This Guynan Life ...

White Painted Home Decor: Fresh, Open Kitchen - White Painted Home Decor - Photos - SouthernLiving.com

2010-05-11T10:06:00.000-07:00

We interrupt this transmission for some kitchen lust ...

White Painted Home Decor: Fresh, Open Kitchen - White Painted Home Decor - Photos - SouthernLiving.com

Living Life in a Country and Western Song

2010-05-01T06:43:00.000-07:00

Too be fair, we still have the car, the dogs and each other, but Joe lost his job a couple of weeks ago and it has been a bit of a roller coaster!

Oh and when I put my laundry out this afternoon it immediately clouded over.

I don't mean to whine, but I'm just having one of those weeks where it is one step forward and two steps back, my health is all over the place and it was supposed to be my week off for rest.

On the upside I have just mended a monkey's bottom!

An orgy of stress induced cleaning means that the house is looking good - I even did the windows, a pet hate of mine.

Most of my seedlings are coming up and my lemon tree has blossoms ... and small shriveled things that could be lemon buds.

And I am totally styling it in my summer dress and wellies.

So I'm off to add up my blessings and make shriveled lemonade!

Dog Walking on the Beach, Counting Our Blessings

2010-04-15T21:03:00.000-07:00

I love that the weather and the light are enough to take the boys to the beach for walks, sometimes we get up early and watch the sun rise over the sea, sometimes we head over in the evening while the sun sets over the dunes.

Fitz and Milo love all the space and the smells, and this evening we were also joined by a curious seal who swam along side us as we walked up the beach.

It's very hard not to be content with life walking along the beach, hand in hand with your husband, puppies gambolling like mad things, we are very lucky despite everything that is going on in our lives at the moment.

Get Busy Living ...

2010-04-07T00:49:00.000-07:00

9am

Well I seem to have been wallowing slightly in FMS flare up blues lately and spending more time reading about other peoples lives than doing anything with my own

So today I am going to do two things:

Sort out this blog, catch up missing blogs and add in pictures
Plant up seeds and pot on seedlings

Watch this space!

8pm

Well I got nearly all of my seeds planted, ammended the shameless Amazon "What are we reading?" widget and did the following blog updates:

I added in pics here:

and here:

and published posts on River Cottage here:

and our new puppy here:

modernhaus: As if Portland needed more promoting...

2010-04-04T07:44:00.000-07:00

Continuing my recent penchant for lifestyle envy, we move from San Francisco to San Diego (and from there Oregon), and the gorgeous blog of modernhaus:

modernhaus: As if Portland needed more promoting...

I'm probably a bit old to be stamping my feet and wailing, but "I want to live in Americaaaaaaaaaa!"

All better now!

Dream Home ...

2010-03-26T03:59:00.000-07:00

I've done a LOT of thinking about how I want our house to be when we finally own one and so far I have come up with the following:

wooden floors
all white walls
all white furntiture with odd brightly coloured highlights
all our quirky bits and pieces on show
my eames style flea market finds and kimono fabric cushions
the wooden initials of my husband and myself
all my books
the piano, sax and guitars

turns out I'm not the only one ... this place is stunning ... how green am I?

One small step for man, a giant leap for this Guynan

2010-03-20T09:23:00.000-07:00

This year I am officially starting my training to become a Paramedic.

It has been a serious ambition of mine for some 10 years now to leave my IT career behind me and join the medical profession.

My introduction started in November 2008 when I was employed by the East of England Ambulance Service as a software developer, and over the past 16 months I have been promoted to senior developer, and am currently the interim Development Manager for the Ambulance Service.

Since April 2009, I have been a community first responder for the ambulance service which involves being clinically trained in BLS (Basic life support) This includes CPR (Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation) AED (Automated External Defibrillation) and the diagnosis and treatment of many life threatening conditions.

Should the ambulance service be unable to get to a patient in an agreed amount of time, ambulance control will activate a community first responder to be first on scene and control the situation until a Paramedic arrives.

While working for the ambulance service and responding within my community, I also volunteer to work 12 hour shifts with APRU, Advanced Paramedic Response Unit.

I ride out with APRU, call sign 222, as and when I can, this is the ambulance services Critical Care Paramedic car. They are a team of 2 advanced Paramedics. 222 specialises in pre-hospital care and trauma for both adults and children (paediatrics), they are a registered charity and rely on public donations to enable them to use advanced equipment and carry pre-hospital drugs.

This is a fantastic opportunity for me, as I get to learn many skills beyond the level of a community first responder, and gain priceless experience on the road.

As I have to wait 2 years before I can apply to become a student ambulance paramedic (I need to clear the 3 points on my driving license, and get my Maths GSCE at C grade) I have decided to join Norvic Ambulance, a private organisation that will enable me to gain a recognised clinical qualification, and gain even more experience.

I will be starting my Norvic EMT (Emergency Medical Technician) course in May this year, and upon passing my assessment, I can work part time for Norvic as a technician.

I will blog more about my training in the near future. But for now, I will continue to respond, ride out, and work my way through my Paramedic bible, Emergency care on the streets by Nancy Caroline.

Joe&

Taking Pleasure in the Small Things ...

2010-03-16T15:32:00.000-07:00

Well I think today was the first day of spring weather we've had here in Norfolk and it was glorious. I got a lot of chores done and the silliest things seemed to make me smile.

I took particular pleasure in being able to hang my washing outside for the first time this year, and in the little green buds that are showing on my hydrangeas.

Bliss!

Sarah&

Want Lots, Waste Lots

2010-03-14T07:10:00.000-07:00

Oops ... Joe and I did a really, bad thing: We went to Lidls to (to pick up chicken for supper) tired and hungry and without a list and as a consequence spent £30 pounds (more than our weekly food budget) on things we didn't need.

Amongst other things:

Walnut Ice Cream £1.89
Guava Juice 75p
Pomegranate juice 69p
2 packs of sunflower seeds 29p each
Cherry Crumble £1.19
Mini Rum eggs £1.79
Mini Marzipan Eggs £1.79 and a
Superking Fitted Sheet £6.99

Even worse I'm fairly sure the chicken wasn't free range.

Well I've done penance for the chicken by donating the difference between the price at Lidls and Roaming Roosters (about £3) to Hugh Fearnley Whittinstall's Chicken Out Campain.

I guess the penance for the £30 overspend will be another night spent number crunching on the excel spreadsheet.

Waste Not Want Not

2010-02-26T04:47:00.001-08:00

Every year in the UK we throw away £12 billion worth of food which could have been eaten. Love Food Hate Waste is a campaign from WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme) which shows that by doing easy practical everyday things in the home we can all waste less food, which ultimately benefits our purses and the environment too. If we all stopped wasting food that could have been eaten, it would have the same environmental impact as taking 1 in 4 cars off UK roads. lovefoodhatewaste.com has lots of delicious recipes to use up leftovers, handy hints and tips for storing food to make it last longer, a portion calculator to help you cook the right amount, and information on what food date labels mean. There is something for everyone, whether you are a keen cook, or simply want to reduce the amount of food which you throw away.

Too Many Projects Not Enough Time ...

2010-02-26T03:42:00.000-08:00

Oh dear - while doing my usual "blog hopping" (finding one cool blog then jumping to one of their recomendations and so on) I have found a couple more projects that are too cute to pass up.

I think a little mouse will soon be on its way to my new nephew, Oskar, and the ambulance is a must for my step-daughter as her daddy is training to be a paramedic and she loves dressing up in his high vis.

Jodie at Ric-Rac is an incredible inspiration.

I will keep you posted on my progress. And if I get brave I'll post my efforts on the Ric-Rac website.

Tied to My Apron Strings

2010-02-25T07:17:00.000-08:00

Well I've been browsing the web again and have found another delightful website devoted to one of my weaknesses - vintage style aprons.

This site is sheer heaven - so my next project must be to make and submit an apron of my own!

New Year Blues and Blog Envy

2010-02-21T08:03:00.000-08:00

Well clearly I have blown my New Year's Resolution to "Blog Daily" which I made in a moment of high optimism and possibly under the influence of Christmas alchohol - having blithely ignored the fact that my FMS is often so bad in January and February that I can barely string a sentence together verbally let alone on screen.

So on top of feeling blue because I just do at this time of year, I also get to kick myself for setting unrealistic goals and also for not living up to them. (Yes I know there is no logic to kicking myself for both, I just do!)

As a simultaneous punishment and delight then I love to visit worthier bloggers than I who do blog frequently and whose blogs and lifestyles awaken in me a deep envy.

My latest favourite is Wee Wonderfuls a blog so, cool cute and perfect that I want to be its best friend and keep it in my pocket.

So check it out, but don't forget to come back, I'm officially out of hibernation now!

Gnome Loin Cloths and Other Adventures in Crocheting

2010-01-11T10:30:00.000-08:00

Well having just taught my self to crochet I had to share my amazing creation. Check out my Gnome Loin Cloth.

Soon to be followed by a square and a circle - yay me!

Ho Ho Ho Merry Christmas

2009-12-26T09:22:00.000-08:00

So it's our first Christmas as husband and wife, which is very exciting, so I decided to go all out on the food and trimmings.

With a small puppy in the house, we decided not to risk having a tree (especially as we usually have real candles on it)

Christmas 2007

So this year I found an old tree shaped candle holder and sprayed it white, added candles and hung a few of our favorite ornaments on it.

Not quite as effective, but puppy proof at least!

I did the full roast dinner, with organic turkey from M&S bought with vouchers we received for wedding presents, and as neither of us are that crazy about Christmas Pudding, I did the Spruced Up Vanilla Cake from Nigella Lawson's Christmas program. I bought the bundt tin from Amazon.

And because it was his first Christmas, Fitz got a bone," the one as big as wot I am"

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas, holiday season etc and a Happy New Year

Rhubarb, Rhubarb, Rhubarb Part 2

2009-11-21T18:30:00.000-08:00

Well I finally opened up my rhubarb schnapps, and strained the resulting mush through muslin

Despite looking rather gruesome, it resulted in the most gorgeous pink liqueur, which not only looks pretty but is also deliciously moreish!

Hugh Fearnley Whitingstall visits and apple crumble

2009-11-12T14:27:00.000-08:00

We went to see Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall at Ely Cathedral and as always he was absolutely brilliant.

We got our books signed and Joe bought me the new River Cottage Everyday Cook Book

Inspired by both the visit and the book I cooked his apple crumble. He adds oats to the crumble

And cinamon and walnuts to the apples

When I took the left overs into work I was told it was the best apple cumble ever!

Happy Hallowe'en

2009-11-01T05:55:00.000-08:00

As is customary in the Guynanlife household, we make quite a big deal of Hallowe'en. We dressed the front yard as a graveyard with fake head stones, ghost appearing above the windows, spooky music playing and a smoke machine set to go off as trick or treaters approach the front door. I was chuffed to bits that loads of our visitors said it was the best house they'd been to.

Joe carved his first pumpkin (the rather spectacular skeleton) and I did two, one bat cave to say "welcome" with a bat hovering above and one "happy halloween" tree and graveyard with a ghost hovering above.

On the home front we mulled cider, invited friends and neighbours and watched horror movies in front of our open fire.

All in all a fantastic night.

Pumpkin Panic

2009-10-20T12:48:00.000-07:00

Well sadly my fabulous plan of growing my own pumpkins for carving this year, after last years disastrous pumpkin shortage, has gone just slightly awry.

This is the picture on the packet:

This is my pumpkin:

So that small boy in the picture would have to be about 4 inches high to get the same perspective with my pumpkin. Or photographed about a mile behind my pumkin.

Picture my "humph" face!

(oh and just to see if my friend Inge reads this, I will be adding my pumpkin photo-shopped with the Little Mermaid in Copenhagen - actual size!)

I'd Rather Be Blue, Thinking of You ...

2009-10-11T12:59:00.000-07:00

... I'd Rather Be Blue-oooh

Cannot rave enough about by morning spend at the brilliant Woad inc learning how to process woad into dye and then use that to dye fabric.

Mine ended up a little "tye and dye" school project but wearable I think. I'd buy the efforts of the other ladies on my course, who were clearly craft verterans, unlike myself.

At the end of the day we not only took home our completed scarf and hankechief, but I also bought some seeds for my planned "Dyer's Garden" on my allotment.

New Arrival ...

2009-09-21T08:20:00.000-07:00

Fitzchivalry Farseer, or Fitz for short named for the brilliant Robin Hobb book Assassin's Apprentice (The Farseer Trilogy - Book 1) (I love all her books and recently hear her read at a book signing.)

He is four kinds of terrier - Lakeland, Patterdale, Yorkie & Staffie:

Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Green

2009-09-03T23:28:00.000-07:00

Well it's official, we are now Mr & Mrs Happy-Ever-After!

Obviously we were on a tight budget, and also wanted to be as green as possible so we had a DIY Tiffany themed wedding.

My new step-daughter was a very cute and gorgeous bridesmaid - dress from eBay, as was my wedding dress, although I had planned to make my own. (2 points second hand, 0 homemade).

We dressed our little yellow car as a new york taxi and our neighbours kindly loaned us their garden, mini-marquee and fairy lights as well as home brewing beer and wine for the event. (3 points home made, 2 points borrowed)

We catered it ourselves with the help of a trip to Macro ( and a lot of hard work from I & M -thank you) - afternoon tea, smoked salmon, coronation chicken, cucumber and cheese and egg and cress sandwiches, mini cakes and eclairs, savoury canapes, Joe made the scones and I made home made jam, one of my friend C made the most amazing Tiffany blue cupcakes and petite fours and my sister contributed the most stunning wedding cake ever. (Lots of homemade points)

We served Liddls prosecco in champagne saucers for that vintage 50s look and asked for contributions to our garden or wine rack for presents.

I made Joe's solid silver ring myself and engraved it with the word "soul mate" in celtic ogham writing, Joe bought my silver and pearl ring from etsy. (1 home made, 1 craft) I aslo found some vintage Crackerjack prizes in the form of a bride and groom and made them into cufflinks for him.

I designed the save the dates and then found something very similar so bought them from Vistaprint and made home made invites in the form of blue card boxes with Sarah & Joe in Tiffany & Co writing, tied with white ribbon which opened out to show and engagement ring and all the wedding details. (1 point home made)

I found super cheap blue favour boxes on eBay and we filled them with Crackerjacks instead of sugared almonds and tied them with white ribbon to look like Tiffany boxes. Guest were also given button badges to wear, either Fierce Dinosaurs, Lovely Other Dinosaurs (A Lovely Love Story by Edward Monkton was the first book I bought Joe and one of the readings at our wedding) they could also chose The Yellow Taxi of Love or Holly Golightly.

Joe's first wedding cost him over £30K, we brought ours in at a frugal £880 including rings, food, alchohol, outfits and registry office costs, not bad for 40 guests and more importantly the home made touches made it uniquely personal and memorable!

Tybalt King of Cats - RIP

2009-08-29T05:04:00.000-07:00

Today would have been our one year anniversary of owning our Bengal/BSH cross cat Tybalt. He was 1 year and 8 weeks old. In fact we were already planning a small party for him and the kitten next door, when he was hit and killed by a car on Thursday.

It doesn't seem possible that the world is still turning.

So here is a small memorial for my beautiful boy, who's adventurous spirit was too big for his body.

Rhubarb, Rhubarb, Rhubarb

2009-08-18T17:46:00.000-07:00

Well I made the rhubarb schnapps using Nigella Lawson's recipe:

Nigella Lawson's Rhubarb Schnapps

approx 2 lbs rhubarb (1 1/4 lbs trimmed)
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 liter vodka

Trim and chop rhubarb and divide between 2 1-liter jars. Add 3/4 cups sugar to each. Mix or shake. Cover with vodka.
Close jars.
Keep in cool and dark place for at least 6 weeks. Shake up about once a day or so.
Strain.

I just have to wait about 6 weeks for the results...

For my rhubarb and ginger jam and used this recipe from the rather fabulous Allotment Lady and funnily enough had to make pretty much the same substitutions with the preserved ginger.

Mine didn't turn out quite as well as hers, and in fact I forgot about it and left it to boil a little too long, but what I ended up with was rhubarb and ginger marmalade and it's pretty yummy, if a little sticky!

Get Orf My Laand

2009-08-18T14:27:00.000-07:00

Less than a week after emailing to request a place on the waiting for an allotment, Norwich City Council have written to me and offered me one less than a mile from the house - hurrah!

I am so excited, especially as there are apparently people in Norwich who have been waiting 6 years! It seems we don't live in a fashionable area of the city tee hee.

Here is our new kingdom of self-sufficiency - there is some work to do!

PYO

2009-08-02T20:31:00.000-07:00

Headed out with a few friends today to a Pick Your Own to get raspberries to make jam for the wedding.
There was a slight hitch to the plan when it turned out that there weren't any raspberries, but I did get a big haul of blackberries, rhubarb and ripe bananas.

and we found the world's largest swing seat too:

so plan B is rhubarb and ginger jam and apple and bramble jelly, with rhubarb schnapps if I have any left over and banana bread with the bananas.

38 Degrees and other campaigns (Power to the People)

2009-07-28T02:44:00.000-07:00

Cutting down on waste, freeing up clutter and starting to take control of our finances seems to have simultaneously increased how much I care about issues outside of my little world, and given me the energy to do something about them.

Here are a few of the campaigns I have joined:

38 Degrees

I joined Hugh Fearnley-Wittingstall's Chicken Out campaign when it first started but it remains one of the campaigns I care most about.

Anyone who knows me, knows that my other big dream in addition to owning rescued chickens, is to have my own bee hives. I have recently put my money where my mouth is for bumble bees here.

and signed a petition to ask the government to ban pesticides to save honeybees here.

While I was on the Soil Association site I also joined and signed up to be a letter writer. I will report back on the benefits and discounts I receive on top of feeling good about myself!

It feels good to be in a place where I can give back some of the energy and riches I have in my life now.

SarahandJoe x

We Few Form A Multitude

2009-07-25T10:32:00.000-07:00

As part of my ongoing commitment to being green and being frugal, I set up a Facebook Group for friends and friends of friends in the Norwich area, to swap or barter plants, seeds equipment or produce and who are also interested in using collective buying power to get a better deal on organic/local/green produce and groceries.

We range from allottmenteers to window boxers, but all have in common a love of growing our own on whatever scale and a desire to live as carefully and frugally as possible.

I got the idea from the superb Soil Association website which you can find here:

http://www.soilassociation.org/Takeaction/Buyorganic/Organicbuyinggroups/tabid/203/Default.aspx

While you are on the site please take the time to sign the Save the Bee petition.

If you live in the Norwich area and want to join our Facebook Group, you can find us here:

http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?topic=10054&uid=106013998111#/group.php?gid=106013998111

We have a PYO and jam making day coming up, seeds on offer, a seasonal recipe section and groceries order coming soon.

SarahandJoe

Why I love debt by Miss Thrifty

2009-07-24T05:31:00.001-07:00

I've been a fan of Miss Thrifty for a long time, but the more I read of her blog, the more inspirational I find her.

I think it is definitely time for Joe and me to start putting this inspiration into practice - after all our ideal Guynan life is debt free!

Read Miss Thrifty's story here:

Why I love debt

Posted using ShareThis

Follow her blog here:

http://www.miss-thrifty.co.uk/

Jolly Green Guynans ...

2009-07-21T13:17:00.000-07:00

It occurs to me that I can't really achieve an aim of going greener, or living more authentically, without first trying to gauge how green and/or authentic we already are.

Accordingly we challenge ourselves to a month without supermarket shopping, to get a feel for how dependent we are, and also to give ourselves the incentive to find local, greener and possibly more frugal ways of fulfilling our needs.

While we don't exactly fall at the first hurdle: we have a local butchers, grow some fruit and veg in tubs in the garden and have a local shop/off license; (although oops we buy French wine - will have to work out how to offset those food miles later) it does throw up some areas that need more serious research, not least of which are cat food, toiletries and petrol.

While I'm sure that most people would laugh at the idea of green petrol, as someone with a disability which completely precludes cycling at present, and often means public transport isn't an option, the question of how best to remain mobile and still minimise my impact on the planet is not as simple as it might seem at first.

Obviously more research is needed, and if anyone out there has any pointers, I'd be most grateful.

SarahandJoe

Rub-A-Dub-Dub 3 Plants in a Tub

2009-07-14T08:47:00.000-07:00

Our neighbors have been refurbishing their bathroom and being the kind of person that hates to see something go to waste I have been covetously eying their discarded bath tub. No one therefore could have been more delighted when they mentioned somewhat gloomily over the garden fence that they didn't know how they were going to get rid of it.

Needless to say it now resides in my garden and 8 bags of compost later is now home to my large pumpkin plant and two gourd plants, and when I harvest them I'm thinking deep enough for carrots!

The story so far ...

2009-07-13T14:26:00.000-07:00

After the shadows of court cases, job loss and chronic illness, Joe and I suddenly find ourselves standing in sunlight. The court case over, the new job satisfying and a potential miracle drug for the pain. I'm still thinking about the miracle drug - there could be a lot of side effects, but it's nice to have time to think, time to make plans, time to think how we want our lives be.

And needless to say we have lots of ideas on how we want our future to be. Some of those ideas will be the subject of this blog, but for the moment I want to start our new life by saying I feel blessed, and I am grateful.

Sarah&Joe