Lentils

31 May 2013

Sometimes the best laid plans can go awry when it is not possible to foresee what the weather is going to do.  I plan my lunches these days, usually a list of seven meals and each day I choose one from those that are left.  This week of planning we are away for five lunches so that left two for the days at home one yesterday and one today.  I am not one to complain when the weather turns out to be hot, really hot when cool temperatures are forecast but I had planned on soup.  So in the midst of cooking up a whole load of salads, cheese sticks, mini quiches and cakes for our few days away camping. I found myself trying to cobble together an alternative.  I went for a snack of cheese and crackers and made the soup anyway as it was starting to cloud over and sure enough it got much cooler and the soup got eaten as a second lunch.  This is a great soup to cook if you really fancy soup and don't have many vegetables to make some as it uses a medium sized potato and a small onion.

Lentil Soup
180g Red Lentils
1 medium potato peeled and chopped
1 small onion peeled and chopped
1 tsp paprika
1.5 litres stock

Put all the ingredients in a pan, cook until potatoes is tender, whizz in a blender to a purée and eat!

Growing

30 May 2013

This slightly mad world we inhabit where the temperatures are all over the place but mainly cold for the time of year is business as usual where I live.  I usually find that I plant seedlings out in the garden during a warm spell, hardening them off first, only for the temperatures to plummet by ten degrees a day or so later.  Despite the huge variance we are having in temperatures the nights are definitely getting warmer which seems to translate into seedlings that are growing.  In the last week I have not actually done a huge amount in the garden except watering and getting daily reports from my youngest as she goes to check on her plants each day.

We have been eating lots of rhubarb this week and tomorrow I plan to stew some up to make smoothies, we have also had some enormous radishes the biggest I have ever grown and lots of salad leaves.

The cucumber and courgette seeds I sowed last week have come up and are now small seedlings, I will be planting these all in the polytunnel this year.  I have found in recent years that courgettes rarely fruit if I plant them outside and cucumbers never do.

The carrot, beetroot and turnip seeds are starting to germinate now and there are a few very small green shoots appearing amongst the weeds.  The onions have all survived being planted out and are slowly growing.

We have one potato plant that has small green shoots, I am not holding out much hope of a good harvest of potatoes this year.  The sets were really slow to chit and were not very big when they were sown, so it may be just a few meals for us this year rather than a few months as we have gotten used to.

The leeks that I planted out in early autumn last year are now almost ready for harvesting they have been really slow to grow to a good size and have sat dormant over a really cold winter, some plants be never cease to amaze me.

So like the pace of ur life, growth is slow but steady and the list of plants ready to eat grows each week too.

Four

29 May 2013

This is not my usual Wednesday post, sharing knitting and reading.  I have knitted very little this week, the last few rows of the baby cardigan I posted about last week which is now off the needles with the ends tidied up, needs blocking and buttons.  I have read nothing at all really.  I have been busy camping, canoeing and getting prepared for both.  We have also been celebrating, my youngest turned four this week her birthday was on Saturday but we were busy away helping out at a scout camp so we postponed it until today.  She loved the knitted animals I posted about yesterday.  We had a small celebration with a few friends over for a play, a birthday lunch and a chocolate cake with candles, her requests!

This last year has felt like a huge learning journey for her, she has changed so much.  She has moved away from being by my side most of the time whether at home or out and about to being away from my side most of the time.   These words are for her.

I love your enthusiasm how when you are excited and happy it positively oozes from you, your face,  your body, your outstretched hands.  Your smile always lights up your face and my heart.  You love to cuddle and snuggle and you often suck your thumb and play with my ear.  I love how you count, sometimes you get the numbers in the right order, sometimes you choose your own order, when you count the carriages on the trains that pass our house you pick random numbers and then proudly announce how many there were.  You love to tidy.  You love to help me cook, stirring, measuring, whisking and chopping.  You have grown your own pea and bean plants from seed which we transplanted a few weeks ago and you go to check every day, watering them when the ground is dry, you are fascinated by all the plants growing in the garden and bring me back reports after your visits. You love to make and create things out of all sorts of stuff you find round the house, you know where to find the glue and scissors and can use both with proficiency.  You sing constantly mostly songs you make up both the words and the tune.  You love your big brother and miss him when he goes out with daddy alone, you play games together and tell him in a loud strong voice when you don't like what he is doing.  We know where we stand with you, you express yourself so well and tell us when you are angry, sad, happy or excited.  You are a pleasure to be with and I am proud to be your mum.

Animals

28 May 2013




I have knitted up three small animals for my youngest's birthday.  I have started on a fourth but there is no way I am going to finish it time as it is for tomorrow!  It was actually her birthday on Saturday but as we were busy helping out at a district scout camp we decided to postpone it until Wednesday, as she is to four she does not know the actual date of her birthday as yet!

I knitted these loosely following the patterns in this lovely book.  The pig and the horse, which needs a mane sewing on, were made following the pattern the sheep I change the pattern to shape the head a bit more.  This was the last one I made and I had got used to how a pattern is knitted to make the final shape by then.  It was hard to get the stuffing, I used sheep wool which I bought from here to make this dolly, to the right level of hardness so that the animal would stand up.  I ended up unpicking my stitches several times to get it just right!

I hope that, if she enjoys playing with these lovely animals, I will have the time to make a few more for Christmas.

Joining in with Nicole for this weeks sharing for Keep Calm Craft On.

Moments...

27 May 2013

...this week of...

...happiness a weekend spent camping in the sunshine with a hundred other people at a district scout camp it was wonderful to be able to introduce so many young people to the joys of canoeing.

...sadness in a moment of feeling overloaded I took it out on my youngest by shouting at her, I immediately regretted it and spent the next hour in her company ignoring all the other jobs that I needed to do, I needed the time out.

..creating a second baby cardigan for my twin nephews due any day now.

...reading not much this week a bit of A Little History of the World by EH Gombrich and Juno magazine.

...learning that my convictions are right when it comes to my eldest child, he needs space and time to get used to new people and environments and needs to feel totally in control of his decision making, he went off all weekend and had fun with other Cub Scouts despite not knowing anyone before the weekend he now wants to join the Cubs but was not ready to six months ago when he left Beavers

...thinking about the family of Lee Rigby and all families effected by the conflicts that still persist in our world.

...wondering if I have made our lives a bit too busy at the moment we don't seem to be managing to fit in any downtime I need to work on planning this into our week too so we don't all get too exhausted.

...hoping the weather is good for camping again next weekend.

...looking forward to catching up with friends who I have not seen for weeks.

Foraging

24 May 2013

We went for our first proper foraging walk this week, armed with a book advising us on what we were likely to find and most importantly what they looked like.  We didn't find many different plants but we did come home with a large bag of wild garlic leaves.  I have made pesto with them in the past but this week have been using them in different ways.  I have had them with cheese in a roll as a salad, I have shredded them and added them to soup and I made a cheese and onion quiche which I added some shredded leaves to.

I have been keeping them in a bag in the fridge and they seem to be keeping well in there, they certainly smell strong when I chop them!  One of my favourite uses for the pesto is in a quiche/flan, I am not sure if the difference between these I am sure there is a definition!  Once I have  lined the dish  I am using with pastry I spread a thin layer of pesto on the pastry, then cover with shredded watercress leaves, chopped feta and you 'custard' mix I use eggs and elmlea, cook and enjoy!

I hope we can do other foraging walks this year so we can find the good local spots.  Often the garden is a good source, our picnic on the walk was a quinoa salad with chopped hawthorn and ground elder leaves.

Enjoy your weekend and the extra day if you are in the UK, I am away camping so hoping for good weather!

Linking in with Friday's Nature Table over at The Magic Onions.

Growth

23 May 2013

In the last two weeks the world outside my window has gone green.  The leaves have finally appeared  on the trees and my garden looks lush and full once more.  The temperatures were definitely rising so  I planted out some seedlings this week my onions, peas and beans they are surviving but if the weather continues to fluctuate like it is the growth could be slow.  We woke this morning to snow on the hills, it was 2°C overnight and today we had a hailstorm, soon it will be June the start of the summer and the turning of the days.  I do hope that we will get a good period of warm weather, enough to enable my plants to grow and produce before the daylight has reduced too much.

My potatoes are now all sown, and the carrots, turnips and betroot seeds sown a few weeks ago have yet to germinate maybe the soil is too cold at the moment.  Perhaps one day it will be warm!

Knitting

22 May 2013


I have had lots of projects on and off the needles since I last posted about knitting.  The hat I shared last time has reached the stage of decreases, as I am making the pattern up I need some time to work out the maths.  I don't have this available right now as I have my youngest's birthday and the imminent arrival of my twin nephews to knit for, both likely to be this month.

I have been knitting animals for my youngest and have now completed a pig, horse and sheep, and am currently working on a cat in some black, white and grey sock yarn I had left over from knitting socks.  I will share pictures once they are all finished off.  I have also made her a felted bowl, it was knitted up using the pattern in this book, once knitted the advise for felting was to place in a mesh lingerie bag, place in the washing machine with a pair of jeans and remove before the rinse cycle.  As I have no mesh lingerie bag, do people really use them?  And if was to open my machine before the rinse cycle I would flood the kitchen floor, I went for plan B.  Place in washing machine with rest of washing, run machine and cross fingers that all would be well, and it was, it is the small purple thing on the top left above.

I am also finishing off knitting a cardigan for my nephews, I started knitting this some time ago but had to stop as I didn't have the right size dpns to knit the sleeves.  I finally found some and am nearly done, a few more rows, loads of ends to weave in and then need to buy some buttons and sew them on.

I have read a wonderfully funny book this week, These Foolish Things by Deborah Moggach.  It was made into a film, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel which you may have seen, I have not so I have no idea if the film is true to the book.  I am now reading A Little History of the World by EH Gombrich. It was originally written in the 1930s and at the time translated into many languages but not English, it was finally translated recently with many additions by the author to bring the book up to date.  It is a delightful book, both entertaining and educational and I will give it to my eldest to read in the next few years as it was written as a children's book.

Organising

21 May 2013

Welcome to the May edition of the Simply Living Blog Carnival - Daily Lives cohosted by Mandy at Living Peacefully with Children, Laura at Authentic Parenting, Jennifer at True Confessions of a Real Mommy, and Joella at Fine and Fair. This month, we write about what we do to keep the little things from overwhelming us. Please check out the links to posts by our other participants at the end of this post.

***

In the days when I was a paid employee I was highly organised at work.  It was a skill that I was proud of, I knew I was good at it and it helped me get prompted.  However those skills always seemed to remain at work, at home I was the opposite it was almost as if I had used up all my organising capacity at work and there was none left for home.  I would forget people's birthdays, pay bills late, shop on a different day each week, run out of food constantly and so on, it didn't matter what tools I used to try to remember they didn't really work for long if at all.  When I stopped working I thought that I might become more organised at home and slowly over the years I have become so, until recently when I realised that I am almost, if not, at the level of organisation I had at work.

I have tried many tools including a wall calendar, my phone, pieces of paper and a diary on my computer for lots of different reasons none of these worked so for this year have gone back to a paper diary and am loving it.  I have written all the birthdays, reminders to renew insurance and dates for annual payments in it.  Each double page has a week to view on one page and a lined notebook on the other, I use this to record things going on that we might want to do such as plays, events, festivals, guided nature walks and the like when I find out about them, what I need to be doing in my garden as I am following the biodynamic method this year and possible trips away for camping, visiting family or holidays.

At the beginning of each week I start planning the next one, when I have an outline plan of what we are going to do, I then start to plan my meals based around the contents of a veg box I have delivered and what we are going to be doing in that week.  All my food shopping is based on a meal plan for seven days of lunches and evening meals, I don't decide which meal for which day but I do have some really quick to make meals in case we are late home any evenings.

Writing all this down makes me realise how highly organised I sound which I am but it has also meant that I am actually much more efficient.  I am managing to fit in gardening on at least three or four occasions in most weeks.  I have more time for sewing, knitting and reading all of which I really enjoy.  But most important of all I have more time to do things with the children, be it reading to them, making things together or just talking.

By looking ahead and thinking about future weeks I hope that, weather permitting, we are able to have more camping trips this year as I have planned them in my diary and talked to friends or family who want to join us this is something I have talked about doing for the last couple of years but could only fit the odd hastily put together trips as I left it until the last minute.

Having all my plans together in one small book which I can fit in my bag has been the making of my organising and freeing up time a side effect I did not expect!
***


Thank you for visiting the Simply Living Blog Carnival cohosted by Mandy at Living Peacefully with Children, Laura at Authentic Parenting, Jennifer at True Confessions of a Real Mommy, and Joella at Fine and Fair. Read about how others are incorporating stress relieving actions into their daily day lives. We hope you will join us next month!




  • Keeping Stress at Bay From Day to Day - Laura at Authentic Parenting sums up some of the things she does to avoid being overwhelmed.
  • How I Stay Sane! - ANonyMous @ Radical Ramblings discusses the coping mechanisms she has to stay sane when her life is chaotic and often stressful.
  • Organising - sustainablemum talks about how spending time planning ahead has given her more time for life!
  • Simple Menu Planning for New Moms - No longer a lady of leisure, new mom Mercedes at Project Procrastinot has had to rethink her cooking style in order to maximize her time in the kitchen.
  • Happy Homes/Peaceful Homes - According to Lisa at Squishable Baby, It's the things that bring us closer together as a family - that keep our home Peaceful.
  • Keeping It Simple - At Living Peacefully with Children, Mandy focuses on keeping things simple so that she can spend her time enjoying her family.

Moments...

20 May 2013

...this week of...

...happiness being at home again, a tidyish house (for a few days until we start getting ready to go camping), my eldest reading jokes from a book and laughing so much he cannot get his words out, my youngest dressing up as a explorer with a colander for a hat, sunglasses, binoculars on string round the neck and a small suitcase in hand.

...sadness at the decline in the health of my father in law.

...creating more knitted animals, a scarf, knitted flowers and boats out of sticks and leaves.

...reading finishing the very funny These Foolish Things by Deborah Moggach, which I have just discovered has been made into a film The Marigold Hotel, now reading A Little History of the World by EH Gombrich

...learning to ride a bike with pedals, about crash barriers, vitamins and minerals, Romans and Egyptians.

...thinking about something I read this week about children's books, choosing them carefully, looking at the content mindfully, quality not quantity, living books the philosophy of
Charlotte Mason, it struck a chord with me.

...wondering if I am going to get everything made for my youngest's birthday later this month.

...hoping to visit friends who have a new baby soon.

...looking forward to camping this weekend.

Gratitudes

19 May 2013

Joining in with Taryn for her heartfelt Sunday tradition.

A time to slow down, to reflect, to be grateful.

This week I have been grateful for...

...the rain staying away for an evening canoeing and a barbecue with our local Explorer Scouts.

...a long journey which gave me loads of time to get some knitting done for my youngest's birthday gifts.

...a fun afternoon with friends at a local castle to see the daffodils they were lovely.

...my local home ed group for organising a great afternoon of swimming and making boats with sticks and leaves to float down the river.

...a friend phoning and inviting us all for tea.

...a friend inviting my eldest over for a play just as he was asking when he could see home again.

..a day of help in the garden from my husband and youngest we got so many jobs done.

...trusting my instincts with a craft project, it worked I should try not to doubt myself more.

Lunch

17 May 2013

A while ago I decided that I would extend my meal plans to include lunches too.  I had been wavering for a while, it felt like it would be a bit too organised most of my friends are impressed that I plan my evening meal as none of them do so to add lunches as well?  I can't believe I took so long to cross that bridge, I tried it for a week and it was the best move I have made in a long time.  It now means that I no longer have a 12 o'clock moment of oh my it is lunch time what are we going to eat and I have the ingredients in the house to actually make something interesting as opposed to sandwiches every day.

So recently I have included, omelettes, couscous or quinoa salads, soups, new, to me, homemade breads, homemade tortillas, buckwheat pancakes, cheese scones, bean salad and deep fried cheddar balls.  So many of these I would like to have made in the past but I did not have the right ingredients or enough time to make them but with a bit of forward planning our lunches are far more interesting, ready at a time when we are hungry and healthy!

Absence

16 May 2013

My house is currently sporting that look that a house gets when you have been away, signs of unpacking mingled in with daily life, I have not been at home much since returning.  We are so lucky to have a neighbour who minds our garden for us when we are not at home, watering the polytunnel and opening it up when it gets warm in there.  Sadly we seemed to have miscommunicated about a cold frame we have in there which contains all our precious seedlings.  In an effort to protect them from the mice we have been placing the lid on at night and taking it off during the day.  It appears that it has been left on all the time and not watered so many of the very small seedlings have got scorched and died.

My journey as a gardener this year is one step forward and two steps back.  I am of course immensely grateful to my neighbour but perhaps I should have gone to speak to him rather than my husband!  All my efforts to get plants going early has now been stalled and I am no further forward than I have been in previous years.  I am going to resow in the next few days but had rather been hoping that I would be planting out now instead.

I had also been hoping to go away for a longer period in late July or early August but I may need to rethink my plans as I feel that if I am to produce any vegetables this year I need to be around to make sure they are all properly looked after.

Moments...

13 May 2013

...this week of...

...happiness staying with family and catching up with my brothers, a family party with my fathers cousins and their children and grandchildren we have not met up for over twenty years and it was wonderful to see them all again and to meet the next generation.

...sadness at the way humans treat each other following the escape of three young women this week.

...creating a knitted pig, casting on a scarf, a slowly growing hat, my youngest baking a cake with granma.

...reading the very funny These Foolish Things by Deborah Moggach.

...learning about Romans with a trip to a fantastic musuem and Egyptians with a great new, to us, book, to balance on bicycles.

...thinking about a dear friend who is having a hard time of it right now.

...wondering if I am going to be able to fit everything in I need to do on Wednesday.

...hoping my garden is doing alright without me there.

...looking forward to being at home again!

Gratitudes

12 May 2013

Joining in with Taryn for her heartfelt Sunday tradition.

A time to slow down, to reflect, to be grateful.

This week I have been grateful for...

...a free source of horse manure for the garden from our neighbours who have horses.

...making the time to catch up with a friend who really needs support at the moment as she is having a difficult time.

...my husband driving us safely to visit family.

...not having to cook for a few days.

...catching up with one of my brothers who I do not see that often.

...a wonderful distant relative organising a family party it was so good to catch up with people after so long.

...my nephew who is a wonderful playmate for my eldest they spend hours in each others company and never tire of each other.


Reading

11 May 2013

I love to look in secondhand bookshops for preloved books, every now and then you find a gem.  A book that at first glance looks ordinary, but interesting, and when you get it home and take a good look it turns out to be a real find.  I found one of these books this week.

Song of the Earth by Mary Hoffman is a lovely book which explores the magic of the elements, earth, fire, water and air.








The book is beautifully illustrated by Jane Ray, each section has its own individual title page.









There is an introduction celebrating each element.



Myths, folklore, legends and the association of various mystical figures are weaved into the text.




The life giving properties of each element.





Contrasting with the life taking abilities, earthquakes, floods, hurricanes and untamed fires.






Each section concludes to bring to the readers attention the misuse and ill treatment done to this vital components of our existence.

The illustrations on each page wonderfully bring the text to life.  This book is a great introduction to so many interesting topics, ideas and concepts, I hope that it acts a springboard for further learning.

Joining in with The Children's Bookshelf a sharing of all things related to children's books.

Soil

09 May 2013

All the food that we eat grows from the soil or relies on earth to provide their food.  Soil is vital to our lives so it is vital that we look after it.  It is home for many animals who dig tunnels to make a place to shelter or those like the earthworm who passes the soil through its body breaking it up and making it crumbly and diggable.  To grow any plants our soil needs to be good condition, full of the nutrients to enable plants to grow strong and healthy.  There are many ways to keep a soil in good condition.

You can make your own compost or buy it, making your own is easy if you have space to you need a container to keep it in, two if you can fit them in, once one is to full leave to break down and start filling the other one.  You can put so many things in a compost bin, it is a good way to reduce your rubbish for a start, this is a good list for a start if you are not sure what to put in it.

If you know some one that keeps horses they are likely to have loads of horse manure which is great for the garden they usually have so much that they give it away for free provided you can take it away!

If you do not have room for compost bins you could create or buy a small Wormery which are amazing at producing wonderful compost for the garden, ours also produces liquid as well which is a great fertiliser.

You can also make your own liquid fertiliser in a bucket using the leaves of plants such as comfrey, nettles or dandelions.  These can get very smelly whilst they are brewing so it is a good idea to find something to use as a lid for the bucket.  You add water and make a tea which you need to strain and use to fertilise established plants, it will be too strong for seedlings.

I have also used rock dust in my garden with some success it adds minerals and trace elements to the soil to improve the long term health of your soil.

If you don't fancy any of these methods then of course there is always chemical fertilisers.  I have never been able to comprehend the use of these.  If you have ever driven past a field that is barren, devoid of all plants not even weeds, it is highly likely that there are no nutrients left in the soil.  They have been stripped due to fertiliser use and now nothing will grow on the soil unless you continue to apply fertiliser.  It is not only the soil that is effected by the use of fertilisers much research has been carried out into the effect of its use on bees which are a vital part of our ecosystem, and the European Union has voted to ban the use of some of these.  I am sure that Rachel Carson is turning in her grave as little has changed since she wrote about the worrying increase in the use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides in 1962.

Knitting

08 May 2013


Same old I am sharing today.  I am working away at the hat I shared last week, it is slowly growing.  I am loving the pattern that is emerging from this yarn.  The pattern is not complicated a few rows of garter stitch and now lots of rows of stocking stitch, the yarn is patterned enough that I feel it does not need a complicated set of stitches to go with it.  At some point I will need to think about decreasing but not yet.  I have lots of ideas for other knitting projects for this year but have not found the time to cast them on yet, my garden is taking up so much of my time at the moment so for now knitting has to take a bit of a back seat.

I am still enjoying the book, Instances of the Number 3 by Salley Vickers, I am about halfway through now.  I love where the book is taking me, on a journey of discovery for all the characters.

Joining in with Tami for this weeks work in progress and Ginny for this weeks sharing of knitting and reading.

Shifting

07 May 2013

When changes happen right under our nose sometimes they are hard to see unless we really look.  Like grains of sands moved on the beach by the tide, if we watched for one hour it would be hard to see any changes, after four hours the same, after two days maybe a little, after a month maybe more.  Our daily life can be like watching the sand for an hour, change is happening all around us but unless we stop and look we don't see it.

When my eldest was born I well remember folks saying to me treasure every day as they grow up fast, well it is quite fast but if we forget to pause and look we will miss it all.  It is one thing to be present with your children and spend quality time with them but it is another to reflect on what they can do today that they could not do yesterday or last week.

I have more time nowadays.  I have not added any hours to my day I am just using it as wisely as possible but I also have more time as my children have changed, they want and need time on their own engaging in their own individual play.  There has been a gradual slow transition to this state, so gradual that it is only when I was talking to a friend about what I had been making recently that I realised how much I had had time to make, this time a year ago that time would have been utilised differently.

Perhaps I should write it down, what it is they do now so I can look back in the future but then would I read it.  Would I rather be using the time in the future for other things.  Do you keep records of what your children do, write down conversations or do you just reflect every now and then on the wonderful changes that slowly take place?


Moments...

06 May 2013

...in the last week of...

...happiness the family working together in the garden, canoeing on a local lake with friends, the warmer weather.

...sadness finding the havoc in my polytunnel caused by mice.

...creating sewing a skirt, making kites with friends, weaving using a simple homemade 'loom' fashioned from a piece of cardboard, my eldest putting together an airfix model by himself.

...reading a rather marvellous book, Instances of the Number 3 by Salley Vickers.

...learning through conversations about evolution and babies.

...thinking about all the families affected by the terrible events in Bangladesh and Afghanistan.

...wondering if my house will ever be tidy.

...looking forward to spending time with extended family.

Gratitudes

05 May 2013

Joining in with Taryn for her heartfelt Sunday tradition.

A time to slow down, to reflect, to be grateful.

This week I have been grateful for...

...sleep and its restoring power.

...warm days and spending time outside gardening, walking and canoeing.

...spending a lovely evening celebrating a friends birthday, it was warm enough to eat outside.

...a day at home when I really needed it, I cancelled my plans to go out as we all needed a break.

...a swim and kite making worshop organised by a local home ed group it was such fun and great to be outside.

...different vegetables in my veg box, much as I love the root veg of the winter season I longed for some variety it has been slow coming this year!

...a few bits to eat from the garden, rhubarb, some herbs, watercress for a flan.

...my husband helping me to stay positive when the mice ate some of my seedlings.

Reading

04 May 2013

We have been enjoying a book at bedtime recently, one that we found in the library I think we will be getting a copy of our own as we are enjoying it so much.

Buddha at Bedtime by Dharmachari Nagaraja is a lovely collection of stories which are interesting to share with children, and it is a good introduction to this religion.








The book has a section at the beginning introducing Buddha, Buddhism, mediation and relaxation.





The stories themselves all start with a similar sentence, asking the reader and listener to be still and listen in order to fully appreciate the story.  It gives a few lines about the story and then asks a question to see if you want more, and lets see if we can find out.  It is a lovely way of opening a story and my children always say yes!


All the stories are short and are illustrated.  At the end of each story is a moral related to the story and the teachings of Buddhism.  We have enjoyed sharing these stories before bed and they have provoked some interesting discussions.





Joining in with The Children's Bookshelf a sharing of all things related to children's books.

Casserole

03 May 2013

I have always thought this was an odd name for a recipe.  I have been doing some research into its origins,  the recipe it seems is named after the dish that is used, there is not a consensus about how the dish came to be so called.  Some believe it is from the Latin others from a language called Mozarab spoken in Spain in the 12th century.  Whatever the route it is a recipe of many ingredients that are all cooked together in one dish, in an oven or over an open fire.  They need a bit of preparation but once in the oven are left to cook a useful recipe to go and do something else!  I found a recipe for one such casserole in a lovely book that I was given for Christmas what I actually cooked bore little resemblance to the original, I changed many of the ingredients to accommodate my food intolerances.

Bean and Wheat Casserole

360g mixed beans,  I used 120g each of haricot beans, red lentils and puy lentils.
1 large onion
1 large potato
3 carrots
1 large clove garlic
1 bay leaf
1 tsp mixed herbs
150g bulgar wheat
1 litre vegetable stock

Topping:
Breadcrumbs
Butter

Soak, drain, rinse and cook any beans that you are using that need to be pre cooked.
Preheat oven to 190°C.
Chop the onion and potato into small pieces , slice the carrot and crush the garlic.
Fry the onion in a large pan in 3tbs oil until clear, add the rest of the vegetables and the bay leaf and cook for about 15 minutes.
Remove from the heat and stir in the remaining ingredients.
Place the contents in a greased dish that has a lid and put in the oven with the lid on, cook for twenty minutes.
Remove from oven and sprinkle to cover with breadcrumbs, dot with butter and return to oven for a further 10 minutes.

This made a big meal, it would be sufficient to feed six to eight I would estimate!

Garden

02 May 2013

So my worst garden pest has visited this week and wrecked havoc amongst my seedlings.  The mice have paid us a visit again, if you are a mouse lover then I advise you not to continue reading!  I had noticed that they had been visiting a while ago as the potatoes that I had chitting in the polytunnel were looking nibbled.  I set some traps and although I did not catch any they stopped visiting.  This week I went for my usual morning visit to the polytunnel and found that they had dug a a whole load of bean and pea seed and eaten them and all the courgette and cucumber seeds, they had also had a ratch through the leek seed tray but I am not sure how many of those they have eaten, if nothing comes up I will know it was all of them.  We have set more traps and put out bait that if they eat it, it will kill them, we have caught one so far.  It is really soul destroying when this happens especially as I had been organised this year and sown my seeds earlier.

Apart from dealing with mice we have emptied a compost bin this week and put the contents on the garden it was beautiful stuff.  As we were emptying it the bin itself started to collapse, we built it about eight years ago out of wood we had lying around so today my husband has been building three new ones.  I have also sown some carrots and beetroot with help from the children, turnips and one set of seed potatoes the rest have yet to chit sufficiently to be planted yet.  The weeding that took me forever last week has paid off as hardly any are growing in the garden now, and there are virtually none now as I weeded again today.  I have also built a wigwam for the peas or beans to grow up provided they are not eat by the mice before they get to that stage.  Ho hum such is the life of a gardener.

The rest of the garden is definitely, finally, budding.  The trees and bushes all have leaf buds and today we were out in the garden in t shirts, whispering quietly, maybe spring has finally arrived?

What have you been doing in your garden?

Knitting

01 May 2013


I have finished knitting the baby cardigan I now need to block it, buy some buttons, sew them on and write up my notes.  I used a thicker yarn than in the original pattern.  I have cast on a couple of new projects this week, a hat and a pig.  I knitted my husband a hat for Christmas which after blocking did not fit it was too tight my eldest, however, loves his new hat he has a big head and it fits him perfectly.  I have decided to construct my own pattern in the hope that I can create a hat with a perfect fit the yarn is a ball I bought to make socks and had not got round to making yet, guess i wont now.  The pig is a present for my youngest who has a birthday at the end of the month, I am hoping I will have the time to knit a few animals for her.  This pig has been knitted using the pattern in this book.

I finished reading How to Paint a Dead Man which was a wonderful read.  I am now reading Instances of the Number 3 by Salley Vickers.  This rather unusual story is about the life of two women after the death of man who is the husband of one and the mistress of the other.  The wife knows about the mistress and chooses to spend time with her as she comes to a new understanding about herself and her now dead husband.  I have read about a third of the book so far and it is a lovely read.

Joining in with Tami for this weeks work in progress.