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saturday

sunday adventure : april #2

Daylesford was the destination today. We went with the aim of collecting autumn leaves but got waylaid with climbing and walking and picnic-ing. We checked out the caravan parks and are contemplating a week in winter at Jubilee Lake. It is ridiculous cheap - $150 for the week. We are ignoring that this will be because of the inhospitable temperatures. The expected subzero temperatures we could plan for, if it rained all week we would just spend our time in pubs and bookshops and playing board games in the van. It wouldn't be too bad. Right?

(We struggled with the family portrait today - on a *slight* lean).

tinkerers

I watched a great TEDtalk a few weeks ago titled "5 dangerous things your kids should be doing." It was great, one of the five was to pull apart machines and tinker and discover how things work. The speaker suggested buying an old washing machine to strip and rebuild as the components were large without being heavy, making it easy to handle.

I was all for this idea as it requires nothing from me but the snapping of photos. Not quite a washing machine, Michael and Sam stripped an old electric toothbrush this morning, fashioned a paperclip into a propeller and then spent the next hour feeling pleased with themselves.

If you want to see the talk it is here, if you don't want to watch it, the five things are: play with fire; own a pocket knife, throw a spear, deconstruct appliances and drive a car. We are a pocket knife away from fulfilling the list.

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today

A public holiday in the middle of the week always feels a little strange - I have caught myself a few times thinking regular Sunday afternoon things (Do I have stuff for lunches? Are school uniforms clean? Where is the school newsletter so I can check this week's activities?). But it is Wednesday and none of that matters today.

We had bacon and eggs for breakfast and I doubt we will have lunch. Dinner of lamb shanks are simmering away in the oven waiting for friends to come and join us. Anzac Biscuits are waiting to be eaten at some point. The kids and Michael are visiting their Grandpa. I am cleaning the house and playing music very loud. It is cold outside and the clouds are grey but so far no rain. When they get home Michael and Sam have a date to watch the 3rd Harry Potter movie. Milly and I will go do some other stuff together, we might even have a sleep because the we both still have the edges of a cold. Much later we will go to the War Memorial and talk about what Anzac Day means and take a moment.

A public holiday in the middle of the week - definitely a good kind of strange.

If you are sitting at your computer looking for some escape today - go here. Lisa from A Bloomsbury Life blog has been to London with her husband and son. The third of her posts about the 8 days she spent there make me think we need to have an adventure of our own. Tasmania?

feijoa time

It is here again - every autumn for a few weeks feijoas are in season. I have loved these since I was a kid. They are a taste that is almost impossible to describe, the closest I can get is fragrant and tart. Michael hates them and describes them as pineapple flavoured soap which is, alarmingly, quite accurate.

They grow in New Zealand and I was awed to last week see an IG photo of them in a Christchurch market for $2.50 a kilo (NZ dollars too!). I paid $15/kg for these and it was worth it. When I lived in Adelaide I would often find someone with a tree who was not a fan of the taste of pineapple soap and would happily bring me in bagfuls. In Victoria it seems people plant them because they love them. We planted one and it died. I have to pay and do so happily. I am thinking a box from the market for Mothers' Day would make me very happy.

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at the moment i am...

reading...

small hardback books which don't take a lot of concentration but are beautifully written and feel lovely in my hand. Isn't it strange how sometimes reading can be about the tactile experience as well as the written? I can recommend Wilfred Price as I finished it this morning. As for Alan Bennett - I am yet to be disappointed by his writing.

listening to...

Angus and Julia Stone because it fits my mood but lifts it at the same time.

thinking about...

my lovely 3 who I have barely seen this week but have left me to sleep in this morning. Thinking about friends who have experienced tragedy, thinking about other friends who step in and support them. Acknowledging that in comparison my bad days are just a shadow on an otherwise bright and lovely life.

What are you doing at the moment?

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bench cake

We have a cake on our kitchen bench 90% of the time. We call it bench cake. It is a cake baked and sliced for morning teas, school lunch boxes, snacks. Our bench cake usually lasts 3 or four days. Sometimes (last week) I give stale remnants to the chickens as we don't manage to finish it while it is fresh. They are usually pretty basic cakes - egg, flour, milk, butter. Usually iced, sometimes not.

My Mum didn't make cake a lot when we were kids, she worked full time and tended to have a huge bake up and then wrap slices of cake to freeze. When she was visiting last week I mentioned my favourite of all her cakes - Sultana Butter Cake.  She gave me her recipe, and also reminded me of her Date and Nut cake, another regular from my childhood. We have been baking them as bench cakes for the past week. With one mouthful I am returned to happy memories of being  kid.

A friend sent me an article recently about the perceived hysteria around kids' diets and the loss of understanding that cake is less 'junk' and more important part of joy and celebrations in so many cultures around the world. It is definitely part of our lives. And the recipe? White Wings - it's a no brainer. 

catching up

He has been at school for two days and she is missing him. Lots to catch up on in the evenings. What was his nightly solitude has become the place for a chat.

and just like that they were over

 

Sam is back at school today, Milly is at Kinder tomorrow. Two weeks disappeared in a heartbeat. Michael had a week off with us. Mum and Dad were here from Adelaide. We spent time together: playing games, reading, watching movies, walking, laughing, baking, gardening, puzzling, eating, outings, a bit of arguing, relaxing, seeing friends. It was just glorious.

Term two will be eleven weeks which just seems too long to wait until we get to stop again.

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sunday adventure : april

A trip down The Great Ocean Road: lots of windy coast roads, a picnic, 5 koalas at Kennett River, bushwalking along a secret river, stepping stones across a creek and back again, waterfalls at the top of a very steep climb, the bluest skies, an impromptu river swim for Sadie, a daggy self portrait of family with canoe. Sunday Adventure Perfection.

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