About

Hello and welcome to the Mulberry Bush!

I’m Helen. I’m a British housewife and mother of five. My first two children were born in Canada, my third was born in my home town in the UK and now we’re in Switzerland, where numbers four and five were born.

Here you’ll find some free-from recipes, things to do around Metro Vancouver in Canada and the Midlands in the UK and my rants and musings on parenthood.

I decided to start this blog so that I remember the funny, difficult, wonderful, exasperating experience of having small children; so that I can remember the recipes I try that actually work; and so that I can share days out that we enjoy. And also so that being a stay at home mum of a baby and very strong-willed little girl thousands of kilometres away from my family didn’t drive me completely insane.

All of the recipes on here are ones that my family enjoys. My husband and I don’t eat eggs, gluten or dairy so if you’re looking for free-from recipes, you’ve come to the right place! With small children around and a limited amount of time and money to spend on ingredients, my husband or I usually take the photos just before we eat, so please do excuse the dubious quality!

Five fun facts about me (and a bonus one):

  1. I gave birth to my first two children at home with no pain relief, my third in hospital with no pain relief (much prefer a homebirth) and my fourth and fifth were water births in a birthing centre – these were the best. I’m not really sure why, but I’m glad I did (and was lucky enough to be able to).
  2. I am fluent in French.
  3. I travelled for three months around Asia and Oceania while pregnant with my first child. (Chronicled here, if you’re interested: twopointfivedrifters.blogspot.com)
  4. I was vegetarian for a year but one day the yearning for a roast chicken sandwich grew too strong and I’ve never looked back.
  5. I love porridge. I have porridge every day for breakfast. If I think that maybe I should change things up a bit and have something different, I end up just wishing I’d had porridge.
  6. I am addicted to The Archers. I want to live in Ambridge, preferably with Pat – she’s a radical feminist who still cooks for her family and makes sure they always have a flask of tea or coffee.

Thanks for popping by!