Sunday 25 March 2018

Wednesday 7 March 2018

Easter 2018: The Food Edit (No Chocolate Here!)


For all you peeps who like to do something special to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus/chocolate bunnies, this is for you! Of course, there's the good ol' Egg Hunt (who's dressing up as Mr Bunny this year?), a family walk, or church. Whatever Easter looks like for you, you can't beat a bite to eat with the Fam. We've got some ideas to kick things off. 

Image result for easter food uk

Places to Eat
The Cotswolds are famous for the broad range of places where you can get some truly amazing, locally produced food. Here are three of our favourites:

Lavendar Bakehouse is a little teashop and cafe in Chalford, just by the canal. They source their ingredients as locally as possible and you can taste the love they put into the food! This is a lovely place for brunch or cake, or both! 


Image courtesy of TripAdvisor
The Canteen is Nailsworth's quirky, yummy offering to the Cotswolds' food scene, drawing celebrity attention stars such as Liam Gallagher. The food is incredibly good and the cafe backs onto Domestic Science, a mini emporium supplying chic vintage homewares, quality office supplies and much more. 


Image courtesy of TripAdvisor
Wild Garlic is also based in Nailsworth (Naily's got it all, folks!). Jay Raynor is a big fan— need we say more? We will anyway. Chef Patron Matthew Beardshall handpicks local, seasonal ingredients with which to create his dishes. And did we mention the "locally sourced traditional roast" on the Sunday lunch menu?! (Psst! Booking recommended).


Image courtesy of TripAdvisor
If 'forking' out for a full meal isn't for you, you could ask everyone to make their favourite dish (assign some people to sweet, some to savoury, some to drinks etc.) and put on a bring and share. Something a bit different, and if you find dates like Easter stressful, 
it should take the edge off! 

Whatever you're doing on the Easter weekend, we hope you have the loveliest, yummiest time! (And good luck with the rest of Lent!)




Sincerely, Madia & Matilda

Sunday 4 March 2018

Three Cheers for Mummy!

Mother's Day 2018

With Mother's Day just around the corner on the 11th March, we have some 
last-minute gift ideas if you haven't quite got it sorted yet.  





If you're hoping to give your mum the opportunity to kick back and indulge in some serious relaxation, you couldn't do better than a gorgeous gift from Lola's Apothecary. Their Queen of Roses bath milk has won awards for its amazing scent and super calming properties, and if your mum likes to chill out in the bath this could be the one for her! 



Remember when you and your mum used to do everything together, like bake, or going to the park together? This Hettie bag, made from British tweed is a great gift to surprise your mum; whilst  you bring back those memories with a slightly lower-stress baking project, and enjoy the results with a lovely fragrant cuppa from Hoogly Tea. They do a fab Apple Strudel flavour that was basically made for those lazy baking afternoons and it comes in the sweetest little box! 





If you're looking for a beautiful, hand-crafted card to write something lovely and soppy in, think about getting a card from Coco Loves. They do a Super Mum card made from Scrabble tilesa brilliant upcycled gift.

Shout out to all the badass mums out there — you rock!





Sincerely Madia & Matilda

Thursday 1 March 2018

International Women's Day 2018

Who Run the World? (Girls and Boys Working in Harmony to Overcome the Toxic Agenda of a Capitalist Patriarchy)

Beyoncé is in the house, yo. Thursday 8th March is International Women's Day (IWD), so we're all about celebrating women. Just like any other day, really! 
IWD Press for Progress Theme
Image courtesy of International Women's Day website
It's 100 years since women in Britain were given the vote by King George V on February 6th 1918. This right was afforded to women over the age of 30 who met certain property qualifications, and these conditions were slowly lifted over time until here we are in 2018, skipping merrily to the polling station to cast our hard-earned vote.


File:Suffragettes, New York Times, 1921.JPG


No IWD post would be complete without mention of the formidable Suffragettes who fought with incredible bravery to secure their places as valuable and contributing members of British society. Shout out to you, Wonder Women! We tread your path with joy and pride.


Women have made huge progress in the last 100 years. Here are some highlights:

  • 1922Law of Property Act states that husband and wife will inherit property equally
  • 1928All women have voting rights equal to men's
  • 1958Life Peerages Act entitles women to sit in the House of Lords for the first time
  • 1967— Abortion Act evolves, allowing doctors to perform the operation if the pregnancy was in any way dangerous. This ruling became increasingly flexible 
  • 1974the Pill becomes widely available through the NHS
  • 1976Race Relations Act makes it illegal to discriminate on grounds of race in employment and education
  • 1985Equal Pay (Amendment) Act entitles women to be paid the same as men who are doing work of equal value
  • 1994After years of serious campaigning by women's organisations, rape in marriage is recognised as a crime
  • 2004— Gender Recognition Act allows transgender people to live fully and permanently in their acquired gender to gain legal recognition in that gender
Wow!




So now for a small selection of ladies who are not taking sh*t from anyone. ANYONE. 

Munroe Bergdorf
We'd be surprised if you haven't heard of this amazing woman. She's been making a lot of headlines recently, expressing her views on sexuality and gender, feminism and individuality. She's had a lot of backlash as a result, but has that shut her up? Nah. We love this article, where she talks about the L’Oréal racism scandal. 


Image result for munroe bergdorf
Image courtesy of Twitter
Meghan Markle
Meghan's already incurred a lot of buzz. She's passionate about women's welfare and has been an ambassador for UN Women. She holds an extremely influential position, which could be used to do an enormous amount of good for progress in resolving women's issues. We know that so much of this progress is pushed by women everywhere, of all classes, but having someone like Meghan to represent it can be a huge asset to the effort. 


Image result for meghan markle un women
Image courtesy of Royal Central


Lucy Siegle
Lovely Lucy is championing ecological solutions to everyday, problems via her column in The Guardian (we heard she's just left, but you can still read the articles!). She's a big advocate for going plastic free and looking for more ecological sanitary and cleaning products. Lucy is pushing for conscious shopping  (just like we are) and cautious consumerism. Hear hear!

Image result for lucy siegle
Image courtesy of The True Cost

Sincerely Madia & Matilda