::5 Minutes Peace::

Just imagine a device that can at any given moment produce

three healthy ice-blocks in under 10 minutes. If this leads to

five minutes of peace, whilst these ice-blocks are consumed

you would consider it a worthy school holiday investment

really wouldn't you?!

We have had such fun with our ice-block maker these holidays.

Combinations we have tried have included: Strawberries with

vanilla yogurt (pictured), orange juice, with a slither of orange,

chocolate milk, with little cookies, fruit salad, various yoghurts

etc etc.

Because the ice-blocks freeze so quickly, there is no separation

of ingredients like you get with conventional ice-block making.

A worthy investment and perfect for us because it makes

three at a time!

:: One afternoon ::

Once in a while, an afternoon comes along that repays me for
a whole lot of slightly less lovely afternoons. The kind of
afternoon where I relax on my bed reading, as my children play
harmoniously. The kind of afternoon where, in between
chapters of my book, I watch a sunflower through my
window gradually unfold. Its the sort of afternoon I should
really make note of-in case I dont get another one in
the immediate future!

Baking

Sometimes when I bake with children, I want an edible result
in minutes. But other times, I am in the mood for a bit of
a process. These cheesy biscuits are great for that. You could
use any cheese biscuit recipe really, but one that retains its
shape during baking would be good. First you mix and roll and
cut out, then the fun begins. Paint each biscuit with egg yolk,
then provide a variety of seeds for decoration (I used sesame,
poppy, sunflower and pepita.) Little fingers love decorating
things...especially if they can be eaten later!

New Beginnings

You know, over the past few months, I wondered at
times if I was going to blog again. For various reasons I
wondered if blogging wasn't connected to a phase of my life
that might almost be over. But do you know what? I am not
totally ready to let it go. I need to draw my energy
back into my home and mothering for a while. And blogging
is sooo good for this. So very good. So here I am.