With longer days now here and the the hope of sunnier skies to come it is time to open up the summerhouse and give it a spring clean. Cobwebs are banished, surfaces wiped down, windows cleaned, floor swept and blankets shaken out and aired.    And since the garden is detached from the house a place to [...]

 The Girl’s Own Store bantams are getting back into the swing of egg laying after their Winter break. This is a real sign that Spring will soon be here. Folklore has is that chickens start laying again on St Valentines day. This is nonsense of course, it having much more to do with day length [...]

What to do? Sunday afternoon and the need for a sweet teatime treat. But not so much as a rich tea biscuit in the house, ingredients in the cupboard very limited and the nearest supermarket a 10 mile round trip away. This was an emergency. But there was flour and just enough butter and vegetable fat [...]

The airing cupboard – every home should have one. A warm place in which to store household linen and ensure washing is completely dry before it’s put away. Basically it’s just a cupboard fitted around the hot water tank, usually situated on a landing or in the bathroom, but becoming less common now in the days of combi [...]

Home baking is enjoying a huge revival at the moment.  But bread making can require a prohibitive amount of time for all that kneading and proving. Irish Soda Bread is the quick solution when time is short, as bicarbonate of soda is used rather than yeast as the raising agent. This recipe takes just minutes to prepare.  Buttermilk is available [...]