Author Archives: Ho Raven

Blogging 201, Day 4

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Blogging 201

I posted this earlier in the WordPress 201 Commons page today, as it was liked by a few bloggers I thought it might be helpful to post it here.

For today’s task, as my site was started recently, (June2015) I have only 2 months worth of data from the WordPress Stats page. I wasn’t expecting a huge volume of visits as I started literally with 0, with a clean slate in terms of Social Media following. My plan for the blog is to see how much organic visits the site can generate from scratch.

For June there were a total of 150 views, 58 visits, 65 likes and 14 comments.
For July to date, 202 views, 117 visits and 45 likes, 12 comments.

(July’s data is skewed as this would also include traffic and data from the Blogging 202 course).

In terms of how I approached the content, I decided upon the subjects that I felt I could write about – family, beauty, skincare, home, food, travel, music and perfume. I guess in effect a lifestyle blog.

As I have a little knowledge around SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) and used to looking at Google Analytics for clients, the stats within WordPress are a good starting point. Since this is a personal blog, I am using free search tools that would help me to generate topic ideas:

  • The free search tool: Wordstream (this is free for the first 30 search words) This shows other suggested keywords that are the top searched keywords, to help build up the content / articles.
  • Google Search Bar –  this is really basic and common sense. Since 93% of all website visits begin with Search through the Search Browser, (when was the last time you typed the full web address? I think all of us are so used to using search to find what we’re looking for on the web) the simplest thing to do is to enter in the search term you think you want to get traffic from. All the websites listed will give an idea of the type of content that is being indexed by Google and ranking. The top ranking articles/content pages are the ones on the top page, and I look through these to see what the content is about and how they approach the subjects. (BTW, it’s no good copying the content, Google will penalise against this in terms of search rankings)

That said, the tools are useful to provide ideas around what to write about. Most of the time, i’ve noticed that “Lists” work – eg. Top 5 reasons why…. or 5 ways to use…. type of content seems to work well in terms of search, though I haven’t tried this technique.

As I’m preparing a presentation on Search with a colleague, I had the opportunity to quizz him on some additional tools that could help with analysing site traffic.

Here’s his advice on Search tools:

SEM Rush, http://www.semrush.com as soon as you get to their landing page – you can type in a keyword. (this is free and a lot more sophisticated than Wordstream)

I’ve looked through my posts and the tags that I used for the posts – Skincare seemed to have the highest number of views both in terms of Category and Tags.

There’s a column of related keywords in SEM Rush – the results show “Skin care” as one of the related words. Now whilst I can include these words in the next blog post or create a series of posts around the topic of  Skin care, my chances of getting ranked high (1st page in search is desirable) are pretty slim at the moment because Google uses something called an algorithm to calculate what it considers the most relevant search results to present to you once you enter your search query. If you’re a Beauty writer, you’re in luck as this topic is among the highest in terms of search queries.

What Google is trying to do is provide a useful service to help users find a perfect match to their search query, so it uses information from websites to determine how many people have visited, the number of pages, number of images and so forth.

For now I will concentrate on creating the best content I can that I hope will be of interest to people. As more people find their way to the blog, the more relevant Google will determine the content to be; all in relation to the search query, so that’s how a blog post will rise up the search index. I don’t think there’s any short cuts to this.

The other invaluable piece of advice he gave was to look at Google Trends – this tool gives the top trending topics, and you can select by country as the trends will differ by country.

At the time of writing this post the lifestyle topic trending in the UK is “The British Bake Off”. Again, it’s unlikely that if I write a post about the British Bake Off that it will rank highly in search, but it may get picked up from within WordPress readers and the categories and Tags, if I set-up a tag around a post about Baking so that some visitors within WordPress will see the post.

Of course this is not an exact science – it is an approach that will help me work out a content plan based on the data from the WordPress site stats and some research using the free Search tools. It looks like I’ll be doing a lot of baking with the kids at the weekends 🙂

I’ll update this post in a month’s time and let you know whether this approach has helped. Thanks for stopping by and reading this post. Please do share any insights on what stats or tools you use to plan your content.

Blogging 201 – Day 3

Posted in Blogging, Blogging 201 by

Blogging 201 - Day 3

It’s day 3 of the Blogging 201 course and today, the task is about making sure the blog can be seen through any device, whether it is a desktop, tablet or mobile device.

I posted a note in the commons about this task as I’ve not been able to look at my site on mobile Android devices as I don’t have access to one.

I think testing your site to make sure that it can be viewed the way you intend people to see your blog is so important. If for instance you’re looking at a site using different browsers – by this I mean if you are using Safari, Windows Explorer, Google Chrome or Firefox, each of these browsers have slightly different nuances in terms of how they present your blog to the world, and depending on who is looking, what operating system they are using (e.g. Windows, Linux, Mac OS etc) this too could make a difference if they don’t have the fonts installed. Generally speaking if you pick a font that is not “web friendly” the browser, or operating system will default to the closest they have, which means the viewer will see something different to what you intended.

I hope for anyone reading this post, this information is helpful.

When I chose the Theme for this blog, I picked “Adelle” which was described as Mobile optimised/friendly. I checked it across the devices I had available to me and I thought in different views, it looked great, whether I had the template in Portrait or Landscape orientation, the site adapted to fit the size of the screen. This is what is meant by the term “Web responsive”.

The other thing to look for is whether the photos or images scale correctly, by this I mean if the photo automatically re-sizes to fit the width of the mobile, tablet or desktop device you are looking at the blog from. Sometimes the resizing can throw out the text to move it to wrap around the image a little strangely. When ever I think this is going to happen, I simply add an extra line break in the closest paragraph under the picture or above, preview this on both my laptop and mobile before publishing.

There were so many responses to my request, each came back with a positive note about their experience of my site.

Girl Independent let me know the site looked great on ipad. She has a great site already, but wanted to know if she should change the theme. I think it has a lovely scroll through the blog, which felt as if you are going on a journey with her while she is travelling and experiencing all the different places she has been and goes diving.

Susie Lovell let me know that the site looked good in Mac OSX, Her site is lovely if you’re after some short reads, these are great. I think writing short pieces is much more difficult than long, because you have to fit in so much in so little, characters, plot, story telling, it’s a great art and skill that is very sought after in the world of advertising.

Deb323 looked at my site on her Google Nexus, she also uses the Adelle theme for her blog, I love the fact that her blog is helping a lot of indie authors and I’ve discovered a few titles that I’ll be taking on holiday for the luxury of a long read while sitting on the beach.

Dawnlizjones checked my site on her Android Moto G Phone, and let me know it looked good on this device as well. I had so much fun reading her post on Long Playing/Loving Parenthood which is about parenting and some of motown music of Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder and then when I looked at a few more posts, I found she likes Prince’s music – ditto.

I am just enjoying blog meeting everyone, but back to the task and making sure the site is mobile friendly.

What’s great about WordPress is that if you have picked one of the newer themes, they are already mobile friendly.

I looked at all the blogs who commented, liked or followed me on my mobile devices during my lunch hour and at the end of the day at work and all of them adapted to the screen on my mobile, so I think WordPress is great as it’s automatically re-sized, re-scaled the blogs, it’s really, really great at doing this.

I’ve inserted music audio streaming from Spotify, a YouTube video and photos (I need to work on reducing the file sizes on the pictures I’ve posted) and each of these elements looked good in the blog posts, even looking at them on my little Windows phone.

So it turned out I wasn’t able to give much in terms of feedback on how different sites looked on different devices, because WordPress does such an amazing job on this. Instead I had a lovely time looking at the sites of people who had commented, liked or followed me.

It’s been a very inspiring day, I’ve added people to my Google+ and followed some blogs that I would never have come across. Thanks for reading this post.

Dinner awaits – Stir Fried Squid with Udon Noodles

Posted in At home, Food, Uncategorized by
Stir fried Squid with Udon Noodles

Stir-fried Squid, Vegetables and Udon Noodles

This week, the kids have finished school and they are staying with their Nanny and Grandad.

We have to negotiate the holidays carefully, or else we don’t get to see them all summer as the kids like to spend as much time with their grandparents as possible.

I think it’s because they are a lot more laid back and spoil them, which I suppose is the right of any grandparent.

 

 

This week also allows us, that is my hubby and me, to re-connect and be a couple, pre-kids, a kind of whole week of date nights.

Except, that I haven’t done all that well in terms of making time for this. I’d forgotten about a work social event tonight which was one of those work functions where you are expected to attend.

Vegiables for Stir Fry

vegetables for the stir fry

We were meant to have a lovely quiet meal at home.

Patient as ever, when I texted my hubby earlier in the day to say I’d be a bit late home, he didn’t make any further comment.

When I called on my way home tonight, he laughed as I’d accidentally left my mobile on as I was asking for directions to the nearest tube station, I felt pretty guilty by now as it was getting late so made sure to say that I didn’t expect him to wait for me, but to eat before I arrived.

When I arrived home, he’d prepared all the veg and as if this wasn’t pretty cool, he’d gotten some fresh squid which he’d purchased earlier in the morning, my favourite seafood so that it could be stir-fried and ready as soon as I arrived home.

The photos really don’t do justice to this dish, it’s so simple but very tasty!

Fresh Squid

Fresh Squid

A stir fry medley of vegetables – any three veg combination of 3 colours, orange, green and yellow/red, with a little freshly chopped ginger and garlic, plus little fresh rings of squid. It’s not to everyone’s taste, squid that is – but it could be any little morsels of fish, chicken, red meat or tofu, all stir-fried with a dash of soy sauce and Oyster Sauce together with fresh Udon Noodles, Stir fried in just a few minutes in a wok.

A bowl of heaven awaited me on my return from work tonight.

 

Blogging 201 – Day 2

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Blogging 201 Day 2, Audit your brand

It’s day 2 of the challenge and the task today was to review each other’s blogs and look at

all the ways you communicate information about your blog to make sure they’re consistent and focused

I somehow managed to lose the daily e-mail posts, so ended up visiting the Commons room which is intended for general WordPress bloggers peer review feedback. There I “blogger” met quite a few bloggers and eventually found my way back to the comment board for the Blogging 201 Challenge.  They provided some invaluable advice and some very kind encouraging words about my blog.

Itsmayuremember thought my blog showed effort because I have included a video clip in my latest post about Lush. I think his blog is a wonderful journey and brave because he’s writing about finding his career and the choices he’s making to get to his goal.

Leisel at Skill Up Skillet commented that my blog has a nice clean look but the pink text on the menu bar to the right was difficult to read. She has a point, though as this blog is written in the WordPress Adelle theme, I’ve looked at changing it but haven’t been able to figure out where the code is for side menu to change. Her other recommendation I have been able to make, which is to move up the Follow the blog by e-mail, which I have done tonight. Leisel has an amazing blog about Gaming and food, a combination which my kids would enjoy as they’re both into Minecraft and the only time I can prise them away from the game is when it’s meal-times!

Brett at Brettfish left a lovely comment:

i’m a guy person and that is not my particular point of interest, i must say i enjoyed the post – the mix of graphic and words is good, you write with refreshing adjective choice and make the topic come alive and you are very direct and to the point which is great [i’m a rambler!] – the theme you have chosen is really good – there is not too much going on but it has an enticing look and feel – i think you have something good there.
Keep on

Which is just so encouraging to read, I was thinking about his comment on the way home tonight, for a guy to take an interest in a post that I had assumed would only be interesting to girls, impressed me.

I was thinking it’s a bit like my husband, he loves to watch football, any kind of sport really and he enjoys the commentary, but I just don’t see what all the fuss is about. I try to maintain an interest, because it’s his thing but as soon as the conversation gets into technical territory such as LBW which is something in cricket, I’m lost.

So my point is that it is such an act of kindness for someone to engage with your post, it’s inspiring and encouraging all at the same time, hence the quote at the beginning of this post.

As for the audit, I know a little about branding because of the industry that I work in. I know that I have a long way to go to make improvements. My Facebook, twitter, tumblr, Pinterest, Google+ all need attention and I should change my Gravatar, upload it at the very least on my WordPress account so that it’s consistent. (All of which is now on my to-do-list).

In terms of writing skills, this is a work in progress too and I think it’s important to get design and visuals to match the subject that you’re writing for.

Most of the time, however, while I aim for getting a good photo, it’s never quite the result I’d like to achieve. I’m following a couple of blogs and Pinterest boards to help collect images that helps to inspire how I style the shot, but I think there is still a long way to go before the images and style of text are what I’d like the visual language/identity to become for the blog.

It’s been a great day, I’ve learnt a great deal about the generousity of people in the blogging community. Thanks again for all the encouragement, help and support. 🙂

Blogging 201 – Day One. Set 3 goals

Posted in Blogging, Blogging 201 by

Blogging 201 with WordPress University

Having started this blog in June, I realised that I have so much to learn. Reading through some other blogs and their posts, the content and photos really helped to inspire some ideas, but it also made me think about how I could learn and improve on what I’m doing.

So, looking for help, I came across the Daily Postarea on Word Press and signed up for the Blogging 201 challenge.

Today’s challenge is to write down 3 concrete goals about what I want to accomplish by blogging.

Here goes:

I started blogging because I wanted to deep dive into Content Marketing and Social Media.

After my kids were born, I realised that I needed to spend more time with them, so within a year of returning to work after my 2nd maternity leave, I decided to work from home and set up a marketing consultancy to help other parents, mainly mums with the same like-minded ambition of setting up a business.

During this time, I learned a great deal, I worked with designers, developers, creatives, freelance PR professionals and got to understand how to set-up and create websites, primarily for my clients to help them develop their e-commerce businesses.

I realised through this experience that the only way to truly understand digital and give advice that I felt comfortable giving, was to dive in at the deep end and learn about running a business;  setting it up and challenging myself to learn about building websites.

So I learned about Site IA, User Experience, front end and back-end development, hosting, e-commerce platforms and how to find the right resources to pull it all together for my clients.

Having done this, my personal circumstances changed and I went back to salaried employment.

The experience made the transition back to working full-time in office world, easier than I expected, because I was able to offer something unique.

Very few of my peers had gone as far as setting up their own businesses to learn a new skill.  I learnt through this process the value of constantly challenging myself to learn something new.

My primary reason for setting up the blog, is to learn how to create great content, so that when I am speaking with clients or colleagues, I am not just advising them based on information learned from other people’s experiences, I am able to give advice based on my own experience.

My second reason, and this is more personal than professional, for creating the blog, is to express how I feel about some things that I love, such as what I’ve learned about family life and how music, scent, food and beauty are there to inspire me.

Oh and by doing this, I am also using it as a way to connect with my kids and hubby at the weekend with somethings that we can all be involved in.

Since starting, I’ve noticed my husband being even more creative with cooking, my kids are quizzing me about my plans for the next project and we talk a lot more, we’re exploring things we wouldn’t otherwise do together as a family and I’m really enjoying the process of creating.

If at some point in the future the blog exceeds my wildest expectations, and I actually become not just good but great at writing and a respected blogger, it may just become something more than just a hobby.

Part of today’s challenge is to set 3 specific goals that are time based and focussed:

  • Spend at least a couple of hours each week from now until 1st October, reading other people’s blogs to understand their writing styles in order to develop and improve my writing style and tone of voice.
  • Increase traffic to my blog by 50% by the end of the year.
  • Find a subject that I can post at the weekends and stick to it every week, e.g. Foodie Saturday or Sunday Spa day where I can write about a recipe that’s been developed by our family or a beauty ritual that will help unwind, de-stress and prep for the working week ahead perhaps.

I’d be grateful for any advice or feedback on this post and any thoughts about the subject for a regular weekly post.

Thanks for checking this post out.

(Originally posted 20th July as a page).

Lush update

Posted in Skincare, Wellbeing by

imageFollowing on from last weekend, when I had the chance to try out the Lush Shower Jelly birthday gift, I had the opportunity to try out the Lush Olive Branch shower gel today.

Although it was quite runny to begin with, which is tricky in a shower, since the water is running, you have to keep the shower gel away from the water before using it. It did however, produce a lovely fine lather, which left my skin feeling soft and feeling refreshed.

The smell is heavenly and reminds me of standing somewhere in a Mediterranean garden full of oranges and olives, like the time we were on holiday in Spain.

I love the fact that scent has a way of transporting you back to somewhere or reminds you of a memory and this is a bottle for me that is wonderfully reminiscent of a sunny afternoon spent in Seville.

Since trying the product, I’ll be honest, I wasn’t all that convinced that the ingredients are all natural, or hand made as the label described.

So many brands make these claims, and yet when you dig a bit deeper, you find that the natural ingredients represent such a tiny amount, that I think wherever possible its better to try and make it yourself, to get the full benefit or full potency of the ingredient you like.

That is, after all what happens when we select ingredients to cook with.

So I did a bit of research about Lush and came across this YouTube film:

It has me convinced that most of the ingredients are natural, because here, you can see all the ingredients being mixed together, just as you would in your own kitchen. Obviously, they have to do this on a commercial scale, but its reassuring to see it all in action. So now, I know it really does contain Bergamot, Orange Blossom, Vine Leaves and Olive Oil and in large quantities too.

I love the scent and their ethics. Definitely will be a repeat purchase – I will just have to exercise a lot of self control when I enter the Lush store next time I’m in Wimbledon.

Easy brunch – Prosciutto & eggs with Spinach in a cup

Posted in At home, Food by
Prosciutto egg cups

Prosciutto egg cups

I am always amazed at the creativity with which my husband cooks. Today, he said he was going to make some egg and bacon for lunch and asked me if I knew where the silicone muffin cases were stored. This piqued my interest and he explained that he was planning to cook the eggs in the muffin cases wrapped in bacon.

Since we also had some spinach from our Organic box from last week, which we should have used up. They were now a little limp, but still too good to throw away, the leaves were washed, trimmed and sautéed to wilt them a little with some garlic and onions in a pan with a little butter. This was done so that they could be used as a filling with the eggs.

Eggs wrapped in Proscuitto in a silicone muffin case

Eggs wrapped in prosciutto in a silicone muffin case

After lining the Muffin cases with some oil, 8 cases were lined with prosciutto, into 4 of these, whole eggs were simply cracked and dropped into the cases. In the other 4 cases, the sautéed spinach was added, into which 3 eggs were whisked and added into the little cases. Salt and pepper were added at the end for seasoning.

They were baked in a preheated oven at 180c – 200c (for a fan assisted oven 180c, 200 if not) for about 10-15 minutes.

I checked them at around 10 minutes and left them for a little longer, as my kids preferred their eggs well done.

They were served with a simple salad with a lemon and honey dressing, along with some french fries.

Spinach & eggs wrapped in Prosciutto

Spinach & eggs wrapped in Prosciutto

As my husband doesn’t really get on with dairy, these were perfect, You can of course vary the filling, we used spinach, but tomatoes and cheese would work too along with some slices of mushrooms. The eggs, bacon and spinach were a hit with everyone, I think it was because the eggs looked so sunny and enticing, wrapped in little parcels of thin cured Italian Prosciutto.  It was also a good way to use up the spinach. There was nothing left on the plates to clear up afterwards.

Do let me know if you have tried this recipe before and what other fillings can go into the little cases.

Life is just a bowl full of cherries

Posted in At home, Cherries, Food, Fruit by
A bowl of Cherries

A bowl of Cherries

On my way home from work this week, I stopped by a local store, I think it’s best described as an emporium full of exotic foods from the Middle East. I must admit, it’s not usually the sort of store I visit as it’s unfamiliar and I think I’ve been conditioned to prefer familiarity.

At any rate, I am running low on Rosewater and spying the words “Middle Eastern, Continental and English Foods” on the banner outside the store, I thought this must be a good place to try instead of going all the way to the Edgware Road.

There in the store was not just a shelf full of different brands of Rosewater, but other types of floral waters, most of which I have no idea what to do with. I do have an idea for an Orange Blossom skin lotion next, so the store was very useful for this as well.

Cherries displayed outside a local foodstore

Display of fresh Cherries

I purchased the Rosewater and Orange Blossom Water and as I was leaving the store, the cherries displayed outside seemed to call out as if to say “Eat Me”.

July and August are the best months for Cherries and if you can get them as fresh as possible, I think they are best eaten just as they are.

In winter months, they are delicious made into a Cherry pie or a Cobbler.

I love them, they are both sweet and sour, the ripe bouncy flesh yielding to reveal the juicy tart and sweet flavour,

I used to stone them before giving them to my kids when they were toddlers. Now I no longer have to worry, every time we have cherries in the house, they are gone in a matter of minutes.

Cherries, by the way, are also very good for you, they are full of antioxidants, they’re great for the skin (you can read about them here) and apparently, 16th July is National Cherries day in the UK. How apt as I bought these today.

If I haven’t persuaded you to get a bowl of cherries, perhaps listening to this might:

There’s something about swing music that instantly lifts my mood. I’ll add a few more tracks to this listing when I get the chance. Please do drop by and let me know if you have any recipes for Cherries to share.

Hand made Calamine & Coconut After Sun lotion to the rescue

Posted in beauty, Skincare, Wellbeing by
Home Made After Sun Lotion

Home Made After Sun Lotion

It is nearly the end of term and with it the annual tradition of the School sports day. This year, my eldest had opted out of taking part. (Apparently it’s optional at her school) Instead she watched the event with some of her friends.

When I returned home that evening, both she and my husband were glowing bright red from where they had been sitting in the sun.

When they were much younger, I would run around after both of my kids with a bottle of sun-lotion, smearing them from head to foot to keep their delicate skins protected from the sun.

Unfortunately, I was at work when they caught the sun.

In previous years, my go to remedy for sun stressed skin is Calamine lotion or cream from the pharmacy. The pink liquid is by far the fastest way of cooling down hot skin. It is also good for sensitive skins, the zinc in the lotion reduces any rash faster than anything else I’ve tried.

My daughter now considers herself to be way too cool to be using a lotion that she thinks is for kiddies. She turned her nose up at it declaring “it stinks”. I must admit it’s got quite a chalky medical aroma to it.

This is an argument that I’m unlikely to win.

I have therefore created a lotion that still has the cooling properties of the calamine, but, with all natural healing properties that will look and smell great.

So here’s how I made it:

6 Tablespoons of Calamine lotion (the type you get from the Pharmacy)

4 Tablespoons of Cold Pressed Organic Coconut Oil

2 Tablespoons of Sweet Almond Oil

1 teaspoon of Stearic Acid (orderd online from natural Heath & Beauty store)

Home Made After Sun Lotion

Ingredients for Home Made After Sun Lotion

For the scent, I added the following essential oils: 7 Drops of Lavender essential oil (Great healing and skin soothing properties) 5 drops of Lemon essential oil (good antiviral and antiseptic properties and a refreshing scent), 1 drop of Citronella (just one drop, as it can overpower everything else, it’s a good bug repellent during the summer months).

As this was the first time I made this lotion, I tried out a very small amount first to see if it would work.

The Calamine lotion is water based, mixing it with the oils would need something to bind them together to stop them from separating.

I used Stearic Acid as this is a natural ingredient and works to act as an emulsifier, I simply added this to the mix in quarter teaspoon amounts.

This meant it was easier to whisk into a creamy consistency, switching to Sweet Almond Oil once I’d gotten to the bottom of the jar of Coconut oil.

I continued to alternate between the Calamine and the oils, adding the stearic acid whenever I felt the mix started to look too thin. I kept going until It was the consistency of a soft cake batter, in a pretty pink colour.

Essential oils were added at the end,  which was whisked into the mix.

As there are no chemical preservatives, I’ve kept the quantity small, enough to last a couple of weeks for the whole family to use.

The mix was poured into an empty clean recycled bottle that used to contain a hand wash. I designed and added a lable and some clear vinyl to make the label waterproof.

I think the finished result wouldn’t look out of place in a beauty store. My husband was first to try the lotion, no adverse reaction from my Hub, no adverse reaction from me or from my kids.

The texture and smell is a lot better than the original lotion.

Do let me know if you’ve made your own  sun lotion, or can recommend one to try.

Stearic Acid in Pouch
Whisk Calamine Lotion, Coconut oil, Sweet Almond Oil and Stearic Acid together
Calamine and Coconut lable – Teal
Ingredients for Home Made After Sun Lotion
Ingredients lable
Home Made Calamine and Coconut After Sun Lotion
Calamine and Coconut lable for the lotion bottle
Calamine & Coconut Sun Lotion Ingredients lable – Teal
Lables for the Home Made After Sun Lotion

I got Lushed for my birthday

Posted in Bathroom, Skincare, Wellbeing by
Lush shower Gel, Lush black currant shower gel and Lush bath fizz

Lush bath treats

For my birthday last week, my husband got me Lushed. I’ve always wondered what the store held.

Each time I’m in Wimbledon, the store is just by the train station and as you walk past the storefront, a blast of scent hits you. It’s sometimes over powering, to the point that I wonder what concoctions are being created, like a witches cauldron full of mystery.

I’ve never been in the store in case I get an overwhelming desire to buy everything and anything I can lay my hands on.

Well I guess I got my wish, as a little bag of delights were handed to me by my grinning daughters and a sly looking husband who said that I might like to try these out since he’d watched me experimenting in our kitchen over the last month, whisking up home made deodorants, foot soaks and the like.

I’ll update this post as soon as I’ve tried each one of these little treats. The cherries and coconut jelly tub looks particularly yummy, but as I’m not entirely sure how it will get from the pot onto me, without it washing away in my hands, I’ll let everyone know tomorrow how I get on with it.

Update – Sunday morning

The Shower  Jelly was an interesting experience. Exactly as the tub described, it looked and smelled like a pack of Rowntrees Jelly before you add water and make it into a jelly, which means it was a little hard to scoop out of the tub with your fingers.

It also smelled like a delicious tub of sweeties, the kind that you know is not good for your teeth kind. It rubbed on and lathered up, but didn’t have a load of bubbles, it was a fine lather. I’d say it’s best to use in the bath-tub as it kept slipping out of my hands. A lot of fun, I think my youngest will enjoy in her bath tonight. Worth trying just for the fun of it.

Lush shower jelly