Hello & thanks for joining us! Please could you tell us a bit about yourself & your creative work?

No problem! I was born Peter Murphy (not the goth guy) but I use the alias Cursed Murphy for most public misdemeanours. I’m a writer and performer. More specifically I’m a novelist (John the Revelator and Shall We Gather at the River, Faber & Faber), spoken word performer, bandleader, (our first album Cursed Murphy Versus the Resistance was released last summer), journalist (Irish Times contributor), podcaster (Cursed Murphy’s Podcast) broadcaster (mostly as a contributor to RTE’s radio’s arts show Arena) and occasional actor (Eoghan Rua Finn’s play The Kill God, directed by Laura Way). I also released an hour-long ‘movie for the ears’ called The Hands of Franky Machine in 2020, in collaboration with drummer and Basciville member Lorcan Byrne, and my other chief collaborator Dan Comerford.

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Can you list any specific influences & motivation for your work?

Influences: punk rock, graphic novels, performance poets, early hip hop, film noir, early 80s freaky sci fi, the Beats, cyberpunk, very early blues, folk, jazz, gospel, southern gothic fiction, analogue electronica, 70s rock journalism, German cinema. Everything from Flannery O’Connor to The Clash, Blade Runner to Lester Bangs. Motivation: Excitement, anger, aggression, imagination, envy of other people’s work as a spur. And sometimes it’s something as simple as a phrase or an image that won’t exist if I don’t make it exist.

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How do you feel (if at all) your creative work has helped you maintain a positive state of mental health? (As a preventative measure or to aid recovery)

It’s taken me waaaay to long to realise that my creative state and mental health are inextricably linked. For years I used work as a means to ignore deeper issues or indications of stuff gone badly awry in my private life or professional practise, but you only do that for so long before it comes back to bite you in the backside and you burn out – usually somewhere between the ages of 38 to 46. Bad mental health is kryptonite for the creative process. The creative process is a powerful tool in the struggle against ill mental health. There’s a reason why psychotherapists prescribe writing/journal-maintenance as part of their work. One thing I’ve noticed: if I’m not reading or playing music, it’s a sign of some sort of malaise. Art — or the resistance to it — can be the canary in the coalmine.

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Have you ever felt creatively stagnant or unable to express? If so, how did you work through it?

Yes. Sometimes for what feels like excruciatingly, painfully long periods. I try to wait it out. I try to have faith in some wiser higher power and hold my nerve and trust that something is coming, and it’ll become clear if I keep on showing up for work. I try not to beat myself up too hard, while still putting the hours in. Writing blind helps, as in, get up early and write for a prescribed length or time without judgment, or even reading it back. Trying to regain the sense of doing it for the experience, not the end result. I try to keep a couple of projects on the go: a long-term one, like a novel, and a short term achievable goal like a short story or a song, and if possible something that also involves collaborating with other artists from other disciplines to keep the creative spirit limbre.

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Do you have any advice that you could recommend for those interested in entering your line of creative work?

From the Gnostic Gospel of Thomas: ‘Do not tell lies, and do not do what you hate.’ The film editor Walter Murch reckons if you can dedicate your life to some adult incarnation of the thing you were completely immersed in at the age of ten or eleven, you’ll be not only fulfilled, but more than likely successful.

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Where are you at the moment creatively & do you have any projects on the go?

I’m working on a third book project and writing material for a second album, among other evil schemes, which will become apparent as the Spring comes on.

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Where can we find your work?

Bandcamp:

https://cursedmurphyversustheresistance.bandcamp.com

The Hands of Franky Machine:

thehandsoffrankymachine.com

Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/CursedMurphyOfficial

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/cursedmurphy/

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It’s been a pleasure hearing from you, thank you Peter! 🤎

Occupation: A creator of things and cog in the machine

Location: Mostly Wrexham

Intro: I do my best to have a new challenge every few weeks or so, I’m host and creator of podcast Backyard Beasts, wildlife filmmaker, manager of a coworking space, founder of The Not So Secret Santa Project, Co -Director of hip hop company Larynx Entertainment and possibly some stuff I have forgotten!

Do you have a favourite dinner?

This is a bit of a cheat as technically it’s multiple dinners but I am going to say curry due to the fact you can have so many varieties of it, personally the spicier the better for me

Can you suggest any handy household tips?

I have been making an effort to have more ‘wild’ areas in the garden, humans tend to like really neat clean looking spaces but for wildlife to thrive they need some messy grass, piles of wood or rocks to hide under. So my tip is to make a mess!

Do you have a favourite celebrity chef or home & lifestyle influencer?

It’s an obvious answer and a lot of people don’t like him but I do think that what Jamie Oliver has done and how passionately he fights to give people access to affordable and healthy food is pretty admirable

What does home mean to you?

Comfort, in both a spiritual and a material sense

How do you like to spend time aside from home/family?

I’ve been making a lot of short nature documentaries recently and I ran a charitable project for kids during Christmas, I suppose I just like taking on new challenges and seeing what I can learn from them, whether I technically succeed at them or not

Do you have a favourite desert?

Cover anything in chocolate and I think it will qualify as my new favourite dessert

Can you name one item you couldn’t live without?

I stared this by cheating so I will end by cheating, this is two items. Definitely a notepad and a pen. My mind is so unpredictable, I can go days without an original thought or I can be trying to hold onto ten at once out of nowhere. So a pen and a pad have become pretty invaluable.

Thank you Pete! 🤎

https://www.facebook.com/BackyardBeasts1/

https://www.facebook.com/TheNotSoSecretSantaProject/

https://www.facebook.com/LarynxEntertainment/

Cake bites recipe-

https://thethreebears.art.blog/2020/12/31/cake-bites-recipe/

Banana & cinnamon porridge, with leftover pasta & scrambled egg on toast.

It’s really important to have a back up for when you don’t feel like cooking & you’ve run out of homemade freezer portions, and to don’t need to compromise your nutrition to do so.

This is my favourite frozen steam meal from Aldi’s. It costs £1.49 and takes 9mins in the microwave.

Just add a fistful of spinach or any salad, and you’re good to go!

Serves 2

200g pasta

2tbsp cooking oil

1 onion

2 vegetable stock cubes

2tbsp tomato purée

1 red pepper

1 tin chopped tomato’s

2 large fistfuls of spinach

Salt

Pepper

Cook & drain pasta without shaking off excess water, set aside.

Fry onion in oil, add stock cubes & continue to fry for a minute. Add peppers & fry for a few minutes before stirring in tomato purée, then add chopped tomato’s. Simmer & reduce for 20-30mins.

Stir in pasta, mix well. Add spinach & cover to steam for 5mins. Stir in wilted spinach & serve.

One serving.

50g rolled oats

1tsp cocoa powder

2tsp sugar

1/4tsp vanilla extract

225ml milk

Combine all ingredients in a cup/bowl, mix well & leave covered in the fridge overnight.

Mix well before serving.

175g self raising flour

175g caster sugar

175g butter

3 eggs

1tsp baking powder

1tsp vanilla extract

1 pinch salt

Beat everything together with a wooden spoon until just smooth, transfer to greased baking tins, bake for 45mins at 180•c/160•c fan/gas 4.

Remove from oven & leave to cool for 10mins, remove from tins & leave to cool fully on a wire rack.

Use a sharp, flat knife to cut off the tops, and set aside for a crunchy cake top stack snack.

Cut remaining cake into cubes, ready to coat in chocolate & decorate.

Toast bread, spread peanut butter on one side, add mashed banana, top with other slice, and fry in butter for a few minutes each side.

freetoreflect.blogspot.com

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•Do you have a favourite dinner?

Salmon with red onion & Asparagus

•Can you suggest any handy household tips?

Housework will always be there so do little & often. Set an alarm on your phone to focus a certain amount of time on housework then get outdoors for some fresh air.

•Do you have a favourite celebrity chef or home & lifestyle influencer?

I listen to Dr Rangan Chatterjee podcasts. His focus is on health & wellbeing – good food, sleep hygiene, being active outdoors & positive relationships

•What does home mean to you?

Being with my husband, my children & my dogs. Living close to nature.

•How do you like to spend time aside from home/family?

Being active in the outdoors with my husband & my friends – wild swimming, biking, walking & running

•Do you have a favourite desert?

Lime cheesecake

•Can you name one item you couldn’t live without?

Non-fiction books – I love to read about personal development, health & wellbeing

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Thank you Emma! 🤎

Makes 2 X 635g cakes

Fruit mix:

1/2 pt milk

113g sugar

227g butter

454g mixed fruit

2tsp mixed spice

Cake mix:

2 eggs

340g self raising flour

1tsp bicarbonate of soda

Boil up fruit mix, remove from heat then leave to cool for half an hour.

Pre-heat oven to 160•c/gas mark 3.

Add whisked eggs to fruit mix & mix well. Add flour & fold through.

Divide mixture between two tins & bake for 1hr 30mins.

Serve with butter.

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•Do you have a favourite dinner?

Probably chicken quesadilla’s but I’ve been getting into Chinese style Beef n Broccoli lately.

•Can you suggest any handy household tips?

I’m one of the least domesticated people ever LOL. Ummm, I know it’s handy being bald??. If the shower plug thingy is ever clogged up, I’m not involved in the police lineup.

•Do you have a favourite celebrity chef or home & lifestyle influencer?

I don’t even know what a home & lifestyle influencer is lol….but I do like the chef Rick Stein. I used to like the guy who used to get blind drunk on wine while cooking too.

•What does home mean to you?

I think it’s the place where you are truly yourself. There’s no truer version of you than the one at home.

•How do you like to spend time aside from home/family?

Making music, listening to music, watching music documentaries. Basically, anything involving music.

•Do you have a favourite desert?

I have a huuuuuge sweet tooth. Probably why I don’t have many left. My favourite is probably peach and pineapple yoghurt.

•Can you name one item you couldn’t live without?

Probably obvious from one of the last answers but my headphones. I go to sleep listening to music and can’t sleep properly without them.

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Thank you Eughine! 🤎

Rocket topped Carrot & Pesto Pasta

100g pasta

1 small carrot, grated

1 small handful rocket

40g green pesto

2tbsp olive oil

Salt

Pepper

Cook & drain pasta, stir in pesto & carrot and heat gently for a few minutes. Top with rocket.

•Do you have a favourite dinner?

Roast beef dinner

•Can you suggest any handy household tips?

Get someone else to do it 😉 lol

•Do you have a favourite celebrity chef or home & lifestyle influencer?

Jamie Oliver

•What does home mean to you?

Family, comfort, safe place, security

•How do you like to spend time aside from home/family?

Reading, walk the dogs

•Do you have a favourite desert?

Custard slice

•Can you name one item you couldn’t live without?

Phone

Thank you Ann! 🤎

Fry up onion & peppers in olive oil, add defrosted freezer portion of tomato pasta, and mix well, slightly mashing the pasta for a pulled pork texture. Season with salt & pepper, and extra olive oil if needed.

1 tomato, sliced & de-seeded into rings

1 handful rocket

1/4 red pepper, diced

2 tbsp caramelised hummus

Salt

Pepper

5 cream crackers

1/2 banana, sliced

1 pinch cocoa powder

1 pinch cinnamon

1 tbsp dry roasted peanuts

Spread hummus over crackers, to each add rocket, tomato ring, diced pepper, then season with salt & pepper.

Stack sliced banana, dust with cocoa powder & cinnamon, top with peanuts.

Chop potato’s into large wedges, rub in olive oil, honey, salt, and pepper. Roast for 40mins at 220•c/200•c fan/430•f.

@thethree309

https://www.instagram.com/thethree309/

Serves 2

4 small potato’s

1 tin baked beans

1 stock cube

Heaped tbsp butter

2 tbsp cooking oil

Salt

Pepper

2 carrots, grated

1/4 cucumber, sliced

1/4 green pepper, chopped

Use a fork to prick deep holes in the potato’s, rub in cooking oil, and season with salt & pepper. Wrap in foil & bake for 50mins at 220•c/200•c fan/430•f, remove foil 20mins before end.

Slowly heat beans with stock cube, butter, and black pepper, to a soft boil then remove from heat. Heat for a few minutes before serving.

Serve with grated cheese & simple side finger salad.

Papa Bear has finally finished work for the holiday, and I’ve had a busy week in the kitchen, stocking up on freezer portions to save cooking over the festive period. Baby Bear is baking nicely & ready to enjoy their first Christmas from the comfort of my mince pie filled belly!

Everything seems to have gone remarkably smoothly this year, it’s the strangest thing.

We have the Christmas food shopping arrive tomorrow, with great plans for truffles, trifles, and my very favourite Christmas Eve tradition- Hot chocolate & marshmallows with a good book in bed.

We have a rough idea of a few things we’d like to get done in the week before switching off on the 24th. And we’ve finally decided where Baby Bear’s little den will be, so can start folding & sorting through the mountain of gifts & hand-me-downs we’ve been given, that are taking up half of the living room at the moment!

I might save the job of folding tiny little bibs & baby grows for a quiet & magical hour before bed on Xmas Eve : )

We like to do very little over winter, preferring to spend the whole of December & January in hibernation, fattening up & reflecting on all that we’re thankful for. It’s such a pleasure to slow down & enjoy the good things in life, cosy jumpers & hot porridge, under a blanket by the fire.

I’ll stop babbling now as I’m full of snacks & it’s late, so it’s time to go to bed.

Nos da pawb, night night everyone

xxx

Prep: 15mins, Cost: 63p per portion.

2 eggs

1 tomato, deseeded & chopped

1/2 pepper, chopped

1/2 small leek

2tbsp milk

2tbsp olive oil

Salt

Pepper

Fry the pepper, tomato, and leek in oil for 5mins, then add the whisked eggs & milk. Add salt & pepper, and stir for another 5mins until eggs are cooked.

Serve with toasted crusty bread.

Pesto Pasta with Pepper & Carrot

Prep: 20mins, Cost: 35p

Papa Bear needs fuel for a heavy day at work, and this quick healthy pasta fix can be made the night before, is a convenient solution when he’s travelling around, and is a cheaper alternative to eating out. Super tasty too of course!

Serves 8

Prep & Cook: 1hr 45mins

Cost: 24p per portion

1 swede

1 leek

4 potato’s

5 carrots

3 vegetable stock cubes

Salt

Black pepper

Add chopped vegetables & crumbled stock cubes to a large pan, cover with boiling water. Heat back to a boil then reduce heat & simmer for 1hr 30mins.

Serve with crusty bread & butter.

Prep: 20mins, Cost: 47p per portion

Serves 4

400g pasta

1 jar creamy pasta sauce

1 green pepper

2 tomato’s

1tbsp flax seed

2 frozen garlic bread

Put the garlic bread in the oven, boil & drain pasta. Add chopped pepper to pasta & lightly steam for a few minutes. Add pasta sauce & heat gently. When the garlic bread is ready, transfer to serving bowls & top with chopped tomato & flax seed.

Prep: 20mins, Oven: 45mins, Cost: £0.61 per portion, Serves: 4.

8 sausages

3 potato’s, diced

3 carrots, chopped

1 leek, chopped

1 tin chopped tomato’s

1tbsp tomato purée

2 vegetable stock cubes

1pt boiling water

2tbsp olive oil

Salt

Pepper

In a deep pan, fry up the sausages in olive oil for about 10mins then set aside in a dish.

Reduce heat & use the remaining oil in the pan to cook the leek for 5mins. Add tomato purée, salt, and pepper, and mix well. Add the potato’s & carrot, and turn for 5mins until well coated. Add chopped tomato’s & vegetable stock, and bring to the boil, stirring regularly.

Empty pan into casserole dish & oven cook at 160•c (fan) for 45mins or until potato & carrot are just soft enough.

Served with home baked bread & Welsh salted butter.

This was an early Xmas gift from Nana Bear & Aunty Emmie and it’s fantastic! So user friendly & versatile. We can’t wait for midnight hot chocolate & toast with real butter!

500g strong white flour

1.5tsp sugar

25g butter

1.25tsp salt

350ml water

7g sachet yeast

Baking time: 4hrs

50g rolled oats

100ml milk

125ml water

1 banana

2tbsp honey

Large pinch cinnamon

Heat the oats, milk, and honey in a pan. Stir occasionally to a soft boil, then reduce heat. Mash half of the banana into the pan, stir & simmer for a couple of minutes.

Transfer to serving bowl, add the rest of the banana, honey, and cinnamon.

Prep: 10-15mins, Cost: £1.50

Microwave packet lentils

Spinach & rocket pre-washed salad

Tomato

Carrot

Green & yellow pepper

Red pepper hummus

Flax seed

Prep: 20mins, Cost: 35p per portion. I’m obsessed with this dish! And really quite excited that I found a 190g jar of pesto for just 90p at Tesco : )

(Single portion)

100g penne pasta

30g pesto

1 tomato

1tbsp olive oil

Salt

Pepper

Boil pasta & drain, add olive oil, salt, pepper, and pesto, mix well. Top with one chopped tomato & season with a bit more salt & pepper.

Cleansing, brightening, and moisturising- Eco friendly & natural skincare.

This is a test batch, so for now it’s just 3 flannels chopped up into quarters, to make 12 large palm sized wipes. When it’s time to buy myself a present I’m going to hop straight over to #fullofcolour for some of their gorgeous soft & hand stitched face wipes in a range of prints!

First, pour boiling water over the wipes in a pan for sterilisation, leave to soak for a few minutes then drain. Top the pan back up with distilled water & gently warm.

In a Bain Marie melt 1tbsp of cocoa butter with 3tbsp of pomace olive oil. Remove from heat and stir in essential oils- 3 drops of grapefruit, 7 drops of lavender.

Add the oils & butter mix to the pan, stir well, and leave to soak for 10mins.

With clean hands, gently squeeze excess water from each wipe individually, then fold & stack into a sterilised air tight container. Can be kept at room temperature or in the fridge.

What better way to start The Three Bears than a recipe for Porridge!

100g Rolled Oats

450ml Milk

4tsp Demerara Sugar

1 heated tbsp Peanut Butter

1 pinch Cinnamon

1 small handful Dry Roasted Peanuts

Heat up oats, milk, and sugar in a pan until hot, add peanut butter & stir to a boil, simmer for a few minutes, add to serving bowl, decorate with cinnamon & peanuts.