Dry Bread.

Bread and I are not friends. I have no success in making it and it makes my hips fat. That said, we had the Smyth Uncles to stay this weekend... 

...and I thought I'd try to make something special. I decided on cinnamon rolls.


This is my third attempt at the rolls. The first result were 2 dozen glazed hockey pucks. (The dough didn't rise; it turned out my yeast was dead.) The second attempt was successful, but not a true cinnamon roll as I used leftover Christmas mincemeat filling. The third attempt was a success! The dough rising was my proudest moment as it involved sheer ingenuity...


I know I live in a drafty Victorian house, but I didn't know it was too cold to get dough to rise. It is. I've tried putting dough on the top of boiler; on top of the fridge; on the radiator; in a low oven; an oven that was on, then turned off; in an oven that had hot a basin of hot water in it... Basically, I tried every place that I thought was at least marginally warmer than our ambient temperature. My final solution...

Dough in the dryer! Perfect warm and humid environment for my dough to rise.

Delicious!

GMT.

They're going to start charging £10 pp to stand on the Prime Meridian. WTF. Although standing on an imaginary line isn't what I'd normally choose to do on a Saturday afternoon, the thought of having to eventually pay £10 to do so was enough to inspire me and the family to drive down to Greenwich. To stand on a line. For free.

The Royal Observatory and Planetarium are also there in Greenwich Park. I fondly remember science trips to Lancaster High school's Planetarium and was pretty excited at the thought of spending 20 minutes in a comfy, reclined chair watching the stars, learning about planets and possibly getting the chance to use a laser pointer. 

Elliot thought the show was pretty neat (it was, after all, aimed at kids aged 5 and under), but Noah thought the whole thing was too much and headed outside with Donal. To learn more about meridians. For free.

Super.

Happy World Book Day!


I'm not sure if this is indeed a *world* phenomenon, but it's a pretty big deal in London. All over the city, kids have dressed up as their favorite book character. Elliot - it will come as no surprise - chose Superman.


This is my first adventure into the world of costume-for-school making and, while I didn't do a bad job, it became painfully obvious that I need to learn to sew. There's only so much double-sided tape in the world and I'm pretty sure I used at least half of it in the past few days.


Reference material (Thanks Aunt Goose for the book!) and supplies. I went a little crazy when buying the material. Before I came to my senses (or acknowledged my skill level), I thought I could fashion a whole, Super costume.

The symbol of truth, justice, and the American way. Made from construction paper. Super construction paper.

Clark Kent, an integral part of the costume. This was my creative suggestion to the costume. I thought it would be hilarious for Elliot to be both Clark Kent and Superman. In reality, it's probably a nightmare for his teacher since he'll just want to loose the shirt and glasses as soon as his class starts. I also contemplated twisting his hair into a glossy front curl, but stopped myself just in time. 

Pretend you're in a phone box and become Super!

Fly away to save the day.

It's hard for Superman to remain incognito with a red cape.

At Super school.