Yellow

 Bright, cheerful, happy...

 

 

 Wholesome and healthy...

 Blazing sparkles...

 Fading light...

Golden friends...

Hank. RIP big fella...

 Faithful Cooper...

Little rascal Saffy...

 Joining in again this week with Evi

Weekend baking

 The last few weekends I have been baking from recipes out of my Old Fashioned Favourites cookbook, and this weekend was no exception.  I have noticed a theme in these "old-fashioned recipes" - butter and sugar. Lots of it!

Firstly I baked Easter Biscuits.  As I read the recipe I realised that I know these as Currant Cakes.  My Grandma used to bake them, although she used lard rather than butter. Hers would come out melt-in-your-mouth crumbly and were terribly delicious straight from the oven.  You were never allowed to take one though, and if she caught you sneaking one off the tray she would shout "Gerrout" in her Yorkshire accent and perhaps swat at you with a tea towel. I remember asking Mum to get one for me.  Mine were almost as yummy as hers but not quite!

Here's the dough ready to roll out.  I used sultanas chopped up into smaller pieces because I didn't have currants but really wanted to cook this recipe :)

 Cutting the dough into rounds...

 Warm Currant Cakes sprinkled with sugar and ready to eat...

 I also baked what my recipe book called British Flapjacks.  These were easy and had just three ingredients - sugar, butter and rolled oats.  They came out crispy and a bit caramelised.  The children love them, but when I tried one I felt like I had a mouthful of butter. Of course, that's because I did have a mouthful of butter and sugar!  I think this recipe is one that I will leave to the past!

 Mum, if you are reading this - don't you think these are just like Grandmas?

Do you have baking recipes handed down from past generations?

Arty-ness

Since we started home educating 18 months ago, we have been getting ideas for visual art activites from Artistic Pursuits, the K-3 books.  The books cover different mediums and techniques, and each activity is inspired by an artist or style, so we have covered some art history also.


 

These artworks are inspired by Kandinsky and use oil pastels and watercolours.  

Even though the children used the same colour palette, each art work turned out a little different from the others.  Amy used strong colours in hers, above.  Pretty good for a not-quite-five-year-old, don't you think?

Lili used the colours she likes best in hers, right.

Nathan concentrated on trying to use complementary colours in his, left.

Previously, the children created some sculptures from foil.  Amy and Lili aimed for giraffe-like animals.

 Nathan went for something a little quirkier.

 The 'herd' together...

 

 

warm, cosy, homeschool

Cold, windy, rainy weather today.  I remember going to school on days like this; my school had no heaters and it was often chilly and a bit miserable.

 

Today I was so glad to be home educating; my children snug, happy and warm here at home.

 

At the last minute I decided to throw together a chicken noodle soup to have with freshly baked bread as a warming winter lunch.  

 Some stock, pasta and chopped left-over roast chicken went into the pot, boiling for as long as the pasta took to cook. Almost instant warm lunch!

What quick, warm lunches do you make in winter?

Red

Joining in with Evi again for the colour of the week: Red.

Once again I was delighted to sit with my cup of tea and browse through my photo archives.  The children are so small in some of these photos!

 A shiny red bike for Christmas...

 ...a red crown for Nana on baby Lili's first Christmas...

 ...red reindeer ears for a cheeky girl...

 

...warm woolly jumpers on the beach in winter...

 

 

...a boy set for action!

 

 

...an old red bus...

 

I do like red!

Highlights from our homeschool week...

 Lili has continued to take off with her reading and writing. She loves it and can't get enough! In these pics she is creating a story from the sight words she has learnt (the white ones) and words made from sounds she has learnt how to blend (red/orange words).

 Lili loves to tell stories and it is marvelous to see her joy at being able to put words together to communicate.  After composing the sentences she wrote them in her book.

We made animals from recycled materials. Some giraffe-like creatures...

 ...an elephant...

 ...and a crab.

 Nathan went for an abstract creation he called a "Thingy-mabob."

 Lili had ballet and jazz early in the week, and then it was Amy's turn mid-week. The photos aren't that great! I so enjoy watching Amy dance, she does her ballet beautifully.

 

 We enjoyed a trip to the Museum. The kids especially liked the hands-on science area.

The exhibition about Coal, Steel and Newcastle was great and also had some hands-on elements...

The girls did not enjoy the light and sound show about BHP- too scary! We had to leave part way through.

 

 

The old Newcastle tram was wonderful...

 

 After that it was time for gymnastics again.

 

We finished off the week with a bit of a road trip to deliver three of the guinea pig babies to some friends.  The kids had a great time catching up and playing with their friends and it was a nice way to finish off our school week.