Half term part one

Half term. It’s such a relief not to have to get up early to get ready for school and college, and the daily commute is now down to the kitchen for breakfast rather than onto the busy roads to school. There’s something so delicious about knowing that it’s seven thirty, you’re still in bed and you’re not late!

I’ve had time this week to make my sourdough loaf. I’ve had a few disasters recently; whether the flour is a bit old, the starter isn’t right or it’s something else that’s changed I’m not sure but I was pleased with this loaf. I made a new starter using this recipe and it’s worked really well.

Our plan this week is to re-decorate big daughter’s bedroom. She asked if she could have a new bed for Christmas (I don’t know whether I’m sad that she’s grown out of asking for toys or happy that she sees a new bed as something of a gift!) and as her bedroom walls are marked with blu-tack stains where pictures and photos have been taken up and down over the years, we felt that a paint makeover was also required.

Small daughter is desperate to get involved with the painting. She’s had a turn at painting the ceiling and then I turned her attention to some painting that was required outside. About ten years ago, I made these wooden pencils (or perhaps more properly, crayons) to act as a screen for what was, at the time, big daughter’s “secret” play area. She had a sand pit and a trampoline at the bottom of the garden, and one birthday we bought her a “Wendy shed” to play in (now full of spiders and forgotten relics of games once played – I really must put it on my de-cluttering list!). Time passed, and the pencils are now badly in need of renovation. Most of them have rotted at the bottom and fallen down, and my husband’s muttering about it all has got louder. It is definitely time to do something about them.

Small daughter and I set to work. I’ve considered a few options – getting rid of the pencils altogether, buying new wood and starting again, or renovating what we have. In the end, I have opted for renovating the ones that we have. I cut the worst of the rot off the ends and made them all the same length again. Some of them still aren’t in great shape but they should be fine for another few years until I decide whether I still want them in the garden or not.

Small daughter got busy with the paint brush. In hindsight, tying her hair back would have been a good idea as she ended up with quite a lot of paint in it, and both she and the dog ended up with paint in their ears. The dog I can understand, as his ears are long and floppy, but small daughter?!

>We used tester pots of paint in lovely bright primary colours. In fact, they’re nicer than the colours I used originally, so I’m very pleased with how they turned out.

Luckily, we had just finished when small daughter announced that her fingers had turned to blocks of ice, and big daughter announced from the doorway that she had been making pancakes and they were ready. Talk about good timing! We left our pencils stacked up to dry and another day I’ll start to dig out the trench where they’re going to go. It’s a good opportunity for me to review the border that they’re in as the plants in there have grown considerably since I first put the pencils in.

A quick hand-wash and into the kitchen to try out big daughter’s pancakes. They were really good! I think she can be our Official Pancake Maker from now on. It doesn’t seem like a year since we made these pancakes, and big daughter is now much more confident in the kitchen and happy to try out recipes on her own.

So far, it’s been a good week and we’re only half-way through. Not too rushed but not too lazy either. More decorating planned for today, and a few treats lined up for later in the week. Lovely!

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13 Responses

  1. Campfire says:

    OOh, pencils and pancakes, lovely. They have these pencils at the school in Gorse Covert, must check if they're still there though. I didn't make pancakes sadly as by the time I had come home from the hospital and made some necessary phone calls on progress, I just didn't feel like it. Hopefully husband will be let out today, if his blood is right! It's so frustrating for him being in there but also for me as I am just either waiting to visit or waiting to see if he can come out. Fingers crossed, otherwise I'm scared he will sign himself out and I don't think that would be a good idea.

    • Winwick Mum says:

      Hope it's good news for your husband coming home. He must be really fed up by now as he's been in there for a while, hasn't he? xx

  2. Fiddly Fingers says:

    What a wonderful way to create a screen for a play area in the garden, I'm sure they will look lovely for quite a few more years to come. How lucky you finished just in time for yummy pancakes. Are you sure you didn't linger around just a tinsy bit until you knew they were finished? Lol! 🙂

  3. Amy at love made my home says:

    It sounds as though you have got lots of exciting things going on! I look forward to seeing more, especially of the garden project! xx

    • Winwick Mum says:

      The garden is definitely high up on my to-do list this year, so you'll probably be sick of reading about it soon! 🙂 xx

  4. Unknown says:

    Ooooh, that bread and those pancakes are making me very hungry indeed. Good luck with the garden renovations, you put me to shame as the most physical I have been this half term is going for a couple of walks. xx

  5. Angel Jem says:

    Baking, gardening and pancakes sound good to me! I love the pencils; I've seen them at schools and always thought they were a lovely idea!

    • Winwick Mum says:

      There are pencils at small daughter's school too, but we just have the coloured tips on ours rather than the whole pencil as in her playground – that's just a bit too much painting! xx

  6. Helen Philipps says:

    The pencils are wonderful, what a great idea to use them to screen the play area! They look lovely with the new paint too. Yummy pancakes….how nice that your big daughter made them!
    Happy weekend.
    Helen xox

  7. The House with the Blue Door says:

    I love the pencil fence – what a great idea! I also love sourdough, my favourite bread. Your photo is making me feel quite peckish. Half term is such a lovely time when you can rest and spend time doing fun things with the children. Hope you're having a good one 🙂
    Cathy x

    • Winwick Mum says:

      I'm not quite sure how much resting we're actually doing – the week seems to be passing by in a bit of a blur! It is nice not to have to do the school runs for a whole week though. Hope you're having a great half term too! xx

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