Stocking Up on Cruelty Free Products

Over the last couple of weeks, I've been stocking up on Cruelty Free products. Regular readers of my blog will know that I made a resolution back in January 2013 to only use BUAV approved Cruelty Free toiletries and household products. The main brands I buy are Superdrug for toiletries and Co-operative for household. They must have the Leaping Bunny Cruelty Free logo on them. I also buy Astonish products and Sainsbury's toiletries. Please click on the Cruelty Free tab above for more info.

I was shopping with my son George in Cheltenham last week and popped into Marks and Spencer (we haven't got one in Stroud). I wanted to take the opportunity to try some of their Cruelty Free toiletries. I bought two hand and body lotions....

and two shower gels....

All bearing the Leaping Bunny logo.....and they were only £1 each....great value.

Other Cruelty Free products I have bought recently are Sainsbury's deodorants... 

Superdrug facial cleansing wipes...

Superdrug Texturising Curl Creme....

Superdrug shower gels....

Co-operative washing up liquid....

Astonish antibacterial cleanser.....

Co-operative multi-surface polish....

Co-operative dishwasher tablets....

and a whole host of other products including air freshener, hand wash and washing liquid....

All these products are very reasonably priced and relatively easy to find so if you're thinking about buying Cruelty Free.....go for it.....it's not difficult. The more demand there is for Cruelty Free products, the less animals will suffer in the long run.

Thanks for visiting.

Maggie xx

A little catch up and no....my head is not shaped like a cone!

Last weekend the weather was lovely...blue skies and a warm breeze...we made the most of it on Sunday and went for a walk up on Selsley Common.....fabulous 360 degree views....

Chris thought it was funny to take this photo of me to show my 'cone' shaped head! 

It's not really cone shaped...I just had my hair put up underneath my hat!

Today's weather has been dreadful with hailstorms and sleet!

The weather has generally been quite cold this week.

I've been keeping indoors and doing a bit of decorating in the spare bedroom.....

A bit of baking....sunflower fruit cakes.....for the freezer......to take when we go away in Harvey J....if they last that long!

A bit of dressmaking...inspired by the Great British Sewing Bee....I just need to hem the dress.....I will show you when it's completed.........

And today we met up with family....Chris's parents Dorothy and Bob, his daughter Katherine and son in law Sam and daughter Hannah.....for a lovely Sunday lunch........

Sam, Katherine, Dorothy, Bob, Hannah and Chris

It was great to catch up with everyone and I snapped this lovely pic of Chris and his daughters, Hannah and Katherine.....

As always Spencer has been looking very cute all week.....

See what I mean?

Have a great week!

Thanks for visiting!

Maggie xx

A Very Special Patchwork Quilt

You may remember this post from January when I mentioned a quilt I was making for a gift and I gave you a little glimpse......

Well....now all can be revealed.....the quilt was a gift for my dear Uncle Brian.

With Uncle Brian's birthday (a rather big birthday) in January, I'd asked him back in October what he would like as a gift.  He knows I make quilts so I was thrilled when he asked me to make him a quilt to keep him cosy in the evenings when he's watching the telly.

I decided I wanted to personalise Uncle Brian's quilt by making it from fabrics that represented his hobbies, pastimes and personality. So I made a list of things I would like to incorporate. My list went something like this:

Fishing

Bird watching

Pets

Cowboy films

Cooking

Tea made in a teapot and served properly in a china tea cup!

A glass of wine

Catching the bus

Then I hunted through my fabric stash to see what I could find. I found quite a few patterns to fit the bill but needed a few more so I searched the internet and bought a few more fat quarters.

As the main focus of the quilt was the fabrics, the quilt itself would be simple squares that would show off the fabrics.

I laid the squares out trying not to repeat the same fabrics too close together. This was quite a task as I would swap two squares and then find another two fabrics close together!

I chose this fabric with birds for the backing.....

So here is the completed quilt........

Here you can see some of the fabrics a bit closer.......bird watching, fishing....a cup of tea...

Horses, teapots and a drop of wine........

More tea, biscuits, recipes and a cowboy....

Cats, catching the bus, fresh vegetables for dinner....and of course, more tea!

Here's the back which I think is nice and bright and cheery....

I'd embroidered a label for the back of the quilt.....

It was cold when we took these photos. You can see the wood burner's churning out some smoke!

I loved choosing the fabrics and putting them all together to make this unique quilt for Uncle Brian.

When I gave the quilt to Uncle Brian, he was thrilled....here he is tucked up cosy and warm....ready for an episode of Poirot or maybe even a cowboy film!

Of course I had to try it out too!

And to finish off this post, here's Spencer looking very handsome!

Thanks for taking the time to pop by!

Maggie xx

A Rainbow, Spencer has a Swim and a Sunny Walk

I just had to show you this rainbow that appeared over Minchinhampton Common last week. It was beautiful. Unfortunately a few minutes later, there was torrential icy rain and Spencer and I got soaked!

 Spencer has had an exciting week. Chris's daughter Katherine is a veterinary nurse and also works as a doggy hydrotherapist. She had a free space on Friday so we took Spencer over for a swim.  He was a bit worried at first.....

 but within a few minutes he was chasing a ball up and down the pool! 

Don't you love his doggy life jacket?!!

He had such fun!

Then this weekend Spencer has had his cousin Bella staying over for a sleepover...they get on so well..

I tucked Bella's bed under the piano so she felt safe being away from home....

We took them both up on Rodborough Common for a walk this morning...it was such lovely weather with beautiful blue skies....

We took the path round Rodborough Fort....it's such an interesting building....

I'd love to go through those doors and see inside!

This has been the best day weather wise so far this year.

Sunny, warm and uplifting!

Thank you for popping by.

Maggie xx