a few things

We made playdough last weekend.Joy.

Playdough is still something we regularly come back to in our home.

The girls have loved it since they were really wee and I'm sure these memories are half of the attraction still now; it's fun to play with but it also allows them to feel embraced by these warm, loving memories of their younger years.

It's apparently great source of vibrant language development; a friend who was completing her PHD in child verbal language development a while back, used playdough tables as a highly effective strategy to encourage verbal language usage and experimentation.

Let me just make it clear, this is not our reason for loving playdough - no need for encouraging verbal language around this house. Ask Gunter.

With all the cooking of beetroot going on in the past few weeks, we had some spare beetroot water to add as dye and added a few drops of lavendar essential oil just because it's our favourite.

The girls usually make it these days. We make the cooked version because there is nothing better than kneading a fresh batch of warm playdough.

Magic Places Playdough

(I still hold my copy of "Magic Places" dearly. The author, Penni Brownee, continues to do fabulous work for littlies. )

Mix together in a pot:

1 cup four

half a cup of salt

1 cup cold water

1 Tbsp cooking oil

2 tsp cream of tartar

2 tsp colouring

Stir all ingredients over a med-hot heat until the mixture gathers together in a glob.

Knead Immediately.

Store in an air-tight container.

We have a stash of clay waiting in the wings as well. The girls keep dabbling: they love it, but have got to the point of really wanting to get their work fired. I'm slowing working on it: trying to find someone in the community who has a kiln and also figuring how to build our own little DIY homemade model. Sounds fun don't you think?

Any links or ideas?

We also caught the ferry across the Harbour this weekend.

A favourite while waiting at the wharf is to check out the undersides of the buoys - always a disappointment when they have been cleaned but pure delight when we find a thriving ecosystem to marvel at.

Marvelling: a bit of time and a bit of quiet and such a rich quality of feeling and deep connection.

In the between spaces I also wrote a new local food post over at lyttel-town. No, not pansies, they are just pretty and there to welcome us every time we go outside right now. Rather chickweed - the wonder green that is found everywhere alot of the time.