SEPTEMBER INSTAGRAM

September is always a bit of a weird month. After the mayhem (and lack of sleep) during August, September tends to be a few weeks of trying to catch up on sleep, spend as little money as possible, and just trying to recharge as a human.

Instagram username: @eversojuliet

1. The month started with a trip to the Secret Herb Garden, and the chance to make lovely flower crowns - which was so much fun to do (I wish I had the supplies and excuses to wear flower crowns every day!). Next month I'm going to an Autumn Wreath workshop with florist superheroes Pyrus, and I'm so excited. 

2. I also got the chance to make my own beeswax candle, which smells amazing (and I don't want to burn, because I love it!). 

3. I was feeling seriously scruffy so I went to get my brows sorted out at Benefit's Brow Bar. Getting your brows done in the middle of John Lewis isn't the most relaxing thing in the world, but I'm always really pleased with how they do brows (and £18 for a tint and wax is a bargain compared to HD brows at spas!).

4. I also bought another eyeshadow palette by Sleek Makeup (who I used in my smoky eye makeup tutorial). This one has a lot of pinky and coppery colours, which I am really enjoying for autumn. 

5. This month has also included a lot of deadlines, late nights at work and slightly frazzled days. To balance this out, I was able to borrow a pal of a pal's pup, and go for a really lovely long walk. It made me realise just how much I miss having a dog, and how excellent long walks are for clearing your head!

6. I am a sucker for my local florist, and have fallen into the habit of buying myself flowers whenever they happen to be open (as they do seem to do strange hours). I loved the blues and purples on these.

7. Earlier this year I got to try on a really amazing Tatty Devine necklace, which was being featured as part of the Science Festival's exhibition about maker culture. I fell completely in love, and have dreamed of owning one all year. And look!! My very wonderful boyfriend surprised me with one after a trip to London, and it's AMAZING. It takes them five hours to make each dinosaur necklace because it's so intricate. 

8. This part of September was rubbish though. My beautiful bike was stolen from outside my work (by teenagers, aaaargh) and despite reporting the theft to the police, and getting a really helpful response on twitter, I seriously doubt I'll get it back. It's not really worth anything. It's old and a bit slow, but I love it, and it was really horrible to have it taken.

9. I'd heard lots of people rave about Tiger, but hadn't been that impressed the few times I had popped in... obviously I was completely wrong! Look at these meant-to-be-mugs-but-actually-are-the-best-cacti-planters-in-the-land! So very good.

HOW TO: Bake a chocolate nut roll

I am a big fan of baking, but I seem to be totally behind the times when it comes to fun-things-that-everyone-likes, so I've only just started watching the Great British Bake Off (and Doctor Who, and everything else that everyone likes. I'm late to the party).

Luckily, I get the GBBO hype now, so I was pretty excited when Stork challenged me to this week's technical challenge as part of their #storktwist Great British Bake-Off Blogger Challenge (phew!). Here's how I did it...

You'll need the following ingredients:

• 525g plain flour
• 1 & 1/2 tsp salt
• 65g caster sugar
• 2 tsp yeast
• 240ml soured cream
• 2 large eggs
• 40g Stork

For the filling:

• 115g Stork
• 120ml evaporated milk
• 200g caster sugar
• 85g cocoa powder
• 450g mixed nuts (I used 150g walnuts, 100g pecans, 100g hazelnuts, 100g almonds)
• 100g dark chocolate chips
• Milk to glaze

And you'll want to heat your oven to 160 degrees (or 180 degrees if it's not a fan oven). 

To start, grind your nuts in a food processor. In GBBO they gave one of the contestants good comments for not grinding his nuts too finely, so only give them a quick blitz. Warm the Stork, evaporated milk and caster sugar in a small pan, stirring constantly, until it is melted and combined.

Stir in the ground nuts and cocoa powder, heating gently until the mixture thickens (mine got quick pretty quickly). Remove from the heat and transfer to a bowl to cool to room temperature.

Now, start to make your dough (OH GOD). Combine the flour, sugar, yeast, salt, soured cream, eggs and Stork in a bowl. Do not do what I did, which is carefully measure out a teaspoon of salt... get impatient at how slow the salt is pouring... give it a shake, and knock the top off - causing the ENTIRE tub of salt to tumble into the dough, forcing you to restart the whole bloody thing. Don't do that.

Mix to a rough dough. I find it quite hard to knead dough in a bowl, so I tipped it out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead for ten minutes, by pinching the dough with your fingertips, lifting and pressing back down. I'd recommend setting a timer for this bit - kneading isn't the most exciting thing in the world, so it's easy to feel like you've been doing it for AGES (when it's actually only been four minutes).

Transfer to a lightly greased bowl, cover and allow to rise for an hour. Do your washing up.

Now, the fun bit! Lightly grease the worksurface and split the dough in half. Roll out each portion to a rectangle (they recommend 25cm x 40cm, but I just guessed).

Spread half with the chocolate nut filling - this isn't the easiest thing to spread, but just take your time and you'll be fine. Sprinkle over half of the chocolate chips.

Fold over the two short edges just a little to encase the filling. Take the long edge, and start to roll the dough tightly to make a long roll. If you've greased your worksurface, it should be easy enough to roll without the dough tearing. Make your second roll the same way.

Transfer both rolls to a lined baking tray, cover loosely and leave to rise for THREE hours. Yup. Three. Hours. This is very, very much a bake for a lazy Sunday afternoon (rather than a Wednesday evening). Do your dishes while you are waiting.

When they are all nicely risen, brush with milk and bake in the oven for 35 minutes until golden.

Enjoy with a cup of tea!

ZUKR BOUTIQUE

It feels like every time I turn around in Edinburgh at the moment, there's a new, artisan-excellent-indie wonder-business that's popped up, and demands all of my money.

This month, it's the turn of  Zukr Boutique - a contemporary patisserie, that recently opened their first shop in Newington. Just take a look at these...

They are teacakes! Teacakes!

And they have brownies...

Marshmallows...

Truffles... and so much more.

I first came across Zukr when they took a stall at the SciMart - the Science Festival's farmer's market with a scientific twist. I obviously had to buy a galaxy teacake, which turned out to be a delicious (if slightly too sugary for one person!) salted caramel and milk chocolate wonder.

Zukr Boutique has a shop at 3 Salisbury Place in Edinburgh, but you can also order online or from their etsy shop (& feel free to send some my way). Yum!

HOW TO: Reverse shampooing

A few months ago I noticed loads of beauty bloggers seemed to be chatting about the miracle of 'reverse shampooing' - basically, conditioning first, then shampooing after. Those WEIRDOS, I thought, ignoring the hype and sticking with my tried-and-tested everyone-must-do-it-this-way-for-a-reason routine.

Until about a month ago, the whole thing suddenly popped into my mind as I was reaching for the shampoo. And, well, I haven't gone back!

My hair is fairly long and thick, so it needs conditioned regularly, but I also try to avoid washing my hair too often (partly to avoid using heat on it regularly, and mainly because I am lazy). So in my pre-reverse days I would wash my hair roughly every three days (which worked out as: Day 1 - clean but fluffy; Day 2 - well-behaved hair; Day 3 - rewash fringe, wear hair up). It was fine, but looking back, it only gave me one good hair day per wash.

Since switching things up, I have noticed a surprising difference. Day 1 hair feels sleeker, Day 2 hair is well-behaved as always, but Day 3 hair is actually clean enough to wear down if I want to (and I'm not having to rewash my fringe as often!). My hair definitely feels less greasy overall (although it feels weird immediately after washing, but then feels normal as soon as it's dry).

All you do is condition your hair (putting most through the length and a wee bit at the roots), leave for a few minutes, rinse, shampoo (you'll only need a little bit), rinse and go!

So! How? What? Why? I may work at a Science Festival, but I am very much not a scientist (so please don't judge me if this is all nonsense!). I think it's based on the fact that the residue in conditioner can be difficult to wash out (which then clogs up your hair), and that shampoo can be quite harsh and strip out your natural oils, encouraging your hair to be more oily. By switching it up, you get all the benefits of conditioner, then the shampoo strips the dirt from your hair AND the conditioner... leaving you with shiny, happy, absolutely clean locks.

Now, again, this may all be total rubbish (and after a google, some people are absolutely raving about it, and others aren't impressed). But I am a total convert! If you try it, let me know how you get on...

Scottish Independence

Something very exciting is happening. Two years ago the UK and Scottish Government agreed on a referendum for independence in Scotland. And tomorrow, we vote.

I don't really feel qualified to write about politics, but it would feel strange not to mention it at all. If you aren't in Scotland (which, surprisingly, actually applies to the majority of this blog's readers) you might not have heard much about it, or even cared. But here, the atmosphere is electric.

I'm not going to talk about what way I'm voting, or why, because I think the most exciting thing of all is how people have changed. I've been eligible to vote for ten years, but I've never seen people (of all ages!) so passionate and eager to learn, to find an answer, and to talk to others about it.

It's gone far beyond boorish suited politicians shouting at each other. It's the conversation that's happening on the street, in the pub, between friends, and with people you've only just met. It's not the angry, scared, bitter fight that it might appear on tv either - I realise that there are idiots on both sides (and tensions have been growing pretty high in the last few days), but every conversation I've had with yes, no, or undecided's has been measured and considerate and respectful. We know that we all have to live together regardless of what way the vote goes. It isn't about country or a particular party or even a particular person. It's about making a decision. And I'm just so impressed with the good humour and intelligent thinking that I've witnessed from the people I've met.

So who knows, what'll happen on Friday. 97% of people have registered to vote, with a turnout of 80% expected. So whether it's a yes or no, either way we've got a country full of people who are talking and asking questions, and (in my case) thinking that perhaps I can write about politics after all. And that's very, very exciting.