I always knew that once people started talking about drought restrictions, we would be in for a spell of rain, so I'm not complaining. Rather I am trying not to. What you really don't need for the last week of the Easter holidays is the kind of rain that keeps you indoors. Fortunately for us, the rain held off long enough on Sunday that we could visit our Cherry Tree and enjoy a delicious Hog Roast. Part of our Rent-a-Cherry-Tree package is a … [Read more...]
St George’s Shield for Girl Knights
LBG made a very interesting point recently whilst watching one of her favourite CBeebies programmes, Mike the Knight. "Girls can be knights too, can't they?" "Of course they can, darling" was my lightning-fast response. Which got me thinking about children's programmes in general and CBeebies more specifically, since that is the channel that we watch almost exclusively. There seems to be quite a strong leaning towards the more traditional … [Read more...]
How to make Chocolate Cinnabuns
In one of Dimples' cooking classes we made Cinnamon Rolls. They rose beautifully in their tin on the way home so that they were oven-ready. Whilst they baked, I whipped up some glace icing to drizzle on top, and DH and I devoured them whilst they were still warm. They are now a regular fixture, usually at weekends, but although the Little Misses like making them, LBG recently admitted that she doesn't really like the taste of them. So I tinkered … [Read more...]
Introducing Art to pre-schoolers: Damien Hirst
When Maggy at Red Ted Art recently mentioned her idea for a linky to encourage the introduction of Art-with-a-capital-A to children, I got a little bit excited. I don't remember Art Galleries or Museums so much when I was a child, which is more a reflection of my life overseas and my generation than a judgement on my upbringing. I remember going all the way from school in Yorkshire down to London for the day to see 'proper' Art as part of my GCSE … [Read more...]
Interview with Amanda Egan aka Mummy Misfit
I came across Amanda Egan, better known as Mummy Misfit, on twitter. I can't remember why now, but it made me follow her, and download her books to Kindle. I say her books- she's working on her third- because she wrote two of themthem in her car whilst parked outside the front of her son's school. Because that's where he needed her to be and, like any mother, she did exactly what he needed her to do- be there. And whilst she waited, she wrote. To … [Read more...]
An Essential Kitchen Tool
Reduce, reuse, recycle: Earth Day cotton bud painting
It is but a few short days until Earth Day 2012, which has existed in America since 1970 and is gaining recognition across the globe as people become increasingly concerned about the environment. LBG and I were talking this weekend about the concept of Reduce-Reuse-Recycle, as espoused by Bob The Builder on a daily basis, according to the CBeebies schedule. Recycling, as a concept, is quite an easy one to demonstrate, as it is part of our … [Read more...]
