A belated birthday present and a Spanish omlette

Soon I am seeing a friend I have not seen for a while, and I have been busy making a belated birthday present*.  Given that she might read this, I shan't show the proper pictures until after I've given her the gift, but here's a little picture of some of the project (knitted with Sirdar Bamboo yarn) on circular needles (using the magic loop- thanks Nim for the tip!). 

The other day for dinner I tried out Jamie O's Spanish Potato and Chorizo Omlette (which you can find on his website here).  It is essentially a Spanish tortilla, and is absolutely lovely! I made two as there were several mouths to feed, and to the second one I added green peppers and some emmental cheese.  Both were extremely tasty, and were also delicious eaten cold the following day.

How's your week going?

C x

* Yes, that does in fact mean that I now have four knitting projects on the go at once, but this one will be finished soon....!

A different pace.

Life is going along at rather a different pace at the moment.  In some ways it is incredibly busy- family life with two little ones is rather more hectic than with one! and in addition, we had E's second birthday to celebrate last week (I know that a 2 year old wouldn't have noticed if we'd let his birthday slip by without noticing it much, but I think I needed to make a big deal of it for my own sanity!).  So, on Saturday whilst E was having a morning with Grandparents, Al and I made a train cake...!

Admittedly the colours are a little unconventional and it lacks a certain finesse, but we were quite pleased with our efforts 1 week post-natal, and E loved it!

Thinking back to how I felt a week post-natal last time, it is a totally different ball game the second time round (helped immeasurably by a speedy birth!) as it was a rather tiring feat to host a little tea party, but fun was had by everyone, and E's 2nd birthday did not slip by unnoticed!

As well as going by in a bustle, life is also passing at rather a relaxed pace at the moment- I rather love having my Husband off work- E loves the constant opportunity to play and draw with him, and I enjoy the company and the help around the house.  A lot of my days are currently spent feeding P at the moment- something which I am having to learn how to do on-the-move whilst helping to supervise E!  I might not get started today on the wonders of breastfeeding, as I'm sure I'll not be able to stop, but, suffice to say I am a true devotee.  E fed happily until he was about 20 months or so, and the benefits are so many fold.  The thing I notice most though, is that there is really inadequate support for women who desperately want to feed, and the fact that life is so much less community-centred means that people who'd previously be learning from older and wiser women who went through it all before are now trying to navigate it on their own!

Luckily in Oxford we are immensely rich in breastfeeding support and help with the Baby Cafe in locations all over the city Monday-Friday, and a clinic in the hospital for 2 days a week too.  If you (or someone you know is in the situation of wanting to feed, but struggling to, then I urge you to check out their website as they are in locations all over the country!).  Two other amazing resources are the fabulous book "The food of love" by Kate Evans, and the website Kellymom!  Right.  Enough said for now!

So, yesterday I mastered the art of knitting whilst feeding!  Admittedly it was a little slow, but still, it felt nice to be doing something crafty at the same time! (Obviously she's not actually feeding in the picture below!)

Other lovely slow paced things I've been enjoying are Tea and Crosswords with Al...

... And being very blessed by several weeks of wonderful meals-on-wheels provided on the post-natal meal rota that people do at my church!

Our wonderful dinner tonight, cooked by Vicki!

I hope you are having a lovely week.

C x

Crumpets and Cake

It's Al's birthday today- Happy Birthday to a lovely husband!  And E has an ear infection.  He didn't play ball when I took him in to sing happy birthday to Daddy, in fact every time I paused after "Happy Birthday..." for him to fill in the lyrics, he whined "noooo".  Not the chirpy start to the day I'd envisaged, but never mind.

We had a lovely birthday breakfast, complete with Eggy crumpets and ham (masquerading as bacon for the purpose of the breakfast!)... (for Al)

And croissants (for E and I!).

We joined Al at work for lunch in the office (very exciting to a toddler), and enjoyed the first (of more than one during the course of the day...) piece of the carrot cake...

It did not disappoint!

Our gift to Al was a canvas of a beautiful photo taken by a very talented friend at a photoshoot last year, which sat on our piano whilst we decided on a suitable location, but is now hanging above our lounge sofa.

Our day was finished off with a delicious dinner, full of giggles, with family.

Craft-wise,  I finished weaving in loose ends on my tank top, and finished off the ruffled scarf I've been making on commission. Other than that, much time was taken up sitting waiting to see the doctor (for the boy), cuddling said boy, and generally looking after a grumblier-than-usual son.

I'm now looking forward to cracking on with the pink cable knit top for the impending arrival so that it's ready in time, whilst doing a little more crocheted granny squares when I fancy a change.

I hope you are well.