A Photo a day - the last 25 days

lunch time treats that don't piss me off

I have been annoyed lately. Not so much by the world economic crisis, or the destruction of the environment - I have different part of my brain for being annoyed about those - but this current annoyance has been about those very small little pottles of fruit in jelly or custard or what-not that you can buy from the supermarket for between $4 and $7 dollars for an over packaged bundle of 4 100-150 ml tubs. I had been occasionally buying 6 packs of yoghurt pottles for a small lunch time treat for the boys - good source of calcium, quick and easy ra-de-ra. Mr 7 however has decided that pottles of yoghurt no longer meet the school yard standard and he is grossly deprived by the lack of little pottles of jelly and fruit - a most high status provision he has witnessed at school. O.k - it was the weekend, shopping day - there was no way I was parting with $5 for such an over packaged ultra-instant bit of marketing. Since when did jelly crystals and custard powder become so inconvenient?? So, brain wave - bought a packet of jelly crystals, a can of fruit salad in juice ($1.70 total) and got Mr Demanding to make some, he made six (plenty to share with his little bro over the week) - and we still had some fruit left to scoff (cooks privilege). Totally fun activity, another step towards self-feeding child.

Ahh but it gets better! I remembered last time we went to stay at Mum and Dad's Mum made an old family dessert from her Granny's cook book called 'Pineapple Fruit Cream' absolutey delish and one of those recipes which although scrummy and treaty and enjoyed by almost everybody is also surprisingly nutritious (high in calcium, protein, fibre, plus low in fat and -potentially- sugar). So I've whipped up a batch - and low and behold there is enough (with less than $4 of ingredients) to make not only 8 mini puddings to go in school lunches, but also a large dollop for the four of us for pudding tonight! (secret ingredient: air!)
So, here is the recipe

Pineapple Fruit Cream (Granny Bull)
1 tin crushed pineapple (I used pineapple in juice)
2 level dessert spoons gelatine
1/2 c sugar (I used 1/4 c)
1 tin evaporated milk (I used 98.5% fat free) which has been in the fridge for at least 1 hour (helps it whip).
1. Pour juice from pineapple over gelatine, add sugar and stand bowl in hot water until dissolved, allow to cool.
2. Whip evaporated milk (I hadn't tried this before, but it work really fast!)
3. Beat both mixtures together
4. Stir in pineapple pulp.
5. Pour into containers and set in the fridge.

I assume you could use any fruit, and in the absence of gelatine you could use a packet of jelly crystals (and omit the sugar).

And here is Little and Furps nesting.

crafts and someone's really bad day

I was going to make this post about the nifty crafts I've been working on. But before I do I feel compelled to write about a boy I saw today having quite probably the worst day of his life so far. I'm not sure that I should call him a boy because he was probably late teens, possibly even early twenties, but I use the term 'youth' in jest so often that I can't use it in this circumstance. I saw this boy being arrested by 5 large police officers. The body language was extreme, the boy had his hoody pulled up over his head and his head as far down as is humanly possible. He had his back to the police men and he was hanging his arms and head over a fence almost like he was already in a cage, his feet were almost off the ground. In contrast the body language of the police was relaxed, so relaxed that I think 'how to look relaxed even when you're not' must be covered fairly thoroughly in police training. When they decided to act - manhandling the boy into a police car they were quick and his resistance was completely ineffective.

In more cheerful happenings I have made a cell phone pouch for my sister, who gave me no specifications other than 'funky fabrics' so I think I met the brief.

I also (during the last school holidays) discovered the wonderful knitting designer Hansi Singh and gave her cuttlefish knitting pattern a try. The first knitting I have done for ages and I'm definitely hooked again. I'm doing one of her starfish now and have plans to attempt the deep sea lantern fish complete with it's parasitic male.

Doctor Who sewing

Things achieved today: - made fudge - successful fudge even, although fudge performance anxiety is a thing of the past since I discovered 'failed fudge brownies' http://recipeland.com/recipe/v/Failed-Fudge-Brownies-32305
- entertained my small boys and a friends small girl (I taught them how to make paper doll chains, both boys turned their upside down and pointed out funnels, wheels, pistons and cylinders)
- cleaned up after small boys and girl
- went for a token run - my 20 minute beach and back 'mental health' run which is actually the only kind of run I do these days.
- roasted four kinds of root veggies for winter roasty salad
- sewed the guts on the squashed rat bookmark
- ate yesterdays self saucing orange and almond pudding with ice cream while watching Indiana Jones with Baggins.

Poor old Baggins spent the entire day water blasting the drive way so we can walk down it without abseiling gear.

In older news I have been sewing. First it was going to be a wall hanging - but after a few swerves along the way it is a double sided cushion cover. I did the tardis first from this awesome pattern http://www.sewhooked.org/paper_piecing/img/paper_piecing/edited/6_inch_paperpiece_tardisa.jpg which was my first introduction to paper piecing (instant addict). The Darlek was easy peasy after the tardis!

We took the boys part way up Mount Te Kinga last weekend. The boys had some good exploring in nature time. I had to do some back tracking towards the end in order to retrieve Oscar's possum which he had ejected from the back pack.

Here is said possum working it's magic.

Oscar Miro Norris with a Miro berry :-)

And Leo brought Zac Power along - first non-Tintin reading we've seen for quite some time.

A little helper in the kitchen

Tonight as I was preparing dinner Osky was pottering around about my knees as he does, occasionally snaffling slices of carrot from the chopping board. Noticing that he had dissected and distributed some carrot rather than consuming it I asked him to put the mess in the compost. Coming back from setting the table I was amused to see him carefully picking all the things he's not keen on off his plated up meal and transfering them one by one to the compost - I guess they were going to end up there anyway!!

My image of a West Coast Easter.

Took the boys out to Shanty Town for the Easter Egg hunt this morning. The actual egg hunting was a bit of a disaster, I ended up accepting a sneaky handful of tiny foil wrapped chocs from a friend and discretely hiding them nearby and encouraging the boys to look right there RIGHT NOW. Anyway, the highlight for me was the lovely gentleman who closes the doors and rides back and forth on the steam train (he probably does more important things than that, but thats what I notice) telling me that the Weka made off with many of the smaller eggs hidden around the place. There are quite a few fluffy weka chicks around at the moment so since then I've had this delightful image in my head of a Mama weka racing guiltily through the bush - you know how they do - with a beak full of choccies for her nest full of littles. Sigh. Got to be a children's story in that.

The highlight for the boys was getting a ride in the carriage pulled by Clydesdales. Although Oscar had maybe had enough excitement by then, and the sheep skin seat cover put him in zone out mode.

Leo and I worked on a joint sewing project a few days ago. We made a cape for his best friend who visited earlier in the week. L's friend is mad on Knights - so we went through my fabric stash and found suitable bits and pieces.

Leo did the rough cutting and decided on the placement of the patches - we used his best cape as a pattern. The whole thing was finished by the time Oscar woke from his nap, very satisfying!

I was inspired by last weekends sewing bee organised by Sandra (www.lettersfromwetville.blogspot.com) to make dress-ups for Christchurch Kindies.

I've also started two messenger bags - one for an adult - pohutakawa image, and the other for child - dinosaur themed. They are proving bit frustrating at this stage, too many decisions to make.

Slow Technology

Since I came across the words "slow technology" I have been coming up with what it might mean - but not actually finding out. I decided it should be "good" - slow technology should include new inventions which make life better, not just for one person for the moment, but for people - and the environment - and the future. I thought an example of slow technology might be a exercycle which I could use for exercise, while thinking my thoughts - or listening to music - which saves the awesome power of my clycling legs for future power needs. I'm sure such a thing exists, I may even have seen one. I also thought there might be a link with "old" technology, "low" technology if you like. Stuff that achieves a job - slowly - while also providing exercise and meditative time (push mowing the lawn, horse and cart, vaginal birth (no just kidding, that aint technology)) and in the past accidentally but now surely with more purpose NOT wasting precious energy and filling our world with broken bits of plastic.
So what do the creators of the phrase say it means?
"We present slow technology: a design agenda for technology aimed at reflection and moments of mental rest rather than efficiency in performance" from 'Slow Technology Designing for Reflection' by Lars Hallnas and Johan Resstrom. Now that to me sounded pretty much along the lines I was thinking. But a few sentences in and frankly the whole thing was pretty much over my head - and I threw my hands up in admission of defeat when I got to this example:
"Imagine an electronic doorbell that plays short fragments of a very
long melody each time we press the doorbell button. To fully grasp the
doorbell through its behaviour, we have to stop and reflect for a
moment each time it rings and only over time we can grasp the whole melody. It is technology that claims time. Is this “slow” doorbell a
better doorbell than the ordinary one playing the same two or three
tones over and over again? The difference in aesthetics between the
two doorbells is a difference in philosophy of design; the “slow”
doorbell is not designed to be “just” an efficient signalling mechanism
for non-reflective use, but rather an artefact that through its
expression
and slow appearance puts reflective “use” in focus. It is a doorbell
designed for reflection in a world of expressions using time and
presence as key parameters."
Hmmmmmmm not getting it.

More thought required, to be revisited.

Oh another example came up in my search from a different source: real snail mail http://www.realsnailmail.net/profiles.php love it lots :-)

in which Leo learns to finger-knit and clonks himself in the head with a hammer and the Cobden Easter Bunny makes an appearance

Today has been the most relaxed day of the holidays so far. We have had two sets of visitors from out of town, lots of trips and visits so it was a relief to sleep in, take Oscar very late to preschool and do some ordinary hanging out getting things done with Leo. First he had helped me clean out the container draw and the baking draw - both of which get out of control in about a week but which only get cleaned out once a term if they're lucky. Then we sat down and did a bit of finger knitting. To start with it looked totally impossible on his little fingers, but after a few stitches he was away and is now adorned with lots of little lumpy blue fluffy bling (can bling be fluffy?). The yarn he chose was slub yarn - thick and thin - that I had dyed blotchy blues yonks ago.
After lunch we wandered down to pick up Oscar and met the Cobden Bunny - as we always do when heading in that direction. He is currently the Cobden Easter Bunny in honour of the fact that he lives in Cobden, is a bunny and it is Easter. Anyway he's a bit of a sad story although amazing as he is still lolloping around after all these months. The first time we saw him (he is a beautiful lop eared fellow with pale brown splotches on white) we went door knocking thinking someone must be missing him. When we got the the 'right' house the woman there - surrounded by kids, the older of which go to school with Leo - told us "yeah it got out, it's not a nice rabbit, we don't care if it dies". There are a lot of dogs in this neighbourhood, but the Cobden bunny persists. The bunny lead to some interesting discussions with Leo about 'The Easter Bunny' who Leo fervently believes in. One of our recent visitors who is also 7 totally bewildered Leo by telling him that he won't play any games or dress ups that involve magic or ghosts because "God thinks magic is a bit icky". So - on the way to preschool it went something like this, Leo: "I believe in the Eater Bunny, but I don't believe in God because who made God so he could make the universe?" Me: "So who made the Easter Bunny?" Leo: "Well, when the world formed, proteins clumped together into living organisms which one day turned into the Easter Bunny - but not until after the dinosaurs". So glad we got all that cleared up!
Leo's day took a turn for the worse in the late afternoon when he was making some alterations to his rubber band gun (a wood work project) and became intensely frustrated to the point where he flung the hammer (child sized but still ghastly) up and back and got himself a sharp blow on the back of his head with the claw. Yikes. B immediately got him lying on his front in bed while we discussed the possiblity of neading an A & E excursion. There was blood, there was a very nasty looking gash about 1cm by 0.5cm - seemingly to the bone - how much flesh is there on the back of a little boys head? didn't go poking around to see how deep. We decided on a Granparental consult (Ma and Pa both have a medical background) and were reassured that the spot he hit is just about the toughest part of the skull and that as long as he stays alert and not vomiting all should be well, nasty long lasting bruising excepted. Every time I have seen Leo use that hammer - starting from about aged 2 (yes I know!!) I have cringed at the image of the claw coming towards his face and he lifts it, never expected this though! Hopefully a succinct and effective life long lesson in anger management and hammer safety.

In search of a shadow

I've been very much enjoying Mr O's newish to the planet take on the world. We drove out to 9 mile beach last night, making use of the low tide to harvest a few bags of mussels. The boys were having a lovely time with their long stretched out shadows on the beach as the sun went down. After watching the sunset Oscar spun slowly around several times before asking - tone indicating deep concern "I can't find my shadow". I reassured him that none of us could keep our shadows after the sun had gone down, and got him to check - but he came back with "but the sea still has a shadow" I thought that was completely left field until I realised he thought the wet tide line on the shore was the seas shadow - obvious really. He was happy again once the big orange balloon of a moon made an appearance.
He has also coined the phase "good boysing" which means he's doings something that he would generally expect to be praised for e.g. Me 'what are you up to Oscar?" Oscar "I'm good boysing!" (so far used when washing hands and putting dishes on bench).
Then tonight - while we had guests - he sent the room into quizzicle silence by announcing "My friends are big, my poos are big, and YOU are BIGGER!"

Slow Technology - now there is a new concept for me. Is it weaving, knitting, mowing the lawn with a push mower? Maybe, maybe not. It claims to be a reaction against the social and cultural values which stress us out and reduce satisfaction by insisting that everything must be speedy and crammed "grabbed, snatched, squeezed" in order for us not to waste a single second of our valuable time. I will find out more, and I will blether on about it.

Leo cooks up a storm - stuffed peppers and lemon delicious pudding

I have spent my afternoon taking photos - I have far too many. I did want a record of Leo attempting to cook his first meal, but took far more than I intended because he literally wouldn't let me do a speck of cooking. I felt obliged to stick around what with hot elements and sharp knives around, apart from excessive photography I also drank four cups of coffee throughout.
So - first there was gathering the ingredients.

We harvested lemons, basil, parsley and tomatoes - Leo rejected the Bill's prize peppers as they were green and the recipe picture clearly demanded red. The rest I harvested from Fresh Choice.
First a lot of chopping...

The chopping took an incredibly long time. He tried with the chefs knife but my nerves couldn't handle seeing his little fingers on the side of the blade so it was all with a little paring knife. His focus certainly outstriped mine.

Moving right along - rice (very tricky to drain when you're 7).

And frying..

Grating...

Mixing and stuffing...

One dish ready for the oven.... TaDa!!

On to desert.
More grating.......

Measuring....

Squeezing....

Beating...

More mixing..

And finally into the water bath and oven.

Wow - what a mission. And thanks to Oscar for sleeping for so long :-)
All veggies eaten, 'lemon delicious' lemony and delicious.