A Patchwork of Days

Outside my window...

Cloudy and overcast - spring rain, ouch. Tony's was away overnight with his class on a outdoors education weekend. I hope they didn't get the rain as last night they were sleeping out in the bush under tarpaulins.... will have to spoil him when he gets back tonight.

I am listening to...

Rain, birdsong, natural quite, everyone else is sleeping in.

I am thankful for...

Roses, Irises, a garden in full bloom, a tidy desk, space to relax and rest...hope of the kittens coming soon, family

From the learning rooms...

New rhythms are growing, which is good, school these days is a lot more relaxed, not schedule driven but next thing driven. Its nice not to always feel pressured to keep them moving forward. Its nice to be able to admit when we need a break and take time to rest.

From the kitchen...

Not much, its time to spring clean the freezer and use up the frozen leftovers...so last night we had Beef Casserole turned into a pie with a short wholemeal crust..yum.

I am reading..

It's been a while as a family we just finished the Lord of the Rings... its been great having Tony read it with all the voices and well I miss looking forward to our chapter at the end of the day. At least the Gollum voices are still with us.

Alongside that this week we've had Beowulf and Robin Hood. I've enjoyed Beowulf especially with the Veritas motes and questions alongside. Having these books in context to read through makes them a richer than when we have read them as stand alone titles.

A few plans for the rest of the week:

Its a busy week ahead... and yet the calm before the storm.

We'll put up the Christmas tree early this year.Each year we add one decoration for the year that has been, and well this year we need to remember Zeke, so it would be good to do that before the kittens arrive. Wonder how they will like the tree... kitten fence needed?

We have government elections on Saturday, that instead of being simple, straightforward they were this time last week have become uncertain and muddy, unfortunately we may live to regret this weekend. God is in control right?

On top of that Christmas shopping for the wider family, and the unceasing round of pre recital ballet.

Here is picture thought I am sharing...

Pippin - 8 weeks

We got photos from the breeder last week, the first time we've seen them at play and Pippin gained himself the nickname of "Possum" not sure the breeder would be impressed, our kiwi possums are imports who have made themselves unwanted guests...but this one is a keeper!

Merry and Pippin

Realizing we now had a very real gap in our family and no comforting fur to cheer us up ...

We've been waiting for these two lads to grow up and come and join us.  Naming them Merry (the red one) and Pippin (the chocolate)  since they seemed to fit.


We've watched them grow from newborns just opening their eyes to...



Thankfully the breeder has been really nice in sending us photos of them growing up.

And soon, just two weeks we get to go and bring them home!

Enjoying Spring

This year I certainly needed a spring full of promise, and it blossomed with hope out my window.

Making sourdough

I've wanted to make my own sourdough for ages, but well it hasn't quite happened.

Then the family pizza maker managed to drop half of his dough in the sink and well half a dough isn't enough to feed us but it gave me the nudge I needed to start a local sourdough.

I found a sourdough recipe over here  and we have been enjoying our own brand of sourdough all winter.

It works well with a crock-pot soup, keeps well and everyone loves it with butter and golden syrup just as it comes out of the oven.