Serendipitous Days

Do you ever have days where lots of lovely things conspire to make you happy?  We've had a few days like that this week.  The sun has definitely helped.  As you can see, my flip flops have come out again after being away for a good many months!

We had a lovely visit from a friend and her boyfriend from London- they bought us a fabulous lunch (including some carrot and cinnamon muffins with a sparkly icing- see below, though the photo doesn't do them justice, and home made quiche!) and we enjoyed several hours sitting in the garden, with silly games being bought out (involving throwing a slightly heavier ball into a paddling pool full of balls...!)

We took a lovely walk to a local park, and I just loved watching how much more confident my boy is getting at running around and clambering on all of the apparatus...

P is starting to be a little more settled when she is put down, and yesterday she had a lovely sleep in her little bouncy chair in the garden whilst we enjoyed the fresh air, and today she had a lovely long sleep in her pram allowing me to do a spot of knitting in the garden- what a luxury!  (I only hope she doesn't decide to do too much of her 'awake time' during the middle of the night though!)

Oh so comfortable!

Actually pausing to talk about crafty things, I am making a little gift for a friend (above), but I'm doing it on my 2.5mm bamboo needles, as I only have 2.75mm in metal (my preferred working material!).  I'm finding it is going a little slower this way as the bamboo ones are a little bendy given how thin they are... A little frustrating!

Oh well! I'm still making steady progress!

I hope you are having some lovely weather wherever you are, and I leave you with a card we were given today to celebrate P's birth- I think it's one of my favourites so far....

It says it all, doesn't it?!

C x

Cinnamon and raisin bread and sticker charts.

Today I had my first resounding success with our new bread maker.  A friend recommended cinnamon and raisin bread (thanks Mel!) and since I am finding it hard to think of things I'd like to eat in the mornings currently, I decided that might be a tempting breakfast choice.

It smelled absolutely fabulous as it was rising and then cooking away, and it tasted delicious both plain with butter (says Al) and toasted with butter (says me!).  Sort of like hot-crossed bun as bread. Yum.

The other thing I discovered was that some of my lack of success had been due to the type of yeast I was using- not "fast bake" but one that was more suited to hand baking rather than bread makers.  Can it make much difference? It turns out the answer is YES, given that this one rose to about twice the height of my previous attempts!

Lots of my life at the moment revolves around spending time with my toddler son.  He's amazing, and a huge amount of fun to be with, but is also going through that (totally normal so I hear!) phase of pushing lots of boundaries.  It's quite full-on working out on a case by case basis how to respond in a loving yet firm way.  Today we decided to give stickers a try, and (although it's early days) the idea of a sticker reward for being well-behaved at the dinner table worked very well.  We'll see how this carries on.  He certainly pointed out his two hard-earned stickers to Daddy with pride upon his return from work.

We had potato rosti for dinner tonight.  I don't know if you have a good recipe for one, but I got our one from the back of an emmental cheese packet about a year ago, and we've been enjoying it ever since.  If you've not tried it before, then do! It's delicious.  If you don't know of a good recipe, let me know, and I'll post one.

Right.  Off to bed for me now.  I hope your week is going well.

I must make do and mend.

I was reading my Parents' copy of The Telegraph this weekend, when I stumbled across an interview with Dame Helen Mirren where she professed her love of mending clothes, and darning holes in socks.  This brought me a disproportionate amount of joy to read- particularly in today's rather more throwaway society, and it also reminded me that I had rather a big pile of mending accruing at home.

So. Today, I got to work on the pile.

I keep putting off these jobs, which is rather silly- given the tiny amount of time they actually take! However, now I am all caught up, and feeling rather pleased with myself (until I find the next hole....!)

Having finished the cardigan, I am now back on the case of the Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Cabled cardi.  It is coming along well, and is quite a quick knit after the fiddly job of the Lucille one.  It is essentially a repeat of 4 rows over and over, and I am remembering how much quicker cashmerino knits up than 4-ply!

Today is incredibly windy (as have been the last few days actually!).  There is something bizarre about the effect windy days have on children (of all ages!)- and today we had two rather over excited toddlers playing in the wind.  Over my years of teaching, other colleagues have knowingly nodded, and accredited mischievous and excitable behaviour to the wind, but I think it is actually true!

I hope you are enjoying your week, and that the wind isn't creating too much excitement!

Bread Makers

This was the lovely sight which awaited me in the kitchen this morning...

A Bread Maker! After wanting one for a really long time, and searching Freecycle to no avail for ages, I hit on the idea of looking on Daily Info- a brilliant Oxford-based website which happens to have listings of "wanted" and "selling".  I found a Bread Maker in great condition for a very bargain price which my lovely Husband and I went halves on!

Today I had my first go at using it (despite having some of that lovely fresh loaf from yesterday still to eat!).  My first attempt was cut short upon realising that we had no Skimmed Milk Powder, but after a trip to our local shop, that was rectified.  We then very nearly went rather wrong when I was measuring out the flour (all quantities given in "cups" and we did not have the original measuring cup that came with it), and put in four (what I thought were) cups (but were actually "half cup" measures).  Luckily I was watching through the little window in the top, and puzzling over the unusually 'sloppy' texture when the penny dropped!

So. After rectifying the said mistake, the Bread Maker got down to business, and the first loaf worked.  However it was fine, not good.  It was a little dense (possibly not helped by my brief pause of the cycle to add more flour!) and I think it tasted a little too sweet.  I know that sometimes the recipe books that come with Bread Makers aren't the most wonderful, so if anyone has a fail-safe recipe for lovely bread that works in a Bread Maker, then please do let me know!  I shall have a trawl on-line shortly.

In the meantime, the loaf from yesterday is fab...

And today we had an extra treat at breakfast- our Lodger had a lovely batch of Croissants left over from a breakfast he attended yesterday, so we had a rather luxurious first meal of the day- YUM!

In other news, I have just finished 3 matching towel and flannel sets for my Mum...

And Al, Elysee and I just had a lovely candle-lit dinner! Who says kids can't share in a little romance?!

Right. Now to get the active toddler into his PJs.  Enjoy your evening whatever you are doing, and do let me know if you have a good bread recipe!

'Those' Days.

I don't believe in having 'one of those days'. Today was one regardless! I think being a parent is the best job in the world, but possibly the hardest too.  Today was definitely a day I think I should have had double pay!

However, some highlights:

Visiting a friend in a lovely new house, in the middle of nowhere, and having a little taste of peace and quiet.

Bonding with another good friend over the (really rather difficult) putting up of a cot/bed in my Son's room after discovering that he had learned how to escape his last one!

Watching E's resourcefulness in coming up with 'play-things', as he sat in the laundry basket and used the rim as a Train Track!

The peace and quiet of a toddler fast asleep in his new bed, and knowing that today is a new day.

Good Night!