Colors...

Seth started school introductory course the first of April. Real school starts next week...

Most kids in Denmark go to public schools that has, or at least had a good reputation, but lately the smaller schools are being  merged into very big schools. Luckily we have a system in this country that also supports private schools that use a different way of teaching or have a special agenda  . Seth's school is a small private one. The whole school work on the same subject for a longer time. In my opinion it gives a feeling of being together working on something like in a family or even a workplace. When I go to the school I see older children taking care of the small ones and even being like a sister or brother. The school has 20 student pr class and 1 class pr age.

It was a big day and off course he got some new crayons and markers.

I made a bag for his new markers, and bought some real good crayons from Mercurius (Stockmar ). This place sells them in either packages of 12 or 24 and you can even just buy one in the color you like or if one got lost. I made an elastic band of an old belt to keep it all well together. Everything has his name on it. For the wooden crayons I used a burner to write his name with. I think it is quite important to teach children to care for their things and learn that its their responsibility....off course... 

One of the things that shows quality of different type of paint, crayons and markers is of course their intensity but also their color range. For me it is important that they are true to the color wheel. If they are not the colors will act strange and the red and the blue mixed together will suddenly have a brown tone to it...just not nice. All of Mercurius stuff seems to have this quality.

For watercolors to little children I have a little different approach and that is buy cheap and in tubes. The ones I got have strange colors. Some are opaque others aren't. The yellow is opaque and very weak which makes it a little strange when mixing. But with children I just find it better to give them a clean new fresh palette very often. I have a bunch of plastic palettes and When Seth is done with one he get a new one. I wash the palettes, put new paint on and they get into the everlasting circle of colors in our house.

It is no secret that I have a hard time to just sit down with my children, and (In my opinion... ) do nothing. I like to be productive, and I find it so much easier for me to do things with Seth that I also like. Making color wheels and building stuff is much more my thing than being killed (10 times...)  in a Star Wars fight ( While making dinner...)

These color wheels are so much fun to make, and we have made them with Seth's watercolors and with his Stochmar big giants. He also has some fine pointed crayons and I guess we should try it on those as well.

So much fun and so much learning...

Dinner tonight: pasta salad from yesterday. Added some celeriac and salad for crunch and some chopped olives to balance the sweetness of the roasted pepper.

Making dinner simple...

I have a tendency to overdo things... Dinner is the same.

I cook to many different things and I cook to much..

I don't like to throw food out ( Who does ... ) So what happens is that dinner often is something from yesterday combined with something new.

Today's scenario was pasta salad with roasted red peppers, salted and toasted almonds, shallots, garlic, pesto and basil. Some leftover pizza from yesterday and some hummus from two days ago... Strange combination.

So whats left after dinner is half of the pasta salad, still some pizza and hummus left.

Got to change this... do I..

The future "dogma" rules is

Keep it simple...

Don't cook more than:

Rise and dried pasta 80 g per person.
Fresh pasta 125 g per person.
Potatoes 250 g per person. if its the main thing, otherwise use less.
Soups 2½ dl. per person and combine with a side dish.

Use mostly vegetables from the garden, and remember crunchy stuff...

4 days with meat 100 g per person, 2 green days, and one with fish.

Don't be stingy with oil, cheese, nuts

My kids ( If they eat... ) don't eat more than a quarter portion.

Don't experiment to much, get the basic stuff right... ( This I probably will have a hard time with but i will try...)

Hope you had a good dinner for me it is coffee time...

Small polkadots for me...

I have been working on a simple pattern with just the amount of ease that's needed for a garment that involves no button or zipper closures.

With jeans and boots they are just fine for that everyday casualness that's my life...

Its just long enough to be worn with sandals on a hot day. Some accessories, a bag and of I go...

I made  a wide boat neck and a little white inset at the shoulder. The sleeve is 3/4 length in blouse style and I have made a little fold at the edge.

I like the detail at the neck, but I can still take a bit of the ease. Also a fitted sleeve would add to a slimmer overall look of the upper body.

Elderflower lemonade, rhubarb lemonade and family...

We don't have a lot of freezer space but we have access to cold storage in a basement, so canning is the right way for us to stock up on summer goodies.

We made rhubarb lemonade and elderflower lemonade. Rhubarb can be picked in spring and after giving the plant a break, once more in fall. Elderflower is really a thing where you have to pick all you plan for when its there. I made 6 liters which is not enough for us, and had plans for making one more batch.... Never happened ... something came in the way...i guess life. So next year pick it all at once...

My parents have this huge garden with an abundance of produce... It is really a waste to not use it all. So this year it is my plan to cherish and get to most of it.

My mother is the hardworking gardener who loves her hand tools and hates being in charge of anything machine driven. My dad is the one in charge of the machinery and all the technical stuff. For many years he was the one in charge of the workers in their nursery and he still likes to walk around inspecting and spreading good vibes.

In the middle of it all is John thinking...How the hell did I end up here?... He is the reflective one putting everything into perspective, and reminding us, that it is alright to take a break... Oh yes and he is in charge of the new device that puts caps on the bottles after the lemonade have been cooked in it for 10 minutes. Very safe storage.

Being The owner of a very good ice cream machine I always make my lemonade in the same water sugar  ratio that is required for a good sorbet. That way I just drop a couple of bottles In the machine and voila!...