Things I wish I’d asked my Nanna #4

Another question I wish I’d asked my dear old Nan.

• What books did you read as a child?
• What are your fondest memories of childhood?

Daily Routines

Ahaa…..I just had what some call a light bulb moment after reading this post from Tammy over at Just Enough and Nothing More. I was thinking along these lines just yesterday as i was considering how to develop a discipline in an area without overdoing it and ‘burning out’.

I’m good at this, which can be easily demonstrated by my short lived exercise campaign which started here and ended about 4 weeks later. I go so hard at it that I can’t maintain the energy required. The motivation wanes and I stop.

The post mentioned talks about doing a little of something everyday to keep the engine idling so that you’re already in the groove when inspiration/energy/passion strikes. This is a great lesson for me. In my tendency to go into something full bore, I run out of steam and rarely carry things through to a life habit or completed project.

I really don’t want to do this with my kids. I like what Tammy says:

The “idling” activities are like that. “Just come outside and play. Just do any one of your workbooks you want to, any page, any number of problems. Just sit with me while I read this outloud for two pages. No requirement to finish. No requirement to do “good”. Just do. Idle.”

There’s something to be said for having daily disciplines in place. Things that after a while become the thread of your life. The greater overall vision for my life will only be achieved by including these daily little things. For example, fit and healthy will only come about by a daily practise of a little exercise; Clean uncluttered simple home will only come about by a daily/regular habit of tidying up and getting rid of stuff we’re not using. But rather than trying to completely revolutionise my life in a day, I should just daily do something small whether I feel like it or not, and just maybe one day the inspiration will strike to do something amazing, and I’ll have the drive to get it done.

I have a new friend

Through my friend J (who came to help me at R0’s birth) I met N.

I saw her last week and she said she’d be my friend, so now that we’re officially friends, there’s none of that social awkwardness about wanting to do stuff together or out lasting our welcome or feeling like we’re stalking one another, and we don’t have to be shy about saying “I’m coming over for a coffee”. Now that it’s been established that we’re friends, we’ll just treat each other like a friend. I like that about N. She just brought it up, put it out there and voila- Buddies!

Anyway, she’s an amazing woman…mother of 2, environmental activist, and so very creative and inspirational. She’s had her fair share of hardship but is living life full of vigour and energy. She’s one of those people who manages to achieve a lot, not just talk about it. I’d say I’m a talker, and she’s a doer. I love it that when I mention an idea of mine, she takes it for granted that it’s going to happen. I sometimes need that bit of ‘pressure’ to actually do stuff.

She loves to paint, make things, and oh my you should see her back yard! She has hand made mud bricks and created a beautiful outdoor wall/chair thingy with chess set in the centre. My pathetic description doesn’t do it justice. Then there’s her garden, with ducks and chickens and a huge compost pile and a soon to be vege garden. N also wants to home school so it’s great that our kids will be able to do stuff together. She live near myself and J, (also a seasoned home schooling family) so we have a nice little network going in the area.

She’s actually an answer to my plea way back in this post, about needing some inspiration for making our home nice. Today she came over with her kiddo’s and we had a bit of a brain storm about what to do about my kitchen. We’ve started with a phrase to sum up my style/preferences/theme, and it is Fresh,Pacific/Tropical, Lunch.The lunch part refers to the time of day that epitomises the light/colours I like.

So… on Friday we’re meeting up and she’s going to sketch our ideas so that I can show D and get him on board. (Only because I’ll need him to use the skill saw! Mwha ha ha ha ha) So….stay tuned! Hopefully there’ll be some action around here soon.

Thanks for a great day N and I look forward to more fun days with our families!

Message in a Bottle

This is just like a message in a bottle. Except it’s not a bottle, it’s a balloon, and it’s a virtual balloon. It all started here at Entering Eternity. (No idea what that blog is about because it’s in another language!!) I found a balloon flying over at Principled Discovery and caught it and now it’s flying here!

The idea is, on September 1st Entering Eternity will track them all down, and see how far they went. If you want to join in, you can get your balloon here. Then add your details (I used paint program on my puter) and post a comment to the place you caught it. (That would be on this site) Apparently there’s a prize on offer…..a packet of balloons no less!!!

If you’re like me and the The Police song of the same title is now rolling around in your head, you can have a listen here.

I Spy

Today in the car, E4 and I played our first game of I Spy. We had each taken a few turns and guessed each others. It was E4’s turn. She was saying the sound of the beginning of her word rather than the name of the letter so I took the opportunity to match the sounds to the letters. For example she’d say “something beginning with sss” so I would say” “Thats the letter S, something beginning with S. The sound is sss”

“I spy with my little eye, something beginning with fffff” she said.

I guessed a number of things like, fast cars, funny faces and so on. Finally I said “Fingers!”

E4 replied “No Mum, that’s uncorrect. There are lots of big ones around and it’s something for when you want to take a picture of something”

“Ahhhh” I said “Photos!”

On Peanuts.

I know that it’s about time I posted. Not that there’s a thousand faithful readers out there or anything. But for posterity’s sake…maybe one day my kids will read this and wonder what Mum’s been doing for a week. (Well kiddos….looking after you lot mostly.)

And here’s what happened on Saturday. We went to a little girls 5th birthday party and when I saw a bowl of peanuts on the table I warned E4 my little allergic girl to not even touch them. She stayed clear and was fine throughout the party. On the way home in the car she started to complain of itchy eyes. By the time we got home she looked like this:

I treated it with antihistamines, and although her breathing was fine, I dosed her up on her asthma medication too. Poor kid. Her lower eyelid was so swollen the skin looked taut and as big as the end of my thumb. Even four hours later there was little improvement:

I asked her if she’d touched the bowl and she said “No, I just smelled them”.

Oh dear….I really hope she isn’t becoming more and more sensitive to them. Fortunately though each exposure hasn’t affected her airway, so it doesn’t seem life threatening, but the Dr’s say they can’t predict if and when an anaphylaxis will occur due to repeat exposures.

I find myself feeling irritated that someone would have peanuts served for a child’s birthday party, especially when there were not only 5 year olds but lots of younger siblings and babies. (Thinking of the choke hazard here too). I know it’s unreasonable to expect everyone to change their habits for the few allergy sufferers, but it’s just my Mummy protectiveness coming out and so part of me says: No one should serve peanuts, or manufacture food on machinery that has processed peanuts at all. Ever. And almonds for that matter. Grrrrrr…….

Fermentation Fun

Rachael over at Intricate Simplicity told us about her sourdough bread today. I have also been baking sourdough recipes. I’ve made sourdough breads, pizza bases and even cookies. If you’ve never tried sourdough bread, don’t be put off by the sound of it. I was at first… just think normal home made bread without commercially made yeast. Tastes better though! We always chomp into it hot from the oven with butter.

Here’s a recipe (not my original)

SOURDOUGH BREAD

2 cups sourdough starter

2 tbsp butter

1/2 cup milk

2 tbsp sugar

1 tsp salt

3 cups white flour

Melt butter over moderate heat, add milk and warm. Add sugar and salt and stir until dissolved. Add this mixture to starter in a large bowl and mix well. Add flour 1 cup at a time mixing well. Spoon batter into a loaf tin (or form dough with hands into a loaf and place on a baking tray). Allow to rise 1-2 hours. Bake in preheated oven at 180C for 45 minutes.

I get the best results when the starter is freshly ‘proofed’ which just means removed from fridge and fed (1 cup flour, 1 cup warm water) and left until very frothy. It gets a sweetish yeasty alcohol like smell. I usually do this at night and leave out overnight before baking. Don’t forget to feed your started after baking so that you always have a couple of cups fermenting away. I’ve also made this with added ground linseed, and it worked well.

There’s something really lovely about sourdough baking… when I made pizza bases, the house smelt like a real Pizza shop. (Is it ’smelled’ or ’smelt’?) It would have been easier to say “when I make pizza bases, the house smells like a pizza shop.” but I’m going to leave it now because maybe someone will be able to correct my grammar! (And I am going to teach my kids grammar???)

Here’s a pic of my starter nice and frothy…

We finished

I have just finished reading aloud The Magician’s Nephew by CS Lewis. It was the first chapter book E’s listened to, and it was great! She’s a little young really, and I think she missed a lot of the story, but she’s loved our reading times, and now we’ve started on The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.

I’m so glad we attempted it because now I can have fun reading with her all those great books of childhood. When we’ve finished with The Chronicles of Narnia, I’ve got my eyes on some of Roald Dahl’s works, especially Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and The BFG.

Apparently I’m an Artist

I took a personality test at PersonalDNA and this is what they came up with. There’s a nice colourful visual thing to post but I’ve messed around with it for ages and can’t get the script to work. (That’s right, I scored low on how things work) So if anyone knows how to get the script tag or full html to work, please let me know. OK…thanks Kate. It seems to have a wee bit missing, but it’s there!

Benevolent Artist

You are an Artist

Your appreciation of beauty, ability to think abstractly, and innovativeness make you an ARTIST.

Never one to be tied to a particular way of doing things, you let your imagination guide you in discovering different possibilities.

You would rather seek out new experiences than stick to your everyday habits, taking in as much of the world as possible.

Your eye for beauty and your willingness to consider different perspectives make your creative efforts interesting-even though you may not realize this yourself.

You prefer to think about things before voicing your opinion, considering a wide, diverse range of options.

While there are forms and styles that you prefer, you tend to keep an open mind when it comes to your artistic preferences.

You are curious about things, interested in the “why” more than the “how.”

You have an active imagination that leads you express yourself in a distinct way.

You’re not afraid to let your emotions guide you, and you’re generally considerate of others’ feelings as well.

You prefer to have time to plan for things, feeling better with a schedule than with keeping plans up in the air until the last minute.
If you want to be different:

Be more open to risks in your creative efforts, and don’t be quick to dismiss the praise of others.

Think about how attention to detail may help you be more sure of yourself.
How you relate to others
You are Benevolent

You are a great person to interact with-understanding, giving, and trusting-in a word, BENEVOLENT

You don’t mind being in social situations, as you feel comfortable enough with people to be yourself.

Your caring nature goes beyond a basic concern: you take the time to understand the nuances of people’s situations before passing any sort of judgment.

You’re a good listener, and even better at offering advice.

You’re concerned with others at both an individual and societal level-you sympathize with the plights of troubled groups, and you can care about people you’ve never met.

Considering many different perspectives is something at which you excel, and you appreciate that quality in others.

Other people’s feelings are important to you, and you’re good at mediating disputes.

Because of your understanding and patience, you tend to bring out the best in people.
If you want to be different:

You spend a lot of time taking care of others, but don’t forget to take care of yourself!

Sometimes you can get overcommitted, and when you sacrifice spending time with those close to you, it can make them feel unimportant.

I’d never have considered myself an artist. High school art did that to me. I wasn’t good at drawing things….(I distinctively remember an assignment to draw a can of food from the pantry. Mine was a can of tuna. It was a painful disaster.) and so have always thought I wasn’t creative. I know that doesn’t make sense necessarily, but it was a thought I’ve always just believed about myself. It’s only been in recent years that I’ve discovered I love creating things, and if that’s not being creative I guess nothing is.

So there you go. It’s fun to try…have a go and let me know how you turn out.

Things they say #5

Last night at dinner E says:

“B is the king of dinner, I am the Queen of dinner, R can be a prince, Daddy can be a prince too.”

“What about me?” I ask.

“You’re the cook.”

Nice one kiddo.