Puttery Treats For Good Cheer

Well first it is sunny and then it is downright freezing and the then the rain won’t stop and then it is that rather darling word inclement and though one wants to be in the garden, nothing is growing yet and there is only so much much tidying a person can do and the house is sparkly after a rather intense month long Seasonal scrub and you can’t quite get your creative brain into gear and really you just want to feel better about your garden and the cat litter  and your thighs and your husband and your lack of ambition and the stains you can’t shift from the linens you unearthed at the car boot sale on Sunday, you know?
Well of course I do.

And though obviously I can’t help at all with most daily dilemmas, I can of course come up with a precious little list of puttery treats for cheering a person up now can’t I?

* Disguise brown plastic garden pots in the house by wrapping them in folded white paper doilies and tying them with ribbon. Quick, effective and pretty while seedlings are growing on the windowsill…
* Use this lovely on-line monogram generator to personalise a set of blank note-cards and use them to send out springtime greetings to far-flung friends.
* Soothe frazzled nerves and and anxiety by mixing a teaspoon of Ashwagandha powder with warm milk, rosewater, cinnamon and a little  maple syrup and drink after a cosy bath. Nothing, upon nothing is more pampering when the world feels as though it is falling in.
* Use  a peg to clip gardening gloves to the end of the washing line so they are always handy…
* Find a happy but not too precious vintage mug and use it to hold an array of plant markers and few pencils in the greenhouse.
* Print out this lovely reminder to simplify on to a postcard  and use it as your bedtime bookmark…
* Buy a pack of really pretty labels and use them to mark every plastic container, zip pocket and file you own. This simple act reminds us not to use each place as a catch all and prevents the accumulation of junk in places formerly allocated for a specific purpose.
* Wrap pickle and jam jars in vintage hankies secured with ribbon and use them as tea-light holders. Make as many as you can and light them as the sun goes down.
* Print a bedtime prayer or blessing on to paper and frame it at your child’s bedside.
* Convert a lace trimmed pillowcase into a drawstring bag and use to store carrier bags in the kitchen.
* Have two holes drilled through a vintage baking tray, string from velvet ribbon and use in the kitchen as a magnetic noticeboard.
* Take yourself to the nursery and buy a house-plant sized aloe vera plant to keep in the kitchen. Just perfect for springtime bicycle cuts and scrapes. Just pull a leaf, slice and wipe over the wound for super fast anti-bacterial healing.
* Buy a tiny little spiral bound notepad and keep it in your bedside drawer. Use each page to write down a single worry and rip them out when the worry has gone. See how quickly your worries disappear because all too often they never really come to pass…
* Sew dried lavender into a tiny square of muslin, then lay flat in-between two doillies to make a collection of darling little vintage scented sachets.
* Make a small pot of tap-scrub (baking soda and peppermint oil mixed into a paste) and keep in the bathroom. Apply wherever black yukky yuck has built up, leave for a few hours and wash away.
*  Keep a small pretty watering can hanging in the kitchen and pour the water your veggies cook straight into it. Allow to cool then nip outside and use as a delicious, nutrient rich feed for plants.
*  Crochet yourself a hanging plant holder and buy yourself a spider plant to purify the air. Kitsch and healthy.
* Make yourself an evening cocktail of Pimms, cucumber and  tincture of borage  to gently whoosh away any feelings of mild depression.
* Start saving egg shells in a jar in the kitchen. Let them dry before crushing and adding to the jar then use them to provide much needed calcium to the base of tomato plants.
* Cut a sprig of fresh lavender about three inches long and steep in a little teacup of boiling water. Place the saucer over the cup and leave on your bedside while you take your bedtime bath, then climb into bed and sip this lovely calming lavender water slowly.
* Onions sliced in half and left around the house where flu or nasty colds or other ailments are spreading are thought to draw away the virus, and though this is barely the loveliest of treats one should consider this age old remedy when illness threatens household harmony.
* Have a pull out shallow basket under the bed to store decorative bed cushions overnight. So much nicer than chucking them on the floor.
* Plant a few  pennies around the base of gorgeous blue hydrangeas and they won’t fade…
* Astonish vintage loving friends by serving lace patterned biscuits. Simply roll a rolling pin over a small doilie pressed into chilled dough and bake. Sooooo pretty.
* Paint a little bucketful of smooth stones with eggshell paint and use as pretty plant markers in the garden.
* Mix up a bowlful of baking soda with enough water to make a paste, then use a cloth to apply it to your kitchen sink dish rack. Scrub the nooks and crannies with a toothbrush, then leave for ten minutes and rinse away: odours be gone!
* Buy a length of strong wire and use to wrap around terracotta pots and tie to trellis to create a hanging garden.
* Smash old chipped vintage china and place on the saucers of garden pots to add colour and make those darn slugs life that little bit harder.
* Fold tea-towels in half and loop over the towel or oven rail. Mark the depth of the rail on the towels, then stitch ribbon ties on both sides so they can be tied on and won’t go wandering around the kitchen. Gorgeous with short lengths of old lace on plain white towels.
* Make your own lavender essential oil (oh bliss).