I’m back from Cyprus now and I should be back to blogging towards the end of this week – still fighting jet-lag. So in the meantime, why don’t you read this brilliant post from Sash at Inked in Colour… the initiator of the Nothing New Project: Week 14: Money and Sacrifice She always makes me think. I bet she’ll do the same to you. :) Enjoy the read!
Greeting from Cyprus, My Friends. Back to blogging soon. Alicja x
When the weather is as beautiful as it is right now, being outside is the only option. It’s so easy to think outside. To plan, to analyse and to be imaginative. The best thing about thinking when walking is that somehow the weak or silly ideas just leave you in peace… they go to play in the grass or hide in the bushes… it’s just the good ones that hold on to your shoe laces, walk the mile with you and only jump off your shoes when you get home. They run to your desk and dance around your keyboard… until you are ready to sit in your swivel chair and feel the rhythm yourself… and they are nice and kind and patient ideas… they do wait for you to eat your dinner, wash the dishes and put your child to bed, they don’t mind that you read a book and sing a lullaby to him. When you turn up, they just greet you with a smile excited that you have found a minute to pick them up and engage with them… they have a nice character those ideas… they are… good ideas. Are any of them on your shoe laces today?
Photography is only one way of capturing the growth of our children. Writing memories, diaries and stories down is another wonderful way of storing these precious-but-fleeting moments. However, parenthood is busy and so sometimes you just want to jot some facts down in your calendar and perhaps repeat it later on to see your child’s development and changes in taste. This list might help you. I did it yesterday for my son. At the end is an empty one for you to copy and fill in if you’d like to do it too. It’s a really enjoyable process that will give you many smiles. If you want to, you may also give it to your partner to fill in just to check if there are differences in the way in which you see your child. :) Enjoy!
My child today:
Doing: walking long distances, sliding, exploring the garden, lying down on the grass, turning and giggling
Watching: people on the bus, Curious George, Mickey Mouse, Peppa Pig
Listening to: his father singing to him Italian nursery rhymes
Pointing to: children
Repeating: beka, keba (no meaning) to, ta (this, that in Polish), heya, croco (short for crocodile)
Commenting on: everything, everywhere to everyone
Making: a soup in his cup
Looking at: food being prepared, trees, children
Playing with: wallets and purses, water and containers, broomstick and vacuum cleaner
Creating: a mess
Picking up: leaves, sticks and stones, bits of threads from the carpet
Drawing: lines and doodles and preferably on the desk not on paper while biting on rubbers and pencil tips
Reading: people’s business cards
Likes to be read: Pulcino Pio (Italian book), Pinocchio
Eating: porridge and pears, pasta, sweetcorn
Drinking: water, milk, orange juice
Exercising with: his tricycle, balls
Cuddling: Koko (his monkey), a pillow before he goes to sleep
Pulling: toilet handle, internet connection cable, his zip in his jacket
Pushing: food away when he has finished; computer power button
Climbing: onto a dishwasher’s door when open; any ladder or slide; onto his toy chest to open the door
Caring for: an old tiny teddy bear without an arm
Dancing to: Cztery Slonie (a Polish children song) and everything else that he hears on the radio
When sad: a cuddle, a friend, a song, a dance
Sharing: food, laughs
My child today:
Doing:
Watching:
Listening to:
Pointing to:
Repeating:
Commenting on:
Making:
Looking at:
Playing with:
Creating:
Picking up:
Drawing:
Reading:
To be read:
Eating:
Drinking:
Exercising with:
Cuddling:
Pulling:
Pushing:
Climbing:
Caring for:
Dancing to:
When sad:
Sharing:
This taking stock list was adapted from Pip’s Taking Stock list at https://meetmeatmikes.com/ Pop over to her blog to see what she’s up to. :)
Ingredients:
3 eggs
150g butter (chop it into small cubes)
1/2 cup of caster sugar
1/4 cup of milk
300g plain white cake flour
3/4 cup of poppy-seeds
1.5 tsp bicarbonate of soda (if you are using self-raising flour, this is not needed)
3 tsps cream of tartar (if you are using self-raising flour, this is not needed)
1 to 2 tsps of icing
Preparation
1. Separate the white of egg from the yolks. Put the white of egg to the fridge (it is easier to whisk when cold)
2. Combine the egg yolks with the sugar and the butter until the butter appears melted and you have a good and fairly runny consistency. (If your butter is too hard, you can add a little bit of warm water to make it melt and mix quicker)
3. Add flour, milk and poppy seeds, cream of tartar and bicarbonate of soda. Mix everything thoroughly. Start warming up the oven – set it to 175°C.
4. When the oven is heating up, take the white of egg out of the fridge and in a separate bowl whisk the egg yolks into a firm foam. Pour the foam into the cake mixture and gently fold it into the cake mix. Do it until the whole mixture is well combined and little bubbles appear in it. (At this stage you can also add some flour if you think that you cake is too runny).
5. Butter your cake tin (or fill it up with greaseproof paper), pour in the cake mix and put it to the heated oven for about 55-65 minutes. If you put a knife into your cake and the blade comes clean that means the cake is ready. If your mixture was quite wet or you have used a different cake tin, it might take a bit longer to bake.
6. When the cake cools, you can decorate it with some icing powder. I use my small tea leaf holder for this purpose. It helps me to sprinkle the powder evenly on the cake:)
Share and Enjoy!
Postcards Without Stamps 