Trying to make Yoghurt

Fulfilling this May plan is not as easy as I thought it was going to be !

I have brought 1l of milk to the boil ( twice now ! ) and then let it cool to around 50c, added a generous spoonful of yoghurt - shop or from previous batch ( I wish ) and mixed with alittle of the milk, slowly adding in the rest of the milk and stirring.

Then lid on my 1970's yoghurt maker, it was a 50p car boot bargain ( although with the organic milk and yoghurt I'm wasting, not looking so much of a good deal right now ) and left.

I did have a peek at it and all was looking well.

However, both attempts have resulted in a curdled mess, swimming in a yellow, straw coloured liquid !

Help ... please.What am I doing wrong ? any tips would be much appreciated.

How are your May plans coming on ?

Happy weekend to all x

" I like driving in my car "

This moment, a Friday tradition, a time to cherish, to remember, to honour its importance.
To stop and give thanks, a time to feel blessed.

Inspired by SouleMama http://www.soulemama.com/soulemama/

Along the Riverbank

After lusting over blue skies, sandy beaches and hot sun, it's good to stop and take a fresh look at what is on your doorstep.

Lush, green beauty, not 15 minutes from home, so easily missed as we rush passed on the way to somewhere else.

I could have watched this little beauty and his siblings for hours, dashing up and down the river.

And then home, right outside my front door, my view, fields of gold, glowing in the sun.

Which made me think of this beautiful poem.

Oh, to be in England
Now that April's there,
And whoever wakes in England
Sees, some morning, unaware,
That the lowest boughs and the brushwood sheaf
Round the elm-tree bole are in tiny leaf,
While the chaffinch sings on the orchard bough
In England - now!

And after April, when May follows,
And the whitethroat builds, and all the swallows
Hark! where my blossomed pear-tree in the hedge
Leans to the field and scatters on the clover
Blossoms and dewdrops - at the bent spray's edge
That's the wise thrush; he sings each song twice over,
Lest you should think he never could recapture

The first fine careless rapture!
And though the fields look rough with hoary dew,
All will be gay when noontide wakes anew
The buttercups, the little children's dower, -
Far brighter than this gaudy melon-flower!

Robert Browning (1812-1889)

Colouring our Days

When post arrives, covered in such gorgeous stamps ( from South Africa ) you know the day is going to be good and when the parcel is full of merino wool from http://naturalsuburbia.blogspot.com/ this talented lady, you've hit jackpot.


One of my favourite blogs, is this sweet Mamas http://childhoodmagic.blogspot.com/ the wonderful colours can't fail to lift the spirits, even on a cold, wet UK day.
So today, as the drizzle keeps us inside, we have been looking for our own colours,

Pots of sweet potato soup, perfect for bringing sunshine into our day.

Mama-Made pizza with a splash of sunshine across it.

Spring-Time is Nettle Soup Time, the gathering of Spring's bounty to feed the Soul.

Hungry Caterpillars perfect for little boy's hands, a treasure found as we dash outside to find that splash of sun.

Play Trays

Our play tray ( actually a cat litter tray, bought very cheaply ) has provided endless fun, we have used it to grow cress, for indoor mud play, cooking fun with dried beans, rice etc and beach play with coloured sand, shells, nets and rakes.
A lovely treat on a rainy afternoon, to find the tray set up and covered over with a cloth ... what fun is hiding underneath.

May Plans

I'm taking stock, pinning this month down, rather than clinging onto its coat-tails, as it rushes by with the rest of the year.

This is a big year for us as a family, in so many different ways, not least of all for L, exams are looming with college or sixth form in September, trips to Leeds Festival, a possible holiday in Morocco with a friend ( lucky thing ) concerts and a family trip to America in the Autumn.

With his wings beginning to take flight, I feel the need to slow down, to make home a safe and special place, full of good things, a place to come back to when the World is feeling just a bit too big, a comfort for him ( and me )

So, this month I feel the need for afew plans.

1. Make yoghurt.

2. Butter making.

3. Some more sewing.

4. A raw meal each day.

5. A trip to the sea-side on the train.

Fancy joining me ? Leave a link to your plans for the month.

Blessings at Beltane to All

Beltane

Fresh blossoms,

Bouquets of intoxicating confetti

Strewn extravagantly around

In their season

To celebrate the May.

A sky of pale velvet lined with fleece,

Sun-warmed to ecstasy;

Dewdrops still glistening, wet

Upon a tapestry of greens

Today is the betrothal.

Ripe and fertile,

Lush with longing

The awakened imagination

Quickens to the vital pulse

Of promised fulfillment

round and round the pole they go

entwine their ribbons to and fro

As the white hawthorn blossoms

Scatter in the gaiety and laughter,

Once-virgin furrows, fecund,

Fill with new life germinating afresh

In the womb of our Mother.

As joy is the fulfillment of innocence,

So the berry is the joy of the bud.

And the silent starry wheel

Slowly turns full circle round

As it was in the Beginning.

* * *Beltane © Domino 2005