Well I am waiting this week to see if 3 of my products have been shortlisted for the FreeFrom Skin Care awards. We are up against some big boys but I have faith that we are still in with a chance.

I have also been using a lot of Manuka honey in the home lately. When I was a nurse we had special 'medical grade' tubes of the stuff which we had prescribed for patients with particularly nasty (read infected and / or stubborn), wounds. See - the NHS isn't all fuddy-duddy. I must say, I did take great pleasure in wound dressings, seeing something improve however long it might take, and quite miss this. Anyway we had some brilliant results with the Manuka, so I always keep a jar indoors. It's not cheap, and obviously the more money you pay, the better it will be in acting as an antiseptic. I pop some of this onto new, open wounds under a plaster, (which come often with 3 boys in the house), as an alternative to iodine. It is also known to promote digestive health due to its powerful antibacterial qualities. I often use it on my skin, in particular dotting onto my under eye area to smooth out fine lines. I find it really works - is this because I have wrinkle-forming bacteria here? Who knows. I have also been eating it to reduce soreness in my tonsils and it is very soothing.

This has given me lots of ideas for future skin care products. If only some money would float down from the sky, like in my middle son's new reading book. Sigh. Mind you, A has had some positive meetings and has been doing some work on Pilgrim's Choice cheese which has been going really well, so perhaps he will be the floating business angel I dream about.  We also have a fridge full of the stuff. Happy days.