Christmas fair in Mayow Park

On Sunday there was a Christmas Fair in the Mayow Park community gardens. These gardens are somewhat hidden but more and more people are discovering them. It's an absolutely amazing space, run by a team of volunteers that keep the place really special. There are seasonal vegetables, flowers, green houses and a little hut where you can pop in with kids to do some crafting and painting. Next year there are a kids club and a nature watch club starting.
It's just there for people to use and enjoy and it doesn't actually cost anything!!! Of course, donations in terms of wood, soil, seeds and labour are greatly appreciated. I had done some crafting with the 'urban stitch' ladies and we were selling the Christmas decorations we had made previously. There was a stall selling fantastic felted crafts and I bought a fairy for Clara. If I hadn't run out of money I would have bought some felted gnomes for our seasonal table too...

samples of Christmas decorations from 'Urban Stitch'. First time I ever sold anything I had made. What a thrill.

See the ring made of wicker above. That's now hangs beautifully over our fireplace! and any Carlsson may notice the tablecloth! It came to good use displaying wooden christmas decorations.

Alvar stoking the fire.....very very exciting! We all smelled of wood smoke when we came home. Fantastic!

It was a beautiful day, blue skies and sunshine, cold and crisp air. Perfect day really for sitting around a fire, drinking coffee, chatting and supporting your local community garden.

Snow books

Taking out the winter books that has been put away. Rotating books is something we haven't done before. It was great getting them out as it's like having a set of brand new books. Excuse the bad photo, the light was fading very quickly.

Tomten by Victor Rydberg and illustrations by Harald Viberg. A classic Swedish book about the barn gnome going around in the moonlight checking so animals and people are ok. Magical. The same image below I used to find slightly scary as a young child, worries Alvar too. But he loves the book.

Another favourite is Snow by Uri Shulevitz. Dreamlike illustrations as below. Very little text but lots to look at as the snow starts falling in the city.

The other books in our basket are:

The Snowman by Raymond Briggs

One Snowy Night by M Christina Butler and Tina Macnaughton

Usborne Farmyard Tales: Christmas Flap Book - Preparation for Christmas at Apple Tree Farm

Then a Swedish book about the little lambs Bu och Ba in a snowstorm by Olof and Lena Lanstrom. They go shopping, land in a pile of snow, then chase a cabbage rolling down a hill and turn into a snowball. My 3.5 year old loves them.

It's total winter wonderland outside. Incredible. I haven't seen anything like it. (although since the photo a lot more snow has fallen) Even though we can't actually do much more than stay very local (and then i mean our streets) i am actually enjoying the 'confinement'. We all seem much more relaxed and chilled. Cold weather also makes one very sleepy so whilst the Buttons are having an afternoon nap I am baking again. Bread and some more of the Lussekatt, swedish saffron buns. Christmas is coming, have to have some!!

sunday tea

on Sunday we stayed in all day. Other half decided to make an amazing chocolate cake and we all sat down together in the afternoon for some tea, cake and fresh raspberries from the alottment. The weather was quite miserabable all weekend. We were meant to go to the Lantern festival at the Waldorf school in Greenwich but with big button being sick in the night, little button sleeping the effort to go all the way there just seemed like an effort too much. Another weekend of not doing very much. I really need them as we usually have such busy weeks. To gather my thoughts and do little tasks that otherwise is clinging to my mind. I am trying to be more organized and do stuff as they crop up. this must be the way forward in clearing the decks to allow for more creativity.

making bread, creams and cupboards

having had a few really rubbish days when everything seems to have gone wrong it's been wonderful to spend a whole day at home pottering and getting things done. It's good to end a week on a relaxed note when things previously have been unbalanced and unsettling.

As the boys were at the alottment Sunday morning planting the garlic, I had a bit of time to myself. (little button was having one of her micro naps). I finally got around to making the cream that I saw first on here. I got the supplies months ago and it's brilliant!! I love it. Was so quick to make, however, I had a difficult time to get it into the bottle. In the end i used the cake piper thingy to squirt it in.

above turns from mess into the most fluffiest peaks of cream you can imagine with a gentle and delicate smell.

I try and have home made bread always at home but sometimes it's difficult to find the time. I grew up with that so it's normal to me. In fact, shop bought bread was a treat. When i am good at planning i soak the grains the night before, but most of the time i bake the Grant loaf, first found in a Delia cookbook. Super quick and yummy. This time i used a third rye flour, the rest white flour and a handful of linseeds. Despite dropping it as i was about to put it in the oven it turned out fine. Even not so successful homemade bread is always better than shop bought.

and lastly, we put up the Ikea Trofast cupboard for big button's toy. Makes organizing his toys and tidy up easier. I always feel that our house is a mess so I hope this will help with that.

Going through his toys I felt that there was a lot we could probably get rid off. Things that we had 'inherited' and toys we hadn't actually chosen ourselves. Sometime getting things for free actually ends up just costing energy just by them simply existing and not being used. Time for a trip to the charity shop I think.

kale and cake

wow, the autumn is passing so quickly. I love this season but i also find it's much too short until the dark grey winter is upon us. We went to our alottment this morning and picked the last of the pumpkins, found a lonely red onion. The calendula seems to have had a last wave of bloom or it might just seem like that as everyting around them is wilting and going brown. There has been frost so the kale is good to pick now. I love kale. Especially kale salad from Feeding the Whole Family I really like this book and have used it a lot although i find the ingredients a bit confusing at times. But I think it's mainly because the American English uses different names and when I am not sure immediately and think i have to go look something up i kind of give up.

Coming home with veggie bounty like that makes me feel happy. Happiness can be that simple.
I'll save the pumpkin for later, cook the kale for supper together with chickpeas that are simmering right this moment. Curry perhaps? When the two Buttons wake up I'll make some cake with them as we need it. Having had a very hectic weekend, having a few slow days like this are just perfect and I try and relish every moment. Just being together is fine.

on the move

little Clara has finally found her groove....she is so happy to be able to move about and is getting into all corners, rearranging the book shelves, tearing off leaves from the house plants, and of course getting her little hands on the waste paper basket. A treasure trove for a ten month old baby! Hurrah!

Sweden

after a long absence I will now try and keep up with my blog. I read and get inspired by so many other lovely blogs, so I felt I also wanted to share and not always leave anonymous comments. .And also, my family can now keep up with our day to day activities. My big button A at least loves looking at pictures of himself. so let's start with that.


we spent a few weeks in Sweden with mormor and morfar in July. Outside my parents house, cows were grazing in the meadow. We would come out in the morning, sit on the steps having our breakfast watching the cows. A was absolutely mesmerized by them, waiting for them to do a big poo, obviously a very interesting topic these days. and that was it, i could sit in the sunshine enjoying my coffee, get my knitting out or whatever i felt like doing and he would just run up and down the fence watching ,waiting and talking. (to the cows) for absolutely ages. imagine if we had cows grazing down our road. some of my craft projects might get finished.

in September it was no different.....

another view was horses in the fields beyond my parents house, and the cars and tractors driving past. Who needs a soft play centre...