Bank Holiday Monday

We went up to Town on the bus...

It was too wet to hang around Trafalgar Square to watch the Africa Day performances... so we went to the National Gallery instead.

http://www.takeonepicture.org/

Our school had taken part so it was great to see some of the work in the flesh.

What a fab idea this scheme is.
And overwhelming that the work produced this year could FILL the whole of the National! (well if they took the rest of the old masters down that is...)

We went for Dim Sum - the half-term holiday treat...
http://www.chuenchengku.co.uk/index.htm
How many prawn dumplings can a small child eat...?!

A bit of a Rainy Weekend...

Saturday was OK weatherwise - so we had a family outing to Nunhead Cemetery (google FONC) to pick elderflower-heads (as you do...!) N had finished the last bit of the previous vintage - so it was time to make some more elderflower-cordial before the elderflowers dissappear for another year... Anyway.. another 4 bottles are now in the fridge!

Then it was off to SeaCow (or as Jude calls it... SeaCowBoy) for well deserved Fish & Chips...

All my tomato & pepper plants were planted up in the afternoon - and I just finished before the heavens opened!

Sunday... it was pouring.

We spent the morning making Dalek Biscuits... (Nigella's Domestic Goddess cutout biscuit recipe) with a profusion of green & black (NO - not organic G&B chocolate... but GREEN & BLACK, and lots of it) icing... and silver balls!

Rest of the days was a mixture of drawing, making, watching Incredibles... and ended up (somehow) with a rave in the kitchen;
http://www.leftfield-online.com/
http://wma.juno.co.uk/ASF/SF150444-01-01-01.wma
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59G67qq19e0
etc etc etc... MC Annie-on-the-decks... got them all up on the floor...

Ecological bathing...

... aka "3-in-at-once"

(Tho' look at the colour of the water...)

Milking It...

It's shocking...

http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,,2079864,00.html

Chocolate Mousse...

... it's been a very wet weekend, and N has been on a training course... so I've been chief child entertainer...

What started out as a plan to make Chocolate Cornflake Cakes... turned into "we want to make Chocolate Mousse"... as Jude & Ivo discovered a picture in our favourite Hugh F-W "Family Cookbook"...

So at 8.20am on Saturday morning - we were whisking egg yolks & sugar, melting chocolate and generally having a good time (albeit at times stressful, as the temptation to eat the mixture got too much for Ivo & Sid...)

The egg-white whisking with the electric whisk was a particular hit... although it did all get a bit "Doctor Who" towards the end of the process!

The end resulting 11 (the 12th was eaten for quality control by 3 small-quality-controllers...) mouses (sic) looked wonderful in their mismatched little bowls...

At teatime- they didn't last long!

Absinthe... (closely followed by Champagne...)

You scored as absinthe. you are artistic and creative, but a little unstable. you are magical and can have dillusions, and are a little mysterious. absinthe 92% champagne 83% vodka 75% midori 75% wine 71% bourbon 67% whiskey 63% rum 63% daiquaries 54% beer 50% what alcoholic drink are you (pictures) created with QuizFarm.com

Mackerel for tea...

Sidonie and I went to the Horniman Museum yesterday - to celebrate National Compost Week!

We planted a marigold seedling each... she's got the makings of a gardener - and not afraid to get her hands dirty!

On the way home we passed a fishmongers, and Sid decided that we should have fish for tea. She was insistent on us buying 4 mackerel. I think it was the beautifully patterned skin that swayed her.

Anyway everyone enjoyed them grilled with a dressing of lime juice, Nam Pla, coriander and chilli... and Basmati rice.

Not a bad choice for a (just) 3 year-old!

Albany Midwives...

I went to visit the Albany Midwivery Practice yesterday (research for my presentation on Maternity Services in my local area).

What a fab bunch of women, and SO welcoming... and their birth stats are nothing short of amazing. (47% homebirth rate!)

They are unique - which is sad... all women should be offered this sort of one-to-one care...

http://www.albanymidwives.org.uk/albanymidwiveshomepage.htm

It was an totally inspiring afternoon - and I was invited to sit in on an antenatal drop-in meeting to meet some pregnant mums-to-be, and to hear a couple of birth stories from new mums (and got to cuddle a gorgeous little boy called Troy!)

Party season...

It's been a busy couple of weeks with parties and stuff... Both Ivo and Sidonie are April babies. Infact they were born in the same week (albeit 2 years apart!) 24 & 27 April...

Ivo celebrated his 5th Birthday with his classmate Freddy on 21 April; that was quite a big party in our local church hall, with over 50 children!

Emily (Freddy's Mum) and I decided that we wanted to make the afternoon like a trip to the Fair - so we had face-painting, icecream cones, sunflower seed planting, team games, and pizza for tea...

All the children went home with a brightly coloured bag full of popcorn...

Sidonie had never had her own party before, she's always shared with her brother. So this was her 1st! It was a lovely afternoon in our garden on 29 April - she and 10 little mates egg & spoon races, had icecreams and planted some seeds to take home.

All the children went home with a windspinner to hang in the garden or their bedroom, oh and a piece of Lola cake too ofcourse!!