He wanted to make a magic potion.
He stood over the sink with a bowl of water and green food dye.
He started mixing flour to make a vivid green slime.
Lots of time playing with slime.
"Mum, can I cook this?" ..."Um, yes, but it's very wet" "I'll add some more flour".
More mixing.
"What more do I add to make bread" "Just yeast and salt" "Ok can I make bread?" "Sure". He sorted it out, then left the bowl in the cupboard.
We forgot about it for 2 days.
"Have you cooked to bread mum?"
I went and found the bubbling green mess.
What the hell, lets just shove it in the oven.
It made the most amazing delicious green bread.

"Mum, what is university?"
"It's a kind of school for adults."
"But the whole point of being an adult is you're school-free!"

Beans

During half term we visited our friend's new coffee roasting business. Coleman Coffee Roasters is Jack. Jack was revered coffee maker at Leila's Cafe before setting up the roasting business, and now supplies the coffee for her cafe and shop. We like Jack a lot. Some people say he is Jack of the Beanstalk.
Jack has a stop watch around his neck most of the time. His roasting machine is over 60 years old. Jack restored it himself, adding useful bits like an extra thermometer and devised a cooling extractor. It feels like a inventor's science laboratory. A very delicious smelling laboratory.






It's a very precise affair, so we mostly watched and lounged on sacks of beans. It was very noisy; the roar of the gas, the giant tinny shaker sound of the the drum rotating and the extractor fan drone. We joined in weighing the green waxy unroasted beans and packaging the bags. Jack records the exact weight, timings and temperatures of each roasting, so he can chart how this affects the flavour; each bag is marked with batch number and date.

Jack's workshop is in Brixton so we ate pizzas at Franco Manca. A very perfect day.

Homemade presents

We were totally absorbed making this marble-run present for a friend's 7th birthday.

Ruben drew out the grid; we chatted about what numbers and colours to use; discussed the 7 times table; painted together and took it in turns to bang in nails. I saw this idea on a site I never tagged. On a google search there were many examples but not the one I'd first found, so I apologise to whomever gave me the idea, that I can't credit them.
I was anticipating that Ruben might decide, once finished, that he'd like to keep the game for himself. He's often had that inclination when making things originally destined for someone else. But this time he gave it so generously and joyously that I felt really proud; proud of his pride in giving. And I was worried that the gift might pale next to the magnificence that manufactured toys display. But the birthday boy was genuinely thrilled and appreciated the gift. Couldn't have gone better. What is it with the worrying?





You need a piece of wood, ideally about 2 cm thick. Draw on a grid with square sides that are bigger than the marbles you will be using (to fit through!). Paint your grid and number however you like. Hammer in nails on grid corners. Thread elastic bands between nails to make a maze. We wrote out our instructions and drew examples, but you can choose the rules to your game. Or it might not be a marble run at all, but a board for writing and making patterns with elastic bands or threads. We might try making a proper pinball version with flippers next.

Motherhood is ...

... inviting a friend round to look at your new nit comb. And both getting excited about it.

Sunday Harvest

Our own apple tree. It probably has about 40 fruit, but we're competing against the birds and the squirrels. That we have stopped counting the exact number is proof of abundance. None has ever tasted as good as the first apple, when the tree bore one, lone, giant, snow-white-like red apple.




We've been part of a community vegetable garden that started last winter on the council estate opposite mine, making use of an derelict locked-up playground. It is transformed and I only wish I'd taken photos of how it was before. On Sunday we reaped our little share of the harvest and made an entire lunch from the produce. The cucumber was divine, and the beetroot leaves tasted like sweet butter.
The project is so simple, entirely run by local residents, but who battled with the Council for their right to dig and grow. Brings a new meaning to Dignity - which is what the project brings to the whole neighbourhood.

My repairs

Ruben's best wool long-johns. I hope to get one more winter out of them.