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Springing into April
Springing into April

Springing into April

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Living in the Valley
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Facts, Food, Families and Friends

We absolutely love Spring in the Valley, and enjoy the ever-changing views of the splendorous Pendle Hill, moving through the seasons and nature around us has been carrying on at its usual speed, as well as trees budding, tulips in full bloom and the sun shining, for many sheep farmers up and down the country. April brings one of the busiest times of the year…..Lambing time.
And if you love gardening as much as I do, you’ll be interested to know that it’s a great stress buster too.
According to a report by Sky News, gardening even just once or twice a week reduces feelings of anxiety and stress. The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) commissioned a survey to find out how much gardening was found to relax people. As most gardeners know already, it can be an absorbing hobby and relieve stress.

FACTS ABOUT APRIL

Full moon 20th
In her best-selling book, The Almanac,  Lia Leendertz says this about the new moon.  “April’s full moon is also known as the Budding Moon, New Shoots Moon or Seed Moon. Each new moon has its own energy, depending on the zodiacal sign that it is in, the Aries new moon is believed to rule creativity and courage”.
For your diary:
7th – Good Friday
10th – Easter Monday
23rd – St Georges Day
Birthdays
Those born between Aries 21st March – 19th April have the Zodiac sign of Aries and are typically strong loyal, blunt, fiery, impulsive, energetic – does that sound like anyone you know?
Zodiac sign: Aries
Symbol: The Ram
Planet: Mars
Element: Fire
Colour: Red

ON THE SHELVES

If you follow our social media channels, you will have seen all the boxes arriving in store full of our Spring merchandise. Thankfully they’ve all been opened and are now on display.
There are way too many things to mention each one so here’s a quick snapshot:
For Easter, we have stacks of cute merchandise, including: fabric bunnies (£4.99-£7.99), Ceramic rabbits (£4.99-£8.50), Ceramic chickens £4.50-£8.50).
For the perfect gift, from one of our favourite UK small independent businesses, we have some super soaps, all handmade in the UK from 100% natural ingredients, no Palm oil. £6.75 each and you could always add one of our new wooden hearts or mini sentiment cards to your gift – a lovely personal touch.  We also have a large range of new and unusual greetings cards, something for everyone!
For the home, we have a lovely new collection of super soft pastel throws (£39.99).

FOOD GLORIOUS FOOD

Look out for
It’s always best to cook with vegetables that are in season, this month you can look out for, Artichoke, Beetroot, Carrots, Chicory, New Potatoes, Kale, Morel Mushrooms, Parsnips, Radishes, Rhubarb, Rocket, Sorrel, Spinach, Spring Greens, Spring Onions, Watercress.
Simnel Cake Recipe – My version!

Traditionally Simnel cake is decorated with balls of the almond paste to depict the disciples but i have always varied this tradition a bit and gone with my own decoration of the chocolate nest, eggs and chick, as you can imagine this goes down well 🙂

Easter Recipe - Simnel Cake by Audrey

 

This cake recipe comes from me experimenting with various recipes, some leave out the zest, others include ginger and so on, i have tweaked this over the years and this is the result, I hope you like it.

Enjoy with a cup of tea 🙂

Happy Easter

Download recipe here!

 

Written by

Audrey Spencer
Audrey Spencer
Founder & owner