Bread Baking Time

 I've been baking sourdough bread. Not being all that much of a sweet tooth, I'm enjoying putting my baking energy into savoury bread instead. Nothing beats steaming hot fresh bread straight out of the oven on a Winter's morning.

As you can see below, the process has been a little bit trial and error, but I think bread is pretty forgiving and usually turns out all right in the end. If nothing else, making it into toast usually fixes it, and if it's still inedible, the chooks get a treat!

My best loaf so far has been a pumpkin and pepita one. That was always my favourite from Sol Breads so I tried to emulate that. It was a very wet dough and so I just splatted it onto the baking tray, but it turned out YUM. Below is a plain wholemeal/white loaf with a few chia seeds thrown in.

 

Delicious with Nigella Lawson's "Eggs in Purgatory" or as Kees calls it, "Eggs in Poetry", now a firm favourite for Winter breakfasts.

 

The Show!

The Redcliffe Show is truly one of the highlights of our year. The kids save up their pocket money (and so do the parents!) and eagerly await an evening of fun, excitement and wonder. And junk food!

Matt might be a crazy dodgem driver, but he's got nothin' on Neave.

The baby animal farm provides some nice relaxing time out before we hit the giant slides.

Yippee! Fairy floss time!

I just love this photo of Kees and Jimmy having a ball and Gaia...not having a ball. Poor Gaia ;0(

And what better way could you end a night than with fireworks?

Goodbye Show. Until next year!

Beautiful Bushwalk - Chelsea Street

Setting out...

discovering....

picking...

examining...

and continuing!

Beachy Winter Morning

What a beautiful morning. It brings me so much joy to watch all these sweet children playing freely in nature.

Idyllic.

I didn't realise how important freedom was to me until I had children. The idea of freedom drives many decisions we have made for them. That feeling of space, to be able to run, skip, hop, jump.

To breathe.

Kees has always been the sort of child who has demanded this. As a baby, he would get bored inside - I know that sounds crazy, but he would. He would cry inside, then I'd step out the door and he'd stop. Step back in, start crying, step out, stop! It often feels like the backyard is too "bound" for him. Even as a tiny tot, he'd be over fences and off down the street, or up on the neighbour's garage roof.

When my children are outside somewhere beautiful like this, their spirits soar joyfully. 

My Striated Pardalote!

Blustery Days

Firstly, I need to say: I am totally in love with Jimmy's cuteness. I could just watch and listen to him all day. I don't know if it is because he is little, or because he sings "Jack and Jill", or says "creeped", or giggles his head off when we play Gorilla on the trampoline. There are so many things that make me die from cuteness overload.Jimmy is so lovely, he makes me want to have more babies. Somebody please talk me out of this. In light of overpopulation.

On this day, we enjoyed a lovely afternoon with some beautiful sisters at the park. The sun shone, the wind blew, the children played, we drank tea and listened to Jane's hilarious tales of skiiing. Please write a book, Jane! We say "kill two birds with one stone"; in Holland they say "swat two flies with one smack"! Kind of looks like two flies down there.... two very pretty flies of course. ;0)

Then it was time for everyone to scurry home to cosy dinners and baths. With a pot of soup all ready, we were able to stay a bit longer. Yay! I hate leaving at the most beautiful time of day....

So, the boys and I went for a walk. It was blustery and freezing and fresh, the sunset was crisp, clear and perfect, and I loved it so much!

Where we live, really cold weather like this is reasonably rare, so to me it is precious. We lived in London for two years and I just loved the seasons. Now, if I don't get a good "wintering", I miss it. A bit like a bulb that needs to get really cold before it can bloom. ;0)

In winter, I enjoy nothing more than a bracing walk out in the fresh air, with my warm coat and my face all nice and cold. If it's cold I love it, if it's windy too, I'm in heaven! What a great way to clear out a few cobwebs. I should do this more often. xx