Buzz leaves

You know something's about to happen when you go up into the loft. Actually, Misha is very proud of our loft. When we moved in the hatch was so tiny only Alastair could have fitted through. Now there's a huge door, the floor is boarded and most of the junk sits there undisturbed. This view is from Alastair's room. Gregor was getting his case ready for his overnight stay at auntie Pauline's (which was a success, no tears and we slept in till 08.30!), and Buzz was getting his as his stay was coming to an end.

Buzz has been here for 5 months and the business has moved on. Most things are set up in Peru, and although the earthquake a few months ago put them back a bit, he's off to Lima soon, via Vancouver, to get things in motion. More on that as it happens.

But before he left, Misha had a birthday. Here's the result of our industrious activity in the kitchen from the last blog.

And the birthday boy. You may notice the view from our dining room.....our back yard has a fence nowadays and is fully enclosed and more private. Also much safer for the boys, of course.

I think Alastair was asleep for the inaugural cake cutting. Gregor didn't waste any time getting stuck in though.

And finally Misha put Buzz on the train.

Bye Buzz, good luck in Peru!

Making daddy's birthday cake

I had a weekend off this weekend and went to London for an old friend's wedding party. Misha had an old schoolfriend over from Moscow for the day (in London on business) and they all did fine without me. My friend was Suzanne Cave (an ex-colleague and horse-riding companion in Prague), who married Philip, and entertained us all till the early hours at their warehouse pad in Hoxton. A great do. For the rest of the time I caught up with another old friend, Chris, who attentive readers may remember from a flying visit to Newcastle. Anyway, she has a fantastic flat in Hampstead, the weather was wonderful and we had a great walk on the heath with her Lurcher, Spanner.

Once home and refreshed, it was back to work. This time to make daddy's birthday cake. Gregor creamed the butter and sugar.

Alastair helped to cut out the greaseproof paper to line the tin with.

Then we stirred in the eggs,

And the flour. Cooking really keeps their attention, and Alastair was able to do everything Gregor did.

But had disappeared at this point.....

...and reappeared here. Best bit.

Homemade pasta

About a year ago I bought a pasta machine. About a month ago I bought some special '00' type pasta flour. About a week ago I finally had a go. I was surprised to discover how easy it was. 1 egg at room temp per 100g flour and knead till silky smooth. Then cut into small pieces and feed through the machine.

Start at the thinnest gauge, no.1 and give yourself enough space to pull through, then continue until you have the required thickness. The thicker it gets, the less surface area you have.

We tried all three options on the machine; linguine, tagliatelli and flat, ready for anything, depending on one's level of dexterity.

Gregor liked the tagliatelle.

Then we tried to make ravioli. This version was spinach, garlic, lemon and fennel sausagemeat with a blob of ricotta for good measure.

It was quite easy to get this far, but then to turn that into an appetising (looking as well as tasting) parcel is not quite so simple.

Here's how it turned out. Tasted fine, but the shapes were all over the place, pasta as thick as a brick in some corners and quite anaemic looking. Never mind, the kids were none the wiser.....

Indian summer?

Well, they've promised one and the next few days could be balmy for October. I hope so because we've still got a lot of green tomatoes needing warmth and sunshine. Misha found an old recipe yesterday for using the tomatoes when they are green and hard and said he and Buzz found it very tasty. I will post it if he divulges it to me. I ate with the boys earlier and didn't taste it as I was out. On Wednesdays Misha has a day off from work and I go and do my thing. In this case, I go to Russian classes in Great Yarmouth - yesterday was my second lesson. Gregor tries to have a bit of a lip wobble before I go but we don't indulge him. We are increasingly of the view that a bit of neglect is a healthy thing. Not that he is neglected in the slightest, but anyway.

Yesterday, both boys had lunch at playgroup together for the first time. Again, Gregor tried to protest, but it was in vain. Apparently he and Alastair ate most of it up - spaghetti. Apart from the highly beneficial experience of having to eat other people's food in other places without mama and papa (he'll go to school in a year or so- eek), I had another course to do. It is just a short one - food hygiene level two. I should get a certificate after the 6 hours attended and know a lot more about legislation, hazards, temperature control, principles for refrigeration, cooking, handling, storage, etc.

Continuing our effort to do things for the first time, Gregor is going to stay at one of his aunt's in Ipswich for a night during the half-term. Although Pauline offered to have Alastair too we decided one was enough. Besides, it gives us more time to have Alastair all to ourselves and give him lots of attention which is hard to do sometimes, particularly given the differences in speaking ability. When Gregor talks you have to answer and immediately he claims the space for attention. Taking turns with one another is one thing, but Alastair needs his one-to-one time too. When he is given the time he will try and make the sounds to say the words, and though they are not comprehensible to people not with him all the time, he can say: tractor, Kirsty (his playgroup teacher), playgroup, car, yoghurt, banana, book, dad, Gregor, Barbara/baba/barber, play, music, poo, outside, cow, dog, sheep, horse, pig, breadstick, bread, food, drink, cheese, sour cream/creme fraiche. Some of them he can even sign, such as food, bread, biscuit, book and a few animals.

Tunstall forest

Last week the weather was glorious, so after playgroup we wolfed down our lunch and headed south on the back roads for Tunstall forest, about 45 minutes away. The boys have never been together in a large forest before and they were positively buzzing from it. They loved it. You could almost see their imaginations opening up and unlocking as they picked up sticks and pinecones, discarded them for branches, marvelled at mushrooms and burrowed in the soft ground beneath the pine needles. They didn't stop. The terrain was also ideal for Alastair, who's to be on uneven surfaces wherever possible. Next stop, the Hundertwasser house in Vienna.

Into hunter-gatherer mode fairly swiftly. Gregor made a beeline for the blackberries.

Alastair set about making some spears.

Then a short lesson in how to stay alive with mushrooms,

and how to be very, very sick. I think something from our distant ancestors must remain since Gregor had no desire to pick this one, the fly agaric, though he couldn't resist touching it.

Then a horse went by. Friend or foe. No-one was quite sure, least of all the horse who was a little jumpy on its way past.

Time for some light relief and entertainment at the fallen tree rescue station after a hard day in the forest.

Then quiet contemplation in the heather.

Barsham farmers' market,

It's quite an industry nowadays the farmers markets. In Suffolk we are fortunate to be surrounded by farms and markets in abundance. This is my autumn and winter hobby - to visit them all, get an understanding of who sells what and where and who buys what from where. The boys accompany me and yesterday (at the Beccles fornightly one) Gregor complained that there weren't any children's things. I explained that it's about sharing one another's interests: he comes to farmers markets and car boot sales and I go to the park and the zoo. There.

This was in a village called Barsham, the other side of Beccles, on the Norfolk/Suffolk border and 15 minutes drive away.

Besides vegetables, fruit, meat and fish, there were plants, crafts and books. At the back of this barn the doors opened onto a lawn with a pond to one end. I will have to make sure that the boys don't wander off at such events since there is no greater hazard for little toddlers.....

Gregor soon found a stall which took his fancy - chutneys and pickles. Of course you are able to try all these delights, and finally, about 20 broken crackers later, we settled on a Kashmiri chutney for 3 pounds. Goes great with cheese and onion in a toasted sandwich, by the way!

Sun-ripened tomatoes

As the title suggests, our long-awaited tomatoes began to ripen and we can't eat them quick enough. I thought we'd have an abundance to give away and surpluses with which to make ketchup, but no. In a quick pasta dish you can use 6 or 7 just like that, which seems a lot, but isn't really, and the same amount as in a tin. Anyway, here they are.

And the Italian plums...

Since the grandparents left and playgroup began again, we've been back into the usual routine. We always get time in the afternoons for doing something to burn the energy. On this occasion I think Alastair was asleep so I took Gregor to Kensington Gardens up the road for some treeclimbing on the "night digger".

And mustn't forget to stomp over the bridge to wake up the troll.

Then a couple of weeks ago, my late parents' friends, Shirley and Owen, came over for some lunch. Here they are post-paella, including a heap of those tomatoes!