Sweetness

There were two reasons for us making these gingerbread men together today. P has been spending a day and a half each week at nursery for the last couple of months as I was planning on getting some part time or supply work. Then of course we found out about little brother or sister being on the way and suddenly it didn't make sense for him to be there anymore. He has loved his time there though, so the gingerbread men are his way of saying thank you tomorrow, his last session.
The other reason was that this winter I've been finding Wednesday the hardest day of the week to deal with as an at-home mum. Our friends aren't available for various reasons, there don't seem to be any playgroups on...even the library is closed. If there is a day of the week when being stuck indoors in a place that's a long way from most of our friends and family spells a bad mood, it's Wednesday. As P and I are going to be at home together for the whole week again after tomorrow, I needed to prove that, even on a Wednesday, we can have happy, creative times together.
I thought through the process of making the gingerbread men beforehand, as I wanted P to feel he was involved in doing as much as possible, without getting into tantrum-provoking situations where he wanted to do stuff that I couldn't let him. So I made up the dough in the kitchen while he charged around the living room on his bike, wearing the crochet hat (mine!) that he seems to have adopted despite it making him look like a flower fairy. Once it had chilled, we repaired to the dining table, where he delighted in spreading out flour (I think we could have just done that and not bothered with the rest!), gave the dough a good squidge, brandished the rolling pin we've had to remove from his cookery set on safety grounds (think Conan the Barbarian), helped press the cutter down and carefully pushed the currants in for eyes and buttons- to his own unique designs of course. A little mess, lots of fun and no tantrums. We managed a Wednesday where we both smiled all day.

Especially when he realised that there was a really easy, and tasty, way to use up all those spare currants...

The Why

This recent blog post from Remedial Eating made me laugh, but also made me think a little bit about why I do all this crafting. There are so many reasons. Among them: it fulfills some sort of need in me that I don't always realise I have until for some reason I can't create anything for a while; it gives a very fidgety person something to do with her hands; it gives a very fidgety mind something to think about in quiet moments; nothing compares to the wonderful calm that is reached when you're in the knitting zone; the satisfaction of having or giving something you know is unique. There are probably many more I could come up with, but with motherhood one 'why' has become even more important.
I knitted the little bear pictured before P was born, one of the few things my superstitious mind would allow me to make before his safe arrival. It's from a Debbie Bliss pattern and a better picture and details are on my Ravelry projects page. Until recently P has not been fussed about soft toys, this one included. He's certainly not been bothered about having them in bed with him. But since the New Year we've moved forward from a not-very-satisfactory sort of co-sleeping by accident situation to him sleeping in his own bed all night every night, meaning much better nights of sleep for everyone. At the same time, he has suddenly decided that Edmund Bear (named by C) is the perfect sleeping partner. It makes my heart sing when I put our little boy down for the night, or go and check on him, and that bear, made when motherhood was still a future mystery, is clutched firmly under his arm. When we go to get him up in the morning, the first thing he'll do is point to Edmund and earnestly tell us all sorts of things about him, before dropping him firmly back into the cot- Edmund is definitely a bedtime bear, not for elsewhere. That's a big Why.
P will probably be less appreciative of the latest project on my needles- I'm using all the leftover Felted Tweed from my Fairisle to make him a top down raglan sweater. This is partly because I'm waiting for some more of the dark blue so I can finally finish off- just the collar and armholes to do, but I ran out of yarn. It's also partly because he needs a new sweater- and I'll really try not to felt this one. P is a little bit too young to be that fussed about what he wears yet, but I'll still be happy knowing that it's my work that's keeping him cosy.
Having been thinking about this post for a couple of days, it just happened that a couple of my favourite blogs to read: Soulemama and Sew Liberated posted today in a similar vein. Both are inspiring as ever and well worth a read.

Orange and Almond Cake

We've got a bit of a thing for oranges in our house at the moment. Maybe it's their gorgeous sunny colour on these dreary days, maybe we need vitamin C to stem the running of noses or maybe we just need the feel-good vibe that comes from releasing that wonderful citrus oil scent. In any case, as well as the marmalade (which did set and has been given a thumbs up all round), P gets quite beside himself at the offer of a clementine- I'm sure would eat them until he burst given the chance, while I sometimes just want to juice them and drink the 'liquid sunshine' and sometimes, like last night, want to cook with them.
This is a 'Holy Eye' recipe in the sense that it was inspired by the baking ingredients I had to hand, but like any cake, the measurements need to be right. My measurements are all in old fashioned ounces because I based them on the sponge recipe I learned as a child, when metric hadn't really taken hold in the kitchen. Following a recent thread on Soulemama I'm going to attempt to give US measures as well, just in case someone from across the pond feels inspired to try it...
ORANGE AND ALMOND CAKE
Ingredients
4 oz (1/2 cup) butter or sunflower spread
4 oz (1/2 cup) soft brown sugar
2 eggs
3 oz (3/8 cups) self raising flour
1 oz (1/8 cup) ground almonds
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 orange
2 oz (1/4 cup) flaked almonds
2 tablespoons any sugar

Method
Preheat oven to 180c
1. Beat the soft brown sugar and butter together until creamy.
2. Whisk the eggs and gradually beat into the sugar and butter mixture.
3. Fold in the self-raising flour, ground almonds, baking powder and the zest of the orange. Keep remainder of the orange for later.
4. Spoon mixture into a greased or lined cake tin, approx 20cm diameter. Smooth top and sprinkle flaked almonds over the top.
5. Bake for around 35 minutes until cake is risen and springy to the touch.
6. While cake is cooling, juice the orange and put the juice along with the 2 tbsp sugar into a pan. Heat slowly, stirring, until sugar has dissolved.
7. Using a sharp knife, pierce cake all over the surface. Carefully pour orange sugar syrup over so that it sinks into the holes. Leave to cool completely.

Sorry for the quality of the picture- there isn't a lot of decent light to be had around here. It's just a shame you can't smell it really- oh my goodness!

What's on your needles?

I've finally got a bit motivated about restocking my Folksy shop after my pre-Christmas success. A dinky little brown betty for one now has this 'beehive' style cosy made from Cornish Organic wool. To join it, the slightly larger brown betty is getting a humbug striped number made from more Cornish Organic and also some Sherington Flock Hebridean Wool, bought at last year's Woolfest to make a hat I never got around to (think I fell in love with the cute sheep more than the idea of the headgear!)
As the tea cosies can just about be managed with P running around during the day (only one ball of wool to keep out of his way) I'm keeping the evenings for the Fairisle. The latest update is, I've reached the armhole shaping, so I'm steeling myself for dealing with armhole shaping while working either side of the neckline separately, while maintaining the Fairisle pattern. Yikes!
What's on your needles?

Whatever the weather

When Wordsworth said his piece about wandering lonely as a cloud I find it hard to believe he was inspired by the Lake District. Clouds are surely rarely lonely up here!
Actually, while there have been some extremes of weather since we've been here- see flooding and the big freeze for example- there have also been some amazing days, even though most of our time so far has been in the darker, colder months of the year. I'm also determined that, unless it's really foolhardy, we should go out and get to know and love the amazing place we now live on the doorstep of, whatever the weather. That way, when we are blessed with those good days, we'll appreciate them even more.

So, just we two (well, two and a bump!) ventured out to Brockholes on the shores of Windermere. We were waterproofed up and buggy free, taking our time and walking by P's rules...

All puddles must be splashed in...

...especially when it means you can get to know the local residents.


...and benches are there to be climbed on, the better to view another local resident (bottom right hand corner)...

...and just occasionally, let mummy catch her breath and take in the view.

Breathe deeply

Winter sunshine, a frozen tarn, good company and a tailgate picnic including pea soup whipped up in the 45 minutes between arranging to go and hustling out the door (Thank you Nadine Abensur for the ever useful Cranks Fast Food cookbook). I didn't really get the photos to do it justice because I was too busy just enjoying the many spectacular views of Tarn Hows and breathing in all that wonderful fresh air. Snow and ice may be very pretty and snuggling in for a bit of winter hibernation is all very well, but I think the picture of our little boy sums up how we all felt. He ran on his not-yet-two year old legs all the way up that hill, shouting joyfully at the top of his lungs most of the way!

Marmalade

Making marmalade was an annual event in our house when I was growing up- the scent of it cooking holds all sorts of memories as a result. My mum used to joke that it was in her marriage contract to make it and back then I think my dad was about the only one who ate it. As they've got older, some of my siblings have developed a taste for it and in some cases make their own. I still don't 'get' marmalade but have married someone who does, so I thought this year I should give it a go.
Funny thing about Seville oranges- some family friends who have moved to Spain tell us that over there, where this sort of orange grows, and falls off, trees everywhere- in the streets, in town squares, in people's gardens- you can't actually buy them. They're regarded more or less as a waste product so unless you have your own tree- no marmalade! I think they've found some friends with trees in their garden to supply them, although those friends think our friends are mad to want them.
Anyway, having got hold of the requisite oranges over here easily enough I was very happy to have use of what I'd previously regarded as superfluous technology in our kitchen, namely a citrus juicer bought by C's Nana for extracting what she terms 'liquid sunshine'. That which normally takes up too much space in a cupboard was an invaluable time and hand saver when it came to juicing all the fruits.
I like the way that with marmalade you use all the fruit- the juice and skins in the marmalade, the pith and pips in a muslin bag to provide pectin. It feels a bit like alchemy, especially when using the good old brass lined 'cauldron' that I still have on loan from the farm (it had been languishing in the cellar under a layer of grime and is yet to be missed). Also in the style of the alchemist, I did struggle slightly to get the end result- setting point and still have my doubts about how solid the final product will be. Still, I'm sure it will taste okay and it does look very pretty, especially lit up by some gorgeous afternoon sunlight- we had snow earlier, so it's a day of weather surprises!
As to the housework...well, some of it was done this morning. Some I'm off to do in a minute. But I did get that last sewing job done- behold the 'Old MacDonald Had A Farm' bag! P was treated to a debut performance from both parents, with Daddy acting as animator to each animal as it emerged from the bag and Mummy joining the chorus from the kitchen as she stirred her cauldron. He seemed quite delighted- if a little bemused. Maybe the marmalade will make more sense to him.