Post Comment Love 20-22 September

Hello there and welcome to this week’s #PoCoLo a friendly linky where you can link any post published in the last week. Both Morgan and I know you’ll find some great posts to read, and maybe some new-to-you blogs too, so do pop over and visit some of the posts linked and share some of that love. And an apology from me from neglecting the posts from the last week or so, I think I’m finally coming out of the chaos which has been my work life for the last few weeks, or I hope so at least.

Things generally have been a bit fraught, long hours at work, including extra hours at the weekend too and little time to cook proper food. And it’s been the same for MOH too, which hasn’t made for a great home life. It came to a bit of head this past week, my patience finally expired and MOH knew this I think, as the very next day he arrived home with these.

They have quickly become known as Raspberry Ripple Roses, and they (any any raspberry ripple ice cream) are very welcome. We’re heading out for lunch on Sunday after the rugby too, and I’m looking forward to both of those. It’s been a long few weeks of work, work, work and that’s not great, but I know that at times it just works out that way.

It’s been so much so, that I haven’t even crocheted for a while. I know, that needs to change!

Blogger showcase: Nicola from Mum on a Budget

I’m really pleased that we have a blogger in our Blogger Showcase spot this week, you can find out more about Nicola and read her full answers over on Morgan’s blog this week. But before you go, let me share a few snippets. Nicola lives in Edinburgh, has two children and has read blogs for as long as she can remember. She describes herself as impulsive, passionate and determined, though feeding her raging caffeine addiction made that question a tough one.

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London Mules with Haycocks No 9

* This is a collaborative post

I am rather partial to a spot of gin. Which given its popularity right now is handy. So when I was invited to a Gin tasting and masterclass with Haycocks No 9, I think you can probably work out what my answer was.

Had I heard of Haycocks No 9 before? No, but there’s so many gins out there that that didn’t surprise me. What I learnt though was that it’s a spiced gin liqueur, it goes with everything (quite literally - and you know me, I like to be thorough in my testing) and I found a new gin to add to my gin list.

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A post shared by Haycocks No.9 (@haycockslondon) on Jun 19, 2018 at 4:28am PDT

We were greeted on arrival with a London Mule - Haycocks No 9, fresh ginger, lime juice and ginger beer, and very welcome it was too. In fact it’s a drink we might have had at least another of as the masterclass ended.

I’ve already mentioned that there’s hundreds of gins out there, so I was curious when they said the last thing they wanted to was make another gin, because the world doesn’t need another one. They didn’t want to add just another flavour. They realised that despite mixing so well, gin was never made for mixing, predating cocktails and tonic by decades.

Their inspiration is the humble coriander seed. Bear with me.

That’s why gin mixes so well, so they thought they’d create something different, but something that mixes as well as gin, but tastes like nothing else. And from the tastings we had, both with mixers and neat, it definitely tastes good.

Its botanicals are chosen not just for how well they go together, but also for how well they mix individually. Each one had to bring a citrus, zingy or uplifting spice note to the party. Think turbo-lemon-sherbert for grownups. But here’s the thing, there’s no lemon in sight. Unless you add a slice, of course.

As is my way I managed to choose a mixer that on its own sounded good but didn’t really deliver (Fentiman’s sparkling lime and jasmine drink - the one in the instagram photo above.), but when mixed with the gin, was very, very drinkable. In fact Haycocks paired with Fentimans at Taste London as the pairing worked so well. MOH tried his with Cherry Coke - also good (though I’m not a Cherry Coke fan), and with San Pellegrino bitters, again also good.

What’s more they explain the science on their website. And if you’re not feeling quite so brave, or need a bit of help or structure then there’s a fab Flavour Pairing Wheel which you can download too.

And as they said on the night it did take a fair bit of tasting to create, though no brand owners were permanently broken in the making of it (only temporarily!)

Tough work, I guess. But worth it.

Thanks Haycocks No 9 for a great evening, and for providing the opportunity to try your spiced gin liqueur with so many mixers.

* I was invited to this event to try the product and share an honest review on my blog. All views shared here, are as ever, my own.

Dark and blowsy

It’s not quite the golden loo that went missing from Blenheim Palace, and I don’t have anything comparable. But I do have plenty of loos. Or rather photos of them. This one’s one from Grand Designs last year, where of all things they had a whole section dedicated to the smallest room, and the Lavatory Project. Who’d have thought hey?

Today’s Lavatory Project is potentially a bit marmite, if you can be a bit marmite!

I’m very much of the opinion that you can go bold in a small space, and especially in a downstairs loo. But then again I don’t have one, so it’s easy to say that isn’t it? I like how the frame of the mirror is also dark, and the wall lights either side of it too.

There’s hints of copper too, which works well with the pink flowers and the splashback tiles.

I’m not sure about the potted plants in the loo, or the gardening tools, but I guess some artistic licence in this environment is allowed!

Yes, see what I mean about the watering can. Though it’s a very nice watering can!

And with a room with dark decor, light is even more important than normal. Alongside the wall lights, there’s an overhead industrial pendant light - the sort that you regularly see on Salvage Hunters (yes, I’m still working my way through hundreds of episodes), though this one picks up on the copper theme again.

What do you think?