocrem have pledged to donate £25,000 in total to the NSPCC to help protect babies and prevent abuse to children.

Longleat Safari and Adventure Park

2012-01-22T00:50:00.003Z

A few days before Christmas I ventured out with friends on a trip to Longleat Safari and Adventure Park http://www.longleat.co.uk/. It rained nearly all day! The animals at the park had more sense and stayed under cover while us humans were out in the December rain but the rain did not spoil a great day. Longleat was very festive and fun with santa, though he was fully booked, ice skating and an amazing Christmas tree and fairytale characters in Longleat house.

This was our first stop on the safari drive and the wallabies seemed to like the rain!

We did drive through the monkey enclosure but they were keeping out of the rain making it difficult to take pictures but one monkey did take a short ride on top of the car and nibbled the car aerial!

A tiger through the raindrops of the car window

These parrots were fun you can buy a little pot of porridge type food and the birds land on you very quickly for the food

I always like the meerkats they are inquisitive and fun to watch, Spot the one in the left hand corner of the picture!

The boat trip around gorilla island, though the gorilla decided it was too wet to come outside but the seal lions were very happy to see us and children could feed them fish from the boat

The Christmas tree with Christmas music was a highlight!

Longleat put on a very festive treat and it was a great day out!

Love the Garden Blog Competiton

2011-12-21T22:11:00.005Z

This is my entry for the http://www.lovethegarden.com Christmas Carrot Competition. Love the Garden is a great gardening blog which also regularly runs competitions throughout the year. I must admit I have closed my door on my garden at this time of year but managed to find some yummy organic carrots at the local Farmer's Market to use for my recipe.

Carrot, Sweet Potato and Coriander Soup

Ingredients
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 medium onion chopped
4 large carrots chopped
I large sweet potato chopped
1 1/2 litres of vegetable stock
2 tbs of fresh coriander chopped
splash of fresh orange juice
Pepper to taste

Method

Heat the oil in a large saucepan and add the onion and cook on a low heat until the onion starts to soften.

Add the carrot, sweet potato and cover with the stock. Simmer on a low heat until the vegetables become soft.

When slighty cooled transfer to food processor and blend until smooth.

Return to the saucepan and heat up adding in a little orange juice and fresh coriander.

Serve with warm crusty bread

Filling and warming for this time of year!

Myleene Klass Nails Review

2011-12-15T23:42:00.000Z

I was sent some Myleene Klass Nail Wraps from JLMDirect to review.

These are stickers that you apply to your finger nails for instant effect. They come in various eye catching designs including animal prints, floral and polka dots. They are very easy to apply. You just remove the nail wrap finding the right size to fit each nail. Stick it on to your nail, smooth down and use the nail file to file down and remove the edges. This did take a few attempts to get right as you have to be careful not to get air bubbles under the stickers and the edges were a bit rough but the pack does include enough stickers for you to have a few practise goes. I have short nails and I could cut some of the stickers in half so one stickers was used for 2 nails. I enjoyed using them they were fun, colourful and easy to use. Perfect for a party or evening out.

For more information http://www.jmldirect.com/myleene-klass-nails

JML Spin Gym Review

2011-12-03T23:39:00.001Z

I was sent a JML Spin Gym to review by fuelmyblog.com. The Spin Gym is a workout for your arms. The Spin Gym is small and compact looking like a spinning top on a string. The idea being to keep the disc spinning by moving your arms. It was quite difficult to use to start with. I found it hard to work out how to keep the disc spinning but after watching the instructions on the supplied DVD and giving it a few goes I soon worked it out and it was fun to use. I liked it you can really feel it working your arm muscles and after using it regularly my arms seem to feel and look toner. It appears popular as sells out quickly. JML say

Using Spin Gym for just 5 minutes a day is enough to help strengthen your arms, and leave them looking and feeling firm and toned. With up to 20 lbs of resistance with each pull, you'll feel the Spin Gym effect almost instantly. Easy and fun to use. It is compact and convenient to use almost anywhere, whether you’re at home, at the office or on your travels.

Kit includes

1 Spin Gym

1 Extra Strength Cord

1 Carry Case

1 Fitness Instructional & Workout DVD

1 Instructional guide

1 Quick Start Guide

Priced around £29.99

For more information http://www.jmldirect.com/uk/exercise/spin-gym

JML on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/JMLDirect

Snowy Puffs Breakfast Cereal Review

2011-11-22T00:02:00.005Z

We were sent a box of limited edition Snowy Puffs to review. These themed cereals certainly add novelty to breakfast and the meringue snowballs were fun and tasted sweet and delicious. They are also great to eat straight from the pack! Snowy Puffs say

Adding a touch of brrrr-illiance to the original Sugar Puffs, Snowy Puffs comes with delicious meringue snowballs. The limited edition cereal contains no artificial flavours, colours or preservatives as well as being a source of fibre for the whole family.

Snowy Puffs is the fourth limited edition to be produced by Honey Monster Foods this year, following in the footsteps of Honeycomb Puffs, Strawberry Puffs and Spooky Puffs

RRP of £1.50, Snowy Puffs are on shelves now and available to buy from all good retailers.

More information http://www.hmfoods.co.uk

Avocados

2011-11-04T00:38:00.002Z

Avocado is an unusual food. Strange to look at, an acquired taste and can be used in sweet or savoury dishes. I love them they are delicious, healthy and versatile.

Over on The Avocado Brotherhood they have a competition for bloggers to blog about avocados to win £250 of supermarket vouchers. For more information visit http://avocadobrotherhood.blogspot.com/2011/10/blog-avo-competition.html

I like to make different fillings to eat with avocados and made one of my favourites today.

I median ripe avocado

2 tablespoons of natural yoghurt

2 slices of chopped cucumber

1 chopped tomato

Cut the avocado in half lengthways and remove the stone

Mix together the yoghurt, cucumber and tomato and add the filling to the avocado and serve!

The Avocado being an interesting fruit also has some interesting facts!

The avocado is the fruit of the Persea Americana tree native to the subtropical regions of the American continent. A tall evergreen tree that can grow up to 65 feet in height. Avocado is derived from the Aztec word ahuacatl. The avocado has the highest protein and oil content of any fruit and has many health benefits.

Being a vegetarian I find it a good substitute for meat in sandwiches and salads

JML Lashtech and Magic Mineral Review

2011-10-28T21:45:00.022+01:00

We were sent from http://www.JMLdirect.com Lashtech mascara and Magic Minerals to review. My niece and I both tried the Lashtech and liked it. It did appear to give the effect of longer lashes and was easy and smooth to apply and didn't clump. We also tried the Magic Minerals and liked the natural coverage of the powder. We ended up with quite a glamorous look! JML say

Lashtech, £19.99 from www.JMLdirect.com

Lashtech, a new mascara, is packed with collagen. It is set to become a market leader in the mascara market. Developed by Jerome Alexander it contains 2% collagen. The ingredient, favoured by anti-wrinkle creams and fans of the trout pout, is used to increase the spreadability of the mascara. This make-up bag essential has a wand that brushes through your lashes. Simply apply it once every evening and the long-lasting formula works around the clock to thicken, strengthen and lengthen your lashes without a clump in sight.

Magic Minerals by Jerome Alexander, £19.99 from www.JMLdirect.com mineral make up for paler skin. Designed to give those with fair skin a brush with glamour. It is packed with vitamins and antioxidants that hydrate the skin which is especially useful during winter. It uses colour correctors to even out skin tone. It uses mint to reduce red complexions and lavender to help perk up pale skin.

for further information http://www.JMLdirect.com

Paignton Zoo

2011-10-22T21:48:00.005+01:00

Back in the summer I had a fun day out at Paignton Zoo with friends. There was lots to see and do and spent all day there. I always think of Paignton Zoo as a woodland zoo with lots of hidden paths to explore. If you don't know your way round you can quite easily miss some of the animals. If you do venture up steep paths you will come across kangaroos and giant tortoises. While at another far end you will find a smiling camel. We were convinced one of the camels was smiling for the cameras! If you wander down one hidden path you will find the bongo house! Of course there are all the usual animals, monkeys, gorillas, meerkats, giraffes and the big cats all being a great attraction.

When you arrive the first thing you will see is the pretty sight of the flamingos. They had some baby flamingos which were very strange looking. Fluffy grey fur on long legs!

Mr Gorilla was fascinating to watch. I wonder what he thinks of us humans!

I love cats big and small!

The meerkats are fun and a clever carving in the trunk of the tree.

My friend's son had great time. He didn't stay still for longer than 5 seconds all day!

Look out for the very wobbly bridge and the little train ride!

Torquay and Minehead

2011-10-21T23:52:00.002+01:00

With Autumn well and truly here it makes me think back to some lovely summer days! There were not many hot summer days this year but on a day trip with my niece Polly to Torquay it was hot and sunny! We arrived by train and soon found our way to the sea front and shops.

We could see this in the distance. Think it was giving people the opportunity to see the sea views.

The beach was lovely and even managed a paddle! Took this view from the harbour.

It was also very hot and sunny!

It was a lovely day and when returning to the train station to go home the station was closed. It would appear that Torquay station closes in the afternoon. It was quite amusing considering it was holiday season so very Devon like! We followed some other people and found the side gate you can use to get onto the platform!

A couple of days later a trip to Minehead with my Mum.

It was another lovely day but a bit windy along the sea front!

Gardener's Delight Tomatoes

2011-10-11T21:58:00.011+01:00

This is my entry for the LovetheGarden taste of tomatoes blog competition

With October and Autumn arriving it has been time for me to clear away and compost my tomato plants but September brought a lovely glut in my greenhouse of Garden's Delight tomatoes.

This was perfect timing as over on the gardening blog http://www.lovethegarden.com they are running a competition for bloggers until 19/10/2011 for your tomato recipes http://www.lovethegarden.com/blog/a-taste-for-tomatoes-a-recipe-blog-competition to be in with a chance of winning £200 to spend at a restaurant of your choice or one of three copies of James Ramsden's cookbook.

During Spring I planted Tumble tomato plants and had a good crop from them. They had a lovely fresh peppery taste and are one of my favourite varieties to grow.

This year I also grew Gardener's Delight but grew these tomato plants later than the Tumblers and planted them out around mid June. I did this to try and extend the tomato season over the summer months. This worked as when the Tumblers finished the Gardener's Delight were just starting to ripen. To me Gardener's Delight are still the best cherry type tomato to grow. They have a tangy, sweet taste and are great for salads. The plants did grow tall, higher than the canes I was using and I had to tie them to the frame of the greenhouse to stop them falling over!

Of course one night, when I wasn't looking, they all decided to go red at once!!! But I loved sharing them with my neighbours as nothing beats the fresh smell and taste of home grown tomatoes. My favourite recipe with a glut of garden tomatoes is very simple as I like to try and keep the just picked taste!

Cut the tomatoes in half and place cut side up on a baking tray sprinkle with a little salt. pepper, sugar and olive oil.

Bake on a very low heat for approx 60 minutes until the tomatoes have reduced and gone deliciously gooey.

Cook some pasta of your choice. Add the cooked pasta to the tomatoes and toss together with a little olive oil, serve with fresh basil and then eat!

Simple but delicious!

Spooky Puffs Breakfast Cereal Review

2011-10-09T21:15:00.001+01:00

We were sent a box of limited edition toffee-apple flavoured Spooky Puffs to review. They tasted delicious! We had them served with milk for breakfast but I liked them straight from the pack! They have a great toffee apple taste and fun themed. There is a recipe on the back to try but we liked them so much we finished the cereal before making the cakes! Spooky Puffs say

Thought the breakfast table was safe? Think again! Prepare to be spooked as Honey Monster’s terrifyingly tasty cereal, Spooky Puffs rises onto shelves for a second year running.

Crammed full of scrummy toffee-apple flavoured puffs, Spooky Puffs is a breakfast treat for those tricky little monsters. The limited edition cereal contains no artificial flavours, colours or preservatives as well as being a source of fibre.

Spooky Puffs is the third limited edition to be produced by Honey Monster Foods this year, following in the footsteps of Honeycomb Puffs and Strawberry puffs. Other lines in the standard edition range include Sugar Puffs, Honey Waffles, Choco Waffles and Choco Puffs.

Spooky Puffs RRP is £1.50 and available to buy from Tesco and Asda.

Dreamfields Pasta Review

2011-09-25T14:23:00.005+01:00

I have been cutting back on carbs and following a healthier vegetarian diet to help lose weight but I do miss certain foods like pasta. So I was delighted to be sent a range of Dreamfields Pasta to try.

According to their website Dreamfields Pasta has only 5 grams of digestible carbs per serving, is 65% lower glycemic index than regular pasta, has twice the fibre of regular pasta, naturally cholesterol free and 0 grams of trans fat. For more information http://www.dreamfieldsfoods.co.uk/

I was delighted to think I could cook some pasta dishes without spoiling my diet. We tried the Spaghetti with some home grown tomatoes and onion sauce!

and a delicious tomato pasta bake!

Dreamfields Pasta is made from Durum Wheat and comes in a number of varieties making it great for lots of different pasta dishes. It tasted good and much the same taste as my usual pasta but it did feel less starchy and had good texture.

You can find it in health food shops and online http://www.dreamfieldsfoods.co.uk/

Summer Garden

2011-09-18T22:24:00.011+01:00

My garden is now showing the signs of Autumn on these cool September days. I hardly see any of my garden birds but living in a country town there is much natural food available for them now in the form of apple trees, berries etc. My garden in the summer months did great. All the hard work paid off! There is always something that needs doing in the garden and at times it was good to sit down and relax and take in the good things!

This rose bush has been in the garden for some years and produced several displays this year

The lavenders are my favourite. This one needed a bit of a haircut!

This lily looked lovely this year. It is planted in the shade but flowered well

I planted 3 of this plant this year and they looked pretty and flowered twice and they should grow back bigger and better next year

This is also planted this year and is still flowering in mid September!

The pots I put on the patio have done well. I always try to choose bedding plants that will flower for most of the summer into autumn and only put bedding plants in pots to help protect them from the snails!

I have been growing Cosmos for the last few years and if you keep cutting off the old flowers every few days they flower continuously throughout summer giving a great splash of colour!

My cat sophie who loves sharing the garden with me!

and her brother Sam a big ginger cat who perfers to stay in the shade!

Book Review - Nothing but Touble - Rachel Gibson

2011-09-04T21:57:00.004+01:00

Part of the Transworld Book Challenge

This review is part of the Transworld Book challenge.

This is an amusing, light hearted and flirtatious read perfect for summer. Out of work actress Chelsea Ross needs to earn money so goes to work as a personal assistant for famous hockey player Mark Bressler. Mark has been hurt in a car accident and can no longer play hockey. This leaves him in a bad mood for most of the time! He tries to get rid of Chelsea as he doesn't want her help but Chelsea doesn't give in and eventually an attraction develops between them!

The characters could have been developed more for the reader to have felt more involved with them and the story seemed to end quite quickly. However both characters are likable. Chelsea is kind with a bright personality who doesn't give up on what she wants. Mark had reason to be moody learning to cope with life after his accident but leading to him wanting to change for Chelsea.

This is a light, fun, entertaining read Hollywood style!

Transworld Book Group

2011-08-20T15:00:00.002+01:00

I’m part of the Transworld Book Group!

'Back by popular demand Transworld have reinstated the Transworld Book Group Reading Challenge! With a new set of titles. Do you love to review books? Post reviews on Amazon? An avid blogger? If you answered yes to any of these questions then the Transworld Book Group Reading Challenge might be for you! Running from August to October they are letting bloggers pick four titles from their list to be sent for review.'

For more details and how to sign up go to the Transworld's blog page at http://www.between-the-lines.co.uk/?p=1378

With autumn approaching a great time to read some new books and the books I have chosen are:

1) Black Swan Rising by Lee Carroll

2) The Secrets Between Us by Louise Douglas

3) Teacher, Teacher! by Jack Sheffield

4) Nothing But Trouble by Rachel Gibson

Betty Crocker Cupcake Fun

2011-08-17T22:10:00.008+01:00

About 10 years ago I was lucky enough to win a years supply of Betty Crocker cake mix and icing. We had a lot of cake that year shared around family and friends. My niece Polly was too young to remember so when I recently saw Betty Crocker Chocolate Fudge Cupcake mix on offer at the local supermarket I decided to buy some. I would normally make cupcakes from scratch and the ingredients on the box looked unlike cupcake ingredients that I would normally use but this was a fun thing to try during the school holidays. Most of the ingredients is included inside the box including the cake mix, the icing mix, white chocolate sprinkles and 10 paper cake cases. We just needed to add eggs, and small amounts oil, water, and some milk for the icing.

Ready to bake!

We added the eggs, oil and water to the cake mix and mixed in.

This produce quite a runny consistency but this was correct according to the packet so we poured it into a jug before filling the paper cases.

The paper cases were at the bottom of the packet so had become quite squashed but as we poured the mixture in they straightened out fine. We poured equal amounts of the mixture into the 10 paper cases and there was easily enough mixture to do this.

The results after baking smelled delicious!

To make the icing we added a little milk to the icing mix and mixed in.

We loved the icing and I was lucky to have some left for the cakes!!!

Then the fun part adding the sprinkles. There was plenty to cover the cupcakes.

The cakes were surprising light and moist and with the icing on top delicious!

They didn't last long!

Jamaica Ginger Cake

2011-08-17T14:27:00.006+01:00

McVitie's has teamed up with Rustie Lee to make a series of recipes using Jamaica Ginger Cake.

They have got a great film of her making a trifle. Watch the film below It's really easy to make and a good, fun activity for the kids in the summer holidays, especially as it raining a lot!!! But leave out the rum!

Sparrowgate!

2011-08-04T00:58:00.000+01:00

We been inundated with fledgling sparrows for several weeks now. They are everywhere you look! There been at least 3 successful nests that I know of and they all nested twice! I feed the birds and so do my neighbours so maybe they nest close to a regular food source. The sweetest thing to see were the fledglings vibrating their little wings on the garden fence and you could then see the parent bird carefully placing food into the fledgling's beak. The sunflowers hearts I put in the bird feeder are very popular, needing to be filed up every day and fun to watch the sparrows splash around in the bird bath. The fledglings have little sense so my cats were grounded for a while! The fledglings have been around for some weeks now and hard to tell them apart from there parents and they all fight to get at the bird feeder and fat balls. I tried to take some photos but could never get close enough! This photo is not very good but you can just see the brown blobs on the grass that are about 12 sparrows. When the nests first fledged my neighbour counted 16 on the fence at one point!

My other favourite bird visitor are the blackbirds! I am sure the female blackbird sits on the fence waiting for me to come home from work to feed her the sultanas she seems to love. She fills her beak up with as many sultanas she can manage and then flies off with them. I guess she was feeding her nest somewhere.

Also seen several Goldfinches and their fledglings on the feeder they are the prettiest birds that visit the garden with their bright scarlet patches on their heads. There is of course the resident wood pigeon who is quite happy to eat any food I put out and if I throw sunflowers hearts on the ground he can eat a great deal of them all in one go!

Sunny June!

2011-07-16T00:28:00.026+01:00

I was not sure what to write about on my first blog post so decided on a gardening post to say how my garden did during sunny June! I seem to spend ages working in the garden. Weeds keep appearing but I find the hard work rewarding, well most of the time! I am a fan of grow your own with various success! You don't need much space and I try to grow some fruit and vegetables in pots on the patio or in the greenhouse. This month been picking strawberries that I overwintered in a large pot.

They have been very successful and picked loads. Its easy to grow strawberries, give it a go and great to pick fresh from the garden or grow a couple of plants on a windowsill. My neice Polly couldn't resist them!

The tomato plants are growing well. I grow the Tumbler plants in large pots which produce lovely cherry tomatoes and need less support than the tall plants and less likely to get blown over in windy weather!

I did try growing potatoes in a potato sack however only manged to harvest one small bowlful!

The roses in the garden are in full bloom. Considering the cold winter and dry spring they are looking the best I have seen them.This is my new favourite, brought this year from the local garden nursey, called a Whiter Shade of Pale. A pale pink bush rose that has a lovely fragance!

This rose bush according to my mum is as old as me! Could well be over 40 then!

I love growing lavenders they cope with most weather conditions, are summer flowering and have a lovely smell especially in the breeze when you walk pass them. I grow them out of the way in the front garden as they get covered in bees during the summer and we don't want to to get stung! I love this one, it is the first to flower and the bumble bees are arriving, well at least one and you can just spot it in the centre of the image!

Happy Gardening!