Hobnobs

Today for snack the girls made homemade hobnobs.

They used:
140g butter
140g sugar
1 tbs milk
1 tbs golden syrup
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
140g self raising flour
110g of rolled oats

Preheat the oven to 150oc.  Line a large baking tray with baking paper.  Set aside.

Cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy.  Beat in the milk and golden syrup and bicarbonate of soda to mix well.   Stir in the flour and oats, mixing all together well.

Divide and shape into 20 equal sized balls.  Place 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet.  Bake for 25 minutes until golden brown.

Scoop off to cool on a wire rack.  Store in an airtight container.

What the Ladybird Heard

P and I went to see What the Ladybird Heard today at the arts theatre. I was really excited about this adaptation because What the Ladybird Heard is one of P's favourite Julia Donaldson books. I had seen it before a while ago with E and it was interesting to see how they had changed it slightly. I don’t want to spoil too much about the performance as half the delight is seeing how they bring the story to life but I have to say I loved how the animals were created. P loved the live music and was very enthusiastic about joining in with the songs.

Twilight at the musuems 2016

This evening we went to The University of Cambridge Museums 10^th Anniversary of Twilight at the Museums; a free evening of family-friendly museums after dark. We have been for last few years and every year as I stand in a long queue in the rain I wonder why this event is so popular - baring in mind most of the stuff you can see in the daylight without getting so wet and cold! But never mind - I suspect I will be moaning about it next year too! We went to the science centre (which is free) and enjoyed playing with the exhibits and seeing ourselves with the thermal-imaging camera.

 Then cycling to the Fitzwilliam we stopped (in the rain) to admire the e-illuminate festival!

 We then went to the Fitzwilliam and the girls enjoyed the trail (although I would have liked the workshop which this year was not bookable in advance and all tickets had gone by the time we got there!)

 We also visited the stone lions and P was visited at school by Fitz and Will and wanted to see if she could see them!

Children’s Lantern Crafts

Today we went to Great St. Mary's as part of e-luminate festival of lights to create our own lanterns from laminated tissue paper. It was a really simple yet effective idea that both E and P really enjoyed!

 First they laid tissue paper on an outline of a house pre-drawn on an A3 laminated sheet. Then they put it through the laminater.

 Then the shape was cut out.

 Then the house was stuck together with selotape! 

We added battery operated t-light and it was finished.

Snowdrops

Today we went to Anglesey Abbey which has one of the finest snowdrop collections in the country, with over 300 varieties of these beautiful white flowers.We also visited the mill and watched it turning, where P was very puzzled that water went no where near the wheat - till we looked closely at the wheels! and enjoyed the wildlife fen watching the blue tits feeding.

Discover Engineering Family Workshop

Today we went to an Engineering Workshop at the Department of Engineering. The idea was to take part in a Crane Construction Challenge where we had to build a crane jib from rolled paper tubes. Everyone had fun, from P who cut strips of masking tape and rolled paper, to Grace who worked hard putting the tubes together using nuts and bolts. We then had the opportunity to test our crane to destruction by seeing how much mass it could support before it broke - we came second!

Do Lent generously

Different people observe Lent in different ways, though by and large most people do this by giving something up for Lent. I am trying to give up chocolate but  40acts encourages you to do something generous during Lent, too.

Walk to the Beech Woods

Today we went for a quick walk around the Beech Woods near our house. It was quite windy but we had fun playing hide and seek and looking for signs spring is on its way - we saw catkins and few flowers peeking upwards