Easy peasy soup

I accidentally made some delicious toddler friendly pea soup...it's a bit dark in the pic but the actual colour is a pretty, bright green...

200 g frozen (or fresh) peas
1 tin big white beans (or boiled dried ones)
creamy coconut milk
1 small bay leaf
soy sauce
1 wing of a star anise
marjoram
salt
garlic


Chop garlic and fry gently in oil with the peas and beans. Add coconut milk, soy sauce and marjoram. Simmer for 5 mins. Add star anise and bay leaf. Let simmer for another 5 mins. Add salt to taste. Remove bay leaf and star anise. Use a stick blender to mix the soup. Serve! My 1-year-old LOVED this. 

A miracle - the imago

We got to witness a miracle this week end - or two, really. Our pupae hatched! Obviously it only takes a second or two for the pupae to split open and we missed that, and also the moment when the imago (the actual butterfly) took off, but seeing them rest on their pupae casings was magical! Here's the series, from larva to pupa to imago...and the casing...

Thrifted treasure

A bit of thrifting...a whole bag of Brio blocks (105 pieces) for 8 euros...and on a stand in amongst 90's Barbie dolls with matted hair, scratched, filthy plastic cars and tacky, glittery dolls house furniture at atrocious prices I found this  - a beautiful, heavy wooden car for 1 euro! This is what I call treasure! 

Life is a bubble...

I've rediscovered soap bubbles. Little man loves them, and so do I. Not just because they are pretty but because they are a metaphor for people...they all come from the same place, they all have their own journey and they all meet the same end. But how different they are! Some are big and colourful, others are smaller, not as shiny...but all of them are unique. 

Hopes for the future

I found this old photo and it hit me: it is like a symbol for all that I want for my son. I want his soul to be as open as the wide ocean and as strong as the ancient granite, because that is what you need to be brave, independent and kind. 

Plop and splash...

...and the child giggles and laughs as the stones hit the surface. 1, 2, 3, many...he never tires of this game. His pockets are full of spare stones. I wish more grown ups could take such pleasure in such little things...

An elk, a cow or just a tree?

This tree grows close to our place...it's funny in daylight and a little bit spooky in the dark. I'm always amazed by nature and by how things resemble other things...by how our minds can see things that aren't really there. Shapes, textures, colours...

The wild larder

Late summer always has this melancholy feel about it. It's still warm enough to be summer, but the sky is a slightly brighter shade of blue and the wind feels cooler. The sun sets earlier and dusk seems to last for hours. But all the wonderful delicacies which can be found in the woods and meadows make up for it. It is time to fill your stomach - and the freezer - with chanterelles, wild raspberries and blueberries...and to savour the very last wild strawberries!

Tadpole to toad

So much is happening in nature at the moment - late summer is a hectic time. For some it is now time to leave the pond and see the world...

Change can happen overnight...

...and it does, at times. This little larva, a future Camberwell Beauty - or Mourning Cloak - was resting in our garden one day, climbing up a flower stem the next, and when I went outside to have a look at it the following morning I found a pupa...some would say it's only biology, but I think it is one of life's little miracles.

The beauty of wood

Sometimes nature imitates itself. Wood often has little secrets - secrets which can only be revealed if the tree or branch is cut. I see a starfish in the first pic and a cobweb in the second...