a stumbling march for pain or gain?

I can’t yet walk properly… still too much pain.

 

That’s why I havn’t been  Wordpressing either, instead, I’ve been a frequent consumer, a quasi-addict of that loved yet much-criticised Mother of all services, the NHS.

So, no, I can’t walk properly, but with a stick, an aid and some support, I can march (for a valid cause). Ok, not for long without stopping, but no need to rush. Last Saturday, my whole little family  ousted a few banners and marched, in the cold, for our local hospital, Lewisham. The gateway between continuous, localised pain and Kings College Hospital.

Jeremy Hunt, would like to allow its two only just refurbished services to be shut down. Accident and Emergency as well as maternity. So where does he expect babies to be born nowadays, in a peaceful cabbage leaf delivered by a young goose? To replace a real maternity unit by a politcally correct market resonating unit of midwife led non intervening glamour, is to ignore the risks of childbirth in an area where many of the poorest in London live and suffer, and suffer they will if no anesthesia is anywhere to be found. What the government proposes, is leave a whole densely populated area of London, where the majority of the population have not even heard of BUPA, in PAIN. Real pain.

Hospital staff , those directly concerned and most informed, are dead against the policy, 25 000 local residents, all of voting age are against the policy. So will this anti-democratic, unsafe decision go through government and confirm the current London ruler Boris Johnson has no shame or sense of accountability? What is the PFI future and why do such funds exist?

Alot remains to be explained in Lewisham and Greenwich boroughs, and most politicians were nowhere to be seen!

The financial value of Independence

September has been the month for Independence, this core freedom value making the front headline of the news.
Matched with a notion of “heritage” , Independence becomes emotionally charged; whilst small is charming, large becomes federal, impersonal and unappealing. Independence means autonomy, free from any unwanted paternalism, free to access eudaimonia (see Aristotle…).
From an ethical perspective, freedom of expression, freedom to decide one’s future financial strategy, freedom to determine one’s own image should be essential to any state, brand or industry, old or new.
Though it may seem irreverent to compare brands to states, financially, many corporations now outweigh countries. According to Time magazine of Sept 8th, Apple’s coffers stand at 158.8 billion dollars against the USA’s cash reserves of 47.6 billion. Microsoft’s 83.9 billion dwarves UK reserves of 42.5 billion and Ford, which is perceived as a failing industry, sits on a healthy 25.1 billion, twice the revenue of healthy Holland, (11.7). Let’s not mention Greece and many other countries around the Globe struggling to find solutions to debt, whilst China sits on an embarrassing cash pile of $3.44 trillion.
In this time of crisis, ethics feature more as many states and brands fight to find newly enlightened paths towards sustainable futures. Political crises rift the globe in streams of poverty, religious division and clamoring, whilst the poorest of earth’s population remain trapped in stagnant clusters, the rich are globally aware, hypermobile and well advised.
Whilst many councils found food banks to fight the growth in Britain’s increased numbers of poor, as many struggle to feed their families and clothe their children, here, on our doorstep, the schism between the two economic poles widens. The very rich converge in London and this year the number of billionaires here increased to 104, representing a combined wealth of more than £301 bn ($488 bn), i.e 104 people owning 10 times more than the cash worth of the United States… The Uk, thanks to its tax and financial system, now has more billionaires per head than any other country in the world. According to the forbes list, 85 individuals own the same wealth as half of the world’s population (wealth of 3.6 billion other people…), no wonder there is rising unrest.
As the world around becomes less secure, we continue to value individual, intimate, personal and beautiful things more. We cherish the world inside as opposed to the one outside our door, the little world we know, the one we make our own. We enjoy personality, heritage, independence, culture, family ties as opposed to federal partnership.
Independence thus, is perceived as beautiful, small and free. Federal seems full of compromise, humdrum and negotiations are tiresome.
This is where brands have a childish edge over countries. Where a brand can be admired for being brazen, courageous, outspoken and ahead of it’s time, countries need to be realistic, judicious and democratic in order to be strong. Is strength parallel to wealth? Maybe not: states must show togetherness, compassion, diversity, democracy and tenacity. Brands however, must show unity, individuality, personality and desirability to build acompetitive strategy.
Scotland, in coalition with England, is stronger and more composed as a state, forming a more educated, more judicious United Kingdom, offering its populace diverse opportunities, more choice, proven currency and precautious future.
Brands however seem more desirable as they grip on to their autonomy, personality and individuality.
At this moment, products that are unique, exclusive, rare, customised, well made and tasteful, emerge as more desirable than those mass marketed, produced in less considered ways.
The luxury industry has thus surged ahead of the stock market, outperforming all predictions and lifting the S&P Global index by 24% this year. Luxury, amusingly tongue in cheek, emerges as a solidly floating trend, revealing the continuous human weakness for desire, opulence and beauty.
So let’s look at where luxury sets its values, is it all decadence and hedonism, does this market have a conscience? Last week showed Independence was luxury’s core value, with a major triumph to the Dumas family in France. A 4 year battle for power was finally settled on 6th September, democratically by Paris’ tribunal de commerce. After a summer of tension between major rivals, LVMH and Hermes, a peace agreement was settled giving each side dignity, forcing them to see the sterile aspect of conflict.
43 yr old Axel Dumas named his clash with billionaire Bernard Arnault the “battle of our generation”, disputing financial control of the 177 year old company. In October 2010, LVMH used derivatives to swoop on 17% of Hermes’ shares, increasing Mr Arnault’s investment in the company to an important 23.2% stake. They were then fined in 2012 for being in breach of regulation with the AMF, for not declaring the 5, 10 and 15% thresholds, accused by Hermes of “insider trading, collusion and manipulating stock prices”. LVMH countersued for “defamation, slander and unfair competition”.
Known for it’s traditional leather goods, Hermes is the closest rival to Louis Vuitton, the flagship brand of Arnault’s luxury conglomerate. 15 years, ago Vuitton and Hermes were very similar brands, the discretion of their branding being the grain of their well chosen leather. Before Vuitton was for luggage, Hermes synonymous with saddlery. Post Marc Jacobs, Vuitton is now a logo-heavy, over accessorised, celebrity glitzed brand, mass commercialised through its now wide range of more accessible accessories.
Hermes, instead, has remained discreet and highly exclusive, retaining control of craftsmanship, limiting production to that of their exclusive, French factories. Hermes products are still stitched by hand, by highly skilled artisan makers.
Jean Louis Dumas, chairman of Hermes for 30 years, built the family company into a global brand, cultivating desirability of it’s exclusive, European products. Through cult window dressing of its flagship, rue st Honore store, the family expanded their strategy, cultivating cult status for products such as the “carre” and the desirable Kelly and Birkin bags, taking leather goods beyond saddlery. The desirability of the brand has remained in its tenacity, its loyalty to craftsmanship and quality in a time of great competition and the independence and unity shown by the business was founded in 1837, family owned for 6 generations. The company was floated on the market in 1990 and one could say that their outrage in the Arnault acquisition was rather old fashioned. However, the undercover equity swap was recognised as a stealthy move and LVMH fined Euro 8 million as a result.
As a consequence, Patrick Thomas, the only non-family CEO in Hermes history, handed the firm back under family control. Axel Dumas joined Hermes in 2003 after studying at Institut d’ Etudes Politiques de Paris and working for BNP Paribas. Family members jointly own 70% of Hermes and after Arnault’s financial assault, formed a protective holding company, H51, owning 50.2% of the capital to guard against future takeover.
The justice of the gracious ruling, gave triumph to the united Dumas family whilst allowing Mr Arnault to retain an 8.5% stake. LVMH was forced to liquidate, in a way that protected Hermes share value, distributing the stock amongst LVMH shareholders: each investor receiving 1 Hermes share for every 21 LVMH shares held andLVMH is not allowed to buy any of its smaller rival’s shares for the next 5 years. This irony has given Christian Dior the largest stake, Groupe Arnault 5%, acquiring shares at a stratospheric price of 238 Euros, realising an investment profit of 2.8 billion Euro, without destabilising Hermes the way a sudden volume sale would have done. So who can complain? LVMH bought the shares at a value of 106 Euro, after an initial drop of 9.3%, Hermes shares rose again to 253 Euro and LVMH shares have steadily grown to a happy 137 Euro. So did they all celebrate the deal with a glass of Dom Perignon, Arnault’s most profitable brand?
And why are Hermes’ small and beautiful shares worth so much more than their well informed, well funded rival, Vuitton? Their value lies within an unprecedented loyalty to the family house and a united belief in “small is beautiful”, and also manageable…
Hermes first quarter sales reached 943.5 million Euro, up 15% in a year, making Hermes’ value 3.8 billion Euro. The waiting list for their leather goods extended through a Birkin and Kelly bags sales leap of 21.7% driven by Japan and Asia, outpacing Hermes’ production capacity. Leather sales alone represent 409.9 million Euro from this one, small family firm.
LVMH, with its 60 luxury brands, represents 29.1 billion Euro..
The Dumas family unity has proved more powerful than Arnault’s gluttony. Arnault likes to ruthlessly intervene, aiming to maximise profit for the group and “ transform creativity into profitability”.
Family strategy is simple, less dispersed, they “Know” their products inside out and have a clearer vision of who they are. They know their suppliers personally, they know the feel of the grain, the handle of the silk carre. The impact of this deal has brought unprecedented interest to other family, luxury brands. Chanel, on the other side of place Madeleine, is experiencing a phenomenal boom in sales.

Production is supported by caring expansion of promoting the metiers d’art in Paris, buying up the dying houses of craftsmen who support the couture industry, the milliners, the feathermakers, embroiderers, colourists… In 2013, they celebrated 10 years of supporting the sophisticated metiers d’art in the most contrasting environment of Texas, Dallas.
Alain and Gerard Wertheimer, Chanel’s owners, whose family invested in Coco Chanel in 1923, have a background in perfumery and are now worth a combined $19.2 billion. Filing Chanel’s annual report with dutch Kamer and Koophandel to ensure the most discreet reporting, in 2011 the brand’s consolidated net revenue was $5.9 billion. Each brother owns 50% of the famous luxury brand, whose production is now backed by the growing Paraffection crafts conglomerate, made up of Desrues, Lemarie, Maison Michel, Lesage, Massaro, Montex, Barrie Knitwear, Causse, Goosens, Lanel, Guillet and the recently acquired leather maker, Bodin Joyeux. The metiers d’arts support is now grouped together in 30 000m2 in Pantin, just outside of Paris. With guaranteed leather production, Chanel SA grew in value by 25% and if they were to float on the market, their stock value assessed at $US 536 in 2011 is estimated $1836 US today. Last year Chanel’s sales gained $1.3 billion.
So whilst LVMH pushes on brashly, what are these two family brands doing so well more discreetly? Possibly, developing values, their own, convinced values.
As Aristotle discussed, happiness is in achieving eudaimonia, a flourishing of good genius.
Vanessa Friedmann of FT declared the trend of 2014 to be Values, if you are a luxury brand selling to hedonists, how can you even have any ethics some would say?
Well you can try to run your company well, ethically, respecting staff, clients, agents and suppliers in a flourishing way.
Firstly, your shareholders or owners benefit from the highest ethical value of all: Independence.
Autonomy and freedom to decide the strategy, the image, the budget of the company. Feeling they Know what the right thing is now and when and where, looking towards the future, intending to do the right thing. Planning and thinking, slowly or sometimes impulsively. Changing one’s corporate behaviour can be difficult if you are large, smaller firms change behaviour patterns more easily. Smaller firms are often more inspired, more edgy.
But Ethics are not on the edge, not trendy, they are deep rooted in the space between our two sides of the brain, based on each one’s in-built conscience, each one’s intrinsic worth and judgement, the balance between logic and creativity.
As a traditional brand, ethical expansion roots far deeper than organic sourcing and ILO employment standards. You have your own atelier and staff to care for, apprentices to train, modernity and traditional identity to uptain new ideasto harvest, stores to fill and the ongoing, unrelentless pressure of the catwalk.
Maintaining the balance between the two brains is where the value lies, creativity and judgement to give one judicious, inspired autonomy. Thus we inspire others and as we make desire, we make products and we make profit; but the real key to a sustainable future is to make a moral profit, a clean, truthful, conscientious profit, where maybe , in a distant future, we can learn to share more with others, not just the wealthy 85.

Jackie Andrews-Udall
Sept 2014

From one island to another (archipelago)

Typhoon- a shocking word to pronounce.

Even worse to look at the visual aftermath and emotional turmoil this recent hit has left us all in.

I was born not far from the Phillippines, in sunny Bandar Seri Begawan, in a moist nest of jungle, where houses perch on stilt and seaweed wraps into bracelets around you. The heat and humidity means home, sticky rice…

And then, you wrench the memory away and it’s gone, all gone, blown away.

The week before, in our own, very cold yet also humid isle, the wind swept branches off trees, blew trains off their tracks and brought London to a standstill for a few hours. The city and canary wharf had to walk to work. We all forgot about it soon after.

Now, the military from our small unique island flies to the archipelago of 5000 to confront the aftermath of nature. Despite progress in landscaping and urban planning, we have no sustainable plans for preventing catastrophes caused by nature. The more we become aware of nature’s power to take revenge on humanities depletion of its riches, the less we seem to be prepared to plan for it.

Will sustainability be taken more seriously by governments so that we become forward thinkers on a global scale and become prepared to protect humanity as opposed to protecting financial assets (belonging to only the very few)? How can we do this? Surely it isn’t that difficult to map human density according to risk areas and orchestrate a long term migration plan in sustainable phases?

They did it in ice age, didn’t they?

So as we collect for the disaster in the Phillippines, how can we construct a future that will really help Phillipinos construct a lifelong nest for their kids?

Source of collaborative inspiration? As fresh as Summer Rayne

Sourcing for a new, sustainably collaborative start?

This sustainable autumn seems to have brought in a harvest of seminars, as if we all spent the summer building up carbon with exotic plane destinations leading to sun-bleached bliss. So what happened, we all returned to reality in a halo of eco-guilt?

Well I wasn’t quite so lucky, spending most of the summer in London amidst the riots, the dodgy weather and even dodgier social atmosphere. So I felt reasonably guilt-free when invited to this onslaught of sustainable events. I must say, as a result, I have enjoyed most of them and for once, been truly informed, or even inspired…Having been present in the ethical fashion circuit for over ten years, it often feels that each conference repeats it-self, with input from rare technicians breaking through to add real information whilst many meetings discuss a similar, rather vague, often self promotional whilst eco- scaremongering agenda. This autumn was different, and you can now tell the trees from the scared leaves falling. We are all growing to know the subject better and each one’s roots are now exploring deeper into the subject, more willing to share practical information with each other to shape a more constructive and collaborative future. Indeed, real collaboration is the only way fashion and sustainability can make progress. Though fashion, as an individual outcome, is basically a unique process, highly customised and personal; the way we make trend, the way we buy into fashion and seasonal style is a collaborative consensus. Fashion’s structure: geographical fashion weeks, distributed in sequence accross the globe in a collaborative, co-ordinated way to promote easy planning for buyers and easy access for the media, makes its the perfect vehicle for collaborative progress. If the sustainable minority could at last be accepted and integrated by the mainstream organisations such as NY fashion week and in Paris, the Chambre Syndicale’s careful planning and organisation of the fashion calendar- then sustainability breakthroughs in fashion would take place in every organisation. For the moment, the two still live apart but sometime soon, they will come together, collaboratively.

I most enjoyed seeing the vast progress made within the Ethical Fashion Forum– www.ethicalfashionforum.com– where my deeply committed friend Tamsin Lejeune has brought together the whole world to talk about responsible consumerism and production within the fashion arena.

I was invited to speak at her SOURCE event –source– held at London’s Sadlers Wells theatre and it was most inspiring to see the line-up of panelists she had brought together to talk about the future of sustainable fashion.

I had heard alot about Summer Rayne Oakes beforehand but, although nearly crossing paths on several occasions, I had never met her formally before. Summer is just like her name: beautiful, tall, well spoken, amiable, passionate about what she does but with a calm feeling of confidence delivered when she speaks.

As you all probably know, she is a recognised eco-model, environmental activist, using her good looks, intellect and entrepreneurial spirit to raise awareness and action for responsible, planetarian change; One of those people of whom you think ” Lord, they really have everything going for them with so much ease, I’m so prepared to not like them, at all..” but when I met her, she was just so nice, so genuine that on the contrary, I liked her alot.

Summer Rayne, from her beautiful, willowy height, delivers a convincing speach on why we should produce fashion in a more eco-sound way and she gives guidance and inspiration on how to do so. She has put both her wallet and time where her heart is: when she talks about her new –sourcing platform–for sustainable production, you just know she has collaged this thinking material together very personally and in depth. It is now more effective, more encompassing than before.

So if you are looking to develop simple apparel or edgy fashion in a more sustainable or ethical way, looking at both resources: EFF’s the SOURCE platform and Summer Rayne’s SOURCE 4 STYLE , could definitely bring you both practical guidance and deeper inspiration.

made-by: sustainable London

The made-by seminar on sustainability future took place at the National Geographic store today.
Progress has been made over the past year; nearly all the iconic names of British apparel were there from John Lewis to Mulberry and Ted Baker.
So at last, retailers accept that a sustainable approach to product development is an inevitable future as legislation tightens around the notions of product ownership and supply chain responsibility.
Hazardous chemicals remain a classic scare and area of guilt, with the word “wet processing” bringing sweat to the fronts of the ignorant… Everyone else knows we are talking of dyeing and finishing, though in this CSR dominated arena, no-one talks about how to manage softeners, using safer enzymes for better handling, dry tumbling instead of extra washing… It is all still guilt-led in the discussion forums, with no true recognition that mills, the good ones, like to take ownership of their own collections and don’t give that ownership away to their clients as a good cloth for a succesful and responsible mill, will be sold years beyond the one retail collection in Autograph or Mulberry.
Should textile ownership not reside with the mills who conceived the cloth? Cloth is an end product in it’s own right after all. As are the other garment components: buttons, trims, embroidery, hardware…
Should we not now talk about keeping a best product register, where each product’s environmental credentials are truely listed: 100% recycled polyester, dyed with: name of dye, in Japan, using 300 litres of water and 3kw…
This product has travelled X kilometres: point of source of each component to CMT unit, then to the stock, then to wholesaler and then retail delivery…
Many futuristic systems need to still emerge fast and simple in the debates to guide us away from some rather predictable, guilty scaremongering.
Methodology needs to be replaced by some conceptually inspiring green vision.
This is still to come.

A Yarn fairly spun

This gallery contains 2 photos.

The leaves are falling, a chilled breeze rattles my windows and as we all ramble into the park, rosy cheeks flush our windblown faces. Autumn is here, wuthering heights, it’s sweater weather… So yet again, it’s time to get the … Continue reading →

Share this:

Buying having been my profession for so long, I realise some of you may want to know how I spend my money on that precious little babe of mine.
Being baby number three, I’ve tested out a few products and now tend to go only for basics.
Here are a few sustainable baby items I use all the time and would strongly recommend to other parents:
Simply Gentle organic cotton pads.
These are dual sided so you don’t need alot of them to clean baby up, they’re small enough to fit in your handbag too when going out…
Lavera baby and kinder neutral skin oil.
I use this for cleaning Rosie’s chunky little folds and for massaging after bath. Good for sensitive skin and eczema.
Earth friendly baby biodegradable nappy bags.
Neals Yard organic baby balm: one pot lasts a good three months if you use it sparingly!
Burts bees baby powder: cornstarch enriched with powdered flowers: how nice could it get?
And for my own hands after all that changing:
Organic surge tropical bergamot handcream
None of these will break the bank and you frankly don’t need much else beyond the nappies. With these, you need to choose what fits baby best.
As I breast feed, one product is key: fennel tea. Drink loads of it, and it’s good for baby’s digestion too, getting rid of colic.

Next week I’ll recommend some good “sustainable eco-reads” for the kids.
Have a good week!

Share this:

Early spring and it’s citrus season. Arriving from Sicily, Spain, the Amalfi coast, the lemons are waltzing in, competing with all those navelinas, blood oranges, sweet clementines and all things tangy.
Now I grew up singing “Oranges and lemons” and, having lived around the place ( jungles of Brunei, sun drenched India, goose fat dripping hills of the Dordogne, wuthering moors of Yorkshire…), I was both delighted and surprised to find that all those bells in the song were real!
I now love singing this rhyme to my own children, we live amidst the last bells, the ones that chime in South East London slipping all their consonants…
The song travels accross London, resonating around the city symbolically in this time of crisis. (I must confess that when sung, I change the rather Tudor ending: the chopper becomes a kiss.) “You owe me two farthings”, say the bells of St Martins”. Hope arrives as you travel East: “When I am rich!, say the bells of Shoreditch”.
My back window looks out onto the tower of Canary Wharf, where the coffers refill stoically as bonusses resign themselves to a more regulated future.
We presume at the songs origins, those tangy oranges and lemons were the cause of the importers debt.
Now these lovely fruit cost nothing compared to green beans and trendy arugula, and my fruit bowl is currently overflowing with a glut of citrus. Household debt is now linked more with our fuel tank, with petrol rising every day. And what an Arabian spring we have had…
Well, back to St Clements and those oranges and lemons…
How can I totally enjoy the taste of this citrus glut, these wintery tangs of sunshine???
A fresh juice in the morning: tang fantastic!
But better still, a cake. Not one for the kids, but one for me, to share with friends; it will sit perfectly next to a cup of strong coffee.
I wondered which recipe to choose from my favourites: Lemon pound cake, lemon drizzle cake, orange and polenta cake???
The result of this pondering was a new cake, a personal homage to St Clements, not orange OR lemon but oranges AND lemons. Here’s how you make it:

St Clements cake

250g unsalted butter, softened.
200g organic caster sugar
4 eggs
200g white organic flour
80g fine polenta
50g flaked almonds, crushed up in your hands to fine crumbs
2 drops of vanilla essence
1 heaped tsp baking powder
2 tbsp greek yoghurt
2 lemons, juiced.
a large pinch of lemon zest
1 ½ blood oranges, juiced.
50 g granulated sugar for the syrup
a tiny shaving of orange peel, chopped

Cream the softened butter and the sugar together first, then add each egg to the mix and beat in one by one.
Add the vanilla essence and the lemon zest, then the juice of one lemon and ½ an orange.
Add the flour, polenta and baking powder, fold in alternating with a spoon of greek yoghurt as you fold, and finally add the almonds, mix together.

Bake in a warmed oven for 12 minutes

In the meantime, make the syrup.
Place the extra sugar, the juices of 1 lemon and 1 blood orange, the citrus peel, in a pan and boil to a syrup, simmer until all the sugar is dissolved and the syrup begins to stick.

Remove the cake from the oven and pour the syrup over it evenly so that the whole surface is coated. It will sink into the cracks giving moisture to the cake.
Put back in to bake for another 20 minutes until the cake is set clean (do knife test).

Let the cake cool before serving.

Citrus glut galore!!!

lust petals: devour them

Well it’s Valentine’s day.
So, if you’re lucky, some male will give you a bunch of red roses, hopefully rather large (depending on how much he is lusting after the lacier petals adorning your smaller items of clothing…)
Ughhh!!! Men can be so uninventive. If you’re like me, keen on real flowers, the fragrant ones, slightly citrussy, fragile, blousy and blushing pink, mixed with peonies- then red valentines day classics are frankly not a classy gift.
Wait! Don’t throw these red undesirable roses away.
Instead, wash them very gently and peel the petals off, weigh these up and make some totally desirable rose petal jelly.
Spread this on warm buttered scones, dip your tongue in it, dream with your eyes closed savouring the floral paradise in your mouth, dream of the same man having a little more taste…in the future. Soften up, and pretend he is as desirable as this amazing jelly.
This is how you make it happen:
Grab the said red roses and pinch out the petals, wash and pat dry very gently in a linen cloth. You need at least 200g of petals.
1.5 kg of apples: cored and chopped loosely
1 lemon, cut up coarsely into chunks
preserving sugar(see proportions that follow)
vanilla pod, sliced open.
2 cups of dried rose bud tea.
100g redcurrants (for extra pectin)
600ml of water

First: make the apple jelly by putting the chopped apple, lemon, redcurrants, water and tea in a preserving pan and boiling up gently.
Simmer for about 1/2 an hour until you have a soft juicy pulp. Strain this appley mix through a muslin bag and collect the juice.
Measure the strained juice and set aside 450g of sugar to each 600ml of liquid.
Put the sugar in the pan with a tiny cup of liquid and heat through gently until it is warm. Then add the rest of the liquid and stir until all the sugar is completely dissolved.

Set aside 30g of rose petals, add the rest to the pan, add the vanilla and boil rapidly for at least 15 minutes, removing the scum all along. Test for setting point, it should be ready. Remove the vanilla pod.
Add a sprinkling of fresh petals to the clean sterilised jars and pour in the pink petal mixture. Seal and turn over, then two hours later turn back to upright position, this should get rid of bubbles.

Ok, the petals in this picture are not deep red: my man has learnt to choose better flowers; we have been together for fifteen years.
Happy Valentine’s!

Fight the grey: blood orange

This week has started: Grey.
World news is grey, people sleeping in tank tracks… Strange camping spot for democracy.
So what to do but escape the gravitas and eat cake. A healthy, powerpunch happy cake.
Look at those seasonal Blood oranges and bake:
Carrot, peel, orange and pumpkinseed muffins

These are moist, tangy, omega and vitamin packed.
Ingredients:
Spelt flour: 1/2 cup
Organic plain flour: 1/2 cup
buttermilk:3/4 cup
organic cane sugar: 3/4 cup
2 grated carrots
a handful of pumpkin seeds
2 tbs of mixed peel
baking powder: 1 tsp
butter:1/2 cup
sunflower oil: 3tbsp
juice of 1 blood orange and zest
2 eggs
Cream the butter, oil and sugar together until fluffy.
Add the eggs one at a time. Mix together all the dry ingredients and alternate adding these to the creamed mix, and the buttermilk, whilst stirring all the time.
Stir in the orange juice, zest and the grated carrot. Fold in the seeds.
Scoop into muffin cases and bake.

Eat warm with a good cup of coffee and start your day, chasing the grey away.