bedtime reading

when i am looking for children's books at a bookshop or at the library i have to admit that i tend to be on the lookout for the ones with pretty illustrations.

it must be one of the reason's why i love beatrix potter's books and the brambly hedge series by jill barklem so much. the illustrations are just sweet, pretty and well just so... english.

these are the books that i love reading to jessica the most and lucky for me she really enjoys them and they are requested often.

so at the moment we have been reading the brambly hedge spring story, working our way through the complete tales of beatrix potter (although peter rabbit is requested the most from this book) and also reading the flower fairies of spring another old favourite (of mine) with pretty pictures.

there are a few others that are part of our regular reading this week. the first one being a first book of nature and we are reading the spring section and talking a lot about the illustrations. this book is written by nicola davis and illustrated by mark hearld and is a lovely collection of poems featuring the seasonal goodness that nature has to offer.

the runaway hug by nick bland and illustrated by freya blackwood is one of our favourite books to borrow from the library. such a sweet bedtime read and freya's drawings are just divine. it is one i would like to own.

another favourite at the moment is the newly released peggy by anna walker. a tale about a chicken that makes us giggle. who can resist a chicken with character? anna is another favourite author and illustrator and we are (i am) keenly awaiting the release of today we have no plans written by jane godwin and illustrated by anna. it is the companion book to all through the year which is just adorable and that i love, as it's very hard to find books that follow our season's here in australia. today we have no plans is due out in october.

isn't the little pink sweet pea just so pretty?. it was the first one out in our garden and looked lonely so i brought it inside. sweet peas are one of my favourite flowers. oh i say that about all the flowers! how could i choose a favourite? it depends on the season (or the moment) of course...

lucky me

afternoon sunshine, a cup of tea, a great book and a napping child.

lucky me!

can i tell you i am in love with this book? it was actually love at first sight. have you ever felt like that about a book? is this normal? do you like to read cookbooks like they are a novel?

from the moment i laid eyes on the real food companion by matthew evans i just knew it would be a firm favourite for a very long time. 

it ticks all the boxes for me. gorgeous textured cover, earthy styling and photography throughout, recipes that are easy to read, recipes that you would cook at home not your fancy restaurant stuff, great additional information regarding ethical eating and sourcing of products and best of all its about real food just as the name suggests.

i could hardly decide whether to read it from front to back or look through the whole thing first before reading. i read the prologue then couldn't help myself, i had to see the rest.

i can't believe i have never come across this book before as the gourmet farmer series is my favourite kind of television viewing...  cooking, small holder farming, growing your own food and foraging for food all set in beautiful tasmania.

anyway i am off to bed for an early night and to start back at the beginning of a wonderful book.

doodle on the moon

jessica just loves the moon.

there aren't many days that go by without us talking about the moon and it's size (or should i say phase that it is in). most nights we will go out before bed to see if they moon is up and say goodnight to it.

a few days ago i came across this wonderful free printable moon via pinterest. its from the website mr printables. there are three different sizes that can be printed. me, i had to go for the biggest.

while jess was napping i set up a little area just for the 'moon'. i taped the moon to the blackboard and draw a few houses and stars, added some crayons near by for jess to doodle with.

 to the felt board i added some shapes to manipulate, a rocket and the phases of the moon. 

i gathered together some moon books, although i wish we had more. i will have to search the library.

our favourite is papa, please get the moon for me by eric carle. we have read this book so many times.

the classic goodnight moon by margaret wise brown. i found this at the op shop and although i like it and jess likes it i am glad i didn't pay much for it.

i took the moon for a walk by carolyn curtis and alison jay. just adorable. i love any of alison jay's work. i like the informative section in the back of the book about the phases of the moon and night life.

not really a moon book but i thought i would include it for now as it relates a little bit to our theme, on earth by g.brain karas. i find this book delightful as an introduction to the earth and the way it revolves around the sun and how that effects the seasons. jessica hasn't warmed to this book yet as i guess the concept is a little above her years.

a pile of books to read

i haven't been blogging all that much lately. i have been having plenty of early nights tucked up in bed with a book. doing the single parent thing, as i am at the moment, is pretty tiring.

 it's getting dark so early and it's cold as we head towards the winter solstice.

so reading is much more enticing than sitting here at the computer. 

i have a big pile of books next to my bed at the moment and i am swapping between books, reading a bit here and there from each one. i don't know why i do that, i think it is just that i have so much i want to read and so little time to do it.

nourishing traditions by sally fallon. 

i simply love this book. i am finding that i am trying quite a few of the ideas outlined as i steer my family towards a more traditional way of eating. more of that in another post soon.

learning together, what montessori can offer your family by kathi hughes.

some great ideas in here for montessori style home learning.

a cook's life by stephanie alexander.

this is stephanie's autobiography. i am a huge fan and have many of her cookbooks. 

the happiness project by gretchen rubin

i have been in and out of this book since the start of the year! i originally intended to read it all in one go. the chapters go month by month so i am not doing too badly as i am up to "june" now. i will try to keep up with one chapter a month until the end of the year. its an inspiring read and although i don't have my own happiness project going, i do take many of the ideas on board.

the aware baby and helping young children flourish by aletha j. solter

fantastic books on attachment and mindful parenting which i am finding very useful at the moment with a little one that is having a tough time dealing with her father being away working.

the rhythm of family by amanda blake soule

i have to admit i love books that follow the seasons (adult's and children's) and this one is no exception. the essays are a joy to read and a great reminder to me for the way i wish to parent. lots of activities, crafts and cooking too makes for a great combination. this is a book that i will come back to again and again.

isn't the yellow cymbidium orchid just gorgeous, very cheery for these cold grey days of winter.

numbers

jessica has been enjoying counting books lately.

'one, two, three, four, eight, nine, ten' she says.

i know she understands how many one is and also how many two are and this is a concept she has known for quite some time but the rest of the numbers don't really have meaning to her yet.

some of the books we have been reading have included,

numbers by alison jay

we love this book. i partically love how a story is told by the illustrations rather than words. each illustration also has many things to count relating to the number, for instance 6 gingerbread men, 6 drawer handles, 6 foxes running around the plate, 6 o'clock on the clock etc. there is so much to look at on each page which isn't always obvious at first.

my granny went to market

this is one we have borrowed from the library many times. good for counting and also for geography.

rooster's off to see the world by eric carle
jess has really enjoyed this book and loves counting the animals as the story progresses. she is really just repeating me by saying how many there are but it is also first steps towards understanding numbers.

down to earth

down to earth by rhonda hetzel

i received this wonderful book from a friend for my birthday recently.

i love it.

the photos and styling of this book are beautiful.

 chapters include spending and saving, home, organising your life, home grown self reliance, the sustainable backyard and nourishment all written with practical wisdom and life experience, encouraging the reader to find pleasure and meaning in a simpler life.

i am looking forward to trying out her method for making home made yogurt, of making my own cleaning products and organising my time and home a little better.

story time

a few books from the library to read this week.

i think our library must have just acquired some new children's books as there were lots i hadn't seen before.

we have a few of the classic beatrix potter books.  jess has been asking for them to be read to her lately, so when i saw this version of a collection of peter rabbit tales i knew jess would enjoy it as it contains some different stories to the ones we have at home.

pussycat pussycat, where have you been? by dan bar-el and illustrated by rae mate is delightful and has quickly become a favourite. gorgeous illustrations and a lovely tale in which the cat travels to many different countries.

cat's whiskers by lynley dodd is a collection of cat tales about slinky malinki and scarface claw. we have a couple of the slinky malinki books but there are also a couple we don't have that are included in this publication. jess is happy that she gets four stories in the one book.

hairy maclary's hat tricks also by lynley dodd is one of the tales about hairy that we don't own so we had to have that one to read this week.

the story about ping by majorie flack and kurt weise was first published in 1933. what a classic. i love this book and remember reading it when i was a child. its a delightful story about a duck who lives with his large family on the yangtze river in china.

and my favourite of the week but also being fequently requested by jess, is all through the year by jane godwin and anna walker. this is a lovely account of a year in the life of an australian family and explores each month, noticing a seasonal change or celebration. i love that it relates to how our seasons are, for instance, in february it is always hot when school goes back after summer holidays, its cold and dewy underfoot as we search for easter eggs and in september it rains and we have daffodils bloom and so on. i am yet to find another seasonal book suited for the southern hemisphere. i think i will have to buy this one.

 we have a few more titles from the library that we haven't had the chance to read yet but they all look wonderful.

we took part in "storytime" at the library for the first time this week. jess was a little shy at first but she soon relaxed and sat still to listen to the stories being read and watched the other children participate in the actions to the songs that were sung. her favourite part of the morning was when it was craft time and she got to use a glue stick to stick some animals onto "the old women who swallowed the fly".

she didn't want to give up that glue stick!!

shirley hughes

out and about through the year and the nursery collection by shirley hughes would have to be two of jess's favourite books.

we have read these so many times that jess can 'read' along with us. for example i say 'bathwater's...' jess says 'hot', i say 'seawater's...' jess says 'cold' and so on. we can nearly read the whole book like this.

we came home from play group with two more of shirley hughes books, giving and bouncing. the big alfie and annie rose storybook arrived in the mail today to add to our collection.

all of these books capture the little details of domestic life with small children beautifully. they are a joy to read and the illustrations keep jess captivated. i often find her looking at these books by herself.

shirley hughes wrote and illustrated her first book in the 1960s with tom and lucy and has illustrated more than 200 books in her lifetime. she has won a kate greenaway medal and the prestigious eleanor farjeon award for her services to children's literature. a complete list of her works as an author and illustrator can be found here and the official alfie website here.

there are so many more titles i would like to have in our collection.

from the library

library books

we have found quite a few favourites in this pile of books.

boom bah! by phil cummings is a stand out. fun text and lively illustrations. a perfect book for a little one.

jess loves all of lynley dodds books. we have most of the older ones from when the older girls were little but are always on the look out for newer publications by lynley dodd. they are a pleasure to read with their rhyming text and the characters of all the dogs are adorable. we may have to buy hairy maclary shoo and hairy maclary and zachery quack for our collection.

maudie and bear by jan ormerod and freya blackwood has been requested over and over. i love the illustrations in this gorgeous book. the four short stories are about a girl and the inexhaustible love the bear has for her. very sweet.

mr mc gee and mr mc gee and the blackberry jam also were requested many many times and it is easy to see why pamela allens books are so popular.

gracie the lighthouse cat by ruth brown and the big red hen by margaret wild and terry denton have been read... oh about 1000 times! both chickens and cats are the animals of choice around here at the moment for jess. 

quite a few others in the pile haven't been such hits and every now and again i borrow a book or two that gets put on top of a cupboard until it is returned to the library. mainly because once we have got them home and have read them, i have either deemed them inappropriate or just don't like to read them myself. i simply don't have time to read through them all at the library.

whole food kitchen

the whole food kitchen online workshop started a couple of days ago.

i have enjoyed reading the content for this weeks module, finding it inspiring.

one of the ideas that really stood out for me was trust your instincts, your body will tell you what it needs (if you listen). i believe this to be true. i had one tim tam last night and about fifteen minutes later was really craving fresh fruit. this was the first time i had had a biscuit in over five weeks and although it tasted fine at the time (just fine, not great) i couldn't wait to get the taste out of my mouth afterwards. my body was definitely telling me that i didn't need it.

we will receive ten recipes each week during the workshop. they all looked very tempting this week and i am looking forward to trying stewed lentils with shallots, tomato and bacon (although i will leave out the bacon), honey miso baked tofu and raspberry oat bars along with trying to make my own almond milk. i don't like almond milk out of the carton so i am hoping freshly made will taste much better. worth a try i think.

although the workshop hasn't brought up much that is new to me so far, i am looking forward to really getting into trying out the recipes and am hoping to learn about some 'new to me' foods and techniques.

the workshop features a community forum which should bring up some interesting conversations but at the moment it feels a little daunting finding my way around. there seems to be so many conversations already.

healthy eating has really come back in our household lately. no more buying prepackaged biscuits, snacks and chocolate when doing the shopping (oh except those tim tams). i haven't missed it and i haven't heard too many complaints, so i think the whole food kitchen workshop will firmly stamp healthy eating back into our home once again.

i have been reading frugavore by arabella forge after the lovely tricia from littleecofootprints recommended it. such a great book all about how to grow your own food, buy locally, waste nothing and still eat well. it was this book that really tipped me over for getting the chickens. she made it sound so easy, which it seems to be. this book is part guide, part recipes and i like the concept very much. the recipes are based on whole foods and there are so many great tips.

i think this is one book i will have to buy. 

(the copy i have now is from the library and i am reluctant to return it) 

an armful of books

oh how i love the library!

these are some of the haul from yesterday's trip.

some in this pile are just to flip through, such as the indonesian house, a very swish looking architecture book that my eldest daughter daisy would love.

a few cook books to find some new recipes. i will probably just end up looking at the pictures and not end up making anything but you never know.

new vintage, a lovely book with a few ideas for restoring furniture and decorating houses. pretty photos.

and a couple of gorgeous gardening books which i have borrowed before and wished that i owned, especially the organic gardener by monty don. of course all the seasons are around the other way as monty's garden is in england but i love all the photos in this book. english gardens are so beautiful. i think i have borrowed this book about twenty times in the last five or six years.

of course we came home with a huge pile for jess too.

a parcel came today

we received a parcel in the mail today from usbourne publishing.

at the Christmas breakup for playgroup each child received a book from Santa (chosen and wrapped by the parents). jess's was 'look inside an airport' a lift the flap book which instantly became a firm favourite. only problem was that on one of the pages the flaps didn't lift properly as the glue to bind the pages wasn't applied correctly. 

i emailed usbourne publishing to tell them about it and they very kindly sent a replacement. i am not usually one for making a complaint when i have purchased a product and am not happy with it but i am glad i did this time.

not only did they send the replacement book but also another book, a book for parents about reading to children, balloons, bookmarks, key rings and a small stuffed duck. 

jess was delighted.

i applaud usbourne publishing for their speedy response to my email and their follow up customer service (including a phone call to see if we had received the parcel).

books

these are some of the books jess and i have been reading this week.

a look inside an airport 

by usborne books

(fabulous lift the flap book, one of jess's current favourites)

ten little fingers and ten little toes

mem fox

(we often get this one from the library as its a firm favourite)

whoever you are

mem fox

almost an animal alphabet

katie viggers

(gorgeous illustrations, limited edition book bought of etsy)

the gruffalo
julia donaldson and alex scheffler

(we have taken a liking to this story. i had heard it was one to read but couldn't see the attraction from the  cover illustration but its the story that counts)

the beeman

laurie krebs and valeria cis

(lovely story about honey and bees by barefoot publishing)

how to catch a star

oliver jeffers

lost and found

oliver jeffers
(we love oliver jeffers books especially lost this one about the lost penguin)


oh and i should add in (although not in the photo)

catflaps

lynley dodd

(jess loves anything to do with cats at the moment and must say 'cat' a hundred times a day)

our new easel

we spent some time over the weekend building an easel for jess.

i found some quite simple plans on pinterest a while ago.

i didn't really follow the plans after i read a few, not so great reviews, by people that had used them. so i kind of made most of the measurements up as i went, occasionally looking at the plans and instructions to put it together.

pretty easy really and i think it looks great.

main thing is that it makes it alot easier for jess to paint.

we had been dragging a small table outside onto the deck. i would have to hold the paper and the paint pot would get in the way. so this is much better, for us both.

i have another piece of board for the other side which will be a chalkboard. still need to paint it up though.

we have been talking a lot about colours recently. i have read a book called young at art by susan striker. she recommends introducing one primary colour at a time with one pot of paint and one paint brush, her belief being that children are more interested in the painting 'process' at the start rather than having an array of colours to work with. the same colour can be used over and over until interest starts to wane. by then introducing another colour the painting process is seen with renewed interest. susan recommends moving through the primary colours, then black on white paper, white on black paper before moving into mixing colours.

an interesting read with lots of great ideas to foster creativity.

simplify

i have been reading a book called simplicity parenting by kim john payne.

i like it.

i don't think we lead an overly hectic or complicated life right now but this book has given me a few ideas on how i can simplify things.

one of the things i have picked up on is simplifying our food.

i have always struggled with making a shopping list and buying enough food to last through the week or weeks until the next shopping day.

so i have made a list

monday - pasta night

tuesday - chicken

wednesday - vegetarian

thursday - red meat

friday - home made fast food 

saturday - fish

sunday - eggs

that is how i have started although it may change slightly as i would like to eat fish more than once a week and as i am trying to lose some weight, pasta may go.

by simplifying it doesn't mean that the variety will be limited. how many different types of pasta dishes are there or chicken dishes or how many different ways to cook fish? home made fast food may include eggs on toast or baked beans or nachos or pizza. 

so as we average a trip to the supermarket every two weeks, when i sit down to write a shopping list i can go through how many meals of fish i will need to buy for, how many for pasta and so on. so much easier than trying to think on the spot at the supermarket with a toddler in tow.

i am not sure why i have never done this before.

the book claims that by having a set rhythm to meals, that children's fussiness during mealtimes will decrease as they will know well in advance from week to week that saturday is fish night and sunday is egg night so if they aren't so keen on those at least monday night will be something to look forward to because it will be pasta night.  

might work...

book list

i always seem to have a few books on the go at once.

currently i have been delving into 

you are what you eat cookbook

dr. gillian mckeith

the natural health book

dorothy hall

for inspiration for healthy meals and eating healthier foods

the aware baby

aletha j. solter

great parenting book that i pick up and read a chapter or two every so often

and one that i found at the library called

tomorrow's garden

stephen orr

lovely photos of gardens just because i like looking at garden design.