Autumn

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12 From '11

December 31, 2011 in General | 7 comments

This past year has been a whirl-wind of fun and chaos and all thanks to eleven little letters contained in four words:

The Boy and Me

Not only is this site a place with photos and reviews and competitions, but it's also our lives: the lives of my son, my husband and me. It's been a year of change and adjustment, fun and games, tears and therapy. There are people who read my blog, who comment and have become friends in real life, which is something that I would never have imagined when I penned my first tentative post. Thank you to everyone who reads about my little corner of the world, I really appreciate every single read and comment.

Here's my 2011!

January

The start of the year saw me pondering the loss of the technology in our home.

February

I confessed one of my deepest darkest secrets to anyone who wanted to read it. Oh the shame, my cheeks are still burning!

March

We decided that the cold was for wimps and got busy with a few meters of plastic tubing and a watering can.

April

An egg-citing trail around the garden lead to much consumption of cocoa.

May

Finally, 17 years after completing my GCSEs, I gained an 'ology!

June

The Boy celebrated his 2nd birthday.

July

With the sun beating down on us on one of the hottest weekends of the Summer, we decided to spend it going to a chocolate factory, meeting other bloggers and going on safari!

August

Toilet humour was the order of the day as one of the most stressful and confining experiences of my life began!

September

We discovered the wonders of wellies.

October

With random heatwaves and bouts of frostiness, we met a CBeebies hero.

November

My baby became a little boy as testosterone kicked in, in an astounding and upsetting way.

December

The celebrations for Christmas started with a big weekend party.

What one event would you pick to sum up your 2011?

Tags: 2011, Autumn, blogging, Family, family days out, friends, Summer, The Boy, Tots100

Apple Preserves

November 1, 2011 in General | 8 comments

Several months ago, my mum put a condiment on the dinner table which was gorgeous. It was an apple and mint jelly. Was it for pork, was it for lamb? Did it matter? I'm vegetarian so whatever it was originally meant for was never going to be something that I would consume. Nonetheless it was delicious with salads and baby boiled new potatoes smothered in butter and black pepper.

I've tried to find it, to no avail. Then when the 'chutney chums' (i.e. The Crazy Kitchen, me and Mummy Mishaps) started talking about all things preserving a few weeks ago, I thought I'd give it a go.

Apple and Mint Jelly

Makes: 2 jam jars

Ingredients:

1kg apples, peeled and cored
1 litre water
30g fresh mint, chopped
500g caster sugar

Add the apples and 2 tablespoons of water to a large saucepan, cook for twenty minutes over low to medium heat. Spoon the mixture into a large sieve with a sterilised muslin (I used one of The Boy's unused muslins sterilised with a steaming hot iron) and let the juice drain into a bowl. (Try to leave for 3 hours, I didn't have that amount of time so I left it for 2 hours).
Add the mint and 1 litre of water to a saucepan and bring to the boil. Remove from heat and set aside for 10 minutes.
Pour in the strained apple juice and add sugar. Bring to the boil, reduce heat and and simmer gently for 1 hour+, stirring constantly. (The original recipe said 40 minutes, I ended up simmering it away for an hour and a half before it reached setting point).
Pour into sterilized jars, cover with damp cellophane covers (which will tighten as they dry, creating an air-tight seal) and leave to cool. Store in a dark, cool cupboard. They should have a best before of a year from sealing.

My recipe has been adapted from one on AllRecipes.co.uk. I also found this site most helpful when I was trying to work out if it had reached setting point.

The big question of what to do with all that left over apple arose. So I made some Spiced Apple Chutney!

Ingredients:

Makes 2 jam jars

225g onions (chopped)
900g apples (cored & chopped)
110g sultanas or raisins
15g ground coriander
15g paprika
15g salt
15g each of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger
340 granulated sugar
425ml white wine vinegar

Put all the ingredients into a heavy pan.
Slowly bring to the boil until all the sugar has dissolved.
Simmer for 1½-2 hours, stirring from time-time to stop the chutney from sticking.
Take the lid off to reduce down for further thirty minutes or so.
When it is very thick and a spoon drawn across it leaves a channel which doesn't immediately fill with liquid, the chutney is ready to transfer to the jars.
While still hot, turn into sterilised jars, use wax discs and damp cellophane to seal. Allow to cool.
Store in a cool, dark cupboard for two-three months before eating. Can be kept for up to twelve months sealed.

I adapted this recipe from one on the BBC Good Food Guide.

Tips:

Sterilise jars and utensils in the dishwasher.
Use wax discs and cellophane film lids as lids from jars can corrode effecting the chutney. Also it has to be put in piping hot for the dimple on the lid to suction down or it's not sterile.
Sterilise the muslin with a hot iron.
When fastening the fabric cover, hold it in place with an elastic band first. If you are one of those genetically-modified humans who have four hands, and can therefore hold the fabric in place and wrap the raffia around, don't bother, you'll be fine. Once the raffia is wrapped around, remove the elastic band.

Tags: Autumn, chutneys, cooking, fruit, Winter

Tuesday 18th October 2011 – 'Fircone' (290/365)

October 18, 2011 in 365 | 1 comment

Tags: 365, Autumn, nature, The Boy

Monday 26th September 2011 – 'My Wagon' (268/365)

September 26, 2011 in 365 | 1 comment

Tags: 365, Autumn, nature, The Boy

More On Monday: Muddy Puddles

September 12, 2011 in General | 21 comments

Traditionally, I've used the 'More on Monday' blog-title to explain my Silent Sunday. However, today I'm using it because I had difficulty choosing a picture for my Silent Sunday and therefore I want to share the other photographs.

On Saturday we went to a local country park with lakes and woodland. We went equipped with The Boy's special George muddy puddles wellies and my camera. The Boy, and the mud, did not disappoint. I have decided that I love this time of year with an infant: it's a whole new world to explore of treasures from the trees, sounds echoing around the woodland with a little red nose from the bite in the air.

Autumn is way more exciting than Summer!

This is the photograph that Mr. TheBoyandMe wanted me to use as my Silent Sunday.

After we'd finished jumping in muddy puddles (he was saturated, I need to look out the waterproof all-in-one suit), we went and explored the wooded areas, including a rather fabulous looking tree-trunk.

And then daddy and The Boy pretended to be aeroplanes.

I seriously love this photo because of the way that The Boy is looking at his daddy, sheer adoration.

–

I am linking this up to CoombeMill's Country Kids linky

Tags: Autumn, More on Monday, photography

Sunday 11th September 2011

September 11, 2011 in Silent Sunday | 32 comments

Tags: Autumn, nature, Silent Sunday, The Boy

Saturday 10th September 2011 – 'Spot the Leaf' (252/365)

September 10, 2011 in 365 | 3 comments

Tags: 365, Autumn, nature, The Boy

Nature's Treasures

September 10, 2011 in General | 10 comments

A few week's ago, I made a treasure, sensory box for The Boy and he has thoroughly enjoyed exploring all the different colours and textures in it. Following last week's successful trip to the park where we found some amazing gems. We collected the larger, more round items up into his little shopping bag, and stuck the collection of leaves onto a recycled nature board.

It took The Boy a little time to understand that we were looking for different types of leaves; not as complicated as the species of tree, just colours and shapes. When we compared them after, he was able to distinguish the different shapes, but with the subtle shades in the Autumnal colours he found it quite tricky to distinguish the differences. He liked feeling them though and using the words 'scrunchy' and 'smooth'.

He has been a boy obsessed this week. The treasure box has had to come down at every opportunity. Throughout the week, I've had to remove certain mouldy parts but it has continued to serve him as a great source of enjoyment and fun. Of course, I've taken the opportunity to guide him. Of course I have: I'm a teacher!

He's sorted, counted, ordered, described.

But more importantly, he's had fun!

Tags: Autumn, Learning Through Play, nature, The Boy

Seeking Out Autumn

September 9, 2011 in General | 5 comments

Several months ago I read an activity post from Multiple Mummy that involved a nature trail in her back garden (her son had chickenpox so they were quarantined). Ever since, I've wanted to do this with The Boy but it's taken time to get prepared. First of all, I had to find some self-adhesive pads which having scoured local shops for, I ended up finding them in a cheap shop on holiday in Dorset! Now things are more comfortable with potty-training, I felt happy to have a go.

With the increasing bite in the air and the occasional, but gentle, rainbursts, it was time to pop on our wellies and waterproofs and go nature-treasure hunting in a local park. Ideally to do this activity you need horse chestnut and sycamore trees, pine trees and possibly an oak. There is a park on the way down to the beach that is perfect for this with the abundance of trees lining the periphery of the park.

The Boy already knew what a conker was because I'd shown him a few days beforehand, trying to get him to find other treasures proved interestins; he's only two, he's never seen these things before. We wondered around the more woodland area of the beautiful Victoria park, straying off paths, climbing up banks and sliding down muddy paths and found a whole heap of nature's wonders. The Boy kept stopping and listening during the still moments between the roars from the cars on the road alongside the park. In those snapshots of serenity he heard the raindrops falling through the layers of the canopies, blackbirds calling, squirrels scampering up the treetrunks, and his absolute favourite was the chorus of the crickets in the long grass. He stood and listened for over ten minutes.

In this emeral and khaki wonderland, under our rubber-encased feet and amongst the fallen detritus, we found pine cones, acorns, beech tree seeds, red leaves, orange leaves, multi-coloured leaves and conkers in their cases and out. Is their any greater joy than opening up a conker case and being the first person in the entire world to see that feat of nature?