halloween

We had fun preparing for Halloween

little mr z enjoyed drawing his design on paper for a pumpkin face

and then drawing it on to the pumpkin

he used a sharp corn on the cob holder to poke out the lines of his face - easier and safer than a sharp knife!

and here they are - little mr z's much more exciting than mine - with the sharp teeth and cool nostrils

i would recommend roasting the pumpkin seeds in oil and salt - so delicious and more-ish. little mr z and i ate them all afternoon while we worked

And lovely hubby brought these beautiful vegetables home from the market

raw vedge

i have rediscovered raw vegetables. and how much less effort is it to chop up vegetables and throw them on a plate than to also steam and serve them - cauliflower, courgette, broccoli, spring onion, carrot... YUM

And I have so much more energy after this lunch than a big sandwich or bowl of pasta. I guess it just takes the energy and inspiration to do all the chopping!!

breakfast

we bought a second hand gas barbeque. lovely hubby was so excited he cooked breakfast on it 

yu-u-um

 this is my favourite breakfast. my mother used to cook it for us regularly but for saturday night dinner not breakfast. she is american. i love the delicious american gems she has passed on to me. i'll give you the recipe some time.

or you can just go ahead and eat chocolate on the streets of Prague .. mmmm..

so much for New Year's resolutions and healthy eating

green tomato chutney

i was going to call this blog 'greentomatochutney' but i decided not to as it was too foodie. i love food and want to share food ideas and recipes but my blog is about all aspects and ideas around mothering and motherhood, not just the food bit.

 however i was even more tempted when i came across these pleasing photos of green tomatoes which which would make great blog backgrounds.

and i did make deeeelicious green tomato chutney with the tomatoes from our garden. i decided to pick and use them when they were green because the squirrels had started getting to them.

advent

i made an advent calendar this year - for lovely hubby and me. a long piece of string with a paperclip and envelope for each day. i loved decorating each envelope with all those magazine pictures, postcards, stickers, pretty papers that i have held on to you for years with no purpose. i then put notes, verses, thoughts, prayers, memories and of course chocolate inside the envelopes.

 i think i'll keep it and re-use it next year

baby food cubes

i found these brilliant trays for freezing baby food. best ones i've used yet - good big size for growing mr z who has a big appetite and easy to bend and push the cubes out without having to run them under hot water, half melt the food, bang them on the counter and lose most of them on the floor. 

 nicely packable in a bag, these cubes hugely please my anal retentive side

 and a bowl of fruit, soon to be consumed by my baby boy, hugely pleases my mother side

 and these beautiful bowls, given to me by my fabulous older sister, hugely please my creative side (how pleasing to feed a baby from a pretty microwavable ceramic bowl rather than yucky plastic)

baby shoes

pointless over-priced things i know but so so cute don't you think? i love being given these little leather beauties because you can indulge the cuteness of them at no cost. why do we grow to hate our adult feet? so many people find feet somewhat grotesque. at what point do our feet lose their gorgeousness and turn from those lovely soft pink squidgy edible little tootsies to lumpy, warped, dirty, cracked, smelly(?) .... you get the idea. 

i am a mum

i am a mum - by no means an expert. becoming a mum i discovered i need creativity in my days...beautiful and delicious things - making them, buying them, consuming them, using them, gazing at them. i also felt the need to photograph and record these things as many of them were used & gone! as mums we need to share ideas. we need all the help we an get. it's therapy for me to record ideas and to learn from others. i need community and i need to put value on what i do day in and day out, by recording it. i think i would like to start a blog, if i can find the time and energy and not be too distracted from my kids.

here i am going in to labour - my last hours before baby arrived

here is gorgeous hubby and scrumptious baby z

potted salad

today we had the first salad from our own home-grown vegetables. it was delicious and made me never want to buy vegetables again. 

 now i understand why the squirrels won't stay away from our veggies. but i wish they'd leave a bit more for us!

happy birthday to me

thank you dear sis for the delicious cake.. yum!

 and dear hubby for the beautiful lilies you planted for me, among many other things you do and are.