Adventure

August 5th, 2010

Stories and pies and baking

I am saving up to buy The Fundamental Techniques of Classic Pastry Arts. But in the meantime I cheat with my breadmaker. And I cheat by buying non organic pre-made pastry from M&S. I don’t have the time to be a purist. Much as I’d like to be one. For now as an Art Director in Advertising Mum, I use machinery and pre-made pastry. Heck I even bought the kids Walls ice creams and Waitrose pizzas this week.

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July 18th, 2010

Summer

wild berries/

It almost midnight after a weekend of jumping in the car at five thirty on the dot and going away for Friday night. Back home Saturday late. A Sunday walk from Spitalfields up through Brick Lane to Columbia Road and at long long last to Rob Ryan’s shop with the most beautiful and covetable umbrellas ever, in navy *sigh*.

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June 20th, 2010

More days like this

Somehow this morning seemed to organise itself. We arrived in true London fashion twenty minutes late, after making several phone calls from the car to Eireann, who was also running a bit late. Erin, Fatty, Jane and Kate were all there looking very fresh for people who not that long ago were sitting on a long flight.

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June 14th, 2010

Adventures at home

The girls love the little path down the side of the house where they take their brooms and hide on the little porch where there are taps to play with.

It’s a lovely gentle English summer, if not a touch chilly. Life is brilliant fun – mostly. Daddy even bought mummy a new red KitchenAid food processor that Astrid chose. Last night we baked sour cherry and vanilla spelt and almond meal muffins in our new silicone muffin cases.

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May 24th, 2010

Magical England

Ah look. Here we are again. Back in civilisation. Back into the Garden of Eden.

The magical English summer is upon us. Or perhaps we are upon it. The gentle sun. Pretty trees and hedgerows, wildflowers by the roadside, a sparkling river and friendly, helpful people, happy to talk about the glistening weather.

Today we move into our new garden flat – the second time we’ve rented sight unseen – Astrid is back to Lorraine’s and we head up to Ikea for a mattress, sofa, a table or two and some bare essentials while we settle in.

Most brilliant however is that I now have a month off to meander about Hampstead Heath and spend time with Edith – something we’ve not had so much of as I’ve been working since she was three months old.

Feels like home again. Feels like forever home.

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May 6th, 2010

No photos please

All of a sudden Astrid won’t let me take her photo.

And the camera lead crapped out. So there haven’t been many photos of late. But there will be soon. Because soon soon we’ll be back in London, back on the Heath, back on our epic walks around villages, around the Heath, up to Hampstead shops, coffee and lunch ingredients from Carluccio’s.

Our Mt Albert house is nearly all done, tarted up – and it will have a big for sale sign out in front of it before the week is out. Then we’re off on a big European adventure!

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May 6th, 2010

Roderick Road

We’ll be back here soon.

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March 11th, 2010

The story of the 1px squiggly line

This is what happens when you delete your flickr account without a moment’s care or hesitation.

Especially when you were trying to be all clever and link all your photos from flickr.
And then one night you just recklessly delete your flickr accounts.

Without a care in the world.
And I’m terribly sorry but I’m not too worried about all the sudden missing flickr images.

It’s all about the idea.
Missing flickr photos. Bah, so what.

If you want something to look at, look at this.
wefail

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February 22nd, 2010

History

Tonight I am filing things, to print out. To tick off. And I thought I would just delete EVERYTHING off my desktop. Until I found February 2006. It sort of looked important.

This is our favourite house.

And here’s Kevin all those four years ago the day before we got on the plane for my brother’s wedding. Wish there was a photo of me. I’d have disallowed it due to thinking I looked too awful. Which is such a pile of lies; I’m sure I looked great. But still, no photo.

So, while we’re on history this was a funny thing I found today; notes to a nanny – will be fun to look back on when we are older. Was already fun looking back on it today.

8.30 start – give Astrid breakfast – cornflakes / jam on toast / yoghurt with a tsp of jam stirred in

8.50 leave for Lorraines

Park pram in Lorraine’s courtyard or on the street with strap over gate with brake on. There are a few weirdos who pass so you need to keep a very good eye on the pram at all times! I have had someone put a balloon on Edith one time when I wasn’t looking. Ensure pram brake is on and strap over gate rail and that you have Edith in view. I pretty much reverse up the stairs.

Make sure you put the plastic rear cover on over Edith as this helps to hide her from view and prevent people putting balloons on her.

Astrid needs her hand held on the stairs.

4:45 leave for Lorraine’s for 5:00pm collection – do not be late ever ! Lorraine is very strict on collection time.

Wednesday collect Astrid from Lorraine’s at 11:45am

Edith gets fed when she wants it. Usually either a 120ml or 180 ml bottle. Sometimes she’ll have two 120ml bottles.

Formula in kitchen. Wash bottles in very hot soapy water and rinse with very hot water from tap. Use rubber gloves as our hot water is VERY hot. No need to sterilise as long as you use pure hot water and rinse well.

To make up her bottles: 4 scoops for 120ml bottle; 6 scoops for 180ml bottle. Use approx 1 eighth boiling water and cold from the tap. Test first ! Formula from Mistry’s chemist in South End Green.

Switch for heating on/off is in small upstairs room. Temperature gauge is by stairs downstairs.

Ensure you double lock the door when you go out.

Ensure stair gate and kitchen gate are always shut.

Cats need to be let in during the day – you will see them sitting on the windowsill or you might hear meowing. Also need letting out as and when. If you do go out if you could call cats (rufus and oscar) ten minutes before you go out it would be nice if they are in – but not wildly important. And if it starts to rain / hail also keep an eye out for them.

Astrid’s dinner: when she gets home from Lorraine’s – she’ll eat most things. Favourites include steamed brocolli, pasta with pesto. Use fusilli or penne in cupboard. She doesn’t like lettuce. And isn’t that keen on bread. She eats rice crackers with hummous. Frozen peas in freezer. Tuna in patnry. A whole peeled carrot, jam sandwich or toast. Just water in her drink bottle. Astrid also likes ham and mayo sandwiches from M&S or croissant.

Edith will sleep in the moses basket with various blankets. need to puff up mattress as it tends to slope down one side. Astrid needs to sleep in the pram – sometimes needs in the night garden dvd on. Curtains closed. Sleep time is approx 2 – 4pm although if she looks tired at 1.30 act quickly so you don’t miss the sleep window! A walk around the heath or just up the road usually works to get her to sleep – or pushing the pram back and forth in front of the (quiet) tv also good.

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February 3rd, 2010

Gardening with intent

So much to write and show and so many emails to ask if things are ok and they are. I am gardening with ferocious intent. My camera cable breaks after thirty images download and I’m too lazy to do buy one after one failed attempt.

Mimi had her first birthday and I need to do last year’s Blurb family album. I cook, I garden, I play with the kids, I go to work and sometimes I clean. Or sew astrids curtains. which really ought to be finished by now.

And then there are all the things I want to do but don’t; including knitting, making moisturiser, baking muffins, digging a vegetable patch, cutting down deadish shrubs. But I have ordered heirloom Elderberry bushes. Five of them. From Sarah at Edible Garden. And we planted beans and lemon trees this weekend. And I washed the carport. And cleared the front garden. And Astrid helped. We’re going to become members of Koanga so we can access their rare heirloom seeds.

For winter we’ve ordered a small orchard of heirloom trees suited to the Auckland climate; Almonds, a Walnut, a Nectarine, Apricots, Cherries and a Quince. We’ll be planting the Elderberries this weekend, creating suburban hedgerows.

Not a jot of sewing or knitting is being done. Expecially now Astrid’s the head gardener (and cake baker), and Mr Green Rabbit (one of Dawn’s Jacks) has the vision. He’s the one giving the instructions.

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