This week, the girls and I went on a little snow day walk to Nature’s Way. I like going there sometimes. For some reason, buying items there feels like more of a treat than from a chain shop. Maybe it’s because of the organic food prices, or because you intentionally pick out your items, like loose scented soap and flavoured teas. The girls seem to enjoy going too because it’s more personal. We had a conversation with the lady who worked there about homeschooling and the unconventional ways in which we had learnt things ourselves. Then she gave the girls some lollipops for the walk home 🙂 I love the Refuge hot chocolate that they sell. I’d had it before at markets and I always look out for it when we go 🙂 The girls loved it too and my daughter finished her cup in under two minutes 🙂 It’s so creamy and smooth, which is strange because it doesn’t contain dairy. I also like the fact that the proceeds go towards a good cause.
The girls got out their sewing kits that they got for Christmas from my mum. The Galt ones are really easy for kids to understand and they managed to do most of them without my help 🙂 I tried a kids’ cross-stitch kit before with them and I couldn’t work it out, and I do sew, so some are easier than others 🙂 They sewed together a little notebook and pencil holder and a purse and were very proud of themselves 🙂
That night, the girls insisted on going out in the dark to say farewell to Snowy the snowman. They had put him inside their playhouse to try to stop him melting but sadly, it didn’t work 🙂
My daughter had to make a self-portrait for school, so she chose to make her eyes with clay and her hair and nose with pasta 🙂 I liked the fact she used full strands of spaghetti that were longer than the page 🙂 She was also given the task of making a healthy wrap face for lunch. Ours ended up much less healthy than the example provided once the girls elimated all the ingredients they didn’t want to eat 🙂 They had a “picnic” in the living room in their den 🙂
I got myself a new journal to write in. I’m trying to make a point of writing in it each day and completing my morning pages (from The Artist’s Way book.) They usually end up being afternoon pages since I don’t get much peace in the mornings, but I have found it useful so far. It gets you to dump all your thoughts onto a page so you can make room for more creative ones 🙂 Even though I’m always buying notebooks, I never seem to have one with a blank page in it 🙂
My daughter was painting more winter scenes for school – this time using watercolours. I love watching to see what she comes up with, especially if it diverges from the original idea 🙂 She is very confident with painting and drawing and it inspires me to try to doubt myself less when I’m doing creative things.
I ordered some art supplies and got the girls their own sketchbooks 🙂 We have been having lots of painting sessions together. The girls claimed the cardboard box that the supplies came in to make a home for their two favourite teddies 🙂 They were really involved in decorating the box and making cat flaps for their “pets.” It always amazes me how much they can do with a cardboard box. Afterwards, we made some of the Refuge hot chocolate and played kids’ scrabble. I made a new malt bread recipe and realised I want to experiment more with different kinds of bread. I tend to always make the one bread recipe I have stored inside my head 🙂
We made an orange and carraway seed cake. I had never cooked with caraway before and the flavour wasn’t what I’d expected. I thought it paired well with orange, but the girls didn’t think much of it 🙂 They helped me to bake it and enjoyed juicing the orange for the glaze 🙂 I made the cake with strong bread flour by mistake, thinking it was self-raising flour because of the blue bag, and the sponge actually turned out lighter than usual. Some mistakes seem to produce better results than what we had originally planned 🙂
This morning, we did what has become our Friday walk to get magazines and donuts in Guilt Trip. The girls ate half of my coffee donut before I’d tasted it. I thought it would have been a safe choice that I wouldn’t have to share, but clearly, such a thing doesn’t exist 🙂
The Funky Thrifter 