Allotment Snapshot

The allotment has become a sanctuary lately - a place to be completely and refreshingly unplugged from the rest of the world. A place where all our efforts are physically and often immediately visible.

I snapped this picture of Cameron yesterday showing his developing gardener's stance!

Preserving Childhood

I'm reading this excellent book at the moment (don't let the title put you off, it isn't religious). So much of what the author says resonates with the approach I'm trying to take to parenting, and life in general.

After spending far too many hours tonight listening to the Children's Schools and Families bill being discussed in the House of Lords, I wanted to share, here, a couple of quotes from the book, which I think are really relevant to what's going on.
The emphasis in bold is my own.

"... in our efforts to make each moment "count", we seem to have lost the knack of appreciating the ordinary... we do too much and savour too little. We mistake activity for happiness, and so we stuff our children's days with activities, and their heads with information when we ought to be feeding their souls instead..."


"... only by stopping long enough to observe our surroundings can we bring form and meaning to our lives and make the small adjustments needed to stay on course.
Our children need this kind of pause, too. Regular rest for the spirit is as necessary for their healthy growth as sleep, fresh air and good food..."

"... children need time that is utterly their own - time to take up residence in their own lives, time to dream through an afternoon, time to play with the kids next door, time to wake up to their own pleasures. Above all, they need time when we adults aren't calling the shots..."

"Children need their privacy just as we adults do. In the secret places of childhood, the soul drinks deeply, is refreshed, and flourishes..."

I said I wasn't going to get political on this blog, and I'm sticking by that decision. But quite often, I think many grown-ups have forgotten what it was like to be a child. I strongly believe that those people are not qualified to be making decisions about how our children spend their own precious childhoods.

Rhubarb and Pear Crumble

We are experiencing a bit of turbulence in our flight through life at the moment, so this week I may just share pictures and a few words.

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This weekend I made Rhubarb and Pear Crumble using this recipe.

I reduced the sugar and butter in the topping slightly and added crushed cinnamon almonds instead of the cluster breakfast cereals that the recipe suggests. It's also worth noting that the portion sizes are enormous! You could make half the recipe and amply feed a family of four.

I thought it was delicious, Cameron wrinkled his nose up!

Transitioning from Winter to Spring

I'm so proud of how patient we are being about waiting for Spring this year. There's no mistaking that it's on the way though. Here are a few ways we're looking forward to Spring and holding on to Winter at the same time.

We found this old friend under Cameron's bed when we were Spring cleaning. He had a bath and a lovely time blow drying in the breeze.

Planting seeds

Savouring the last of lovely quiet days out, when we get places almost to ourselves.

Passing the last of the cold weather with some family drawing time at the kitchen table

Last chances for playing in the snow

Watching out for every new bud and shoot

Rainbow Coasters

I've been making some coasters for my new table over the last week.

I decided to weave them, and then I quite spontaneously finished the first one off with a crocheted edge and was quite pleased with the result (I only learnt some basic crochet stitches from a book at Christmas and I'm not completely sure I'm doing them right!). I like that, with the rainbow wool, they're all unique.

I used this simple weaving frame that I've mentioned here before. It was pretty cheap and it's had so much use - you can string it to weave squares and other shapes as well as circles. I find the repetitive nature of weaving very calming and the frame is quite portable so I've managed to get bits done here and there at meetings and things.

The coasters are washable which is very useful.

It's a shame I didn't have foresight to weave a table mat first, Cameron's rock collection has not been kind to my lovely table this week...

Spring Green Window Star

I made another star for our kitchen window this week. Greens - to replace the white frosty stars - perhaps that will encourage Spring, just a little.

I'm particularly pleased with this one because I didn't use any instructions, I worked the pattern out just from looking at a picture of this star on flickr, which isn't quite as easy as it sounds!

We are still brimming with ideas for ways to incorporate more paper stars into our home!


Have you had a go at window star making yet? There are some tutorials in my linky love in the sidebar if you fancy having a go.


More of my stars here.

Peanut butter and jam muffins

Not many words today, no crafty projects. I'm just getting straight down to the serious business of cake!



Peanut Butter and Jam Muffins

Makes 6 large muffins

Mix:
175g plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt



In a separate bowl blend:
1 egg
100ml milk
40g soft demerara sugar
1 heaped tablespoon peanut butter
55g melted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Gradually stir the flour mixture into the wet ingredients until well mixed.
Set your muffin cases in the muffin tin. Place a tablespoon of mixture into each muffin case, spread out a little bit. Add a rounded teaspoon of jam and top with another tablespoon of the peanut mixture.
Bake at 200C for about 15-20 minutes - don't over bake, you want them to be firm and springing back but not hard.



Make sure you leave them to cool for a while before eating - hot jam burns!