Hello friends!
Recently a Swedish wall art company called Photowall reached out to me to collaborate, so here we are. They very kindly offered to send me a product to review, and I chose this stunning butterfly mandala canvas*. There was such a huge selection of wallpapers, canvasses and posters it took me a long time to decide, but I was drawn to this one for it's unique design and bright colours!

Before I ordered,  I checked the environmental efforts of Photowall and I was pleased to see that they work with Vi Agroforestry, planting 5000 trees each year around Lake Victoria. They also print-to-order to avoid discarding unused stock, and their printing inks are biodegradable as well as free from hazardous chemicals. Sounds good to me!

I ordered my canvas on a Wednesday evening at 7pm, so I was surprised that my parcel arrived by Friday at midday! Safe to say that I was very impressed, as it had been printed and delivered from Sweden in less than two days.
I was also pleased that there was no unnecessary plastic packaging, as the canvas was wrapped and padded with paper. If you are trying to be completely zero waste it is worth noting there were plastic zip-lock bags for the screws- but personally these are handy and I will reuse them!

As you can see, the canvas arrives rolled up, with all the pieces you need to assemble your art at home. Clover clearly looked confused, but the instructions were really easy to follow, and I also used Photowall's 'how-to' video. I'm pleased to say that it was simple to put together and if I can do it, anyone can!
Above is the canvas in my lounge, and I love how it looks above the fireplace! The bright design makes a great impact on a plain coloured wall. If you like more subtle colours however, then this ocean mandala design was a close favourite of mine.
Below is the canvas styled in my bedroom. The colours and quality are brilliant, I've noticed  from other companies that larger prints can lose quality, but that's definitely not the case here!

Ingredients...

200g dates
125g glace cherries
2 tbsp flax seeds
3 tbsp desiccated coconut (plus extra for rolling)
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp cocoa powder

Method...

Hey friends!

Back again with another recipe involving foraged ingredients. Although, I'm not even sure I can call this a recipe, it's too simple. But hey, works with the blog name I guess?

The humble dandelion. I think they get a little bit of a bad reputation as weeds. However, I am here to defend their case as a foragers dream. You all know how to identify this flower I'm sure, so you'll pleased to know that all parts of it are edible. Toss the leaves into salads, the flowers can be made into tea or fritters, the root can even be used as a coffee substitute!
If that's not enough, before you cut down your lawn make sure you read about the potential health benefits too. They contain plenty of vitamins, are great for digestion, and may also play a part in reducing inflammation, blood pressure and cholesterol.

Have I convinced you yet? Great! Let's put a cuppa on :)

Option 1: Fresh

Simply wash the dandelion heads, pull off the petals of 6-7 flowers and put them in a tea infuser.
Use almost boiling water and infuse for about 10 minutes, or to taste.
Sweeten with honey or agave if you like, then enjoy!

Option 2: Dried

Hey friends!
Today I'm going to be sharing a recipe for some delicious wild garlic pesto- you can't get much fresher than this. At the moment, Cornish woodlands are absolutely full of carpets of wild garlic. If you've never tried it before, check out my post last year on how to forage for wild garlic HERE.
Note: Always remember to only take what you need and always be 100% sure of identification of foraged foods before trying :)

Wild garlic is the first food I ever foraged, and it has such an amazing flavour it can pretty much go in anything! Stir into pasta, in sandwiches, salads, even put it on cheese on toast. This recipe is super simple and you'll have yourself some delicious pesto in just a few minutes. It should keep for up to a week in the fridge, and this makes two small jars- double or half the quantities as necessary. You can also freeze in an ice cube tray if you want to save some to use later in the year! If you're vegan, you can swap the parmesan for nutritional yeast or simply leave out completely.
Sustainable, local, zero waste, recycled jars... what's not to love?
Let's get started...

Ingredients:

200g wild garlic
100g parmesan
100g cashews
Olive oil
Juice of half a lemon

Method:

1. Wash the wild garlic thoroughly and blitz in the food processor until roughly chopped.
2. Add the parmesan and process for a little longer.
3. Finally add in the cashews and blend, incorporating olive oil to the desired consistency.
4. Mix in the lemon juice and season with salt and pepper until you're happy with the taste!

The soap is 100% natural (the ingredients are only: coconut oil, shea butter, olive oil, lemongrass essential oil, hemp bran and water) so is free from palm oil and chemical nasties. This was the main selling point for me as we were bathing and walking through the river, I didn't want to be putting anything damaging into the ecosystem. The soap is also vegan friendly and not tested on animals so there's no harm done during production either.
Not only did the lemongrass smell super fresh and energising, it also has antiseptic, antibacterial and natural deodorising properties!  I feel like I should probably list something bad to counteract all of these good things but I genuinely can't think of anything ;)