I am having a very physical sort of day today I took the dogs for a long walk this morning and this afternoon we have been rotovating the veggie patch . I have also been preparing the chicken shed for some new occupants. I have not had the heart to do it before but it was a pleasant afternoon and its now clean and swept. I would be interested to know if anybody knows of any natural product I could use to disinfect it? Minnie had a wonderful time out there rolling in foul smelling muck so she has had to have a bath which she hates. But it always seems to send her completely fruit loop afterwards and she charges about like a mad thing and seems to enjoy that part of the proceedings at least.

This time of year I love poking about in the garden to see what is coming up, I'm afraid I'm not the most methodical gardener and don't make meticulous plans of where everything is going to be planted so it's usually a surprise, I always think I am going to remember what I did but never ...

Back again! I was in Wick yesterday so lots of driving = very tired me and no blog. Did you know that its Fairtrade fortnight? 23rd February to the 9th March it seems to have come round so quickly. As you know I am very keen on Fairtrade to help small producers when they don't normally have much of a voice. Many items in the shop are produced by Fairtrade initiatives.

Anyway it set me thinking about ethical and organic clothing and here are a few thoughts that I had.-

There are lots of reasons for choosing organic baby clothes. Many parents are starting to realise  that this type of clothing for their baby is more appropriate than synthetic and chemically treated materials. They tend to be hard wearing and can be passed down to siblings so you could actually end up saving money.

An infant’s skin is thinner than an adults  and more susceptible to chemicals and h ...

Our weather is a bit dreich here but I went for a long walk with the dogs this morning to Loch Craggie and Shula was able to have a swim which she enjoyed. I have been slaving over my accounts this afternoon and getting into trouble with my financial advisor aka Peter my husband for all the accounts I have misfiled.

I have been asked to write a short piece about me as an introduction and have been thinking about what I should say. Where do you strike a balance between too much and not enough? My business was inspired by the birth of my first grandchild Jacob and since then I have become more aware of green issues. It sounds rather trite but that is the story of how Sones came about in a nutshell. Oh well I shall have to put my thinking cap on and come up with something interesting.

I have found some tips on laundry using green methods which quite interested me, all the cleaning and laundry products I buy are Ecover and I have been thinking for some while that I ...

Back from my hols! I have been having a wonderful time in Devon with my two gorgeous little grandsons. We have been enjoying all sorts of adventures in some lovely settings.

As usual I was looking for a model for some of the lovely new clothes that are just in and Tristan was perfect for the job. I am so pleased with the new clothes from Little Shrimp they are  unique and really vibrant and funky plus Soil Association certified and meeting Global Textile Standards for the dyes and prints used it doesn't come any better than that! If my two sons are listening I could do with a girl model now as the clothes have to be seen on to do them justice. (only joking!).

Anyway here is young Tristan giving it his all in a Joe all in one doesn't he look absolutely edible?

Here I am again, still loads of snow here and my husband is becoming obssessed with snow clearance he's worn out with digging and chipping away at the ice, we still can't get our cars in and out. Every where you look there are spoil heaps of snow!

I am getting excited about my trip next week, I have ordered several items that I want to take with me from the web and as usual left it until the last minute so I am hoping that it will all arrive in time. Sian has asked me to take my swimming costume so that we can take the boys to the swimming pool which should be fun.

I have been tagged on webmums by my friend Sabine who runs the fabulous Cebra where I get the wonderful skincare which I stock in the shop.Webmums is an online community and you can find my answers

We are snowed in again! I managed to go to work yesterday but it was a whiteout this morning and didn't stop until about midday. Apparently it is supposed to turn to rain but there is no sign of that at present. I am hoping that things improve soon because I am going South next wednesday to see the family in Devon and will be very disappointed if I can't get there.

I was reading a very good post this morning about the question 'Is reuse good for the economy' it's a tricky question isn't it? As a retail website owner I am here to sell organic, fairtrade children's clothing, accessories etc and I hope that when people visit the website they will want to buy. However I have always advocated passing clothes down through the family after all they are quality garments and are made to be used to the full. I think that what we need to get away from is a consumer obssessed society  importing cheap items badly produced in sweatshops which are often worn once and discarded. But& ...

Just as I thought I might be able to move my car I went and reversed into a snowdrift and it's snowing hard again. I'm expecting a dog sled to rush by any time soon and a polar bear catching fish in the river. Never mind I am feeling quite pleased with myself this afternoon because I have just made another organic baby cake, word of mouth seems to be spreading the word locally which is great.

On a more serious note I wanted to bring to your notice some information that I was given about possible causes of cot death.

Authors: Jenkins R.O. 1; Craig P.J. 1; Goessler W. 2; Irgolic K.J. 2
Affiliations: 1: De Montfort University, The Gateway, Faculty of Applied Sciences, Leicester LE1 9BH, UK 2: Institute for Analytical chemistry, Karl Franzens Universität Graz, Universitätsplatz 1, 8010 Graz, Austria
Source: Human & Experimental Toxicology, 1998, vol. 17, no. 3, pp. 138-139(0) reported detectable ...

It looks completely surreal outside today, this morning at 7am the thermometer outside was registering -15 degrees a mite chilly. Since then we have had a thick white fog descend which the sun keeps trying to break through. All the trees are wearing a heavy coat of ice and snow is everywhere even the river is semi frozen. Shula wants to be out there playing in it all the time but I find I get very cold quite quickly much to her displeasure.

I wanted to take a photo of Klibreck at the back of the house but the fog came down and covered it up.

I put a new item into the shop today. it was some gorgeous little organic cotton baby

I took these pictures this morning in our garden Shula and Minnie were having great fun although Minnie had to try and follow in Shula's tracks otherwise she was almost buried! It is certainly not weather to be out driving and my car is parked and luckily I do not need to go out. Peter dug himself out today to go to work.

I have been looking at some recipes for homemade cleaners which are a good idea both from an environmental view and they will also save you lots of money.

All purpose spray cleaner

1 tsp castile soap

1 tsp borax

2 tbsps vinegar or lemon juice

Water to fill a 16oz spray bottle

Because ...

Aaargh! I have just written my blog and then lost it ! It has been snowing here on and off since last night so I have been unable to go to work. I was out in the garden earlier with the dogs and have realised how it is you know when you are past it. I was about to do a snow angel when it suddenly occured to me that once down I may well not be able to get up again. Thank goodness I stopped in time or I might still be there frozen solid! Oh the joys of being an old granny!

On a different subject you may remember that I lost all my chickens some while ago when a Pine marten broke into the chicken house and killed them all. Well I am thinking of getting some new hens in the spring and I am going to buy some Marans. Here is what they look like for those who don't know the breed. Quite handsome aren't they?

I read some time ago that th ...