Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Apples and adjustment

Our dear neighbour gave us a massive load of apples from her father's garden yesterday. We're delighted and have plans for lots of apple yumminess! This is our first attempt at fruit leather...
Rebe and Benny love fruit leather and it's their favourite treat from the health food shop so I was delighted to find a recipe...which required lots of apples. Perfect! We made three batches, but only one came out perfect. You have to leave it in the oven over night and I suppose it was just too long/ too hot for 2 of them and they went brittle. Benny is still enjoying them though.
We're finding adjusting to life with a school girl a little less than easy. Rebe is very tired when she is coming home and is very prone to tantrums and tears and fights with Benny. However, it is Benny who is finding it most difficult. He is missing his playmate and doesn't quite know what to do with himself (apart from being naughty). Poor old Joshua can't get a good sleep in the morning as every time he falls asleep he has to get hauled out to drop off/ pick up. We'll get there though...

I'm trying to have lots of calm time and carry on with our rhythm...

...and I've been taking this...(it was either that or gin ;-))
My book says it's for women who 'may also be worn out from too much to do and not enough resources to see them through it...thinking is difficult and brains seem to have ground to a halt'.
We'll be fine though, just waiting this crazy time out...inhale...pause...exhale.


5 comments:

  1. The picture of your sweet child pondering over the basket of apples is so cute.

    I can identify with you about altering my rhythm. It really affects the entire family and makes for some uneasy times. Sometimes I just have to hang on and continue to go through the motions of my normal day and things seem to settle back into place.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I wanted to try fruit leather but then didn't when I saw how long i had to leave it in the oven....maybe i should still try it?

    My little girl is missing her big sister when she is at school!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Elizabeth: That's exactly it, I need to just go through the motions until it's all running smoothly again. I keep thinking...'if I just change this and change that...' but really I know that I just need to see it through and it'll all settle again. I suppose it doesn't help having a baby who still feeds often at night!
    mamauk: I know what you mean about the oven time. I'm not sure if I'll do it again, although the kids love it, it is a faff! If I had an aga would be different I think, if it was going to be on anyway if you see what I mean. What do you do with your LO while she's missing her big sister? Poor wee Benny!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh goodness Laura, boy do I know what you mean about adjusting! Any time we have a big change as a family we have this period of adjustment. It is always a matter of just "getting through it" to the other side. And then when this becomes your new familiar rhythm there will be something else to shake things up again, right?!
    Poor Joshua- Ezri can probably relate. While we don't have school to go to, his napping is constantly being interrupted by being in our fairly large family- he has not yet fallen into a regular nap routine and cat naps through the day. This is something we're going to have to fix soon- and then we'll all be adjusting to helping create a regular nap rhythm for poor Ezri!
    I am so interested in the fruit leather- I hadn't realized you could make it in your oven, I assumed you needed a food dehydrator.
    In answer to your question on our applesauce maker- that is called a squeez-o food mill. you cut the apples in half, and boil them, hten put them in the funnel and grind them. One shoot has the applesauce coming out, the other has the stems, seeds, skins, etc. come out! Cool!
    HUGs

    ReplyDelete
  5. that is a really cool machine, very much required by your apple sauce eating machine Asa. Fabby, yes the fruit leather was simpler to do than I thought, but I'd probably do it during the day next time so I can keep an eye on it. hugs x

    ReplyDelete