perfect pancakes

In most of Australia, the Spring school holidays begin today. Yay!

And what a beautiful Spring day it is... the sun is shining, the birds

are singing and we are busily spring cleaning the house and studio.

We started our first day of holidays with a pancake breakfast.

This recipe makes delicious, fluffy, golden pancakes.

And it never fails me...

The best pancake recipe ever!

1 cup plain flour

2 tsp baking powder

3 tsp sugar

1 tsp salt

3 tbsp butter

1 cup milk

2 eggs, beaten

Place the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt in a bowl.

Mix well. Melt the butter in the frypan you're going to use.

Pour melted butter over other ingredients, add milk and eggs.

Using a whisk, beat well. Add a little more butter to frypan

and place on medium heat. Wait until the frypan is warm then

using a small ladle, ladle 2 spoons of mixture into the middle

of the pan and tip to spread the mixture into a bigger a circle.

Cook over medium heat till bubbles form on the surface of the 

pancake and then, using a spatula, flip the pancake and cook 

until underside is golden brown. Serve with lemon and sugar.

And ENJOY xoxox

lullaby

Over In Killarney,

Many years ago,

My Mother sang a song to me

In tones so sweet and low;

Just a simple little ditty,

In her good old Irish way,

And I'd give the world to hear her sing

That song of hers today.

Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral, Too-ra-loo-ra-li,

Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral, Hush now don't you cry!

Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral, Too-ra-loo-ra-li,

Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral, That's an Irish lul-la-by

Oft, in dreams I wander

To that cot again.

I feel her arms a-hugging me

As when she held me then.

And I hear her voice a humming

To me as in days of yore,

When she used to rock me fast asleep

Outside the cabin door.

I'm a strong believer in the power of a beautiful lullaby 

when it comes to sending our little ones off to sleep.

Ari was somewhat of a difficult sleeper to begin with.

He had a few health issues which caused him discomfort 

and made it very difficult for him to settle. Until he was five, 

I sang to Ari almost every night, and often at nap times too.

I still sing to him on occasion, when he asks me to. 

Usually 'Too Ra Loo Ra Loo Ral'... ah, those Irish roots!

My grandmother sang it to my mother, she sang it to me,

and now I take pleasure in singing it to my own child.

I guess, that's the way it often is with lullabies.

Lately, I've been singing this sometimes... perhaps 

you remember me posting about Arrietty before? 

I bought Ari the DVD for his birthday. He loves this song.

 I looked it up on youtube and lately he's been listening to 

it as he drifts off to sleep. I must say, it works like magic!

A trip to the Zoo

Ari turned seven last week....

He had an appointment at The Royal Children's Hospital
that morning & as a birthday treat we visited the Zoo after.

Ari has a heart condition and has regularly check ups at RCH.

The new hospital opened last year (it's next to the old site) and it's
pretty amazing... there's an aquarium, a meerkat enclosure, a wall-
sized interactive game screen, a beanbag cinema, a fantastic land-
scaped courtyard, huge sculptural works (even a robot butterfly),
not to mention fantastic new wards, foyers and operating theatres.

You can take a virtual tour here.

But a trip to the Zoo was still atop of Ari's birthday wish list.