New Beginnings

Hello lovelies, so much has happened since I last blogged I hardly know where to begin. Shortly after my last blog post we found a small house in the nearby town that seemed to fit our criteria. When I say small, I mean SMALL. It has two ok sized bedrooms, but every other room is so tiny I had to wonder if I would be able to keep any of my existing furniture, and if schooling the children at home would turn into a hideous nightmare with us all in such close quarters. But our goal in moving has always been to minimise our expenses sufficiently that the hubby could reduce the amount he has to work and we could have more time as a family, so keeping that goal in mind we decided the positives still outweighed the negatives, and decided to go for it. As it is a housing association property, it is somewhat lacking in 'character' and for me that presented a big challenge as I feel at home in places with history and a little quirkiness; I really struggle to warm to a place that is built with only ease of maintenance and economy in mind. So all round I was feeling pretty underwhelmed by our new home. Before we could move in there was a LOT of work to be done.  The previous tenant was elderly and although a very lovely chap he appeared to have struggled with any sort of cleaning in the time he had lived there, and additionally it seems that the house was a meeting place for every cat in a ten mile radius, so you can imagine the state the place was in. I won't give you the grim details but suffice it to say that cleaning the bathroom was a low point for me. So far I realise I am painting it all rather black....but here is where the positives begin. We did not have to struggle on alone to get the place in shape (we had a deadline to move in on 1st Feb), we were completely overwhelmed by offers of help from friends, some that we hadn't seen or spoken to in a good while. We didn't have to ask, they just came and worked their socks off. This in itself made the whole process feel so worthwhile, we suddenly felt so wrapped up in love it just turned the whole thing into a really positive experience. As the walls gradually emerged clean and white, and the new wood floors went down, I began to see a potentially lovely cozy little house with a surprisingly 'cottagey' feel that I love.  I had gotten rid of 80% of my furniture and nik naks on freecycle ( which is a resource I adore....more about that another time) keeping only things truly meaningful to me, and just styling the surfaces in our new home with these precious items made it feel like ours. On Feb 1st we moved in, and guess what...I LOVE IT! It feels like home. And I have had so much fun making it pretty. I think over the coming weeks I will share with you a room at a time; look out for lots of tutorials for easy craft projects to make your house a home!

I can't say I don't miss our beautiful orchard and walled garden, and our massive vaulted loft, and all the space at our old home, but I don't miss the endless cleaning, the drafty sash windows, the damp and the sky high heating bills. I will always have fond memories of the old place, but I'm looking forward to making lots of happy memories here. And we are finding that having a clear purpose for each area of each room in the home means the space can be used efficiently and it doesn't feel cramped at all. Here are a couple of pics for you of my new home.

This place has been a blessing in another respect: a couple of weeks after we moved in my lovely hubby collapsed and was hospitalised. I won't go into details but he has an easily fixed health issue and has been on a waiting list for so long that it became life threatening. I was so angry with the nhs that this has happened. Anyway, finally things are moving ahead and he is scheduled for an op next week. It's a relief that being here means he doesn't have to worry about getting back to work but can take time to relax and recover. In the meantime I have put him on a super healthy veg based diet and I myself took the opportunity to go back to being vegan, and I feel so much better for it.

So I told you lots has changed! New home, new work situation, new diet! There are such good times just ahead of us. I'm looking forward to sharing my ideas with you, as there is still a lot to be done, and would welcome your ideas for maximising a small space. This month i'm going to focus on planning my garden, with an emphasis on making it productive in terms of healthy eating. Can't wait to show you what we have done.  For now, here is my favourite recipe for vegan chocolate and beetroot cake...its delicious and fairly healthy! Enjoy xxx

Vegan chocolate and beetroot cake.

Preheat oven to 170°

Use a measuring jug to measure your dry ingredients:

375 ml Self raising flour.
1 tsp  Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Bicarbonate of soda
2 tsp mixed spice
3 Tablespoons Green and Blacks Organic cocoa powder.
125 ml raw grated beetroot.
1 Tbsp Soft brown sugar.

Wet ingredients:
85 ml melted coconut oil.
85 ml Black strap molasses.
170 ml Water.
1 Tbsp vanilla extract.

Combine your dry ingredients. Combine wet ingredients separately. Fold the two together. Pour into a lined 20 cm cake tin and bake for approx 35 mins till risen and a skewer comes out clean from the centre.

Make your frosting: put a can of coconut milk in the fridge overnight, the cream will separate off to the top of the can. Skim this off to leave the watery milk in the bottom of the can. Add approx. 4 Tbsp of Green and Blacks Organic cocoa powder or as much as suits your taste. I usually add icing sugar gradually until I get the consistency I desire, usually around 250 ml will do. Refrigerate while your cake cools and when it's completely cold spread your frosting over the cake.

I usually find this cake tastes better after a day in an airtight tin...lovely and moist!  Enjoy xxx