Making stuff: crafts, food, whatever
I haven't done a making stuff post for a while, but two are probably going to come along at once. The first week of February was Children's Mental Health week in the UK and so school gave us two Zoom free days. Mostly, that meant the boys watched a lot of TV and played on … Continue reading Making Stuff 16: Chocolate Banana Cake
I'm trying really hard to get into the spirit of Christmas. It just feels too early still. My brother's birthday is early December, so I grew up with Christmas not being thought of until after he'd had a celebration. Now large boy's birthday is around the same time and we do the same thing. The … Continue reading Christmas Treat Recipes
Last year I used a beautiful fabric advent calendar that my mum made to plan out a set of activities for the boys. Of course they didn't all go quite as planned, but we had a great time not eating chocolate. Previous years I've been more organised and bought them each a little something each … Continue reading Homemade Advent Calendar
Last year I had a marathon session making jam and chutney and kicking off the gin. The fruit stays steeping in the gin for at least a month, then its bottling time. This year, I wasn't planning to make any jam, there's still a cupboard full from last autumn. However, the elderberry laden trees at … Continue reading Making stuff 15: gin bottling and jam (2020)
I love a cocktail and I recently bought myself a proper shaker and some martini glasses. I rarely follow recipes though and enjoy making things up a bit as I go. Poor Man's Kir Royale Yeah, so who can afford champagne and creme de cassis is so 90s! In this house we drink prosecco with … Continue reading Making Stuff 14: Cocktails 2020
We got this kit to build a Hot Wheels pull back car (via Santa) for large boy for Christmas. It was on offer in Aldi one day and a bit of an impulse buy - you've got to love the Aldi aisle of randomness. I object to the spelling of "kitz" but that's just me. … Continue reading Review: Hot Wheels Maker Kitz
This is a little diary of our fourth week in social isolation, home learning, and with all of us on "holiday" this week. We were supposed to be in Whitby fossil hunting, eating fish and chips, meeting old friends and mooching about. See what happened in week 3. Monday Large boy came to tell me … Continue reading Staying home, staying safe – week 4
The first time I encountered wild garlic was on a walk along the river near Cromford Mill. We came round a corner and into a heady ether of garlic fumes rising from a huge patch of beautiful white flowers, looking almost like a dusting of snow over their glossy green leaves. It was a stunning … Continue reading Making stuff 13: wild garlic pesto
The boys love playing with chalks, every summer they decorate the patio with pictures, planning roads and towns to drive their toy cars around. This year, we're drawing on the front drive. We started with a rainbow for our community facebook group. It's been washed off twice now. It's a great activity for loads of … Continue reading Chalk and rainbows
Someone bought large boy a Make your own volcanic eruptions set for his birthday in December. Aware that it was likely to be messy we had been deliberately putting if off. With the nicer weather, Easter holidays and home confinement, now seemed the perfect time to try it. I unpacked things and read the instructions. … Continue reading Review: Make your own volcanic eruptions
