So here I am, mother to two little ones aged 2 years and 4 months, and 5 months old. My husband is a lovely man, but happens to be 6ft5 so is primarily to blame for the fact that little one no. 2 (aka Arty) was 10lb12oz. I'm on maternity leave, trying to balance the terrible twos, the reflux and the post-baby belly with attempting to learn new skills to keep my brain working. I was diagnosed with post natal depression which has proved challenging but is now (hopefully!) on the way out. The advice (apart from 'eat green vegetables and take omega-3') was to find more me time, do something to focus my mind and achieve something. Writing this blog is one of the things I thought I would try and hope it will provide a space to share not only some of the fun and joy of raising two kids, but also the hard times and the attempts to bake, garden and sew!
Yesterday I had my first day off in ages - went to London and found myself on the Old Kent Road looking for a spa with a friend....I was keenly looking out for chinese elvis who I remember seeing with much amusement about 10 years ago before I headed off to South West China. That gyrating pelvis and rendition of 'are you r-onesome tonight' is something I won't forget. Apparently the restaurant (Elvis grace lands palace) has gone now.
Last night I finished another craft project - my first attempt at a corded pillow cover. In a vague attempt not to bake as much (Tackling the baby belly), I decided to learn to sew. My old sewing teacher would fall over at this - my mum almost did. I was 'strongly recommended' not to do needlework at school - kept on breaking the machine. Having had a quote for curtains and feeling my jaw drop to the floor, I decided it was time to give it a go. Trying to find the time to sew is fun - small children and sewing machines don't seem to mix that well, though Isobel does love the bag I made even if it's big enough to fit her in! In between the peppa pig and iggle piggle books, I purchased a sewing book to give me instruction. It's great. This is it.
So far I've made two cushion covers (see grainy photo below - Tanya Wheelan fabric I think)
and a bag.....but don't seem to have reduced the baking as I demonstrated this afternoon. Having attempted to get both little ones to the swings and back without Isobel running off into the road shouting 'don't want buggy, want to walk', I persuaded her that a little mixing might be undertaken if she would hold on to mummy's hand. Eventually she did and the result was lots of fun making bagels. I followed the nigella recipe from 'How to be a domestic goddess' because it was there and handy. I never knew you boiled them. Some photos of the fun we had mixing, boiling and cooling them below. Hubby says he is a very lucky man though I'm not sure that the judges on the Great British Bakeoff would be that impressed given that most of them appear to have come out without holes and are bagel shaped only if you look at them at an angle! We will be trying them for breakfast I think.
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