Made to Last, and stylish too

Hot on the heels of my recent post - What a load of rubbish - comes another sustainable option, this time for furniture.  It's a company, Made to Last, which sets out to do things differently; not only are its products sustainable, they're also crafted here in Britain.

And what's more the products really do look great, and as the company name suggests, made to last.  Each product has clear guarantees displayed on the site, so you really can judge the true cost and value of a product.

No doubt like me you'll know that often items only last a short time and discover that no one seems to fix anything these days, so often the most economic solution is to buy more.  But that leaves items to get rid of more often, and more for landfill contributing to our throwaway society.

My top picks

1. Sofas by Wesley-Barrell

As you know we've recently been on the hunt for new sofas. We saw many and managed to choose two grey sofas (which arrived last week, more on those another day), but we quickly discovered that it's never just as easy as choosing a new sofa.  There are many shapes and sizes, prices and quality, but I do believe there's a sofa out there for everyone.

We saw many velvet sofas in our quest to replace ours, and we were very nearly tempted, but in truth the velvet sofas we saw weren't quite right.  As soon as I visited the Made to Last site the sofa below, by Oxfordshire-based Wesley-Barrell called out to me, and I wished the email inviting me to collaborate had arrived a few weeks earlier.

ONE OF THE WESLEY-BARRELL SOFAS ON THE MADE TO LAST SITE
Photo Credit: Made to Last

Each sofa is hand-built to order, which means as well as choosing the leg style and colour you can make alterations to the seat depth, so if you've little legs like MOH or I or longer legs then you can purchase a sofa that works for you.  While out sofa shopping we sat on quite a few we liked, but would have liked more if we could have reached the floor.

It struck me that they don't just claim to be eco-friendly but give clear examples of what they do everyday to demonstrate this in a practical way, such as using FSC accredited timber, using natural materials including a polymer fibre made from recycled plastic bottles.  It doesn't sound overly comfortable, but I'm sure it's much better than it sounds.

2. Black iron loaf tins by the Netherton Foundry

CAST IRON LOAF TINS ON THE MADE TO LAST SITE
Photo Credit: Made to Last

Yes, quite a change from my first item I know, but one that could make it into my bakeware cupboard.  Last year we tinkered with cooking bread in our pizza oven without a huge amount of success as the oven was still too hot.  However I'm a try-er so we're not giving up just yet.

These iron loaf tins are made of durable 99.1% pure iron with a sturdy brass rivet and are suitable for high temperatures and all ovens, including wood fired.  So with these I'd really have no excuse would I?

They're guaranteed for two years and it's recommended that you re-season it with a coating of flax oil, but full instructions are included.

If we didn't already have a long handled pizza peel, I might be tempted by one to match.  If loaf tins and pizza peels aren't for you, there's plenty more Netherton Foundry items to tempt you.  

3. Royal Sussex traditional garden trugs

Despite my modern tendencies, I also like some traditional items and the Royal Sussex trugs are very much in that category.  I've seen them at shows and spoken to the craftsmen that make them, completely by hand.  It's an item that can't be rushed and one that comes in several sizes, and even though we no longer have the allotment, actually especially now we don't have the plot I can see one in the garden to save me juggling the produce I pick in the months to come as I had back towards the house.  Although I'll admit that can be quite entertaining...

ROYAL SUSSEX TRADITIONAL GARDEN TRUG
Photo Credit: Made to Last

My top three is quite eclectic, but I'm sure you're not surprised by that by now - what would you choose?

* This is a collaborative post but all views are my own.

What a load of rubbish

Actually this post is the exact opposite of its title, it demonstrates how rubbish can be repurposed and with some inventiveness can be incorporated into our gardens, without looking like a pile of old rubbish in the corner.  And if you' haven't already worked it out from the pictures this post is another from Gardeners' World Live, and another of the Beautiful Borders. 

You'll quickly spot the purple theme too.

I’m a fan of the bare lampshade which would be great with plants grown through it.  It's a great way to add some height to a garden in a funky and unusual way.  I think I'll have a hard time of it persuading MOH we should do this though.

I'm also not sure he'd be too impressed if I gave his bike this treatment.  It is a “proper” bike though isn’t it, complete with basket.

Herbs are great for growing in containers and both of these photos demonstrate that, I particularly like the thyme tea below.

And of course for a cup of tea you need a kettle.

The purple and rubbish theme continued throughout this border with the red-purple lettuce in a vanity case.

I was impressed with the alliums, they're a favourite but mine anyway and mine have long finished, so it felt like a treat to see more in full bloom this year.

The purple gnome made me laugh - and in case you're wondering I don't want one in my garden - but his plant pot, complete with seedling, is fun (I still don't want one).

Most of the borders in this part of the show were densely populated and that's something I admire and aspire to, I'm sure it's a way of suffocating the weeds too, so an added bonus!

SAGE REFLECTING IN THE GLOSSY BLACK CONTAINER

A KNITTED POT WARMER, OF COURSE

The lettuce, another of my favourites - I really should grow some of this - in the fish tank seemed a good idea, although I'm sure mine would have silvery trails of snails and slugs all over it.

What do you think, rubbish or not?

A spot of baking: savoury, sweet and with gin

After a particularly busy week today has been a day of cooking and baking, and that's a great way to destress.  The radio is turned up a notch or two, I have the house to myself and I'm in the process of making a lasagne for tea and while the rosemary focaccia cooks I'm already thinking about what's potentially up next.

It's been a while since I made focaccia though and luckily I had some yeast that was still just about in date and willing to do its thing.  If you've got quick active yeast at the back of the cupboard like me then it's worth knowing that salt kills yeast and sugar helps it.  So if you're not sure if it's going to do anything mix it with warm water and a smidgeon of sugar, if it froths use it, if not throw it away and head to the shops for some more!

I've the rest of the packet to use up so there could be plenty more focaccia to come, or even better pizza oven pizzas.  Making bread always amazes me, so few ingredients but such a lovely outcome.  The kneading is therapeutic too, and go some way to counter the stresses of this week.

I mean, from this:

To this, about thirty minutes later:

It smells good, and I'm looking forward to tucking into it later on. 

The bolognaise of the lasagne is cooking away and there's just the cheese sauce to make.  In the local supermarket earlier I was feeling lazy so thought I'd buy some but it was not to be as they only had carbonara sauce on the shelf.  I was clearly meant to make my own. 

Finishing with something sweet

Now that I've got into the mindset of baking today, I want to continue.  You may remember I have a penchant for cake and would happily eat cake for breakfast.  They do in Portugal, and so that means it's allowed.  It's probably also why I like Portugal so much, in fact I even know the Portuguese word for cake (it's bolo in case you need it)

Thinking about what cake I could make I remembered a cake my SIL made on our last visit - a gin and tonic cake.  I know, it sounds delicious doesn't it, I can tell you hers was and the flavours have been stored away for future use.  There was also a strawberry and prosecco cake which I'm hoping will also reappear when we visit in the future. 

THE MAIN INGREDIENTS - BUT WHICH GIN TO USE?

But gin and tonic cakes, they definitely work.  But which gin?  We already have a selection (as you can see) and I suspect that each will give the cake its own flavour, and there's plenty of scope to experiment.  I think this is where miniatures, like these from Just Miniatures could come into their own.  For example I think a more fresh and floral flavoured gin would work well in a cake, but we tend to be drawn to more robust, juniper styles to drink.  Clearly I'd like all the gin, but that's not so practical. 

In my quest to find a recipe I'd use, I've already found the following recipes:

• Gin & tonic cake, BBC Good Food
• Gin & tonic loaf, Good Housekeeping
• Gin & tonic tray bake, Delicious magazine
• Iced gin & tonic bundt cake, Sainsbury's magazine

But I'd be keen to know if you have recipe you stand by, or of course, ones to give a miss.

* This is a collaborative post but all views are my own.