Hand Painted Easter Eggs

Hi everyone,

In my last post I spoke about what Easter means to me and my family and mentioned the usual schedule. It went as planned! Chillin', loadsa eating, family party, seeing friends & just having a nice time!

This time we were at family in London, so soon I'll do a post on packing for a weekend away with a teeny: what I find useful on our travels and what I leave at home!

It was lovely as I even staged a mini Easter egg hunt for Seb, which wasn't too complex or taxing and he loved the round of applause he received after finding each egg! It was lovely.

Onto the eggs...here are the finished articles!

Seb painted them himself and I filled in the blanks. It was so exciting for me, as i'll be able to keep the eggs as a reminder of his first real Easter!

Hope you all enjoyed your Easter and created new traditions and new memories!

Love Mama x

Mama Ponders: A degree in Nursery Rhymes?

Having spent the past year revisiting Nursery Rhymes and singing them with an 'Adult's' perspective, I have become interested in the origins of nursery rhymes.

Seb preparing his dissertation on Nursery Rhymes

 

I haven't looked into any backgrounds yet, but thought wouldn't it be cool to do a post grad module in Nursery Rhymes for either an English Literature or Sociology degree?

I come from a moderately socialist background and that attracted me to study English Literature as that in the main focuses on the language and modes an author uses to explain what is happening around them. From reading, for example, a romantic piece written in the 19th Century, we can often grasp what life was like and take note of the political and social climate in the background, giving a rounder context to the story.

I'm no scholar (yet) in nursery rhymes, but some seem to be quite depressing and use cheerful melodies to disguise the gravity of despair. For example, the famous 'Ring-a-ring-a-roses' which is talking about the bubonic plague where people sneezed (a tissue) then died (we all fall down), had their ashes spread in the water (ashes in the water, ashes in the sea) then the ascent to heaven (we all jump up with a 1,2,3). Sad!!!!!!

Other sad ones to check out are: 
Ladybird, Ladybird
Oranges and Lemons
Mary, Mary quite contrary (describing Mary I's method of torture to Protestants!)

Thanks God for 'Old MacDonald had a farm'!!

For any parents or nerds (or both) who want to understand a little more of what these songs mean, check out this channel on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/user/NurseryRhymeHistory

Love Mama x 😖😖

 

Teeny Tiny's Tummy: 2 in1 Homemade apple and grape juice and eton mess

Hi everyone,

Yesterday, I went to the Supermarket and fancied trying my 14 month old Seb on grapes. I usually buy other fruits, but they were on offer.

I've been drilled, encouraged, guilt tripped by my Mom into making Seb's juice fresh daily. I get a scowl if I put a hint of packaged juice or a drop of squash (cordial) into his Sippy cup. No exaggerations!

As I'm off work and so is she, there's been nowhere to hide by way of shortcuts!

Now onto how I made the juice (preparation time 5mins) :

Blend the grapes and chunks of apple in a bowl or pan.

When the mixture is very thin, add some cool boiled water to lessen the sweetness of the grapes.

Add some lemon juice to stop the juice from oxidising (spoiling).

As there are 'bits' or grape skin in the mixture, sieve straight into your baby's sippy cup.

Watch their face light up at the delicious taste made from natural ingredients.



Ingredients (Apple is missing)

Now onto the Eton Mess (preparation time 5mins)

I had a brainwave as I sieved the juice and saw the grape skin build up: This could be a nice snack for this Mama.

Raided the cupboards and found meringue, crème fraîche and thought: Eton Mess time!

The recipes and ingredients vary, but it is a traditional English dessert made of berries, cream and meringue.

It's a mess, so all you have to do is mash up the ingredients. I too have been in a mess this week: a bit stressed and worn out, so this was a nice 'pick me up'.

 

 

 

 

My recycled mess

 

A mess eating a mess!

 

So there you have it: sweet homemade juice for the baby and a dessert for the messy Mama!!!

 

Love Mama x