I used to gift cookies to my kids teachers as gifts. They’re a lot simpler to make and transport than cup cakes so I’m always on the hunt for eye-catching cookies that are easy to make, which rules out iced cookies. Life’s too short to wait for icing to dry!
This article features my favourite design along with links to recipes were required. These images aren’t my own. I do upload images of my own baking on Instagram but the photo’s aren’t website-quality so I’ve robbed these much prettier images off the internet and linked them back to the original poster where I could find them.
Composting is so easy peasy it’s a shame that more people don’t do it. It can also save you a fortune, both in waste charges and in garden compost. It’s also the only zero-waste way to get peat-free compost. It’s also the only way to get compost with no nasties in it. Did you know that organic compost only needs to be 51% organic to use the term? This means that certified organic compost can contain material sprayed with weedkiller and insecticides, and seeing as it can take 2-5 years for these chemicals to become inactive you may inadvertently end up putting harmful chemicals into your garden.
I did hear reference to a research paper that expressed concern over methane being created by home composters. Methane is said to be 7-30 times (studies differ) more damaging than carbon dioxide when it comes to climate change, so this is a big concern. I tried to get access to this research paper but I’d have to pay for it. For now I’m going to work off my existing knowledge, which is that methane is only created when biodegradable material decomposes in an anaerobic environment, i.e. an environment devoid of oxygen. So the best way to avoid generating methane is to make sure you’re composter is well aerated, which may well influence the type of composter that you buy or make.
Composting also offers huge benefit for wildlife, to find out more check out this article on the value of composting for nature from An Taisce
You may think that Valentines is just another excuse to get us spending money, and you’d be right, but it doesn’t have to be. I heard something a long time ago that stuck with me. Love is spending time and energy to make someone’s day better. It might be ironing a shirt for someone when they’re in a rush, or sending them a good luck text before a big meeting or cooking their favourite meal when they’ve had a hard day or week. That’s real love. It not glamorous or schmaltzy enough to go on a Hallmark card but it’s what makes life worth living. That said if you do a card to write something schmaltzy on here are my some of my favourite handmade Valentine cards!
Ireland is slowing waking up to the problem of plastic waste. This is a good thing, particularly if it encourages to reduce our creation of it. But has it? I’m worried that we’ve just swapped our addiction to recyclable or compostable plastic instead. I’ve written before on why recycling isn’t the answer, so in this article I’m going to pick through all the reasons why biodegradable or compostable plastic is a red herring too.
living lightly in ireland 