A very Peppa birthday

E turned three earlier this month. Three! She was so excited. Excited about being three, excited about becoming a big kindy girl, and very excited about having a party. It is the first birthday she had with friends instead of just immediate family. 

The beloved Pig having been the  flavour of the last six months  we went for a very loose Peppa theme. This got us multiple days worth of art/craft activities. Gluing pictures printed from the internet onto party hats was one day's worth. Making origami baskets was another one. Gluing the pigs onto the baskets another. I looked at lots of origami websites and now can't remember which one I actually used, but there are loads out there. 

We also made goody bags which were small clip seal bags topped with paper Peppa printouts also courtesy of Mr Google and which I don't seem to have taken a photo of. Each  one contained a few Easter eggs (the party was on Easter Sunday), a bubble mix, a balloon and a Peppa badge sourced from eBay.

We invited three girls from playgroup and four family friends. That made seven kids, including E, plus the baby brother of one, plus all their parents. It was definitely the biggest crowd we've entertained in a while! The only organised activities were a treasure hunt that utilised the baskets and pass the parcel. Watching three-year-olds try to participate in a game that is, on reflection, one of the greatest exercises in sharing out there, was very funny.

Food-wise I made and froze sausage rolls and mini-quiches over a few successive Mondays whilst E was at daycare. Together we made PP biscuits using this biscuit cutter. The day before the party I made the cake. On the morning of the party we cut up fruit, made sandwiches. and threw some cheese, biscuits and dip on a plate. That was it.

On the day of E's actual birthday D and I both stayed home and, at her request, we went "to the beach to get crashed by waves." April has been stupidly hot but this meant it was a perfect beach morning. We then had fish and chips and squid for lunch. Speaking of little piggies, E is quite capable of devouring a dozen squid rings all on her own!

E was very spoilt present wise. I think I am going to have to start controlling my urges to buy her silly amounts of stuff sometime soon.

We asked E as we were putting her to bed that night if she had enjoyed her birthday. She thought for a minute then said "yes, a little bit. But I liked my other birthday (as in her party) more Mummy!"

Chatting with our chatterbox

E just talk talk talks all day long at the moment. She can be scarily distracting in the car, so much so that I have found myself bellowing "just be quiet for a minute in the carpark!" This is usually followed by ten seconds or so of silence then "Mummy? Can I talk to you now? What about now? Now?" Even if she is not talking to someone else she prattles away quietly to herself whilst absorbed in play. She manages quite complex sentences and her grammar is much improved. I am a bit sorry that so many of her baby mispronounciations are fading away. Some of the most persistent are:

* Olephant
* Aminals
* Cumber (cucumber)

It was late by the time we got around to bath time tonight and after five minutes or so I said "Come on E, time to get out now." 
She said "Ohhhhh .... I don't .... I wish we had a cuckoo clock."
I didn't have a reply for that one!

Icy pole for breakfast, anyone?

E decided recently that icy poles constitute breakfast food.

I decided, that, given we were having Perth's fourth hottest February ever, and so long as they involved yoghurt as well as fruit, it wasn't worth fighting over.

And so the breakfast icy pole was born. We've done two versions, one involving a large handful of mixed frozen berries zapped in the microwave until mushy and then mixed with a few big spoonfuls of yoghurt, and another one with whizzed mangoes and yoghurt. Next time  I plan on making them more yoghurt-heavy as E doesn't much like milk and so we try to give her lots of alternative dairy, and she does eat loads of fresh and dried fruit. I might also try sneaking in chia seeds because I'm keen to see if they really do go gelatinous when mixed with liquid and if they work well frozen.

What do you think? Breakfast food?

A sorry sun-scorched summer garden

The title says it all really: this has been a disappointing summer in the garden. It's partly due to the ridiculously hot weather we've had - multiple stretches of 35C or more and very few days under 30C. We realised several weeks ago it was probably also due to a poorly functioning sprinkler system, which has now been rectified.

In the vegie patch I attempted zucchini, pumpkin, watermelon, tomatoes and cucumber. All of them got fried except for the tomatoes and zucchini. The tomatoes have been a mixed success - the best producers were the ones D's Dad grew from seed that I put in pots out the front. Now that the sprinklers are performing better some of the Diggers "mixed currants" appear to be reviving and hopefully we'll get some more off those. Given how warm March and April tend to be in Perth I figured I also had time to put in some late starters and managed to find a mixed four pot of Diggers seedlings at Bunnings and those plus a Burke's Backyard branded one have gone into the ground.

One thing that is flourishing is the apricot tree. That's a branch of it in the top right hand corner of the tomato photo. It's taller than the house and will need some serious pruning come winter so that it doesn't completely block the walking space between it and the house, and it and the vegie patch. We avoided last year's fruit fry problem by using little paper bags I got from an organic gardening place and they were really effective. So effective in fact that I didn't realise that the fruit was ready and a lot of it got over-ripe. From about 20 apricots that I bagged 3 or 4 were edible. And delicious, I might add. I will repeat the bagging exercise next summer but keep a better eye on how ripe they get.

I have concluded that we don't have enough bees in our garden as the zucchinis flowered but very few have set. I've had one yellow one and there are two more coming. In an attempt to avoid this problem in future I've planted a lavendar, as well as some nasturtium seeds.

Zucchinis with flowers but little fruit. Half dead tomatoes in the background.

Now I am wondering whether it is time to start planting winter seeds in pots. It still seems ridiculously warm to be doing so but I am about to drag out my collection of gardening books and refresh my memory about the appropriate time to be doing such things.

How are everyone else's gardens looking?

A story about an old man

As told by E, aged 34 months.

Once upon a time there was an old man. His name was Luther and he had a dog and his dog's name was Flipper.
One day Luther and Flipper went to the swimming pool. They wore their bathers. Luther's bathers were red. But Flipper didn't wear his bathers because dogs don't wear bathers, Mummy!
Then they went to the park and played on the slide.
Then they went home and drew pictures. Luther used the red crayon and Flipper used the brown crayon. Flipper didn't hold the crayon in his hands he held it in his mout. Dogs can't hold things in their hands!
The end.
 

Meatless Monday: vegie smuggling tomato spaghetti

Last week I made a humungo batch of this "homemade tinned spaghetti" from Vegie Smuggling. 

The sauce is a blend of tomato passata, pumpkin and tinned beans and is supposed to taste something like tinned spaghetti. We didn't have the recommended two cups of pumpkin so I used a cup of grated carrot and a cup of pumpkin. I was enthusiastic about the idea of disguising pumpkin and beans into a form that I thought E, the ultimate pasta addict, would enjoy.

I don't actually remember the last time I ate spaghetti from a tin and so can't comment on whether this is similar, but it turned out to be a very sweet, pastey tomato sauce. It was so sweet that neither D or I liked it much, even though I jazzed ours up with a big handful of fresh basil and oregano, and topped it with sauteed mushrooms.

Adult version with mushrooms and herbs.
Next time I would remove the toddler portion
and then add a bit of vinegar or something else acidic.

E, however? HOOVERED it. And that's a good thing, as I have another six ramekins worth in the freezer for her.

Toddler version about 5 minutes before it was demolished.

Lately...

... we have played endless games of "tea party." This involves making "biscuits" out of playdough then "cooking" them in the (cold) oven, then dispensing them to toys on plates. Under the table. It is apparently mandatory that all tea parties take place under the table. Usually the toys decide they are hungry for something else other than just biscuits, in which case something like corn puffs or sultanas get very carefully divvied up onto each plate as well.

... we have answered so many questions starting with "but why?" This morning's version:

"Daddy, when you were born and you were a baby, who was your mummy?"

"Grandma."

"But whyyyyyy?"

That one had D somewhat stumped.

 ...we have enjoyed combining an early evening garden water with E's bedtime shower. Squeals of delighted laughter are a very pleasant way to end the day.

... I was very glad to finish up at one job and have had a good first week at the new one.

... E is coping better with the fact that she refuses to have any kind of day sleep. Previously our late afternoons were a bit of a disaster zone leading up to a 6:00pm bedtime, but yesterday we managed early fish and chips at our friends' house and she wasn't in bed until about 7.30pm and it was fine. Hurrah!