Don’t worry – the environment is safe in my hands

I decided to follow my own advice from last week’s blog and rent a Christmas tree this year rather than buying one. The way it works (I gather) is that you visit the farm, admire the lovely trees all potted up ready, choose one, pay for it and then they deliver it to your house. The thought of not having to wrestle a spiky, uncooperative fir into an inadequate stand filled me with hope. All you need to do then is look after your tree until the new year, when they come and collect it and take it back to the farm to be cared for until next Christmas, when your tree is returned to you and the whole process starts again. It sounded perfect. Too perfect. Before we left home we double-checked the directions on the website, only to discover that they had sold out.

So we had to settle for a cut tree that won’t be coming back to visit us again next year. We haven’t done too well on the tree front, but are trying very hard to source our veggies responsibly, which is why an Oddbox appears outside our front door once a week. Inside are veggies that farmers can’t sell, either because they have too many or because they are a funny shape. Those are the best – who doesn’t like a wonky carrot? Essentially, we’re providing a home for unwanted veggies. I check in advance to see what’s coming in this week’s box, so when I see a celeriac or purple carrots lurking on my doorstep, I can’t say I wasn’t warned. I have discovered that carrots used to be white or yellow or purple, and the story goes that Dutch growers cultivated orange ones to ingratiate themselves with William of Orange, but the World Carrot Museum has serious doubts about this. And who am I to argue with the World Carrot Museum?

While I’m madly looking up recipes that call for celeriac, cabbage and mounds of potatoes, my husband is researching coffee logs. The guilt of flying has temporarily been lifted off our shoulders, only to be replaced with the guilt of burning logs in the fireplace. However, we have discovered coffee logs, which look like large squat brown candles and are apparently made of coffee grounds, wax and molasses. People say they smell of coffee when they burn, which sounds lovely, but sadly I don’t smell coffee or even molasses. So far, we’ve bought the logs, but we do have heaps of old candle stubs hanging around and our local coffee shop is always trying to give away coffee grounds, so we are very tempted to make our own. Everyone needs a hobby.