This weekend, I decided to try another new recipe from my Midnight Chicken book. I made the pancakes, which turned out like crèpes, or as my daughter calls them “craps!” 🙂 I love lemon and sugar crèpes – they’re my idea of comfort food. One of my daughters refuses to eat any form of pancake, so sadly she couldn’t partake in the ceremony and opted for yogurt instead 🙂
I wanted to do Lina’s gingerbread craft from https://www.amistykindofblue.com/ at Christmas time, but we didn’t get around to it. So, I decided to turn it into a January craft instead 🙂 I don’t think gingerbread necessarily has to be just for Christmas and painting snowflakes in Winter still feels acceptable 🙂 I thought our kitchen could do with some cheering up with the Christmas art work put away too 🙂 I dug some cardboard boxes out of the recycling bin (literally :)) and cut out circles, stars, hearts, gingerbread men and houses. We used white paint to decorate them like Lina had (like icing on gingerbread.) I made some too and found it very therapeutic. After they had dried, the girls used a hole punch for the first time, (which was quite the novelty) to make holes in the decorations so we could add string. We made some into bunting and a few individual ones to decorate the cupboard handles and the girls’ room 🙂 I would definitely do this craft again, whether it is the season for it or not, and the fact it calls for white paint makes it a lot less messy than full-fledged painting!
The girls got a DIY dolls’ house kit for Christmas from my parents, so I decided to try tackling it. I was a little daunted by it because DIY in any form frightens me (even if it’s in miniature and involves PVA glue!) I got one of the walls and floors assembled. I think I’m going to complete it in small stages. Once I figured out the instructions and the parts I needed to use, I found it a soothing activity. It might not be finished until 2023, but at least I’m trying to do it 🙂
I lit a candle and had one of the Parisian cookies we made this week and did some writing. I’m finding writing by candlelight very helpful – it helps me carve out a little piece of alone time in Lockdown. At that time of the day, the girls are usually absorbed in watching something and they think what I’m doing is too boring to stick around for anyway 🙂
This morning, the girls and I walked to The Lamppost Cafe to get some hot chocolate to take away and to get some fresh air. I had never been inside it before and I loved the decor and ambience. The lion picture seemed particularly relevant at the moment 🙂 Even with no customers inside, it still felt cosy and I liked looking at all the pictures on the walls. The girls loved the teddies that were having a socially-distanced afternoon tea at one of the tables. I plan to return when it fully reopens and gaze at the walls 🙂 When we left, the girls spotted an empty park, so they sat on the roundabout while they drank their drinks. Then we walked home, via Cyprus Avenue. I love that street, with all the trees lining it and the girls always find pine cones there too, which, to them, is cause for celebration 🙂
The Funky Thrifter 