August Discoveries

I'm so happy to be sharing this new series of posts with you. I've been thinking for sometime about how I'd like to share the odd little discovery with you. You know the type of thing that you're glad you've stumbled upon, be it a simple recipe, a great tip or life affirming book.
Sometimes they're completely new and other times they're something you've known about for ages but have finally gotten around to trying.

So, once a month I'll be sharing the little things that I've happened upon, enjoyed, found useful or learned from and just think you might too. Here's a few things I've discovered this month.

~ 'The Five O'clock Apron' 

I discovered this gorgeous recipe book by Claire Thomson on our recent trip to Brecon. We spent Friday afternoon at the outstanding Griffin Inn in Felin Fach. The pub was second to none - cosy, welcoming with the most amazing food (highly recommended!) It was the sort of place you feel comfortable in immediately and the fact that there was a Welsh dresser stacked with books to browse and buy over lunch was a huge bonus.

I was instantly drawn to this book by Claire and was sold as soon as I'd read the introduction. Almost every line about feeding children (and grown ups) resonated with me. When I read it to Sam over my Cauliflower soup I knew I had the green light for a purchase, so home it came.

Every recipe is designed to dish up delicious meals, packed with goodness and flavour, that children and adults will equally enjoy. Without the hassle of slaving over a stove at one of the most fractious times of day. My clothes/legs/ arms are regularly tugged at at this late hour in the afternoon and ANYTHING I can do to make things easier and mealtimes 'successful' is a winner for me.

Claire encourages making vegetables the heart of a dish and packing them with flavour. Her suggestion that they should be relished and not something on the plate that children have to 'get through' in order to have pudding rang true. Anyone else constantly find themselves saying "just have this piece of carrot/broccoli/bean and you can have a yogurt?

If you're a fan of Radio 4's Woman's hour then you can catch Claire on the podcast cooking up one of our top family meals, Broccoli Pesto Pasta. You can find the podcast here.

~ Make Up Brushes 

I've suspected for a long time that make up brushes were one of those special beauty secrets. However it's only recently that I've untapped the wonders of the brush! At the end of July, on my little jolly to Liberty (which you can read about here), I stopped at the Bobbi Brown counter and enjoyed half an hour of pure 'me' time. I was given some great tips and one of those was that using brushes was pretty much a make up essential!

So, when I got home I gave all the brushes that have been rolling around my drawer for yonks a good wash, and started to put them to use. I've been using some of my wedding make up until recently ...we've been married nearly 7 years... (yes I can hear some of you make up junkies gasping at the shock), so decided now was the time to restock.

With my new brush skills and little black pots, my morning make up routine has become a pretty little kick start to my day.

                                ~Teapigs~

Anyone that reads this blog regularly and follows me on Instagram, may have noticed that this month I've been working with Teapigs.  Along with enjoying all the fun that comes with a giveaway, I've also been enjoying a great range of teas that they kindly sent me to try out.

You may have read my Tea with a Twist post where I shared some great recipes for jazzing up your 'tea temple'. But when I've not been adding ice or blending them with ice cream, I've been enjoying refreshing green teas (Mao Feng Green Tea is a gamechanger) and late night chocolate treats (in the form of Chocolate and Mint).

They might seem a little more expensive than the average supermarket box of herbal teas but I'm certainly sold. The flavours are so fresh and unique that I know I'll be stocking up my chocolate stash when this box runs out.

Which brings my nicely to the lovely job of announcing the lucky winner of a bundle of Teapigs goodies. They have kindly provided an amazing prize for this month's #mythursdaybreaktime, the weekly challenge I host on Instagram.

It's been so lovely to take a peek into your breaktime moments this month, many of which have been spent on your holidays.

The post I've chosen as my favourite is this colourful and delicious looking shot by Chloe (@cotton_clara)

The rich pickings from their 'scrumping' escapades are amazing! I wonder how they used them all up, popped into jams, jellies and crumbles maybe or perhaps gobbled up one by one.

I'm loving August's bounty at the moment. I'm hoping to preserve as much as possible so we can enjoy the sweet tastes of Summer in the winter months ahead.

So there we are, simple things that I've discovered and enjoyed this month. My morning routine and tea times will never look the same again! 

I hope you've enjoyed reading and I look forward to discovering some new things to share with you in September. We're off on two family holidays and Wilf starts school nursery so it's going to be a busy month.
There won't be a #mythursdaybreaktime giveaway and I won't be writing weekly posts as I want to give myself a little extra time. I'd love to see all your posts though and will still be picking out a few favourites to share each week on Instagram.

Here's to a new month ahead, changing seasons and new discoveries.