There is something very special about making a great bottle of booze from weeds. Whether it is Dandelion Wine, Nettle Beer or Elderflower Fizz the sense of satisfaction is almost as good as the wobbly feeling you get when you reach the end of the bottle and realise you have quietly

There are quite a few alternatives to natural clay for pottery, sculpture and model making. Some (paper mache or plasticine) are in most cases unsuitable for people looking for a hard, unbending finished piece. But there are two forms of modelling material that can produce a finish like kiln fired

Whether your log burning stove is made of cast iron or sheet steel, it will get dark quite quickly. The glass needs cleaning almost every time you use it, but about once a month (in winter when you are using it)  you will want to give the outside of your

This bike mount really sucks … but in a good way.  I don’t generally write posts enthusing about technology, but I saw  the SeaSuckerTalon for the first time last week. I was genuinely impressed. Apparently they are huge in the US but have only been imported in limited quantities in

Shagpile rug are  wonderfully sensuous underfoot.  Walking barefoot or shagpile rug is one of the real pleasures in life.  However after a year  or two the pile starts to flatten and sensation becomes less and less enjoyable.  The good news is that returning a shagpile to something close to that

The same basic hat shape worn by King Henry VIII was also worn by men of all classes in the fifteen hundreds. The only real differences were the materials used and added decorations. If you want one of your own, the good news is that although they haven’t been available

Whether starting from seeds or seedlings bought from a nursery, Growing chilies at home is so simple that even if you don’t ‘do it properly’ you will still probably end up with a great crop of delicious fiery peppers. Not just the bog standard varieties either. You can enjoy exotic

I had a go at making some finger rings out of scrapwood and was stunned with the high quality results. It really is an easy task to turn scrap into objects of beauty and value using only very simple tools. The technique is simply to take a shaving from a

Nettles are nasty stinging weeds and we all hate them. Except that they are also a fantastic for turning into nettle beer which gets you trousered is easy to make and tastes utterly delicious. For these reasons I have to say that I think nettles are wonderful plants that should

If you’re thinking of buying a new garden sofa you could well be looking at spending over £1000 for anything half decent. Why not create something that is both totally bespoke and more solid than anything you can buy in the shops or online. By making your own sofa from