LittleLife...BigHit!

H was very kindly given a LittleLife toddler daysack for his second birthday by his lovely godmother.  I had seen them before and thought how cute they were but I wasn't quite sure how H would take to it!  You see, the really ingenious thing about these little bags is that they also have a removable safety rein which is attached to the middle of the bag.  I have tried other types of reins before - having assumed that I would now be able to potter happily around the shops with my beaming toddler trotting next to me, I found that instead of this, I was faced with a furious toddler who was either on strike, sitting firmly on the floor, or still swiping things off shelves with me swinging on the end of the reins!  LittleLife have created something far more intelligent!  

H seems chuffed to pieces with his new dinosaur bag; delighted that it clips on around his chest (where he can keep an eye on any buckles and fastening devices); and totally oblivious to the fact that I am on the other end!  These clever little sharks, ladybirds, fairies or giraffes (amongst many other designs) allow him the freedom he craves (no pushchairs or obsessive hand holding) whilst giving me the peace of mind that he isn't going to vanish across the next road, round the next shelf or into the next puddle! 

I hold my hands up and admit that I still haven't quite worked out how to stop him from pilfering apples, taking a tiny bite and putting them back - if anyone else knows a solution (apart from never entering a shop or simply tying his hands behind his back) then please let me know!  Oh, and the LittleLife toddler daysack is also great for putting things in!

Minted Orzo Salad with Chickpeas and Feta

I tried a delicious recipe from a newly discovered blog this evening.  http://www.canyoustayfordinner.com/

All my favourite ingredients - mint, feta, red onions - and really straight forward to make.  Just cook the orzo in the stock (let it cool) and mix with the other ingredients (see the link above for the full recipe).  I added a lamb chop on the side for the hungry farmer (in case he thought that the meat had accidently fallen off the plate) but my only addition was a glass of wine!

To save any Brits from having to look up cup to gram conversions, these are the approximate amounts that I used:

• 1 litre chicken or vegetable stock
• 300g dry orzo pasta
• 400g can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 100g crumbled feta cheese
• 1 small finely chopped red onion
• 2 sticks chopped celery
• 2 handfuls fresh basil, finely chopped
• 2 handfuls fresh mint leaves, finely chopped

Red Wine Vinaigrette

• 3 1/2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons honey
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 3 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic

I was lazy and decided to make the vinaigrette using a pestle and mortar, only to find the garlic floating around and impossible to crush...should have done as I was told and used a blender!

Silage silage silage

Throwing my busy husband his lunch as he drives past the end of the drive...

Training Notes

Dilly Dog and I go training once a fortnight.  We are in a spaniel group of a gun dog training club who train during the summer at various different venues.  As guests of the landowners, we spend a glorious hour or so in some beautiful settings and for me it is a chance to completely switch off from my normal day-to-day activities and get some fresh air and some time with my beloved dog.  We don't work Dilly, but it is great for her to learn with other spaniels in a way which is suited to her breed.  Everything we do is relevant to her life as a farm dog and family pet.  

The group is small and mixed ability (with Dilly and I being the least experienced) which is great as you learn so much from watching others.  We have a fantastic instructor (Aunty Mary) who the dogs, and handlers, all adore.  A couple of weeks ago we were lucky enough to have a visiting instructor take our session.  Writing up our thoughts on it afterwards (homework!?!?) was a useful exercise.

The most important point that I returned home with was "simplicity".

• Keeping commands to the bare minimum, adding an additional movement or word if a command was not understood or acted upon and then returning to the original.  For example, on a retrieve, send the dog on their name and if they do not respond, take a step forward to encourage them and reinforce what you are asking.  It certainly stopped all the hand flapping (sending the dog, in theory, in several different directions!) and from my point of view, meant that Dilly really listened to me instead of watching for the next acrobatic display and having to fathom out what I meant!
• Keeping training to the bare minimum, not in terms of time spent, but of simple commands which we could both achieve and really know that that particular thing will stay with us now.  For example, hunting.  Moving gradually forwards with the dog encouraging her with the odd "lost" and then pinpointing with my hand where the ball etc was.  From this, I felt that Dilly understood what I was asking her to do as each time we did the exercise she was successful.  This particular hunting exercise was a bit of a lightbulb moment for us.  I had wrongly assumed that Dilly would either disappear off into the distance or simply lose interest and do her own thing - I was wrong!  
• Being the centre of the world for our dogs!  We talked a lot about not sending the dogs out too far afield and by working close to the handlers while establishing the basics, the dogs would always believe that that is where the interesting stuff happened!  I think this is very relevant to Dilly and particularly as she does spend time away from me being a "farm dog".  Hopefully, if I keep true to this advice, she will stay interested in what I have, what I say and what I'm asking her to do.  This is also the case where "toys" are concerned.  I have always kept the training dummies etc separate but removing any toys apart from the ones that only appear if I'm around should help.  Now I've just got to explain that lego and teddy bears are also not to be played with!

Teddy's lunch

Our youngest son is nearly 8 months old which means that he is nearly eating what everyone else is but not quite!  He really loves his food and I try to create quick and easy meals for him out of the ingredients that I am using for other recipes.  Our glut of courgettes in the garden is beginning to take hold, so, with that in mind, I devised an almost instant lunch for him.  Simply cube a courgette and boil it along with some orzo pasta, mix in a couple of spoons of creme fraiche and some grated cheese and mash!  Its also good (and even quicker) made with red lentils instead of the pasta.  Add some soft fresh herbs such as basil, coriander or mint before you mash for added interest.    

Time to potter

I had a rare luxury today - two or so hours to disappear into town to go shopping by myself.  No car seats, no pushchairs, no nappy bags, just myself!  It was mainly to search for birthday presents for one of  my gorgeous boys who is very nearly two, so some of that time was spent in and out of ELC and various other toys shops which were alien territory to me until recently.  But the rest of the time was spent pottering...oh, how I have missed it!  Just popping into little shops as it took my fancy and spending as much time as I liked perusing things that I had no intention of buying but just love to look at!