It’s important to know that I’m not a farmer. Emma isn’t one either. In fact, neither of us have the slightest drop of farming blood in our veins. The closest we’ve come is renting an allotment (40′ x 100′) from the city council in Newcastle and growing a nice crop of blue heritage potatoes. Oh, and that was in England about 10 years ago. So, farming a 100 acre property in the rural outskirts of Ottawa, Canada, isn’t exactly our…
Ok I think the title has pretty much given the main content of this post away. If you are still reading I’m assuming you want to eat something delicious, hearty, nourishing and wholesome without too much fuss attached. Well here it is. This is one of my favourite meals and it came from the wonderful Nigella Lawson (I think from Nigella Express but I can’t find my book right now, I’ll check later). It is a simple meal but ridiculously…
My friend Katie shared this lovely prayer with me so I thought I would share it with you all. We pray For new mothers, coming to terms with new responsibility; For expectant mothers, wondering and waiting; For those who are tired, stressed or depressed; For those who struggle to balance the tasks of work and family; For those who are unable to feed their children due to poverty; For those whose children have physical, mental or emotional disabilities; For those…
I’d like to introduce you to a special new member of our family. I’ve named her Mathilda, though Stephen is trying to come up with a more manly sounding name, but I think she looks like a Mathilda. What do you think? She’s got a groovy 80’s vibe and plenty of width across the back end, she reminds me a little of myself. Like most ladies Mathilda loves accessories. She comes equipped with a front loader, a bale spear and…
Joining Amanda in sharing a special moment from our week. No words, just an image that captures something wonderful in the life of our family. Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend : )
It is amazing to me how a simple task like baking can bring me a few moments of serenity in an otherwise busy and bustling day. Flour and butter, eggs and cream. The weighing, the mixing, the rolling out. A pastry case turned into quiche, scones rising in the oven and eaten still warm. Sunshine in the kitchen, warming as it touches.
I think it is inevitable that I spent the weekend thinking quite a bit about being a mum. What it means to me, others that I know, how it has changed my life. Strangely I chose to celebrate being a mum by leaving my family and going off for a day of relaxation with a friend! On Saturday my lovely friend Karen (who writes a beautiful blog here by the way) whisked me off to a spa where we spent…
Last week we did a picture study from The Art Book for Children, we looked at Women, Bird by Moonlight by Joan Miro. I really love this book as it has suggestions for questions to ask, helping the child to see more in the painting than might be appreciated at first glance. I enjoy encouraging Huwyl to look more deeply into the world around him, to look beyond what is obvious and to encourage him to trust his own feelings…
I’m sure there are many reasons why I will never be skinny, genetics, body type etc but this is definitely right up there. Pear and Almond Cake. Oh yeah. Huwyl and I were watching an old episode of River Cottage last week and we decided that this pear cake had to happen. We picked out the pears when shopping and today, after doing our school, we whipped up this little number. It is moist, sweet, light, firm and delicious. Worth…
According to the old calendar Beltane marks the beginning of summer. Around these parts it barely feels as if spring has started let alone summer! But remember the old British saying ‘Ne’er cast a clout til May is out’. Roughly translated this means ‘Don’t go out without a coat until May is out’. Most people assume this means the month of May but in fact it refers to the May blossom of the Hawthorn tree, found in every British hedgerow….