Miracle oil for dry skin - Almond Oil!

I had a patch of dry skin that just would not go.  I tried numerous creams and it just stayed and possibly got a little worse.

Finally I happened upon Almond Oil.

I popped a little bit on the dry patch after my shower and then later on before bed and I put some more oil on and then covered it in face cream.

Well what do you know, when I woke up the dry skin on my face was gone and I was left with the softest skin.

The other thing that I use almond oil for is as a hand scrub. Mixed with sugar and then rinsed off with warm water it leaves my hands softer than soft!

Monday wrap up...

Cycling to work has been going really well. I've cycled every day since the 2nd of January. That's a record for me!

Before work, I took my homemade soap out of the mould and then cut it in to bars when I got home from work.

The soap has to now cure for 4 weeks or so and then will be ready to be wrapped.

Speaking of Monday wrap ups - check out this little parcel wrapped up and on it's way to the US of A. 

It's a little pressie for Miss A!

Sunday was productive!

I had an awesome Sunday. I got piles done, getting up early to get straight in to my soap making which I had been planning on doing all week.

I needed to buy a few pieces of kit to make the soap including a digital scales and a thermometer. I had a regular old fashioned scales but after using the digital one I can honestly say it is invaluable.

Here's a pic of the utensils and also the ingredients.

The soap is now in the mould (a shoe box) and has to be left for 24 hours. After that I will cut it in to bars and then leave for about 4 weeks to fully cure and saponify. 

The next thing I did was drop 5(!) bags of clothes and kitchen items to the charity shop after a big Marie Kondo clear out. I'm sure charity shops are seeing lots of donations at this time due to the popularity of her show on Netflix.

The charity shop we went to was in Rathmines and across the road from The Pot Bellied Pig so went over there for brunch after the drop off.

I had the Eggs Benedict which was very good while Ciaran had The Hog which was essentially the full Irish.

After that, we had a browse in the Swan Centre stopping in at Tiger where we got some art supplies.

When we got home we watched two episodes of Schitts Creek on Netflix - it's sooo good!

Then we did laundry and then we started another Marie Kondo clean up!!

By 4.30pm we had another two bags so we quickly dropped back to Rathmines and got the bags dropped off just as the show was closing at 5pm.  There was some good stuff in these bags, including some brand new never worn clothes with tags on. Get to St Vincents shop in Rathmines, if you are interested!!

And then home again where we made Keto Pizza base and then chilled for the evening.

How was your Sunday?  What did you get up to?!

Saturday Soap Day

Guess what I learned to make on Saturday?!

Soap! That's what!

I signed up for a soap making workshop on Facebook. It was held by a lovely lady in her own home (how hospitable) and was free - all she asked was for a donation to the hospice.

It was a lot of fun learning to make soap and it was also lovely to meet like minded people. 

I look forward to making soap shortly myself at home. I need to organize myself and buy a few pieces of equipment.

It's not a massively difficult project but serious care is needed when dealing with certain ingredients - in particular the caustic soda/lye.

After 24 hours this is the result of our work. The soap will be cut now and then left for a few weeks before packaging up.

This is the finished product. How great do they look.....and oh my gosh the smell!

Watch this space - I will blog about my soap making once I get down to it.

Sparking Joy with Marie Kondo

A few years ago, I discovered the Konmari method of folding clothes and honestly it was life changing. You can read all about my drawers here!

So while I stuck to folding in this way, I was feeling like I needed to do a big declutter and chuck out a load of stuff. However, I didn't know where to start. Luckily I saw that Marie Kondo has a new show on Netflix and it helps with tidying up.

So.....

After watching a few episodes, I started on my clearing out.

Using the "Spark Joy" method, I'm finding it easy to let stuff go.

I've got a batch of bags ready to go to the charity shop with more to follow over the next few weeks.

Tomorrow I plan to clear out the dogs box of toys and accessories which is in the utility press. It is stuffed full yet the dog only plays with one toy!  Definitely a good project to get stuck in to.

Quit the plastic habit....

I have been thinking of ways to try reduce my use of plastic and other single use items. Here's a list of all of the ways I can think of - let me know if you can think of any more ways.

1. Bring a cloth bag to the shop for your groceries - say no to a plastic bag.

2. Use a reusable coffee cup instead of a takeaway cup (and save money too - many places give money off for bringing a cup)

3. Say no to straws or only use paper ones

4. Switch out a bar of soap for shower gel - check out this palm oil free soap that is made in Ireland

5. Stop buying bottled water - I do this with fresh water but I need to stop buying sparkling water or 500ml bottles of Coke Zero

6. Use beeswax wraps rather than cling film 

Can you think of anymore?

Just thought of another one! "Reuse" - Buy secondhand :-) 

Picking up after the mutt!

As anyone who has a dog knows a large part of dog ownership is picking up after them when they take a bathroom break when out walking.

For the past few years I've been using this brand of bags as I find them convenient because of the handy little roll that they come on. They also feel strong and give you a sense of security that they are not going to split in your hand when you are carrying out a particular action.

The other good thing is that they are biodegradable and good for the environment.

The only place that I seem to be able to find them in here in Dublin is TK Maxx. I was in TK Maxx in the Ilac Centre this morning so I picked up a large box of them that has 375 in total. That's about a years supply and at €12.99 it is only a few pennies per bag.

Back on the Keto train!

After the excesses of Christmas I am back eating Keto.

I got straight back in to making Keto bread which is beyond easy to make. Basically you just mix up the ingredients in a bowl and then bung it in a tin and in to the oven for 45 mins.

The ingredients for this Keto Bread are:

Half cup coconut flour

Half tsp baking powder

6 eggs

Half cup melted butter

Some salt to taste

And then I add chili flakes too!

I've been making the tastiest tuna melts for dinner on this bread. I layer avocado, tuna & mayo and then melt cheese on top. Delicious!

But personally I think this bread is best toasted in the oven and then slathered with Kerrygold butter.

So breakfast this morning I had Nespresso coffee with cream and then some Greek yoghurt with added cream.

 My new find is this Greek yoghurt from the Tesco Finest range. It's delicious! It's been strained so it is really thick and creamy. Previously I enjoyed the Lidl Greek yoghurt but this is my new favourite.

I like to add cream to my yoghurt. It adds fat but it also takes down the sharper taste of the yoghurt if it is not quite to your taste.

I feel so much better eating this way. Not eating sugar gives me more control over my eating and stops me acting like a Sugar Monster!!

The year of the Gift Bag

Just  before Christmas, I discovered that wrapping paper is not recyclable - particular if it is shiny. An alternative is to use brown paper but I wasn't sure that I wanted to do that even if I do think brown paper parcels can look very nice when tied up with cute ribbons. Looking on eco websites, I saw another alternative to wrapping paper is to wrap presents in tea towels that can then be used by the recipient.....I don't know about this one!!

So in the end I decided that this would be the year of the Gift Bag. I thought this was a good option as hopefully the bags would be reused by whoever I gave the present to. I also chose fairly non Christmas looking bags (I selected a few red and gold tartan bags in Dunnes) so they could be reused for any other occasion than Christmas. 

I didn't take any pictures so I'll just share a Christmassy snap of Ciaran and myself!

Handmade Irish Soap

One of my favourite things in the world is homemade soap. Once you start using homemade soap it is very hard to go back to the commercial variety.

I was very lucky to receive a lovely  thoughtful Christmas gift of some really gorgeous eco friendly Irish handmade soap.

It's Palm Free Irish Soap and it is made in Co Clare in Ireland.

There are three lovely flavours in this box. Pictured below is Lavender & Seaweed and I also got lemon flavour which I promptly put straight in my shower. I love lemon and this one is really nice as well as being lovely and bright coloured which is so cheery.

If you want to order some lovely soap, head over to their website or go to their Facebook page to give them a follow. 

I'm intrigued by the "Feile" soap. I wonder what it smells like. Feile is the Irish word for Festival so it sounds like a fun soap!