wall art

Well, a cheap and easy way to put some art on the walls of the freshly painted kids' room. This old puzzle was a hit when I was young. I used to collect stamps, or more accurately, organised and consolidate my Opa's collection. 

Yes, it is a map of NZ, with Maori traditional costumes on, these images considered a bit kitch here these times.

Anyways, real easy, just glue a favourite puzzle to a board and pin to the wall (or frame it if you have enough money - that is my ultimate goal!).

Some more cheap wall art coming up soon - recycling old books.

Spring fling

The sun is returning and our garden is coming back to life. Loving it!

Georgia took a bunch of daffodils to Kindy yesterday (1st of Spring), her teacher commenting, 'these smell like happiness!'. I couldn't agree more.

 We also have daphne in abundance, a beautiful aroma, and asparagus springing up.

  Can you see them, hiding in the weeds?

Last spring I had just discovered I was pregnant. With neighbours' cats making regular 'droppings' on our vege patches, I stayed clear for fear of toxoplasmosis infection (and sheer exhaustion). Later, in summer, I was popping out the front so gardening remained undone. Weeds grew and are still there, in fact. We gave them a go recently, but my children dug up some worms and that took over their interest. I need their help, or somebody big and strong actually, to get the garden into shape before it's too late. 

But I do love it when their interests govern mine and we end up bug searching instead of gardening, or collecting shells at a beach instead of walking its length, or stopping to throw stones into puddles while trying to walk around the park... I wish I had taken a photo of him doing that today, he was showing all the grown-ups how to take things easy and really enjoy the small details around him. The smallest people have the biggest imaginations and desire for exploring and adventure. They set me straight from my boring old grown-up ways sometimes to stop, look, and listen (and I don't mean crossing roads!)

My baby surprise jacket

This pattern was truly hard to get a hold of.

But I'm glad I kept trying.

Before even getting the pattern I researched a lot on the web. Here's what I found useful:

This was a series of videos for each stage. I found each one invaluable, especially the first one about sizes, gauge and yarn.

Here were some good tips about colour use and some useful pictures showing where your colour stripes will end up sitting on the garment.

Finally, this spreadsheet, which has been widely blogged about, was useful in the beginning then I stopped using it as I got used to following the pattern. Many others have found it very good.

But honestly, why is this pattern so closely guarded on the net? I understand copyright and all that and totally respect it, but with all this help on the net already, I was only missing a couple of row numbers from being able to knit it without the pattern. In fact, the pattern itself was quite disappointing, only two half columns in a magazine, and poorly written (despite its genius in design). Anybody else think this? 

The books were not available in Wellington libraries, the knitting shops didn't have them, or the worksheets, either. It was some good fortune I asked at my local knit shop and she copied the article from the magazine for me, agreeing it was just too hard to come by here. Send some copies to NZ please (the updated ones with notes and extras like how to knit a hood)!

So until a book turns up (I'm not paying upwards of $18US plus postage) at a local library I won't be able to try my hand at any other Zimmermann designs, and I would really like to. 

My darling looks divine in her EZ jacket anyway. I adore the colours I chose, especially the gold stripes and pink angora giving it a little fluff. The sleeves aren't long, but in fact that works for tiny hands being sucked all day long. 
 Str-e-tch! Oh life's so good being a baby.

Dutch treat

We made a gingerbread house. The second one in my lifetime (my uncle made one with me and all my cousins when we were young) and this one was made with no particular occasion in mind - just some fun for the kids.  

  The recipe is a family favourite for gingerbread boys. The idea is to let the children create as if it were playdough to make biscuits resembling boys and girls, animals, and basic shapes. Here is the recipe, a family one, I think from my Great-grandma's days. I have played around with it through years of making these reliable goodies. 

Flour - 2 1/4 lb (1 kg)Brown sugar - 1 lb (1/2 kg)
Ground ginger - 1 oz (30g packet)Butter - 1/2 lb (450g) Golden syrup - 1 tin (1kg)

Mix together in a really large vessel (I use a soup pot) the dry ingredients (flour, sugar and ginger). Grate the butter into this and rub it together until it resembles bread crumbs (much like how you'd make scones). You can do this in batches to make it easier.  Warm the syrup by placing the opened tin into a shallow pot of water, bring to a simmer on the stove and turn it off. Should take a few minutes only, don't let the syrup get hot, stir it often with a table knife. Mix the syrup with the rest of the mixture until it forms a stiff dough. You can do this in stages by adding enough syrup to make the dough by guessing and checking. It is not an exact science...

It's ready to roll, or get the kids busy making their 'boys'. I like to use currants for eyes, buttons etc, and any marks made by a fork or knife will stay put. The dough doesn't rise much, it expands ever so slightly as it cooks. Ensure the cookies are between 3 and 10mm (1/8-3/8 inch), the thinner the crunchier. Also, not too large as the middles won't cook through so well. You might need to 'squash' the children's creations to make them fit the height restrictions. Here is an example my daughter made. 
 I also like to roll out some of the dough and use cookie cutters to fill a tin with crunchier biscuits to go with cups of tea. These I make a bit thinner than the handmade kind, closer to the 3mm height.

Bake at 150 degrees C until cooked through, usually 15-20 minutes. Cool then store in an airtight container.

Apparently it isn't easy to come across tins of golden syrup like we have here in NZ. The brand is Chelsea and if you can't find any, try molasses or treacle instead??

Anyway,  back to the gingerbread house. We are part Dutch and always like to get some dropjes (Dutch liquorice, often salted) from our local Dutch shop. We went for colourful ones this time. They made cool roof tiles.
This cake isn't as pretty as it could be if I'd made it alone, but the kids sure enjoyed getting stuck in and decorating it. I like to think they will enjoy it more for having played a part in making it. They helped with all stages of the dough making and cutting too.

Wicked! Now, to think about who to share it with and when to eat it... Coffee on Saturday afternoon with the grandparents sounds good. Check.

bay hopping

You've heard of bar hopping, well today we went bay hopping. We got in the car, having had too much of the mundane at home, and headed north to the Kapiti Coast. Sure enough, the sun was out and it felt like a different day. Our first stop was Plimmerton beach. We'd been to bad old KFC (I wish there were more healthy options at drive-thrus) and Georgia's box of chips had the seagulls circling, much to Hugo's delight. 

     
  In the background is Mana Island and Wellington Heads. Lurvely. A popular spot with windsurfers.
 Our next stop was Paekakariki and QE II Park. An old haunt of my childhood days, I rediscovered the hidden gems - the kids ran through the tangled paths and found the playground.  Georgia surprised me by using the see-saw independently by kicking with her foot. Lucky she and Hugo are nearly the same weight, it worked out really well.

Paekak (pronounced Pie-cock) beach was full of drift wood and pipi shells to add to Georgia's collections at home. More on that another time.

 And I couldn't stop looking over the ocean to Kapiti Island, the shore, the waves, the clouds and the sparkling sun and thinking to myself, 'we are so lucky to live here'. I haven't travelled much (Australia, do you count it?) so I take pleasure in exploring the places at my disposal. I'm probably guessing right that many people would pay good money to visit these places. We take them for granted.

Living in New Zealand is synonymous with beaches and wide open spaces. Yes, ok, farmland and greenery too. I love the romance of the seashore, its meeting with the sky, the way it sparkles, changes colour with the weather, offers escape from constriction of cities, helps you to breathe... and the smell makes you feel really alive.

The Land of the Long White Cloud (loose translation of the Maori name for NZ - Aotearoa). You beauty!

 Winding back toward home we stopped into another bay, Pukerua Bay. I am ashamed to say it is the first time I've ever visited this beautiful spot. You have to turn off the main road to get there and drive down a very steep hill. I think I've found a new picnic destination! Check out the beauty here!

      
Ok, this, not so beautiful, but kinda typical of some of the artsy types around these parts...

  And finally, this is how I know it's time to go home. Hugo's very good at communicating, even if he's not talking properly yet.

So I'm new to this blogging thing and have to carry a camera around with me everywhere now! Thank goodness for this goody hoodie with its huge front pocket. I'm not used to having practical pockets. Thanks Mum! I think I'll live in it now.  

    
Ice-blocks on the drive home. All are happy. We had a good day after all.

pikelets, or children's 'high tea'...

We made pikelets again! Yay! said the kids. I was less excited, not because I don't like making them or eating them, but because we make them so often. They cost little more than the price of an egg, take 10 minutes to make. 

 They are perfect for a mum at home to whip up for instant gratification and full tummies when there's nothing in the cupboard. But I get sick of eating the same thing all the time, so we vary the jam - apricot, plum, raspberry, strawberry, and sometimes have cream or maple syrup.

   

And always, the proof is in the eating.