Quote of the day
“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” Leonardo da Vinci
Category Archives: journal
Task of the day – bring spring into the house
It’s mid-March and nature is beginning to wake up, for all that it’s cold and blowy. Celebrate the feel of the season by going outside and bringing something natural inside – a sprig of pussy willow, a daffodil stem, a single blossom of primrose that you can float in an eggcup on your desk. If you don’t have access to… Read more »
Tip of the day – natural copper cleaner
Clean copper and brass with a paste made up of white vinegar or lemon juice, table salt and flour. The vinegar will etch straight through to the surface of the metal, the salt has a gentle abrasive action and the flour helps it stick to the metal. Apply with a soft cloth, buff to a shine and then rinse.
Quote of the day
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” Aristotle
Tip of the day – cat litter freshener
Cat litter freshener makes a great freshener for carpets and hard floors. Sprinkle it, leave for 10-15 minutes and vacuum up. I recently found Christmas Spice cat litter fresh at our local discount store – smells fabulous. You can also sprinkle a layer at the bottom of your bin bag, or add to empty yoghurt pots and use as a… Read more »
Product of the day: Puressentiel purifying 41 spray
This is a fabulous product that you can use as an air freshener to get rid of nasty smells, as an air purifier in case of sickness or to prevent sickness, on your clothes or your pillow if you’re having trouble breathing due to a cold, or as a disinfectant on wounds. It also smells fantastic. I’ve used it for… Read more »
Long time no see
It’s been a couple of years since I had time to post regularly on Second Cherry. In the meantime, my interests have changed somewhat, so here’s a heads-up. I’ll keep all the archive material on here about fashion, makeup, etc, but I won’t be posting much on those issues in future. I’ll still post about clothes, skincare and fragrance, and I’ll… Read more »
Wabi-sabi and the garden
Wabi-sabi is a Japanese aesthetic that is almost entirely untranslatable, but which contains some entrancing ideas for the garden. They say that if you can explain wabi-sabi, then you don’t understand it. It’s a Japanese aesthetic with roots in the tea ceremony. And it informs many Japanese arts, such as ikebana (flower arranging). While it may be difficult to grasp,… Read more »
The wabi-sabi garden
Low-cost, low-maintenance, environmentally friendly and supporting biodiversity – that’s what we were aiming for in creating a garden out of a field. As busy downshifters, we always knew that creating a garden from a 1 hectare (2 acre) orchard was going to be a challenge. There would be two essential requirements – it couldn’t take up lots of our time… Read more »
A fruitful summer
A fruitful summer