Domesticali

Tomorrow

When the alarm rings (or in our case, miaows) tomorrow, Mark will be eight.

And an odd thought struck me today. Until now, his birthdays have, for me, marked the passage of time away from babyhood. But this one feels different. It feels like being on the cusp of something good.

At eight, I feel the world beginning to open up for him. So many possibilities, so much adventure. All there for the taking. And this year I am standing, willing him to seize the opportunities with both hands. To reach out towards everything he dreams about.

And I have a feeling this boy will.

Flappy Happies

The bats are breeding - here's part of the colony. A few of them are in my (very low key, so let's whisper) etsy shop.

But as my halloween gift to you, I thought you might like a little tutorial for making your own. My treat. Flappy Happies (as christened by Mark).

You'll need some nice thick wool felt. Then cut yourself a little cardboard template. It's basically a triangle with a U cut out of the apex to make ears. Mine is about 8 inches across and 4 inches high.

Trace round your template and draw in some guide lines for the wing markings, eye placement, mouth and fangs. I use a chalk pencil for this (you don't need precision).

Don't cut anything yet. Add the markings on a single layer of the felt - I used the sewing machine for the wings but stitched the buttons on by hand and added a backstitch mouth with red floss and white for the fangs. But please yourself

Now, fold your felt so you have a double layer and zig zag around the edge. Don't forget to leave a gap in the middle. My gap is large enough for 2 grown-up digits or the neck of a wine bottle.

Now using a nice sharp pair of scissors, trim close to the zig zag line. And lo, your flappy happy is born.

Trick or treat!

Apple snow

Thimbleina was asking for ideas to use up apples this week.  When faced with this kind of dilemma, I always find myself turning to Nigel Slater's Real Fast Puddings.

My battered paperback version has been with me for many years and is well thumbed. I love the way the book is organized by seasons and driven largely by fruit - Autumn is stuffed full of ideas for blackberries, plums, apples, damsons and pears. So when I returned home with my clutch of Bramleys, I knew Nigel could be relied on to come up with something - and he didn't disappoint.

Apple snow with maple syrup sauce....

First I made an apple puree (3 big bramleys, some ground cinnamon and a pinch of mixed spice, cooked gently with a couple of tablespoons of water until that magical moment when the fruit gives up it's form.

The maple syrup sauce was 150ml of maple syrup, 100ml of double cream and 75g of butter simmered together for 10 mins until slightly thickened. It keeps for a couple of days in the fridge if you don't eat it all at once.

To make the apple snow,  beat 2 large egg whites with half a teaspoon of cream of tartar until the stiff peak stage. Then you can fold in the apple puree and put the snow into glasses or ramekins in the fridge.

When you're ready to eat, pour on the maple syrup sauce.`

They tick every box on my 'successful pudding' checklist. Simple, fast, containing fruit (for a nod to healthy eating), prepare ahead, but somehow with an air of indulgence.

I ate a stray ramekin for lunch today with a new copy of Scaredy Squirrel makes a friend. Sometimes I buy the children books that are really for me. Bit like making them a pudding for the benefit of the leftovers.

Batty

This year, October 31st falls in half term, which means I can justify going totally overboard with spooky fun for my boys (and the neighbourhood children) to indulge in. Beginning with a bat finger puppet.

He'd look cute perched on top of a bottle too. Blood red wine perhaps.

And who knows where the fun will end, because the wonderful Michelle (who is a mind reader) sent me some Halloween crafty inspiration, including Matthew Mead's Halloween Tricks and Treats.  You can see some pictures from it here.

Autumn bounty

The transition to Autumn ranks pretty high on my personal Richter scale of good food opportunities. There's something serendipitous about the harvest-time bounty coinciding with tummies needing extra warmth and nourishment as the weather turns cooler.

Here at our house, we've already greedily slurped up the first pumpkin soup of the season, gobbled the stew and anointed the crumble with hot custard. When I got up this morning craving porridge, I knew I'd truly given into the seductive culinary delights of the season.

Autumn home menus pose no problem for me, but I do struggle a little with what to put in the boys' lunchboxes.  We have those clever food flasks, so I can send a soup or stew or something warm from time to time. But it is a faff in the morning, making sure everything is piping hot (and thus still edible by lunchtime).

This week, they should be in for a treat though with a batch of Autumn muffins - apple and blackberry.

Recipe? From Trish Desesine:

2 eggs
125 ml vegetable oil
200 g sugar
250 ml milk
375g plain flour
4 tsp baking powder
3 apples peeled cored and diced
200 g blackberries

Preheat oven to 200 deg C.

Beat together eggs, oil, sugar and milk in a large bowl. Sift in flour and baking owder and beat again. Fold in apple and blackberries.

Fill paper muffin cases in a muffin tin two-thirds full. Bake for 20 - 25 mins. Easy peasy.

My batch made more than 12, so I baked the extra in silicone cases and amazingly, they turned out fab too. I don't have a good track record with silicone, so this was an added bonus. I think putting the cases straight on a baking tray was probably a good move.

So, a new Autumn recipe enters the repertoire. What's your specialty?

Peeking round the door frame...

Thank you for all your warm and wise words on the last post. Dr Blog prescribed me blogging-lite with a little fasting period to kick start  things.  I think it has done the trick.

And  in my period of abstinence, I got stuff done.  Want to see?

Yes, the Clothkits Trellick Skirt, which has been waiting patiently for me to sew it up all summer. Worth hanging on for though.

Parting is such sweet sorrow

For some time now, I have been interested in how blogs run the course of their natural lives. There is so much excitement in the birth of a new blog - watching a blogger find their voice in a strange new medium, make friends and connections and flourish. There's a special place in my heart for the blogs I have followed right from their very beginnings.

But what about the other end of things? When blogging no longer earns it's keep in life. This week I read the most graceful exit post from Junie Moon. And my (now in real life) buddy Alice made a similar decision to take a step back. And then there are all the lovely people I came to know, whose blogs have tailed off - sometimes with explanations, and some whose backstories gave clues as to why they may have chosen to stop. But every time it happens, I find it a little unsettling.

Perhaps there a time frame, particularly in the 'craft plus life' blogging niche, when it starts to all feel a bit same-y. When I look back at my own archives, I can't help coming to the conclusion that there are only so many iterations of the 'back-to-school' post, or the 'autumn is drawing in' post. Only so many times that 'six random things' manages to inform or surprise.

But when I contemplate the inevitable end, I come up against the unsurmountable barrier of friendship. How could I stop, when doing so would mean leaving behind people who I have come to regard as friends? The lure of an in-box, regularly filled with nuggets of kindness and insight.

 

These are possibly just the rambling thoughts of a slightly edgy mother, who hasn't had nearly enough time to herself of late. Perhaps I need to step away from the keyboard for a moment and breathe. And remember why I began in the first place.

Cob nuts

Autumn, they whisper. Autumn is coming.

One small step for a boy, one giant leap for motherkind

Things have been dominated this week on the back to school thing, or more specifically starting school for Johnny. Can he mange okay with changing for PE? Will a full day leave him exhausted?  Is there anything that will convince him to poo in an unfamiliar toilet? All the usual motherly concerns.

But amidst the clucking and preparation a little voice has been whispering - 'And you?'.

On Mark's first day at school, I was astonished at the sight of a mother of three (a perfectly sensible, practical woman) openly bawling as her smallest daughter skipped happily into Reception. Perhaps now I can understand the feeling of a child sized hole left in the pit of your stomach.

I am no longer the mother of small children. And the feeling is akin to the one I was hit by right after I gave birth. I really really miss my bump.

Thinking of Florence and Lucy and all the other mothers approaching the school gate with hankies stuffed in their pockets this week. If we manage to get up in the morning, of course.