November - 10 months and counting

The month started with the second half of school term resuming.  It was a fun and busy few weeks on the school front.  H had a trip to a transport museum, A to the space station, L to a restaurant.  There were a couple of workshops, H received a certificate at assembly and we had a teacher interview for L.  Along with all the other regular school things :)

The girls have also enjoyed a few playdates with lovely friends, the kids in the street and a birthday party.  We had a lovely bonfire and fireworks night with the people in our street - much to everyone's delight and enjoyment.  We had an entertaining visit to the doctor's office where the poor nurse thought she was going to remain deaf permanently after giving L vaccinations.  The first time any of our girls had screamed like that for their vaccinations.  It was loud... but amuzing :)

L and I had our embroidery date this month - such a delight that all three my girls have enjoyed these trips and trying their hands at this craft.  There have been regular weekly walks with a friend - an opportunity for a little extra exercise and getting to explore our suburb on foot.  Lots of the usual life goings on, Hubster spent a week in Spain for work, and as the temperatures dropped we had fun roasting marshmallows.

Many Christmas gifts were finally finished and sent off to their various destinations.  And now we start thinking about our first Winter Christmas here!  Exciting!

L xx

Bread Recipe - the UK edition

3 years ago I shared with you our bread recipe. To this day we still bake it almost daily. However, after landing in the UK we went through a period of trial and error as the yeast and flour was different. And so, I give you our UK version if anyone from around these parts is keen to give it a go!

In a bowl thoroughly mix together (just with a wooden spoon):
1.5 cups of water
2 tsps of Easy Bake Bread Yeast
3 cups of strong bread flour
1.5 tsps of salt

No kneading!  Cover with clearwrap and let it rise.   We usually mix the dough first thing in the morning and bake at night, or the night before bed to bake first thing in the morning.  You can easily let it rise for 12 - 18 hours if you wish.  Or if it's a hot day/warm room/you're in a hurry... it can be ready in as little as 2-3 hours or so.

Set the oven to 220'C.  Place an enamel covered cast iron pot (or anything with a lid that can take the heat) in the oven, to pre-heat at the same time as the oven is, until the oven is up to temperature.

Now turn the risen dough out onto a heavily floured surface.  This dough is super sticky so it pays to flour your hands too.  Shape it into a ball/oblong/whatever shape you like(!) and then pop it into the hot pot.  Be careful of that hot pot!

Bake for 30 minutes with the lid on.  After this time remove the lid and bake for a further 5 minutes or so without it, if it needs further browning.

It should come out smelling and looking delicious!  Place the bread on a wire rack to cool.

Points of note: 
- If you are using the same easy bake yeast as pictured below, I would not recommend adding it to the water first as it tends to clump up.  We stir all the dry ingredients together and then add the water before mixing the whole lot up.  Works a treat.
- We usually mix up the types of bread flour we use and use different combinations.  This is a very versatile recipe and you can add nuts, grains, make it a savoury loaf with bacon and cheese or sweet with cinnamon and chocolate!  Just experiment with what works.  We don't really measure any additions and haven't had a dodgy loaf yet!
-  Also, if you need a smaller loaf just reduce the ingredients by a third or half and bake for the same amount of time.  Everything still works just as well.  We have even used this mixture to make buns by splitting the dough and rolling flat round balls before baking them in the pot.
- Lastly.  Not all bread flour is equal.  Here we buy the Sainsbury's bread flour as we have found it delivers the best results and is no more expensive than other homebrands.

If you have any questions just send me a note. I'll try my best to answer/help! Enjoy :)
L xx

9 Months in October

October was a beautiful autumnal month. Golden leaves everywhere. The sun started getting lower and daylight savings ended. Those beautiful sunbeams cast such a glow upon it all. It brought about more apple baking. And lots of baking in general. The oven seemed to be on more than it was off!

At school we had our first parent interviews, a reading workshop with L's year and made a hilarious times tables rap video with A as a homework assignment. Then mid-term break came along in the last week of October and we enjoyed slower mornings and a bit of a rest.

There were quite a few playdates and fun with the children of the neighbourhood too. And we had our first visitors come to stay! A real treat for us and a lovely opportunity to see our new city, not as tourists, but as hosts!

At the start of the month H and I set off to the open stitching session in town. Loved seeing my girl hone her skills. Christmas makes finally gained a bit of momentum too, in between pattern testing and custom order making.

Life continued to be full and busy but good. We are soooo looking forward to our first winter Christmas!
L xx

August - Over halfway

August - what a month!  It was kicked off with a long dreamed about holiday in France.  One week in Paris and one week in the South.  To say we had the best time would be an understatement!  I will be recording our memories from those weeks in time to come.

The last weeks of August were very low key in comparison, as we settled into a quiet and slow school holiday routine.  Days were spent at home playing inside, playing outside, writing letters, crafting, making, practicing maths and lots of reading.  We were still regulars at the library with our twice-weekly visits and all three girls completed the Summer Reading Challenges.

A and H got stuck into some sewing, L learned to ride a bicycle and the whole family engaged in some Star Wars movie watching.  We also went to see Inside Out at the movies and Loved it.  So clever!

There was no sewing this month but a bit of crochet as I worked toward a milestone on the blanket project and started turning my thoughts to a new Christmas decoration.  On all other fronts, life continued pretty much as per usual.

August was a month of two halves - very different halves!
L xx

June - half year eve

Crikey... We're almost halfway through July and June seems a distant memory...

June marked the start of summer. School restarted after the mid term break and it has been an action packed half term for the girls.  A and H headed to the beach on a school trip to Weston Super Mare for a day and had a blast - ice-creams, sandcastles, donkey rides, bouncy castles... They had a gorgeous day for it and so much fun. Later in the month L also had a Kindy trip to a farm - after the big girls' school trip she was counting down the sleeps. She came home with an egg collected from a chicken, beaming from ear to ear. In other school activities, H started football coaching which she relished and L also had her first induction visit at school in the final days of the month.

A managed to give herself a huge black eye early on in the month and then went on to loose two more teeth (after the one lost late in May). She was quite the sight for a few weeks. She has also been reading like crazy and her two sisters are also loving books. H celebrated her 6th birthday and we had a wonderful weekend away at the time. The two of us also enjoyed spending an afternoon shopping for a birthday outfit - as gifted by a family friend. No surprise that the minute we came across a Zebra top the search was over.

On the home front we tried to leave for school one Monday morning only to find the car battery had died completely. Thanks to our wonderful neighbours we had the car turned around and jump-started within a few minutes and at school barely a minute or two later than we would usually be. Which is still well on time :) The next day one of the tyres was practically flat... So two visits in two days to the mechanic and we had a new battery and a new tyre to replace the broken flat one. The landlord also arranged to have the patio replaced and we now have a lovely outdoor space for summer evenings.

This month I pulled out the sewing machine to test a pattern for my clever friend Juliet. First time in 5 months. It was so good and just what was needed. The in-flight quilt was also finally bound and is now in use...just need to find a place to photograph it properly before writing about it. There wasn't very much progress on the crochet project but it did see the light of day at a catch-up with a lovely new friend, where we enjoyed getting to know each other more over a cuppa or two, some knitting and crochet :)

Speaking of friends we also received a few surprise and lovely parcels from NZ, along with great Skype and Facetime calls. We made some new friends and acquaintances with the people in our cul-de-sac by doing a cookie drop to them all. Another fun and encouraging exercise that has been so rewarding already.

Our one trip away was arranged to catch up with dear friends who were visiting England briefly. We made a weekend of it, starting with a dinner with old friends from NZ (who also live here now) on the Friday evening, an awesome and super fun day at Legoland on the Saturday, and on Sunday a drive through Oxford followed by a visit to the Cotswold Wildlife Park and Gardens, topped off with a special few hours with our visiting friends. Back home late that night but full of joy from a fantastic weekend.

It was a good month.
L xx

On the Road: Legoland

Everything is Awesome!  And it is true!

Late in June we arranged a weekend away to coincide with a friend visiting from NZ. It happened to be H's birthday weekend and we happened to decided that Legoland was in order for a fun family day.

We didn't tell the girls. We left on a Friday evening after school, had a wonderful dinner with different old NZ friends and got up on the Saturday morning giddy with the excitement of the surprise day ahead. On our way there the girls saw one or two signs and started speculating... could this be the surprise?? Cue disbelief and huge joy when we arrived there. Awesome.

The rides were fun, the Lego creations were amazing, the shows had the girls fully engaged and we were all thrilled to bits.  We didn't even get around the whole park!  We were there for over 7 hours and utterly deliriously happy and exhausted when we left. Coincidentally we had managed to save the wet rides for the end of the day and did a couple more than once... or twice! We were stupidly joyfully drenched. It was a super day. Just fantastic. Just... Awesome!!

L xx

On the train: London - Day 3

Monday morning brought the start of our last half day in London. On the tube we hopped and got ourselves to St Paul's Cathedral. It was a lovely quiet morning and we could really take in its size, and all the detail and a cup of coffee as we walked around it. It was a lot bigger than I expected. We only ventured into the front foyer - no photo's allowed inside - but what we glimpsed was awe-inspiring. The girls mostly wanted to know where the birds were so we could feed them ;)

We loved using the tube. So easy, so accessible, even for a complete and utter stranger to the whole thing like me. We got some Oyster cards for the weekend and it was such a breeze. You could also just use your contact-less bank debit card - it really couldn't' be easier. Next we walked the Tower Bridge. It was a beautiful day again and we had lovely views of the bridge, the surroundings and the river Thames.

Right next door is the Tower of London which we visited next.  Again the history of this place is fascinating and deep.  We visited the Crown Jewels which would have been a highlight for the girls.  They could not believe we were seeing the real deal!  All so shiny and sparkly! (No photo's allowed!)

We also ventured into the White Tower and loved the amazing nooks and cranny's and displays. The detail on some of the armour was astonishing - hard to believe they would do battle in something so intricate and beautifully made. We would have loved to visit some of the other areas too (it's such a huge place with so many stories and areas!) but we needed to get going and catch the train back home.

We got home high from a fab weekend and still pinching ourselves that we had really been there and done it! It's not hard to see why people love it and we will be back for more visits in the future!
L xx