Hilltains or Hountains?

Yesterday the walk home from school was particulary fun and entertaining. As we skipped along under the bright blue sky with the Autumn wind in our hair, we sang a little ditty. About being naked. Hmmmm I am slightly dubious about what they teach in schools these days. It went like this..

I wear my pink pyjamas in the summer when it's hot,
I wear my flannel nighty in the winter when it's not,
And sometimes in the springtime, and sometimes in the fall,
I jump into my bed with nothing on at all

Then we sang the old harvest classic,

Cauliflowers fluffy, cabbages green,
Strawberries sweeter than any I've seen,
Beetroots purple and onions ripe
All grow steadily day and night...

And so on. I think you know how the rest of it goes.

The rest of my day was spent making Grace's bowling alley cake. I was quite proud of myself - I made royal icing for the first time ever, and it was not as complicated as I thought it might be. It was the most brilliant shiny pink colour, which makes it even better.

On our way home we often inform one another of stories in the news, like about the Hadron particle accelerator, men in jetpacks, and yesterday, a hill that turned into a mountain when you walk down it. or something. Hence the title of this post - Grace said she thought that hills that turn into mountains should be called hountains, or maybe hilltains. Personally I prefer hountains. What do you think?

I had an interview this morning which required me to choose a book to read to a group of year 1 children. So at small group on Tuesday as an ice breaker I asked everyone what their favourite children's book is and why. There were some good old classics in the list, like winnie the pooh, dogger, elmer the elephant, thomas the tank engine, the hungry caterpillar and the lion the witch and the wardrobe. I have trouble thinking of a favourite, but I have a few memories that spring to mind when thinking about children's books.

1) I remember curling up on Mum & Dad's bed, John and I sat either side of Mum, and her reading the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe to us.

2) The first time I picked up 'Each Peach, Pear Plum' by Janet & Allen Ahlberg, I had a distinct recollection of asking Mum to read the names of the author as well as the title and all the words of the book. I still know the whole book off by heart.

3) I remember reading 'Dogger' and feeling a real sadness when Dave lost his dog, because I knew he'd left it at the school fete, so I really just wanted him to go back and find it, so he wouldn't be sad anymore.

4) This isn't a book, but I have very fond memories of Dad coming in to tell Ben his bedtime story, and hearing another episode of 'Hettie, Lettie and Bettie' the three chickens. I loved those stories. Thanks for that memory Dad.

Here are a few photos from my birthday making and baking fun for Grace...




There was also a picture of the bowling pins that I made out of fondant icing, but it got lost in blogger upload cyberspace. Right, I'm off to make some chocolate roses for another birthday cake - one I've been commissioned to make which is rather exciting!