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Tuesday 31 May 2011

Scent Pouches

In my post "Rosemary's Baby" I mentioned that I would be making some scent pouches for the wardrobe to keep the moths away.  I had visions of creating pretty pouches from scratch, but then I came across some old muslin drawstring bags that I had lying around (an impulse buy) and decided to use those instead.  They actually work pretty well - just the right fabric weight to let the aroma out easily, and the drawstring element means that the bags can be hung easily, and the contents can be emptied to allow the bags to be washed, or to add fresh material or something different.

As they were very simple bags, I did embellish them a little with some very simple embroidery to give an idea of what was inside.

The filling was simply a 50/50 mix of dried rosemary and lavender, which had a short blast in a food processor to release more of the aroma.  I also added a little orris root powder to help keep the aroma, but that is optional.  It took about 10g of the mix to fill a pouch, which I then hung from various hangers in the wardrobe.


Most scent pouches will be filled with lavender, which is very pleasant, but there is a whole world of scent out there that could be used as well: other dried scented flowers (like rose petals or chamomile flowers), various herbs (as well as rosemary, marjoram, thyme, sage, fennel, bay to name a few), spices (cardamom, cloves, star anise, cinnamon or cassia bark), dried orange or lemon slices... You see what I mean?  Experiment with different combinations to come up with your own unique scent, then hang them in wardrobes, place them in drawers or use them to freshen the car.

Sunday 15 May 2011

Scenic Sundays - The River Severn, Hampton Loade, Shropshire

My husband likes to go fishing, and every so often (usually when the weather is nice) he manages to talk me into going along with him.  These images were taken from the banks of the River Severn at Hampton Loade, Shropshire in late summer, while listening to a very tense Ashes Test Match! (For those of you interested in cricket, it was the Trent Bridge Test, which England did win thanks to the efforts of Ashley Giles and Matthew Hoggard.)




Tuesday 10 May 2011

Rosemary's Baby

A couple of weeks ago I finally got around to pruning the rosemary, which had grown from a single cutting into a sprawling bush in danger of taking over the entire front garden.  Amazingly this plant is a cutting of a cutting of a cutting many times over which came from my mother-in-law's garden about seven or eight years ago.  On a visit to see her, we took a few cuttings from her very impressive rosemary bush (which she herself had grown from a cutting) and brought them back to Cardiff.  One of them found its way into the flower bed, where it established itself quite nicely.  When we had an extension built we were forced to relocate the rosemary and took a few cuttings just in case it didn't survive the move.  One of those was planted in the front garden about eighteen months ago and then pretty much left to its own devices. Despite two very cold winters, it had grown into a monster.

After the better part of an afternoon, I had six bunches about the size shown on the right.  So now the question is what to do with all this rosemary?  I've allocated a good bunch for the kitchen, and there should be enough to try all manner of experiments with flavoured oils, vinegars, chutney and I was thinking of trying a sprig or two in some strawberry jam later on in the year.

And of course, I'll be trying some experiments with body care products as well.  Rosemary's hair conditioning properties are pretty-well-known, so I'm going to infuse some in virgin coconut oil (another great conditioner) for a hair strengthening, scalp stimulating hair treatment.  It's also good for the circulation and easing muscle aches, so would work really well with Dead Sea Salt in a body scrub.  Its anti-oxidant properties make it an ideal candidate to try in a face mask too.

On the home front I've seen several moths in the vicinity of the wardrobe and rosemary is said to have insect-repellent properties, so I'm planning to make a few scent pouches (along with some old lavender that I have) to hang up among the clothes.  And speaking of home fragrancing, I have a lovely book called "The Complete Book of Herbs and Spices" by Sarah Garland, which has a wealth of charming, old-fashioned recipes including a herbal scented candle, which I'd like to give a try. Lots of little projects to keep me busy!

I'll try to remember to post updates about how they all turn out.  Look out for some rosemary-themed Limited Editions in the Fairfield Gardens online shop, and recipes that you can try for yourself.

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