August Begins

Well, here we are in August already, seems the year is flying by. Ive noticed its getting darker earlier a sure sign that Autumn is on its way. Hopefully we still have more lovely sunny days to come.
Im pleased to say that Im settling in to my new assignment nicely. The people in the office are a mixed bunch of ages and genders, and all seem to have a good sense of humour (phew!). The job is much more me and Im much happier than Ive been in a while. The hours are good, and its not a bad walk home (have only done it once but am intending to do it more often - its about 4.5k), so all in all it was a good move.
Ive not really been up to much in the last couple of weeks, the gardening and crafting are a continuation of what Ive been previously been working on.

I have been experimenting with making shampoo from soapnuts as per Janey Lee Graces book Look Great Naturally - without ditching the lipstick.  You can read all about soapnuts here . My first attempt was a bit watery (looked like horse wee to put it mildly).

My second attempt ended up burning (should have watched over them instead of going out in the garden I guess). I shall be trying again, but in the meantime I used the soap liquid from attempt number 1 and it did ok. There was no foam, but it cleaned quite well.Ive also used the soapnuts in the washing machine on our towels and they clean as well as our detergent does, so I am quite impressed.

I got a lovely surprise during the week from the lovely Sara over at sewlittletosay , she contacted me to say that I have won her giveaway, and it arrived in the post on Saturday morning. I dont win much (seems my Big Sis has all the family luck with competitions, raffles etc), so it was really nice. Heres what I won.....

some lovely fabric, a Liberty print shopping bag and some thread.

I also read about the Food Bank crisis which is quitely happening all over the UK over on Sues brilliant blog ournewlifeinthecountry - she linked up to agirlcalledjack and her brilliant post. As Sue mentioned Asda were hosting a nationwide collection over the weekend, so I popped into my local branch and spend an extra £5.39 on their basic range and donated the following........

A pack of spagetti, a tin of peaches, 2 tins of baked beans and sausage, a tin of ravioli, a loaf of white bread, a jar of sweet and sour sauce, 2 tins of plum tomatoes,2 tins of soup, a tin of meatballs, a tin of sweetcorn and a tin of meat paste.

I was quite impressed at how many tins were already in the trolley that Asda had put out for the collection, the notice on it said it was heading to a very local foodbank, so if it helps out a family in dire need, then Im all for it.

Well, thats really about it for now, and Id best go and get my stuff organised for the new working week (as I get up @ 7am and the bus comes about 25 past Ive not got much time in the morning at the moment).

I hope all is well with you and your loved ones, will catch up again soon, in the meantime have a good week.

Jojo
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