Down time

Well, we are trying something new. In the past we pretty much stuck to official school terms and and took holidays when the schools were off (barring us travelling somewhere, of course). This year, we're following some of our friends' example - spending 5 weeks working on official academic stuff, and then taking a week's break. Must say, by Thursday last week, we were all ready for the week off (but I suspect, if we only worked for 2 weeks at a time, by the Thursday we'd be ready for the week off, too - lol).

Yesterday started off very relaxed - stayed in bed late reading, etc. Then had South African pancakes (suppose they're something like crepes) for brunch wit my Ouma's cinnamon sauce:
1/2 - 1 cup sugar
1 cup water
2-3 tsp ground cinnamon
pinch cream of tarter

Boil up and pour hot over hot pancakes.

Today we were a bit more productive.
Woke up to a very misty morning, but after lunch it was a glorious sunshiny day - maybe spring is around the corner after all - the birds were singing, little snowdrops and daffodils pooping up:) A good sign!. Went for a lovely walk and the girls rode their bicycles.

We spent the morning scrap booking - our first attempt - had a lot of fun. Unfortunately, the yellow in our ink cartridge ran out, so the girls were in "in the pink" with their photos - but they didn't mind much:)

Alexandra's first page - friends

Sarah's first page - Sisters

I had fun looking at our wedding photos again to choose some for my page.

And after lunch, Sarah baked buttermilk rusks (for my non-UK friends, no these are NOT Farleys baby rusks. They are pretty much a staple South African snack - baked, then dried till hard and dipped into hot coffee or tea - very delicious)
Buttermilk rusks: (recipe taken from Karoo Family Favourites)
1 1/2 kg cake flour                               2 1/2 cups sugar
750g margarine                                    1 tsp cream of tarter
15ml baking powder                            1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs                                                  500ml buttermilk (St Ives - can be found in cream/milk section)
1 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

* Rub margarine into dry ingredients (except bicarb.)
* Beat eggs into buttermilk, add bicarb and then pour into flour/margarine mix - quite a sticky dough
* Press into large baking tray (I use a roasting pan) and bake at 180 C (350F) for approx 45 minutes
* Allow to cool slightly, break or cut into desired sizes and dry out for about 4 hours at 100C (225F)

Especially good with that first cuppa of the day

And for the rest of the week - well, we've got a walk with friends lined up for tomorrow at Ashton Court and on Thursday we are going to the interactive Science centre - @Bristol with fellow homeschoolers. And on Friday, Sarah is off to camp in Wales with the Devotions crowd.

Phew, a good thing we aren't trying to fit in bookwork too!