the fruits of my labour

The kids and I went to Healesville Sanctuary with my sister, Anna, the other day, which is really just an excuse for gratuitous cute kid and animal shots:

Our usual Wednesday afternoon outing was cancelled yesterday so Elliott and I decided we’d make popcorn and watch Finding Nemo while Isobel slept, given the weather was not conducive to much outdoor play. It sounded good to me and it seemed to sound good to Elliott. But once the popcorn ran out, so did Elliott’s interest in the movie. He doesn’t really have the attention span for movies yet, which I don’t mind. He is only three after all and I don’t want him to grow up too fast. Although it seems he may be more abreast of popular culture than I would have thought possible for a three year old, as he kept calling the movie Finding Emo.

The popcorn was pretty good, though. It’s called kettle corn and I made it following the recipe here. It must be an American thing, because everyone I’ve made it for asks me what it is and how to make it. The salty/sweet combination is really good and very addictive. And it’s gluten-free, which pleases my gluten intolerant friends, and much to the delight of my sister, Anna, it’s also suitable for vegans!

New growth:

Preparing to sow:

Spring cleaning (with newspaper and vinegar and water in a recycled Windex spray bottle):

It is amazing how much better windows and what’s on either side of them look when you clean them. I find it’s one of the easiest chores to forget about it, but I’m always really pleased when I’ve done it. And it certainly helps to have an enthusiastic assistant.

I’m really inspired to give the house a good clean this spring and my ongoing decluttering efforts have doubled. I even gave away a big pile of uni text books I’d been hanging onto for no good reason. I’m not sure why I get the urge to do a deep clean in spring. I don’t think it’s just because it’s the traditional thing to do. I suspect it may have something to do with the extra and stronger sunshine showing up all the dust and dirt.

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Along with a change in seasons, we’ve had a change in sleeping arrangements. At almost eight months, Isobel had finally grown out of her bassinette. So we moved her into a cot and out of our room and into Elliott’s room. Now Elliott and Isobel’s room. She didn’t seem overly impressed with the move, and it was fairly bittersweet for me. Sad to no longer have her by my side, but it feels great to be able to read and talk before drifting off to sleep again. Isobel seems to be slowly getting used to the much bigger bed and the different room and roommate, and as usual, Elliott’s been a real trouper, despite the interruptions to his sleep.

Well, that was an unexpected delay, but here I am after some technical difficulties and other impediments to blogging, like tiredness, kids and life in general. Not that I am complaining about kids and life. Without them, there’d be nothing to write about, right?

Anyway, the little sewing project I mentioned a while ago is finally finished and without further ado, I shall unveil it:

It’s an apron (I like to state the obvious) for Chris and I’m pretty happy with it. Excuse the creases, but I couldn’t get a photo of it before Chris used it, which I’m not complaining about, as it means he must really like it. It’s linen and it feels lovely. I was very much inspired (as I so often am) by the aprons of Amanda of SouleMama, who uses a lot of linen and makes a lot of (beautiful) aprons. I have no idea if the linen I used is like what Amanda uses, as there seems to be many kinds, at vastly differing prices, but I got mine here and I like it. I have more and intend to make an apron for both Elliott and me from it.

I didn’t use a pattern, I just traced an old apron of Chris’s and just kind of made up the rest as I went along. At times I felt I was crazy, as a sewing novice, for doing this, but then usually I would tell myself I was being an idiot and it was just an apron and it really couldn’t be that hard. And it wasn’t. I’m certainly not saying it’s perfect, but it works as an apron, I learnt a few things and it wouldn’t have been perfect if I’d used a pattern anyway. Nevertheless, I’m expecting an order of sewing books to arrive from Amazon any day now, and I think they’ll help me feel more confident. Or completely overwhelmed and out of my depth. One of the two.

Homemade Danish pastries for Father’s Day breakfast. I had barely eaten any Danish pastries, let alone made them, until a few months ago when I first attempted the recipe in Nigella Lawson’s How to Be a Domestic Goddess: Baking and the Art of Comfort Cooking. I’ve since made them three times, I think, and each time I have been very happy with the results. This method uses a food processor and despite a lot of rolling out and folding, not to mention a bit of forethought (you can’t really make these on a whim, unless you’ve previously had the forethought to freeze some prepared dough), they are quite easy. Some of my rolling and folding was pretty dodgy, but I don’t think anyone could tell after they’d puffed up in the oven and been smothered in clear and sugar glazes. The recipe gives you enough dough to make twelve pastries, so I filled six with apricot jam (as requested by Chris) and filled the other six with an almond mixture, as suggested by Nigella. Both were delicious, and the praise I received for them alone was enough to make the effort worthwhile. I’ll be making them again soon, I think.

Of course, after all that butter-laden pastry, there was plenty of fuel to burn, so it was outside for some backyard soccer:

And later, some cuddles on the couch:

It was a beautiful family day, capped off by roast beef with Yorkshire puddings, rice pudding and once the kids were in bed, a new game (Father’s Day present).