Tuesday 17 November 2009
Birthday!
It's been a perfect day. My lovely wonderful husband and fabulous baby have spoiled me rotten! I am the luckiest mama alive!
Tuesday 20 October 2009
autumn fires and homemade chai tea
There is a definite chill in the air, the tortoise is in at night and we have had our first few fires in a our newly refurbished fireplace. I've been feeling lovely and cosy and started to think its time to get the slow cooker out for stew and dumplings.
However in the meantime, I've been experimenting with making my own Chai tea. I have an addiction to the Chai tea Latte of a certain major coffee shop, but they are expensive and I don't like to give my money to the big shops, preferring local independent traders. I've tried various chai tea bags and powder mixes but none seem to be as good.
I was pondering this Chai today as I walked miles with babin in the sling, trying to encourage her to have a nap and trying to keep myself out of previously not mentioned coffee shop. I remembered my first taste of chai, it was at a music festival on the north york moors
However in the meantime, I've been experimenting with making my own Chai tea. I have an addiction to the Chai tea Latte of a certain major coffee shop, but they are expensive and I don't like to give my money to the big shops, preferring local independent traders. I've tried various chai tea bags and powder mixes but none seem to be as good.
I was pondering this Chai today as I walked miles with babin in the sling, trying to encourage her to have a nap and trying to keep myself out of previously not mentioned coffee shop. I remembered my first taste of chai, it was at a music festival on the north york moors
Tuesday 13 October 2009
Happier happy days
I love communicating with Babin, she has lots of ways of expressing herself - with giggles, cries, pointing and, for the last three months, with an increasing vocabulary of words.
Her favourite phrases at the moment are 'what's this?', 'read this?' and 'finish'. However, she also spends lots of the day chatting to me, very animatedly. but completely in words that I can't (yet!) recognise.
A couple of weeks ago she started saying what sounded like 'happy days'. A lovely sentiment, but it seemed to be a random phrase and not something I, her dad or anyone around us says. We spent a lot of time repeating it, trying to work out what she might be saying, trying it out with differnt inflections and tones but we were baffled. Babin also kept repeating it, seeming confident that she knew what she meant and that we'd get it eventually.
And we did. Inspiration, (and maybe improved annunciation on Babin's part) struck, she was was saying 'up we go', which is what I say when she climbs the stairs! Of course, happy days is now part of our everyday vocabulary, the first phrase we've picked up from our girl.
Round the same time that we worked out 'happy days', she started singing. This is just the cutest thing, (so cute I've been moved to tears at times, sappy mama that I am)! She mostly hums and sings la la but she sometimes sings 'happier, happier' to various little tunes of her own. It was during bathtime singing that we realised she was singing 'happy and' from 'if your happy and you know it'!
So, my beautiful little girl crawls around singing 'happier' and saying 'happy days', her joy is very infectious and certainly makes our days happier ones.
Her favourite phrases at the moment are 'what's this?', 'read this?' and 'finish'. However, she also spends lots of the day chatting to me, very animatedly. but completely in words that I can't (yet!) recognise.
A couple of weeks ago she started saying what sounded like 'happy days'. A lovely sentiment, but it seemed to be a random phrase and not something I, her dad or anyone around us says. We spent a lot of time repeating it, trying to work out what she might be saying, trying it out with differnt inflections and tones but we were baffled. Babin also kept repeating it, seeming confident that she knew what she meant and that we'd get it eventually.
And we did. Inspiration, (and maybe improved annunciation on Babin's part) struck, she was was saying 'up we go', which is what I say when she climbs the stairs! Of course, happy days is now part of our everyday vocabulary, the first phrase we've picked up from our girl.
Round the same time that we worked out 'happy days', she started singing. This is just the cutest thing, (so cute I've been moved to tears at times, sappy mama that I am)! She mostly hums and sings la la but she sometimes sings 'happier, happier' to various little tunes of her own. It was during bathtime singing that we realised she was singing 'happy and' from 'if your happy and you know it'!
So, my beautiful little girl crawls around singing 'happier' and saying 'happy days', her joy is very infectious and certainly makes our days happier ones.
Friday 9 October 2009
Roofs, rain and reasons
As you can see I have had a long absence from blogging, which is not brilliant considering I'm only a month in, however I'm back to pick up the baton and try again.
Urban Barefoot home has been more of urban barefoot hovel over the last few weeks as we have been subject to the mercy of roofers and floor-ers, neither of which have been particularly kind! To cut a long and painful subject short we now have a fixed flat roof but a leaking pitch roof, and beautiful carpet in the living room but bare hardboard in the rest of the house, which feels a little bleak!
While we wait for clear weather (and further funds), I have become a little overwhelmed by it all and hung up my cleaning gloves and lost any homely motivation. The guilt of such inaction was keeping me awake at night (as well as plotting creative ways to torture the roofer and stop it raining inside!) and making me a decidedly grouchy, unkempt and damp creature!
Yet, as always, there is a silver lining to every rain cloud (or multiple heavy rain clouds in this situation), in ignoring all my household chores I have spent a lot more time playing with Babin, and that is such an enormous pleasure! She initiates chasing games, reads me stories, plays peekaboo... not that we don't play together normally but often its fitted around the washing, hoovering, etc.
My inertia seems to be ending (hence returning to the blog), and the hovel is now more homely again but I'm definitely going to try to remember that the washing will wait.
But as she's in bed now, there's no excuse, so I'd better go put a wash on.
Urban Barefoot home has been more of urban barefoot hovel over the last few weeks as we have been subject to the mercy of roofers and floor-ers, neither of which have been particularly kind! To cut a long and painful subject short we now have a fixed flat roof but a leaking pitch roof, and beautiful carpet in the living room but bare hardboard in the rest of the house, which feels a little bleak!
While we wait for clear weather (and further funds), I have become a little overwhelmed by it all and hung up my cleaning gloves and lost any homely motivation. The guilt of such inaction was keeping me awake at night (as well as plotting creative ways to torture the roofer and stop it raining inside!) and making me a decidedly grouchy, unkempt and damp creature!
Yet, as always, there is a silver lining to every rain cloud (or multiple heavy rain clouds in this situation), in ignoring all my household chores I have spent a lot more time playing with Babin, and that is such an enormous pleasure! She initiates chasing games, reads me stories, plays peekaboo... not that we don't play together normally but often its fitted around the washing, hoovering, etc.
My inertia seems to be ending (hence returning to the blog), and the hovel is now more homely again but I'm definitely going to try to remember that the washing will wait.
But as she's in bed now, there's no excuse, so I'd better go put a wash on.
Friday 18 September 2009
Urban wizards and suited skateboarding
Sometimes I love where we live. Sometimes I don't.
There is the man who walks around dressed as a wizard, with a large staff and some big headphones. The bloke who skateboards past in a suit, often balancing tesco bags in each hand. The painfully thin girl who sometimes stands on the corner opposite our house, late at night selling herself. The not so subtle drug dealing from the bookies down the road. The flowers left outside the flat where a man was shot as part of a gang war. The friendly, helpful DIY shop where one of the staff offered to give us the childsafety locks from his own kitchen cupboard to child proof ours. The brilliant locals parks, albeit with their fair share of the local drunks and teenagers with bull mastiffs...
It's an exciting, at times scary place to live, and for now its our home.
However, at some point UB Dad and I hope to leave London and move to a more rural setting. UB Dad grew up in the country, and I was a city kid. We often debate the merits of both setting, though UB Dad is convinced that there can't be any benefits to growing up in the city, I had some good times and I don't think its done me any harm! But, we both agree that London isn't where we want Babin to grow up. Part of this is, I think, our parental desire to wrap her in cotton wool and protect her from the world, but more than that, I think we want to give her a chance to explore the world without us constantly hovering around her, anxious about local shootings, gangs and whatever else there may be.
That isn't to say that I naively believe the countryside is a idyllic, safe place but perhaps the darker side of the world isn't pushed in your face at every turn.
Yet maybe life would be dreary without our wizard and suited skateboarder? Afterall, what would I watch while I do my ironing?
There is the man who walks around dressed as a wizard, with a large staff and some big headphones. The bloke who skateboards past in a suit, often balancing tesco bags in each hand. The painfully thin girl who sometimes stands on the corner opposite our house, late at night selling herself. The not so subtle drug dealing from the bookies down the road. The flowers left outside the flat where a man was shot as part of a gang war. The friendly, helpful DIY shop where one of the staff offered to give us the childsafety locks from his own kitchen cupboard to child proof ours. The brilliant locals parks, albeit with their fair share of the local drunks and teenagers with bull mastiffs...
It's an exciting, at times scary place to live, and for now its our home.
However, at some point UB Dad and I hope to leave London and move to a more rural setting. UB Dad grew up in the country, and I was a city kid. We often debate the merits of both setting, though UB Dad is convinced that there can't be any benefits to growing up in the city, I had some good times and I don't think its done me any harm! But, we both agree that London isn't where we want Babin to grow up. Part of this is, I think, our parental desire to wrap her in cotton wool and protect her from the world, but more than that, I think we want to give her a chance to explore the world without us constantly hovering around her, anxious about local shootings, gangs and whatever else there may be.
That isn't to say that I naively believe the countryside is a idyllic, safe place but perhaps the darker side of the world isn't pushed in your face at every turn.
Yet maybe life would be dreary without our wizard and suited skateboarder? Afterall, what would I watch while I do my ironing?
Thursday 17 September 2009
Garden Harvest
One of the things UB Dad and I try to do is live healthily and sustainably on a budget. For us this has meant trying to grow as much of our own veg as possible (if we had a bigger garden we'd try fruit as well but there just isn't the room.).
UB Dad is very green fingered (though obviously I'm biased!) and this year we grew: tomatoes, curly kale, beetroot, courgettes, cucumbers, chillies, basil, chives, parsley, garlic, french beans, runner beans, borlotti beans and coriander.
The garden has looked very green and lush and we've enjoyed all the produce. Babin has particularly enjoyed helping to pick the tomatoes and beans, though she now thinks that everything is pickable and edible and has taken some persuading that the grass isn't tasty!
As autumn is definately here we've been drying out the last of our beans and trying to find more ways with courgettes... of which we have had a plethora. Many of this years recipes have come from the web and so I thought I'd share my top five courgette/zuchinni recipes:
Courgette Pasta: very simple, grate your courgette, fry briefly with garlic (and for the flesh eaters amongst us - bacon) cover with a little stock and cook til soften. Cook some pasta, add some cream, cheese and a squeeze of lemon to your courgettes mix with pasta and eat. YUM!
Courgette and Cheese Muffins:
Makes 12
225g self raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
45g butter
115g mature cheddar
1 carrot
1 small courgette
1/2 tsp dried mixed herbs
60ml (2 fl oz) milk
1. preheat oven to 200 oc/ 400 of/ gas mark 6. grease a baking tray.
2. Rub butter into flour and baking powder to make breadcrumbs.
3. add grated cheese, carrot, courgette and mixed herbs. mix in well then add milk to form sticky dough.
4. knead lightly on floured surface then roll into 12 scone shapes and place on baking tray.
5. bake in the oven for 15-20 mins
They freeze well but will keep in airtight container for 4/5 days.
Courgette Fritters
Riverford's amazing Chocolate Courgette Cake
And my big favourite: Mixing Bowl Kids Lemon - Zuchinni Cookies
What are your favourite courgette (and Marrow) recipes?
Tuesday 15 September 2009
Has anyone seen my sleep?
Out there somewhere is my sleep... it is defiantely not here, I've looked. It might be in your house though. If you find it could you send it back?
Seriously though, lack of sleep can send me slightly crazy. I haven't blogged for a couple of days because UB Dad has been flexing his creativity and babin and I have been supporting him (Babin of course stole the show a couple of times!) and our support, and haphazard London Transport led to two late bedtimes for Babin. Which, in turn, have led to some disturbed nights for me, with a new low last night of Babin waking every twenty minutes between the hours of 2am and 5am.
Oh the pain! That middle of the night blur, springing out of bed like a mad woman (for some reason the tireder I am the wilder my spring?!?), stumbling into Babin's room, picking her up, and for the first couple of times considering trying to put her back to sleep without feeding her, but soon giving in.... rocking and feeding in the chair, dozing in and out of sleep, trying to concentrate on if she's really feeding or just pretending, putting her back down.. creeping to the door praying she'll go back to sleep, falling into bed....
ooo, its horrible just recounting it! Anyway tonight will be better, I'm sure of it!
And the consequences of this sleep torture?
Poor Babin having her morning blackberry, banana and blueberry milk shake accidentally poured down her front as I yawned while helping her sip it from her cup!
Not getting poor UB Dad's anniversary present, two days in a row.
Trying to clean my contact lenses in toothpaste!
Growing piles of washing.
And, Horror of Horrors: NO SHINY SINK!
Its true, I've already crashed from FLY'ing, I'm so ashamed. Yet tomorrow is another day, and I did read lots of books with Babin, and manage to feed us all dinner.
I'll shine that sink tomorrow.
xx
Seriously though, lack of sleep can send me slightly crazy. I haven't blogged for a couple of days because UB Dad has been flexing his creativity and babin and I have been supporting him (Babin of course stole the show a couple of times!) and our support, and haphazard London Transport led to two late bedtimes for Babin. Which, in turn, have led to some disturbed nights for me, with a new low last night of Babin waking every twenty minutes between the hours of 2am and 5am.
Oh the pain! That middle of the night blur, springing out of bed like a mad woman (for some reason the tireder I am the wilder my spring?!?), stumbling into Babin's room, picking her up, and for the first couple of times considering trying to put her back to sleep without feeding her, but soon giving in.... rocking and feeding in the chair, dozing in and out of sleep, trying to concentrate on if she's really feeding or just pretending, putting her back down.. creeping to the door praying she'll go back to sleep, falling into bed....
ooo, its horrible just recounting it! Anyway tonight will be better, I'm sure of it!
And the consequences of this sleep torture?
Poor Babin having her morning blackberry, banana and blueberry milk shake accidentally poured down her front as I yawned while helping her sip it from her cup!
Not getting poor UB Dad's anniversary present, two days in a row.
Trying to clean my contact lenses in toothpaste!
Growing piles of washing.
And, Horror of Horrors: NO SHINY SINK!
Its true, I've already crashed from FLY'ing, I'm so ashamed. Yet tomorrow is another day, and I did read lots of books with Babin, and manage to feed us all dinner.
I'll shine that sink tomorrow.
xx
Wednesday 9 September 2009
Singing the baby
It occured to me today as I was singing the Babin up to bed that she may grow up feeling we are living in a musical:
We have a song for:
Mind you there is some american research into neuro science and development that suggests that singing helps to regulate breathing and calm anxiety, and aid learning not to mention my own urban barefoot research that its a fabulous distraction from potential dramas and is fun to do together, especially if there are actions!
So onwards with our urban barefoot musical, and any suggestions for new songs please let me know!
ps. particularly if there are any for shining my sink. x
We have a song for:
- Waking up (good morning, good morning from Singing in the Rain)
- Brushing our teeth (this is the way we brush our teeth to the tune of here we go round the mulberry bush)
- Climbing stairs (climb every mountian from sound of music)
- washing hands and face at the end of a meal (rub a dub dub - technically a rhyme!)
- Getting in the bath (if you're happy and you know it)
- Washing her body (wooah! Body wash! to the tune of that old bodyform advert song)
- Going to sleep (Lulla lulla bye byes)
Mind you there is some american research into neuro science and development that suggests that singing helps to regulate breathing and calm anxiety, and aid learning not to mention my own urban barefoot research that its a fabulous distraction from potential dramas and is fun to do together, especially if there are actions!
So onwards with our urban barefoot musical, and any suggestions for new songs please let me know!
ps. particularly if there are any for shining my sink. x
Tuesday 8 September 2009
Questions of FLYing
One of things I forgot to include on my aspirations list was my wish to have a beautifully clean and sparkling house. I find housework one of the most depressing tasks, because, of course its never ending. Anyway, I stumbled upon a thread on FLYing on a popular parenting site.
It sounded a bit weird but was in the good housekeeping section (tee hee that I was checking out said section!) so I investigated further. My nosing led me to this .
In short it seems to be a motivational, staggered system of instilling and creating 'good housekeeping skills', all starting with the basic premise of a shiny sink! So, in desperation I'm giving it a go. I'm onto day two of keeping my sink clean and so far so good but I'll keep you updated.
It raises some interesting questions for me my strong concern about having a clean house and being a good housekeeper, and for checking out the website it seems to be an anxiety shared by a lot of other people.
Did I say people? I mean women; because although we are in the 21st century, in what some might argue is the post-feminist era, millions of women feel guilty, dirty and desperate about the state of their houses. I could be wrong, and please correct me if I am, but in my research into 'FLYing' (which is an acronym for 'finally loving yourself'!) I couldn't see any men following the program, or on any of the chats of forums about it.
This is by no means a criticism of the program, hell I need all the help I can get and it has a very supportive and practical approach; BUT why is it such a concern for women? Is cleanliness an expectation instilled by women upon women (I frantically clean my house for my MIL not my FIL), or is it a remnant of the idea of household being the domain of the wife? Should we all (female and male) just relax and not let housework become an anxiety, or is cleanliness next to godliness?
I don't have answers to these questions and really hope that the FLYing system helps me reduce the sense of drowning the housework can engender in me, but I am going to ponder further on how I want Babin to grow up thinking about household tasks.
In the meantime I'm off to fight through the dust to admire my beautiful shiny sink!
It sounded a bit weird but was in the good housekeeping section (tee hee that I was checking out said section!) so I investigated further. My nosing led me to this .
In short it seems to be a motivational, staggered system of instilling and creating 'good housekeeping skills', all starting with the basic premise of a shiny sink! So, in desperation I'm giving it a go. I'm onto day two of keeping my sink clean and so far so good but I'll keep you updated.
It raises some interesting questions for me my strong concern about having a clean house and being a good housekeeper, and for checking out the website it seems to be an anxiety shared by a lot of other people.
Did I say people? I mean women; because although we are in the 21st century, in what some might argue is the post-feminist era, millions of women feel guilty, dirty and desperate about the state of their houses. I could be wrong, and please correct me if I am, but in my research into 'FLYing' (which is an acronym for 'finally loving yourself'!) I couldn't see any men following the program, or on any of the chats of forums about it.
This is by no means a criticism of the program, hell I need all the help I can get and it has a very supportive and practical approach; BUT why is it such a concern for women? Is cleanliness an expectation instilled by women upon women (I frantically clean my house for my MIL not my FIL), or is it a remnant of the idea of household being the domain of the wife? Should we all (female and male) just relax and not let housework become an anxiety, or is cleanliness next to godliness?
I don't have answers to these questions and really hope that the FLYing system helps me reduce the sense of drowning the housework can engender in me, but I am going to ponder further on how I want Babin to grow up thinking about household tasks.
In the meantime I'm off to fight through the dust to admire my beautiful shiny sink!
Sunday 6 September 2009
Aspirations
Its Sunday evening, and traditionally, pre-baby, a time for me to get a little melancholy about the end of the weekend and the huge numbers of things to do in the week ahead.
However, we've an exciting week ahead and I no longer measure my time in work/home measures so, although there is a lot I plan to get done this week, i feel no melancholy, just a little apprehension (that'll be the piles of washing).
This week's to do list includes: make bread, pick up sewing machine and generally be brilliant which leads me to another list I was making in my head today:
Things I want to be and how I really am:
xxx
However, we've an exciting week ahead and I no longer measure my time in work/home measures so, although there is a lot I plan to get done this week, i feel no melancholy, just a little apprehension (that'll be the piles of washing).
This week's to do list includes: make bread, pick up sewing machine and generally be brilliant which leads me to another list I was making in my head today:
Things I want to be and how I really am:
- brilliant at baking - I have good and bad baking days, producing super light cakes one day and rock cakes the next.
- super at sewing - I'm learning, slowly.
- excelling ecologically - I think and try to be careful about what I use, buy, make and throwaway, but defiantely a long way to go.
- perfectly patient - Hmm, maybe best to ask UB Dad about that one.
- wonderfully witty - I think my wit capactity is in direct correlation to the amount of sleep I've had, so minimal on both of those then!
- fantastic at finishing- well, I'm now finishing this post so there's a start, or a finish...
xxx
Saturday 5 September 2009
1.. in one life, and another.
My beautiful girl turned 1 this week. It was an exciting and much celebrated event, we had a party, cake, a trip to the Zoo and lots of singing. I think she enjoyed it nearly as much as me and barefoot dad did!
On her birthday night, as she had her bedtime feed I was thinking about how far she has come in her first year; from my tiny baby with no control over her limbs to a crawling, wobbly standing whirling dervish! Its been an amazing year, and she has experienced so much in that time from trying food for the first time to flying to foreign climes, and thats not to mention cuddles, stories, baths, swings, grandparents, sand.... the list goes on.
Anyway, it got me to thinking about another baby I knew, professionally. This lovely little one was born very early and to a mother who for various reasons couldn't care for him. He spent the first year of his life in a special care unit in hospital, very ill. The only time he left the hospital in the whole of his first year was to go to another hospital for operations. He had no family apart from his mother and on his birthday his only visitor was me, and barefoot Dad.
It got me thinking about all other other babies out there who don't have people to shower them with the love and affection that babin gets, and that really the simple everyday caring I do is a privilege to give and that babin is in many ways a lucky girl.
So I'm just taking this moment to my luck and privilege... and a piece of birthday cake!
xxx
On her birthday night, as she had her bedtime feed I was thinking about how far she has come in her first year; from my tiny baby with no control over her limbs to a crawling, wobbly standing whirling dervish! Its been an amazing year, and she has experienced so much in that time from trying food for the first time to flying to foreign climes, and thats not to mention cuddles, stories, baths, swings, grandparents, sand.... the list goes on.
Anyway, it got me to thinking about another baby I knew, professionally. This lovely little one was born very early and to a mother who for various reasons couldn't care for him. He spent the first year of his life in a special care unit in hospital, very ill. The only time he left the hospital in the whole of his first year was to go to another hospital for operations. He had no family apart from his mother and on his birthday his only visitor was me, and barefoot Dad.
It got me thinking about all other other babies out there who don't have people to shower them with the love and affection that babin gets, and that really the simple everyday caring I do is a privilege to give and that babin is in many ways a lucky girl.
So I'm just taking this moment to my luck and privilege... and a piece of birthday cake!
xxx
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